A little of this, a little of that

This donburi (one bowl) dish should actually have a third row with it. The dish is called Sanshoku Donburi which means three coloured donburi. However, I am missing the third row which is typically a green vegetable such as broccoli, peas, asparagus or slivered green beans. However, my husband requests that I serve the vegetable portion separately. Thus this is a two coloured donburi. Beneath the topping is plain steamed white rice. The egg is scrambled fried with a scant amount of sugar. The ground meat is a mixture of beef and pork, fried with fresh grated ginger, soy sauce, sugar and mirin. This dish is very popular in bentos especially with children. It is delicious served hot or at room temperature (in the case of a bento).

This is a super easy dish I modified to my own tastes from the Campbells Kitchen website. The original recipe was for sweet and sour pork. As you can see, I used chicken drumsticks, along with chunks of carrot and some soybeans. The base of the sauce uses tomato soup with some vinegar, sugar and worchestershire sauce to make it sweet and sour. The soybeans were canned, so I could avoid the eight hour cooking marathon. For the first time I have found canned soybeans and it has been a pleasure, that's for sure! They are a truly delicious, nutritious and versatile cooking ingredient. Unlike other canned beans, they are not mushy.

This is a bento I made for my husband on Monday. Tiny cocktail sausages work very well in bento because of their size. You can see I did a variation on tamago-yaki. I rolled steamed broccoli inside it which worked quite well. Spinach would have also worked nicely. On the rice I included an ume boshi (pickled plum) which is a popular addition to bento, due to their antibacterial qualities. It is said that ume boshi prevents food from going bad. In Japan, when someone is sick, you often feed them rice gruel with ume boshi. They say it will heal all that ails you. Better stock up for the winter! P.S. The green turtle is a decorative pick.

Last weekend my husband cooked himself some fresh ramen for lunch. We only had one package of fresh ramen, so he went ahead and prepared it. I had Kraft Dinner. We were both satisfied.

And now for my favourite muffins! Chocolate Zucchini Muffins! So moist and delicious! Thanks to my parents who so generously donated the zucchinis!

The weekend is here again, which means time with my honey! Can't beat that! ^_^

You know it's winter when...

This morning when I woke up, I wasn't even sure if it was morning! That's how cloudy and gloomy it was. The rain was pouring, which eventually turned into snow. After getting up and enjoying some of my rolled raisin bread from the other day, my husband headed off to put in a few hours at work. Granted he did return around 2pm, so I can't complain...loudly. After enjoying some shopping in the damp, we made Oden, a delightful Japanese hotpot. It can contain many things, but we included daikon radish, boiled egg, kombu seaweed, tofu, konnyaku, and a variety of fish cakes. We bought a pack of mixed fish cakes at our local Asian market. If you are thinking 'ewww fish paste cakes', then don't! They do not taste AT ALL fishy! Even small children love the fish cakes in Oden! It is great, especially on cold days! Everything simmers together in a dashi broth with a touch of soy sauce. It is best enjoyed with plain rain, in order to compliment the various flavours in the Oden. After this hearty meal, my husband promptly fell asleep. Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for on a Saturday night!

I made traditional chocolate chip cookies yesterday. By traditional I mean that I didn't alter the recipe to make it healthier. These contain a mixture of brown and white sugar, but, to be honest, I used margarine, not butter. Honestly, I don't taste the difference, but the gourmets out there may beg to differ. In any case, they are quite good with a nice cup of coffee or tea.

Stay warm and dry! ^_^

It was bread baking day with a twist

I was out of bread so I needed to make up some buns today. For a change, I made a double batch of dough and used half for regular buns and half for rolled raisin buns. Rolled raisin buns are like a cinnamon roll without the cinnamon (husband hates it). I received a bag of raisins as a gift from my dad, so I decided to begin making use of them. There is a bit of brown sugar and butter rolled up with the raisins. They are very soft and not too sweet. That makes them suitable for breakfast or a snack. In case you are wondering, they are individual rolls and pull apart from the circle.

Tonight for supper I made dijon mushroom drumsticks. You could also use pork which the original recipe calls for on the Campbells website. Yes, it uses condensed cream of mushroom soup, mixed with a bit of dijon mustard, wine and milk. I encourage you to check out the Campbells Soup website as they have tons of economical and delicious recipes available for free. The carrots were not part of their recipe but I added it for colour. I also added garlic to help increase our immune system.

This is chicken cacciatore--a variation on my mom's recipe. I used chicken drumsticks (which you can kind of see in the upper left). I mixed a can of diced tomatoes with a can of, you guessed it, Campbells Tomato Soup. A touch of oregano and basil finished the dish nicely, along with some havarti cheese. It is all served on a bed of linguine.

Lots pantry staples have been used so far this week. And drumsticks! We got a good deal at Superstore... Now that I am low on milk...dangerously low, I have to ration it as our next grocery trip is Sunday. What can I make tomorrow without it? Hmmm....sounds like a challenge!

