tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6729046130657351852024-02-19T01:21:18.283-08:00Otakuza KitchenA anime fan attempts to cook the foods seen in anime and documents the results.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-65534735549018207292013-06-09T12:43:00.000-07:002013-06-09T12:44:15.041-07:00Finally...Something New<span style="font-size: small;">This may not <span style="font-size: small;">be japanese cuisine but it is still a ta<span style="font-size: small;">sty<span style="font-size: small;"> dish.</span></span></span> </span><br />
<br />
<u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Irish Cabbage Rolls</span></b></u><br />
Inspired by Diners, Drive-ins and Dives segment on Galway Bay Pub<br />
<br />
Pickling Spice added to pre-corned (spiced) packaged beef<br />
<br />
Spice amount can vary due to number of beefs you're working with. These amounts work well for 2 point cuts and 1 flat cut corned beef.<br />
<br />
<u><b><span style="font-size: large;">Ingredients</span></b></u><br />
Prepackaged Corned Beef, point cut or flat cut (your choice)<br />
3-5 lbs russet potatoes (Adjust amount to size of beef. Figure about 1-1/2 lbs of potatoes to 1 lb of meat. <b>Do not</b> substitute red or yukon gold! You need the high starch found in the russets.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Pickling Spice</u></b></span><br />
Dehydrated Onion 2 TBSP<br />
Mustard Seed (Yellow) 2 TBSP<br />
Black Pepper, Ground 2 TBSP<br />
White Pepper, Ground (or whole) 2 TBSP<br />
Chili Pepper 2 TBSP<br />
Allspice (whole) 2 TBSP<br />
Granulated Garlic 2 TBSP<br />
Cloves 2 TBSP<br />
Black Pepper, Whole 2 TBSP<br />
Coriander 2 TBSP<br />
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes 2 TBSP<br />
Bay Leaves 4-6 Leaves<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Dipping Sauce</b></u></span><br />
2 cups Mayo<br />
4 oz Stone Ground Mustard<br />
3-4 oz Heavy Cream<br />
Salt & Pepper<br />
2 Tbsp Ground Yellow Mustard<br />
2 Tbsp White Vinegar (or add to taste)<br />
<br />
Boil 5-1/2 to 6 hours. Let cool to room temp than strip fat from meat. Chill stripped meat several hours or overnight.<br />
<br />
Clean and boil potatoes till soft. Mash with butter.<br />
<br />
Cut out core from cabbage and boil for 15 minutes. Let cool.<br />
<br />
<br />
Mix up dipping sauce. NOTE: The more liquid in the dipping makes the beef and potato filling softer and more difficult to cut through the cabbage leaf without it forcing the contents out of the roll and all over the plate.<br />
<br />
Chop cold corned beef and mix with mashed potatoes. Mix beef and potatoes with the dipping sauce. Add just enough sauce to bind the meat and potato mixture together. <br />
Gently work cabbage leaves apart from the head. Fill leaves each with a portion of beef and potatoes. Roll up filled leaf, folding in edges as you go.<br />
<br />
Steam for 10 minutes.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-20603994874829805882012-08-05T19:33:00.000-07:002012-08-05T19:33:32.136-07:00Peach SorbetOK...While I have dropped off the face of the planet for quite some time, I now return with newer recipes.<br />
This one I got from a cookbook that had been loaned to me by my brother. Sadly, I cannot remember the name of the book or the author. There was a recipe for a fresh fruit sorbet that is really easy to make. The biggest thing was to use frozen fruit of your choice to make it. Since my hubby likes peaches, I decided to make a peach version. So without further ado....<br />
<br />
Peach Sorbet<br />
1 package of frozen peach slices<br />
Superfine sugar<br />
Peach nectar<br />
<br />
Toss the frozen peach slices into the food processor. Add the sugar. Try a quarter cup to start with. Each batch of peaches is going to vary in sweetness. The same with the peach nectar. Pulse the fruit until it becomes small pieces. Stop and taste the mixture. Add more sugar and juice as needed to make a fairly smooth paste. Peaches can be fairly tart so it's up to you to decide how sweet versus how tart to make your puree. Once your desired sweetness is achieved, transfer puree into a freezer safe container. You could also fill dixie cups and add a stick to make your own ice pops.<br />
