Onion and Cheese Pie with Walnut Crust and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest

I’m on a Mollie Katzen kick again.  As you may recall, we love her Pretend Soup book and my husband regularly makes her popovers for a weekend breakfast.

While visiting family on Saturday, I came across her classic, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest book!  I’ve been aware of this book forever, but I had never read it before.  I have to say I’m smitten.  I love her writing, her illustrations, and her amazing recipes.  But mostly I love that when she writes them, there is always room for improvisation which she wholeheartedly encourages.  She fully communicates the joy of making tasty, healthy food, being creative with it, and eating it!

There are a ton of things I want to make from the book.  There are fabulous dressings, dips, bread, vegetable, salad, and soup recipes I know I will be making in the future.

The other night, I made the  Onion Sour Cream Pie, but changed it up a bit.  I made the walnut crust as a base.  For the filling, I omitted the sour cream (because I can’t eat it) and substituted ricotta cheese in its place.  I also omitted the lemon juice and added thyme as a seasoning.

The result was a flavorful savory pie with a nutty, wonderfully crumbly crust.  It was very much like an onion quiche but more rustic.  This pie would also be good with some sauteed mushrooms in the filling!  We ate our slices with crisp green salads which perfectly complimented the buttery, nutty, cheesy richness of the pie.

Onion and Cheese Pie with Walnut Crust adapted from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen

For the Walnut Crust:
1/2 cup finely minced walnuts (I used a food processor and stopped before it became nut butter.)

a dash of salt

4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces

1 1/4 cups flour

3-5 tablespoons ice water

1.  Process the nuts, salt, butter and flour in a food processor, pulsing several times to mix up.

2.  While processor is running, drizzle in ice water.  When dough starts to come together, stop machine.

3.  Dump dough out onto floured board and roll out into a circle to fit a pie dish.  Transfer to pie dish and crimp edges. Chill until ready to fill.

For the onion filling:

3 tablespoons butter

4 1/2 cups onion, thinly sliced

dash of salt

dash of thyme

2 tablespoons flour

a couple tablespoons water

3/4 cup plain yogurt

3/4 cup ricotta cheese

1/3 cup shredded cheddar

1 whole egg

1 egg, separated

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Saute onions in butter in skillet on stove over medium heat.  Season with salt and thyme until soft.  Add flour to thicken.  Cook until onions are soft.  Add water a little bit at a time to prevent too much sticking to the pan.  Set aside to cool a bit.

3.  Mix yogurt, ricotta, cheddar, one egg, and one egg yolk (reserving egg white in a separate bowl) together in food processor until smooth.  (I used the same unwashed bowl that I processed the crust ingredients in!)    Transfer to a big bowl.

4.  Stir sauteed onions into dairy mixture.

5.  Brush crust with some of the saved egg white.  Pour onion mixture into crust.

6.  Bake for 45 minutes.

Enchilada Remix

Oh my gosh, people, I do believe, I am back!  Thank you all so much for your words of support and encouragement!  It’s been a long haul…

In my last post, I mentioned a wonderful way to cook chicken and make delicious broth at the same time.  This is one of the meals I made with the fruits of those labors:  Chicken Enchiladas.  So easy and yummy.  I did a post a couple of years back on Chicken Enchiladas that I made with my mom (I grew up with this dish), and I think I’ve improved it (sorry, mom!)!  My friend, Judy, of Bebe Loves Okazu (check out her beautiful, beautiful blog!) had mentioned she had made it but sauteed the onions.  Also, she wanted a thicker sauce.  I was keeping this in mind when I redid this recipe.  I also streamlined it a bit and instead of spraying and softening the tortillas in the oven, I just covered 6 at a time with a damp paper towel and heated in the microwave.

Sauteing the onions gave the dish a sweeter, milder flavor, and made the sauce tastier.  I reduced the amount of broth and increased the tomato sauce, which made the resulting sauce thicker — perfect for serving at the table.

Hope all of you have a wonderful Saint Patrick’s Day this Sunday!  I plan to relax with my family and just enjoy being.  Here is an image I did for the occasion with the same kids from Valentine’s Day.

May good luck flow your way!

