Category: Cooking

Kabocha Nimono

Cooking, Recipes

I had promised Milly from  Some Like it Hot a recipe using Kabocha a while back. So here’s a recipe for simmered (Nimono) Kabocha. Kabocha can be found in most Asian markets, and is a type of winter squash. Uncut, it can be stored for a pretty long time before using.

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The skin of this squash is very tough, hard, and thick. You need a very heavy knife, and possibly a hammer – jack-hammer, hand grenade, or maybe power saw (just joking…); to cut the Kabocha in Half:

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Any type of pumpkin can be used for this recipe, though the Kabocha, whose flesh is very sweet and creamy when cooked is probably best for this recipe.

Simmered Pumpkin (Kabocha Nimono, Kabocha No Fukumeni)

1 Medium Kabocha (choose one that is firm and heavy for it’s size) cut into chunks and discard seeds and tough fibers. You may cut off the hard skin if you feel ambitious.
2 cups dashi
4-5 Tb MirinP1000531
2-3 tsp sugar
1-2 Tb Shoyu
1/2 tsp salt

Place pumpkin pieces skin side down in the bottom of a pot (I do mine in half batches) in a single layer.
Pour dashi into pot until it comes two-thirds of the way up the pumpkin.
Add 3Tb Mirin, 1Tb shoyu, and salt. Sprinkle 2 tsp sugar on top of the Kabocha.
Cover and bring to a boil.
Once a boil is achieved reduce to a simmer.
Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Taste liquid and make adjustments as necessary.
Simmer until tender, turn off heat and let steep in the liquid.

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I’ve also heard of a version of this dish, where the Kabocha pieces are first deep fried, than poached as above (Kabocha Age-Ni).

Poke’ – As in Po-Kee…OK????

Cooking, Poke, Recipes

The entire reason for my foray to Los Angeles was to purchase some ogo to make poke'. For those who don't know what poke is…. Poke in Hawaiian literally means to "slice or cut crosswise into pieces". Alan on his wonderful Food Blog ma'ona has a wonderful post on poke'. In it's most simplest form, poke consists of fish cut into bite-sized pieces seasoned with "Hawaiian" (sea) salt. Today, there are many variations of poke' with main ingredients that range from the traditional Aku and Ahi and Tako (octopus) to newer versions that use tofu and artificial crab. And poke' can be found everywhere in Hawaii from the Supermarkets to upscale restaurants such as Alan Wong's and Roy's. On any given day, there may be up to 20 -30 types of poke' sold from "deli-cases" in "local" Supermarkets in Hawaii.

Everybody I know who makes their own poke', has their own little "twist" or indispensable ingredient. Be it inamona (roasted kukui or candlenut chopped, crushed, or mashed into a paste) to limu (seaweed), or even shoyu (soy sauce). Ogo originally is the Japanese name of a specific type of limu, but nowadays, many, including myself use the terms limu and ogo interchangeably. I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies provided by my over-racked brain.

For me the itemMarukaiogo_1 that I need for my poke' is ogo, thus the trip to Marukai in Los Angeles. Marukai flies in farm raised ogo from Honolulu, and though it's not the "best grade", I think it's good enough for poke'. I have found ogo in San Diego, but it is usually so old and oxidized, that it would probably smell and taste like ammonia! The other thing I need is some "fish". I had the fish cutter at Marukai cut me a "block" of Maguro that weighed a little over a pound.

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I separated the fish into approximately two half pound "batches". With the first I made my "standard" poke:

1/2 Lb Ahi, Aku, or Maguro cut into bite sized (1/2-3/4") pieces
up to 1/4 Cup Aloha Shoyu (or Yamasa)
1/4 of a Sweet onion (Maui or Vidalia – heck I'm so desperate I just use brown onions) sliced thin.
2 Stalks Green Onion – Green parts only
1/4 cup Ogo Chopped.
Sea salt to Taste (I use Ala'ea, which is a sea salt colored with red clay)
Either Chili Paste, Chili Peppers, or Red Pepper Flakes to taste
Sesame Oil to taste
Toasted Sesame Seeds

Place cubes of fish into a bowl and add shoyu, a little at a time, to the point that the fish is only moistened. Add sea salt. Add onions and ogo and mix. Taste and adjust salt/shoyu as necessary. Add Chili Paste and sesame oil and mix. Top with Sesame Seeds.