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Other fruits can also be made into sorbet like oranges though it takes time to remove individual segments from their membranes. It's worth it though because few supermarkets sell orange sorbet in this area. You probably use orange juice to make. For other fruits use apple juice since it have a fair light flavor that won't overwhelm your choice if you can not find a matching nectar. Check your local European-style market for additional fruit nectars.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-42324877922366050682011-07-10T09:50:00.000-07:002011-07-10T09:51:25.042-07:00Seasoning for FishRecently I had some ahi tuna steaks to cook but I didn't want to use teriyaki sauce on them. I'd felt that these steaks deserved something more or at least different. So in rummaging through my cabinates, I stumbled across some dried lemon peal or zest. Since lemon and dill often go well with fish, I'd thought I might use them to flavor my tuna steaks. So after spraying the pan with cooking spray and rinsing the fish, I began by sprinkling the tops of the tuna with the dried lemon peal, followed by the dill. That should have been it but I got the feeling that there should have been more to it. Remembering that I had two limes, I dug them out and squeezed their juice over the fish. Finally, I added a pat of butter and baked the steaks according to the cooking notes on the package. The result was wonderful and tasty with a tanginess from the citrus. It will require a bit of adjustment to fine tune the flavors but I'm willing to experiment.<br />
<br />
Ingredients Used:<br />
Dried lemon peal (you may have go to a specialty spice shop to find this. Once I've finished with my initial 3 ounces I'm gonna have to go looking for it as the place I initially got it from doesn't carry spices any more)<br />
Dried Dill - easily available in your local supermarkets usually in bulk.<br />
Fresh limes - about 1 lime per steak<br />
Butter - just a pat per steak<br />
<br />
That's it. I have found that my dried dill seems a bit tasteless, perhaps grinding some in my spice grinder will release the flavors or I can try fresh dill, if available the next time I cook this.<br />
<br />
I did try this on salmon filets but it didn't seem to work as well as with the tuna. That said, perhaps stick to using this on white or light colored fish.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-11179179985633568442011-06-05T18:11:00.000-07:002011-06-05T18:11:50.227-07:00Lazy TonkatsuAka...breaded pork cutlet. Usually I purchase boneless pork chops and butterfly them to make tonkatsu. Well...I just made a batch using pork cube steaks. The first main benefit of using the cube steak was not having to butterfly the meat. I was able to open the package and start breading the steak. Time saved there. The only real difference was the texture and my hubby felt that it was slightly better than the normal butterflyed chop.<br />
<br />
Result: I'd rather save time so I'll make this again using the cube steak.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-35445566449665410732011-05-30T18:58:00.000-07:002011-05-30T18:58:35.527-07:00Lazy Milk TeaEven though I've perfected the recipe for homemade milk tea sometimes I'd rather not have to go through the effort. So I figured that I could achieve the same things with premade tea and evaporated milk. I chose evaporate milk over condensed milk because all of the premade teas available for purchase are already sweetened. I tried this with the Snapple Peach Tea and Snapple Lemon Tea, 1 gallon sized and a 15oz can of evaporated milk. After drinking off a bit of the tea from the bottle add about half of the can of milk to the tea. Shake well. You'll have to shake or stir the tea if it sits for any appreciable amount of time. The milk solids tend to drift to the bottom of the bottle.<br />
<br />
Result: the peach tea milk tea was tolerable, not spectacular. Now the lemon tea was a different matter. The lemon flavor was so strong that the milk virtually neutrallized the black tea flavor, leaving the lemon behind. It was so awful that I couldn't drink more than half the lemon milk tea.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-85155613028717603812011-04-14T18:39:00.001-07:002011-04-14T18:41:08.551-07:00McCormick Style Poultry SeasoningsI cooked a whole chicken with stuffing this past weekend. So I decided to make my own version of the McCormick Poultry Seasoning. The back of the label lists the ingredients as: black pepper, thyme, sage, rosemary, sweet marjoram, and nutmeg. <br />
<br />
My ratios are as follows using whole dried spices:<br />
1 teaspoon black pepper<br />
1 teaspoon thyme<br />
1 teaspoon rosemary (actually just a little bit less than a teaspoon...dried rosemary is pretty powerful)<br />
2 teaspoons sage<br />
3 teaspoons sweet marjoram<br />
Approximately 1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg (could have been a bit more)<br />
<br />
Place all these spices into a coffee grinder that you dedicate to spices only and grind fine.<br />
<br />
