Cleaning out the fridge...

R and I are finally going on a "vacation" this weekend and even though it's just to my moms house in Vermont, 5 days + no work = heaven! When I took a look in my fridge last night it was filled with food that I knew would go bad, so before I cooked my salmon dinner I tried to use up some of the spare groceries on a dinner for R.

Middle Eastern Meatballs in Tikka Masala

• Ground Beef
• Baby Green Peas, defrosted
• Garlic Scape, chopped
• Paprika, Cumin, White Pepper, Tumeric, Cayenne, Ginger
• Pita, toasted and blended into bread crumbs
• Tikka Masala, storebought
• Chopped Tomatoes
• Beef Stock
• Potatoes, peeled & cubed.
• Jasmine Rice

I combined the ground beef, peas, garlic scape, spices & pita, molded into large meatballs and let rest until they were room temperature. I pan seared, removed to a plate and deglazed the pan with beef stock, then added the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes & tikka masala. The reason I added in the other ingredients is that I was short on tikka masala so the tomatoes and beef stock helped extend it far enough to cover the meatballs. I made sure the sauce was thin enough to simmer (add more stock or water), then added the meatballs back into the pan and cooked for about 10 minutes, covered. I added in the potatoes and cooked until fork tender.

This was pretty yummy for such a hodge podge dish. It reminded me that if you can think creatively you can make dinner out of almost anything! My recommendation would be to toss the peas in at the last minute instead of cooking them in the meatballs as they started to fall out while cooking.

Pork Dumplings

A few months ago I saw a recipe for Pork and Chive Dumplings on epicurious.com, and ever since then I have had dumplings on my mind.  I had never made a dumpling before, and I imagined it to be a difficult and labor intensive process.  Fortunately it was quite the opposite!  I simply seasoned the pork, spooned it into the middle of store-bought wonton wrappers, moistened the edges, and folded them together into little half-moons or fortune cookie shapes.  After a few minutes in a bath of simmering water, the dumplings are ready to go.   Fragrant with ginger and scallion, these dumplings get the perfect amount of seasoning from soy sauce, sesame oil, and a hit of chili-garlic sauce.  You take a bite, the steaming pork juice drips down your fingers, your dog whines expectantly at your feet, your dining partner gazes at you with love in his eyes, and you know you’ve made a good dinner.

Pork Dumplings

Adapted from recipe by Andrea Reusing, Gourmet, October 2008, courtesy of epicurious.com

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 pound ground pork

1 tablespoon sherry (or Shaoxing wine if you have it!)

1/2 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

1 teaspoon Thai Chili Garlic sauce

2-3 teaspoons grated peeled ginger

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

4 teaspoons soy sauce

big pinch of kosher salt

big pinch of white pepper

3-4 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

3-4 tablespoons finely chopped scallion

1 package round dumpling wrappers 

Directions:  

Combine all ingredients (except cilantro, scallions and wrappers) in a large bowl, then stir in cilantro and scallions.  Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice to keep chilled while forming dumplings (I skipped this step, I just put the pork bowl in the freezer between making batches 1 and 2 of my dumplings).  

To assemble dumplings, place a rounded teaspoon of filling in the center of a wrapper and moisten edges of wrapper with water.  Fold into a half-moon or fortune cookie shape.  

Cook dumplings in a large pot of gently simmering water until pork is just cooked, about 3 minutes or when dumplings bob to the top of the water.  Note: sometimes they stick to the bottom of the pan, so check that they are not stuck! Transfer with a slotted spoon to a platter.  

I served my dumplings with the suggested Lantern Dumpling Sauce and my Savoy Cabbage, Ginger and Carrot Slaw.

New Buffalo Bachelorette Bison Burgers with Chipotle 'Russian' Dressing

I just spent the weekend in New Buffalo, Michigan celebrating the impending nuptials of my good friend Jacqueline.  J makes a mean turkey burger with a spicy sour cream sauce, which I intended to buy the ingredients for when I walked into the grocery store the other day.  The butcher however, had another idea.  He pooh-poohed my request for ground turkey and encouraged me to buy ground bison, claiming  "It has more protein per ounce than ground turkey!  It has Omega-3's!  It has less fat and more iron than pork, chicken, fish, and many other meats!"  I couldn't defend my choice of ground turkey so I said good, FINE, I'll take the bison!

