Oh Mama, Umami!

Sad news, the Williams-Sonoma by my house is closing. Good news, I got a sweet new saucepan at 60% off! Time to make a sauce!

A demi-glace is a French brown sauce, made from stock and espagnole sauce then cooked waaaaay down. I had never made one before, so yay new things! Chef Steps has a recipe for a vegetarian-friendly demi-glace that takes less time than making a beef demi-glace. I also have a very small fridge, so storing enough bones for stock was going to be a problem. At least vegetables can be kept at room temperature for a little while.

Get a mandoline, even a $20 one from Target. It's such a time saver for this recipe! AND USE THE HAND GUARD!!!!! Especially if you want it to be a vegan sauce!!! 

I used MSG, because it's an umami-enhancer, but you don't have to. There's forever a debate over it, whether it causes migraines or whatever, but it just doesn't affect me. Plus I'm not bathing in it, or having it with every meal. The pectin and xanthan gum provide the silky texture that meat would provide. Some xanthan gum is made with lactose, therefore if you're vegan, check your xanthan gum source carefully, or don't use it. 

We drizzled this over pan fried pork chops, asparagus, and potatoes. I think my biggest issue is the vegetable waste that occurs for a small amount of sauce. I might do this again, with frozen vegetable scraps, or the bruised produce you can buy at a discount. 

Corndawgs!

Took a break from all the Asian-inspired grub I've been having recently, as well as a break from all the well-balanced meals I make during the workweek. 

Corn dogs are pretty perfect, no? They check off a lot of boxes; Fried, Sweet, Salty, On a Stick.

Using Riley's recipe from ChefSteps, I found them to be pretty straightforward. You definitely want to invest in a food scale if you don't have one yet. ChefSteps recipes use grams as their unit of measurement, as there is a lot of chemistry going on. Corn Dogs are one of their more simple recipes but as you go up in difficulty, the measurement accuracy becomes very very important. 

Anyhooose. 

I made mine buckwheat, but with a beefy interior. When the batter got too low to dip regular hotdogs I cut them down and made corn dog bites. Then when I was out of hot dogs, I saved the batter for Sunday morning pancakes! Yum!

I'm certainly adding these to my regular fried repertoire.