Than I made my twist on Shoyu Poke:

1/2 Lb Ahi, Aku, or Maguro cut into bite sized (1/2-3/4") pieces
up to 1/4 cup of Kikkoman Soy Sauce
1/4 tsp Grated Ginger
1/2 clove of garlic grated fine
1/4 cup Ogo
2 Stalks Green Onion – Green parts only
Sesame Seeds

Mix all ingredients, top with sesame seeds. Serves 1 hungry Ex-Pat Kama'aina with a major Poke' "Jones".

Easy to make, huh? Just remember one thing, poke' is an easy dish, but will reflect the quality of the ingredients you use! My recipes should be used as a very, very, broad guideline.

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For those still interested, Sam Choy has a great little book on poke. I could go on and on about poke', how it's the original "pacific-rim, fusion" dish, about how every ethnic group has created and contributed to the vast varieties of poke'. Or how it feels like I'm really finally "home" when I buy a couple of different types of poke from Tamashiro Market, grab some musubi, and head to Kewalo's or some other beach and just sit down and "grind" – delici-yoso!!! Have fun "playing with your food"!

Homemade Tapenade

Cooking, Markets & Grocers, Recipes

After eating my Muffeletta the other day, I developed a craving for some Tapenade. Nothing says summer like a nice Tapenade. So I marched over to the neighborhood market, which for us is an IGA; Keil's. They happen to have an olive bar with a nice selection:

Keils_olives

When we first moved into this area I scoffed at the existence of Keil's, it really doesn't look like much from the outside, and I would make the extra trip to go to one of the major chain supermarkets. But when I finally did shop at Keil's I was thoroughly surprised. They carry Keils01 everything from Boar's Head Deli Products to Tiparos Fish Sauce. Though I'm not impressed by the produce, Keil's is one of the few places where I will purchase ground beef. During the summer weekends they even have  a smoker going with ribs, chicken, and corn for sale.

So I grabbed some pitted Kalamata olives and some Niscoise olives and the other ingredients and headed the few blocks home. Now in the days BFP (before food processor), if I wanted to make a tapenade I would have spent a good portion of the evening pitting the olives, than chopping everything, before finally mixing. Now that I can get decent quality pitted Kalamata's (I still have to pit the Nicoise) and can use the food processor, my time is cut by 80%.

Here's the recipe – all measurements are approximations. I basically "eyeball" everything, and go by taste:Tapcook

Tapenade
2 cups good quality olives pitted
2 TB capers drained and dried
2 Anchovy filets
1/3 cup artichoke hearts preserved in brine – drained
1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes in olive oil – drained
Zest of 1/2 lemon
2 TB Fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup of Good Quality extra virgin olive oil

Separate half the olives and pulse 1-2 times in a food processor until you have larger chopped pieces of olive, remove to a bowl. Add the other half of the olives, capers, anchovy, sun dried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts, and pulse in the food processor. Add to bowl with olives. Add olive oil pouring slowly while mixing. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and mix. Refrigerate. Will keep up to a week tightly covered in the frig.

Slice ciabatta loaf in half, spread tapenade on bottom. Add a double layer of genoa salami, followed by a single layer of provolone cheese. Top with a double layer of Cappicola. Wrap sandwich in saran, place between 2 plates and press down; or use some other "pressing" method. Eat until olive oil oozes out of your pores, repeat as necessary.

Tapsw

Happy 4th Everyone! Time for Grillin’

Cooking

We’d like to wish everyone a most Delici-yoso Independence Day; hope everyone is safe and bellies are full!

We, like many had a BBQ, and I had a chance to see how my Kalbi came out. We started out with some shrimp, lobster, and the spicy paprika sausage that Jo from Truly Thankful was kind enough to include in her Baklava care package:

Bbq01

The shrimp and lobster was seasoned with fresh ground pepper, sea salt, and XVOO – simplicityKalbi03  is best! The sausage was gone while I cooked up the Kalbi; this is the perfect food – you can hold it in one hand while turning the meat in the other. The Kalbi came out super tender, not mushy, or over tenderized, but fork tender, with some texture. The flavor was balanced, but mild. Next time I’ll keep the sugar content the same and add 1/4 cup of Malt Syrup, which did give the meat a slightly "glazed" look. Add in some cherry smoked corn, and this was an delici-yoso 4th of July meal.