The resulting burger honors both Jackie's turkey burger and the past weekend in New Buffalo (because I'm not sure what the difference is between the American Buffalo and the American Bison).  Ground Bison is available at my local grocery for around $6.00/lb.  Look for grass-fed Bison meat if available.  

New Buffalo Bachelorette Bison Burgers with Chipotle 'Russian' Dressing

Serves 4

Patty:

1 lb ground Bison meat

1 egg white

1 small shallot, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle in adobo)

Salt and Pepper

Toppings:

Jack Cheese, Avocado and your bun of choice

Dressing:

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup ketchup

3-4 chipotles in adobo, minced

Directions: 

Mix patty ingredients together and form into 4 patties.  If mixture is too moist, add a sprinkling of breadcrumbs. 

Whisk together dressing ingredients.  

Fire up your grill and grill burgers to your liking.  Bison is much leaner than ground beef, so you may want to aim for Medium to Medium Rare.  Top with cheese towards the end of cooking.  

To assemble burgers, spread each half of the bun (I like mine toasted on the grill) with the dressing.  Top with Bison patty, sliced avocado, and sliced tomato/leaf lettuce if desired.  Yum!

Alternately, here is J's recipe for Chile-Cilantro Sauce.  I think this sauce would also be excellent with the Bison burger.

Chile-Cilantro Sauce
Ingredients:
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
6 tbsp sour cream
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp grated lime rind
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:
Combine and chill before serving

Angel Hair with Sauteed Greens and Scallion Sauce

garlic scapes

Yesterday I went to the Dag Hammarsjkjold Plaza Green Market with a few coworkers to pick up some fresh (and cheap) veggies. My coworker Jack mentioned he was making an Orecchiette with Sauteed Greens and Scallion Sauce from Foodandwine.com for dinner. I had seen the recipe earlier in the week and was also intrigued. I took the recipe and put a spin on it based on the greens I wanted at the market and it turned out wonderfully! I was especially pleased with the garlic scapes which added a smooth, almost oniony flavor to the sauce and made the whole dish fragrant.

Angel Hair with Sauteed Greens and Scallion Sauce

c/o Foodandwine.com

• Pasta of Choice
• 4 tbs Unsalted Butter
• Garlic Scape, chopped
• 2 Scallions, chopped
• Dry White Wine
• Water
• Dandelion Greens, rough chopped
• Baby Arugula
• Mascarpone or substitute (cream cheese, sour cream, dash of milk)

In a saute pan melt the 4 tbs butter and saute the garlic & scallions for about 5 minutes or until tender. Add a few swirls of white wine (apx 3/4 cup) and let simmer until the wine reduces by half. Add a bit of water and transfer the contents to a blender. Add S&P and blend until smooth.

Saute the dandelion greens and arugula with a bit of olive oil. When still slightly crisp,, add a ladle of pasta water, pasta, scallion sauce and dollop of marscarpone (or substitute). The recipe called for marscarpone, which I didn't want to spend money on, so after a bit of googling I found a good substitute. I combined cream cheese & sour cream with dash of milk. It had the same creamy rich texture as mascarpone and added the sweet/savory flavor that really made the dish.

Based on the simplicity of this dish, I didn't quite know what to expect. After first bite I could tell this was going to be a new favorite. I literally found myself wiping my finger along the bottom of my empty bowl to get to the remaining sauce! My recommendation with this recipe is not to go lightly on the scallions and scape (or traditional garlic), the sauce is going to flavor the whole dish so you want it to be nice and potent.

Eggplant and Mozzarella Sandwich with Quick Tomato Soup

Yesterday afternoon I was drifting into an afternoon lull and started to think about what I could make for dinner. I happened to be on Facebook and my new friend Chef Billy of Cooking Light posted a link for Quick and Healthy Vegetarian dinners. I was drawn to the eggplant sandwich for the bright colors and strong flavors but changed up the ingredients based on what I had in stock.