Chicken Enchiladas (revised)

1 medium onion, diced

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

3 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon (or to taste) chili powder

kosher salt to taste

12 corn tortillas

About 4 cups shredded cooked chicken

About 8 oz. or more (to taste) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  Saute diced onion in oil on stove in a large pot.

3.  When onions are softened and translucent, transfer about 80% of them to a bowl and set aside.  To the remaining cooked onions in pot add tomato sauce, chicken broth, chili powder, and salt to taste.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, until thickened.

4.  Heat 6 tortillas at a time, covering with a damp paper towel, in the microwave for 45- 50 seconds, until warm and pliable.

5.  Pour some sauce into a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan to coat bottom.  Lay one of the warmed tortillas in dish and coat both sides with sauce.  Then fill with  a handful of chicken, sprinkle of sauteed onions, and a bit of shredded cheese.  Roll up into a tube seam-side down.  Continue with five more warmed tortillas.  Then warm the remaining 6 tortillas and fill these in the dish, adding sauce to coat, as needed.  For the last two enchiladas, you may want to coat, fill and roll in another dish because there isn’t much space left.  I find that doing the bulk of the filling and rolling in the backing dish itself helpful though, because you don’t have to worry about the tortilla breaking and spilling mid-transfer!

6.  When all twelve enchiladas are arranged in baking dish, cover with cooked sauce, and sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 20-25 minutes.  Alternatively, you could also refrigerate up to this time and bake later.  We did this, and baked it for about 30 minutes.

Makes 12 enchiladas.  Serve with extra sauce.

Easy Weeknight Pork Enchilada Casserole

Ooey and gooey, and yummy

Imagine this:  It’s a weeknight and you need to make dinner fast.  Instead of take out (which actually takes some time because you have to order and then go pick it up or wait for it to be delivered), make this!

view the recipe for slow cooker pork

I used leftover slow cooker pork shoulder, but you could easily use shredded rotisserie chicken instead.

I was inspired by this recipe from Cooking Light.  Instead of seasoned ground beef, I used pre-cooked pork, and instead of the enchilada sauce, I got really lazy and used bottled barbecue sauce.  We love Trader Joe’s Bold and Smoky Kansas City Style Barbecue Sauce.  It’s tangy and tasty, but not spicy (for the little one). 

Saute some onions, and mix in the pork or chicken and the barbecue sauce.  Add a handful of cheese.  Layer mixture in pie pan with flour tortillas. Top with a bit more sauce and cheese and bake until melted.  Easy peasy!

In the pie pan

Cut into wedges and serve.

Easy Weeknight Pork Enchilada Casserole

Non-stick spray

¼ cup onion, diced

1 teaspoon oil

2 ½ cups leftover pulled pork (see recipe here) or shredded rotisserie chicken

1/3 cup barbecue sauce

4 flour tortillas

1/2 cup grated cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a pie dish with spray. Set aside.
2. Sauté onion with oil in a large pan until soft.  Add pork and 1/3 cup of the barbecue sauce. Stir together to combine and sauté gently until heated through.  Stir in a handful of the grated cheese, and remove pan from heat and set aside.
3. Place one tortilla in pie dish.  Spread 1/3 of pork mixture on top. I divide the mixture in the pan first by making a “peace” sign with three equal portions, so I have a clear idea of what 1/3 of the total is.   Cover with another flour tortilla.  Continue to layer with another  1/3 of pork mixture, another tortilla, and last 1/3 of pork mixture.  Cover with last tortilla.
4. Spread rest of  barbecue sauce on top layer.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.  Bake in oven for about 10 minutes until cheese melts.  Cut into wedges and serve.

Easy Weeknight Baked Pasta with Meat and Veggies

Trying to get some vegetables into your diet?  (Sneaking in more vegetables in your kids’ diet also counts!)

Here is an easy weeknight dish that accomplishes that, and even meat eaters will approve.
I think it was in Mark Bittman’s Food Matters that I first read about the benefits of stretching meat centric dishes with vegetables and/or grains.  It’s a nice compromise, because you are not cutting out meat completely–if you are an omnivore–but just reducing the amount and bulking up on vegetables and grains.  This accomplishes a lot of great things at once:

From a health standpoint, eating less saturated fats and more healthy fats from plants is always a good thing.

