Cooking – Page 35

Braised Lamb Shanks with Lemons, Tomatoes, and Green Olives

April 7, 2007 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

I was looking over a cookbook that I purchased a few months back from a bookstore bargain bin. The title of the book is How to Cook Meat by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby. The Missus happened to peek over my shoulder and noticed this braised lamb recipe…and it was off to North Park Produce, for lamb shanks, olives, and all the other supplies for this dish. I’ve made a few adjustments to account for our taste preferences, and also to cut down on the amount of skimming, and other tasks that are done several times in the recipe, it didn’t seem necessary. I think it came out pretty well, and went well with our current overcast and cool weather.

Braised Lamb Shanks with Lemons, Tomatoes, and Green Olives

5-6 Lamb Shanks
2 Tb Olive Oil
2 Onions Sliced
2-6 Cloves Garlic, minced(depends on how much you love garlic – guess how many cloves I used?)
1/2 Cup Diced Celery(About 2-3 stalks)
2 Cups White Wine
2 Cups Chicken Stock, or even better Lamb Stock
6 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
1 Tb Fresh Thyme Leaves
2 Bay Leaves
2 Whole Cloves
3 Lemons(or 2 large) peeled and segmented
2-4 Tomatoes, cored and seeded, cut into a large dice
1/2 Lb Green Olives, rinsed, pitted, and sliced in half
Salt and Pepper to taste
Chopped Fresh Parsley

1 – Preheat Oven to 325

2 – Season lamb shanks with salt and pepper and brown over medium-high heat in Olive Oil in a Dutch Oven, or similar pot. I had to do this in batches.When the lamb shanks are browned well, transfer to a plate.

3 – Pour off excess fat in the pot(leave about 2 Tb), and add sliced onions, celery, and garlic.Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Deglaze pot with white wine and stock(if you have lamb stock, more power to you!) scraping up all the nice brown bits. Bring liquid up to a simmer and add lamb shanks back into the pot along with the sprigs of fresh thyme, bay leaves, and cloves.

4 – When the liquid is simmering, cover and place the pot into the oven. Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, checking the lamb for doneness with a fork.

5 – When the lamb shanks are done, transfer them to a plate and cover with aluminum foil. Strain the cooking liquid, and pour it back into the pot. Bring the liquid back to a simmer, skim off the fat from the braising liquid and slightly reduce the liquid. Add green olives and tomatoes into the liquid and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add lemon segments, and cook for 5 more minutes. Add shanks back into liquid and simmer over low heat for a few more minutes.

6 – Remove the pot from heat,add in Thyme leaves, and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

7 – Serve over Couscous.

The dish turned out well, and fulfills my "cookbook obligation"….to limit the purchase of cookbooks, I have promised to make at least one dish from each cookbook I purchase. I’m still trying to figure out what I’ll be able to make from Yoshihiro Murata’s, Kaiseki……

A kind of funny thing happened at North Park Produce….not really paying attention, I asked the guy behind the meat counter for 6 lamb shanks….I guess he heard 6 pounds of lamb shanks. When I brought the bag home and opened it 9 lamb shanks rolled out. So I browned three of the lamb shanks without seasoning, and the Missus made braised lamb shanks and rice for Da Boyz…..in my next life, I want to be one of Da Boyz! Though the food coma can be really hard on you!

Quick Saturday Dinner: Furikake Crusted Ahi Salad with Ponzu Dressing

March 31, 2007 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Today it almost felt like summer, and we needed something pretty quick to eat, and I had a nice piece of good, but not quite sashimi grade(at least for me) Ahi. So I decided to make a really easy dish that I haven’t made for a while….it’s really easy, takes me less than 20 minutes!

Much of what I use is already prepared…the ponzu sauce, furikake, and the wasabi oil I made ahead of time for something else. I enjoyed making this, it’s been a while, I have a little story that I’ll mention at the end of the post. I also use a garlic press(I call it my ginger press, since I never use it for garlic) to juice small pieces of ginger…you don’t need much. It is kind of Asian-Fusion-ny…..it has also spoiled the Missus, She understands how really simple some of these Pacific Rim Asian Fusion Dishes really are.