Eggplant and Mozzarella Sandwich

• 1 Eggplant, sliced into 1/2" rounds
• Pesto
• Sliced Red Onion
• Arugula
• Roasted Red Peppers, sliced
• Mozzarella, sliced into 1/4" rounds
• Ciabatta

Quick Tomato Soup

• 1 can Crushed Tomatoes
• 4 cups Chicken Stock
• Dry Oregano
• 1 tsp chopped Chile en Adobo
• Parmesan Rind (optional)
• Parmesan, shredded
• Sour Cream or Milk

In a 375 degree oven I roasted the eggplant rounds (silpat, olive oil, s&p) for 25-30 minutes, flipping half way through. While the eggplant roasted I started on my soup. I combined the tomatoes, stock, oregano, chile en adobo and parmesan rind, brought to a simmer and cooked (covered) for 20 minutes. The parmesan rind is a great addition as it infuses the soup with the parmesany flavor! After about 20 minutes, I uncovered, removed the rind, added in the sour cream and parmesan and let cook uncovered until we were ready to eat. I found my soup was still a bit thin so I added some tempered cornstarch to thicken it up.

To assemble the sandwiches I buttered the ciabatta and toasted alongside the eggplant. Once the bread and eggplant were done, I layered the bread with pesto, halved eggplant rounds, roasted red peppers and mozzarella. I popped back into the oven until the cheese had begun to melt then added the red onions and arugula tossed with a bit of olive oil.

This was yum yum yum!! I always forget how rich and delicious eggplant can be, especially when roasted. This is a must serve meal.

Pesto Two Ways

I love keeping fresh basil in the house but no matter how I store it, it goes bad quickly. At the end of last week I had a huge bunch of basil plus some other herbal odds & ends that I knew would go bad if I didn't use them. I decided to throw them all in a blender and make a pesto, which I used for a salad on Friday and pasta on Sunday.

Homemade Pesto

• Basil
• Cilantro
• Parsley
• Dill
• 1 Garlic Clove, chopped
• 1" Fresh Ginger, chopped
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Lemon Juice
• Cumin
• S&P
• Olive Oil

For the salad, I added vinegar and olive oil to the pesto to thin it out and used it to dress a salad of romaine, corn, chickpeas, tomatoes and roasted chicken. For $10 I had a fresh roasted chicken delivered from Chicken Festival (real name), a Peruvian restaurant down the street. For added pizzaz, I crisped up the chicken skin and crumbled over the top like bacon bits.

On Sunday I used the pesto to make a simple Pesto Parpadelle with Chicken, Toasted Almonds & Mozzarella. I cut chicken tenders into 1" long pieces and browned, removed the chicken to the side and deglazed the plan with a bit of pasta water. After I'd scraped up all the bits I added the chicken back to the pan along with the pesto, then tossed in the parpadelle, almonds (sliced & toasted) and chunks of fresh mozzerella. A simple and delicious dinner!

Date Night

Herb Grilled Sirloin with Corn and Tomato-Sweet Onion Salad and Parmesan Potatoes

Every so often R and I decide to actually sit at our dining room table and enjoy a home cooked meal instead of our standard eating in front of the television. To celebrate the occasion we had grilled sirloin steak with a delicious Bobby Flay corn and tomato salad and parmesan roasted potatoes.

Herb Grilled Sirloin

• 1 Sirloin Steak 1 1/2" thick
• Herb Mix, minced: garlic, parsley, cilantro, thyme, dry oregano (or herb mix of your choice)

Rub sirloin with herb mix, drizzle with olive oil and let sit on the counter for one hour until it's up to room temp. On a hot grill pan cook 2-3 minutes, then turn 110 degrees and cook another 3 minutes. Flip and cook for 2-5 minutes for rare or 4-7 for medium rare. I cooked for an additional 5 minutes with the above result. Let rest for 10-15 minutes then slice into 1/2" thick pieces.

