Victory!

So a new year is coming up, and I'm hoping to start integrating some new recipes into the menu list. I am also working on making (and backing up) new menus. Awesome news: my sister-in-law got me a new cook book. I'm hoping to have a little time over the holidays to sort through this cookbook and a couple of other ones I've not done a lot of exploring through.

So, hopefully there will be more postings soon.

:)

Tragedy

So, I'm not the most spontaneous person in the world. In fact, I struggle with spontaneity - particularly when it comes to food. I have a plan. I have a menu for the next two months. Then I know I have what I need. I don't have to wonder what to do at the last minute. Fewer surprises, happier me.

Well... I had a menu for the next two months and now it's gone and corrupted itself. I knew I should've backed that sucker up. Gr. Argh. Blah.

I will try and recall what few meals I've made over the last month that were interesting and worth trying. We haven't had a lot of variety. This is mostly because I've been home alone a lot and really, why cook for just one?

Penne with Braised Squash and Greens

Had this last night, and it was quite good. I couldn't find any smoked tofu and didn't get any other kind - which was a bad choice. I think this recipe would've been great with it. Also, I couldn't find Swiss Chard so I subbed in spinach instead - which was quite tasty.

For this recipe, you either need tofu of some kind (try a more firm tofu, soft tofu will be useless and just become a pasty coating from my experience) or some chicken or something. You could probably bolster up the butternut amount some to help if you don't have tofu, but really, this would be way good with it.

A note to those having to sub chard with spinach (or kale). First, spinach is not quite as thick so it takes less time to cook. Second, when I put my 3/4 bunch of spinach in I thought, "Holy cow, that's a ton! It'll drown out everything else." How silly of me. I should've remember that spinach cooks down... way down. Go with a full bunch. If you love spinach, try a bunch and a half. It adds a great taste.

Lactose Intolerant and Japan: I think you can leave out the Parmesan and still be happy. I will tell you that I noticed the cheese taste and it was a great flavor in the mix. However, I think it will still be good even without it.

Japan eaters will you let me know if butternut squash can be located over there? I never tried to look for it, so I have no idea if it's available or not. If not, let me know and I will remove this label. Thanks.

Penne with Braised Squash and Greens

2 teaspoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounce(s) cubed smoked tofu
1 medium onion, chopped
3 clove(s) garlic, minced
crushed red pepper, to taste
1 1/2 cup(s) vegetable broth
1 pound(s) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes (3 cups)
1 bunch(es) Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves cut into 1-inch pieces
8 ounce(s) whole-wheat penne, rigatoni or fusilli
1/2 cup(s) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil for cooking pasta.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
3. Add onion to the pan; cook, stirring often, until softened and golden, 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add garlic and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.
5. Return the tofu to the pan, add broth and squash; bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
6. Start cooking the pasta until just tender, according to package directions. Drain and return to the pot.
7. Add chard to squash mixture and stir to immerse. Cover and cook until the squash and chard are tender, about 5 minutes.
8. Add the squash mixture, Parmesan, salt and pepper to the pot of drained noodles. Toss to coat.

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can actually google this name and probably find the site that has this recipe. I got this from a sister-in-law who got it from a sister-in-law. They are delicious. The one down side is that the dough isn't as good raw. For some people, that may be a plus.

Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 c. All purpose flour
1 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 c. Butter, softened
3/4 c. Packed brown sugar
1/4 c. white sugar
3 oz package instant, sugar-free, fat-free vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. Chocolate chips (or a variety of flavors)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.
3. Blend in pudding mix.
4. Stir in eggs and vanilla.
5. Blend in flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.*
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. Drop small, rounded spoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 9 minutes in oven.

*Technically, one is suppose to sift these four ingredients together in a separate bowl and then add in. I don't do this, and I'm not sure why I should as it still turns out well. Therefore, I don't do the extra step with the extra dish.

Salsa

This is an excellent recipe. Very tasty and fresh. Salsa from the store has become rather pale in comparison to the salsa made from our garden. Thank you to my friend for sharing this wonderful recipe (and your backyard!) with me . All of the comments in this recipe are from her as she explained what to do. She's amazing at eyeballing and improvising food. Her big thing with the salsa was variety.

You can add cumin to this. My friend and I were visiting one of her friends who had done this. It was described as having a bit of a smokey flavor. I didn't love it as much as this recipe, but it wasn't bad either. So, if you have a thing for cumin, you might want to try adding it in.

For my Japan friends: If you don't have banana peppers, don't worry. Just use some shishitos. Jalapenos were harder to find if I remember, so research some hot Japanese or chinese peppers. You could probably use shishitos in lieu of jalapenos, but then you won't have any kick whatsoever. I believe the name of the store I got my bottled jalapenos at was Pu-ro. They have some really good prices there and I think that's where I got my cheap shredded mozarella. Good memories.