From an environmental standpoint, eating less meat and more plants is also a good thing.

From your pocket book’s standpoint, it is a lot cheaper to maintain a diet heavier on plants (especially if you grow a lot of them–something I, unfortunately, haven’t had to luck of doing) rather than on meats.

My husband is a meat person — I’ve mentioned before he only used to eat brown food (think bacon, beef, chicken, potatoes, peanut butter, bread, etc.) for a lot of his life before we got together!  I’m not going to force him to become a vegetarian — it would never work anyway.  And I eat meat also — just not so much red meat.

This is a simple, fast weeknight dish that you can adapt to suit your preference.  If you like more meat, add more.  No meat, omit it.  You can swap ground turkey or chicken for the beef.  Use whatever vegetable you like.  Since zucchini is a family favorite, I use it.  But I think this dish would also be great with eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, even fall friendly vegetables like butternut or acorn squash.  The more variety of colors, the better!  Just be sure to cut the pieces into similar sizes.

Fiori pasta is so cute.

 

I used Fiori pasta because I had a package in the pantry, but any bite sized pasta would work well.

Make a meat and vegetable sauce.

Béchamel sauce cooking.

Make a Béchamel sauce if you’d like an extra layer of flavor and richness.

Pasta topped with Béchamel sauce,

Yum!

Topped with grated mozzarella.

Top with mozzarella — note:  Freeze the mozzarella about 30-60 minutes before grating, so it is easier to grate!

Spotted from some broiler action.

Throw in the broiler for a quick melt and you’re done!

Easy Weeknight Baked Pasta with Meat and Veggies (based on Rachel Ray’s Baked Ziti)

Lb. pasta of your choice (I used Fiori)

Kosher salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion (one whole small onion)

½ lb. ground meat (I used lean beef)

3 cups chopped vegetable (I used one large zucchini)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 28 oz. can diced or crushed tomatoes

pepper to taste

For Béchamel Sauce (optional):

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup milk

grated nutmeg to taste

nonstick spray

¼ cup grated parmesan

4 oz. grated mozzarella

1. Bring large pot of water to boil.  Season with salt.
2. While waiting for water to boil, put mozzarella in freezer to firm up.  Heat oil in a large skillet or pot over medium heat.
3. Sauté onions and beef until beef is no longer pink.  Add garlic and let cook until fragrant.  Add zucchini or other vegetable.  Sauté until softened slightly.  Add canned tomatoes.  Turn heat down to low, cover, and let simmer, stirring occasionally until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes.
4. If using, make béchamel sauce.  Melt butter in a small saucepan.  Add flour and quickly whisk with butter to prevent from clumping.  Sauté for a minute.  Gradually add a little bit of milk while whisking.  Don’t add it too fast, or the sauce will become lumpy.  Add just enough at a time to smooth it out.  When it is the consistency of a smooth, liquid paste, add the rest of milk, while whisking.  Season with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg to taste.  Let simmer and thicken about five minutes.
5. Meanwhile cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.  Set aside.
6. Preheat broiler.  Coat the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with spray or olive oil.  Set aside.
7. Assemble baked pasta. Combine cooked pasta and cooked sauce in the large pot you used to cook the pasta in.  Add grated parmesan. Stir to combine.  Transfer to baking dish.  Top with a layer of béchamel sauce.  Cover with grated mozzarella.  Broil in oven until cheese is melted and is starting to brown, about 2-3 minutes.

Slow Cooker Pork Shoulder

One of the many quick uses for slow cooked pork—Cheesy pork quesadilla. Mmm.

Here’s another — pork burger with cheese and grilled onions.

If you want to economize and save time, try investing in a slow cooker.   It’s one of the best appliances I’ve ever bought — and cheap too!  I think it was $20-something at Target.

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t taken full advantage of it — there are so many things you can make with one!   Our favorite though is  slow cooker barbecue pork shoulder.  When pork shoulder goes on sale, it is one of the cheapest cuts of meat at $.99/lb. in our area.  I buy a 4-pounder, slow cook it, and freeze half of it — it makes so much.