Kalbi04

Zion Market – Kalbi Time

Cooking, Markets & Grocers, Recipes

***** I'm sure you already know that Zion Market has moved

After sharing a Kalbi recipe on Elmo's Site – Monster Munching, I became motivated and decided to do a batch of ribs for myself. So this entailed a trip to Zion Market:

Zion01

Zion Market is a huge Korean GrocerMorezion04 with a wonderful selection of produce, meat, and various Korean grocery items. Today I picked up some very fragrant Donut Peaches at $1.49/lb. I also picked up some other miscellaneous grocery items, that I'll go into later. There is also Zion02 a large selection of pan-chan – I call it the "Great Wall of Kimchee" as well as marinated meats. The quality and selection in the meat department can be mind boggling; for example, 3 "grades" of cross sliced short ribs and 4 grades of sliced rib eye. Maybe someone can explain the difference between 'A', 'B' and '10 up' sliced rib eye – some cuts look thinner and some are more marbled. The prices are also very reasonable $2.59/lb for short ribs is a bargain!Morezion03

There is also a small "food court" and a fresh seafood counter, and a bakery within the Marketplace.

Zion Marketplace
4611 Mercury St
San Diego, CA 92111
Between Engineer Rd and Dagget St

When I got home I started on the Kalbi.

Kalbi01_1 Here's my standard recipe:

2-3lbs Short Ribs
2/3c Soy sauce
1 c Water
1/2c Sugar
2 Tb grated, pureed or minced garlic
2 Tb grated, pureed or minced onion
2 Tb pureed ripe papaya or Asian pear
1/2 tsp pepper
1 large stalk green onion chopped
1 Tb sesame oil (optional)

I added a few twistsKalbi02  – There were no ripe papaya's, and the Asian Pears looked horrible – so I decided to use kiwi. Now I had heard that marinating with kiwi can be a bit dicey as it has a tendency to over-tenderize the meat, but I thought I'd give it a try. So scratch the papaya or Asian pear, and replace with 2TB pureed kiwi. I had also heard that  Malt Syrup gave kalbi a nice distinctive sweet flavor and gave kalbi a lacquered appearance, so I found and purchased a bottle. The Malt Syrup is amber in color, and tastes basically just like corn syrup. I replaced 1/2cup of sugar with 1/4 cup of malt syrup and 1/4 cup of sugar. I mixed the marinade, added the meat, and went to sleep. We'll see what happens tomorrow when I fire up the grill.

Baklava! and a Wok on da’ Wild Side…

Cooking, yoso-silly

I've had my "crew" onCameradownload_043 Baklava Watch over the last few days.

Well today, Jo's package arrived, and my oh, my! Not only did it contain her wonderful Baklava, but smoked bacon, paprika sausages, and pepperoni that never made it past the "unpacking" stage! The Baklava was excellent, there were two types, and both were yummy. Thanks Jo, you made my 4th weekend! Can't wait to try the sausages – they look fab!Baklava01

I also decided to take The Big Kahuna Burner for a "test" drive. I first took a half pound of beans sprouts and did a quick stir fry with only salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Man this thing can rip!!!Bigk03 I turned it on at full blast and the stir fry was done in about 15 seconds. The Bean sprouts were fully cooked yet crunchy, and very tasty. The second dish was Chicken with Thai Basil. I had my "mise", and everything else ready. But it became obvious I wasn't ready for this. Everything happened so quickly, that the chicken became somewhat over-cooked! The chicken was still tender, really super tender, but some pieces were a bit scorched! I need to control temperature a little better next time. The dish was done in less than 5 minutes! This is the "real deal"….