Anyway, if you can find a fresh, hot version of an Asian pepper, that'll probably be best. Also, I can't for the life of me remember if cilantro is available to you. If it is, you can make this without too much trouble. If not, then please post and let me know so I remove the tag. Thanks.

Salsa o' Doom

8 tomatoes (I used a combination of Beefsteak, Roma, and Celebrities I believe, but any will do)

6 jalapenos. Half with the seeds, half without*

1 banana pepper (no seeds)

1 bell pepper (no seeds) (I used green but I prefer yellow for the color)**

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Juice from 2 limes

Salt to taste (this baby is loaded with sodium)

Directions:

1. Dice 5 tomatoes.
2. Dice the onion and cilantro.
3. Everything else including 3 tomatoes were chopped in my mini food processor but can be hand chopped.
4. Mix all ingredients and add salt to taste.

* If you decide you want it hotter, keep the seeds.
** Japan friends, use yellow. They're sweeter, and I noticed my Japan green bell peppers were different from the States.

Eggplant Sandwiches

This is a great recipe! The sad thing is that I've waited so long to write about it that the tweaks I wanted to make have escaped me. I'll probably have to send out an update when we make this again.

What I do remember:
1. Even doubling this recipe, there wasn't enough for six people. So I'm guessing without extras to really buff this up, you're looking at an involved appetizer or feeding just two, maybe three people. With sides, you could maybe bump that up to three or four depending on how bulky your sides are.
2. The bread crumb coating mixture - 1:2. It worked for two batches without doubling. If you make one batch, I would recommend halving the recipe for this.
3. The egg dip - 1:1. Double the amount if you double the recipe.
4. Cheese Mixture - 1:1. As I recall, you have to double it if you double the recipe.
5. Pomegranate Molasses. There is a substitute for it at the bottom. Also, I served it on the side so people could choose whether they wanted it or not.

Eggplant Sandwiches

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 cups panko bread crumbs
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 large long eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/3 inch thick slices
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 ounces fresh goat cheese
1 cup shredded sharp provolone cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup pomegranate molasses*

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Coat two large baking sheets with olive oil.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the panko crumbs, salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Place the flour in a third bowl. Coat each slice of eggplant with flour, shaking off the excess, then dip into the egg, and finally coat with panko crumbs. Place on the oiled baking sheets.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven, then turn over the slices and bake for an additional 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool slightly, but leave the oven on.
4. While the eggplant is baking, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion; cook and stir until almost tender, then add the garlic. Cook for just about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the goat cheese, provolone cheese, parsley and basil. Season with pepper.
5. Divide the cheese mixture among 8 slices of the eggplant (half). Spread to cover, then top with remaining eggplant slices, pressing to compact. Return to the baking sheets.
6. Bake in the preheated oven until eggplant is crisp, about 15 minutes. Place two sandwiches onto each serving plate, and drizzle with pomegranate molasses.

*Pomegrante molasses substitute: 3 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp mild molasses, and 1 tsp honey

Eggplant Curry

Oishi desu!

I got this recipe from a wonderful friend in Japan. What I'm relaying is totally from memory as I can't locate the recipe she wrote for us. It's sad because she has beautiful writing and her pictures are great! It's probably the reason I can remember anything. If it doesn't taste great, you'll probably have to blame it on my faulty memory. I still look for that recipe from time to time.

The key to this is getting a hold of Japanese curry. I don't have a recipe for making it from scratch. When we learned our Japanese recipes, curry was so cheap to get no one bothered to give us recipes for making it. If you go to buy some, I would recommend House brand and then S&B, but that's just me.

The packages we have are two parts of four to six squares each. We use half of one of these packages. If you get a small package with only four or six squares, use the whole thing for this recipe. For the friends with a double package like ours, remember to cut the water in half.

Eggplant Curry

150 grams of hamburger (1/3 lb)
3 - 4 cloves of garlic, minced*
3 medium onions
3-4 eggplants, chopped**
Japanese curry
1 square from a Hershey bar**

Directions:

1. However you make rice, work on getting that set up.
2. Cook the hamburger. Drain off the fat. Keep off to the side.
3. Cook the onions and garlic.
4. Add the amount of water specified by the curry. Then put in the eggplant and cook until barely softened.
5. Add the hamburger and curry. Stir and heat until simmering. When the eggplant is soft and the curry dissolved, add the chocolate.
6. Remove from heat and serve over rice.

* We tend to like a lot of garlic, so we go with 4 - 6 minced cloves.
** Yes, it really is that little, but it makes all the difference in the world, so don't forget it. just one little part of a full bar.