The meat becomes so tender and tasty, and it can easily be used in quesadillas, burritos, burgers, on top of pizzas.  It is also good by itself with some of the sauce and rice or noodles.  I often eat it as is with my cauliflower “rice”.
To prep the pork shoulder, I remove the huge slab of skin and fat that I know some people would cringe to hear that I discard.  You can roast the skin to make cracklings, and save the rendered fat, but it’s not my kind of thing. Here’s a great overview if you want to try it out though!

That is a lot of skin for pork “crackling” I don’t plan on making…

Then you just throw the pork in the slow cooker and top with onions and some ketchup, tomato paste, brown sugar, cider vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce.  I forgot the brown sugar the last time, and it came out fine. You might feel you don’t even need it.  To make your life even easier, you could also just buy a bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce and throw that in instead.  You just have to weigh your priorities — a little extra time to measure ingredients, or a little extra money for the bottled stuff. Either way, this is a very forgiving easy way to cook a lot of tasty meat without much effort!

*By the way, if you are in the Brooklyn area this weekend, come check out Greenlight Bookstore in Fort Greene. It is a fantastic independent book store and they have a great selection of books and events.  Denis and I will be reading there Saturday, September 22, at 11 am.  We’d love to see you if you can make it!*

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

4 lbs. bone-in pork shoulder, fat and skin removed

2 medium onions, sliced vertically

1/2 cup ketchup

¼ cup tomato paste

¼ cup brown sugar (optional)

¼ cup cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1. Cut onion in half lengthwise, and then cut into half round slices.
2. Place pork in slow cooker pot, then sprinkle onions on top.  Pour rest of ingredients over meat and onions.  Cook at low heat for 8 hours.
3. Remove bone and discard.  Shred meat with forks.  Serve with sauce.

Note:  I use some of the meat the day of cooking.  Then the next day after it has been in the refrigerator, I remove the excess oil at the top and divide into smaller containers and freeze the meat and sauce for a quick week night dinner later on.

Roasted Potato, Tomato and Cheese Stuffed Roasted Zucchini

Another zucchini recipe here.  It’s one of the few vegetables that my husband eats, so I try to figure out a lot of different ways to cook it!  This one is an old favorite, and zucchini is so abundant and inexpensive now, I thought I’d share it with you all.

It’s based on a recipe I saw many, many years ago in Cooks Illustrated, which has evolved over the years.

First, prepare the zucchini.  Cut in half lengthwise and spoon out flesh.  A melon baller works the best, but if you don’t have one, use a spoon.  I also cut a small slice on the bottom of each zucchini half so it has a flat surface to rest on, preventing it from wobbling so much.

And don’t throw out the flesh!  It is great in soup another day.  See note below.

For a readable, printable version, click here.

Roast the zucchini halves with some potatoes tossed in olive oil and salt.  While it’s roasting, saute onion, garlic, tomatoes until soft.  Then add the roasted potatoes and some cheese and basil.  Fill zucchini halves with stuffing, top with more cheese and roast or broil until cheese as melted.

Garnish with some fresh basil if you like.

You know it has to be delicious if my vegetable averse husband eats it!

Roasted Potato, Tomato and Cheese Stuffed Roasted Zucchini

4 medium sized zucchini

3 medium red or Yukon potatoes, cut into small cubes

kosher salt and pepper to taste

4 teaspoons olive oil, divided

non-stick spray

1 medium onion, chopped, about 1 cup

2 cloves of garlic pressed through garlic press, about 1½ teaspoons

1 plum tomato, cored and deseeded, chopped

1 ½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese or other cheese you like (Mozzarella also works well here)

1/2 cup chopped basil, divided

1.  Place two foil lined baking sheets in oven, one on top rack and one on bottom rack.  Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out interior flesh with a melon baller or spoon creating a zucchini “boat”.  Reserve flesh for another time.  Cut off a sliver from bottom of each zucchini “boat” so that it can rest without wobbling.  Brush cut halves with 1 teaspoon of olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt.  Roast in oven for 10 minutes on top baking sheet, cut side down.
2. Toss potato cubes with 2 teaspoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Gently remove heated empty baking sheet from oven.  Spray with non-stick spray and transfer potatoes onto sheet, spreading into one even layer.  Return to bottom rack in oven.  Roast for 12 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking period.
3. While zucchini and potatoes are roasting, heat remaining olive oil in large non-stick skillet.  Sauté onions, stirring constantly, until onions are soft.  Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add tomatoes and the roasted potatoes.  Cook until tomatoes are soft.  Off heat, add ½ cup cheese and 1/3 cup of the basil.  Stir to combine.
4. Turn zucchini halves over and divide potato filling among them.  Sprinkle each with remaining cheese (about 2 tablespoon per zucchini half).  Return to oven and roast for about 5 minutes on top rack, until cheese has melted.  Garnish with remaining basil.  Serve immediately (2 halves per serving).