Results: should cut back the sweet marjoram by one teaspoon, it was too strong. Bite could have also been from the unknown measure of nutmeg. I'm not too sureSeofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-21372372110312662292010-11-27T17:42:00.000-08:002010-11-27T18:33:33.161-08:00Milk TeaI've been a big fan of Kirin brand Milk Tea but my local Japanese market quickly sells out of the stuff not matter what size it happens to be (1.5 liter or .5 liter bottles. I've been dragging my feet on making my own. But with rumors that the product was gonna be restricted for some STUPID reason by some jacka$$ who thinks they know better than I should be eating or drinking have prompted me to start experimenting. That and basic costs of a 1.5 liter when available. You see it costs about $7.00 for the 1.5 liter bottle and $2.35 for each half liter bottle. Several bottles adds up quickly.<br />
Now Aldi has all the ingredients available pretty much all the time.<br />
Dry Milk Powder $6.00for a 25.6 ounce box<br />
100 Black tea bags for $1.99<br />
and<br />
4 lbs of sugar for approximately $1.99<br />
<br />
I have made 4 batches thus far and I expect to get another 3 or so out of the box of milk powder. A batch consists of 1 gallon of milk tea that easily fills 2-1.5 liters bottles and a 20 oz bottle with about another 2-2.5 cups left to drink. <br />
<br />
So lets add up the basic costs for just the one home made batch... <br />
2x$6.99 + 3x2.35 = $22 or so with taxes.<br />
<br />
The cost of my batch is approximately $5.99 + $1.99 + $1.99 = $10.50 - 11.00 for all the ingredients and about $2.75 a gallon for 4-1 gallon batches. And since 4 batches hasn't used up all of my ingredients it will probably get even cheaper as I make more batches.<br />
<br />
So if you can live with the slightly different taste of the generic black tea, it's certainly worth making your own.<br />
<br />
My experiments with ratios and brewing time/style are as such: <br />
<br />
BATCH 1:hot water brewed 10 tea bags which was allowed to cool overnight without refrigeration. Added 2 cups of milk powder and 2 cups of cactus honey powder (cactus honey powder is a Japanese sweetener) <br />
BATCH 1 Result: Very noticeable tea flavor, nice mouth feel thanks to the high amount of milk fats, noticeably sweet but not over-sweet<br />
<br />
BATCH 2:cold water brewed 10 tea bags in fridge for 24 hours. Added 2 cups of milk powder and cactus honey.<br />
BATCH 2 Results: almost the same as batch one but the tea flavor wasn't as strong. Felt like I could cut back on milk powder and get same results.<br />
<br />
BATCH 3:cold water brewed 10 tea bags in fridge for 24 hours. Added 2 cups of milk powder and 2 cups of white sugar.<br />
BATCH 3 Results:Overwhelmingly sweet. Forgot to cut back on the milk powder.<br />
<br />
BATCH 4:cold water brewed 10 tea bags for 24-36 hours. Tea looked rather weak might need to go back to hot brewing or add more tea bags. Added 1.5 cups of milk powder and .75 cups of white sugar.<br />
BATCH 4 Results: Haven't tried it yet will have to add results laterSeofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-17779065343108373712010-10-03T17:30:00.000-07:002010-10-03T17:34:19.270-07:00Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup-StewOK...so it's not a Japanese dish but this one pot meal came in to existence because of some time constraints. I started the flat cut corned beef in a large pot with plenty of water and on a low flame early in the morning. Normally, I'd pour off the water and begin with fresh. The main reason why I didn't is because there was no spice pack. So I just added the cleaned potatoes, carrots and cabbage to the pot. Now I generally find the vegetables in corned beef and cabbage to be a bit tasteless. My answer to this problem was to add a fair amount of vegetable base to the pot as well. The final ingredient to be added to my soup pot was german style egg noodles since I didn't want to have a second pot of water on my stove.<br />
All in all, while the concoction does sound a bit weird it tastes pretty good. I'm starting to think of another way to make this soup with chunked or shreaded corned beef.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-48935357403370728642010-09-06T16:49:00.000-07:002010-09-06T16:49:02.017-07:00I did it!!!!!I have been attempting on and off over the last couple of years to replicate the garlic sauteed mushrooms that can only be purchased at the Bristol Renaissance Faire. Since I tend to visit the Faire every other year, at best, I've been trying to make that mushroom dish at home. I have finally come close. You see, I found a recipe on the fatfreevegan.com for a mushroom and lentil stew. The flavors of this stew is, I think, very close to that mushroom dish offered at the Faire. So I tried it minus most of the non-mushroom ingredients and I feel I got close.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-59555800407652945262010-06-05T15:44:00.001-07:002010-06-05T15:44:49.547-07:00Resturant style pastaThis post isn't about the sauce. You can find those recipes or tips elsewhere. No, what I want to talk about is the actual pasta itself. You see, while I worked for a brief while in a corporate kitchen, I noticed that the spaghetti always seem to cook up into much plumper noodles than what I could cook at home. Well...that corporate kitchen used a steam oven in some way to cook their spaghetti.<br />