Furikake Crusted Ahi

1 Block of Ahi(1/2-3/4 lb)
1/3 Cup of Furikake( Japanese condiment for topping rice)
3-4 Tb Sesame Seeds

2 Tb Soy Sauce
1/2 Tsp Prepared Wasabi
Ginger Juice

Mix last three items in a bowl and place Ahi in marinade, turn Ahi to coat. In a clean dry plate pour out Furikake and Sesame Seeds and mix. Place the block of Ahi and coat with mixture, I only coat three sides, we’ve found that coating all four sides of the fish makes it a bit too salty. Sear over high heat, do not overcook! Slice carefully and serve with mixed greens with Ponzu Dressing

Ponzu Dressing
1/2 Cup Ponzu(I used the bottled Kikkoman Ponzu)
1/4 Cup Sugar
3-4 Tb Soy Sauce
Ginger Juice
Canola Oil as desired

Mix first 3 ingredients until sugar is dissolved, add ginger juice(I use a garlic press to create ginger juice). Add desired amount of oil and mix in a jar. Dress greens well, and add some acidic and a few other items(in this case, I had some Jicama, and cucumbers are great as well). Really simple.

Wasabi Oil
1/4 Cup Wasabi Powder
1 Tb Mirin
1 Tsp Sugar
1/4 Cup Canola Oil
1/4 Cup Water

In a bowl combine the first 3 ingredients. Add water slowly(you may need less) until a pancake batter consistency is reached. Slowly whisk in oil, and whisk till smooth. Let stand at least 30 minutes. This great with Maguro or Tai Carpaccio, and other seafood, or even as an addition to salad dressings.

When I first met my future Father and Mother-In-Law, they wouldn’t eat rare fish or sashimi, in fact they wouldn’t eat fish that didn’t have a "head" attached, a bit suspicious that anything without a "head" meant it was less than fresh. I felt really bad, because one of the benefits of living in Hawaii is access to really great fresh fish. So one evening, I made this…and they enjoyed it!

So next time you have some xxx crusted Ahi or whatever…….it seems like doing the dishes takes longer than making this!

Hamachi Kama

March 24, 2007 mmm-yoso Cooking, Seafood

Whew, today we started our "spring cleaning" and I'm bushed. On days like this, the last thing I want to do is whole bunch of cooking….so I decided to make some Hamachi Kama(Yellowtail "collar"), the portion of the fish that surrounds the front fins near the fish of the face. It is also one of the most prized items in various sushi bars and Izakaya. In fact, many times it is not even on the menu, and reserved for "regulars", or only served on request.

There's lots of rich, juicy, meat around those bones…….and the crisp, salty skin, is delici-yoso!!!

I happened to have some Hamachi Kama I bought a week ago in the freezer, and have always heard that there's nothing to making them. So after thawing in the frig, I just made them!

I can't give you a recipe, because it's just Da' Kama and Alaea, the unprocessed seas salt that is mixed with red clay which enriches it with ferrous oxide. The Hawaiians used to reserve it for important feasts and ceremonies, and the salt was said to hold special medicinal properties. Alaea has a mellower salty taste, with a touch of sweetness.

After rinsing and drying the Kama, I seasoned generously with Alaea(no' scared, okay!), and used the toaster oven to first bake for about 8 minutes, than I toasted them for a few cycles.

The result was a surprise…it was very good, very moist, rich in oil, not overly fishy, and even the Missus thought it was good. And the Kama had only set me back about 3 bucks at Marukai! I had heard that there was nothing to it, and there was………Too bad the only sake I had in the house was pretty lousy.

Well, not too thrilling, but the rest of the evening means some Ibuprofen, and rest…my aching back!

I'll be back tomorrow with a new restaurant! Kampai!

