Kaboucha Squash Soup

i saw this cooked on TV about a couple of weeks ago and deckded to tey it. it js so delicious so i would like to share it with you: INGREDIENTS 1/4 Kaboucha squash 2 green onions 300 ml dashi * 2 tsp sugar 100 ml Dashi* 1-1/2 TB mirin 1 tsp usukuchi soy sauce First peel Kaboucha squash and slice into cubes Make Dashi:* 300 ml water 1 sq Kombu Bring to boil Then remove kombu Add 100 ml more cold water And bonito flakes Boil next 20 seconds skimming on top or donnot have to. Strain mixture in paper towel lined sieve into bowl Pour back Dashi mkxture in pot and add Kaboucha in saucepan and sugae, mirin and the soy sauce. Cover parchment paper on top Bring to boil until Kaboucha is cooked tender. When cooked cool mixture. Mince the scallions. Pour squash and liquid in a Vitamix or good blemder. process until smooth. Then pour it back in the pan You can add more Dashi, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and salt to adjust seasoning. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle minced scallions and serve. in my case i served it with sliced Shiso leaf. makes a good linch accompaniment or first course dining.

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ONION RINGS with a TWIST

I was watching NHK TV when I saw this in one of their shows.  So Intried it today!  It’s onion rings that can be a full lunch in itself!  They used it for their segment BENTO! 

Today, I decided to have it for lunch.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Large onion (preferably sweet like Vidalia onion

10 strips of bacon thin pork belly

1/2 c flour

1 egg beaten

1/2 c or more of panko

1/2 cup safflower oil for frying

2TB ketchup, 1 TB Worcestershire sauce and 1 tsp soy sauce 

Peel and slice onion.  Slice about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick circles.  Remove some lose onion out if the circle to look like a ring.

Thread the bacon through going around the ring of onion wrapping it around covering the onion well with the pork belly.

In separate bowls, put the flour in one of the bowls, beat eggs in the other bowl, and panko on the third ball.

Coat onion ring wrapped with pork in flour first, and then egg? And last in panko.  Make sure it is well coated around.

Heat oil in a small pan .  Once it’s hot, drop the prepared onion rings 2 at a fine.  Fry 3 minutes in each side.  Drain on rack.

Serve with sauce above made with Ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce.

Also can be served with cauliflower rice.

STEAMERS

https://youtu.be/BfjuD9jLrxM

I did this video a while back and for some reason arrived in my email box.

Since it is still summer, I hope you will be able to find this delicacy I love.  I find this in the East Coast mostly in New York.  

If you find fresh ones,  they are easy to prepare.

In a big pot to hold your 1lb or 2 lbs of steamers, add about 2-3 cups of water depending on the amount of steamers you want to cook.  If you have a colander in your pot (steamers pot), put your steamers in that.  Cover and boil for about 5-10 minutes until the clams open.

Remove the steamers to a bowl.  Reserve the broth in a separate bowl.  Pour the broth in separate 1 cup bowls.

Melt half a stick of butter for a pound of steamers and pour the oily part in a small container or dipping bowls.  (In other words only take the clarified butter). 

To serve:  watch the video how to eat it.  Dip the peeled steamer first in the broth to clean of some sand it may have, and then dip it in butter.

I love this in the summer with freshly boiled bi-color corn.  Those are usually sweet!

Have a great appetizer or main meal.  Don’t forget your salad!

MY FIRST MEAL PHASE 4 of LOCKDOWN

https://www.piccolacucinagroup.com/en/

Today since it is Phase 4 which means restaurants are now open only for eating outdoors is a great omen that our virus cases have plateaued.  Thank God! And thank goodness!  Hopefully people behave and be more mindful that the only way to go back closer to normal is to keep distancing, wear a mask and keep washing rose hands.  I carry rubber gloves as well if I have to buy something and pull it off the shelf.

We went to the newly opened Italian restaurant in our neighborhood where they already had one in SoHo and was a success.

I picked a table

Closer to the street than the sidewalk to avoid the people that pass by - who knows, one could have COVID-19.

I decided to wear my shield so I could eat my food and still feel confident that I will be protected from floating viruses while we chat.

I ordered the mixed seafood with langoustine, shrimp and pasta.  It was quite good.  My friend had the fried sardine which was perfectly done!  It comes with salad.

I am quite happy that this was my first meal outside after cooking away since March 11!  Well, we did order out food which we ate inside.  But it is fun to eat at premise.

