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While I was in China, Peter raved about this meal that he made twice in two weeks. TWICE! With a husband who loves to cook a new dish every day, I was intensely curious about this particular meal. I was even more shocked when I learned that my carnivorous husb was enjoying a vegetarian dish – veggies, grains, the like.
No. Way.
I knew we simply had to cook this meal again, soon. With a fridge full of veggies, we decided tonight was the night.
Polenta Gratin with Mushroom “Bolognese”
Adapted from Think Like A Chef
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp peanut oil
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 small zucchini, chopped
1 small yellow squash, chopped
3 garlic gloves, minced
3 cups mushrooms, any kind, chopped (We used white button and cremini)
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme
1 cup veggie stock
Salt and pepper
Polenta:
1 cup cornmeal (polenta)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt
1/2 cup fresh-grated Parmesan
Heat peanut oil over medium heat in large skillet. Add onion, carrot, zucchini, and yellow squash and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Toss in mushrooms and thyme and cook for three minutes, until mushrooms are soft. Add tomatoes and veggie stock and simmer the Bolognese until the sauce thickens, about 30 minutes. Set aside.
For the polenta, bring 4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Add a pinch of salt, then add polenta VERY slowly – a spoonful at a time, stirring well after each addition. Stir constantly while bringing the polenta to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook the polenta (stir occasionally) for about 30 minutes, until smooth. Stir olive oil into the polenta.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread half the polenta in the bottom of a 9″ x 9″ baking dish. Spoon 1/2 – 2/3 of bolognese onto polenta, then top with the rest of the polenta. Reserve the rest of the bolognese. Top the whole gratin with Parmesan and bake for 40 minutes. Turn the oven up to broil and brown the cheese for 3 – 4 minutes. Warm the reserved sauce and serve with the gratin.
Inhale!
I can see why Peter loves this dish – yum! The warm polenta is so filling, but not at all heavy. And stuffing the gratin full of veggies is a great way to enjoy them in a nontraditional way. Veggies can be filling!
While we were grocery shopping this weekend, I spied a new fruit that I’ve never seen in the flesh: mangosteen. I’ve seen the juice in fancy antioxidant blends, yet I was unprepared to see this unremarkable little purple fruit.
Mangosteens are about the size of a small apple and apparently are wicked hard to grow due to the temperamental mangosteen plant. Food companies have generated a lot of hoopla about the supposedly high antioxidant content of mangosteen. The fruit appears to have some antioxidant effects, although it’s not any more of a “miracle fruit” than any other delicious (and more easily-accessible) fruit.
Mangosteens have thick, extremely bitter hulls (trust me, I tried it and it tasted … whew 
). The edible fruit is creamy white and segmented like an orange:
How did it taste? Like no other fruit I’ve ever tasted. It wasn’t as sweet as, say, an orange, but the flavor was a rich combination of lychees, strawberries, and plums. The flesh was super creamy … and gone in three bites!
Gussie says: give it a try! 
Q: Have you ever tasted mangosteen? What’s the most unusual fruit you’ve ever tried?
Hello again, everyone! I’ve now been in Beijing for three weeks and I feel very comfortable in the city – at least in the section around the University! I’ve navigated subways, buses, and taxis by myself in a strange city where I don’t speak the language well, and have even had (very) short conversations with sales people and taxi drivers (as long as they don’t speak too fast, of course). I miss brown rice, which doesn’t seem to exist here. Fried rice is found in abundance, however 
I’ve also experimented with some new breakfasts, such as this delicious yogurt:
Most yogurts here are drinkable, such as the one I featured in my last post. This yogurt is not for fat-avoiders – there’s also no such thing as low fat or nonfat yogurt in the grocery stores. Small portions, people, small portions.
I’ve also gotten used to the “special” toilets found in China (and elsewhere):
I won’t go into more detail about them. Suffice to say that I’m glad I’m a fairly strong runner. Feel free to ask me about them if you’d like
I thought I’d show you a bit of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I won’t give background on this ancient practice, so check out the link above for a great summary.
We had the opportunity to visit one of Peking University’s hospital to watch our professor practice TCM on his patients. As usual, this will mostly be a photo essay/montage.
Inside the hospital. No air-conditioning, so it was HOT.
Collection of physicians’ teas. If we were in the U.S., this cart would have a collection of Starbucks coffee cups:
Cupping cups:
We watched our professor perform acupuncture on some patients. The patient I saw had been suffering from insomnia. After receiving acupuncture, he fell asleep very quickly and was heard snoring in the hospital room! Of course, he may have just been exhausted Our professor gave one of us acupuncture in a “safety” point (note: this is NOT my arm – also, if you’re squeamish at all about any kind of needle, avert your eyes from the next picture):
Our professor also performed acupressure on some of us. One important TCM theory states that problems occurring in the body will often show up on your surface (i.e. your skin), and that they can also be treated from the surface. For example, different parts of the ear correspond to different area of the body. By applying pressure, internal problems can be resolved.