Misoyaki (Saikyo Yaki) Black Cod

March 9, 2007 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Growing up we called this Misoyaki Butterfish, and it was something my Mom made on a regular basis. It seems that Nobu Matsuhisa, and a large contingent of popular chefs have made this into quite a popular dish. A few months ago someone requested my recipe, so here it is.

There are a few differences between my Mother's recipe and the Misoyaki I make nowadays. First, the Missus hated the grainy texture; my Mom's recipe called for just mixing several ingredients together. I've seen recipes where a Bain-Marie(double boiler for us…) is used to mix everything. But this didn't solve the problem of the excess alcohol flavor, so I've solved that problem by first boiling the sugar, mirin, and sake, this will ensure a smooth texture since the sugar is dissolved, and all the alcohol is burnt off. There is a another potential problem, miso should never, ever be boiled, this solved by just removing from heat before adding miso. My Mom used grated ginger in Her recipe, I've removed it from mine. But I've noticed that many Misoyaki recipes are much too sweet for my tastes, so I made a few adjustments. I've found that the addition of Aka ("Red" Miso) adds a bit of a salty flavor, and even some "depth" to the dish. One more note to "Nobu" fans out there…if you've had a problem with your miso glaze, it's because he uses a very high quality "Saikyo" Miso, I've found that the regular White Shiro Miso I use is not quite as sweet. In fact, when I did use Saikyo Miso, my recipe ended up tasting waaaaay too sweet! I just use a Mild White Miso, though I prefer the very mild Hawaiian Miso & Soy Company brand, I've found several others at Nijiya that do just fine.

Misoyaki Black Cod

3/4 Cup White Shiro Miso
1-2 Tb Aka Miso
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Sake
1/4 Cup Mirin
1 Tsp Real Soy Sauce – the kind really made from soybeans, not synthetic.

Combine Mirin, Sake, and Sugar in a small pot. Bring to a simmer stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, until all the alcohol burns off. Remove from heat, and add Soy sauce to stop boiling. Slowly add Miso mixing until sauce is creamy. Do Not ever boil miso…..When sauce is cooled marinate black cod completely coating the fish. Marinate for at least 2 days, but 3 days is best. If using a conventional oven, pre-heat at 450 and bake fish for 5-8 minutes. When fish is almost cooked broil for an additional 2-3 minutes until well caramelized.

If you are doing batches over time, divide miso sauce into 2 "batches", brush misoyaki over fish and wrap each in plastic wrap. When broiling or cooking brush on miso glaze as necessary.

The Missus's favorite way of cooking Her fish is to use the toaster oven, she bakes until almost cooked than toasts it.

Why no good photo…well as is the norm, the fish usually doesn't make it to "full-term", and I'll return from work smelling the remnants of Misoyaki on the Missus's breath. At least this time She took a photo as she removed the fish from the toaster oven….not the most artistic photo, but I guess it'll do! Here's the Misoyaki Black Cod eaten 2 days earlier than it should be…..

As you can tell, nothing is written in stone…..have fun with it.

Reid of 'Ono Kine Grindz has a wonderful recipe here. A few years back I shared my recipe with Ed from Yuma, and I think he's become the Yuma Misoyaki Master……..

The Buta Kakuni Experiment

February 25, 2007 mmm-yoso Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

*** I’ve had a few emails and several comments below asking about the origins of Buta Kakuni…best that I can tell is that Buta Kakuni is based on a Chinese Dish that the Japanese call Tonporo. Which to me means it’s probably Dong Po Rou(Dong Po Pork), if you follow the link, you’ll see that it looks very similar. Dong Po Rou is named after the poet Su Dong Po, you can see a translation of one of His poems here.

The other day, I was paging through a cookbook I had lying around titled The Japanese Kitchen, authored by Hiroko Shimbo. The recipe I just happened upon (lucky me!!!) was for Buta Kakuni, the Braised Pork dish that originated in Nagasaki Prefecture. Apparently, Buta Kakuni is based on a Chinese Pork dish, and Nagasaki was a busy port city where ships from all over the world docked. So somewhere between the sixteenth and eighteenth century Buta Kakuni arrived(lucky us!!!)……..

