French herb,big use on food

Habitat: native to the Mediterranean region and widely cultivated in Europe and the United States. It prefers limy, sandy, and well-drained soil with sufficient sunlight.

Description: A perennial plant with numerous procumbent stems, 6 to 12 inches high, covered with fine hair and pale brown bark. The leaves are small, opposite, sessile, and grey-green with slightly rolled edges. The small, blue-purple flowers are two-lipped and grow in dense, whorled clusters, blooming from May to September.

Medicinal parts: leaves and flowering tops - dried.

Cooking information:





Thyme
Common Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
Lemon Thyme (T. x citriodorus)
[Lamiaceae]

Fresh sprigs will keep for up to a week stored in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Unlike most herbs, thyme withstands long, slow cooking retaining its flavour and, used with discretion, it enhances other herbs without overpowering them.

Thyme is indispensable in every French stew, from pot-au-feu to cassoulet, but equally in Spanish ones as well.

French food

I missed a lot, but won't have time to check you always-great posts.

Taking DH to doc -- he has had the biggest probs with those thick lower-back muscles which run into your fanny. Spasms, very painful.

My wonderful house cleaner is here, AND it's Election Day today, so if DH won't be able to stand in line to vote, well, I'll do my civic duty!!

Planning to stop off at the fish shop to get some frozen fat shrimp -- so quick to turn into a supper dish.

I really miss your chat. It's very hectic right now. I've also been cleaning out, as one seems to do when the seasons turn! I can't believe I'm actually wearing a light weather today.

Rice recomendation

I think your mom is probably thinking that teflon rice cookers are similar to teflon frying pans, and that the teflon will eventually come off and render the pan useless. But they aren't the same. Rice cookers don't get as hot, and they don't undergo the same kind of scraping that frying pans go through during stir frying.

So I'd recommend that she go with Teflon if she's willing to make a change. Teflon is awesome; you can scoop the rice as soon as the timer pops and nothing will stick on the bottom. This means less waste and easier cleaning.

I've tried a lot of rice cookers, and I have to agree with Ellen--Zojirushi is by far the best brand.

SIMPLE ASIAN RECIPES FOR GOOD EATING

Two things I learned being a man

1) You must have pride in your roots, your origins
2) You need to know how to prepare food for yourself

Sure you may be feeling down. Yes, you may be feeling bitter and angry. But the truth is, Asians have a wealth of heritage, things that have fascinated outsiders for centuries. These outsiders are now bastardizing our traditions. We see it in greasy asian fast food joints and naff high street fashion. If we don't claim our culture for ourselves, if we don't live it, crass commercialism and cultural assimilation will reduce it to the lowest common denominator! I'm not being alarmist.

Modern folk have it a bit easier. In the old days when men had to hunt and fish, there were times when they had to travel days and weeks away from their homes in order to get food for their tribe. In such conditions, not only did they have to hunt, they had to know how to prepare food for storage and the journey home, and they had to cook for themselves. Today, we just buy our food. But think of the amount of control you exercise over what you put in your mouth, when you only buy your food. The finest ingredients? Low in fat? Quality low GI carbs? I DON'T THINK SO. You have to PAY through your nose to have such food prepared for you. You'll be shocked at how cheap it is to purchase your own food (from a wet market perhaps). All it needs is a little time and effort.

Combine the two, and you have the ultimate chick seducing weapon, guaranteed to raise her interest level. By cooking ethnic food, you'll be demonstrating class and sophistication and a hint of the exotic and mysterious!

So, let's post our ethnic recipes here. I'll start first with two entries.

Chinese Zha Zhang Mein recipe (Noodles)

Ingredients of goodness

1 lb of hand pulled noodles or dried Chinese noodles (I get Wu-Mu Dried Noodles brand)
1 whole pork tenderlion
1 package of baked tofu*
1 whole zucchini
1 whole, humongously large, white onion
5 cloves of garlic
8 oz jar of sweet bean sauce or tian mian jian (甜面酱)
8 oz jar of broad bean sauce or dou ban jiang(豆瓣酱)
1 tablespoon of rice wine
2 tablespoon of soy sauce
some corn starch... (an ingredient I always have in my kitchen)
*Note 1: Should be able to find this in Asian stores and should come in square blocks of 4)
Note 2: Not to be bias or anything, but I buy my bean sauces that are made in Taiwan or USA
Prep work

Vegetables first!
1. Cube onion into .5 cm squares
2. Cube zucchini
3. Cube fried tofu into .5 cm pieces
4. Mash the garlic with the flat of the knife.

Meat section rawr sanitation...
1. Mince the pork tenderloin into tiny cubes
2. Use about 3 tablespoons of cornstarch and mix the pork around by massaging the corn starch into the pork
3. Add in the soy souce and rice wine and massage some more.
2. Once the oil is really hot ... add the pork
3. Stir around for 5 to 7 minutes on medium-high heat (until it is almost done cooking)
4. Take out the pork and place into a bowl or plate
5. Add in the onions and zucchini
6. Stir around until translucent
7. Empty both sauces into the pan and add the meat back into the pan
8. Cook until simmering and add garlic and baked tofu
9. Cook for additional 2 minutes until the tofu gets soft and cooked.
10. Serve with noodles
Noodles:

Well I will teach you how to make hand pulled noodles in another blog, but noodles are simple

1. Boil water
2. Add noodles
3. Test to see if it is done by tasting it.
4. Remove noodles and plop sauce onto it

Another note....
So for the Chinese version, it is better to have julienne cucumbers

Well enjoy!