Fish Sunday: Part 1

So . . . we've decided to make Sunday "fish day" and we've been systematically trying whatever varieties can be had in the Rocky Mountains. So far tilapia and cod haven't been hits, but everyone approves of flounder, salmon, shrimp, and swordfish. It's pretty much all poached so far 'cause it's so foolproof, but one of these days I'll branch out. I promise.

This has gone on long enough that I feel the need to record the experiments so I can remember what worked and what didn't, and what better place than the family food blog? So here's what we did this week:

This week's fish was flounder, poached in olive oil with a little Caribbean Calypso seasoning. It worked great--the seasoning has kind of a lemony flavor that (of course) makes it a natural for fish.

On the side we had Artichoke Orzo Pilaf. I made it like the link says, except that I sauteed the leeks and orzo in browned butter instead of oil. Yum! The artichokes were great--they really brightened up the dish. The leeks were fine but not special in this one, so next time I'd probably use regular onion or shallots because they're cheaper out here.

We also roasted some cauliflower in the toaster oven--it was fine, but I didn't do any sauce or special seasonings, so it was kinda boring. But good for us, I guess. ;)

If you're following along, all this adds up to a dinner of white food.* We usually have more color, but this felt like comfort food. Also, I managed to time things so that everything was pretty much done at the right time so everything was at it's best. Go me!

*Except for the olives--the kids wanted to do olive fingers.

Pasta Caprese

Looks like I never put this one up, probably because it's really easy and I kind of assume everyone knows how to make it. But it's great to do while tomatoes are in season so I'm putting it up anyway. Here goes:

5 large tomatoes,small dice (except I usually use 1-2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes--makes it sweeter)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (go ahead and break out the good stuff--adds to the flavor)
1 tsp or so balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (mandolin works pretty well--you can cheat with jarred garlic, makes the dish more mellow)
salt and black pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper (or chipotle powder for funsies)
1 lb penne or farfalle pasta
1/2 lb mozzarella, cut into small cubes
15 or so fresh basil leaves, torn or shredded (yes, you have to go fresh here)

1. In a large bowl (large enough for your finished dish) whisk together olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Add garlic and tomatoes (if you use cherry tomatoes, cut them all in half) and toss together.
2. Let that all marinate while you boil your pasta and cut your cheese and basil.
3. Drain pasta, add it to tomato mixture, and stir in the basil and cheese. The heat from the pasta will melt the cheese slightly. Check for salt and pepper and serve warm.

Mock Lasagna Casserole

Mock Lasagna Casserole

This is another Better Homes and Gardens recipe from the book "Good Food On a Budget" that was published in 1971.  I didn't make it often but, when I did, Lorien loved it and that is what I wrote in my cookbook.  She probably doesn't remember that but it's a little piece of the family food history.

1     pound bulk pork sausage  (It's quite possible that I sometimes used ground beef)

1     15-ounce can tomato sauce (2 cups)

½    water

½    teaspoon each garlic salt, pepper, and dried basil leaves, crushed

1     7-ounce package macaroni (or other small pasta), cooked and drained

1½  cups cream-style cottage cheese

6     ounces process American cheese, shredded (1½ cups)

Brown the meat; drain off fat.  Add tomato sauce, garlic salt, pepper, basil, and  ½  cup water.  Cover; simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  In a 2-quart casserole layer half each macaroni, cottage cheese, and meat sauce.  Repeat.  Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.  Serves 6 to 8.

  

Lorien's Couscous with Stuff / Lemon Dressing

LORIEN’SCOUSCOUS WITH STUFF/Lemon Dressing 

Note from Mom!  In going through my recipes, I found this.  I'm thinking it is something that Lorien cooked while we were living in New Delhi and that I liked it well enough  to copy the recipe.  I don't know if Lorien remembers this or not but the recipe definitely sounds worth trying.

