Category: Cooking

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog.  About food.  Written by Kirk, ed(from Yuma), Cathy and a few others.  Cathy is writing today so everyone else can recover from Christmas festivities.

Hi.  I'm back to writing about a meal for two for $5 or less, using ingredients on sale this week.  This time, since many people are having quite a few days in a row off from work, and the ingredients used are on sale this week, I thought I'd show what we did for breakfast today.

It is the day after Christmas and many 'Christmas-y'  items are at least half off.  This year, many items were half off before Christmas.  I bought six Panettones ( usually described as Festive Italian Bread-really it is a bread made with at least raisins and orange and lemon peels and zests) at Fresh and Easy and also some bacon and eggs. 

The bread is baked in paper shells which peel off easily.  Panettone looks like a giant muffin, but do not use or eat it like it is cake.  It is abread, made with yeast.

 I noticed almost every market has Farmer John brand  bacon on sale for $3 a pound this week.

So, cook the bacon first. Leave the grease in the pan.

Soak some slices of Panettone in an egg-milk mix. 

Then fry the slices (I cut each circle of bread in half)  in the bacon greased pan.  

Flip over to cook the other side.  

A 'proper' French toast should have a crispy exterior and soft, creamy interior.  That is why frying the soaked bread in the bacon grease helps.

I served the French Toast with the bacon and some tangerine segments, fresh from the yard.  Tangerines are also on sale this week.

I hope everyone is have a wonderful Holiday Season and thank all of you for your good wishes and hope all of us have a wonderful year ahead!!!

Cathy's French Toast

Sliced dry bread, 2-3 eggs, milk. Frypan with bacon grease and/or butter to cook.

If using plain bread, can add orange juice or vanilla extract to egg/milk mix.

Soak long enough that the center of the bread is soft. You should only flip the bread once one side is cooked and when the second side is cooked, it should be finished-don't keep flipping it.

Happy anniversary, sweetie

This one is for FOY "Liver" in hopes that he did, or will soon get his Big Kahuna Burner!

Every so often, when I check referring sites, searches, and other stats, I will without fail, always notice that someone has been using one search engine or another using the phrase "high BTU burner" or "Big Kahuna". And it always seems that I'll get at least one comment on any post where I've used my Big Kahuna (why does that just sound wrong). Even though Amazon seems to have replaced the Big Kahuna with another Eastman Outdoors product called the Outdoor Gourmet New Revolution Burner, it looks like Eastman Outdoors still sells the Big Kahuna. With that in mind, I've created a category called the Big Kahuna Files. My high-heat cooking experience has been limited to various stir-fry and noodle dishes, and I usual don't bother to post. Those posts would contain an ingredient list of only oil, dried shrimp, garlic, salt, and "insert green leafy vegetable of choice". I just let her rip…….and high heat will do her thing.

But for a change, here are a couple of other items I've cooked with the Kahuna recently:

Shrimp Chow Fun:

This came out waaaay better than expected, even with the lousy noodles I picked up at 99 RanchMarket. The shrimp were also too large, I had 12-16U, and smaller shrimp would have suited me better. One more thing, I also tried out Lee Kum Kee brand Seafood XO Sauce, which should be renamed, "rancid, second rate chili oil…." Better to go with sesame oil, or even better, make your own XO sauce…. but that's another post.

Some key points – at least for me:

 - Don't crowd the wok, more is not necessarily better.

 - Have your mis "en place". Have everything, including seasonings within easy reach.

– Control of the heat is important.

– Don't disregard your "nose" it'll tell you so much.

The Recipe – though I don't think you'll need one! Let's just call this a "pseudo-recipe"….

1/2 lb Chow Fun Noodles
4 Tb Canola Oil
1/3 Pound Shrimp

For Shrimp:
2 Tb Shao Xing wine
1 Tb Light Soy Sauce
Salt

1/2 Onion Sliced
1 Cup Bean Sprouts (I didn't bother to pick through them)
Up to 1 cup vegetable of your choice sliced. (i.e. celery, green bell pepper, etc)
2 Stalks Scallions, green parts only, sliced in 1" lengths.

