A day of comfort food...

I modified and combined a couple of different loaf recipes and came up with this: Chocolate Apple Loaf. The apple keeps it moist, while still retaining that sturdy loaf quality, suitable for afternoon tea or coffee. I topped it with vanilla yogurt and Cool Whip. Since quickbreads freeze well, I sliced it up and stored it away in the freezer for quick snacks.

Supper tonight was genuine Japanese home cooking fare. This dish is called Niku-jaga, literally 'meat and potatoes'. The Japanese often say that when they eat this meal, they think of their mother. It consists of either pork or beef, potatoes, konnyaku and carrot. Now, there are as many Niku-jaga recipes as there are mothers in Japan. Every home cook has their own recipe, but they will all have meat and potatoes in it. Some people add green peas. I usually do, but I forgot ^_^; All the items are simmered in water, sugar (brown), soy sauce, sake and mirin. It is slightly sweet, slightly salty and altogether comforting. Mustard is a nice condiment for eating it with.

This is a clear soup with beet leaves in it. Just delicious!

So simple, so good. These are the stems off of the beet leaves. I sauted them in butter, then added salt and pepper. That's it! I couldn't stop eating them as I was cooking. My mom says vinegar is also a nice addition to it.

Now I'm stuffed...time for a nap...-_-zzzz

How to make a PINK roast chicken...

So yesterday I made a pink roasted chicken...completely by accident. I had decided to roast some root vegetables around the base of the chicken, which included potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and BEETS. By the time everything was done, the beets had gone white and the chicken had sucked up the colour, right into the bones! When I carved the chicken, the bones were PINK! Notice how the skin has some pink spots on it in the photo?  Now the chicken is very well cooked (3 hours!) and was super moist, but it was...pink. The breast meat was white, but the drumsticks were...well...pink. And the beets were...well...white. How odd! I never would have thought the beet colour would be absorbed into the chicken bones! And now you know! ^_~

For dessert we enjoyed chocolate carrot muffins. I think next time I will try using melted chocolate chips instead of cocoa powder for a change of pace.

Out of bread again! Today I decided to make a super big batch--white and whole wheat. Here they are rising under the towels!

Soft, fluffy white buns! This time I remembered to glaze the tops with egg white that I was saving in the freezer. By the way, egg whites (raw) freeze and thaw with no ill effects. Yolks and whole eggs are not so easy.

Light whole wheat buns. These are not 100% but more along the lines of 60%. I used canola oil instead of Crisco (my foolproof method). The canola oil made no difference in the buns. I will likely use it from now on, as it is much more healthy than vegetable shortening. No trans fats! Yay!

My stock, all sealed up and ready to be frozen! Shouldn't have to make any for some time...unless I eat them all this afternoon...

We have FRESH vegetables!!!

We paid a surprise visit to my parents today and they lavished fresh garden vegetables upon us! They gave us onions, garlic, potatoes, beets and carrots from their very own garden. Tonight I began utilization of the bounty by heading for the most perishable of them all--the beet greens. In Japan, they have a very famous dish called Goma-ae. Traditionally this steamed salad with sesame dressing is made using spinach. However, I have found that beet greens work just as well. The greens are steamed (I used the microwave) and then immersed in ice water. Once squeezed out, you add ground sesame seeds, sugar and soy sauce. It is a delicious side dish to compliment any meal! My husband also used the beet greens in a clear soup. We had been given some frozen tempura by my parents and my husband decided it required a clear soup for dipping in.

Beet greens are very healthy and mild enough to be used in a variety of dishes. My husband dislikes beets, but really enjoys the leaves. I plan on using the stems in another dish... On a side not, my grandma used to make cabbage rolls using beet leaves for a change of pace. They are actually quite strong and work very well for this purpose.

To catch up, this was yesterday's supper--pork stir fry. The sauce is a basic chop suey sauce which contains beef broth, brown sugar and soy sauce. A bit of cornstarch adds thickness. It was a simple dish but very filling, mainly due to the cabbage. Look for some fresh dishes to come!

Thanks for the veggies!!!