Heart warming comfort food

Ah, banana bread! So many variations, so much goodness! This particular loaf does not contain any extra goodies (i.e. chocolate chips, walnuts, etc). I was rather in a hurry, so I just threw together a basic banana bread. It is super delicious toasted with peanut butter for breakfast! I sliced and froze the leftovers so I can enjoy the dense goodness for days to come! Next time I may indulge in a few bits of chocolate...mmm!

Here is a bento lunch I made a few days ago. The rice has ume shiso furikake for seasoning, as well as sesame seeds. The purple stuff in the left corner is sauted purple cabbage. Purple cabbage does have a tendancy to turn blue when cooked, though this can easily be remedied by adding an acidic ingredient such as lemon juice or vinegar. The carrots are cooked in vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and sesame seeds. Everything is rounded out by a hard boiled egg, cucumber slices and pickled onion.

This is a Japanese stew called Hayashi Raisu (should be eaten alongside rice). I forgot to take a photo the day I cooked it, so you get to see leftovers stored in Tupperware. ^_^; This stew is really so delicious! It combines thin strips of beef with carrot, onion, mushroom, tomatos, red wine and demi glace sauce. The demi glace sauce is really what makes it special!

Comforting food as the rain comes down!

Bento Lunches For My Honey!

These are some examples of bento lunches I have packed for my husband. In the one pictured above, we have rice with black sesame (the yellow stuff is daikon pickles), hamburger with a bit of corn tucked in beside it, salad, fresh veggies and kinpira.

This bento has some leftover niku-jaga, hijiki onigiri and lots of salad with fresh vegetables.

This bento has rice mixed with ume boshi and seaweed, salad, red bell pepper, tofu nuggets, tamago-yaki rolled omelet, carrots and dipping sauce.

Again we have sesame rice, along with teriyaki salmon, simmered soybeans and salad.

The lunches are easiest to make if you plan to have some leftovers. I try to do this as often as possible, but sometimes in the mornings I find myself just boiling some eggs (like today for instance). Tonight I was a bit more prepared and set aside some leftovers to reheat and arrange for my husband in the morning. In addition to the main bento, I often pack a separate container of sliced apple as well as some sort of snack (ie cookie) and a thermos of soup and a thermos of coffee. It is all surprisingly compact...

Happy lunching! ^_^

Uses for Matcha and Peppers

Once again I will praise Matcha green tea powder for being more than just a delicious beverage. Case in point: Matcha Chip Muffins. I modified a basic muffin recipe in a couple of ways. Firstly and most obviously, I added Matcha green tea powder to the batter. I didn't really measure...just added it until the batter was nice and green. Secondly, I skipped the milk and instead used fat free vanilla yogurt as the primary wet ingredient (there is just 1.5 tbsp of oil in these muffins and only 1/4 c sugar!). The yogurt makes the muffins soft, moist and pleasantly chewy. Sour cream may be substituted with similar results, though you will need a bit more sugar. In many baked goods, substituting sour cream or yogurt will yield richer and moister results. The chocolate chips were thrown in last on a whim. ^_^

If you ever happen to have some bell peppers hanging around that must be used soon (if they are going soft), then why not try stuffed peppers? I did some research on stuffed peppers and found that most North American versions contain rice or some other starch, as well as scramble fried beef and some veggies. My Japanese cookbooks had some very different ideas. They suggested making basically a meatball or hamburger mixture (using equal parks ground pork and beef) and stuffing this directly into the pepper without pre-cooking. They could then easily be pan fried and steamed (or roasted). I made up a meatball mixture using only ground pork as this is what I had on hand. I used a handful of Stove Top Stuffing instead of bread crumbs which yields fabulous flavour. I fried and steamed these stuffed peppers for about an hour. I served them with a sauce made of Campbells Tomato Soup and pan drippings. The dish was very filling and...somehow retro.

All in all, it was good eating. ^_^

...of Cabbages and Octopus balls...

We were given two heads of cabbage this past weekend as a gift. One was the delightfully different purple cabbage and the other was a standard green cabbage. Last night for supper I made use of a small fraction of the latter. Japanese cabbage rolls are unique in that the soup they simmer in contains miso. Other than that, it is fairly standard: ground pork, egg, cornstarch, seasoning. Ketchup is a must for the broth, as well as chicken boullion, soy sauce and sake.

For lunch yesterday my husband made Tako-yaki or fried octopus balls. I know what you're thinking, but no. Just no. Tako-yaki uses a batter similar to Okonomi-yaki, the Japanese savory pancake. The batter has cabbage and bits of pickled ginger added to it. You place a bit of the batter into the indentation on tako-yaki pan and then add a tiny piece of octopus tentacle. More batter is then poured on top. The tako-yaki is turned within the round indentation on the cooker until it forms a solid sphere. There really does seem to be a technique to it. My husband is pretty good. The tako-yaki is then topped with mayo, okonomi-yaki sauce, seaweed and bonito flakes. Osaka in Japan is famous for tako-yaki. If you visit there, be sure to try it!

While my husband made octopus balls, I made a broccoli potato frittata. It turned out quite good and firmed up nicely. Sometimes I brown the top under a broiler, but this time I was too hungry to wait. ^_^

To finish everything off, a nice slice of leftover raspberry pie from Thanksgiving! The tea is a green tea called Candy Cane Lane made by Celestial Seasonings. It is my favourite! It combines green tea, peppermint and vanilla! So delicious!

