Noodles and a Marathon

By Steph Farrar

(Marathon length post, so SPOILER)

It all started Alumni Weekend, last October 2015, 20 years after high school. I stayed with one of my oldest and dearest friends on Lookout Mountain, TN, where I was raised well, even after all the middle-of-the-night sneak outs and kissing boys, smoking cigarettes unwell. I drove into town from Atlanta with another high-school sister, my senior roommate, the only year I boarded away from home. When driving North to Chattanooga, you round a corner directly under Missionary Ridge and just beyond the bend, a great looming, vast city, bordered by mountains, hills, and ridges announces itself to you.

And when we came upon that reveal, we hurrayed. It was actually quite comforting that we were happy to be back. Nearing the end of our thirties, it's basically an even playing ground now. We're almost (if not) mid-life, searching for answers, for purpose and meaning. And it's just now getting a little easier to accept that I'm not 25 anymore.

But it still hurts.

However, not quite as much as a half-marathon. So I have Kathleen of Lookout Mtn. to blame for the pain. As well as the achievement. After our athletic years in high school, both runners, and after the reunion, she signed me up for the Vancouver Seawheeze half-marathon in August of 2016.

Signing your friend up for a half marathon is kind of like giving someone a fish for their birthday. Like, ugh... I have to deal with this now. I have to train, book a ticket and inevitably run 13.1 miles?  But damn if it didn't pay off (not that a fish really pays off; it's a pain in the ass actually.) But finishing 22k? That's some will power, Jedi mind shit. And I'll never regret a single step.

Bucket List

I don't care if you worked out today. One of my favorite lines is, "I don't want to hear about your workout unless you fell on the treadmill and broke your face." But I'm sorry to report I am here to brag. One bucket list item checked off, completing a half-marathon before 40. Because I'm an idiot. And I like any kind of adrenaline rush, like a runner's high. Ask me about bungee-jumping off a freestanding gondola in Interlocken over turf, or paragliding off a low Lake Tahoe ravine. Good move dummy.

So...this is our Before.

The Starting Line is nearing and the pressure and excitement is everywhere. It's infectious. There is no way I'm not gonna finish this race.

I love the marooned lady in the forefront, hands on her friends shoulders. A lovely, human moment.

I can say one thing about Vancouver.

Canada.

God I love Canada. It's so clean. Calm. Generous. Warm. Even though it's usually freezing. They're all just SO NICE.

If you're going to run 22 kilometers on a Saturday morning, it might as well be somewhere breathtakingly beautiful. It's difficult to shoot good photos while jogging, but I tried. I met Vancouver downtown at the impending Starting Line. I greeted this city one mile at a time; throughout the riverwalk, over and back along an extra long bridge with elevation on both ends, mermaids, surf sirens, a guy manning one of those water hover suits holding a sign of encouragement, pumper-uppers on stationary bikes, inching us 1k closer, a sign which read "Ryan Gosling is waiting with a puppy and a beer in 5K. You can do it!" and most importantly, a GREAT playlist.

There are some people who crave camera time. And some who'd prefer to remain behind, masked, private. (I tend to shift but in this case...) you would have to pay me to dress up like a mermaid, paddle board on a melted glacier in a Grecian robe, or sky rocket in a hover-water IronMan suit... with the goal of encouraging half-marathoners to finish strong. I would just rather run the marathon.

I must admit, their presence was passionate; the demonstration of art as a means to support and encourage was invigorating. And I believe I finished because of that support. My legs were little fried chickens.

But the end was near.

I took pictures of two meals from my time in Vancouver. After 13.1 miles of running, we walked four miles around the city, landing at The Noodle Bar, chowing on the BEST spicy Kung Pao Chicken and reminiscing how brave and successful we were. It's not even noon and we already made 30k Steps. So we ate whatever we wanted. And had Oysters, Beef Carpaccio and (I had a) Cabernet from Miku for dinner.

It looked like this:

then this...

then this...

then these amazing kung pao noodles and a cold beer:

Kung Pao Vancouver

then dinner at Miku... after a four mile site-seeing journey.

In my life, I've had some very proud moments... times when I've surprised myself with some level of success. Winning our Region Pentathlon as a junior, summiting Mt. Shasta summer before my senior year, shaking David Letterman's hand after performing with Weezer, Marrying the love of my life, birthing two watermelons, finishing a Whole30... and completing a half marathon.

Celebrating these moments, these successes has been paramount. I want to run the Malibu half marathon in November so I can power shove a huge bowl of carbonara into my mouth, from the local Italian eatery Tra Di Noi. Sign me up.

And keep these moments coming.

Kung Pao Chicken

stolen 1000%  from Feasting at Home

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken (or sub roasted cauliflower, see notes below)

• ½ tsp salt

• ½ tsp sugar

• 1 ½ tbsp corn starch

• 1-3 tbsp peanut oil or vegetable oil for frying - optional, see notes.

