Category: TOPICS & CATEGORIES

Tamagoyaki – Rolled Egg

Search YouTube for several recipes and techniques.

  1. Beat 1 egg
  2. Put into hot pan with 1 tsp olive oil
  3. OPTION:  Sprinkle as little as possible spinach, chives, etc
  4. As soon as glisten is gone, roll it as small as possible
  5. Push to the side of the pan and add another beaten egg, allowing the liquid egg to run under and adhere to the first
  6. Add your optional ingredients – VERY sparsely
  7. Roll the first egg roll around the second flat and cooked egg, creating a larger roll
  8. Push to the side, and add a third beaten egg, allowing it to flow under the roll
  9. Do not add any extra ingredients this time.
  10. When the bottom is cooked, but the top still has a bit of glisten, roll your log over the third egg – creating one large rolled egg.
  11. Turn out of the pan onto a sheet of waxed paper
  12. Form into a square shape – and let rest about 3 minutes
  13. Unwrap (discard the paper) and cut the ends off.  This will create a nice section in which you can see the layers of rolled egg.
  14. Cut the log in half – creating two pieces
  15. Cut each of the two pieces into thirds – creating a total of six pieces
  16. Plate and garnish with basil, cilantro or chives

Japanese Cooking Ratios

These ratios were presented by Chef Tatsuo Saito from NHK World Dining with the Chef.  Other information has been researched and is presented here.

Base Ingredients

  • Soy provides saltiness with a touch of umami
  • Salt – Both soy and salt work to complete the electrical impulses needed for taste.
  • Mirin (sweet rice wine) provides a complex sweetness
  • Sugar provides a simple sweetness
  • Sake provides depth
    – Sake also removes fishy odors
  • Vinegar is a fermented and distilled liquid that adds layers of flavor.
  • Miso is a paste made from fermented soybeans and barley or rice malt, used in Japanese cooking.  Frequently used for soup.

Taste each individual ingredient so that you can better understand what each ingredient is bringing to the dish.

Teriyaki Sauce

  • 2 parts soy
  • 2 parts sake
  • 3 parts mirin

You can use sugar in place of mirin, but it makes a heavier tasting teriyaki.

Sukiyaki

  • 1 part dashi
  • 2 parts soy
  • 1 part sugar
  • 1 part mirin

Tempura

  • 4 parts dashi
  • 1 part soy
  • 1 part mirin

Ohitashi (spinach)

  • 8 parts dashi
  • 1 part soy
  • 1 part mirin

White Fish

Liquid to simmer fish

  • 3 parts water
  • 1 part soy
  • 3 parts sake
  • 1 part mirin

Hot Soba Soup

  • 10 parts dashi
  • 1 part soy
  • 1 part mirin

The same as Tempura liquid, but with more dashi

Simple Recipe of Rice

  1. Bring 2 parts water (2 C) to a boil.
  2. Add 1 part rice (1 C) and bring back to a boil.
  3. Reduce heat to lowest setting, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
  4. Remove from heat, keeping covered, and let rest another 10 minutes.
  5. Fluff with a fork and serve in very loose clumps.

Dashi

This is an incredibly simple, clear and unassuming broth It forms one of the culinary cornerstones of Japanese cooking.

  • Kombu Dashi is made in about 20 minutes with just three ingredients: water, kombu (dried kelp), and bonito fish flakes. The resulting clear broth tastes like the essence of the sea.
  • Niboshi Dashi uses baby dried sardines in place of the kombu.
  • Shitake Dashi uses Shitake mushrooms in the place of kombu.  It is also not heated to boiling, as that destroys the delicate taste of Shitake.
  • Awase Dashi is essentially Kombu Dashi that after simmering is allowed to sit for awhile to let the flavors leech from the contents.  It has a stronger flavor than Kombu Dashi.

Dashi is used in any Japanese dish that requires liquid for cooking. It’s also found at the heart of the soup broth in various broth-based dishes like nabe (hot pot), shabu shabu, sukiyaki, and oden. Mixed with soybean paste and a few cubes of tofu, dashi makes a flavorful miso soup.

Dashi mixed with a bit of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin (sweet rice wine) can be used to make dipping sauces for fried tempura or chilled noodle dishes like soba buckwheat noodles and udon flour noodles. A greater amount of hot dashi broth can also be added to dipping sauce or broth or a hot noodle soup. In addition to noodles, dashi can be cooked with rice and mushrooms, vegetables, and fish or meat to make takikomi-gohan.