Chicken with Thai BasilWok01
2/3 Lb Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts cut into strips
3 Tb Oil
3 Cloves Garlic Minced
4 kaffir lime leaves cut into strips (remove center stalk)
2/3 Cup Straw Mushroom
1/2 Cup Bamboo Shoots Sliced
3 Dried Chili's
20 Leaves Thai Basil
1/2 Cup Oyster Sauce

Heat wok, add oil and sear chili's, add garlic and kaffir lime leaves. Add chicken and stir fry for 2 minutes (or less on wok stove). Add bamboo shoots and straw mushrooms and stir fry until chicken is cooked. Add oyster sauce and mix well. Remove from heat and add Thai Basil.

yoso-greedy:Eastman Outdoors Big Kahuna Burner

Cooking, Stuff

I had a package waiting this afternoon; no it wasn't the Baklava from Jo, it was the Eastman Big Kahuna Burner that I ordered from Amazon.

Bigk01 I'd been waiting for this for a while. It's basically a heavy duty wok ring. Supposedly able to handle up to 50 lbs, and heat up to 55,000 BTU's, I'd be able to finally cook using high heat, perfect for Chinese cooking and other stir fry dishes. In other words the "I can't get the wok hot enough" excuse wouldn't "fly" anymore.

So I opened the box and uh-oh, the dreaded words "assembly required", along with an instruction manual; this was big trouble. So I read the instructions, and amazingly, I put it together in about 15 minutesBigk02. And guess what? No leftover pieces! I hooked up the propane and did the "soap test", then turned the control valve on both the Big Kahuna and propane on and lit it and – KA-BOOM!!! Just kidding! It lit up and I cranked it up, and my god it was hot, I could feel it 15 feet away! I was still surprised that a notorious "brok-chanic" like me could actually do this so quickly. So my initial impression? Very sturdy, easy assembly, good price ($49.95 + free delivery), and hot as heck. Too bad we already had dinner; the virgin stir-fry would have to wait. But this is the 4th of July weekend, so I'm sure I can come up with something………

Roasted Beef Tenderloin

Cooking, Recipes

Today I had to take care of 2 birthdays – of my two "Boyz"….

Every year we celebrate both their birthdays with a cake from Paw Pleasers, and usually a filet mignon. This year though we wanted our share. So I got up this morning and drove over to Iowa Meat Farms. Now I can’t say enough good things about this place! Great service, great meat, and a knowledgeable staff. The cutter actually showed me a whole tenderloin, asking how many I would be feeding ( I didn’t tell them about the boyz…)Beeften01 . He than trimmed, tied, and cut me a 2 1/2lb Tenderloin, man this was a work of art!!! Now I didn’t want to be spending the whole morning, drool dripping down my chin, waiting for the tenderloin to finish roasting. So I cut it in half and seasoned very generously with Alae’a, fresh cracked pepper, granulated garlic, and a small amount of dried oregano.

Beeften02 I heated a pan to till smoking, and seared the tenderloin on all sides, than placed in a 350 degree oven.

While the tenderloin roasted I caramelized some onions:

Caramelized OnionsBeeften04
2 large onions sliced
1/3 – 1/2 cup mirin
1 – 2 Tb Sugar
Salt
Pepper
1/2 Tb Butter

Place sliced onions in a non-stick pan. Using medium heat, allow onions to "sweat". Once onions start to soften season with salt and pepper and 1 Tb Sugar. Stir onions, when onions start to caramelize, pour in half of the mirin, and allow to reduce, stirring periodically. Add butter and saute until onions are golden brown. Add additional mirin and sugar if onions are not sweet enough. Sweetness will vary based on the type of onions used.

Horseradish Sauce
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
3 Tb Prepared Horseradish
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and Pepper.

Mix all ingredients until smooth. Chill.

Beeften06 When the internal temp of the roast hit 125, I removed and rested. The roast was so soft I could cut it with a fork. And the seasoning was "right on" I probably could’ve eaten the butcher’s twine and not think twice about it!

So what to do with leftovers? On a nicely toasted French Dip roll, 2Tb Horseradish sauce, 4 slices beef tenderloin, caramelized onions, Roasted Mushrooms, and Arugula!!! delici-yoso!!!

Oh, yes, "da boyz" enjoyed their share as well….Happy Birthday Sammy & Frankie!!!Pc020004_1

Roasted Mushrooms – Now What?

Cooking, Recipes

I've decided to actually do some cooking during the upcoming week. Problem is, I'm not quite sure what to make?

So while aimlessly wandering down the isles of Trader Joe's I grabbed a couple of packages of sliced mushrooms. I usually purchase whole mushrooms and slice them myself, but I had decided to make roasted mushrooms, so the pre-sliced crimini and white mushrooms would do.

