If you’ve ever had the pleasure of flying Air France, you may be familiar with their “On Air” music playlists — whoever curates those in-flight mix tapes is a genius. I created this Spotify station that’s filled with tracks from those playlists.
Sit back and enjoy the flight.
My lock screen is cooler than your lock screen. Incredible “toy” photography by Avanaut: http://www.flickr.com/photos/avanaut/
Wow, it’s like an unofficial Ron Swanson Lego minifigure. I need to research options and put together a Parks and Recreation minifig collection.
![RECIPE: Mápó Dòufu (or Mápó Tòfu) over “Foolproof” Long Grain Rice
It’s safe to say this is not an authentic mapo tofu recipe, but it is a solid recipe for your dinner rotation. I was a regular at a food truck that put together a nice mapo tofu and this is my attempt at recapturing that flavor, it’s like Szechuan soul food, super tasty, great balance of flavors, perfect for a cold or rainy night. I’ve made slight tweaks to these two online recipes, linked herein. My preferred measurements are posted below as my “modified” recipes.
And I know that making good rice [without a rice cooker] should be simple, but I’ve never found that to be the case. This “foolproof” recipe from Epicurious.com is trustworthy. I use about 1/8 cup more water than they prescribe, but otherwise I follow the instructions to the letter and the rice turns out just the way I like it. Of course, there’s no shame in making some instant rice or microwaving a bag of prepared rice.
Modified Ma Po Tofu Recipe [ original here on Allrecipes.com ]
Pork:
4 ounces ground pork
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Vegetables:
1 red or yellow or orange pepper or several little ones, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 large white Onion, chopped
Bean Sauce Mixture:
1 tablespoon black bean sauce
3/4 tablespoon red chili paste
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
2 green onions, only the white and light green portion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
Tofu:
1 (14 ounce) package tofu, drained and cut into cubes
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch, mixed with equal parts water
Directions:
In a bowl, combine ground pork, sherry vinegar and 1 teaspoon cornstarch; set aside.
In a separate small bowl, combine black bean sauce, red chile paste, cayenne pepper, soy sauce, garlic, sliced green onions, and ginger; set aside.
Heat a large skillet (or cast iron, dutch oven, etc.) over medium heat. Add some canola or vegetable oil and cook chopped white onions, carrots and peppers until onions are soft and getting translucent, about 7-10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Cook pork until evenly browned. Stir in vegetables, tofu, and black bean mixture. Pour in chicken broth, heat until it starts to boil and and you’re done. Optional: Stir in dissolved cornstarch once it reaches boil, and cook until thickened.
Slightly Modified Long-Grain Rice Recipe [ original here on Epicurious.com ]
Ingredients:
3 1/8 cups water
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice (not converted)
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Directions:
In a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan combine all ingredients and boil, uncovered, until steam holes appear in rice and grains on surface appear dry, about 8 minutes. Cover pan and cook rice over very low heat 15 minutes more. Remove pan from heat and let rice stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork before serving.
Plating considerations:
Put a handful of chopped spinach or arugula in the bottom of a bowl, add rice and Ma Po Tofu, pour some remaining sauce over the portion, toss some finely chopped cilantro over the top. Serve.
Footnotes:
Sherry vinegar; buy it once and you’ll have it for many meals to come.
You should always have chicken broth in your cupboard and they even sell 8 oz. four packs so you don’t waste a bunch from a quart container.
Just about every grocery store has an Asian or International section and they all have at least one brand of black bean sauce and red chili paste. Buy this stuff once and you’ll get many meals out of it.
You can usually buy ground pork in 8-10 oz packs. Cut the pack in half with a knife, put half in a freezer bag and freeze until next time you make this recipe.
The cornstarch is optional, I’ve only used a little in the past to thicken the sauce, but you can live without it, you won’t lose any flavor.
The Allrecipes mapo tofu recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. I think that’s too much heat. I’ve used 3/4 teaspoon and in some cases, just 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon and then I enjoy some Sriracha sauce, to taste, on my own portion.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2c215YKKc1qzcl41o1_1280.jpg)
RECIPE: Mápó Dòufu (or Mápó Tòfu) over “Foolproof” Long Grain Rice
It’s safe to say this is not an authentic mapo tofu recipe, but it is a solid recipe for your dinner rotation. I was a regular at a food truck that put together a nice mapo tofu and this is my attempt at recapturing that flavor, it’s like Szechuan soul food, super tasty, great balance of flavors, perfect for a cold or rainy night. I’ve made slight tweaks to these two online recipes, linked herein. My preferred measurements are posted below as my “modified” recipes.
And I know that making good rice [without a rice cooker] should be simple, but I’ve never found that to be the case. This “foolproof” recipe from Epicurious.com is trustworthy. I use about 1/8 cup more water than they prescribe, but otherwise I follow the instructions to the letter and the rice turns out just the way I like it. Of course, there’s no shame in making some instant rice or microwaving a bag of prepared rice.
Modified Ma Po Tofu Recipe [ original here on Allrecipes.com ]
Pork:
Vegetables:
Bean Sauce Mixture:
Tofu:
Directions:
In a bowl, combine ground pork, sherry vinegar and 1 teaspoon cornstarch; set aside.
In a separate small bowl, combine black bean sauce, red chile paste, cayenne pepper, soy sauce, garlic, sliced green onions, and ginger; set aside.
Heat a large skillet (or cast iron, dutch oven, etc.) over medium heat. Add some canola or vegetable oil and cook chopped white onions, carrots and peppers until onions are soft and getting translucent, about 7-10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon oil to pan. Cook pork until evenly browned. Stir in vegetables, tofu, and black bean mixture. Pour in chicken broth, heat until it starts to boil and and you’re done. Optional: Stir in dissolved cornstarch once it reaches boil, and cook until thickened.
Slightly Modified Long-Grain Rice Recipe [ original here on Epicurious.com ]
Ingredients:
Directions:
In a 2 1/2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan combine all ingredients and boil, uncovered, until steam holes appear in rice and grains on surface appear dry, about 8 minutes. Cover pan and cook rice over very low heat 15 minutes more. Remove pan from heat and let rice stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork before serving.
Plating considerations:
Put a handful of chopped spinach or arugula in the bottom of a bowl, add rice and Ma Po Tofu, pour some remaining sauce over the portion, toss some finely chopped cilantro over the top. Serve.
Footnotes:
Video: This is a promo video for the 1992 Bally Pinball “The Addams Family”
When I lived in San Francisco (1998-2001), my neighborhood bar was Kennedy’s, located at Church and 25th. I spent several nights per week there until it was sold and turned into a gym, which was the ultimate slap in the face, I was not amused by the irony.
Anyway, Kennedy’s had two pinball machines during my tenure there and this was my favorite, “The Addams Family”. Great game play, terrific audio and visual effects, crazy playfield. I think about that pinball machine every so often, I really miss playing it, I miss hearing “Mamushka!” shouted at me from its speakers while the playfield lights up and the game goes bananas.
The Internet Pinball Database lists The Addams Family as the #4 most popular pinball game of all time, so I guess I’m not just romanticizing those nights (and many afternoons) with a couple friends, a pitcher of Sierra Nevada pale ale, and pocketful of quarters. Good times, great pinball.
Accent theme by Handsome Code