 

 

1cup shelled pecans

1½ cup couscous

1cup dried cranberries

½tsp. turmeric

2cups boiling water

1cup thawed frozen peas

3scallions thinly sliced

2medium cucumbers, diced

¼cup shredded fresh basil

1. Toast pecans in shallow pan at 350°about 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Place couscous, cranberries and turmeric in a large bowl. Add the boiling water, stir, and then cover with a large plate. Let sit for 10 minutes. Remove cover and fluff with a fork. Cover again and let sit for 5 more minutes.
3. Stir in pecans, peas, scallions, cucumbers, and basil.
4. Pour *lemon dressing over couscous mixture and stir.
5. Let salad sit at least 1 hour before serving to allow flavors to blend. If it will sit longer than 1 hour, cover and chill…but it should be served at room temperature.

Note:cucumbers should be added close to serving time so they stay crunchy.

LEMON DRESSING 
1/3cup lemon juice
zest of one lemon
3 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
Combine ingredients in a jar with a tight lid.  Shake vigorously.

Corn Bread Stuffing - Mom's

Thanksgiving at theWalleys !

Read this and you will know why the recipe is called "Grandma Helen's"!  As you read, be sure to follow my notes.

Friday,November 18, 2011, Glynne posted on my facebook wall, “CanI get your Thanksgiving stuffing recipe? I think you gave it to meyears ago, but I can't find it.”

Havinginsomnia, I read that about midnight and had a good chuckle. When Itold Dad the next morning, he laughed and said, “Whatrecipe?”

Exactly!

OnSaturday, this was my response to Glynne's question: “Uh Oh!!! That would be the stuffing that has no recipe - the one Ilearned by helping my mother! The Japanese curry that you and Dadmake is pretty much learned the same way - by doing. However, I willspend some time giving instructions as best I can tomorrow (Sunday).Glad you asked - how flattering to me and your grandmother Munroe."

ThanJoanna said, “Ooh,put it on the food blog. I think we'd all like the tips. :)”

Glynneand I had a nice chat last night (Sunday) about how I make thestuffing and I think I gave him enough guidelines that he new what tobuy at the grocery store. I had planned to give what directions Icould on the family food blog yesterday but didn't feel well in theevening and put it off until today. I'm glad that I did because,after I talked with Glynne, I finally got around to reading ParadeMagazinefrom our Sunday paper and, lo and behold, there was a recipe in itthat is very helpful in giving you approximate amounts for thestuffing.

SO – HERE GOES!!!

Grandma Helen's CornBread Stuffing

by: ElizabethMitchell

Photo by: Kat Keutsch forPARADE

In my family (ElizabethMitchell), we've cooked turkey every which way, but we alwaysmake Grandma Helen's stuffing. It tastes like home, and I crave itall year long. Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same without it.

ingredients:

1½ (8-inch square) panscorn bread *About the same amount I use
4 slicesItalian bread with sesame seeds, torn into very small pieces *Iuse regular bread or usually a prepackaged bag of herbed stuffingmix, usually Pepperidge Farm
4 hard-boiled eggs (use just2 of the whites), mashed *I've never heard of this but I do addone or two raw eggs after I'm done tasting and before putting in abaking pan
1 tsp seasoned salt *I salt to taste
1/4tsp white pepper *I pepper to taste with black pepper
1Tbsp chopped sage *I do add sage seasoning totaste.....probably about the same amount
1 cup choppedparsley *I've never used parsley but it might be worth a try
21/2 cups chopped celery *I probably use one to twocups.....depends on taste
1 cup chopped Spanish onion*Perhaps a little more........yellow onion.....we loveonions
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, divided *Iuse a similar amount but melted and included in the dressing
1(14-oz) can chicken or turkey broth *Dad cooks the giblets! Heand the dog eat the heart, liver, and gizzard........ugh! He pullsand shreds meat from the neck and adds it to the dressing. We usethe broth that's left from this to add to the dressing and then addcanned broth if we need more moisture. Beyond that, water can beadded if need be.

directions:

1. Crumble corn bread into a largebowl; combine with Italian bread pieces. Add mashed egg yolks andwhites. Sprinkle with seasoned salt, white pepper, sage, and parsley.Toss gently to mix. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Setaside.

2. Sauté celery and onion in ½ cupbutter until soft.

3. Add onion and celeryto bread mixture and toss. Pour in most of broth and mix well. Addmore if mixture seems dry.

4. Grease a9-by-13-inch baking pan with 1 Tbsp butter. Transfer stuffing topan. Lightly moisten with more broth if needed. Dot top with rest ofbutter.

