Trying to do a quick update before heading down to San Francisco for the weekend for grandpa's 80th birthday! Looking forward to seeing all the family together.
Last night I finished up my 7th straight evening of work and stayed up until 4:30am to study for my first biochemistry exam. I'm really enjoying the class and very happy that in this course I'm really starting to see the beauty of the intricate science even down to the molecular level. It's absolutely amazing and the more I learn, the more I want to know. I figure this is a promising sign as I wait to hear back from medical schools about whether or not they're interested in interviewing me!
It's been getting much cooler, and a couple weeks ago we had fog as thick as San Francisco. I never get tired of this beautiful place:
I realize that I haven't been posting much cooking lately, so here's a rundown of one of my favorite ways to braise oxtail (western style). Sometimes I cook it Chinese style, sometimes it's in a soup just like Mom used to make, and other times it's this way ... I guess you could call it "French inspired".
Onions, carrots, celery, oxtail, and a bottle of red wine
First I pat dry the oxtail and brown the outsides in oil
With the browned oxtails removed, I then cook down the veggies. In this case, I wanted to try adding some sun-dried tomatoes that I pureed into a paste.
Once the veggies have cooked down, I add back the oxtail and put some water into the pan to cover the oxtail. It goes into the oven at around 400 degrees for about 4 hours (5 or 6 hours would make it even better but I was pressed for time).
Fall-off-the-bone goodness! I've learned that with very gelatinous meats like oxtail, long cook times (and I mean LONG) is the key. I remember the first time I cooked oxtail and was disappointed that it was quite tough - not the incredibly juicy and soft meat that Mom used to make. I learned that simply continuing to cook it for a couple more hours will make it exactly how it should be ;-)
Molly did some cooking the other night as well ... here we're starting with a roasted beet and carrot salad with delicious beet juice and roasted walnut puree. In the background you can see freshly made pasta sheets hanging up to dry:
Lamb crepenettes from Rain Shadow Meats with lentils, roasted brussels sprouts, and carrots. Molly killed it with this one! Yum!
Mom and dad recently got back from a trip to Taiwan. Unfortunately it was during a typhoon so their activities were limited, but they did get to visit Wisteria Tea House (I'm so jealous!). They brought back some delicious high mountain tea (Alishan) for us. Look at that beautiful box!
So fresh
In other tea world news, I recently attended my first tea club meeting at Floating Leaves Tea. The topic this time was oolong roasting, and we were able to see how roasting some varietals really change the character of the tea, while in others, the effect is minimal.
It was really fun and I met a lot of fun people. We began with a Buddha's Hand oolong, then moved to Phoenix oolong, Tie Guan Yin, and finally Alishan. With the Buddha's Hand, a light touch-up roast in the yixing pot over a tea candle flame brought much more fruity flavor forward and thickened the body compared to the slightly "stale" un-refreshed tea. Phoenix oolong definitely benefitted from the additional spot-roasting since it was a greener style. The bouquet was incredible for the touched-up Phoenix oolong - note to self: buy some of this! Putting the Alishan in the small bamboo electric roaster did not seem to do as much (maybe it wasn't enough time or high enough temp), but I did definitely notice a much more prominent citrus aftertaste for the touched-up Alishan.
I purchased that cute little bamboo electric roaster and I'm experimenting with a bag of last year's 2012 Jin Xuan oolong (also known as "milk oolong" due to its incredibly milky/creamy taste and aroma, with a touch of high mountain character). The original tea was good, but I had a feeling I could make it better. It had a lightly milky mouthfeel and light cream aroma, but the dominant character to me at this time was that of Taiwanese gao-shan (high mountain) tea.
After getting this baseline, I proceeded to play with my cute little roaster ....
bag of 2012 winter Jin Xuan oolong to work with
Bamboo electric roaster has a timer and temperature feature
Putting some tea in, and leaving a little hole in the middle so the heat can better pass through the mesh and tea
My first small batch roast was done beginning at 60C for 20 mins, then increasing to 65C for 20 minutes and then to 70C for 20 minutes. It definitely got rid of the "stale" character, and revived the tea nicely. I was starting to see more of the "milky" character that this varietal is known for, and the roasting was starting to make its impression, although it faded rather quickly after three or four infusions to leave the "high mountain" tea character.
I saved part of that batch and continued to roast, now at 85C for 40 minutes. The "green" high mountain character was now pretty much gone and the creaminess was really developing. I was really happy with this additional roasting. It's imparting a delicious gentle "toasted rice" kind of roasty flavor rather than a strong fire/burnt/smoky roast (the latter which I'm not a fan of).
Still, this tea seems pretty robust, so I think we could push it even more and draw out the best toasty and creamy character. I started with a fresh 3 ounces and set the timer to max (60 minutes), beginning at 70C. After that time ended, I reset the timer another 60 minutes, and bumped the temperature up to 80C for the first half of the hour, then to 90C for the second half. The color is really beginning to change to a light brown and the wonderful aroma is filling the house :)