On the left is a pizza I picked up on our way home.  I heated it up when Ingot home  adding some truffle mushroom sauce and prosciutto.

PANDEMIC HOPES

We were in lockdown since mid-March 2020.  In the beginning, I did my usual exercise in my apartment because I had bought necessary equipment to do my gym work from home.

Two weeks before, I went to get my mat, roller and extra block.  Before I used to only have my own yoga mat, a block and my weights.  So now, I felt adequately prepared for the pandemic as they literally shit our gym 19 days later!  And we were not allowed to go out as the cuty surged in cases of Coronavirus.  Little did I know (besides my friend in the exercise class who notified us that school will be closed soon and that everything will be dome online, I depended on watching NHK-TV news for latest in the pandemic and of course very neutral informative news)
I had my mask ready since January 24 ahead of the normal New Yorkers, and have ordered and started to buy necessities.

Most of America has ignored the pandemic but because I tune in to NHK TV, I became more cautious thinking it may come to us too.  Like a Scout, my motto is always “Be prepared”.

By mid-March we got locked down to prevent the spread.  As much as I love  to cook,  after a while it seemed the only main job I did during lockdown, after a few weeks I started getting rundown doing the same thing everyday.  Between cleaning after cooking and preparing the next meal and doing the chores in the apartment I felt like a mouse in a cage just going round and round.  After a few weeks, I enrolled to a few delivery platforms and became a member for a year of many.  I joined the ones that carried items I like and necessities.  But that also took time to set up what to order.  Most of the time they need you to order a minimum amount so they won’t charge extra for delivery even though I have already joined membership.  I now suddenly have a new schedule.  My late hours of searching the Internet for purveyors and who uses delivery services began to be my new job.

What I have learned is to stock up my necessities so I have ample supplies at all times.  So whenever possible I would buy 4-6 of the same item just in case.  I even stocked up with my vitamins planning through January in case it is too dangerous to go out on the next wave.  They said this virus thrives in dry cold air.  I also found out it can live in the freezer!

So now, my time is consumed taking precautions when I buy food from outside or even deliveries.  I try not to pick up a delivered good from the handle but from awkward sides and then wash my hands.  I transfer the fresh produce carefully into my own plastic bags before I store them in my fridge.  This way the plastic bag in the grocery store which laid on the counter which someone may possibly put their hand on, coughed on to cover their mouth when they coughed or sneezed will not be on my plastic bag.

I probably sound  like a nut to you but my mother was a Parasitologist and I learned a lot about tracing where bacteria comes from.

Jump forward - our city is now in Phase 4 and the restaurants have begun to open.  Dining is outside at the moment.  It’s pretty outside.  I have watched the restaurants take up car lanes on streets that the city has allowed them to use for dining out

My one wish:  Keep up distancing within 6 feet or more;  and wear your mask unless you are alone in open air or at home.  Exercise, eat well and sleep well. Soon we will look at this in the past.  There will always be a pandemic.  It has been happening from time in memorial.   I just hope we do not harm ourselves beyond what it is currently doing.

#perseverance #faith #pandemic #reataurants #Phase4 #outdoordining 

JAPANESE RECIPE

I like to watch NHK TV because it get a lot of information and their news is not biased.  They deliver the news around the world in many languages.

I like watching their features as well regarding sights to see if I go back to Japan.   I was going to attend the Tokyo2020 Olympics but because of the pandemic, it is disappointing they canceled it - but rightly so because of the Pandemic.  I wish they could turn the clock and move everything 2 years later because I have been looking forward to this event given that Japan is big in technology and therefore would be a treat to see their innovative opening ceremony, the robots and I am sure impressive technological inventions.

Since I watch NHK and one of my favorite features is the Bento Box.  They feature easy recipes you can make at home.  This one caught my eye.  They call it EBI MAYO.  EBI is shrimp and Mayo for Mayonnaise.

Although I did not get the exact proportions, I watched it with earnest and repeated it.  This TV channel can also be downloaded to your phone.  So I watched this recipe a few times till I think I could make it.  My version is for a family of 4.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb peeled shrimp

1/3 c cooking sake wine

1/4 c potato starch for the sauce

3TB potato starch before frying

1/2 lb Snap pease

1/4 c mayonnaise (preferably by Kewpie) 

1/4 c ketchup

1/4 c condensed milk

3 TB lemon juice

3 TB of canola oil

Cooked Japanese

 The blanched snap pease

Blanche the snap pease in salted water till it just turn emerald green

- poor water out and add cold water to stop cooking.  Drain and pay dry with paper towe.  You may slice them diagonally in half  and set aside.

Combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, condensed mil and mix well.  Then add the lemon juice and set aside.

Add sake to shrimp and potato starch.  After 10 minutes rinse shrimp in cold water.  Pat set.

Add 3 TB of potato starch on the shrimp and mix well till well coated.

Put 4 TB of oil in a skillet pan which can hold the shrimp flat on the pan.  Cook for 3 minutes and turn to cook 3 more minutes on the other side.  Set aside

Wipe the oil off from pan and then put back the shrimp.  Add the sauce and the snap pease.  Mix well till well coated while stir cooking it another 3 minutes.

Dish some rice in a plate or a bowl and serve with the shrimp mixture in top.

Yummy!

BREAKFAST IDEA 444

 

Egg Cocotte 

This is really an easy recipe to prepare.  Recipe below is for 1 person.  I call it 444 because I cook everything here in 4 minutes (less the effort) 4 main ingredient for the egg dish,  400F degrees to toast the acruitement.  

What you need:

2 inch Ramekin Dish

1 TB butter - softened or slightly melted in microwave and throw back in fridge a minute.

1 Tb minced fresh parsley 

1 slice of bread

1 egg

Salmon caviar or any caviar for garnish on top

Spread the softened butter at the bottom and the sides of the ramekin dish.  Sprinkle the sides with minced parsley.

Crack an egg on it and place in boiling pan of water.

Cook for 4 minutes and no more!

Run knife around and put your round piece of toast.  Flip egg over on top the plate and shake to release egg from ramekin.

Below is what I did to make the round toast and the crispy crumpet:

I used store bought crumpets.  I brushed it with a little oil and placed it in a pan with my round piece of bread for the Cocotte to toast in PREHEATED 400F oven for 4 minutes!

The crumpet comes out toasty in the bottom for my cream (clotted it’s double cream) spread with quality jam.  And the piece of circle toast to place my cocotte on are also done.

#breakfast #homecooking #tips #easyrecipes

TOMATO TART (French Style)

Unusual that this time without introduction, I feature the photo of my Tarte. Perhaps the lockdown has influenced me to unleash a new norm 

Don’t worry, this is one of my favorite dish to make.  It is easy and delicious.  I often serve it as a first course, or it could be my lunch with a salad on the side.

INGREDIENTS:

1 box of good puff pastry dough

1/3 - 1/2 c of French mustard

10” pan

12 - 14 slices of Ementhal Cheese or raclette cheese

6-7 Roman tomatoes peeled, seeded  and sliced

Boil a pot of water.  Once it boils, drop your tomatoes until the skin blisters off.  Remove immediately.  Cool a little before peeling.  Cut in half and remove seeds.  Slice thin and set aside.

Roll out the puff pastry thin to lay on your 10” Tarte pan with removable bottom.  Trim to fit pan up to the sides and crimp it.

Spread the French mustard all over the bottom layer of your crust.

Spread the slices of cheese over the mustard covering the entire bottom.

Arrange the tomatoes on top of cheese.

Bake in preheated 375 degrees oven for about 30 minutes till crust is golden.

VOILA! 

You can sprinkle some minced parsley on top to serve if you wish.

BON APPETIT!

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LOCKDOWN BREAKFAST ANYTIME

I tend to wake up a little later since lockdown because I go to sleep quite late.  Since I have to cook 3 meals a day - or at least prepare 3 meals a day, this means I also have to clean up after!

I bought myself my gym mat, roller, weights, and blocks hoping I could continue the exercises I have been doing in my gym when it was open.

I can tell I do not do it 4 times a week lately but 3 and I used to walk an average of 7000 steps whereas now if I reached 2000, I’d say hooray!

If I were just brave enough to be out and do some walking further I would.  But the airborne virus scares me inspire of my wearing a full protective looking outfit.

Given this condition, I attend office meetings between my cooking and laundry and choosing ingredients to be delivered on line, it pretty much sums up my day.  Not to mention the meticulous sanitizing of shoes, outer gear and groceries that arrive at my door.

The one comfort I have is creating delicious food I would have liked if I could eat at a restaurant.  It gives a relief that all things look fine and forget what is going on around me.

It starts off with breakfast!  I like breakfast because it usually contains food I like.  I love eggs, sweetened rolls or biscuits, fruits, juice  and coffee and tea!  Yes, I pretty much have my breakfast complete with Matcha tea and freshly ground coffee made using French press and sometimes with my Nespresso machine.

This is the base of the sauce I will mix with my egg with.

