You see, I can talk about food all day long (might as well, I'm thinking about it). On the contrary, he views food as more of a necessary, purposeful, practical part of life. You eat because you have to to keep moving. Cereal for dinner? That's fine. A ham sandwich every day for lunch? That's fine, too. Food is a means to an end, not necessarily an emotional experience, if that makes sense.
Sometimes I am jealous of his view of food ... mostly because I think my life would be so much easier if I wasn't so obsessed with eating. On the whole, I think his relationship with food is far healthier than my own.
So you can understand how, when I try a new recipe, we have a small bit of conflict.
I want to dissect it. I'm not satisfied with a general "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" review. I want him to give me more information.
What did you like about it? What did you think about X? How would you change it if I made it again? Don't you think it was too (salty, sweet, lumpy, crusty, dry) something?
He generally doesn't say much, waits for me to critique it myself and then agrees with me just to get the conversation over with as quickly as possible, knowing that no matter what he says, I'll debate it (Libra) and will really only agree with myself anyway (first born/Type A).
So today, when I struck out on a rushed "Let's Make Egg Drop Soup in 20 Minutes" mission, he was prepping for the barrage of questions he knew I'd ask.
Then he did something he rarely does.
He tasted it. He ate it. And he said ... unprompted and unprovoked ...
"You did all right with that."
Let me translate that for you:
"I REALLY liked that soup! It was close to perfect! You are an amazing wife and I am lucky to have you! I can't believe you just whipped that up out of nowhere! Please make it again ... soon!"
Then I had some. And it was pretty good. I like it better than the takeout version because I know exactly what's in it and what's not (MSG). Plus, I think it's endlessly modifiable to meet your personal tastes.
As always ... measurements approximate ... do what looks good/tastes good to you!
Egg Drop Soup
1C sliced mushrooms
1 bunch green onions, sliced "pretty" on the bias
1T finely chopped garlic
1/2 to 1T finely chopped ginger -or- less dry ginger seasoning if you don't have fresh
1 box low-sodium chicken stock
2T corn starch, mixed in 1/4C water
2 eggs
Siracha or any hot sauce
Soy sauce
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Optional: Water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, chicken, carrots (sliced into tiny matchsticks), fresh lime juice.
In a big stock pot over medium high heat, drizzle a little olive oil. When it's hot, drop in the mushrooms and let them get a little brown. Before they're all the way done, drop in the onions.
Heat until everything is soft/translucent/cooked through. Salt/pepper to taste. Add garlic and ginger. (I like a lot of ginger, so adjust to your taste.) Once that's heated through (don't burn the garlic), add the chicken stock. Add a squirt or two of Siracha and a glug of soy sauce. While you are waiting for that to boil, crack two eggs into a small bowl and whip them up with a fork. Set aside. Once the pot is boiling, add your corn starch slurry to thicken the broth. Taste, adjust salt pepper if needed.
Then, with a wooden spoon, stir the pot clockwise. Get it and keep it all moving in one direction. As you stir, slowly drizzle the egg mixture in. Keep stirring! The egg will cook the second it his the hot liquid and you don't want to make scrambled eggs.
If you want to add any of the optional ingredients, add them before the eggs. Since I was using this as a "meal" soup, we added chunks of cooked chicken breast. If I was going to do the carrots, I'd add them with the mushrooms so they cook a little. Honestly, I didn't have green onions on hand, so I just sliced up some red onion really thin.
Does it have to be clockwise? Do you have to use a wooden spoon? Probably not. That's just what the recipes I looked at said, so I'm also including it. Maybe if you're in Australia, you stir counter clockwise?
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