Fast and Loose with Substitutions (Gingered Snow Peas)

Menu: Black Pepper Shrimp with "Sun-Dried" Pineapple; Snow Peas with Ginger Butter

Lessons learned:

1. Oven-drying fruit: I can't WAIT to buy my next pineapple!
2. Mashed black beans in stir-fries: surprisingly tasty.
3. Ginger fried in butter: unsurprisingly tasty.

I almost never make a recipe as written, even if it's my first time.  I make changes according to what I happen to have on hand, what shortcuts might be possible, and what has worked for me in the past.  This approach isn't for everyone, obviously, but sometimes it ends up going too far even for me.

Last night, I endeavored to prepare a fantastic-looking recipe from a great cookbook I found recently at the library, Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges (Vongerichten).  My thought process as I scanned the ingredient list before shopping was, unfortunately, as follows:

"Pineapple?  Those are $5 each.  I already have some mangoes.  Vegetable oil?  Check.  Scallions?  John doesn't like onions, so I'll just cut some chives from the garden and sprinkle them on my portion.  Ginger?  Check.  Garlic?  Check.  Black peppercorns?  Check.  Fermented black beans?  Ummmmm... I have regular black beans.  I'll just use those.  Kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)?  Huh?  I'll just use half soy sauce and half rice vinegar or something like that.  Regular soy sauce?  Check?  Lime juice?  Check.  Sugar and salt?  Check.  Shrimp?  Check.  Jicama?  I've always wanted to try one of those!  [Later at the store: 'gross, the two jicamas they have are both moldy!  I have some carrots at home.']  Baby pea shoots?  I'm going to pretend I didn't see that."

As you might expect, what I ended up with was very different than the beautiful picture in the book.  It was definitely edible, but next time I think I'll make a real attempt to cook the recipe as directed (probably still minus pea shoots, though).

The most interesting thing about this recipe is the oven-dried pineapple.  The intro says it is "amazing," so I decided I would try it with the mango.  It really was good: all that sweet flavor without the messy juice.  I think it really will be fantastic with pineapple.  I can't wait!

I also tried another recipe for preparing my snow peas.  This is one of those really simple ones that I don't know why I couldn't have come up with myself.  Melt some butter in a frying pan, then throw in about a tablespoon of fresh chopped ginger and wait for it to brown a little bit.  It tastes like candy!  Toss your veggies in it, then grate some lemon zest over that and sprinkle with a little salt.  Very nice.