5. Bake at 325°F for 30 to 40minutes, until browned on top, or stuff in a turkey and cook untildone.

Elizabeth's Tips:

• When my grandmother makes this stuffing, she tops it with little bits of butter, which then melts.
• Grandma Helen makes her corn bread with white cornmeal, not yellow.
• Mix wet and dry ingredients gently with your hands or a large fork to keep the stuffing light

MOM'SNotes!!!

1. I don't use boiled eggs. I use black pepper. I haven't ever used parsley but it might be good. I do add Poultry Seasoning in addition to the Sage.........to taste.
2. I do not saute' the celery and onion..........just add it after chopping in the food processor.
3. I use PAM to grease the pan. I've never dotted butter on top or added both at that stage..........you might want to experiment.
4. Usually I bake at 350ºF for about an hour.........until a knife comes out fairly clean as in testing a cake.

Webake a pan of dressing in the morning and eat it hot out of the ovenat lunch.....with cranberry sauce. Leftover cornbread, too. Howmuch cornbread and dressing we make depends on how many people we'llfeed and how much we want to eat aside from the actual Thanksgivingmeal. Leftover dressing sometimes gets frozen at our house to besliced and fried later on. We sometimes add it to Dad's turkey soup.

Idon't know what else I can tell you but you can always call with anyquestions. Good luck! I am also posting my standard cornbreadrecipe.........the one you grew up eating. However, we often useJiffy mix cornbread nowadays.

New Foods! Yay! Cracker Edition

We've been into Triscuits Thin Crisps lately. The Chile Pepper flavor is nice and not too spicy--it goes great with any kind of mild cheese. We also just tried the Four Cheese flavor and really liked it. They're good just by themselves, too.

We also tried mimolette cheese yesterday, which I'm pretty sure Glynne blogged about. I'm pretty sure Glynne described it as a cross between cheddar and parmesan, and if he didn't he should have because that's totally what it's like. We shredded it and put it on crostinis. It was really good with tomatoes. I highly recommend this one.

New Foods! Yay!

I've taken to shopping on Saturday, which is free sample day at both Target and Harmon's, so we've actually eaten some new foods lately. Good for us!

First, Mission artisan tortillas: they only come in little soft taco size, in our store at least, but that's okay. We tried Ancient Grains, which had a nice multigrain flavor, and Flaxseed and Blue Corn, which were pretty sweet for a tortilla and had a smoother texture than tortillas made of just corn.

Eggo Pumpkin Spice Waffles: I don't buy a lot of frozen waffles because I can get Eric to make them from scratch, but these were really good. They were tasty for breakfast, but I bet they'd be good for dessert, too, maybe with vanilla ice cream and some fruit.

We also tried Sea Cuisine frozen coconut crusted tilapia and hated it. One bit is awesome, with just a hint of sweetness. More than one bite and the sweetness takes over, and not in a good way. We also had the mediterranean crusted salmon and it was okay but we probably won't eat it again soon.

Inarizushi is Yummy!

I finally got around to making inarizushi (稲荷寿司) this past Monday. Basically, do the following: 

Cook 1.5 cups of sticky white rice (that is 1.5 cups dry), which was at least a cooked cup too much.

Cool the rice off. Traditionally, I suppose you just set it out, but I sped up the process by putting the rice in a big bowl, spreading it out as much as possible, and putting the bowl in the fridge for a while.


Mix together about 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar with 1.5 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. If needed, nuke the mixture for a few seconds to help the sugar dissolve. I actually used closer to 4 tablespoons of rice vinegar and about 2 tablespoons of sugar. A mug works great for this mixture, as it is microwavable.

Anyway, once your rice is cool enough to handle comfortably (as in handle with your hands), mix it in with the rice until you feel like all the rice has some mixture on it.

Open a can of inarizushi-no-moto, which is the preseasoned fried tofu envelopes that make inarizushi so yummy. Carefully open each tofu envelope with your fingers and stuff with the rice mixture, leaving room to fold over the side so the rice doesn't fall back out. 