Ohitashi literally means ‘steeped in dashi’ and is a common way of cooking vegetables. Some popular dishes include okra ohitashi, spinach ohitashi and eggplant ohitashi. Nimono, or simmered dishes, using dashi broth are another large part of Japanese home cooking. This includes staples like nikujaga (boiled meat and potatoes), kabocha no nimono (simmered Japanese pumpkin), buri-daikon (braised yellowtail with daikon radish), and buta no kakuni (stewed pork belly). Dashi can also be mixed in with eggs to make dashimaki tamago, a Japanese rolled omelet.

Dried kombu sheets, shiitake mushroom, and bonito flakes can all be purchased separately to make dashi. In addition, commercial dashi concentrate—available in instant powdered granules, liquid concentrate, or pre-made broth pouches—has become incredibly popular in Japan. Look for it in the Asian or international food section of your local supermarket, at Asian grocers, in health food stores, or from specialty vendors online.

Commercial dashi is so convenient and popular in Japan that making dashi from scratch is becoming a bit of a dying art. However, nothing beats the well-rounded flavor of homemade dashi broth, and a simple dashi can be made easily overnight or with a quick 30 minutes of preparation, so it’s worth it to try making dashi from scratch.

Pork Belly Sandwich

Ingredients

  • 3 LB Pork Belly with skin removed
  • 1 C granulated sugar
  • ½ C coarse salt
  • 1 TBL chopped rosemary
  • Juice and zest from one orange – separated
  • Juice and zest from one lemon – separated
  • Juice and zest from two limes – separated

Step by Step

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine zest with other dry ingredients.
  2. Let rest on counter for 30 minutes.
  3. Pat pork belly dry and cross hatch fat cap.
  4. Rub liberally with dry mixture.
  5. Refrigerate uncovered for 24-48 hours.
    ON ANOTHER DAY…
  6. Preheat oven to 450º
  7. Rinse pork belly under water and remove most of the cure.
  8. Place on a rimmed baking sheet, pat dry, and let air dry 30 minutes.
  9. Put baking sheet into the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
  10. Reduce oven temperature to 250º WITHOUT OPENING DOOR
  11. Cook for another 90 minutes.
  12. Remove and let juices reabsorb for 20 minutes before cutting.

To make your Sandwich, use a high quality sub roll.

  • Toast sub roll slightly – browned edges, but not crispy overall
  • 3 leaves Butter lettuce
  • 2-3 fairly thick slices of the pork belly
  • 1 large Heirloom tomato – sliced thick – about 1/4 inch
  • 2 TBL Deli mustard
  • 1 TBL mayo or Miracle Whip

Philly Cheese Steak

Ingredients

  • Ideally: Shaved Ribeye
    OPTIONAL:  Leftover meat – chopped or shredded
  • 2 TBL butter
  • 2 TBL half and half
  • Dash Tabasco and a bit of Dijon mustard
  • Chives
  • 1/4 C Provolone cheese – shredded
  • 1/4 C Fontina cheese – shreded
  • 1/4 C Gorgonzola – shredded
  • 1 tsp corn starch mixed with shredded cheeses
  • Red Bell Pepper – sauteed
  • Dried French onion rings
  • Garlic salt

Step by Step

  1. Melt butter with Half and Half
  2. Mix in the Tabasco, Dijon and cheeses
  3. Saute bell pepper strips and chives, then set aside
  4. Sear your meat in a hot pan with a little EVOO
  5. Flip and chop
  6. Top with some cheese sauce and  cook to caramelize
  7. Oil or butter a really good sub roll
  8. Toast on your grill or in a hot pan
  9. Drizzle with extra cheese sauce
  10. Top with some of your cooked red bells and french fried onion rings

Real Breakfast Sandwich

This recipe uses a four-inch tefflon skillet or a large muffin ring sprayed with Pam.  You can make these in a six-inch skillet, and then cut the end patty in half, but I have a four-inch tefflon pan, so I use it.

Ingredients per person

  • one egg
  • 2 TBL AP flour (or something like almond flour)
  • 2 TBL yogurt or buttermilk
  • 1 TBL whey powder (optional)

One slice of ham and cheddar cheese per person too.