2 Tb Dark Soy Sauce
3-4 Tb Light Soy Sauce
White Pepper
Sesame Oil to Taste

1 – Shell and devein shrimp, marinate with wine, soy sauce, and salt for 10-15 minutes.
2 – Remove shrimp from marinade and use 2 Tb oil to cook over high heat for a few minutes. Remove from wok.
3 – Replace oil and add vegetable (in this case all I used was 1/4 of a red bell pepper) and onion to wok.
4 – Stir fry for 1 minute, or until vegetable starts to barely soften.
5 – Move the veggies to the side of the wok using your spatula. If the bottom of the wok is too dry, add another Tb of oil.
6 – Add noodles separating them as you place in the center of the wok. A clump is a no-no.
7 – Let the noodles sit for a few seconds. You'll notice that they'll start to caramelize and blister. Using a pair of long chopsticks, mix noodles, add dark soy and 3 Tb Light Soy and mix. Don't do the "pour around the rim of the wok" thing, unless you want to add a burnt soy flavor to your noodles.
8 – Lower heat to medium and add bean sprouts and shrimp while using chopsticks to combine ingredients.
9 – I add the scallions last, as I like them crisp, with a bit of a "bite". Keep on stirring.(Keep them chopsticks going….)
10 – Lower heat, taste, add white pepper to taste, and more light soy sauce if necessary.
11 – Remove from heat and add sesame oil to taste.

All of this will take just a few minutes…….

Stir Fried Morning Glory:

It just seemed like we couldn't get enough of this during our trip. The Morning Glory in SEA is much more tender than what we have here in the states. The prep is simple, and I guess this is another pseudo-recipe. The results are wonderful:

In this case, I didn't use any sugar, and just a few drops of fish sauce, mainly for the fragrance.

1/2 bunch Morning Glory (aka Ong Choy, Pak Boong, Kang Kung, Kang Kong, etc, etc, etc…)
3 – 12(!!!) Thai Bird Chilies.(The 12 is out of respect for Joy from Tamarind, who told me, 12 chilies is Lao heat)
2 Tb Canola Oil.
4-5 Cloves of Garlic sliced
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
1 Tb Oyster sauce
Fish Sauce (optional)
2-3 Tb Light Soy Sauce

1 – Slice rinsed and dried morning glory into 1 1/2" lengths
2 – Remove green stem from chilies, and slice garlic. Alternately, you could bruise the chilies and garlic in a mortar – this will make them significantly hotter.
3 – Mix together Oyster Sauce, sugar(if using) and 2 Tb of the Soy Sauce.
4 – Heat wok over high heat. Add oil, then chilies and garlic. Stir quickly.
5 – When the garlic starts to soften (sometimes in a few seconds). Add morning glory and stir fry.
6 – When morning glory starts to wilt, lower the heat to low, and add oyster sauce mixture.
7 – Taste and add Fish Sauce(if using) and additional soy sauce if necessary.

They'll be no more excuses for soggy Ong Choy…….

You know, I haven't been very delicate with my Big Kahuna….. it sits on the back porch, at the mercy of the elements. I should probably treat it better. But it has held together rather well. During their last visit, I cooked a few simple stir-fries using the Kahuna for the In-Laws. They proceeded to tell the Missus that She "shouldn't bother learning how to cook anymore since I've taken my cooking to a whole 'nother level."

Oh the joy of 65,000 BTU's……

Okay, here's an easy one. The Missus requested the "eggplant dish" from Okan, without the miso. It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't made this before. Having had some previous experience with simmering eggplant, I know they tend to disintergrate and get mushy quickly. So I turned to Shizuo Tsuji's classic book, Japanese Cooking: A Simple art. Even though this recipe is not from the book, I consider it a must for any Cooking Library. In the book, eggplants are scored lengthwise and fried in a pan before subjecting it to the simmering liquid.