Snarf your fantabulous inarizushi! You can eat the leftover rice plain or you can roll it in nori (seaweed) for other sushi yumminess.

The cost of this yummy treat is not too bad when compared to buying inarizushi from a store (even from Lawson's outside the embassy compound in Tokyo, which is where I used to buy it as an occasional treat). The rice and rice vinegar are relatively cheap, since most of you will have them on hand already. The inarizushi-no-moto costs about $4.50 from your local Japanese market (um, I mean the Japanese market in your American city, not the market in your Japanese city). 


P.S. - Reese LOVED the leftover juice from the inarizushi-no-moto can.

New Foods! Yay! At Long Last!

Okay, most of these new foods are from Target, but I can't help it if they make interesting food.

1. Basil noodles (I think it was linguine) from Target--these were pretty fun. They definitely taste basil-y, and they're also a nice green. I think we had them with a mediterranean stew, which was nice. I think they'd be good with all sorts of Italian sauces.

2. Chili noodles from Target--I used these with a peanut sauce, which was probably not ideal but it went fine. These have some heat but not a ton of flavor. They're interesting but I'm not sure what to really use them with.

3. Archer Farms Roasted Tomato and Chipotle salsa--I like this a lot. It might be my new favorite salsa, sweet and not-too-spicy with a nice roasted flavor. And I'm partial to smaller salsa chunks rather than big, so these are a good size for me.

4. Archer Farms Traditional Picante Style salsa--also a good one, mild with a good flavor. Who'd have thought that out of all the fancy brands I've tried I'd settle on plain old Target salsa?

5. Denmark's Finest havarti (finally something not from Target)--our store has plain (nice and rich), caraway, and jalapeno. Plus I think they make the dill flavor I tried a while back, which was nice but a little too dill-y for me. I was worried the caraway would be overpowering but it was really nice, and a totally new flavor with cheese for me. The jalapeno is Denmark's answer to pepper jack, I guess, and I think I actually prefer it to pepper jack. It's got a nice kick to it which blends nicely with the richness of the havarti. I highly recommend both the jalapeno and the caraway.

East Meets West, Rice Style

So we tried Glynne's omuraisu a while back and despite my sub-standard omelette skills it turned out pretty well and we all really liked it.

Fast forward a couple weeks and I'm getting ready to make barbecue rice, which is pretty much southwest-style fried rice. It's got corn, kidney beans, onions, bell peppers, and (of course) barbecue sauce.

And I realize I could totally combine these two recipes, so I did. So I made barbecue rice without the kidney beans and shredded some colby-jack onto it, then I topped it with omelettes. I'm still a fairly crappy omeletteer, but it turned out pretty tasty anyway.

Lemon Rice

This is probably my favorite recipe that I make. It also has a nice little story to it:

The story-
In our ward in India, there was a family names the Katukas. They were from Andhra Pradesh, in the south, and sister Katuka made fantastically delicious south Indian food. The best was her lemon rice. It was bright yellow, just spicy enough, flavorful, fragrant, and AWESOME. I drooled over it for years and my last summer in India, I finally learned how to make it. The Katukas had us over for dinner and sister Katuka ushered me into her tiny kitchen and taught me the magic of lemon rice as I frantically took notes. So here it is!

Lemon Rice

what you need:
-3 or 4 cups of cooked Basmati/Jasmine rice. It's especially good if it is a day old. You can use other types of rice but it is best when the rice isn't sticky.
-1 tbs black mustard seeds
-1/2 tbs cumin seeds
-2 green chilies, slit in half or chopped. If they are halves, they are pretty easy to take out if that's what ya want (2 chilies or to taste. This can totally be omitted and spice lovers can add cayenne or chile flakes to their portion)
-4 or 5 sprigs of curry leaves, stems removed
-1 lemon, halved and with as many seeds as you can get at removed
-1/2 cup raw peanuts
-2" chunk of ginger, grated. (use a box grater, it's super fast and easy. Just don't grate your fingies)
-3 tbs cooking oil

Optional but encourages for added yumminess and effect:
-1/4 cup masoor dal (if you put this in a mug and then pour REALLY hot water over it and let it sit for about 5 min it will be the perfect tenderness for this. Just drain the water out)
-a generous pinch of ground turmeric