• 1 red bell pepper - or handful dry red Chinese chilies (see notes)

Kung Pao Sauce:

• 1 ½ tsp chopped ginger

• 1 ½ tbsp chopped garlic

• 2 tbsp water

• 2 tsp fish sauce

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce

• 1 tbsp vinegar (black vinegar if you have it, or use rice or white)

• 1 tbsp sugar

• 1 tbsp garlic chili paste (Sambal chili paste)

Garnish: roasted peanuts, green onion (sliced at a diagonal), lime, raw bean sprouts

Cooked noodles (2-3 servings), rice noodle or rice

Directions:

If making noodles or rice, get them cooking.

Cut chicken into ¾ inch cubes and place in a bowl. Add the salt, pepper, sugar and cornstarch to the chicken and toss.

(Alternately -- if using cauliflower, roast cauliflower florets in a 450 F oven for 25-30 minutes, with olive oil, salt and pepper)

Chop ginger, garlic and thinly slice red bell pepper into thin strips.

Measure all the condiments and place in a small bowl (water, soy, fish sauce, oyster, vinegar, sugar and garlic chili paste) and give a quick stir.

Heat oil in a wok over medium high heat, and when its hot, brown the chicken, turning, tossing and cooking through about 5 minutes.

Turn heat off and place crispy chicken on a plate lined with paper towels, blot.

Wipe out wok, add 1 tablespoon oil and heat over medium heat.

Add the red bell pepper and sear over medium heat until tender and just slightly charred in places, about 3-4 minutes. Make a well in the center of the bell peppers, add the ginger and garlic and sear (keeping them in the center), cooking and stirring 2 minutes until they are fragrant and golden. You may need to add a few more drops of oil.

Add the small bowl of mixed sauces to the wok and bring to a simmer, lower heat, then place the cooked chicken (or roasted cauliflower) back into the sauce and toss well, coating it and heating it back up. Serve over rice, noodles, or add the cooked noodles directly into the wok and sear them for a minute or two. Serve immediately.

Garnish with roasted peanuts, sliced scallions, lime and raw bean sprouts.

Notes:

If subbing with crispy tofu, prepare it in the same way as the chicken, blot, cut into small cubes, coat with salt, pepper, sugar and cornstarch (you may want to use a little more cornstarch) , and fry in the wok until crispy. Then set aside. (Alternatively, you could use "baked tofu" and not fry it, adding it at the end into to the sauce.)

*For a lighter version, use roasted cauliflower instead of chicken and add it to the wok with the sauce (at the very end). You, of course, can also add other cooked veggies, tossing with the flavorful sauce. You can sub another sweetener for the sugar, like agave, maple or honey, but flavors won't be balanced if you leave it out altogether.

*If you use the whole head of cauliflower, you may want to increase the Kung Pao sauce by half so make 1 ½ times the recipe). 

*Traditional Kung Pao also includes a handful of red, dried Chinese chilies (Thai red chilies are too spicy) . I usually toss these in at the end with the garlic and ginger, but in this recipe you don't really don't need to because of the chili garlic paste. If you do choose to use the dried chilies, add them in right after the the ginger and garlic, and decrease the garlic chili sauce in the recipe.

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Chicken Lettuce Cups

By Steph Farrar

This week, my post was going to be ... a glass of wine. How to open it, pour it, and drink it.

And then I remembered, most people reading this already know how to do that. And do it well.  So I decided not to waste your or my time.

I've been to an Urgent Care or doctor's office 6 times in the last two weeks with one or both kids. So I've gotten VERY good at opening and drinking wine. I thought I could share my expertise, but again, unnecessary.

Lay it all out there

Lately, I've noticed a common theme among friends regarding the kitchen, cooking, hosting, prepping, serving. More often than not, folks are genuinely scared of cooking. I think more appropriately stated, they're scared of failing at cooking. The stakes are high when you make the decision to invite people over and serve them, or whip up dinner for your best friend, or even to spend the afternoon recipe-testing on your own. It can be expensive, it's definitely time consuming, and it will absolutely destroy a clean kitchen. Unless you're Type A or have a live-in housekeeper.

Red Onion or Shallots - your choice

And then I started thinking about this blog and our input and impact. Truthfully, I should make all of my pictures look as terrible as my kitchen looks while cooking up these recipes before, during and after. Clearly these are staged food photos to help you understand the process, break down the ingredients, see how I chopped, minced, or diced etc. But am I giving off the wrong impression? Am I making it too staged, too set up, too perfect? (which is kind of a joke anyway, as I'm no photographer)

It's anything less than perfect. It's a process. And it's really not scary.

Shrooms

So, new mission. Make cooking less scary. For instance, this recipe is literally nothing more than adding a few things to a bowl and combining, cutting up some protein and vegetables, and throwing it all in a hot pan. Then spooning it all into a piece of crunchy lettuce. That's it.  Not. So. Scary.

Get it all in a pan. Watch it work for you.

There's so much that fills me with fear.

Bringing up two little ones in a world that's getting hotter and heavier with time? Anxiety inducing. Driving through a canyon in the rain at night, alone? Terrifying.