This worked out better than expected. Scoring also helped the eggplant absorb the dashi. The Missus thought they were fantastic. The only problem now, is after making this, along with Gobo Salad  and Kabocha Nimono, the Missus no longer sees a need in visiting Okan! I'll have to figure something out…..

Nasu no Nimono (simmmered eggplant):

6-8 Japanese Eggplant
2 Tb Canola Oil
2 Cups Dashi
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce – This time I used Kikkoman whole bean
1/4 Cup mirin
2 Tb Sugar

1 – Chop off the stems of the eggplant, than cut fine slits about 1/4 inch apart along the length of the eggplant.
2 – Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add oil, turning saucepan to make sure it is evenly coated.
3 – Add eggplant and fry until the skins wilt. Remove the eggplant from pan when done.
4 – Heat dashi, soy sauce, and mirin in a pan over medium heat. Add egglpant nad bring to a boil, than lower heat to a mild simmer.
5 – Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes and taste broth. Adjust flavors and finish simmering for another 5 minutes.
6 – Remove from heat, cool, and place in the refrigerator overnight.
7 – Slice the eggplant into 2-3 large slices before serving, pour a few tablespoons of the broth over the eggplant as well.Serve warm or cool.

Man that broth is good……

Sometimes shopping can be dangerous….no I'm not referring to the aggressive older Asian women, who "shopping cart check", push past, or just plain run you over like a hard nosed version of Lorenzo Neal. I'm talking about when something calls to you.…..I'm sure it has happened to you.  On a recent shopping excursion to Zion Market, I was flagged down by some Oxtails.

"Hey stranger, going my way???"

Which I ended up purchasing. I had thought of making a nice Oxtail Soup….but this was vetoed by the Missus who said it was just too darn hot for soup. So what to make? In the end, I decided to throw together a Chinese influenced braised Oxtail dish. Taking ideas from various Chinese braising recipes, most notably Red Cooking.

It came out rather well, served with fragrant Jasmine Rice, and Pea Shoots quickly stir fried with garlic and salt using the Big Kahuna. Overall, it was very easy, pretty much just cooks itself over the course of 3-4 hours. Not as sweet as usual red cooked dishes, no use of dark soy either(I was out of Dark Soy), and of course the chilies take it in a totally different direction. Letting rest overnight is a key step.

Chinese Style Braised Oxtails

4-5 Lbs Oxtails
2/3 Cup Shao Xing Wine
2/3 Soy Sauce
3 Cups Water
4 Tb Dark Brown Sugar
1 Star Anise
1 2" piece of ginger crushed
4 Scallions – White part only chopped
5 cloves Garlic Roughly Chopped
2 Tb Soy Bean Paste
2 Pieces Dried Orange Peel
3 Tb Canola Oil
Salt and Black Pepper
2-3 Dried Chilies (optional)

1 – Season Oxtails with Salt and Pepper
2 – Heat oil in a Dutch Oven or Pot, and brown Oxtails.
3 – Once Oxtails are browned, remove from pot. Drain all but 2-3 Tb oil from pot.
4 – Add Dried Chilies(if you are using them). Once chilies are slighly blackened and fragrant, add garlic and scallion. Stir until soften and fragrant.
5 – Add Bean Paste and mix in briefly until fragrant.
6 – Add Soy Sauce, Shao Xing, Sugar, and Water. Mix until sugar dissolves. Bring liquid to a boil.
7 – Add star anise, ginger, and dried orange peel.
8 – Reduce heat to a low simmer and place Oxtails back into pot.
9 – Cover and simmer for 3-4 hours, turning Oxtails occaisionally.
10 – When Oxtails are very tender, remove from heat.
11 – Let cool, than refrigerate overnight.
12 – The next day, remove oxtails from braising liquid, and skim off fat as desired.
13 – Heat liquid, and strain.
14 – Place Oxtails back into braising liquid and heat.