Whenever I really can't figure what to do I'll go for one of my "ingredients". These roasted mushrooms can be used many ways, for pasta sauces, they can be pureed and used as a thickener for soups, as sandwich topping (ice cream topping???, guess not), and dips.

Any type of mushroom can be used, I've used enoki's, portabellos, shiitakes, oyster( be sure to remove stems, need to be careful with these they tend to liquidize). I decided to go with plain buttons and crimini's. I think the recipe is originally from Charlie Trotter – I don't have the original, but as with most recipes, I made adjustments to accommodate my taste, and have added ingredients (soy sauce, red wine) as well.

Roasted Mushrooms:
1 1/2 – 2 lbs Mushrooms Sliced
1 Medium Onion Finely Chopped
4 Cloves Garlic Minced
1/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Water
1/4 Cup Red Wine
1 Tb Soy Sauce
2 tsp Kosher/Sea Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
1/2 tsp Dried Basil

Place all ingredients in a baking pan, mix together, cover well, and roast at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool in liquid and refrigerate, mushrooms will last up to 1 week in a covered container.

Roastmuch

Now what am I going to do with this? Stay Tuned……..

yoso-greedy: Camerons Stovetop Smoker

Cooking, Stuff

I had a parcel meeting me at the door this evening, turned out to be a delivery from Amazon; my Camerons Stovetop Smoker that I ordered 2 weeks ago:

Cameron2 This is the handy dandy kitchen gadget that is often seen on Emeril and other shows – it was on sale for $34.99 at Amazon, with free shipping I thought why not. Not much in the box, just the smoker, a drip tray, and a wire rack, oh wait; it’s the New and Improved Non-stick wire rack!…..got to make sure I got this right! Also, included were four little containers labeled, Alder, Cherry, Mesquite, etc….  So I open the Alder, and there lay a little pile of sawdust, smelled like sawdust, felt like sawdust, I didn’t taste it, but I’m sure it was going to taste like sawdust. Where was the magic? This is going to give us the "succulent flavors of wood smoking"? There’s no way that this is going to work! By this time my OCD kicked in and I just HAD to make something, anything. So we jumped in the car and sped off to Costco to buy some salmon (no sense in using anything too expensive).

Cameron1

Back home, salmon in hand, I trimmed off both end cuts and seasoned the middle piece with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I placed a little pile of "Alder" (at least that’s what the container said) sawdust in the middle of the smoker base (sort of like I was going to try and start a fire with two sticks – my confidence was waning). Covered the drip pan with aluminum foil and placed that over the "wood chips" (in the most loose definition of the word chips!), and set the wire rack on top of the drip pan, covered and was ready to roll!Cameron3 I turned on the burner, set the smoker on top, than opened up the instruction book! Hey, I’m a guy, what can I say…… I noticed a bit of smoke leaking out so wrapped some foil around it, and caught a whiff, and damn if it didn’t smell like real "smoking smoke"! Well now that I had the little "Cooking Guide" opened, I realized my first mistake; I should have left the cover of the smoker two-thirds of the way open until wisps of smoke appear, than cover the smoker. Uh-oh, I missed the "wisps" step, would this ruin the salmon?….No Salmon Salad! No Salmon Gravy!, Salmon Hash! No Salmon Ala King! Ooops sorry too much Christmas Story….

After about 25 minutes later I checked on the salmon, and it looked a sort of "gloppy", so I replaced the cover and left for about 7 minutes more. At this point the salmon was starting to flake(sort of like me…..how appropriate), so I decided this was enough and removed it from the heat. At this point the salmon still had sort of a poached look:

Cameron4

So I tasted a piece, damn if it didn’t taste pretty darn good! So it’s smoked salmon and bagels tomorrow! Visions of smoked corn, smoked clams, smoked duck, and smoked tri-tip danced in my head!

So I guess this piece of equipment is pretty "idiot proof", it seems that if you (unlike me, but it still turned out) follow instructions this is pretty fool proof. Easy and fast. The only things that I need to do next time is to season a little more generously and follow the instructions for starting the cooking process.

So what did I do with the rest of the salmon? I just did a "quick and dirty" togarashi rub and seared and fried under high heat:P1010013