Tiny seeds that will help create pressure at certain points in the ear when taped to the skin:
Our professor treating a woman suffering from constipation:
Like I mentioned in this post, TCM is a slower medicine, so patients often return several times for treatment. For people with mild conditions who prefer a non-drug approach, these TCM practices can help. (Of course, herbal medicine is a different story. I might devote a whole post to that later.)
When the professor looked at my ear, he said I looked very healthy and that there was nothing to treat (yes!). He ended up applying a pressure point to the area that prevents/relieves headaches.
Cool! I walked around with the tape on for a few days and blended right into the crowd
Some pictures of an herb-collecting trip on Ling Mountain in the Beijing countryside (no, that is not an oxymoron):
Yes, we hiked to the top of the mountain.
At the top!
A few random images from nighttime in Beijing:
Who knew a city could have such beauty?
Finally, one for fun:
In our local grocery store.
I’m signing off for now – stay tuned for a personal Jessie-led tour of some of Beijing’s most thrilling sights, a (possible) introduction to herbal medicine, and, of course, FOOD! I hope everyone is doing well in their parts of the world!
Hello again from Beijing, China! I realize I haven’t talked about food much yet, so I thought I’d share some with you. A typical breakfast I’ve had here looks like this:
This pancake is some sort of hash brown with a fried egg in the middle. Very oily.
A mild spice cake-like thing that unfortunately tends to have hard seeds in them that look like olive pits (?).
While I don’t mind the mass-produced cafeteria food during lunch and dinner so much, I just couldn’t stomach this for breakfast every day, nor the refined-flour greasy buns and pancakes that make up the cafeteria breakfasts. My heart was racing from all the refined carbs. After a week and a half of this food, I’ve switched to this for breakfast:
Yes, that would be banana and peanut butter! If I can’t have my oatmeal, at least I’ll have some of the ingredients. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Skippy peanut butter here in Beijing.
Skippy PB and chocolate swirled together! Why don’t they have this in the U.S.?! I never eat Skippy in the U.S., but still.
Lame? Maybe, but at least I enjoy my breakfasts again I DO miss Saratoga Peanut Butter Company PB. I know what I’ll be eating first when I get home!
Moooving on … the weekend before last, I arranged for my group to experience a Beijing food tour! The tour traveled through the Beijing hutongs (“Old Beijing” ). Hutongs are narrow alleyways bounded by traditional Chinese courtyards, many of which are several centuries old. For those of you who have checked out the blog I set up for my University, you will have seen some of these pictures already. That’s ok – nothing wrong with ogling food twice!
(I’m going to keep the text short because I’ve not had nearly as much time to blog here in China as I thought I would!)
Famous chestnut roaster in Beijing:
Long line!
Have you ever tried a roasted chestnut? I hadn’t before this tour, but I loved it! Meaty and smoky and delicious
We began our tour at a local Hakka restaurant, where our first dish featured wild vegetables picked fresh from the hills around Beijing:
Spicy, salty perch:
Flavorful green beans in a light sauce:
Sauteed mushrooms. I had never seen this kind of mushroom before.
Crackly roasted corn. This dish was definitely my favorite dish.
Sticky rice:
Sauteed shrimp with tea leaves:
I don’t remember exactly what was in this dish, but I do remember that the green circles in the middle were bitter melon. It tasted exactly how it sounds.
Some images from the day:
A beautiful lake by the hutong area:
Hutong images:
A tea shop menu written in chalk on a brick wall:
A look into a hutong courtyard. The number of boxes on the upper left indicates how many families live in this tiny area (!):
Transportation:
See those cardboard pieces covering the wheels? Those are there to prevent little dogs from peeing on the tires 
The number of posts above a door indicates a family’s status. A family with a”four post” door is ranked higher than a family with a “two post” door. Girls could marry into higher status families, but boys could only marry within their rank or lower.
As the awesome Aletheia reminded me, this innocuous looking egg is what’s known as a “Thousand Year” egg. It has been soaked in brine until the brine penetrates the egg and preserves it.
Here I am cracking the egg …
… and my face when I see what’s inside.
The egg is BLACK! When you break the egg open, it always has layers of colors and textures. I hope to try this type of egg in a dish before I leave China. Gotta stretch my food boundaries!
This sweet man owns a Muslim bakery:
Some of his delicious vegetarian treats:
I even got to take a picture with him!
This fruit tastes like a cross between a raspberry and a strawberry – hen hao chi! (Very delicious!) I don’t recall the name of it off the top of my head, but I’ll find out and edit the name into the post.
