I’ve missed cooking… sure, Beijing has a wealth of restaurants doing all kinds of interesting stuff but when it really comes down to it, it’s nice to be at home, spend some time in the kitchen and then sit down to enjoy the fruit of one’s labour.
As things slowed down in Beijing during these holidays, I find myself increasingly attracted to my knives, pots, spices and various herbs, fusing them together and delighting in the resulting tastes and flavors.
So far this week, pasta has yet to make an appearance on my plates. Tagines were the de-rigueur dish on Sunday when a friend came over for dinner: Lemon Chicken tagine, apple/carrot/raisins salad as well as a simple-but-oh-so-good dish of garlic & olive oil mushrooms all complemented by a fantastic 2004 La Bete Pinot from Oregon. Lish is managing to get me over my pinot bias with every single bottle she’s had me taste so far.
I’m gonna have to find a way to keep this up a minimum of twice a week.