Mamatouille

brie and figgy snackies

2012-01-21T15:44:00.003+09:00

We've been trying to avoid dairy as much as possible but for appetizers for our Christmas dinner, I served brie, fig jam, and Carr's multigrain crackers. I first had the brie and fig jam combo in Florida when my aunt served it to us, and I've been dreaming about it ever since.

The beans wanted some for their snacktime yesterday, and though we were out of the lovely Carr's crackers, some multigrain Saltines stood in nicely.

Nobody complained.

savory french toast

2012-01-21T15:41:00.003+09:00

For a different breakfast, this'll do you good! Beat eggs, almond milk, Nature's Seasons seasoned salt, and Worcestershire sauce together, dip your bread in, and fry on both sides in Earth Balance (like margarine). Excellent with chemical-free, flavor-laden Black Forest ham. (Hubby has his like a sandwich with the French toast, ham, and ketchup.)

purple smoothie

2012-01-21T15:06:00.002+09:00

Still snowing and haven't been to the store yet so no greens in the house. This yummy smoothie had carrot juice, frozen mixed berries, two navel oranges, two bananas, and flaxseed meal. Mmmmmm.

snow salad (with apples, carrots, raisins, and ginger)

2012-01-18T14:14:00.003+09:00

I did a version of this here on Mamatouille back in the summer of '08, but hey, it's danged good in winter, too.

This salad is what you make when you don't have any greens in the house for a green smoothie but you want something fresh and as raw as possible--I usually add pineapple but had none, and this time threw in some freshly grated ginger, which was absolutely superb and was a perfect complement to the rest of the ingredients.

You'll need:

6 shredded carrots
2 Braeburn apples, peeled and chopped (or your favorite apple breed)
1/2 c. raisins (Why do organic raisins say to refrigerate? Poo on that.)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 c. mayo (I buy the kind made with olive oil)
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
few squeezes of honey

Do this:

Mix all together and enjoy!

Speaking of which, I'm about to go have myself another little snacky bowl of this stuff while I read more of The Cookbook Collector and wait for the Seattle-snowstorm-of-a-generation.

christmas in january (+ green smoothies)

2012-01-15T13:20:00.006+09:00

Because our kiddiewinks were not well for Christmas and New Year's, we had to postpone our Christmas dinner until last night! I didn't have a chance to take loads of photos but I'll let you in on our menu: a 7-pound nitrate- and nitrite-free boneless ham (from our local butcher, Better Meat) that I baked with a clove, brown sugar, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard sauce, roasted green beans with slivered almonds, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, and kosher salt, rolls, homemade cranberry sauce (to which I added plum wine and freshly grated ginger), and my friend Angela inspired me to try baking mashed sweet potatoes in oranges (and I had just read Appetite for Life, the biography of Julia Child, and noted that Julia made something very similar in the 50s). I used Angela's mother-in-law's version of the recipe as a jumping-off point and changed it just a wee bit: I used maple syrup instead of white sugar, I used organic white sweet potatoes instead of orange ones, for the topping I substituted raisins for the mini marshmallows in the butter-brown sugar sauce, and plus I added ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. They were so yummy!

Remember the British Christmas puddings my mother-in-law and I made 1.5 years ago? Well, we still had one left, well preserved in brandy. I steamed it all day and served it lit up with rum (Matthew said it looked like the aurora borealis!), and had plenty of rum-sugar-butter to spread on top (my mother-in-law's recipe: Blend 4 oz. sugar, 4 oz. butter, and 2-3 T. brandy, or in this case, rum).

What did I do with all the sweet, gorgeous navel orange insides after I scooped them out to make room for sweet potatoes? Made a green smoothie this morning, of course! I added a bunch of organic kale, two organic bananas, and the oranges were organic as well. Blend and really enjoy--this was one of the simplest but best smoothies I've had (it was five oranges so it added quite a bit of fresh flavor + vitamin C). Very more-ish!