<br />
To achieve the same affect, try this technique: Cook your pasta in the normal manner for the minimum amount of time. Drain off all the water and immediately pour your cooked pasta into a 2 gallon storage zip top bag. Add enough cool water to come close to covering and seal the bag. Let it sit for a while, try 20 -30 minutes and then drain off the steaming water. If the pasta has cooled too much for your liking, reheat it by dropping into boiling water for a few minutes or, much easier, microwave it.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-62455540183182578522010-05-27T17:25:00.000-07:002010-05-27T17:25:44.040-07:00A great bento staple - Carrots, Hijiki and Shirataki NoodlesJustBento.com has a great recipe for stewed hijiki seaweed and carrots supplemented with some fried tofu cake cut with a cookie cutter. I've done taken this recipe and made my own version of it. <br />
<br />
For me, I decided to add shirataki noodles (also known as yam starch noodles)to this dish. You see while my hijiki is re-hydrating, I rinse and par-boil the noodles AND julienne my carrots using a mandolin slicer with a julienne insert. Once the seaweed is hydrated, the noodles should be drained and chopped into shorter lengths. Put the noodles, carrots and seaweed back into the same pot you parboiled the noodles in. Add fresh water and vegetable stock soup base. Or if you have if add some canned/boxed premade stuff. Personally, I prefer using a stock base as I have more control over the intensity of the flavor since it will generally be eaten cold which dulls flavors. If at all possible, I suggest using the Better than Bouillon brand of soup base as the manufacturer tends to roast the veggies which gives greater depth of flavor. That being said, add a good heaping tablespoon of base to the water in the pot with the noodles, seaweed, and carrots. Bring your pot to a boil and maintain it for approximately 30 minutes. This should be enough time for the noodles to take up the flavor of the vegetable stock. Drain off your vegetable stock and let things cool before storing it away. <br />
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I have had this bento staple last for two weeks in my fridge before going bad. I find that this dish can taste equally well cold or reheated. And you rarely need to add any extra salt to it as it draws the salt from the vegetable base.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-28785304029158971002010-05-19T19:14:00.000-07:002010-05-19T19:14:44.332-07:00Hamburger pressIf you just happen to have a hamburger press or know someone who does, borrow it and try it with the beef and potato croquettes recipe. Line the bottom tray with wax paper, parchment paper or even plastic wrap, so you can remove the finished patty without ruining it. Using a press like this will make the finished patties a consistent size and thickness. I use one when I make beef & potato croquettes. It helps to keep the cooking times consistent and minimizes burned patties.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-53725180163671689852010-05-17T09:29:00.000-07:002010-05-17T09:29:57.675-07:00Beef and Potato CroquettesIngredients<br />
1/2 lb ground beef<br />
1 lb potatoes<br />
3 eggs<br />
bread crumbs, unseasoned<br />
oil for deep frying<br />
<br />
Cook ground beef. If beef is too fatty, drain off half of the grease. Boil potatoes until soft then mash them until they are free from lumps. Mix cooked beef with the mashed potatoes. Scoop a handful of the mixture and compress into a patty. Beat the eggs with a bit of water to make a egg wash. Coat all sides of the patty with the egg wash, then into the bread crumbs. Heat the oil til hot. Deep fry the breaded patties until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.<br />
<br />
Note: The grease is needed to help bind the potatoes together. An 80/20 blend should work best without draining off the grease. Also, you should be using regular old breadcrumbs, not panko breadcrumbs. This is because you can not get an even coating with panko. They are too flaky to coat the patty very well.<br />
<br />