Step by Step:

  1. Mix together first three ingredients.
  2. Pour half into your small mold, or the entire thing into your larger skillet.
  3. Cook over low heat until fairly set.
  4. Flip the patty and cook the other side.
  5. Top with ham and cheese and any other desired toppings.
  6. Serve like a sandwich.

 

Green Leaf Wrap

You can use collard greens, iceberg lettuce, bib lettuce or butter lettuce.  It’s simple… prepare your wrap or burrito, but use greens rather than a tortilla.

Blanche the leaves in boiling water, and then ice water – or heat them on a skillet.  Here are a few recipes that would lend themselves to this preparation.

Reuben

Reuben:  Corned beef, horseradish, parsley and bean sprouts.  Fry in butter briefly after wrapping.

Breakfast Sandwich

Breakfast Sandwich:  Scrambled egg and cheddar cheese – with or without sausage/bacon.

Cucumber Sandwich

Cucumber Sandwiches

Grilled Bologna

Grilled Bologna Sandwich

Lobster Roll Sandwich

Lobster Roll Sandwich

Pulled Pork Sandwich

Pineapple Pulled Pork Sandwich

California Sandwich

California Sandwich

Egg Salad Sandwich

Egg Salad Sandwich

Tasajo

Tasajo

Tuna Salad Sandwich

Tuna Salad

 

Parnassienne au Chocolate

Christopher Gross’ Parnassienne au Chocolate Chocolate Tower

From Phoenix New Times:  October 21, 2010

Chocolate Tower

What’s better than chocolate? Three kinds of chocolate, of course.

Chef Christopher Gross of Christopher’s Restaurant and Crush Lounge created his often-imitated  Parnassienne au Chocolate Chocolate Tower: Nearly half a foot of a dark chocolate lattice over a white chocolate tube that envelops a chocolate mousse center.

Today he shares the recipe for his signature tower — the same one he shared with Julia Child on her PBS master chef series — so you can try your hand at chocolatiering at home.

Click through for the three-part recipe: Mousse, lattice, and espresso sauce.

Chocolate Mousse

(Serves 8)
What you’ll need:
5-½ oz. semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, sliced
¼ cup heavy cream
1-¼ cups egg whites (10 large)
4 Tbsp superfine sugar

What you’ll do:
1. Pour two inches of water into a saucepan and bring to a slow simmer. Set a stainless steel bowl on top of the pan, and add the chocolate and the butter. Stir occasionally as the chocolate melts; when smooth and lump-free, in about five minutes, remove and let the chocolate cool to room temperature.
2. Pour the cream into the stainless steel bowl set over ice and water. Beat by hand or with a portable beater, whipping in as much air as possible, until stiff peaks form.
3. Beat the egg whites to the soft peak stage; whip in two tablespoons of sugar; continue beating to stiff peaks form gradually adding the reminder of the sugar.
4. Whisk a quarter of the egg whites into the cool, melted chocolate, and then gradually add the rest. Fold in the cream quickly, deflating as little as possible.
5. Cut a piece of parchment paper into a rectangle 3-½ inches wide by 5 inches long. Form into a cylinder approximately 5 inches tall and 1-½ inches in diameter. Close the side with a piece of sticky tape and make sure that it stands up straight. Repeat to form 8 cylinders.
6. Fill a pastry bag with the mousse and pipe into the tubes, leaving a -½-inch space at the top. Drape the tops of the cylinders with a sheet of plastic and place in the freezer until frozen solid (approximately 1 hour).

Lattice

What you’ll need:
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, cut into pieces
6 oz. white chocolate, cut into pieces

