Cabbage And Potato Curry (Aloo Vepudu)

Trend… shifting from Japanese to Indian cuisine… I was hoping to make Aloo Gobi (potato and cauliflower curry) tonight but I thought I should use the produce from my CSA box. I found a great recipe for Aloo Vepudu, which is potato and cabbage curry, in the Curry in Kadai blog. Check the recipe here.

The change I made to the recipe was that I used 1 tablespoon of ghee instead of 3-4 tbsp of oil, bay leaves instead of curry leaves and cayenne in place of green chilies.

Lamb Chops with a Spicy Rub (Indian)

This is the third year we are buying a whole lamb. The lamb we buy is kind of green as it’s raised non-commercially in a small bull farm and my friend Debra brings it for us when she goes visit her mom in South Dakota.

My sister Nancy sent me this recipe after she went to an Indian cooking class. The preparation is very simple and the spice combination is perfect. We love this dish. Today I am serving it with Portuguese Style Broccoli Rice and mini-shiitakes from Hazel Dell farms. Yum.

Lamb Chops with a Spicy Rub (Indian)

4 servings

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger (about 2-inch

piece)

1 teaspoon finely grated garlic (about 2 large cloves)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, finely ground (or use ground cumin)

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, finely ground (or use ground coriander)

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

8 lamb rib chops (about 1 pound 4 ounces)

3 tablespoons canola oil

Directions:

In a bowl, mix together the ginger, garlic, salt, cayenne, cumin, coriander, and turmeric to form a thick, slightly dry paste. Rub the chops well with this mixture and put in a big zippy to marinate for at least 4 hours and up to 12 hours in the refrigerator.

Heat the broiler or grill. Sear the lamb chops 4 to 5 minutes each side for rare. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

Gomokuzushi (Sushi Rice with Vegetables)

Oh no! Another Japanese dish!  J

Gomokuzushi or Kansai-style sushi is a sushi dish made with cooked or uncooked ingredients mixed in the body of the rice in the bowl. “Gomoku" means five, or more than five different ingredients. It is different than Chirashizushi (called Tirashi in several Japanese restaurants) in the sense that Tirashi is sushi rice topped with sashimi and other delicacies.

I like my Japanese seasonings less sweet than most recipes ask for. The thin omelet takes 1 teaspoon of corn starch, I didn’t use it. Besides toppings A and B, I added green peas and a wonderful tea-smoked salmon, a recipe from a blogger, Miriam from Madrid. Check Miriam from Madrid’s web site here.

Gomokuzushi (Sushi Rice with Vegetables)

4 Servings

Ingredients:

Sushi Rice:

2 cups Japanese rice, cooked

2 ½ inch piece of kelp seaweed (kombu)

5 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

Toppings A:

4 medium dry shiitake, softened by soaking in hot water, stems trimmed, cut into thin strips

1 small carrot, cut in 1 “ long, thin strips

1 small burdock root, cut in 1” long, thin strips

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon mirin

Toppings B:

thin omelet

1 sheet of nori seaweed, cut in 1” long, thin strips

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted and slightly crushed

1 tablespoon pickled ginger, squeezed, cut into thin strips

Thin omelet:

3 eggs

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoons mirin

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Toppings C, more ideas (optional):

1 cup cooked green peas

4 oz smoked salmon or salmon grilled in salt, shredded

1 English cucumber, thinly sliced, salted, squeezed

1 cup canned bamboo, lotus root or water chestnut cut into thin sticks

2 aburage, deep-fried tofu pouches, thinly sliced into strips

4 oz small squids, cooked and sliced crosswise (round sections) or

4 oz shredded crab imitation

Directions:

Rice:

Cook rice with kelp and water. Remove kelp when water boils. Put hot cooked rice into a mixing tub (wooden or glass) and spread evenly over the bottom. Mix vinegar, sugar and salt in a cup, stir well. Sprinkle vinegar mixture generously over the rice. With a large wooden spoon, mix rice with a slicing motion, very gently. You want to keep the rice grains intact. While you mix, use a hand fan. This is not to cool the sushi rice, but to puff the extra liquid away. Keep the sushi rice in the tub, covered with a damp towel.

Toppings A:

Cook burdock in a small pan in medium-low heat until almost all the liquid is absorbed. Add carrots and shiitake when burdock is almost done, mix well.

Thin omelet:

Add mirin, sugar, salt and cornstarch to beaten eggs. Grease a non-stick skillet over medium low heat. Pour in just enough beaten egg to cover the bottom of the skillet. Rotate the skillet. The omelet is ready to turn when the edges curl up and the surface becomes glossy. Turn omelet with your hands and wait about 10 seconds. Remove from pan. The omelet should be paper thin. Pile the omelets. When they are done, roll them jelly roll fashion and cut into very thin strips.