There are two Buta Kakuni recipes that I have used in the past. In the first recipe, the pork belly is first fried, than simmered for several hours. In the second recipe, the pork belly is first boiled in Okara(tofu lees) for several hours before a short braise in a sake-soy sauce-mirin-sugar liquid. What caught my attention was that Hiroko Shimbo’s recipe first steamed the pork belly, before cooking in the flavoring liquid. And what was even more interesting was that the pork belly was first covered with grated daikon! According to the book, Daikon contains two digestive enzymes, protease and diastase which help to remove excess fat and tenderize the pork belly.

What you see above is the result. I used the steaming technique in the book, but the flavoring is the one I’ve used before from other recipes. I’ve had some recipes from Hiroko Shimbo’s book not turn out really well. Since this was an experiment, I only used a 12oz portion of pork belly, which waaay more than enough for us! Buta Kakuni is pretty rich anyway, and I can only eat maybe 3 pieces….before the extreme remorse starts.

The Buta Kakuni Experiment

2 1/2- 3 Cups Grated Daikon(liquid and all)
1 – 1 1/2 Lb Slab of Pork Belly
1/2 Tb (or more) Grated Ginger
1 1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Sake
1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
1/3 Cup Sugar
4 Tb Mirin

1 – Set steamer over a pot of rapidly boiling water
2 – In a heatproof dish(make sure that it will fit the steamer) place 1/3 of the grated daikon and liquid over the bottom of the dish. Place the pork belly on top of grated daikon. Cover the pork with the remainder of grated daikon.
3 – Transfer dish to steamer and steam for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I use a bamboo skewer after about 90 minutes to see how tender the pork belly is. Remember to keep replenishing the steaming liquid as necessary.

4 – Once the pork can be easily pierced with a bamboo skewer, remove the dish (carefully) from the steamer. Place the pork belly in a bowl of lukewarm water and gently rinse the pork.

5 – Dry the pork with paper towels, and cut it into 2 inch cubes.
6 – In a pot large enough to hold the pork in a single payer mix together the rest of the ingredients. Place pork in pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer.
7 – Simmer for 30 minutes, and check flavoring and texture. Make adjustments and simmer for at least 30 more minutes.
* On this day I added slices of daikon and boiled eggs before the last 30 minutes of simmering. Oh, and don’t forget the Hot Mustard!

The Pork Belly was very tender, and the remaining fat was smooth and velvety. The Missus thought it a bit too sweet, but I could have done with something cooked a bit longer, but I think the pork would have started falling apart. Of course, I’ve heard of places simmering their Buta Kakuni for 12 hours or more, but I don’t think I’ll be doing that in the near future.

Lest you think I was living on pork belly alone…..

I made the Missus some Karei Karaage:

And some Chicken Karaage:

And to cut the fatty flavors, some Pickled Onions with Ogo:

And followed it all with a double shot of Lipitor(I’m kidding, of course)! I did have a bit of one of my new favorite sakes, Yaegaki "Mu"…why they would name a sake "emptyness" is beyond me. This sake has a bit of a sweeter profile(not as sweet as Kurosawa), though I think it goes really well with food.

I did wish I still had another bottle of this on hand though!

Local Kine Chili

January 20, 2007 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

It’s quite amusing sometimes, when talking to ex-pat Kama’aina’s here on the Mainland…once you get past all of the initial pleasantries ("Wea you wen’ grad?"), without fail the conversation drifts to food, and what we miss ("ohhh man W and M Burgers"), and where to get what ("eh, you seen Purity Port-o-gee Sausage?"). In these conversations there are a few items that have reach iconic status, I’m talking about eye-rolling, lip smacking(taste memory is an amazing thing), stomach growling, iconic status. And what may seem to be surprising to some, is that one of these items is Chili….really, Chili. More specifically, Zippy’s Chili. Somewhere between 1966 when the first Zippy’s opened, to say 1971 when the second Zippy’s opened, in Kaimuki, just a block from where we lived(in the old Crown Drive In location), Zippy’s Chili had already won the stomachs of many locals. At the time of this article in 2004, Zippy’s was selling 150,000 of chili a month. Not only through the restaurants, but Zippy’s Chili had become a big time fund raising item, and of course there is online sales, and you can even get the frozen version at places like Marukai here on the mainland. Now that’s alot of chili…in Hawaii?