What you’ll do:
1. For decorating the towers, cut eight 5-inch squares out of parchment paper.
2. Melt the semi-sweet chocolate over low heat.
3. Fill a decorating cone with some of the dark chocolate, and drizzle free form diagonal lines no more than 1/4 inch apart in a lattice pattern across each of the parchment squares. As each square is done, lay flat on one of the baking sheets.
4. When all squares are finished put the sheets in the freezer until the chocolate is set, or about 5 minutes. Reserve the remaining melted chocolate.
5. Melt the white chocolate over low heat.
6. Remove one dark chocolate lattice square from the freezer. And with the offset spatula, spread 2 to 3 tablespoons of the white chocolate in a very thin layer on top of the lattice, leaving a 1-inch strip uncoated at one side. Scrape off any excess chocolate.
7. Unwrap one frozen mousse tower and lay it on top of the white chocolate, parallel to and opposite the uncoated strip. Quickly wrap the parchment around the mousse, handling as little as possible and being careful to leave the uncoated flap overlapping.
8. Return each finished tower to the freezer, immediately after wrapping in parchment. Repeating steps 6 to 8 until you’ve latticed all the mousse towers.
9. The papers may be peeled off after five minutes in the freezer, and the chocolate lattice will remain in place around the mousse.
10. Then let the mousse defrost in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Espresso Sauce

What you’ll need:
1-½ cups half and half (light cream)
½ fragrant vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
6 egg yolks
⅔ cup sugar
1 cup ILLY espresso coffee beans (2 oz.)

What you’ll do:
1. Heat the half and half with the vanilla bean, when almost at a simmer remove from the heat and cover the pan.
2. Meanwhile, start beating the egg yolks with the hand held mixer in the pan until thick and lemon-colored.
3. Gradually beat in the sugar, and then slowly blend in the ¼ cup of hot cream to warm the yolks. Blend slowly to minimize air bubbles.
4. Remove the vanilla bean from the remaining cream and blend the cream into the yolk mixture.
5. Pour in the espresso beans and set over low heat, stirring slowly and constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.
6. Strain through the fine meshed sieve into a bowl and let cool. Serve warm, tepid or chilled.

Plate the chocolate tower plain or with fruit of your choosing. Then drizzle the espresso sauce over the components as desired.

This is one to bust out for dinner with the in-laws, your boss, a significant other, or anyone else you might be trying to impress. Can’t quite nail the presentation? Head over to Christopher’s instead.

(This is part three of our Chef Chat with Gross. Check out parts one and two for more about how he made the transition from picky eater to worldly chef and his foie gras battles.)

Fresh Beans

This is good for wax beans, green beans, string beans, etc.  It is NOT intended for things like peas, lentils and Lima beans.

  1. Bring pot of water up to a boil.
  2. Add 3 TBL salt.
  3. Add beans and boil for 15 minutes.
  4. Remove to a skillet.
  5. Add 3 TBL butter.
  6. Saute on low heat for another 15 minutes.
  7. Beans should be soft, and not al-dente at all.

Braised Leeks

  1. Cut off the green parts of the leeks.  Separate and rinse them well, then keep them for stock made at a later date.
  2. Cut off just the “strings” of the roots, keeping the body intact.
  3. Cut them in half lengthwise.
  4. Brown them in butter for 3 minutes per side.
  5. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and 1/2 C white wine to the pan and bring up to a simmer.
  6. Cover loosely with a piece of foil and simmer  15-20 minutes
  7. Plate and garnish with parsley, chives, coarse salt and/or grated black pepper.OR

    Alternate:  Vinaigrette

    • Dijon mustard
    • French’s mustard
    • Red wine vinegar
    • Extra virgin olive oil
    • Salt and pepper
    • garlic
    • shallots
    • Whisk, taste and season
  8. Put some vinaigrette on the bottom of a baking dish
  9. Put into your halved leeks
  10. Pour remaining dressing over top
  11. Put into fridge for 3-12 hours
  12. Plate and top with remaining sauce
  13. Add hazelnuts, croutons, hard boiled egg pieces, chives
  14. Serve cold

Garlic Head Toast

  1. Cut off the top of an entire head of garlic.
  2. Place on crumpled foil so it stays upright.
  3. Add salt and pepper, then drizzle with olive oil.
  4. Carefully close the foil and bake at 425º for 60 minutes.
  5. Squeeze out garlic meat and spread on toast.
  6. Garnish with oregano or chives.