Yield: 4 servings.

Note:  I used to throw out the extra zucchini flesh I scooped out.  Now I save it in a container in the refrigerator and steam it later or throw it into a stir fry.  There is a lot of it, so it’s really no point in throwing it away when you can use it in something else!  You can use it with more zucchini to make an easy creamy soup.  Or halve the soup recipe amounts to make 2 servings with the leftover zucchini from this recipe.

Cancer and Nutrition

Roasted tomato, zucchini, eggplant, and Brie frittata. Recipe at end of post.

Awhile ago I was contacted by a complementary medicine advocate, Jillian McKee, of the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance about sharing an article she had written about the importance of healthy nutrition while undergoing cancer treatments.

Though I haven’t had cancer myself, my life has been touched by it.  I’m sure most of you also know someone who has battled cancer, whether it is a loved one, relative, friend, or a friend of a friend or relative of a friend…. It’s such a prevalent disease.

Treating cancer and living with the disease on a day to day basis is such a physically and emotionally draining experience.  It’s important to fuel your body properly to keep up your strength.  Jillian outlines the best way to do this.

This information might already be familiar to some people.  For others it might be new and helpful.  I think it is important to spread the word.

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Good Nutrition Can Boost Your Chances of Surviving Cancer

By Jillian McKee

If you’ve recently been diagnosed with cancer or are going through treatments, you may be wondering what you can do to improve your odds for survival. Although surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and other treatment methods are important to the recovery process, tailoring good nutritional principles to fit your current condition can help you tolerate the side effects better and give you the mental strength you need to get through this.

Cancer can negatively affect your appetite and sometimes change the way your body handles particular foods such as dairy products; hunger is no longer a good indicator that you’re getting the nutrition you need. For that reason, educating yourself about good nutrition can be as essential to your survival as your individual treatment plan is. Whether you have a lung tumor, a growth on your prostate, or some other type of malignancy, good nutrition can make a difference in the outcome.

When fighting cancer, nutritional guidelines are slightly different from standard recommendations. Many cancer patients struggle to implement these guidelines, especially if they didn’t think about nutrition before their diagnosis. For those who are new to nutrition, here’s a little help.

Protein

Cancer patients need additional protein for healing. When you don’t get enough, the body cannot guard itself against infection because it can’t make white blood cells for the immune system. It also can’t repair damaged tissue that treatment might have caused. Protein comes in complete and non-complete forms depending upon the amount of amino acids the food contains.

Proteins such as eggs, yogurt, milk, cheese, soybeans and quinoa contain all eight essential amino acids that the body needs, so they are called complete proteins. Rice, nuts, beans, tortillas, pasta, bread and cereals contain lesser amounts, so they are called incomplete proteins. The body takes the amino acids from one food and mixes them together with the amino acids found in other food; so most protein sources are good for cancer patients.

Carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are starches and sugars that provide the body with glucose and the calories you need for energy. Fruits, vegetables, and grains also supply vitamins and minerals. It does that with the help of the hormone insulin. When insulin levels rise, it helps the glucose enter your body’s cells for immediate energy. What the body cannot use is stored as glycogen in the liver. If glycogen stores are full, the body will store the glucose as body fat.

Healthy Fats

Many cancer patients have trouble eating enough calories. Healthy fats such as olive oil, peanut oil, nuts, sunflower seeds and avocados supply essential fatty acids the body needs, but they can also be used for energy or calories to help you maintain weight. If you’re having trouble eating enough, healthy, unsaturated fats are a good way to get in additional calories.

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Thanks so much, Jillian, for allowing me to share this vital information with my readers!

I made this vegetable frittata last night from local produce grown in Long Island.  Served with a healthy grain, it covers all the nutritional basis in the article.

