#22 - Cook With 10 New-to-Me Ingredients

 1 - Barley Malt Syrup

The recipe I found for bagels called for barley malt syrup to get that nice texture on the outside of the bagel. Barley malt syrup is not easy to find in a regular Michigan grocery store. I looked in a few different places and then ended up ordering some online. It definitely seems to have made a difference, in the texture of the surface and in getting the everything seasoning to stick during and after the baking. 

You can read about the bagel-making experience here.

2 - Anchovies

I've never worked with any canned, whole fish, and for a long time, believed they were likely gross. After a lot of food and cooking reading and research, I've learned that's not at all the case. 

I needed one tin of anchovies to add to a recipe, and I cannot for the life of me remember what that recipe was, so I'll update this if I remember. 

As I had leftover anchovies, I decided to give an authentic Caesar salad a go. Using a Serious Eats recipe, I wound up with a fantastically flavorful Caesar dressing with lots of punch. I tossed the dressing with fresh, chopped Romaine. Then, I improvised with the croutons, tossing them with vegetable oil and garlic salt, and then topped it all with some Parmesan cheese. Even my dad liked it, and he claims he's never had a Caesar salad he liked before. Anchovies for the win!

3 - Rice Noodles

I tried out a shrimp pad thai from Jane Hornby's What to Cook & How to Cook It. My dad loved it. I thought it could use a little more pasty texture in the sauce, but the flavor was great. 

One issue was the rice noodles, even though I read the recipe multiple times and watched a Gordon Ramsey video on a simple stir fry with rice noodles the night before. I did as instructed and poured boiling water over the noodles, letting them soak. What I didn't do, was make sure they weren't stuck together. The noodles that were stuck together were definitely undercooked, and al dente pad thai isn't a thing. So, I learned! Even while doing the rest of the cooking, make sure to check on the noodles to be sure they're not sticking!

4 - Bok Choy

While I was making the pad thai, I found some bok choy in the veggie drawer, which was curious because I don't recall ever finding bok choy in my parents' house. My mom was planning to use it for another recipe, but she okayed me using it as a side for the pad thai. I quickly blanched it and then finished it in the wok with soy, sweet chili sauce, and cornstarch. It wasn't the most impressive thing I've ever made, but it was quite a tasty side for the pad thai. The acid was a nice balance to the richness of the pad thai. I will totally play with this veggie again.

5 - Rainbow Chard

I think I've cooked with chard before, but I'm still counting this, as different varietals can have different tastes and preparations. I did a simple saute and marinate with olive oil, vinegar, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Really delicious. 

6, 7, & 8 - Dried Scallops, Dried Shrimp, (Vegetarian) Oyster Sauce

I knocked off a whole bunch of new ingredients by making XO sauce. Ever since I saw a video about this luxurious sauce on Serious Eats, I wanted to give it a try. It was certainly a pricy and time-consuming sauce to make, but dang, this thing can elevate the most simple, inexpensive meals. It took me several hours to complete and many, many steps and ingredients--something I usually try to avoid--but I'll definitely make it again when I eat all this batch up. I tried it on just a plain piece of fish (barrimudi) poached in chicken stock. It felt so fa
ncy and delicious. I had no idea what else to use it with, and my old camp friend suggested white rice, XO sauce, & a fried egg and then just adding the sauce to fried rice. Both were wildly simple and so so so good, like I felt like I was eating something special. I am going to keep this sauce around to add to stir fries and fried rice, which are some favs of mine because I can just throw in any veggie I have around and wind up with a quick, fantastic entree.

Also, I used vegetarian oyster sauce instead of regular because I have a food intolerance to oysters (yes, it's true, and it's tragic), and I didn't want to risk wasting all of the ingredients needed for the sauce if I had a bad reaction to regular oyster sauce.

9 - Green Garlic

Green garlic looks a lot like green onions, so I gave it a taste when it first arrived in my Irv & Shelley Fresh Picks box for the week. It is kind of like a mild garlic, and I was able to use it in a variety of ways. First I used it just in a breakfast sandwich and later integrated it into a rainbow chard saute.

10 - Dover Sole

I picked up some frozen dover sole at Trader Joe's one day, and then it just sat in my freezer because I didn't know what to do with it. Then, this year, on Fridays, I have been eating pescatarian meals, and one Friday, the sole was the only fish I had. I looked up some recipes and tried two versions: one with brown butter and one with lemon pepper. The lemon pepper was fine, but the brown butter was excellent. It was so rich and tasted like buttery shellfish. I can't wait to make it again.

11 & 12 - Fava Beans & Pea Shoots

My Fresh Picks box came with fava beans and pea shoots, and I was like, um... What do I do with these? I looked up a recipe with pea shoots and found one that included really any blanched green veggie and poached eggs on top of a bed of greens and a vinaigrette. It was so damn good. I wish it were easier to get pea shoots because the rest was so easy and flexible, but the pea shoots had a perfect sweetness to add to the veggies, acid from the vinaigrette, and the creaminess of the eggs. Such a great, easy salad with layers of flavor.