I spent the night in Syracuse, Nebraska, woke up, and looked for an easy, satisfying breakfast. The gas station beckoned. Dining in small towns seems to be slowly shifting away from standalone restaurants to multi-use locations like gas stations or grocery stores. A restaurant, particularly a breakfast spot, is an important social link in a small town. It seems that the best way to make them economically viable is to combine food with other activities. This gas station serves as a local convenience store with all types of items. The restaurant has a large seating area.
I didn't have a chance to try this meat but it sure looked good.
The menu was very complete: full breakfast, fried chicken, ice cream, a full coffee bar. Since my breakfast would take a few minutes to prepare, I started with a tender, sweet donut and a big cup of coffee.
I don't typically eat something like chicken fried steak for breakfast but I was in the mood for a hearty breakfast. It was great: good crust, flavorful meat with texture but not toughness. The scrambled eggs were hearty, the toast excellent. And those hash browns hiding there managed to sop up just a little of the gravy. I eat my meal and then spent a few minutes at my table enjoying the morning with my coffee.
I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...
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