 

Roasted Tomato, Zucchini, Eggplant, and Brie Frittata

1 cup grape tomatoes

5 teaspoons olive oil, divided

kosher salt

1 small globe eggplant

1 medium zucchini

pepper

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

8 eggs

1/4 cup grated parmesan

about 1-2 oz. Brie or other soft cheese, cut into small pieces

1.  Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.

2.  Halve grape  tomatoes, toss in about 1 teaspoon olive oil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and arrange in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet, cut sides up.  Roast in oven for about 40-45 minutes until soft.  Set aside.

3.  Slice ends off eggplant.  Cut eggplant into 1/2-inch slabs vertically.  Salt each side with kosher salt and place in colander.  Let sit about 20 minutes.

4.  Meanwhile, cut off ends of zucchini, slice into 1/2-inch slabs vertically.  Then cut into 1/2-inch strips, then cubes.  Place in a large bowl.

5.  Rinse salted eggplant and pat dry.  Cut into 1/2-inch strips, then cubes.  Add to bowl of cubed zucchini and toss mixture with  3 teaspoons olive oil, pinch of salt, pepper, and dried thyme.

6.  Beat eggs in a separate bowl.  Add parmesan and mix to incorporate.  Set aside.

7.  Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in a large skillet.  Add cubed zucchini and eggplant to skillet.  Saute until slightly browned on sides.  Add 1/4 cup water, cover skillet, cook on low for about 5 more minutes until vegetables are soft.  Uncover and cook until all the liquid has evaporated (if it hasn’t already).  Add roasted tomatoes.  Stir to combine.

8.  Pour egg mixture over vegetables and stir gently to let egg reach the bottom.  Dot top with pieces of Brie.  Cover pan and cook on low for about 8 minutes.

9.  Loosen sides and bottom of frittata with spatula.  Then cover pan with a large plate (larger in diameter than the skillet).  Turn plate covered skillet over so frittata plops onto plate.

10.  Coat skillet with remaining 1/2 teaspoon oil.  Slide frittata back in pan.  Cover and cook for another two minutes.  Flip frittata again in same manner onto plate.  Cut into wedges and serve.

 

Asian Chicken Salad with Peanut Sauce and Soba Noodles

Last week, we’ve so enjoyed having my mom visit us from California.  She came to celebrate her 82nd birthday.

Denis did not photoshop this photo. His comment: What 82 year old woman has that jaw line!??

Other than when we took her to visit Denis’ lovely parents in Shelter Island, she’s been in our garden weeding, picking up leaves, pruning plants–basically working her green thumb magic on it (which I sadly did not inherit)!

I wish I had “before” pictures to contrast this with! There were less flowers all around, and the rocks and back were covered in leaves and weeds!

We call her the Energizer Bunny.

Instead of eating out, she preferred me to cook “things from [my] blog” for her, so all week, I prepared various dishes for her and revisiting some old recipes.

Lots of smoothies:

High Fiber Smoothie

A ton of sushi, of course (click on each image for recipe):

Inside out rolls

Regular “maki” rolls

Inarizushi “Foxy Pocket Sushi”

With Miso Soup:

For her 82nd birthday which was the same day as Father’s Day, I made Reese’s Pieces and M & M waffles for brunch using our trusty Cadbury Egg Waffle recipe:

I bought a small bag each of Reese’s Pieces and plain M & Ms and scattered them on the batter before cooking in waffle iron.

And Crispy Fish Tempura Bites for dinner:

with Miso Green Beans:

And Rich Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting for dessert:

I used a double amount of  Chocolate Ganache Frosting in place of this frosting

Other meals were quick Chicken Quesadillas using cooked rotisserie chicken (after a long day of shopping–not much time to cook!):

I filled ours with cooked chicken, cheese, onions, and salsa

and Creamy High Protein Avocado Dip:

I discovered I don’t have to spend a lot of time searching for favorite recipes anymore — I can just do a search on my blog!