Assembly:

Add all ingredients except nori and the egg omelet to the rice and mix. Turn into a large serving platter or individual bowls and garnish with egg topped with nori.

Chawanmushi (Japanese Style Savory Egg Custard)

Here I am cooking Japanese food again!  J

This dish is delicate and delicious. It’s a side dish. You can mix any meat of fish, in byte size pieces. There are special serving dishes for chawanmushi but I don’t have them, so I use bowls covered with foil and I steam them in a pan.

Chawanmushi (Japanese Style Savory Egg Custard)

4 Servings

Ingredients:

Dashi:

2 cups water

½ oz kombu seaweed (kelp) or 3 inches strip

1/2 cup dried bonito flakes

Custard:

3 eggs

1 2/3 cup dashi 

1 tsp soy sauce

Fillings:

4 oz chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces

4 large or 12 small shrimp, shelled, tail on (optional)

4 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced, or 1/4 enoki mushrooms, chopped

8 slices kamaboko or narutomaki fish cakes

Japanese herb leaves such as mitsuba/trefoil (optional)

Directions:

Dashi: Heat the water with kelp, uncovered, over medium heat, remove kelp right before the water boils. Add a little bit of water and add the dried bonito flakes just before the water starts boiling. When the foam starts to raise, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 seconds. Turn off the heat. Add a pinch of salt and let stand until the flakes sink to the bottom. Strain.

Lightly beat eggs in a bowl, strain the eggs, add cold dashi and salt. Marinade the chicken with the mirin and soy sauce for a couple of minutes. Place fillings in the bottom of 8 oz bowls. Stir in the egg mixture carefully. Break any bubbles on the surface. Place mitsuba leaves on top of the egg mixture. Cover the cups with foil. Preheat a steamer on high heat. Turn down the heat to low and carefully place cups in the steamer. Steam for about 15 to 20 minutes until set.

Poached Egg, Polenta and Spinach

So I love polenta. And it’s so easy to make. Easier than oatmeal. So today I made this healthy yet delicious breakfast for Des and I. Sorry I don’t have a recipe, but you can check the polenta recipe here. I steamed the spinach, poached the egg (just put a little vinegar in the water) and sprinkled with some parmesan. Yum.

Oyako Donburi (Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl)

Hi all, it looks like I am into another Japanese dish. It's just that I am craving for Japanese foods every day, weird! But not to worry, I will come to other foods, such as Brazilian, soon.

The Japanese name for dish means “parent and child”, which I think is super cute. This dish was very common at my parents house, and everybody loved it. It’s easy and quick to make too. The picture of this dish looks very similar to the Soboro but it tastes totally different.

Some restaurants and recipes call for too much sugar. I prefer less, just a hint, like the authentic Japanese food should be.

Oyako Donburi

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon sesame or vegetable oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

12 oz chicken breast, cut in ½” cubes

4 eggs

mushrooms such as shiitake or oyster, cut into strips (optional)

4 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 tablespoons mirin

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 C water

Mitsuba as a garnish (optional)

Chrysanthemum as a garnish (optional)

Nori seaweed as a garnish (optional)

4 tablespoons green onions, chopped very thin

Directions:

Heat oil In a large skillet, add onion and stir fry until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chicken and simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add water, soy sauce, mirin, sugar and mushrooms (if using) and simmer over medium heat, about 5 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Beat eggs in a bowl. Bring the soup to a boil, pour over chicken, turn the heat down to low and put on a lid. Cook until the egg is set, about one minute. Add mistuba and/or chrysanthemum to the chicken. To serve,  put about 1 cup of steamed rice in a deep bowl, then lay the chicken and egg on top of the rice. Top with green onions and nori seaweed if using.

Pissaladiere

So Des sent me an article from an Irish periodical with a recipe of pissaladiere and asked to make it. I was totally surprised as he never asks me for specific foods, except potatoes, of course. Pissaladiere is a traditional French dish. Besides, we have been getting tons of new onions in the CSA box.

I am using  Bob Red Mill’s gluten-free pizza dough. We are not gluten free but I try to be as much gluten free as I can, as I believe there is some evil in the gluten these days, specially the ones originated from GMO wheat. This dough is really good, so why not share the good things with our gluten-free friends?

About the olives: I could find Nicoise olives at Whole Foods but they are not the black or dark purple ones. So I bought another variety which tastes a little more tart. I am going to use both and see how it goes. Nicoise olives are supposed to have a rich, nutty, mellow flavor and served with the pits, since they are so small.