First you crack 2 eggs on a buttered dish

Then you pour the Morrell mixture on top and bake in a preheated oven of 375F degrees for about 10
minutes and serve.

Here is one of my favorite egg dish for breakfast. 

Ingredients:

1 TB softened Butter

Morels (approximately 2-3 per person)

1 shallot, minced 

About 1/3  cup Cream

1 Eggs

Butter

Soak the Morrell in water if you are using dried Morrell for about 20-30 minutes.  Slice lengthwise and set aside.

Mince the shallot and sauté in butter in a small pan.  Add the morellos and cream and stir.

Butter a small bowl or oven proof dish and crack an egg in it.  Add the milk mixture in too and season with salt.  Place in a baking pan and out in preheated oven for about 20 minutes and serve immediately.

While cooking, prepare your toast and butter them.  Cut them in triangles. 

Have a hearty delicious breakfast!

HOME CHEFFING while LOCKDOWN

I have been posting my food in Instagram only because staying home and working has really kept me super busy at home!

Between attending office meetings by Zoom, doing laundry, cleaning and cooking 3 meals a day I have found this 4th week going 5th finally able to catch up with other things I like doing such as sharing what’s new with me - which may be the same with you!

One of the breakfasts requested of me to make is Huevos Rancheros.  Which I now make with canned retried beans and salsa sauce which can evolve into a Shakshuka sauce.

All you do is buy a can of received beans - of your choice, and a salsa of your choice.  The seasoning on top do change it from Huevos Rancheros (Mexican dish) into Shakshuka - a middle eastern dish.

 Above is the 2 eggs which I fried in oil I’ve oil, poured the same sauce I used for the Huevos Rancheros below.  The above is the Shakshuka satyoe eggs.  I like using my print photo of a French restaurant to inspire me to think I was eating in a restaurant.

Above is Huevos Rancheros made with the same salsa sauce above without the Shakshuka spices in it.  And the Huevos Rancheros is served with regrows beans - the mushy mixture on either end plus some cheese on top of your choice.  

The Shakshuka style eggs pair well with Moroccan lamb sausages and some harissa as spice sauce on the side.

#Shakshuka. #HuevosRancheros  #homechef #homecooking #lockdowcooking

#NYWCA 

COOKING IBERICO PIG

One of my go to stores for authentic food from Spain in D’España locates in SoHo area of NYC - because I live in NY.  One of the reasons why I love living in NYC, because it’s the melting pot, many foods are very authentically imported from whichever country you can dream of.  You just look for it.  Also it’s a great place to have a staycation after you’ve learned from your vacation.

 Above is the pork I bought from one of my go to Spanish stores in the city specializing in Spanish food locates in SoHo.  I bought this @D’España on Broome Street.






This is my @Souvide machine that I have not used much and now finally learned how to operate it!

I seasoned the pork with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Placed each of the pieces to fit the bag and sealed it.  I then out it in the #Souvide machine at 135 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours.

Removed it, and open up the package I wanted to use and seared it quick on a very hot steel pan.  Because this is the wagyu of pork, it also has plenty of fat in between the meat so I did not need to put any oil or butter in the pan.  Probably seared it for a minute on each side.  I cooked the pork in the machine for 3 hours at 135 degrees Fahrenheit because I wanted the meat to be pink but not well done or rare.

 

Below I decided to broil the meat to see if I would get a nice charcoaled burnt finish like the one I seared in my steel skillet.  Maybe I should have put the meat closer to the top to broil it faster.

The salad is made of blanched snap peas I sliced diagonally, slices of roasted beets,, sliced jalapeños, and some crumbled Gorgonzola cheese served with Aged in Barrique white vinegar by DODI, olive oil, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

I happened to have #Bomba rice in my pantry, so I prepared that cooked with olive oil seasoned with salt and garlic powder.

The proportions are up to your taste.  This is truly a wonderful dish!  And that pork is the best pork!  Maybe I will try the @Mangalica or #Mangalista pork next time!

Nagano Trip and Soba

https://youtu.be/aj70sRAxd-4

I visited Nagano and was a guest to visit this large place about 30 minutes drive from Nagano Train Station.

It is a big place that sells soba and many other local products produced in Nagano.

They took me to a large room with many tables and faucets and sinks to wash hands.  They mixed the mixture for us to roll the dough and taught us how to cut it.  It was then cooked for us which took a few minutes and ready for us to eat.  Nothing like fresh soba!

#pasta #howto #soba #cooking #trip #nagano