Strangely enough, my favorite "local kine" Chili is from Rainbow Drive In, also pretty close to where I grew up. Even the Missus will get into the action, Her favorite is from Cafe 100. But still, the King of the Hill is Zippy’s chili.

Right about now, all you Chili Purists should probably come back another day…..what you may read in the following paragraphs may be graphically disturbing. I’ve been told by many mainlanders that what Zippy’s serves, "isn’t Chili". In fact if I may digress…..Once while still working back home we took one of our mainland contractors to lunch at Zippy’s. Now this guy was one of those everything is bigger and better where I come from (guess the state? it begins with a ‘T’) kinda guy, the other thing was, he wouldn’t ditch the suit and tie, a big no-no. So we took him to "Zip’s" for some local flavor. And he orders the chili…when he get’s his chili and crackers, he makes a face, and spits it back into his bowl, and goes off on a little rant, "this ain’t chili, You People, don’t know what chili is…." Now we were kind of used to Him, but the very large and muscular Polynesian Dude eating his Chili-Spaghetti Plate(with two scoops rice and macaroni salad) was not amused. So Bruddah with the biceps like coconuts, and trapezius muscles like the Koolau’s, walks over and tells our guest; "eh, maybe wea’ you come from, dis’ isn’t chili, but ova hea’ it is. You think if any of these guys went visit you, and nevah like the food, dey would spit ’em out at the table? How do you say it…..you was raised in one barn!" And thus the nickname, "Barn-ey" was born…….. He did learn what the term "No make A" meant after that.

Back to the Chili I made, to be very clear, it’s not Zippy’s Chili, but I think it’s pretty close to many "local" versions. The best that I can determine, it’s a bit similar to Cincinnati style Chili. And many people enjoy it on top of spaghetti, or with cheese and onions on it. It isn’t very spicy(though we like to add Tabasco), and uses a few different items, like ginger. As with items of iconic stature there has been much discussion as to the secret ingredient in Zippy’s Chili, the items I hear the most often is Mayonnaise, and believe it or not Cream of Mushroom Soup, for this recipe I used some Mayo at the end, and it added a nice rich finish. Another item I used is the liquid drained from the canned Kidney Beans, I think the canning liquid adds great flavor, and you won’t need to add any salt. But, if you suffer from a pernicious reverse post-bean reflux…….I wouldn’t add to your flatulence woes by using the canning liquid, and use water instead.

Local Kine Chili

1 1/2 lb Ground beef
1/4 lb Bacon, chopped into 1/4"x1/4" cubes
2 Medium Onions, Chopped
1 C Celery, chopped
1 Large Bell Pepper, finely chopped
3 Cans Kidney beans drained, save liquid(see below)
3-4 Cans Tomato sauce
1 Can Tomato Paste
1 – 1 1/2 C Bean "liquid" or water
2 Tb Ketchup
2 Tb Red wine
2 Bay leaf
3-4 Tb Chili powder
1/2 Chicken Bullion Cube
1-2 tsp Sugar
1 Tb Oregano
1 Tb Paprika
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Grated Ginger
3-4 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1-2 Tb Mayonnaise(Best Foods or Hellman’s)

1 – Brown bacon over medium heat, when the bacon starts getting crisp add the Onions,

Celery, Bell Pepper, Ginger, Pepper Flakes, and Garlic, stirring to prevent browning.

2 – Once the onion turns translucent, add the Ground Beef, and brown.

3 – When the ground beef is browned add beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste, bean liquid(start with 1 cup), beans, bullion, sugar, oregano,bay leaf, and cumin. Bring to a low boil, than reduce to a simmer.