Grilled Corn and Tomato-Sweet Onion Salad with Fresh Basil Dressing and Crumbled Blue Cheese

Chef Bobby Flay

• 2 Ears Corn, shucked
• Cherry Tomatoes, quartered
• Vidalia Onion, halved and thinly sliced
• Crumbled Blue Cheese
• Basil Dressing: minced basil, S&P, tsp sugar, rice vinegar, olive oil

Combine minced basil, S&P and sugar and grind into a paste (or blend). Whisk in vinegar and olive oil and set aside. The dressing can be made up to two hours in advance. Bring to room temp before tossing with the remaining salad ingredients. For the corn, I grilled it on a hot grill pan covered with foil so I would get nice char marks.

Parmesan Potatoes

• Red Potatoes, quartered
• Shredded Parmesan
• Olive Oil
• S&P

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Toss together the ingredients, place on a baking sheet and cook for 25-30 minutes or until fork tender. I've made these potatoes a few times and typically I cook them on tin foil so I don't have a big mess to clean up. The problem is that they big time stick to the foil. This time I cooked them on my silpat, a non-stick cooking mat which can take temperatures of up to 480 (great for roasting veggies!). The silpat created an interesting effect of dissolving the cheese into a bubbling liquid instead of crisping it up. It didn't affect the end result badly, once the potatoes cooled they developed a nice crust. I'm thinking that because the mat is designed so things don't stick, the cheese couldn't stay still long enough to brown. Either way, they turned out delicious.

This dinner was delicious, perfecto and awesome. I am so proud of how the steak turned out. I used Trevor's finger test to check doneness, and I ended up with perfect medium rare steak!

It was also very easy to make. I would start by getting your steak herbed and marinating because that takes about 1 hour. Next you can mix your basil dressing and grill your corn and set aside until right before dinner when you assemble your salad. After that you put the potatoes in the oven, they taste great cold so no need to wait until the last minute. The last item is to cook the steak, which requires a bit of flipping but no real maintenance. This means you can have a drink with your guest and enjoy yourself before dinner is served!

Beef Tacos

On my bus ride home yesterday I was trying to come up with a dish using only what I had in my fridge. I knew I had avocado, lettuce, tomato and wraps so I concocted a taco using beef patties. I'm not quite sure what to call this dish as a search for nice names for "burger taco" sent me to this website, which is not the type of site I want my food to be associated with!!! The recipe was very simple, beef patties topped with shredded lettuce, guacamole and a drizzle of sriracha.

Beef Tacos

• Ground Beef
• Guacamole: Avocado, Tomato, Jalapeno, Cilantro, Basil, Red Onion
• Romaine Lettuce, thinly sliced and dressed with red wine vinegar
• Tortillas, toasted
• Sriracha

Shape your ground beef into oval patties (about the size of two fingers) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook over medium high heat for 3-4 minutes per side. After allowing the patties to rest slice diagonally and arrange at the bottom of the toasted tortilla. Drizzle with sriracha and top with the shredded lettuce and guacamole.

This was quite good! I liked how the very simple treatment of the ingredients allowed each one to shine. And while I put sriracha on almost anything, I would say it is a required element on this taco. Similarly to how ground beef tacos include a spice in the beef mix, the sriracha provided a sweet and spicy element that rounded out the flavors of the taco.

Thai Pork Dumpling Soup

This weekend R and his mom went on an LES foodie tour, stopping by the Hester Street Fair and nearby dumpling shop No. 1 Dumpling, where he picked up delicious hand rolled pork dumplings, about 25 dumplings for $5....bargain!

Over the weekend I boiled and pan fried and served with a drizzle of fish sauce and sesame oil, but last night I incorporated into a simple soup recipe I found on footnetwork.com for Thai Pork Dumpling Soup. I'm always on the lookout for simple but flavorful soup recipes and this recipe turned out to be exactly that.

