Recipes & Food-Related Ramblings
Today, we’re putting on our coziest sweaters and making a big ol’ pot of Chicken Tomatillo Stew. This restorative Sunday-kind-of-meal features juicy braised chicken swimming in a sauce comprised of roasted tomatillos, jalapeños, onions, and garlic. Served over fluffy rice with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of crumbled fried chicken skin, this dish delivers industrial-strength comfort in a surprisingly light, refreshing way.
Today’s Pork Dumpling Squash Blossoms swap the dumpling skin for a squash blossom sheath. The filling is a classic combo of minced pork, scallions, soy sauce, and water chestnuts. The dipping sauce is an ode to the small bowls that accompany steaming baskets of dim sum. But simply swapping the dumplings’ usual flour-based dough coating for an actual flower transforms them into something that, I don’t know, just makes me giddy. It’s like tucking into fairy food, I swear. So without further ado, let’s make these fanciful, floral parcels.
Where have all the floats gone? And no, I’m not talking about flamboyant parade fodder. I’m talking about the ice cream float. When I was a kid in the 90s, I feel like I encountered them far more often. Every diner, dessert counter, or kid-friendly restaurant listed them as an option. But somewhere between the oughts and the 2010s, we lost them. Maybe the thought of ice cream floating in soda was more sugar than the modern stomach could, well, stomach. Or maybe people simply lost interest; the ice cream float has been around since the 1870s, after all. But despite that, here I am with my Peach Melba Float trying to make ice cream floats cool again. And this is going to be a trick considering I don’t have a cool bone in my body. It’s all on you, float!
This Pork Tenderloin Tomato Salad is the perfect example of how I like to eat in the summertime. Well, when I actually eat a meal. Random intervals of slightly rapid snacking are usually where I’m at in 30+ weather: The power of a well-timed bag of chips on a patio cannot be overstated. But when I’m not in sun-soaked raccoon mode, a simple protein seasoned with a punchy marinade, paired with the season’s freshest and finest, is all I need. And that’s exactly what this salad is. A piece of lean protein flavoured with an aromatic heavy caramel marinade spiked with fish sauce, cooked, sliced, and tossed with juicy summer tomatoes. What could be better?