Mamma Mia!

There is always a time and place for frozen pizza, but when you have the time, going completely home made is the best route. Not only do you control all aspects of the pizza, but you are left with the satisfaction of having made something for yourself. There is nothing really special or tricky about making pizza dough. Really it is just bread dough...HOWEVER...I used olive oil to make this dough, not shortening. Actually, olive oil makes an excellent light dough. I had leftover dough after I made the crust, so I made those into buns. The olive oil does not really impart any special taste to the dough that I could notice. It is much healthier than shortening though. To prevent the dreaded underbaked center of the crust, I partially pre-baked the crust before adding toppings. Remember to prick the crust with a fork before pre-baking to prevent air bubbles!

The topping consists of lean turkey sausage, white onion, green pepper, tomato and spicy havarti cheese. And of course a bit of pizza sauce. A pizza needn't be slathered in cheese and overloaded with toppings. Good quality fresh toppings and a sprinkling of cheese on fresh crust is just perfect!

One note about shaping the crust: it must be done in stages in order to press it out into a round disk. Start with a ball of dough and begin by pressing it out with your fingers in a circle. When it seems to spring back and not go any farther, STOP. Step away from the dough. Go do something else such as wash the dishes. When you come back the gluten in the flour should have relaxed and you can stretch it further. It took me three tries before it was the size I wanted. But it pays to be patient and step back for a moment or two.

Overall it was a successful supper and a delightfully different one. I even got some buns out of the process!

A very hot day!

Today was a record setting day for temperature! The mercury soared above 30 degrees and it was certainly much more than that inside our apartment! Nevertheless, I cooked...and I cooked a lot today!

The above pictured dish is Japanese teriyaki chicken. The drumsticks are simmered in a mixture of water, brown sugar, sake, soy sauce and mirin. Sliced ginger, garlic, onion and carrot make nice additons. If there had been room in the pan, I would have added some konnyaku, but that will be saved for another time. Did you know that in Japan you cannot buy bottled teriyaki sauce? My husband had never heard of such a thing! Teriyaki flavour there is always achieved by the magic ingredients sake, mirin, soy sauce and sugar.

This nimono bean dish utilizes dried soy beans. Cooking beans is a large task to be sure, especially soy beans which take MUCH longer to cook than other types of dried beans. I soaked these overnight and started cooking them at 10:00am. They finished around 4:00pm. This is a task for a day at home. Added to the beans was Splenda, brown sugar, soy sauce and honey. The honey gives it a distinctive taste and lovely glaze. Soybeans are an awesome source of protein and keep very well in the freezer. Also, they are a perfect addition to any bento lunch and can be eaten hot or cold.

Yes, the black stuff is the forbidden seaweed hijiki. I had frozen the leftovers from last day and took them out again to make mixed rice. I stuffed some "abura-age" tofu pouches with this mixed rice. Delish! Technically rice eaten in an abura-age pouch is classified as sushi. Abura-age is thin pouches of deep fried tofu which has been simmered in vinegar and sugar. They are sweet, salty and tangy.

I ran out of pouches and just served the remaining rice as-is. When I lived in Japan, there was a noodle house which served hijiki rice as a side dish with their soba noodles. I have never tasted such wonderful hijiki rice in my life! They make, hands down, the BEST hijiki rice ever! Of course the restaurant was a little noisy being underneath a railway track...

I had half an onion hanging around in the fridge, so I became inspired. I made cream of onion soup! I started by making a basic white sauce (butter, flour, milk, beef broth) and then added some chopped onion which I later strained out. My husband said it was very good and requested it again!

This odd looking substance is called 'natto.' This is a very healthy dish that only about half of Japanese people can stand to see, smell or eat. To be blunt, it is rotting soy beans. It is very sticky when mixed and forms strands than can only be compared to a spider web. Much to everyone's shock in Japan, I was able to eat natto and enjoyed it very much. I honestly don't smell anything... Because of the bacteria which are fermenting the beans, it is very beneficial for the digestive system. Though some claim it aids in weight loss, I think it is related to the high protein content which fills you up and makes you less hungry. Or maybe the smell alone makes you lose your appetite. The green flecks are green onion.

