I know we’re already heading into the third week of 2021, but I feel like I’ve been dragging my feet (and my brain) into January–literally and figuratively–hence the lapse in blog posts. It’s not as if I haven’t been working on various baking and miscellaneous DIY projects for the past few weeks (just look at my Instagram posts) to provide me with amply content to write about. No, the issue was more about finding a cohesive narrative amidst all the seemingly random, disconnected ideas. The anxiety and sense of dread brought on by our current political chaos hasn’t helped. How can I NOT be distracted? Still, there were things to do–cake orders to fulfilled, products to test, and Valentine’s Day specials to create and develop. My bake sale fans had been gently (and not so gently) nudging me set a date and post a menu even before the start of the new year. I had to light the proverbial fire up my own ass and get moving…but how do I do that?
Since I was a kid I’ve always engaged in multiple endeavors at the same time–a plethora of arts and crafts projects, baking experiments, etc.–perhaps in search of something that would stick with me. It wasn’t that I was easily distracted so much as I simply wanted to try it all–then one by one, I’d keep what I enjoyed doing and discard what I didn’t. I’d learn a skill and tuck in my tool box, pulling it out as needed on occasion. When I’m feeling stuck creatively and/or spiritually, the best way to dig myself out of a rut is to try out a bunch things. On the surface, it may appear to be a random selection. Eventually, however, the good ideas will coalesce into something meaningful…a game plan…or at least that’s what I hope.
Back at the beginning of December, I splurged on a Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 multicooker for my birthday. I had my eye on it for a year, waiting for the model I wanted to go on sale…which it finally did after Thanksgiving on Amazon.
I’d held out for the one that was not only a pressure cooker and air fryer, but also a dehydrator. Nevertheless, as excited as I was to pull that behemoth piece of kitchen equipment out of its ginormous box, I had to put my desire to play around with it on hold because I had no free time in December. Truth be told, I was so burnt out and tired after Christmas, I didn’t even touch it until a couple days before New Year.
When I eventually got around to browsing through the instructional manual and “beginner’s” cookbook, I immediately became overwhelmed with possibilities. What to make first??? I trolled YouTube for ideas and inspiration–oy, what a rabbit hole! Since I had some boneless country pork ribs in the freezer, I decided to make char siu or Chinese bbq pork. The results were so so. Following the instructions from a YouTube video, I first briefly pressure cooked the pieces marinated pork before finishing it off with the air crisper function. I think part of the problem was that the pork wasn’t really fatty enough to begin with and slightly too small to pressure cook for the amount of time specified.
My second venture, a boneless leg of lamb, yielded better results. I opted to forego the 2-step pressure cook, then air crisp method and simply wrapped my marinated lamb in foil and quick cooked it entirely with the air crisper.
I sliced it up the perfectly pink lamb and served it with some lovely air-crisped golden potatoes and brussel sprouts on the side for the first meal. The leftover lamb inspired me to bake a fresh batch of Pita Bread on the following day, with the intention of turning it into deliciously satisfying Mediterranean-style sandwiches, brimming with fresh veggies, garlicky pesto, homemade hummus, and avocado.
The pita was surprisingly simple to make–minimal kneading, just a good amount of proving and resting time. I used a recipe from Alexandra’s Kitchen. While the dough was doing its thing, I fired up my oven to heat my pizza stone. Once I transferred the rounds onto the hot stone it took a mere 2 mins. to bake. I watched in wonder as each round puffed up like little inflatable cushions. That alone is worth making pita, even at least once.
Spurred on by my Ninja lamb roast success, I proceeded to make Taiwanese Spicy Beef Noodle Soup once again. This time instead of slow-cooking the beef chuck for 3-4 hours in a crock pot, I pressure cooked it for about 40 mins. in the Ninja, which resulted in meltingly tender, flavorful beef bathed in a gloriously rich broth.
Next I transformed leftover roast turkey carcass into a golden turkey bone broth, which I then used to make a super satisfying Turkey Broth Congee, served fully loaded with tender baby box chop, scallions, king oyster mushroom, wedges of preserved century duck eggs, thin slices of Chinese sausage, and airy Chinese cruller “croutons.”
Congee or rice porridge is one of those versatile comfort staples all Asian families have in their kitchen repertoire. The basic proportion of rice to broth (or water) is 1 part rice to 8 parts water, simmered to the consistency of a loose porridge, about 30 mins. on the stove on low heat if you’re starting with 1 cup of rice. To boost the flavor of my fairly plain broth, I added a few slices of peeled fresh ginger to the simmering congee. Since I was making a very small batch I did not use the Ninja for the congee.
What I’ve been loving about my “Ninja experiments” is that no matter the results, good or bad or just meh, I’ve been able to do them in considerably less time, which not only freed me up to explore other projects but provided jumping off points to create other things–like dry cocktail kits for Valentine’s Day and other special events. One the reasons why I really wanted the specific model of the Ninja Foodi I purchased was the dehydrator function. I had visions of drying my own herbs, fruit and vegetables, making jerky treats for my dog Violet. I started playing around with dehydrating slices of mandarin and cara cara oranges I had lying around, simply using the air crisper plate, which worked okay for the small amount of citrus.
The colors were so vibrant and festive I immediately thought of Valentine’s Day and cocktails…which in turn inspired me to create components for a “dry cocktail” kit, one that only required the addition of alcohol or spirits. I’d seen these kits before, during one of my many visits to Maine, at a craft cocktail bar and store called Vena’s Fizz House, where they packaged their signature dry blends in pretty mason jars. In my version, I’d combine a custom blend of dehydrated and freeze-dried fruit with zesty bitters-infused sugars. For Valentine’s Day, that would be a gorgeous, deep fuchsia heart-shaped sugars infused with hibiscus and Angostura bitters.
Making the infused sugar is incredibly easy. I blended 2 cups of granulated sugar with about 1 tablespoon bitters and 1 tablespoon hibiscus powder in my mini chopper, then I pressed the moisten sugar into tiny heart-shaped silicon molds and let them dry out until firm and solid enough to pop out of the molds. To speed up the process in the future, I can place the molds in the Ninja and set it on a very low dehydrating temperature.
Once the components are assembled, all that’s missing is your liquor of choice. For a quicker infusion, you can gently warm up the alcohol before pouring it over the mix, shake and let it steep for an hour or two. Or, if you have the patience, just add the alcohol and let it everything steep overnight in the fridge.
Given the endless potential for dehydrating all sorts of ingredients, I decided to invest in a set of dehydrator shelf inserts for my Ninja Foodi.
Manhattans and Negronis here I come!
Homemade Pita Bread (adapted by Alexandra’s Kitchen)
Yield: 6 pitas
- 2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 t. kosher salt
- 1 t. instant yeast
- 3/4 c. warm water
- 1 T. olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- Whisk together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Create a well in the center and pour in water and oil.
- Stir the ingredients together to form a shaggy dough. Briefly knead to bring it together so that there are no more dry, uneven bits and the flour is absorbed.
- Drizzle in a little olive oil, then flip the dough to coat it all over and the bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let it rise until doubled in a warm space, about 90 mins.
- Heat a baking stone or steel in at 550 degrees (or at least 500). Cut out six 6″ parchment squares.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and portion it out into 6 equal pieces (about 73g each) and form into balls. Let the balls rest for 30 mins.
- Gently flatten and roll out each ball into 6″ disks, then transfer onto parchment squares. Be careful not to roll too aggressively, forcing out air pockets needed for the pita to expand.
- Let the dough rest for another 15 mins. before baking. Bake the pitas 3 at a time for about 2 mins. each.