Thanksgiving!

What is Thanksgiving without a turkey? We had a cute little turkey for our meal and it was delicious! I basted it with soy sauce, honey and sesame oil near the end of its roasting time. We have lots left over, even though we ate our fill!

We put one turkey breast in the freezer and we will eat the other for tomorrow night's supper!

I must admit I favour the dark meat. I do like the white meat too, but if I had a choice, I would always choose the dark. There is something about the texture that I really love! But for sandwiches, the white meat is best because it is less oily.

My mom took this photo of my raspberry pie with her iPhone. My camera was having issues... Anyway, it was more like a raspberry jam tart, but it was quite good. My husband pronounced it a tad sour, but he isn't a huge raspberry fan anyway. He did eat it though and said the crust was quite good. I have lots of filling leftover and am using it as jam for toast. Works great! You know, the crust called for 1 cup of shortening and I only used 1/4. It still worked great and the fat was greatly reduced. I did add a smidge of vinegar and baking powder to the crust, as dictated by my grandma's recipe. I think it improves the texture of the pie very much.

Well, Thanksgiving supper was great and we have leftovers to be creative with! Yay! ^_^

Ume Shiso Spaghetti

This has to be one of my favourite Japanese pasta dishes; Ume Shiso Spaghetti. Ume is of course refering to the pickled plum 'ume boshi' and shiso being the beefsteak plant. I had a little of my 'pink' roast chicken left over in the freezer, so I chopped that up along with some naga-negi onion and shiitake mushroom. I fried it in a bit of olive oil, then added fresh shiso leaves and mashed ume boshi. I did cheat a little and sprinkle some ume shiso furikake (rice seasoning) in as well. The spaghetti was tossed with this lovely mixture and was oh so delicious! It is a lighter version of pasta and does not leave you feeling heavy. We also had a hearty salad and some garlic toast. By the way, I broke the spaghetti in half and found it much easier to mix with the other ingredients in this manner.

Tomorrow we will have Thanksgiving dinner with my parents and I will prepare a raspberry pie. I made the crust today and froze it...here's hoping it is okay!

The delightful world of Omu-raisu

The dish you see here is in fact Japanese. It is called Omu-raisu (Omelet Rice). It is basically ketchup fried rice, covered with a thin omelet. Sometimes the Japanese top it with a demi-glace sauce but we usually just use more ketchup. In this case, I sprinkled and melted hot pepper havarti cheese (we also used ketchup afterwards). Mixed with the rice is a bit of onion, garlic, mixed frozen veg and cubed ham. In Japan they often add mushrooms to it. In fact, in Japan they have ENTIRE restaurants dedicated to this single item and all its variations. They keep the egg much more runny, but I prefer to cook it solid. It is really delicious when you taste it in its authentic environment. If ever you find yourself hungry in Japan, try Omu-raisu!

In addition to the omu-raisu, I made potato leek soup. First I boiled a couple of my mom's garden potatoes. I mashed them until they were super smooth. Then I made a roux using one tablespoon of margarine and one tablespoon of flour. I added about 1/2 cup milk and 1 cup chicken stock (I saved some simmering broth from last night which had chicken, soy sauce, sake, mirin and brown sugar). Once this mixture started to thicken, I added the mashed potatoes and a bit of chopped leek. I didn't need to add any extra seasoning, as the leftover chicken broth was very flavourful, if not a bit dark from the soy sauce. In any case, the soup was soothingly smooth, slightly sweet and very delicious. The moral is always save your chicken stock!

On a side note, I made bread today, but you have seen that before. Tomorrow I may tackle pie crust for a raspberry pie I am planning for Thanksgiving.

Three Meals and a Snack

Yesterday the focus of our meal was a dish called "Buta no kaku-ni." It is a dish which consists primarily of braised pork, though here I added carrots for colour. Ideally good quality pork belly with some fat is preferred but I used a leaner cut. The fat, though not so healthy, gives excellent flavour. Enjoyed once in a while it is okay. ^_^ Since my cut was leaner, it was a bit tighter, but still quite tender due to the slow simmering. It is best enjoyed with a dab of Japanese mustard paste.

The other closeup photo is of vinegar wakame seaweed. It is a very refreshing dish and the bonus is that wakame contains more calcium than milk!

My husband was home today, so for lunch we made curry udon (again, I know I posted it once before). We used more curry roux this time and the result was a much more intense flavour. It was very nice!

Tonight was a meatless night. We ate a nabe of tofu, daikon radish and naga-negi onion. It was simmered in simply water with kombu seaweed. The kombu transforms the water into a dashi broth, which is healthful and delicious. The flavour is subtle, so when you scoop out your object of desire from the nabe pot, you can garnish it with finely chopped naga-negi and ponzu (citrus soy sauce). We also had some carrots cooked in butter and honey, as well as some edamame (green soy beans). It was a soy-ful night! Hahaha! ^_~

And to finish off, a few days ago I baked mini cookies. They are about the size of a dollar. Very tiny and cute!

It is storming outside now, so tomorrow will likely be something nabe again...