Natto stuffed into abura-age tofu pouches and then lightly fried is delicious beyond measure! My husband said it is a specialty to his home town Niigata.

Yesterday my husband made BBQ steak, Japanese style. He cubed the steak and marinated in sake. After grilling, he topped it with grated daikon radish and ponzu (citrus soy sauce). It was a fabulous treat, as we rarely eat steak. Seeing as we bought it for 2 dollars, it was great!

Ears of fresh corn were on sale for .59 cents so we bought a couple and grilled them. Cutting them this size is a Japanese custom and makes it much easier to eat.

These are not basic chocolate chip cookies. Actually they are icebox cookies, meaning you either freeze or refrigerate the dough. You can shape the dough into a log and slice (what I did) or roll it out and cut them. I prefer the sliced cookies because I can easily make them thick. I added cornstarch to the flour mixture because it gives the cookies a shortbread-like texture. These cookies are nice with glazed fruit, but all I had was chocolate (not a bad thing!) Chocolate is never bad! ^_^

The Forbidden Seaweed

For a side dish tonight I made "hijiki no nimono". Hijiki being seaweed and nimono meaning various simmered things. While I didn't add many things to my hijiki (due to an empty fridge) it was delicious. It is one of my favourite Japanese side dishes. Hijiki is labelled a sea vegetable and while it contains a delightful array of vital minerals, it also contains traces of arsenic. My opinion is that you would have to eat a truckload of hijiki everyday for a year in order to build up detectable levels of arsenic, but Canadian Food Regulations deem otherwise. Though I am not 100% sure, I do not think Canadian retailers can import hijiki seaweed. I have yet to see it anywhere. My supply comes directly from Japan, thanks to my mother-in-law. Again though I am not sure, I think you can buy it in America. ANYWAY...I re-hydrated the hijiki and simmered it in the standard Japanese ingredients: sake, mirin, soy sauce and sugar. I added a bit of carrot to it, but in an ideal world, I would have also added shiitake mushroom, burdock root, fried tofu, konnyaku and edamame. Unfortunately, financial circumstances being what they are, carrot was all I had on hand. See the re-hydration process below:

Almost all hijiki is sold in dehydrated form and must be soaked in water for about 15 minutes before simmering. A quick rinse through cold water before simmering eliminates excess salt. I have had success freezing cooked hijiki for a quick bento addition. Also, simmered hijiki added to rice is amazing and can be eaten as is, or shaped into onigiri (rice balls). An interesting note: while hijiki seems to not be imported by Canadian retailers, it was served to us on our Air Canada flight from Japan...makes you wonder.

The main dish of the evening was an ume shiso ground pork donburi. You may notice we ate a lot of ground meat this week... Ground meat is very inexpensive and versatile. Since I lost my job we are really having to be economical...thus ground meat. Luckily it is used extensively in Japan and so I have lots of ways to use it. In this dish, ground pork was simmered with...you got it--a certain ratio of soy sauce, mirin and sugar...no sake this time. I should mention the Japanese use sake, mirin, soy sauce and sugar in varying concentrations for almost everything! It is the basis of true Japanese flavour. Items such as miso, ginger, garlic, dashi and sesame oil are also key. After simmering the pork I added green onion, mitsuba, shiso leaves, ume boshi (pickled plum) and ume su (ume vinegar). This mixture was used to top steamed rice. Very delicious!

We also have a cucumber tomato vinegar dish, salad and the ever present miso soup. And of course the forbidden seaweed. ^_^

Tamago update! This is the miso egg I made yesterday. You can see how it absorbed the miso and took on a nice golden colour. The flavour actually penetrates the yolk and needs no other seasoning. I made my husband's egg with spicy korean paste and put it in his bento, along with some spicy sausage:

Because the egg is sort of pickled from the salt in the miso, it keeps very well in a bento. When we go on road trips, I always pack us a bento lunch of onigiri and these miso eggs.