Thai Pork Dumpling Soup

• Store Bought Dumplings
• 8 cups Chicken Stock
• 1 bunch Cilantro, finely chopped
• Basil leaves, finely chopped
• 2 cloves or apx 1 1/2 tsp garlic, grated (or minced)
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tbs ginger, peeled and grated (or minced)
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbs fish sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Head Napa Cabbage, thinly sliced
• 8-10 Mushrooms, sliced
• Carrot, cut into match sticks
• 2-3 Scallions, sliced

Bring the chicken stock to a simmer. Combine the cilantro, basil, garlic, brown sugar & ginger and mash into a paste. Then mix in the fish sauce and sesame oil to taste and set aside. While the chicken stock comes to a simmer, heat up a smaller pot of water. This pot of water will be used to keep the dumplings warm. When the chicken stock is boiling, drop in the dumplings in batches. You will know they are done when they rise to the surface. Once cooked, transfer to the hot water to keep warm. When all of the dumplings are cooked, add the cabbage, mushrooms and carrots to the chicken stock. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until tender then stir in the scallions and cilantro paste. Add the dumplings back into the soup and serve with sriracha for spice.

This was a very easy and delicious soup. The base had simple flavors making the dumplings the star of the dish. Next time I'd love to work on a clearer soup base, and amplify the flavor of the stock with a stronger cilantro paste.

Squid & Octopus...oh my

This week my grocery store was carrying baby octopus and squid. I decided to make a simple lemon tomato sauce and slow cook the octopus and squid to keep it tender.

I'm not going to put the full recipe down on paper because it has A LOT of tweaking to do. I basically started with sauteed shallots, thyme, tomato paste, anchovies and chicken stock and let the squid/octopus simmer for 40 minutes, or until tender. Then tossed with lemon juice and arugula. I chose to slow cook the squid/octopus because I was recently told that you either need to cook squid/octopus really fast, or really slow. Since it was my first time working with this product I felt more comfortable with the slow cook approach as I figured it would be harder to screw up!

There are a few things I learned. One, squid and octopus make me squeamish and unless you get the texture right, it's hard to enjoy them. While they came out very tender, the texture needed improvement. Next time I would probably dredge in flour and cook quickly over high heat to get a crust then simmer with the sauce for 15 minutes or so to get the inside tender. That way they would have a bit of a crunch but still be tender inside.

Ultimately, the way to get the most natural flavor out of the squid/octopus might be to tenderize by soaking in buttermilk or lemon juice and then cook quickly over high heat. The danger with slow cooking is it infuses them with the flavor of the sauce, which could mask the natural deliciousness of product! I suppose it's true that practice makes perfect so I'm going to get back to it and come back with a recipe I can put my full support behind.

Cinco de Mayo Chicken Tacos with Red Onion Apple Slaw

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo I made myself a simple chicken taco with a red onion apple slaw inspired by Food and Wine's Tuna Tacos with Onion.

Chicken Tacos with Red Onion Apple Slaw

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
• Paprika
• White Pepper
• Cilantro, finely chopped
• Chives, finely chopped (optional)
• Red Onion, sliced (not too thin)
• Green Apple, peeled and cut into match sticks
• Scallions, chopped
• 1/2 Jalapeno, finely chopped (not a spicy food person? leave the jalapeno out!)
• Red Wine Vinegar
• Lime
• S&P
• Tortillas
• Spicy Sour Cream: Chile en Adobo and Sour Cream

First I preheated my oven to 375, and seasoned the chicken breast with paprika, white pepper and salt. I chose white pepper because I wanted the flavor without the color of black pepper. I roasted the chicken breast for 25-30 minutes then let rest for 15 minutes before fork shredding into large pieces. Once fork shredded I tossed with the cilantro and scallions.

While the chicken was cooking I combined the sliced red onion, green apple, scallions, jalapeno, red wine vinegar, lime and S&P and let rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes. Prior to serving I tossed with the cilantro to add color to the dish.

I toasted the tortillas over the open flame (low) of my gas stove then spread with the spicy sour cream, added the chicken and topped with the slaw.

This was extremely simple to make and would be a great dish to entertain with as you can make all of the fixings in advance. I can't wait to try with fish!