For her last night here, I decided to make something special and created my version of a chicken salad with peanut sauce, because she had mentioned she had had a great one awhile back during her many travels.  It is a quick and easy when you have leftover cooked chicken! We used more of the rotisserie chicken.  I also used my favorite peanut sauce recipe using roasted peanut flour (if you can’t find this, just peanut butter is fine–use this recipe instead minus sesame seeds) and coated cooked soba noodles and chicken with it (angel hair or vermicelli would work too).  Then I made a salad with shredded Napa cabbage, romaine lettuce, shredded carrot, julienned daikon radish, cilantro, green onions, and snow peas.  I topped the salad with the peanut sauce coated noodles and cooked chicken and garnished with more chopped cilantro and chopped roasted peanuts.

It was really good!  We had leftover sauce which I diluted with a bit of rice vinegar and used as a salad dressing over the course of the week –sans mom. 
We miss you obaachan! (Japanese for “grandma”)  Thank you for all your hard work here!!

Asian Chicken Salad with Soba Noodles and Peanut Sauce

Peanut Sauce:

¼ cup peanut butter (or 1 tablespoon peanut butter plus ½ cup peanut flour and 2 tablespoons water)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon ginger, minced

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Salad Greens:

4 cups shredded Napa cabbage

2 cups shredded Romaine lettuce

1 cup sliced cucumber

1 cup julienned carrot

1 cup julienned daikon or other radish

1 cup blanched snow peas

2 scallions, sliced

¼ cup chopped cilantro, divided

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

4 oz. soba noodles

2-3 cups cooked chicken, shredded

¼ cup peanuts, chopped

1. Make peanut sauce.  Process all ingredients (peanut butter to sesame oil) in a food processor until smooth.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2. Prepare vegetables.  Mix salad greens together in a large bowl, reserving about 2 tablespoons of the chopped cilantro for garnish.  Set aside.
3. Make vinaigrette.  Whisk soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil together in a small bowl.  Toss salad greens with vinaigrette to taste.
4. Cook soba noodles according to package directions.  Drain.
5. Assemble salad.  Toss cooked soba noodles with shredded chicken and prepared peanut sauce (use as much sauce as you want depending on how dry or wet you prefer the noodles—you will probably have some leftover!).  Divide salad greens into four bowls.  Top with noodles and chicken.  Garnish with reserved cilantro and chopped peanuts.

Low Carb “Veggie Crusts and Shells”

I love breads, cereals, rice, grains of any kind– I am not a carb hater.  But I find my body is happiest when eating those things in moderation.   When a friend of mine announced she was going “breadless” for awhile, I started thinking of all the yummy things she could eat in place of bread.

I’ve used shredded zucchini in the past as a base of a pizza crust during Passover.

Another versatile vegetable is cauliflower.  Pureed with a bit of cooking water, butter, cream, and salt, it makes a great substitute for mashed potatoes.  Processed in a food processor until crumbly and then steamed for four minutes, it is also a great substitute for rice (though for me, I would not use it in place of Japanese rice).

You can process it until it has the consistency of rice.

I’ve eaten it as a sort of pilaf/couscous with butter, salt, toasted almonds and dried cranberries:

I’ve also seen it various places used in a pizza crust.  I’ve fiddled with the recipe and came up with one I use all the time as a single serving sans all the cheese.  I mix my steamed cauliflower (I nuke it for four minutes without water, just covered with saran) with 2 tablespoons egg white (about one), 1 teaspoon grated parmesan, 1 tablespoon any kind of flour (wheat, soy, almond, chickpea, coconut, etc.) or matzo meal, and seasonings.

It has a texture similar to polenta.

Shape into a crust. I like to do it  on parchment so it doesn’t stick.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Place another piece of parchment on top, flip over onto baking sheet, then peel the top piece of parchment off the browned side.  Bake another 5-10 minutes.

Top with whatever you like.  I’ve used it as a pizza crust, as mentioned before:

Cauliflower pizza with sausage and caramelized onions and mozzarella.

And I’ve also used it as a tostada “shell”:

With refried beans, cheese, lettuce, salsa, and plain Greek yogurt.

Recently, I tried shredded butternut squash (because I discovered I was out of zucchini) and it was fantastic!

Raw

Cooked

The texture was not as crunchy or crispy as the zucchini, but perhaps this could change if I used a bit less egg white and matzo meal instead of soy flour. I’m still experimenting.  The flavor was great though!  Now I’m also thinking of other combinations — shredded carrot and zucchini might be good… I’d love to hear if you try any of these, or come up with your own creations!