Tomorrow I will head over to Superstore and buy some food. I have my list and I am on a mission! ^_^

Matcha and Green Tea

Well, here is my husband's bento for today. Though I'm sure he doesn't approve of the pink container...well...what can I say...it is cute. ^_^ This bento is made using the leftover meat sauce from last night. I think the sauce suits white rice very well. It is kind of like eating chili. The cucumbers have a dash of vinegar, salt and black sesame seeds. The closed containers are shown below:

I really love these containers. The 'happy sweet berry' container is so adorable! I have a pink version of the blue bento box for my own lunches. In fact, my bento making cupboard is filled with all sorts of goodies that will eventually make their way onto this page.

Now who doesn't love a good cup of tea? Shown above is powdered green tea called Matcha. Usually it is darker, but I added milk and sugar so the colour is quite pale. The Japanese tea ceremony uses Matcha and recently it has become quite popular in Canada. Since Matcha is a powder, it is easy to use it in baking things such as Matcha Roll Cake. As well, Matcha can be sprinkled into yogurt, milk or ice cream. Matcha ice cream with dango and sweet bean is one of my favourite Japanese treats! Because Matcha is slightly bitter, in Japan it is often served with a small sweet.

 

Today I began to make 'miso tamago' or miso egg. This particular dish takes at least a day to make and is best left overnight. You start by hardboiling some eggs and then peeling them. Then you mix together about one tablespoon of miso and one teaspoon of maple syrup or honey together in a bit of clear wrap. Next you place the egg into the clear wrap and cover it with the mixture. You let this sit in the fridge overnight--the miso basically pickles the egg! The next day when you unwrap the egg, it has a rich golden colour and the flavour has actually seeped deep inside. It is perfect for bento! You can play with the flavours a bit too. I added spicy Korean bean paste to miso because my husband loves spice! It will go in his bento tomorrow.

You can leave them longer than overnight like this. The longer they sit, the richer the flavour, but I find that overnight is enough.

Supper tonight was super simple and a bit of a cheat! I made 'ochazuke' which is quite simply tea rice. However, I used the above flavouring packets, rather than brewing some strong flavoured green tea (not Matcha, but regular green tea from loose leaves). These packets contain green tea pellets, nori seaweed and dried salmon. Ochazuke is super easy to make. You place steamed rice in a bowl, add some fish such as tuna or salmon, sprinkle the packet and add hot water. Done! It is best served with wasabi and extra nori.

I also made some deviled eggs, salad and miso soup with our own garden turnips. It was simple, yet satisfying. I do feel like a bit of a cheat for using ochazuke flavour packets, but they are so very convenient. My husband's mom sent us lots from Japan, so I might as well us them. Often ochazuke is eaten for breakfast. When I lived in Japan, it was the first breakfast I ate there. The first time was very...interesting. Now it is routine. The moral? Don't be afraid to try something different!

On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese

Now this may look very similar to my previous post about taco seasoning and ground meat, but the taste is totally different. This spaghetti sauce has a secret ingredient which gives it a delicious Japanese-ish taste. That secret is...........

SAUCE. In Japan it is usually just called "sauce" and everyone knows exactly what you mean. "Sauce" is sometimes called "Bulldog Sauce" on account of one of the big brand makers. The brand pictured above is actually the Kagome brand which tastes identical to Bulldog. Sauce is a vegetable fruit medley remotely like a mild and sweet HP sauce. Along with the vegetable and fruit is vinegar and sugar, so there is a bit of tang to it. Anyway, the Japanese often add this to spaghetti sauce and call it "Napoliton". Don't really know why...

My sauce included onion, garlic and cubed carrot. You can see my leftover canned diced tomato from my taco recipe the other day. One can sure went a long way! The ground beef is frozen, because I divide up each container that I buy and used smaller portions. This amount was more than enough for the sauce. There was even some leftover for my husband's lunch. He will eat the meat sauce with rice in his bento. I also made some garlic toast using the buns I baked today.

There you have it! My budget meal! Japanese Napoliton spaghetti, home made garlic toast and salad!