Corn Bisque

  1. Bring 2 QT of water up to boiling.
  2. Shuck two ears of corn into a bowl.
  3. Chop 1/2 Vidalia onion into corn-kernel sized pieces, and put in with the corn.
  4. Cut the cob into pieces and put it into your boiling water with 1 bay leaf, thyme, corriander, alspice and star anise – the spices in a bundle for easy removal later.  Boil 30 minutes.
  5. Bring 2 TBL butter, 2 TBL safflower oil, 5 cloves whole garlic and 1 TBL chopped ginger to high heat and simmer just until pungent.
  6. Remove the garlic and ginger and add your corn and onion, and cook it until it starts to brown.
  7. Add  2 C of your broth into the pan, and add salt and lime juice (to taste)
  8. Simmer 30 minutes.
  9. Mix 1 TBL corn starch or potato starch in with 1 C Half and Half, and add to the pan, whisking continually.
  10. Cook just until it starts to thicken slightly.  Add 1/2 more broth if needed for texture, color on consistency.

Trifle

SEE A SIMPLE RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE

From AmandasCookin.com

This is a very simple and elegant dessert.  You can make a large trifle that will serve everyone, or individual dessert cup trifles.

From BBCGoodFood.com

A TRIFLE is a general category of recipe, kind of like “a casserole” – “a burrito” – or “a beverage.”

From RealFood.Tesco.com

It simply describes a layered desert, usually with a cake layer, a pudding layer, a fruit layer and a few other layers thrown in for good measure.

From taste.co.au

I’ve included photos from other websites so that you can get an idea of what a trifle is, and create your own.  You will see that the key is to maintain distinct layers.  If you browse all of these GOOGLE IMAGES you will see that some trifles are not clearly labeled at all, which makes it not really a trifle.

CLICK ON AN IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGEMENT

Food Network Canada

A simple recipe that you can follow, if you want a no-fail first attempt.

SIMPLE TRIFLE

  1. First, decide if you want one large dramatic trifle to share, or individual trifles.  You definitely want it to be clear glass though.  Be very careful to not fill any layer too deeply, or you will run out of space.
  2. SPONGE LAYER:  Traditionally you use Lady Fingers in a trifle, but you can buy angel food cake or use the recipe below and it will be just as tasty.  You can also simply use Vanilla Wafers.  Use a knife and cut prepared angel food cake into 1/2 to 1 inch slices.
  3. If you want to try to make your own sponge layer, here is a recipe for LADY FINGERS.
  4. If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, a single biscuit cutter is a good addition to your arsenal.  Cut circles from the angel food cake.  If they are too big for your container, cut them into geometric shapes and put them against the wall of your glass.
  5. PUDDING LAYER:  Spoon pudding into the bottom of your glass to hold your sponge in place.  Pudding can be from scratch or even a box instant pudding.  Both will work well.
  6. COOKIE LAYER:  You can use crushed Oreo’s or Graham Crackers.  You can even use granola.  The thing is that you want something with crumbly pieces to create a completely different texture.
  7. FRUIT LAYER:  For this, you want a soft fruit like peaches, strawberries, kiwi, and so forth.  The fruit should be in bite-sized pieces.
  8. WHIPPED CREAM LAYER:  You really don’t want to use spray canned whipped cream, as it breaks down too quickly.  Cool Whip is not a bad choice, but making your own whipped cream is actually pretty easy.  CLICK HERE for a simple three-ingredient whipped cream.
  9. OPTIONAL:  CREAM CHEESE LAYER:  Alternately, you can use Cream Cheese, Yogurt, cooked (cooled) Vanilla Pudding, and powdered sugar.
  10. FRESH FRUIT:  Top the whipped cream with something like blueberries, strawberries, cherries, etc.  Something small and colorful.
  11. GARNISH:  You can garnish with more crushed cookies, or even chopped nuts if you want.  You can also place a single mint leaf on the very top for an elegant presentation.

STEP BY STEP – OVERVIEW

  1. For a large trifle, put a layer of angel food cake in the bottom
  2. Add a layer of your white mixture cream cheese or whipped cream.
  3. Stack strawberries against the side so they can be seen
  4. Add strawberry pieces and blueberries
  5. Repeat with layers of cake, cream mixture, more fruit
  6. Finish with a layer of cake, cream mixture, and decoratively place fruits

Chef’s Notes

DO NOT USE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE IN MY COOKBOOK.