4 – When chili has been simmering for 5-6 minutes, add in Worcestershire, chili powder(start with 2 Tb), red wine, and paprika. Let simmer for a few minutes, taste and adjust flavor.

5 – Simmer for 30 minutes, and mix in 1-2 Tb Mayonnaise.

Quick Sunday Post – Teba Shio and Binchotan

January 14, 2007 mmm-yoso Chicken Wings, Cooking

Just a quick post for Sunday here. We had to make a trip to Marukai in Gardena yesterday to restock on a few things, and ended up spending more time in the area than anticipated. After restocking on Binchotan and other stuff.

If you've never used Binchotan, which is a very hot burning, long lasting, "white" charcoal, it's pretty amazing stuff:

Binchotan has some pretty unique characteristics, first off, when tapped it makes almost a chime like ringing sound, it is also quite hard, and doesn't break up like regular black lump charcoal, though you can break it by tapping it against the ground. There much more information on Binchotan on Wikipedia. There's one more thing about Binchotan, at over $5/lb, it may cost more than the food being grilled. That said, for us at least a little Binchotan goes a long way, since we only us it on our little Hida Konro(small clay grill). Because it is really hard to "start", we'll break a stick into several pieces and place directly on the flame of our gas stove until "white", than place in the Hida Konro.

It's amazing how something so simple as Chicken Wings flavored with salt(and some Togarashi), aka Tebashio will taste so very good.

Because only a few wings can fit on the grill at any one time, it's really not "fast" food, but a nice and slow process…that goes great with a few beers.

Don't forget the Yaki Onigiri!

One Other Item:

We were a bit delayed on our return from Marukai. While waiting at the traffic light to exit Marukai, the Missus, turned to me and said, "oh my God, look". There was a dog weaving in and out of traffic along Artesia Boulevard, and finally into the parking lot of Gardena Plaza. Seeing this poor little Dog just wandering along a busy street and parking lot we knew we had to do something. Unfortunately, the poor Dog was very skittish and pretty much terrified, and I wasn't able to approach Her with any success. So while I kept tabs on Her, the Missus ran into the Burger King in the mall and bought a Whopper Jr. She figured that the poor animal must be pretty hungry. We were finally able to get within a few yards of the Dog in the parking lot of Albertson's, and I started breaking the burger into pieces and slowly getting closer and closer to Her. I could tell by Her demeanor that the chance She would bite was pretty low. After what seems like forever, I got ahold of Her, and managed to get the dog on it's back and calm Her. I then carried Her to the car while the Missus ran into the Mailbox/Postal store to find the number of the nearest animal shelter.

As you can see, She was in pretty good shape, but no collar, no tags:

She was in good shape, in spite of being covered with loose hairs and dust, Her nails were trimmed and Her ears had been plucked recently. And even though She was quite hungry and thirsty, She was well fed.

The Gentleman in the Mailbox/Postal Shop was very helpful in pointing out the nearest animal shelter. We hoped that Her Owners were searching for Her, or at least maybe She was "micro chipped". After standing in line forever, we managed to speak to the desk officer and had Her checked out….unfortunately, she was not "chipped"…..

So we reluctantly left, hoping Her Owners were out searching for Her and She would be found. We did leave instructions that we should be called if the owners could not be found, and no one was willing to adopt Her. If that is the case, Sammy and Frankie will have a sister. She is so mellow and sweet that I have no doubt that we can either keep her, or find her a nice family ourselves. So in case you're looking forward to a sweet Corgi-Shepard(?) mix, and live in the LA area……She can be found at:

Carson/Gardena Animal Shelter
216 W. Victoria Street
Gardena, CA 90248
(310) 523-9566

LA Animal Services

Her ID is – A3620754.

Even though it may seem a bit far-fetched, we thought that maybe someone might recognize her and help find her owners….or maybe someone does want a new family member.

Thanks for reading, I'll be back with another restaurant tomorrow!