Pissaladiere

6 servings

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil

8 cups onions, sliced ¼”, about 6 medium onions

3 garlic cloves, whole

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1 pre-prepared pizza dough, thin crust if possible

20 Nicoise olives

16 anchovy fillets

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat, add onions, garlic, thyme and stir to blend. Cover and cook until onions are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes. Uncover, remove garlic, mash them and return them to the pan. Saute onion mix uncovered until most liquid evaporates and onions are golden, about 10 minutes longer.

Prepare pizza dough according to package instructions. Spread onion filling evenly over dough. Arrange olives and anchovies decoratively. Bake until crust is crisp and golden. Drizze some olive oil before serving.

Double Coconut Cake

Ok, you might have noticed that I don’t make too many sweet dishes. I am always trying to cook reasonably healthy. But what the heck, I cook something decadent and sweet once in a blue moon! Today we have a blue moon.  Since this is my first time making a cake in more than 20 years, I will try this simple recipe from the Cooking Light cookbook. It asks for round baking pans. Who has a baking pan? I don’t! but I have a bundt cake pan. Let’s try there and see what happens. So in truth, this won’t be a double-coconut cake. It will be a bundt coconut cake.

After baking: it turned out really good! Yummm!!!! Light and fluffy!

Double-Coconut Cake

(from Cooking Light)

14 servings

Ingredients

Cooking spray

1  tablespoon  cake flour

2 1/4  cups  sifted cake flour

(if you don’t have cake flour, you can substitute ¾ plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour for 1 cup of cake flour)

2 1/4  teaspoons  baking powder

1/2  teaspoon  salt

1 2/3  cups  sugar

1/3  cup  butter, softened

2  large eggs

1  (14-ounce) can light coconut milk

1  tablespoon  vanilla extract

Fluffy Coconut Frosting

2/3  cup  flaked sweetened coconut, divided

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray; dust with 1 tablespoon flour.

Combine 2 1/4 cups flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (for about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in vanilla.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Sharply tap the pans once on countertop to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks, and remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.

Place 1 cake layer on a plate; spread with 1 cup Fluffy Coconut Frosting. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup coconut. Top with remaining cake layer; spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle 1/3 cup coconut over top of cake. Store cake loosely covered in refrigerator.

Fluffy Coconut Frosting

Yield: about 4 cups (serving size: about 1/4 cup)

Ingredients

4  large egg whites

1/2  teaspoon  cream of tartar

Dash of salt

1  cup  sugar

1/4  cup  water

1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract

1/4  teaspoon  coconut extract

Preparation

Place egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Combine sugar and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until candy thermometer registers 238°. Pour hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over egg whites, beating at high speed. Stir in extracts.

Soboro (Meat and Egg Japanese Style)

I love this dish. It is the typical Japanese comfort food. The combination of ginger with the teriyaki in the meat and the slight sweetness in the egg is delicious. You can use any meat: beef, chicken, pork, turkey. I used organic turkey. The eggs were super fresh from the CSA box that I've got on the same day. I am assuming you know by now that everything I use is organic. Well, maybe 99%...

Soboro (Meat and Egg Japanese Style)

4 Servings

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon sesame oil

16 ounces ground chicken or turkey (or any other meat)

2 tablespoons mirin

2 teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 teaspoons sugar

½ tablespoon mirin

pinch of salt

2 cups cooked short grain brown or white rice

2 tablespoons thinly chopped green onions

1 nori seaweed sheet cut in thin strips

Directions:

Heat oil in a skillet. Add the meat, mirin, sugar, ginger and in a medium to low heat, break the meat.  After the meat is cooked, about 15 minutes, add the soy sauce. If there is too much liquid, turn up the heat until the meat looks moist but there is no excess liquid.

While meat is cooking, beat eggs in a medium bowl and add sugar, mirin, and salt. Heat a skillet with vegetable oil, add the eggs, and scramble until cooked. Don’t overcook the eggs.

Serve ½ cup of short brown or white rice into four bowls. Top with soboro, then the egg, green onions and nori. You can optionally add hot green tea to this dish. Serve immediately.

Agedashi-Tofu (Fried Tofu with Grated Daikon and Ginger)

It looks like I am in a Japanese cooking mode, I think that’s because Japanese cooking uses a lot of root vegetables, so abundant during fall.

This version is a light one as I stir fry the tofu instead of deep frying it. I am also using soy sauce instead of dashi. This dish is simple but elegant. You can serve with multiple little side dishes, like I am serving today: hakusai tsukemono (Napa cabbage pickles), kinpira (burdock root teriyaki), steamed shiitake mushrooms and steamed short grain rice.

Agedashi-Tofu
(Fried Tofu with Grated Daikon and Ginger)

4 Servings

Ingredients:

1 block tofu

corn-starch

½ grated daikon radish

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 teaspoon vegetable oil for stir frying

2 tablespoons light soy sauce or tamari

Directions:

Remove excess water off tofu by wrapping it in paper towels. Cut tofu into 4 blocks and cut each block in ½ making 2 triangles. Coat with corn-starch, and stir fry with the vegetable oil in a skillet until it turns golden brown. Place 2 tofu triangles on each serving dish and top with daikon and ginger. Drizzle ½ tablespoon of soy sauce on each dish. 