And another green smoothie I made the other day: kale, spinach, cilantro, clover sprouts, flaxseed meal, wheat germ, apples, and almond milk.

banana-cashew smoothie

2012-01-02T06:28:00.005+09:00

Happy 2012! May it be a year of health and blessings.

Speaking of health and blessings, this smoothie is full of both (recipe from Real Simple and adapted by little ol' moi--I doubled it, too).

You'll need:

1/2 c. raw unsalted cashews
2 c. ice
1 banana
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
I also added some almond milk for more calcium, and dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg

Do this:

Soak the cashews in 1 cup of water overnight in the fridge, then chuck the softened cashews and liquid into a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, blitz till smooth, pour into a new Christmas-present mug, sprinkle on some extra nutmeg, and drink to your heart's content.

I actually thought it was a bit sweet and next time don't think I'll add the maple syrup at all--bananas add plenty of their own sugar. Cashews tend to be one of the sweeter nuts, anyway.

Definitely going on my make-again smoothie list--so yummy, creamy, and with the spices I added, holiday-full (but don't get me wrong, I could drink this any time of year).

Cheers!

taiwanese steamed pumpkin buns

2011-12-06T14:38:00.004+09:00

Our Taiwanese friends recently taught us how to make steamed pumpkin buns--from fresh pumpkin that she had roasted and pureed.

The ingredients were straightforward: flour, yeast, sugar (though not much), pumpkin, and half a cup of warm water, then you mix, let it rise, knead, roll it into a log shape, and cut into your desired size.

The next stage involves more rising (above some hot water)...

Then steaming on the stove...

She made an omelet to go with it, then sliced it into good sizes for putting into a bun...

The buns were delicious and it was such a fun treat to spend time cooking and chatting with our friends (they're now in Taiwan for a month and we will miss them!).

Happy travels, friends!

dianasaur's pumpkin oatmeal choco-chip cookies

2011-11-06T14:17:00.003+09:00

Diana is another food blogger in this area, south of Seattle, and I love her food and photos. She posted a recipe for these cookies the other day and I just had to try them out. I had some wonderful helper-beans in the kitchen--they measured, stirred, and ate (a lot)!

I went by her recipe and also added a pinch of salt, some powdered ginger, and molasses. The chocolate I used was over 60% (and darned delicious). I did find the dough really stiff for some reason and couldn't add all of the oatmeal called for.

A hit all round, and friends declared so, too.

persimmon pudding

2011-11-06T14:11:00.002+09:00

These were luscious! More from Green Smoothie Revolution...

All these had were three persimmons, one banana, and a bunch of spinach, to which I also added a couple of splashes of apple cider.

Blend, eat with a spoon, and enjoy.

bloody mary (smoothie, that is)

2011-11-01T12:43:00.004+09:00

Still on a veggie-full green smoothie kick--this one had tons of flavor (though I did like the creaminess the avocado added in yesterday's--next time I do this one, I'll throw in an avocado as well).

As with yesterday's, this Bloody Mary was adapted from Green Smoothie Revolution.

You'll need:

kale
1/2 lemon, peeled and seeded
chia seeds
flaxseed meal
garlic
fresh seaweed
1/2 cuke
fresh parsley
3 stalks celery
Roma tomatoes
water
cayenne pepper

Do this:

Blend and drink!

immunity energizer smoothie

2011-10-31T09:38:00.003+09:00

I've made a kajillion fruity-green smoothies in my day, but I've had a hankering to just jump in and do some zingy, spicy, and mostly veggie ones.

This one fits the bill, and though the kiddiewinks chose not to indulge, Stephen and I really enjoyed our glasses.

Adapted from a recipe in Green Smoothie Revolution.