Butternut squash used as a tostada “shell” with refried beans, grilled veggies, lettuce, cheese, and Green yogurt.

Individual Veggie Crust

1 cup of shredded vegetable of choice (if using cauliflower, process  and steam for 4 minutes)

1 tablespoon any kind of flour or matzo meal

1 teaspoon or so of parmesan or more if you like

2-3 tablespoons liquid egg whites or 1 egg white (depending on how crunchy you want the crust to be)

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees (I use a toaster oven).

2.  Mix ingredients together in bowl.

3.  Shape crust into a 1/4 inch layer on parchment paper on baking sheet.

4.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Place another piece of parchment on top, flip crust, and peel top sheet off of browned side.

5.  Bake for another 5-10 minutes until desired browning is achieved.

6.  Use as a pizza crust or tostada shell and top with toppings of your choice.

Ebi Fry and Re-ment (Exquisite Fake Japanese Miniature Food)

Ebi Fry is basically breaded and fried shrimp –a diner-like comfort food I was introduced to while living in Japan.  It’s commonly served with rice, some shredded raw cabbage, and miso soup as a “set” meal.  I like to eat it with thick Worcestershire sauce or tartar sauce.

Jamie helped me make Ebi Fry for dinner yesterday.  He’s been wanting me to make it ever since he received the most amazing gift from his “Auntie Cheryl”, a close friend of ours who grew up with Denis.

I present to you….. RE-MENT!

If you are not familiar with these amazing miniature Japanese foods you MUST– I implore you, you MUST check out the You Tube videos of RR Cherrypie!  We first saw Re-ment models in these crazily hypnotic and soothing videos and then saw the real thing at Mitsuwa in NJ!  Jamie loved them and wanted a set, but they are a bit pricey and really — they aren’t a toy!

It says it right on the box!

Cheryl found them on ebay and presented Jamie with not ONE set but TEN!

Plus, a kitchen!

Examining the loot.

Check out the cuteness:

Storage drawer

This toaster oven looks just like the one I used to have in Japan!

One of the sets is a miniature Ebi Fry.

The amazing thing about these miniatures, as you can see from the videos, is that they show the foods at different stages of cooking and they are SO life-like!

Comes with raw shrimp, breaded shrimp, and fried shrimp.

Frying oil has a little hole in it so you can fit shrimp in.

It even comes with a little paper towel roll on which to “drain” your fried shrimp.

Each set also comes with a recipe to make the dish.

For our (real) Ebi Fry, we used a combination of large and jumbo shrimp.

Lego Batman is impressed by the jumbo shrimp on the right!

You can find Panko at Asian markets and sometimes in the International sections of grocery stores.

Jamie did all the breading himself:

I’m not sure which looks more tasty — the real version or the miniature version!

All I can say is:  Everyone should have an Auntie Cheryl in one’s life!  Thanks, Cheryl!!

Ebi Fry (Breaded Fried Shrimp) loosely translated from Re-ment Set

Ingredients (4 servings)

12 shrimp  (jumbo size works better)

2 teaspoons oil (we omitted this)

1 tablespoon milk (we omitted this as well)

flour for dredging ( we used about 1/3 cup)

1 egg, beaten

Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Oil for frying

1. Devein and clean shrimp, but leave tails on.
2. Place shrimp on backs and make small diagonal slashes on the shrimp bellies (this will help it to stay straight when fried). Chop tips off of shrimp tails and squeeze out excess water with the side of the knife (this will prevent splattering when frying).
3. Season with salt and pepper.  Let sit in oil and milk for awhile to remove any odors (I skipped this step because my shrimp was really fresh and I didn’t think it was necessary).  Pat dry.
4. Dredge shrimp in flour, dust off, then dredge in egg, then coat in Panko.
5. Heat oil to 355 degrees F.  Slowly ease in shrimp from the tails. (I actually didn’t deep fry ours — I just sauteed in about 1/2-inch of oil.)
6. Fry shrimp for about 1 minute turning once or twice until golden.

Direct translation:  When oil makes a sound like “juwajuwa” and becomes like “pichi-pichi”, it is OK (done)!