What to do:

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large enough frying pan to accomodate everything.
2. Add your cumin and mustard seeds and leave them alone until they start "sputtering," they will pop a little and start smelling delicious.
3. Add your peanuts, curry leaves, chilies, and ginger and cook until the peanuts start getting a little translucent. Mush them a little to break some of them in half. Keep a close eye on your chilies and your curry leaves to make sure they aren't burning. You can turn the heat down as needed. ***frying chilies can hurt your nose, lungs, eyes etc. this recipe has gotten me a few times.
4. Add the rice and masoor dal and mix all the ingrdients thoroughly over low heat. Add the turmeric at this point if you are going to. Turn of the heat and squeeze the lemon juice over the rice, mixing it thoroughly. Serve!

Omuraisu

I feel like we may have posted something about this before, but I can't find it, so sorry if it's a repeat.

This is something we like to do when we have rice left over in the rice cooker from the night before. If your rice cooker has a keep-warm feature, and you leave rice in it overnight or longer, it gets a little dry, and that's the perfect time to make fried rice dishes.

Ingredients:
cooked white rice, a couple of cups or so worth
6 eggs
grated parmesan cheese
shredded mozzarella cheese
ketchup
pepper
vegetable oil
milk

1. Heat some oil in a wok. Toss in the rice and stir fry it. Season it with a couple of squirts of ketchup and some ground pepper. Sprinkle some parm over it while you're stir-frying.

2. When the whole thing is a nice pink color and smelling good, transfer to dishes. This recipe makes enough to two people. Make a nice mound of rice in the middle of each plate. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella over the top. It should have almost entirely melted by the time you're done with the next steps; you can cover the dish with a plate to make sure it melts, if you want.

3. Mix the eggs together in a bowl with a little milk.

4. Heat more oil in a frying pan and pour the eggs in. The idea here is to make a really light fluffy omelette (omuraisu=omelette over rice). While the eggs are frying, keep whipping them in the pan with a pair of chopsticks or something to keep them frothy. When the omelette has solidified enough on the bottom, roll it up in the pan with a spatula.

5. Cut the omelette in half with the spatula and place each half on top of a mound of rice.

6. Here's the cool part. If the omelette has come out right, you can now take a sharp knife and cut it lengthwise and unfold it so that it covers the mound of rice, and the inside should still be runny/fluffy enough to turn into a steamy mess on top of the rice. Top with ketchup. Voila: you're done.

You don't normally associate ketchup with Japanese cooking, but this is a standard recipe in Japan. It even comes up in one of my favorite Japanese movies, Tampopo. Enjoy the scene here.

cowboy spaghetti

Hi all. We tried this Rachel Ray recipe this week. It was fantastic.

Ingredients

* 1 pound spaghetti
* Salt
* 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
* 3 slices smoky bacon, chopped
* 1 pound ground sirloin
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
* Ground black pepper
* 2 teaspoons hot sauce, eyeball it
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
* 1/2 cup beer
* 1 (14-ounce) can, chopped or crushed fire roasted tomatoes
* 1 (8-ounces) can, tomato sauce
* 8 ounces sharp Cheddar
* 4 scallions, chopped

Directions

Heat a pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and salt the water. Cook to al dente or with a bite to it.

Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and bacon. Brown and crisp bacon, 5 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon. Drain off a little excess fat if necessary. Leave just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add beef and crumble it as it browns, 3 to 4 minutes. Add onions, garlic and stir into meat. Season the meat with salt and pepper, hot sauce and Worcestershire. Add 1/2 cup beer and deglaze the pan. Cook 5 to 6 minutes more then stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Add hot spaghetti to meat and sauce and combine. Adjust seasonings and serve up pasta in shallow bowls. Grate some cheese over the pasta and sprinkle with scallions. Garnish with crisp bacon.