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2007 mmm-yoso Cooking, Markets & Grocers, yoso-silly

Happy New Year!

There’s usually a pretty large amount of shopping that needs to be done around New Years eve. The Missus and I usually celebrate both the Gregorian and Lunar New Year. Japan officially accepted the Gregorian New Year in 1873, and have been celebrating New Year based on the Gregorian calendar since then.

So that would mean a few stops. First Nijiya:

Armed with my list(which turned out to be incomplete), I completed my shopping rather quickly, which gave me a nice opportunity to check out all the Osechi-ryori(Traditional Japanese New Years dishes) on display.

To me it seemed that there was a smaller variety of Osechi "Sets" this year, but that could just be me….

The industrious guy on the top in the photo below, almost made his escape after I took this photo:

The Obachan in front of me purchased $250 worth of food for New Years!

The next stop, Mitsuwa:

I noticed a smaller variety of Osechi here as well.

I found alot of "boxed" Osechi…sort of your generic, preboxed, impersonal, Costco-ized, Osechi:

Is this the future of Osechi? I hope not, it takes all of the fun out of Osechi Shopping.

So having purchased everything for our New Years meals, with only a few item omitted…well, I always forget a thing or two, it just wouldn’t be New Years without me rushing out to market. If anything, I’m consistent.

I only took a few photos, since I was busy cooking(and eating):

Of course Soba:

This year I added Wasabi Tobiko(wasabi flavored flying fish eggs), which added a nice "crunch" to the dish.

My own Osechi:

Karei Karaage(Deep fried flounder):

Lightly dusted with Katakuriko(potato starch), and lightly seasoned with sea salt and Shichimi Togarashi(Seven-spice chili pepper), and eaten with just a the lightest squeeze of lemon, and a tiny bit of Yuzu Kosho, a salty-citrusy-spicy condiment made with the rind of Yuzu, chili pepper, salt, and in this case a tiny bit of bean paste. By far the Missus’s favorite dish.

The Shishito Tempura was a close second:

I made some Matcha-Shio(Green tea powder mixed with salt) for dipping.

And some shrimp tempura:

And various Tempura(Kabocha, Satsuma-imo, Tamanegi, etc…):

Some Tofu, the Yuzu Koshu came in handy here as well.

And I haven’t been able to "retire" from making my Nishime yet, but maybe next year.

I guess we ate enough this New Year…better renew that Gym membership.

Of course, it’s always nice to settle in to watch the television after a nice meal:

Happy New Year!

Tailgate! The San Diego Holiday Bowl

December 28, 2006 Cathy Cooking, Recipes, Stuff, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is blogging away and Kirk is taking a day off. You checked in, so stay and read for awhile.

Hello again. Football. College football. Bowl games. Yes, its that time of year. Ten years ago there were only 18 Official Bowl games, now there are 32. The Holiday Bowl is played here in San Diego.

The Mister and I have gone to every Holiday Bowl since 1984….we meet with "100 of our closest friends"and have a feast in the parking lot before the game. One couple smokes a turkey, looking for a 30 pounder every year. We don’t care who is playing. We eat, go in and watch the game, then come back out and fire up the burners, have hot cider, turkey soup, Irish coffee and leftovers and watch the parking lot empty. Yes, we go for the food.

Our little group, comprised of some great people from all over the world: Australians, Canadians, Japanese, plus a few good Lions, Optimists, Rotarians, Aggies, Bears and long time friends, gets together, each bringing enough food for themselves, plus a little more to share, in our "miracle" potluck feast.

So, yesterday we started cooking: Six pounds of bread dough to make rolls:

Which, when finished, were wonderfully browned and soft, light and just a tad crispy on the top:

Then, we have about 9 pounds of cross rib roast, 3 pounds of tri-tip and 7 pounds of ribs…

We usually buy small end rib roast, and its usually on sale between Christmas and New Year, but not this year and we kind of need a *lot* of meat…and we can cook roast beef, no matter the cut. Those 100 ‘close friends’ don’t really know our names, but they know that we are the "roast beef people"…and, trust me, all of this beef will be gone.