You'll need:

1/2 cucumber
1 avocado
juice of one lemon
chunk of fresh ginger (you can leave the peel on)
one garlic clove
1/4 leek
several kale leaves
fresh seaweed (I found this at my local international market in the produce section)
water, to desired consistency
chia seeds (a good deal from the Mexican spice section of my int'l market)
ground flax seeds

Do this:

Blend.

Drink.

And then don't be surprised at a sudden energy burst. No lie!

algerian chicken stew and couscous

2011-10-29T20:51:00.003+09:00

Comfort? Yeah. Heat? Cayenne, heck yeah. (But not overwhelming. Just enough to tickle your nose but not so much that you have to get out the box of tissues.) Chickpeas, squash, tender fall-off-your-fork chicken, tomatoes, carrots, green beans, onions? You betcha. Yummy spices plus a hint of garlic? For sure. Dished up over your favorite couscous? Mmmm hmmm.

Easy? Yup. Doable in the slow cooker? Uh-huh.

Adapted by moi from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook.

You'll need:

3 c. (750 ml) chicken broth, or 3 c. water plus 2 or 3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 lb. (5oo g) chopped chicken (I like boneless organic thighs)
1 onion, chopped
2 c. fresh or frozen green beans, chopped (I've used okra instead and that's great, too)
2 carrots, sliced
1 t. (5 ml) ground cumin
1 t. (5 ml) dried basil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 t. (2 ml) dried parsley, or some fresh
salt and pepper to taste
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 small or 1 medium zucchini, sliced (or as I did last time, one yellow pattypan squash)
16-oz. (500 g) can chickpeas, drained
1/4 t. (1 ml) ground red pepper (I use a bit less)

Do this:

You can cook it all together in a pot on the stove, or throw it in your slow cooker/crock pot and leave it on low all day.

For the couscous, just boil 1 1/4 c. water on the stove, stir in 1 c. couscous, turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let it sit for a couple of minutes till fluffy.

Ladle the stew over your couscous in a bowl, grab a seat, light some candles, wield your spoon, and contentedly rub your tum after.

pumpkin gingerbread bundt cake

2011-10-27T21:00:00.000+09:00

Shown here with British custard (made from Bird's custard powder) and pieces of crystallized ginger--I couldn't resist.

Anyway, this is a simple gingerbread recipe that I embellished by substituting brown sugar for white and pureed pumpkin for half of the molasses. I had some great kiddiewink helpers for making it and eating it, and the cake turned out delightfully. I poured the batter into a bundt pan for added fun! Moist and rich...perfect for warm custard, or just dusted with powdered sugar.

Elder Kiddiewink took this photo...

And can you guess who shot this one?

The original gingerbread recipe came from my Grandma's Circle Cookbook. But as you know, I can't fight the urge to fiddle.

You'll need:

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 c. flour (used all-purpose)
1/2 c. pureed pumpkin
1/2 c. molasses
1/4 t. ground cloves
1 t. ginger
1 t. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 c. hot water

Do this:

Grease a 10-inch bundt pan (4 inches deep) and leave it to ruminate by itself for a few minutes. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy as a bunny. Add the egg (crack it first, honey) and beat it all up some more. Mix those dry ingredients together, then add them, plus the pumpkin and molasses, to the creamed mixture. Mix well and add in the hot water till it's all smooth like a glassy pond. (A dark brown pond that you probably wouldn't want to swim in.) Pour the batter into your prepared and musing bundt pan, then give those beaters to your kids to lick and get all over their countenances.

Bake in a 350 F (180 C) cavernous 1950s oven for approximately 40 minutes and hang out in the kitchen looking at this black walnut tree while you're enjoying the warmth from said oven.

feeling dehydrated

2011-10-27T13:54:00.002+09:00

Recently I borrowed a friend's dehydrator...and I love it except for the huge chunk of counter space it requires.

It's easy to use and turns out some delectable dried persimmon and apples (let's not talk about the bananas, OK?)...

salsa picante

2011-10-15T12:28:00.004+09:00

Don't kick me, or feel sorry for me, but no, I'd never made my own salsa before (as far as I can remember, anyway). And I've made it twice in the last week.