But cooking? Especially home cooking? Nah. I'm not trying to be Anthony Bourdain, Nigella, Bobby... I won't pretend I belong in a professional kitchen.

But I try every day. And if you can afford the time and groceries, you should try as often as you can as well. Even if it fails, who knows? You might enjoy it!

Chicken Lettuce Cups

stolen from Epicurious

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

• 2 tablespoons clear rice vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced

• 1/3 cup red onion,minced

• 1 cup chopped button mushrooms

• 1/2 cup water chestnuts, minced

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, minced

• 8 to 10 inner leaves iceberg or butter lettuce

• Handful of fresh cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Combine the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, salt, and sugar in a small bowl and mix together until the sugar dissolves.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or deep pan over high heat. Stir-fry the garlic and ginger for 20-30 seconds. Add the onion, mushrooms, and water chestnuts and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Remove the contents of the wok.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok. Swish the oil around, add the chicken, and brown for 2 minutes, or until no longer pink. Add the cooked vegetable mixture back to the wok, decrease the heat, and stir in the sauce mixture. Stir for 1 minute, or until the sauce is heated and the chicken is cooked through.

Spoon the filling in equal amounts into the lettuce cups. Top each lettuce cup with cilantro and sprinkle with chopped cashews. Serve warm.

Pancetta Leek Rice with 5 Minute Egg

By Steph Farrar

When I first started following food blogs, I ran across a Los Angeles based blog called Cozy Kitchen, and was immediately drawn to Adrianna's light sense of humor and addiction to her kitchen. One of the first posts I salivated over was her Ginger Fried Rice. So I decided to try it. My first note: remember how difficult I said it was to bread and fry a soft boiled egg. Just saying it now.

We were visiting my in-laws for a weekend at the beach, where the light is second to none. I've since bought a new camera, but I think I could've used a disposable one and the photos would still look effortless. I cannot say the same thing for the eggs.

Leeks, onions, ginger and garlic

I'm always trying to impress Pearlie, Sam's mother. She and I are very close, and I'm very lucky to have a "Mum"-in-law who I not only get along with, but who I genuinely love. She will be reading this. I swear I'm not lying though. Sam's folks do so much for us... one of the few things I can do for them is fix a nice dinner. Pearlie is an exceptional cook, but definitely deserves a break from the kitchen every now and then. She cooks nearly every meal at home.

Clean your leeks, chop your onions

Everything's blue and white in this kitchen

I poured Pealie a heaping glass of her infamous Woodbridge Chardonnay, myself something red, made Poppy and Sam and Key Lime Martini and got to work emulating this heavenly Fried Rice. First you must fry up the diced garlic and ginger, to top the rice at the last minute. The crunch is a necessity.

Fried fried

I added the pancetta and additional onion to the original recipe. I am never sorry about pancetta. The rest I'll leave to the recipe. You could add nearly any vegetable you'd like to this rice, as long as the egg is soft boiled to perfection and oozes over the entire bowl, which as I said, is tricky. Make sure you transfer those soft boiled eggs to a bowl of cold water. Peeling will be much easier. Might want to make a few extra, in case of disaster.

Breading station

Pancetta Leek Fried Rice with Five Minute Egg

adapted from Cozy Kitchen's Ginger Fried Rice

Ingredients:

Rice: 

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons minced ginger

• 2 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed and dried

• 1 cup diced pancetta

• 1/2 cup diced baby onion, white and green parts only

• 4 cups day-old cooked rice, preferably jasmine, at room temperature

• 3 teaspoons soy sauce

• Salt

5-Minute Fried Egg:

• 5 large eggs, divided

• 1/4 cup buttermilk, shaken

• 1 teaspoon Sriracha

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

• Salt

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp and brown. With a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels and salt lightly.

Reduce heat under skillet to medium-low and add pancetta. Let it crisp up for a few minutes.  Add onions and leeks. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until very tender but not browned. Season lightly with salt.

Raise heat to medium and add rice. Add soy sauce, stirring well and cooking, until heated through and lightly crispy. Season to taste with salt. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Using a spoon, gently lower 4 eggs into the water and then bring the heat down to medium, so the water reaches a simmer. Start the timer and set it to 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, transfer the eggs to cold water and gently peel. This is the hardest part. Be careful and take your time!

Add 3 inches of oil to a cast iron skillet and heat oil to 400F. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat together the remaining egg, buttermilk and Sriracha. Add the flour to a shallow dish. On a medium plate, toss together the panko and teaspoon of salt.

Start with rolling the egg gently in the flour, dusting off any excess. Next, transfer the egg to the egg/buttermilk mixture and then place it atop the panko mixture, sprinkling the mixture on top of the egg, being sure it’s evenly coated. Gently drop the into the hot oil and cook on each side, about 30 seconds and until lightly browned. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. Repeat process with the remaining eggs.

Divide rice among four dishes. Top each with an egg and sprinkle crisped garlic and ginger over everything and serve.