Rosemary Mushroom Risotto

I was determined to get good at risotto, and I'm pretty decent at it now. This is our main recipe:

1 cup mushroom broth
2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp crumbled rosemary
1/4 tsp thyme
2 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms (any kind)
2 Tbs minced shallots (white onion will do fine)
1 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp salt, to taste
1/8 tsp pepper

1. In a smallish saucepan, heat broth, water, rosemary and thyme until simmering. Keep on med-low to keep it warm throughout cooking time.
2. When broth is ready, heat oil in 3-quart saucepan on medium. Add the mushrooms and shallots and cook, stirring, until mushrooms soften (a couple of minutes). Add rice and cook, stirring, until rice is coated with oil (a minute or so).
3. Add broth to rice mixture 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until rice has absorbed the liquid. (You should make the next addition of liquid when you can draw a clear path on the bottom of the pot as you scrape through the rice.) This process should take about half an hour.
4. Add parsley, pepper and salt with the last bit of broth and stir in well. Serve topped with parmesan.

A couple of notes: I live at high altitude so I have to use more broth/water. Also, the first couple of broth additions should be closer to a cup--adding broth a little fast in the beginning helps the rice cook. Last, if you taste as you go the risotto will taste really bland until it's almost done because the broth/water is still reducing, so don't worry about adding salt unless it still taste bland at the end.

You can use any mushrooms, obviously. I've done this with baby bellas, shiitakes, and chantarelles and they've all turned out great.

Pearl couscous fruit salad

I got this recipe from a colleague of Akiko's. I've only made it once, but I think it's a winner.

Ingredients:
pearl couscous (a.k.a. Israeli couscous)
1 pomegranate
1 can mandarin orange slices
dried currants
vegetable oil

1. Split open the pomegranate and remove the seeds. I found cool directions for this on-line. As you're separating the seeds from the fibers inside the pomegranate shell, drop the seeds into a bowl of water. The fibers will float, while the seeds will sink. Then you can skim the fibers off and drain the water and you'll have mostly fiber-free seeds.

2. Make 1 cup of pearl couscous as per the directions. The stuff I had said: bring 1 and 1/4 cup water to a boil, add 1 cup couscous, simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Optionally, add a little butter when you add the couscous. I didn't add butter, but maybe I should have.

3. When the couscous is done, transfer it to a bowl and stir it until it cools off. The idea here is to keep it from glopping up. The recipe says that when it starts to cool off add a little veggie oil; this is where I think cooking it with butter or oil might have helped, because no matter what I did it still ended up kind of sticky. The good news is, it was still good.

4. Stir in the pomegranate seeds.

5. Open the can of mandarin orange slices, drain, and stir in the slices. (Of course you could use fresh tangerine slices, too, if they're in season.)

6. Stir in a handful of dried currants. (Raisins are a good substitute if you can't find dried currants, but if you can, I think the currants match the pomegranate and mandarin orange a little better.)

7. Voila. You're done.

Mushroom rice (a.k.a. kinoko gohan)

Ingredients (makes enough for 4 people):
rice, 3 cups
dashi liquid, 540 ml
mirin, 2 tbsp
cooking sake, 3 tbsp
soy sauce 3 tbsp
mushrooms of your choice (this evening I used shiitake, maitake, lion's mane; if you can find matsutake that's the best; fresh mushrooms are better than dried, but if you use dried reconstitute them first), however much you like (I used maybe 3 handfuls tonight)
vegetable oil
green onions

1. Make the dashi: this is the bonito-based soup stock. You can find shiitake-based dashi sometimes now, which would probably be really good with this. Anyway, make 540 ml of it.

2. Wash the rice and put it in your rice cooker, then instead of filling it with water up to the 3-cup mark, use the dashi liquid. Let it sit (don't turn it on yet) while you do the next couple of steps.

3. Mix the mirin, cooking sake, and soy sauce together and put aside. If you don't cook with alcohol, you can skip the sake and buy non-alcoholic mirin.

4. Cut your mushrooms into bite-size pieces (with shiitake and other large-cap mushrooms it works best to cut them into strips, like you see with dried shiitake).