A Beijinger taking an afternoon siesta:
Our last stop was in a Taiwanese tea shop. We didn’t actually drink any tea (the weather was very hot), but we did try some Taiwanese snacks.
This omelet was supposed to have oysters in it, but still tasted great with shrimp instead. I don’t even know what the sauce was – a Taiwanese version of ketchup, maybe? In any case, it was fabulous.
One of my favorite treats of the day was a lightly-sweetened yogurt/soft cheese that’s very popular in this section of Beijing. The yogurt was topped with black beans or oatmeal. Who says I can’t get calcium in Beijing??
I miss reading all your blogs! I can’t wait to catch up when I get back. Have a great rest of your week, and I’ll talk to you all again soon!
Jessie 
Hi everyone! When I last blogged with you, I was exaustedly sprawled across my suitcase. I’ve now lived in Beijing for about a week and I feel like I’m quickly adjusting to life in a Chinese city. I no longer say “I’m sorry” as I push past crowds of people (unless I say “dui bu qi” so I can smirk at my own cleverness), and I did not bat a single sweaty lash when I saw a man shaving a cat in the street yesterday afternoon.
Anyhow, thanks again to my fabulous guest posters Lynn, Joanne, and Melinda for picking up the slack while I was adjusting to new territory! Another somewhat reluctant thank you to Jessie’s Subconscious for making a surprise appearance (a.k.a. Peter … just kidding about the “reluctant” thank you, by the way. The word I’m looking for is “clutching-keyboard-in-China-with-surprise-yet-somewhat-pleased” thank you). THIH has another four exciting guest posters in the queue over the next week and a half, so we have some wonderful posts coming up!!
I’m sure you’re all wondering what the heck I’ve been up to over the past week. Well:
Plane lunch. Eaten with chopsticks and a lot of internal cursing. I probably should have gone for the cod meal option.
Flying over Greenland (the closest I’ll ever get!!). Sadly, nothing to be seen out of the windows, as I was wedged into the middle of the plane.
Single-sized portion of vanilla bean Hagan Daaz with built in spoon.
Approaching Beijing 13.5 hours after takeoff from Newark:
Beijing airport:
Bird’s Nest from the 2008 Olympics (I’ll get a better picture for you guys later):
On to some food! Kung pao chicken, served family-style:
I noticed right away that authentic Chinese food is ten bajillion times better than their American counterparts. I remember eating so-called “Kung Pao Chicken” when I was at Amherst College and in restaurants, and those American versions do NOT compare. In general, the food here is lighter and much more flavorful than American Chinese food. For example, what do you get when you toss edamame with a little sesame oil, vinegar, and spicy pepper?
Simply satisfying.
Check out my room!
Handwashed laundry hanging out to dry.
This is a hole from my room to the outside. Did I mention I’m on the third floor?
One of the Chinese students told me that my dorm (the foreign students’ dorm) is the nicest on campus. None of the Chinese students’ dorms have air-conditioning, and until recently some didn’t have hot water. This study abroad program has been eye-opening in many ways so far.
Gotta provide our own water and toilet paper.
My first breakfast in Beijing was a little startling. For someone who is used to a hearty bowl of oatmeal made with milk and banana, topped with peanut butter, I was a little bummed to order this:
The bun was filled with some kind of generic meat (probably beef, but maybe pork, or a combination of the two). Together, both cost 0.90 yuan, or about 13 cents. Cheap and NOT filling. I quickly abandoned the bun and ate the egg for breakfast. Don’t worry! Jessie didn’t starve. I’ve been eating a lot of this:
I used to gobble down Pocky when I was a young ‘un. The chocolate flavors are particularly good. I also decided to try the Pretz kind after seeing them on Sophia‘s blog. The pizza flavor really does taste like pizza! I also wanted to taste a new kind called pejoy after seeing that one variety was red wine-flavored. Yes, it did taste like boxed red wine.
In the interest of not toying with your patience (and to give way to my laziness busyness), I will present images of my first few days in Beijing without words:
I won't be eating the street food.
Beijing subway, one of the nicest subways I've ever seen.
At the Peking University main campus:
So far we’ve spent a good chunk of each day in our Traditional Chinese Medicine and Mandarin classes. I’ll talk about them more in a later post. Other than classes, I’ve been exploring the area around the Peking University Pharmaceutics campus, shopping some and eating lots! I look forward to sharing more with you all later. Until then, zai jian!
(Final note: I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting to all of your blogs. I’ve only been able to load a couple of WordPress blogs, but I can’t download any Blogspot or Blogger blogs, and I’m having trouble with some random blogs, I think because they have a lot of graphics on them, and this school’s Internet can’t handle it. I’ll keep trying to get through, but if I’m not as active in the blogworld, I’m sorry! I’ll do my best I also can’t connect to Facebook or Twitter, so I guess I’ll have to go back to the antiquated telephone to keep in touch )
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