Note: 7-21-07: Used 85/15 ground beef and added all of the beef and grease to the potatoes. Potatoes were also mashed fine. I also used a hamburger press to even out the thickness of the patties. It worked out real well. However, the mixture is very soft and crumbly. So I put the patties in to the freezer until I could work with them without them falling apart. It worked but some still fell apart as I dipped them in the egg and breaded them. Perhaps next time, I’ll add a few eggs to bind the mixture better since just the beef grease alone isn’t enough.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-29136491500720252382010-05-16T15:07:00.000-07:002010-05-16T15:07:51.060-07:00Wax Paper SheetsYou could find these single cut sheets in a supermarket or Wal-mart but I'll bet you're more likely to find them in a restaurant supply shop. They are 5 inch by 10 inch sheets that have been pre-folded and placed into a dispenser box so that they pop up like kleenex. This are great for keeping individual portions separated so that they don't stick together if you happen to stack them. These sheets also work great as an alternative to paper towel in covering your foods as they heat in the microwave. The waxy surface keeps most foods from sticking and tends to keep the steam close to the food so that it doesn’t dry out so fast.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-8661293453853195102010-05-09T15:49:00.000-07:002010-05-09T15:49:27.647-07:00Something different to add to your bentosOn impulse, I bought some fresh brussels sprouts the other day for dinner. I decided to cook them with some garlic, ginger and turkey bacon. The result....well, since I was trying to only dirty one pan, it wasn't the success I had hope it would be. You see I choose to steam the sprouts, which were quartered, after I had cooked the bacon to a crispy texture. The water needed to steam the sprouts softened the bacon. Oh well...guess I'll have to steam the sprouts separately before adding them to my bacon next time.<br />
<br />
And for an FYI: I tend to pick up turkey bacon mainly for the reason that it's ALL meat and there is little grease to clean up afterwards. Feel free to use regular bacon if you want.<br />
<br />
Brussels Sprouts with Garlic, Ginger and Bacon<br />
<br />
Indgredients<br />
1/2 lbs Brussel Sprouts, quartered<br />
3-4 slices of turkey bacon, sliced in to strips<br />
1-2 cloves garlic, mashed and chopped<br />
1/3 inch ginger, minced fine<br />
vegetable oil (if using turkey bacon)<br />
<br />
Quarter and steam brussels sprouts. Slice bacon into thin strips. Add bacon, ginger and garlic to fry pan along with a bit of vegetable oil. (omit extra oil if using regular bacon). Once the bacon begins to get crispy, add the steamed brussels sprouts. Cook until bacon is done and serve.<br />
<br />
Personally, I'm not too sure how this dish would work cold with regular bacon. I would think that the grease would make the dish unpleasant cold. Your call.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-4508474530292833482010-02-26T19:35:00.000-08:002010-02-26T19:35:46.695-08:00Home Made Pokky -- an updateOk...this one should have been posted ages ago but I kinda forgot about it. So here it is now.<br />
<br />
Well...the chocolate chips melted fairly easily using a glass jar and a pot of water. Why a jar, you ask? Well...the breadsticks are longer than 6 inches and if I used a regular bowl, I'd have more difficulty in coating the upper portions of the breadsticks. So by using a relatively tall narrow jar, I would be able to coat more of the breadstick with much less effort. It also gave the added benefit that when I finished, I could cap off the remaining chocolate and store it in the fridge until the next time.<br />
I must admit that while the chocolate firms up upon placing it in the refrigerator, it does not stay that way when it sits out. In other words..the chocolate is not tempered or not tempered properly. I can only hope that as I repeat this experiment again and again, I learn what I need to do to achieve that state. Until then...I geuss I can enjoy the fruits of my labors even if they are not perfect. After all, who can resist a sweet, salt crunchy treat. ;DSeofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-13090494973195696312010-02-22T18:53:00.000-08:002010-02-22T18:53:39.628-08:00FillersLately, I've been running more than a bit behind on a few things, like blogging and cooking up a variety of stuff for my lunches. It's not that I've given up on the healthier lunches but I've been cooking less Japanese foodstuffs and more from other cultures like Indian. Yeah...Curries are popular in Japan but I've been slow to try them. So that means most of my current cooking attempts have been undocumented.<br />
<br />
I'm currently hooked on working with fresh cabbage (it's pretty cheap). I continue to make the sauteed cabbage with balsamic vinegar, garlic and cranberries on a regular basis but I tried a new recipe that said you could substitute cabbage for leeks. Well, I had bought the leeks but I forgot to read the recipe and didn't purchase enough so that's when I added the cabbage. And the rosemary (one of my favorite herbs for cooking). Big mistake. It doesn't really go together...rosemary and leek. Rosemary and cabbage might not be a good combination either. The final product wasn't completely inedible but it doesn't really work. I won't add the rosemary again when I retry this recipe.<br />