Some other options – use the braising liquid to braise Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms, or you can thicken or reduce into a thick sauce, or just pour the liquid over rice and veggies like we did. I'm sure you can come up with many different combinations.

Enjoy some gelatinous-meaty fun!

By request; here's a really bad photo of the Bean Paste I used that I took in a rush this morning.

I hope you don't mind…..a recipe on a Monday. Here's one that I learned during the cooking class offered by Joy of Tamarind Restaurant in Luang Prabang. Sounds much like, Cambodian Fish Amok, but Mok Pa uses no coconut milk. There's also a recipe for this dish in the legendary cookbook,  Traditional Recipes of Laos a translation of the contents of 2 notebooks hand written by Phia Sing, the Royal Chef, who resided in the Royal Palace in Luang Prabang.  How this legacy of Royal Lao/Luang Prabang style cooking was saved, by the late Alan Davidson, the editor of the Oxford Companion to Food is, of itself, worth of many a post. Perhaps one day I'll take a stab at it. I did notice that items steamed in Banana Leaf is called "Mawk" in Traditional Recipes of Laos, while items "grilled" in Banana Leaves are called "Mok". Here, in deference to the cooking class I took, I'll call it "Mok".

I apologize in advance; I'm sure if I worked a bit more at it, I could make this more photogenic. The version I made in Luang Prabang was more a bit more attractive. We basically ate what we made in class, everything was cooked on a charcoal brazier, called a Tao-Lo. I was amazed at how good this came out. When the Missus ate a version of this, She told me, "there's something here that tastes so familiar, but I can't place it". It was the dill. Phia Sing's recipes for Mawk doesn't include dill, but Tamarind's recipe does. I did enjoy the nice palate cleansing, refreshing flavor dill added to the dish.

Some other notes; the original recipe uses ground sticky rice powder, I've replaced it with corn starch. I've adjusted some of the other ingredients to my taste. One of the tricks to making banana leaves pliable is to run them over a flame, until they become "shiny". Don't burn, however……

One more key note that was emphasized during the class, "make everything to your taste"…..which is what I did, and so should you!

Mok Pa

2 Tb Corn Starch
3-4 Shallots chopped
3-4 Cloves Garlic
1-2 Thai Bird Chilies sliced into thirds
3 Kaffir Lime Leaves – the recipe doesn't indicate this, but I sliced the middle "stem" of the leaf off, and sliced in a very fine chiffonade)
1-2 Tb Sea Salt (to taste)
4 Tb Dill finely Chopped
2 Tb Thai Basil chopped (in Laos they call what we refer to as Thai Basil, Lao Basil, and Holy Basil is called Thai Basil – go figure)
2 Scallion, green parts only finely chopped
2-3 Tb Water
2 Tb Fish Sauce
3/4 Lb White Fish Filets Cut into slices…or cubed if you desire
4-8 Banana Leaf pieces, each about 8"x8"

1 – In a mortar combine 1TB salt, garlic, shallots, chilies, kaffir lime leaves, and pound into a paste.
2 – Add Dill, Basil, and Scallions, and incorporate into paste.
3 – Add 2 Tb fish sauce, and 2 Tb water, and mix into paste. Taste and adjust flavors.
4 – Add fish and combine with paste.
5 – Run banana leaves over a flame to make pliable.
6 – Divide up fish into 4 portions.
7 – You can either place 2 banana leaves over each other at right angles, place fish in the middle, and pour on some of the paste. OR if you're like me, and all thumbs, just fold the darn thing up, sealing well.
8 – Seal and secure with a toothpick.
9 – Steam for 20-30 minutes.

EAT!

Here's a wonderful post on Phia Sing from  Rambling Spoon.