So, the infamous recipe: garlic, oregano, paprika…made into a paste with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Um, how much you say…well that’s 3 pounds of fresh garlic…and a liter of olive oil…and then the rest…to taste.

Oh you should smell my house right now!

You put the paste on the meat, into the oven that had been at 500° and drop the heat to 300° and put a thermometer in and wait for 118° and take the meat out of the oven. It continues cooking, trust me. We pre-slice and its, you know, medium rare.

Our seats will have this same view this year. I’ll report back about the rest of the food, later. Gotta pack up the pick up!

OK…its about 11 p.m. and we are home. here are a few photos of food from the tailgate…. the infamous 27 pound smoked turkey with rice stuffing and the waay infamous sweet potato casserole

There were 133 of us this year and it seems that everyone brought something, from tangerines from the yard and cucumber salad, lasagna, pizza, Subway sandwiches, chicken, chips, many-layered dips and desserts galore..to the chili, hot cider and Irish coffee we had while waiting for the parking lot to clear.

Oh, the game was good too and the opening ceremonies, starting with a moment of silence for the military who have died in the war as well as for President Ford was moving. The flyover of the F-18’s after the Star Spangled Banner was exciting and loud.

Halftime was as loud and bright as ever with fireworks and a show put on by local schools and their marching bands and dance teams.

I hope this sort of gave you a small glimpse into what a Southern California tailgate is like. I need to sleep now!

What I did on Christmas Eve

December 26, 2006 Cathy Cooking, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso is not on vacation. Cathy is blogging while Kirk isn’t. Thanks for stopping by.

Hi again. This post isn’t particularly late. I had a busy Christmas Eve Day and photographed it so I could blog it. It isn’t like many of you were sitting around the house waiting to see what was going on here. Its also way past Christmas Eve and I would assume you have done whatever tradition your family does anyhow.

There are many food traditions upheld at this time of year. During Hanukkah, fried and dairy foods are traditionally eaten. Most Italians have seven courses of fish, the Polish eat a meatless meal on Christmas Eve and the Germans usually have goose. Most Scandinavians have pork as the centerpiece of their meal (Santa starts his journey from the North pole, very close to Finland, you know, and that Man does not look like he’s a fish eater).

Its traditional in Mexican households to have tamales for Christmas Eve dinner. The making of tamales at home is another tradition. My dear neighbor who had us over for Thanksgiving dinner this year (since I was basically helpless in a to-the-shoulder cast helping me to keep my broken, displaced wrist immobile) invited me over to help make tamales…and, of course, I documented it. Afterward, we went to a friend’s home in Lakeside for some more socializing before we headed home to wait for Santa.

So, tamales. Basically, stewed meat surrounded by masa (prepared corn meal) that is wrapped in corn husks and steamed until the corn meal is cooked. You could Google it, but I’ll just show you.

Ah, but the stewed meat. My neighbor cooked and skinned, shredded and boned chicken and a beef roast the night before. Then, in a blender, you put two types of dried chili’s

with chicken broth, some cooked tomatillos and mix the chili sauce with the shredded meats (we mixed both together) with spices-

salt, pepper, cumin, garlic and heated it all in large pots on the stove for about an hour, to get the flavor into the meat.

The lady who was teaching us had prepared the masa (all ten pounds of it) before coming over. So the assembly line started… Take the masa-

and spread thinly onto about 2/3 of a corn husk.

Put some of the meat/chili filling

onto the corn husk/masa, fold, stack

and then stack into

a tamale pot which has a tray on the bottom, allowing for the steam to rise . For about 2 hours, with extra corn husks on top of the tamales and the lid on the steamer..

Yes, we made over 8(eight) dozen of those lovely morsels. Viola! the finished product…so fresh tasting and with just the right amount of heat from the chili sauce, all you need on the side is some sour cream.

While the tamales were cooking, The Mister and I went to the home of the parents of some friends, and we had a nice feast.. salad, olives, sides and of course-