So, so stinkin' easy, and so much cheaper and fresher than the storebought stuff, even the "fresh" tubs of it in the refrigerated section of your local supermarket.

Loosely based on a Mexican recipe from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook (Amazon tells me I purchased my copy on October 17, 2002, so it's appropriate that I would be posting a recipe from it almost exactly nine years later).

You'll need:

fresh tomatoes - I use organic multicolored heirloom variety cherry tomatoes
splosh of Sriracha hot sauce
clove or three of garlic
handful of fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves
salt and pepper
fresh lime juice
plop of olive oil
1/4 onion

Do this:

Throw it all in a food processor and pulse to desired chunkiness. Doesn't take long.

This is so yummy on pulled pork quesadillas, Mexican burgers, or mixed into your favorite guacamole. Whatever your little pea-pickin' heart desires.

pumpkin kale banana peanut-butter muffins

2011-10-14T08:42:00.010+09:00

Think I could add any more ingredients than this, or make a longer title? (I'm working on it...) Anyway, these were good - really good!

Heavily adapted from a regular banana quickbread recipe from Cooking in Circles, a cookbook put together by women from my grandma's church, and given to me for Christmas in 1997. I first started cooking from that baby in college...don't start adding or subtracting years, please.

The original banana bread recipe was from Edna (Mrs. Charles) Limpus. (Would she like my pumpkin, kale, and peanut-butter chip additions? Not sure about that one.)

This made 8 regular-sized muffins and 24 mini ones, for the mini kiddies (though they ate 4 or 5 at a time, so I could've just stuck with my regular muffin pans!).

You'll need:

1/2 c. butter, margarine, or shortening, softened (butter gives the best flavor!)
2 eggs, well beaten
1 c. sifted all-purpose flour
1 c. sifted whole-wheat flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
1/4 c. molasses
3 bananas
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1/2 c. kale puree (I just grabbed a bunch of multicolor kale, the kind with purple stems, cut the stems off and threw in my compost bucket, cooked the leaves in a little bit of water, and then pureed in my food processor--it made about 1 c. of puree so I froze the other half for future projects.)
5 oz. peanut-butter chips, or approximately half a package (Read the package and make sure there's no high fructose corn syrup, please--let's not even talk about how that stuff is metabolized.)

Do this:

Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C. Cream the butter, sugar, molasses, and pumpkin in one bowl, then add the salt and eggs. In a separate bowl, mash the banana with the baking soda. (Yes, you will create a load of dirty dishes for these muffinistas.) In (yet) another bowl, mix the flours and baking powder, then add to the creamed mixture. Add in the kale, then the peanut-butter chips.

Spoon into a greased bread pan or muffin tins. The bread should take about an hour but the baby muffins only took approximately 10 minutes, with the regular muffins taking another 5 minutes or so.

perfect hard-boiled eggs

2011-10-08T12:53:00.003+09:00

It seems that I've been on a quest to make easily peel-able hard-boiled eggs for years.

I've tried everything from putting a matchstick in the water to plunging the little eggy fellows into ice water as soon as they've cooked.

Anyway, my system is now down pat: I use my handy-dandy egg timer (bought on sale in a Japanese department store for 100 yen), add vinegar and salt to the water, rinse the eggs as soon as they reach the hard mark, leave them in tap water about ten minutes or so, tap them on the wider end where there's an air bubble (got that idea from Debbie Macomber in her Cedar Cove Cookbook), and peel them under a trickle of water.

Et voilà!

It's a good thing everything's ironed out now...my kiddiewinks are on a total and complete egg kick.

free loot and sweet-potato bacon waffles

2011-10-03T05:17:00.008+09:00

In the space of about one week I won this great canvas lunch bag (I use it every day!) and coupons for the other things from Nature Moms Blog...