These notes are gleaned from PBS The Great British Baking Show

  • A Trifle should have well-defined layers
  • Trifles are a West Wales staple – placed on tables several times each week
  • Trifles traditionally use lady fingers for the cake layers
  • Another option is Vanilla Wafers
  • Use a shallow disk to serve many and to all all flavors in a single serving
  • Biscuits need to absorb the liquid without disintegrating
  • Many of the chefs used lemon meringue or lemon curd – The custard should be thick
  • Recipe 1: layers of biscuit/cake, strawberry, whipped cream and blueberry
  • Recipe 2: Recipe featured a praline circle on the top
  • Recipe 3: bananas, strawberries, mangos with Lemon Macaroons on top
  • Recipe 4: Ginger cake with fruit and creme anglaise
  • Recipe 5: Spray the layers with cointreau
  • Recipe 6: Peach, almond and ginger – with browned butter
  • Recipe 7: Cake layer was a lemon Swiss roll
  • Recipe 8: Amaretti Bisquits on top
  • Recipe 9: Chef used a jelly layer

If you are interested, you can MAKE YOUR OWN LADY FINGERS rather than using pound cake

 

Recipe from Wall Street Journal

Dec 20, 2016 – CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE
Trifle 1 Trifle 2 Trifle 3
What they are calling their Christmas Pudding was defined in a previous publication. You can use slices of Angel Food Cake, Vanilla Wafers, or more traditionally Lady Fingers. This goes over GREAT at parties. Make sure you assemble it into a clear glass bowl or the WOW factor is lost.

Tasajo

This is a pillard piece of meat that is aged and then cooked quickly.

  1. Trim as much fat from the skirt steak or flank steak (same thing) as you are able.  Ask for the outside cut if it is an option.
  2. Cut the meat into 1 inch strips against the grain.
  3. Put between lightly oiled plastic layers and pound until flat.
  4. Lay flat on a drying rack and lightly salt both sides.
  5. Dry in the refrigerator for 3-5 hours.
  6. Put onto hot grill and brush with melted butter.
  7. Great for sandwiches.

Tasajo Jerky

  1. Pepare Skirt Steak as above, but only Steps 1 through 4.
  2. Whisk 1 TBL each Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, honey and lime juice in a bowl.
  3. Add 1/2 tsp each black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, paprika, and onion powder; and whisk together.
  4. Marinate the meat overnight in the refrigerator.  It’s OK if it is not laying out flat at this point.  I like to put them in a zip lock bag, which makes it easy to occasionally agitate them.
  5. The next day, remove both racks from the oven.
  6. Line the bottom of your oven with foil (or use baking sheets) to avoid an awful mess.
  7. Heat the oven to 300º – We will not cook at this temperature, but this will help kill off any bacteria that might be on the meat.
  8. Place one of the racks in the sink, and place a toothpick through one end of a meat strip and hang from the top oven rack.  It works well to use bamboo BBQ skewers, and thread 3-4 pieces of meat.  This keeps them from accidentally falling off the rack.
  9. Return the rack to the oven and bake the meat for only ten minutes.
  10. Turn your oven down to 150-175º – or as low as it will go.
  11. Prop the door open with a wooden spoon to allow moisture to escape and encourage air to circulate.
  12. It should take between 3-6 hours depending on the thickness of your slices.
  13. Check after 3 hours. Bend the jerky.  It should bend and crack slightly, but SHOULD NOT break in half.
  14. Keeps out of the fridge for a week or two, and inside the fridge for a couple of months.

 

Plum Sauce

This is good for French Toast, Pancakes, Crepes, Shortbread and many other items.  It’s a good alternative to syrup or honey.

  • 1 LB plums (chopped)
    Optional:  Figs or prunes
  • 1/2 LB cherries
  • vanilla, orange juice, cognac and sugar
  1. Put plums into a pot and add 1 C water.
  2. Bring to a boil.
  3. While that is heating up, pit and puree your cherries and run through a food mill or strainer.  Discard solids.
  4. Let your plums simmer uncovered (and reduce) for about ten minutes, then put in your cherry liquid and other ingredients (to taste)
  5. Bring back to a simmer, then reduce until it starts to thicken.

Add on top of French Toast.  Top with granola if desired.

Togarashi

Shichimi Togarashi, Japanese Seven Spice

This blend is used throughout Japan as a table condiment, occupying much the same place that salt and pepper do in the American household. Togarashi has a special affinity for Japanese noodles and soups, but can also perk up fish, poultry and beef.  Contains Korean chile, paprika, orange peel, seaweed, ginger, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds.

This varies just a bit from the traditional recipe, but I’ve tweaked it to the flavors that I prefer.