It's Cooking Time with Chef Billy!

Last week I was invited to my longtime friend, Caitlin's former Chi roommate and Cooking Light Magazine employee Deirdre's apartment for a special event with Cooking Light's Executive Chef Billy Strynkowski.

He taught us how to roll our own sushi, make a simple scallop with papaya salad, roast cauliflower and have fun while doing it! Here are some pictures from the night...

Learning the ropes from Chef Billy.....

scallops with a sauteed papaya salad (sauteing under ripe papaya helps develop the flavor)

arctic char served over roasted cauliflower

tuna asparagus roll (with roe and sriracha!)

My key takeaway was that sushi is really easy to make, especially when you have a rice cooker. Chef Billy told us that rice cookers can be purchased for just about $10, especially in Chinatown. I also learned a few good rice tips. First, when cooking sushi rice you want to work with a California short grain. Second, you want to rinse the rice until the water runs clear. If you don't rinse out all of the starch it will be overly sticky. Lastly, when you pour rice into the bottom of a pan, you want the water to come up over the rice by about the length of the tip of your index finger to your first knuckle. Apparently this part of the body is the same on people worldwide....how cool!

This is the Remix

Happy Wednesday!  I recently re-mixed two of my recipes and I wanted to share the updates with you.  I believe that there is always room to play around and improve upon or tweak recipes.  I made a much better muffin and and Soba salad as a result of my experimentation!  

As you may remember, this is the last version of my Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins.  This time, I wanted a moister muffin with less butter and more banana.  I substituted plain yogurt for some of the butter, used two eggs instead of one, used a combination of white and brown sugars, and used mini semi-sweet morsels instead of larger milk chocolate chips.  The result was a moist, banana-ey, and SERIOUSLY delicious muffin.  I also added some ground flaxseed for a heartier texture and Omega-3's.

This is the last version of my Soba noodle salad.  In the new version, I used Thai Chili Garlic sauce instead of freshly chopped garlic and dry chili flakes.  I also left the fried tofu on the side, which kept it from getting soggy in the salad.  This dish had it all going on: cold, spicy noodles, crunchy fresh vegetables, and hot, crispy cubes of tofu. The fried cubes of tofu are somewhat addictive- like chicken nuggets or french fries!  

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, Round II

Makes 12

Ingredients: 

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

2 1/2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/2 cup plain yogurt 

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet morsels (Toll House makes a nice mini morsel)

1-2 tablespoons coarse sugar (topping)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350.

Stir together bananas, yogurt and butter.  Stir in sugars, vanilla and eggs.  When mixture is combined, gently stir in dry ingredients (flours, salt, baking soda, flaxseed).  Do not overmix!  Fold in chocolate chips.  Scoop batter into nonstick or papered muffin tin.  Sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Bake 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out crumb free.  

Cold Soba Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing and Tofu, Round II

Serves 3-4

Ingredients: 

3 bundles Soba noodles

1/2 head broccoli, blanched and cut into small florets

1/2 bunch asparagus, blanched and cut into 1-in. pieces

3-4 green onions, light green and dark green parts, chopped

1/2 cucumber, cut into coins or dice

1 package extra firm tofu

1/3 cup cornstarch (more/less if needed, you want a light, even coating on tofu)

peanut oil

Dressing: 

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons Thai Chili Garlic sauce

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2-1 teaspoon fish sauce

Directions:

Cook noodles according to directions.  Drain and rinse under cold water.  Place noodles in large salad bowl with vegetables (asparagus, broccoli and green onion).  Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Adjust for seasoning, and stir dressing in with noodles and vegetables.  

Heat a large skillet until very hot.  Pat tofu dry with a paper towel and cut into roughly 1-in. cubes.  Season tofu with a few sprinkles of soy sauce and then toss with cornstarch.  Add peanut oil to skillet (I use about 2 tbsp) and fry tofu until crispy and golden.  Serve hot tofu with chilled or room temperature salad, topped with cucumber, freshly chopped cilantro, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, and a drizzle of sesame oil if desired!