5. Sautee the mushrooms in the oil until they get tender.

6. Add the mirin/sake/soy sauce to the rice and dashi and stir.

7. Put sauteed mushrooms on top of the rice. Make sure they're submerged in the liquid, but don't mix into the rice.

8. Turn on your rice cooker and cook normally.

9. When it's done, mix the mushrooms into the rice.

10. Serve with chopped green onions to taste.

New Food! Yay! (second installment)

I've had five new foods recently, some of which were pretty interesting:

1. Masa's miso sesame dressing (Glynne's recommendation), which I had on Glynne's cabbage salad. I highly recommend both the salad recipe and the dressing.
2. Sylvia's honey mustard--not my favorite, to be honest. I like my honey mustard on the spicy side, and this one is fairly sweet and a bit vinegary for me.
3. Beecher's Marco Polo cheese (tastes like a jack with peppercorns). This is by the same people who make that No Woman jerk cheese Glynne recommended, and I like this one, too. The peppercorns are good without overwhelming the cheese.
4. Black spaghetti from Target. It's black because it's made with squid ink (which I realized later is probably not very vegetarian, oops). To me, it tastes like regular white spaghetti, but it stays totally black even when you cook it so it looks really dramatic.

5. Mahjoub family harissa sauce, which I ordered from http://www.thespicehouse.com
I have this one Moroccan-style soup recipe (which I will post sometime) which uses harissa, but there's no good place to get it around here. Many Lands down in Provo has had one brand in the past that I didn't like much, and when I made my own it didn't turn out that great. But this stuff is really good, though fairly spicy. The main spices in harissa, from what I can tell, are garlic, coriander, and caraway, and this brand has those in a base of olive oil, pimentos, and sundried tomatoes. So it has this great sweet-and-spicy thing going on that makes me want to experiment with it in other recipes. I think I'll try adding it to bruschetta one of these days. Yum.

hoisin beef with soybeans and noodles

i randomly got this recipe from eatingwell.com. we had it for dinner tonight and it was AWESOME.

ingredients:
8 oz. noodles (i used buckwheat noodles, but whole wheat spaghetti would do)
3 tbs lime juice
3 tbs hoisin sauce
2 tsp chili-garlic sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp sesame oil
8 oz. flank steak, thinly sliced (trim the fat off)
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
10 oz. frozen shelled soybeans, thawed
1 tbs fresh minced ginger (or not fresh as the case may be)
cilantro

preparation:
prepare noodles according to package directions. drain.

whisk together lime juice, hoisin sauce, chili-garlic sauce, and cornstarch. save.

heat oil over med-high heat. add steak and cook until just cooked through. transfer steak to a plate. add bell pepper to the meat juices and cook, stirring, for about a minute. add soybeans and cook through, about 2 minutes. (in my case, the soybeans were still frozen, so i did them first and then the pepper) stir in the sauce, and the beef. cook, stirring, about 1 minute. add noodles, toss. sprinkle cilantro on top.


vegetarian note: i think this would taste equally good sans beef, but with more peppers...also seems like it would be a good candidate for tempeh or seitan.

indonesian pilaf

OK. I made this last night - the recipe came from a kashi advertisement. i halved the amount of rice, but then we didn't have leftovers...i think the actual amount would work for dinner, then lunch the next day for two.

ingredients:
2 packets kashi 7 whole grain pilaf (8 cups of any cooked whole grain would work)
1 c whole peanuts
4 tsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 med red onion, diced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
3/4 c raisins
1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 c red cabbage, diced
1 pinch salt
1/4 c. water
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown rice vinegar (i ran out and used cider vinegar - it was ok)
2 tsp fresh ginger
1 tsp crushed red chili flakes
2 tsp evaporated cane juice (i used some brown sugar)

directions:
cook pilaf according to package directions. saute garlic and onion in 2 tsp sesame oil until limp. add cumin and coriander, stir. ad carrots, raisins, cabbage, salt, and water- stir well. cover with lid, reduce heat to low, simmer for 3ish minutes, then remove from heat. in a large mixing bowl, combine everything (including uncooked pepper and peanuts). In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients, whisk together, and add to the pilaf mixture. stir well and enjoy.

CousCous

We had some delicious couscous last night:

1 1/4 c. water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pepper

bring water and spices to a boil, add 1 c quick-cooking couscous, remove from heat and cover for 5 min (according to package directions)

when couscous is done, stir in one can of chick peas and some lemon zest.

i added some of my favorite lemon pepper (jane's krazy mixed-up seasoning, http://www.janeskrazy.com/) to taste.