My Veg Heads to Asia

I know I've mentioned it once or twice (or a hundred times) before, but Corpus Christi's ethnic food is a sham. You're out of luck unless you want Mexican or Thai (funny--a really good thai restaurant opened since we've been here, and it turns out they moved here from DC, and their cousins run our favorite Thai place in Arlington. Small world.) I've heard there's a good Filipino place, but I haven't been there yet. There is not one single Indian restaurant, and the Chinese food here is naaaasty (though, to be fair, I never found Chinese food in DC or VA that I liked, either. I don't know what's different about NY Chinese food, but it's what I want.)

Promise, no more parenthesis. That last paragraph was ridiculous.

Anyway, I must be craving take-out, because the recipes that caught my eye this week tried to fill the gap. Successfully getting Matt to enjoy eggplant the other day emboldened me to try again. Stir-Fried Eggplant with Ground Pork and Peanut Sauce (pg 103 of Perfect Vegetables) sounded like it would be right up my alley. I added sugar snap peas and sliced red pepper to distract Matt from the eggplant.

Eggplant, wearing camo.

I don't think I'd have liked this as much if I had more access to real Chinese food. It had a flat taste to it, despite the fresh ginger and garlic. I did omit red pepper flakes, hoping that Charlie would eat some, so I'm sure that changed the flavor a bit. Surprise, surprise, my boy wouldn't even taste it. He ate rice and blueberries for dinner. Again. He better learn to like pizza by the time we move to Italy, or else he's going to be eating a whole lot of pasta with nothing on it.

Conclusion: Liked it. Matt didn't comment on the eggplant, so I'll take that as a good thing.

I've made good headway, but still have a ways to go on my 10 lb bag of potatoes. I expected/hoped that Twice-Baked Potatoes with Indian Spices and Peas (pg 220) would taste like the inside of a samosa. It didn't, and I think that effected my opinion of this potato. The tang of buttermilk competed with all the lovely spices: fresh ginger and garlic and cumin and coriander and cinnamon and turmeric and cloves. It was distracting. Next time, I'll go for the Twice Baked Potatoes with Blue Cheese and Thyme. Yum.

Conclusion: Just okay. If I were dying for some Indian flavors, maybe this would do the trick. Doubt it, though.

Not that anyone's keeping track, but I'm opting out of French Fridays with Dorie this week. In my traditional holiday fashion, I've flown off the rails with what I'm eating, and somehow a potato chip tortilla seems like just the thing to end me. Using this excuse not to participate this week will, in no way, keep me from making next week's creme brulee. Priorities, people! Priorities! I'll make the potato chip tortilla some day when I'm feeling slimmer and less likely to inhale the rest of the bag while the tortilla is cooking.