Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup-Stew

OK...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.
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.

I 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.

Resturant style pasta

This 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.

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.

A great bento staple - Carrots, Hijiki and Shirataki Noodles

JustBento.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.

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.

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.

Hamburger press

If 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.

Beef and Potato Croquettes

Ingredients
1/2 lb ground beef
1 lb potatoes
3 eggs
bread crumbs, unseasoned
oil for deep frying

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.

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.

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.

Wax Paper Sheets

You 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.