Napa Cabbage Pickles (Hakusai Tsukemono)

Napa Cabbage Pickles - Hakusai Asazuke or Tsukemono

Ingredients:

1/4 head hakusai (Napa cabbage), washed and cut in 4 to 8 pieces, lengthwise

2 - 3 tsp salt, depending on the size of the cabbage

Directions:

Put hakusai in a large bowl. Rub it with salt. Top with a plate/dish that covers all the vegetables and put a big weight on top of it, such as a pan filled with water. Let it rest overnight or 5 to 6 hours in the refrigerator. Squeeze cabbage and cut to serve.

Tonjiru (Pork and Vegetables Miso Soup)

Tonjiru or butajiru is a soup made with pork and miso, but its taste is very different from the traditional miso soup. This is the only dish I remember I liked when I was a baby. I mean it, I was a baby. My mom would serve it in a shallow plastic dish with some short grain rice, and I was delighted.

My version has some variations from the original dish. I added ginger and sesame oil instead of vegetable oil. I do not use konnyaku just because it’s a little hard to find and not everyone likes it. I am using potato instead of baby yam because of the same reason. However, I love baby yam! For Brazilians that are interested, the baby yam is called “inhame” in Brazil. Today I also added some left over tofu.

Mi’s Tonjiru (Pork, Vegetables and Miso Soup)

4 Servings

Ingredients:

1 tsp sesame oil

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1/4 lb lean pork, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 gobo (burdock root), peeled and shaved into very thin slices

(I use the vegetable peeler to shave them)

1 medium potato (or 5 baby yams), peeled and cut into bite size pieces

1/2 carrot, peeled and cut into thin quarter-rounds

1/4 daikon radish, peeled and cut into thin and small rectangles

4 cup dashi soup stock (see miso soup recipe)

2 - 3 tbsp white miso

2 green onion springs, thinly sliced

Seven-spice chili mix (optional)

 Directions:

Soak gobo strips in water for 5 minutes in plenty of water and drain.

Heat sesame oil in a stock pot and quickly saute pork and ginger over high heat. Add potato, carrot, gobo, daikon radish to the pot and stir fry for about 1 minute. Add the dashi soup stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low, skim off any foam that rise to the surface, and simmer for about 10 minutes. Dissolve miso in the soup and add chopped green onions. Remove from heat just before it starts boiling. Serve immediately.

Shake Ochazuke (Salmon with Rice and Green Tea)

Ochazuke is one of my favorite Japanese dishes. It can be as simple as rice, nori, tea and some savory protein or vegetable. Since my mom is here and can direct my cooking, today I am making a more sophisticated one, with sushi grade salmon, yummmm!!!!! I am serving it with kinpira (cooked burdock root) on the side.

Shake Ochazuke (Salmon with Rice and Green Tea)

Servings 4

Ingredients

4C white or brown short grain rice, cooked

1 lb sushi grade salmon

2 tablespoons wasabi

¼ cup light soy sauce

¼ cup green onion springs, very thinly sliced

1 sheet nori cut into thin ribbons

2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds, slightly crushed

(In Japanese cuisine we use a sesame grinder)

Very hot, high quality green tea, prepared in a teapot

Directions

Prepare rice in a rice-cooker or boil as instructed on package.

Cut salmon sashimi style. In a medium bowl, mix soy sauce, wasabi, sesame and green onions. Pour on the fish and toss. Marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Serve 1 cup of rice in a medium bowl, top with the seasoned salmon and pour green tea to cover the salmon.

Cover and wait a couple of minutes so that the fish gets slightly cooked with the tea heat. Top with nori right before serving.

Kinpira (Burdock Root Japanese Style)

Kinpira (Burdock Root Japanese Style)

Ingredients:

½ lb gobo (burdock root)

¼ lb carrot (optional)

1 tbsp light soysauce

1 tsp sugar

1 ½ tbsp mirin

½ tbsp sake

1 tbsp white sesame seeds

½ tbsp sesame oil

½ tbsp vegetable oil
A pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

Lightly shave the gobo skin and shred gobo into very thin strips. Soak the gobo strips in water for a while and drain well. Peel the carrot if using and cut it into short and thin strips. Heat sesame and vegetable oils in a frying pan, and stir fry gobo strips and carrots for a couple minutes. Add all seasonings to the vegetables and stir-fry, stirring frequently, until gobo is caramelized. Sprinkle sesame seeds and cayenne.


You can find burdock root at your local Asian store.