Ingredients
  • 2 teaspoons white sesame seeds (toasted)
  • 1 teaspoon black sesame seed (toasted)
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seed (toasted)
  • 3 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns (coarsely ground)
  • 1 teaspoon dried nori (seaweed) 3 – 2 ” square (pulverized)
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 3 teaspoons dried tangerine peel (pulverized)
  • 3 teaspoons chili powder – cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic

 

 

French Bread Pizza

What do you do when your French Bread does not turn out quite the way you want it?  Make pizza!

  1. Cut 6-8 inches of bread per person.
  2. Cut it in half, or what we did was just cut the bottom off and turned it upside down.
  3. Cover in pizza sauce.
  4. Add shredded mozzarella and other toppings (see below).
  5. Top with Parmesan cheese.
  6. Put into oven at 350º for 8-10 minutes.
    then turn up heat to 450º for 3 minutes

A Few Possibilities

  1. Sauce, mozzarella, Canadian bacon, pineapple chunks
  2. Sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, jalapeno
  3. Sauce, mozzarella, hamburger, shredded cheddar
  4. Sauce, mozzarella, artichoke, black olives
  5. Sauce, mozzarella, ham, onion
  6. Jarred pesto sauce, sliced tomato
    top with fresh basil after it is out of the oven

Smothered Chicken

  1. Take two drumsticks and thighs and separate them by cutting in between the bone joint.
  2. Take your four pieces and cover all lightly with Thunder Powder on both sides.
  3. Dredge in a mixture of 1/2 C flour and 1 TBL corn starch.
  4. In 1/4 C of corn oil, sear them all on both sides in a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet.  Your goal is NOT to cook them, just to sear them.
  5. Strain the remaining liquid keeping 2 TBL and all of the particulates and fond remaining in the bottom of the pot.
  6. Put in one onion (chopped) and one celery stalk (chopped) and 1/2 tsp salt.
  7. Stir until onion begins to become browned.
  8. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and 1/2 tsp each sage, oregano and chives.
  9. Add 1 TBL flour and stir until flour starts to brown and oil is all absorbed.
  10. Add 1 C chicken broth and whisk together.
  11. Reduce to a simmer, then put the chicken back into the liquid, cover and let cook 30-40 minutes.
  12. Remove the chicken and set aside.
  13. Put 1/2 tsp Thunder Powder back into the pot with the liquid and stir until thickened.
  14. Plate chicken and cover with sauce.
  15. Top with parsley and chives.
  16. Serve with mashed potatoes, also with sauce over them.

Grandpa’s Mac and Cheese

2016-03-02 18.07.26Ingredients to feed 6 people

  • 2 C large elbow macaroni –
  • 4 TBL softened butter
  • 1/4 C AP flour
  • 3 strips of cooked bacon
  • 1  TBL baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 C Hatch green chilies
  • 1 TBL buttermilk powder
  • 1/4 C sour cream
  • 1/4 oz evaporated milk
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C dried chives
  • 3/4 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/2 C shredded Tilamook cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 C processed American cheese or Velveeta
  • 1/4 C Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 C cottage cheese
  • 1/4 C shredded Swiss cheese
  • 1/4 C softened Philly cream cheese
  • 1/2 C shredded cheese blend – a little bit of each – for topping

Step by Step

  1. Cook the macaroni to taste – slightly more al dente than your preference
  2. Drain macaroni and set aside
  3. In a saucepan, render bacon over medium heat.
  4. Add 4 TBL butter
  5. Stir in 1/4 C (4 TBL) flour to make a roux.
  6. When the roux starts to darken, add a 1/4 C buttermilk and whisk until smooth
  7. Add the rest of the buttermilk to roux a splash at a time, stirring constantly.
  8. Add the rest of the kinds of milk and whisk together
  9. Add mustard and other spices
  10. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese melts and the sauce thickens.
  11. Add macaroni back into the pot, and fold together
  12. Preheat oven and cast iron skillet to 350º
  13. Put butter into cast iron skillet
  14. Pour mixture into skillet, and pat it down
  15. Top with as much shredded cheese as will fit in the casserole
  16. Bake at 350º for 20 minutes
  17. Let rest five minutes before serving

Oh, one more thing…

  • Serves 6 as a main course or up to 12 when served as a side
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