<br />
I will admit that I made a cabbage soup this past weekend and I'm mostly happy with the result. It was very filling but slightly tasteless. I suppose I could have added a bit more salt to the pot but I hesitated to do so because the chicken base I use is salty in the high concentrations needed to really give a soup a pronounced chicken flavour. Oh well....it wasn't like I had an actual recipe for this soup. It was one of these experimental soups that shows one if one should proceed and refine the recipe. I think I will try this one again as well.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-61901054484853329622010-01-17T11:24:00.000-08:002010-01-17T11:24:28.199-08:00Some Success..Well, I made my second batch of sweet stewed beans and I'm pretty pleased with the result. This time around I only used 1 cup of beans (two cups worth went bad before I could eat them all) and switched to Lupini beans versus the white navy beans. It gave me about 3 cups worth of finished cooked beans. I initially started using these beans as a desert item in my bento lunches. I found that I really liked the more complex sweetness that the beans bring versus the processed sweets. But that's really only for lunches, I've still got a sweet tooth for the normal candy and snack cakes. So I've not made any healthy ground there.<br />
<br />
I must admit that by making bento lunches with the oriental vegatables/foodstuffs that I'm getting better nutrition (and less preservatives) than I had been. This I think is the primary reason for me NOT getting sick this winter. Plus, I'm finding it fun to learn how to cook these exotic foods. That is really my primary goal, expanding my cooking skills, in this hobby. It does, however have a major downside to it....there are more pots and pans to wash up when I get done. That, and the constant nibbling you need to do to see if you've got the seasonings just right.<br />
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On the subject of nibbling or rather tasting, I did make the seaweed salad again using the water / sugar / vinegar combination that I noted down some posts back. It was just the right sweetness to tartness that I had been looking for. I'm thinking on trying the same dressing and pickling some cucumbers and onions with dill.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-11813489335713010012010-01-04T18:21:00.000-08:002010-01-04T18:21:09.840-08:00Something differentI picked up a sweet potato the other day because I had picked up fresh ginger at the same time. Yeah, I know...it's not really a memorable combination but I figured that if ginger, onion and garlic could make regular white potatoes taste real good, it could do the same with sweet potatoes. Most recipes for sweet potatoes accent its sweetness by making them into pies and sweet breads. I did find a few recipes that suggested frying the darn things. Thus emboldened, I decided that I could slice my sweet potato and chose to fry it up with the garlic, onion and ginger. I must admit it did smell good while frying. Flavour-wise, the sweet potato medallions didn't quite soak up as much of the flavour I had hoped but I think it's worth trying again.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-46100033377118603662009-12-10T17:14:00.000-08:002009-12-10T17:14:18.690-08:00Bacon wrapped tofuWellll....not really. Wereas the original recipe calls for bacon to be wrapped around a cube of tofu, I used prochutto (sp?) ham instead. I have to say that this substitution was a very tasty one with out having to deal with the excessive grease produced by normal bacon. The very thin ham allowed the heat to warm through even a half inch thick piece of tofu. As for the tofu, I had the extra firm aka cotton style tofu in the house. I'm beginning to favor this type of tofu over the silken style which is softer even in a firm version. For me, the extra firm cotton type is much more versatile that the other type and I'm inventing new dishes (or adapting old ones) to work with this product.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-15957675320039531732009-12-07T18:10:00.000-08:002009-12-07T18:11:37.142-08:00Sweet Stewed beansFound the recipe on JustBento.com and decided to try it. I hoped that my end result would be similar to some that I had eaten in a bento that I had bought. Well...my result from their recipe wasn't quite as sweet nor quite so tender. In my defense, it was my first time ever cooking beans from scratch so I'm not familiar with what is considered cooked through for beans. I also found the recipe a bit lacking on clear direction.<br />
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This is still a good recipe despite my difficulties with it so I will try it a second time.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-55311481473718194492009-11-28T19:47:00.000-08:002009-11-28T19:47:03.150-08:00Found a nice bento siteI must confess that I stumbled across a really nice bento site called: Just Bento. It's affiliated with the Just Hungry website. Oh...boy is it a nice site. I made a ton of pdfs of various recipes so that I can fill my bentos with something different. It also has some very informative descriptions of the various Japanese food stuffs. Check it out.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-84230429436829114352009-11-17T17:01:00.000-08:002009-11-17T17:01:21.209-08:00Seaweed Salad -- an updateWell...Sunday I made a new batch of seaweed salad with some changes that I noted from the last batch. I rehydrated my konbu with hot water and let it set for nearly 30 minutes before working with it. I couldn't say what made the difference. For all I know, it was my chance selection of those particular pieces of kelp that kept the seaweed from becoming slimy. At any rate I'll try the hot water again and hope that was what made the difference.<br />
In addition to making changes to how I prepped my seaweeds, I also added another type of seaweed called hijiki that looks like little black sticks. It has a crispness that contrasts well with that of the flat leaves of wakame and konbu.<br />
The dressing changed a bit as well but I forgot to write down the amounts of sugar, rice wine vinegar and water. I'll figure it all out again the next time I make this salad but I think the amounts were: 1 cup rice wine vinegar; 9 heaping tablespoons sugar, and approximately 1/3 cup of water.<br />
Those amounts seemed to make the pickling liquid lightly sweet and not overpowered by the tartness of the vinegar.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-10235205239584168862009-11-02T18:28:00.000-08:002009-11-02T18:28:02.896-08:00Teriyaki NoodlesThis is based on a meal that I once at a local japanese style fast food place.<br />
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Indegredents<br />
precooked udon noodles<br />
thin sliced carrots<br />
thin sliced mushrooms<br />
fresh bean sprouts<br />
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In a fry pan with a cover or a griddle, place the noodles to heat on a bit of butter or oil. Let the noodles heat for a bit then place the carrots, mushrooms and bean sprouts on top with a bit of water and then cover for steam. After steaming for a few minutes, drizzle some teriyaki sauce on top and stir to warm the sauce. Serve with more teriyaki sauce if desired.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-672904613065735185.post-63832736695736945512009-11-01T06:52:00.000-08:002009-11-01T06:54:44.002-08:00Brown Seaweed SaladFound my local Super H-mart a little while back and had picked up some deli made brown seaweed salad. It tasted pretty good with all of the flavors being light in a lightly sweet pickling brine. I compare the brine close to the recipe that my mom taught me to make sweet dill cucumber pickles but not quite as sweet.<br />
Anyway...after a quick search on the internet, I found out that konbu and wakame are considered brown seaweeds. Since I already had the konbu in the house, I figured it would be a simple matter to pick up the wakame and make this salad myself.<br />
Well...things aren't always what they seem. The wakame rehydrated to a nice lightly crisp green about the color of lightly steamed spinach. I had trouble with the konbu. The konbu leaves tend to rehydrate with a layer of mucus that is hard to separate from the leaves. Also these uncooked leaves are a bit tough and chewy. Not knowing what else to do, I went ahead and made them into the salad. I hoped that the vinegar would neutralize the mucus from the konbu leaves. It really didn't. Now the mucus doesn't take away from the salad's taste but it does make it daunting to want to eat it due to the texture. So back to the internet for more research.<br />
The few recipes that had both the konbu and wakame as salad indgredients don't say specifically what to do about the konbu. These recipes ASSUME that you've used the konbu for making dashi and that means it is already cooked and tender. So...if you want to use konbu in a salad you have to cook it first. I am presuming that this will remove the mucus as well as make the konbu easier to chew. I'll have to look in to dashi recipes as to how long I should cook the konbu.Seofon Plantagenethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02379682808452191045noreply@blogger.com0