And also this super-duper West Bend rotating waffle iron from Burp! I'd been wanting one and the beans are enjoying it as well. Our first batch was yummy mixed berry waffles made with vanilla almond milk (those disappeared rather quickly!)...

And then this afternoon I made up a new recipe that we all adored: ten-grain waffle mix, eggs, rice milk, sweet-potato puree, grated extra sharp cheddar cheese, olive oil, flaxseed meal, chives from the garden (see pic below), and BACON! I fried the bacon first and crumbled it up into the batter--oh, boy! (I buy luscious no-nitrate, no-nitrite, uncured applewood-smoked bacon from my butcher down the road, and it's out of this world.)

Homemade applesauce to go with...

Our taste buds were chivin'...

You know, I don't usually win stuff and so that week was a fun surprise--the hubster even asked me why I didn't play the lottery.

spinach quinoa muffins

2011-10-02T10:33:00.004+09:00

Danke for the recipe, Red Tricycle! My suggestion for these babies: Double the ingredients, bake them, and freeze half. After you get through all the work of cooking the quinoa, pureeing the spinach, mashing the banana, measuring everything out, and washing all those dishes, you'll thank me.

Changes I made: I added some molasses, used lemon and lime peel, and topped them with pecans instead of the nuts they recommended.

These kinda reminded me of one of our green smoothies, in muffin form.

The verdict from the kiddiewinks? Well, the goodies are all gone.

That about sums it up.

roasted squash and beet bruschetta

2011-09-16T14:03:00.007+09:00

Inspired by Kahakai Kitchen's "eggplant and mint bruschette" (and she used a Jamie Oliver recipe), I knew I had the eggplant, mint (from my garden), and seasonings, and already had parsley on my list. The kiddiewink-beans and I were headed to the grocery store anyway, so I just picked up a baguette and feta cheese while there. (Feta wasn't in the recipe but I wanted this to be a main dish.)

So when I got home I realized my eggplant had seen better days, but my yellow crookneck squash and beets were ready and willing to sacrifice themselves up for greatness.

I don't have a grill but just roasted the veggies with olive oil, then dipped them in the marinade of olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, parsley, mint, and garlic. I used a one-to-one ratio of oil to vinegar and we really enjoyed the spikiness of it. After a final quick toasting in the oven, everything was ready to be ooohed and ahhhed over.

The parsley and mint were superb and the feta added a nice creamy saltiness. With some roasted green beans (from a friend's garden), this was a filling and terribly tasty supper.

Too bad I forgot about the bottle of Pinot grigio in the fridge--it would've been perfect with this.

zucchini fritters

2011-09-16T13:49:00.004+09:00

'Tis the season for zucchini, and even though my own zucchini plants are not happy this year, I've had a hankering for them and so my grocery store gets my zucchini business. Smitten Kitchen's zucchini fritters (with baking powder!) are great, as is her lemony garlicky sour cream (I used yogurt) topping.

And yes, I pulled the cast iron pans out of our rental basement (we're allowed to use any of the stuff that was here, which is nice) and scrubbed them with hot water and salt (don't use soap!) for this recipe, and yes, the cast iron made a lovely crust on these fritters. I'm keeping them in my kitchen now...all three sizes. I'm dreaming of cornbread in cast iron...

peach-blueberry-ginger pie

2011-09-14T10:03:00.006+09:00

I'd been hankering to make a two-crust pie for ages and after a very busy (but fun) Friday morning last week, decided to hit up Costco for some organic Washington peaches and (Canadian) blueberries. Friday afternoon was devoted to the pie (check out my able helpers below).

It was my first time ever to do a double crust and I know next time I'll be faster and more confident as well. Anyway, it was a super-fun experience.

If you've never worked much with pastry, check out Pam's pie tutorial over on The Pioneer Woman's stomping grounds. I loved her very practical method of using two sheets of parchment paper and rolling the crust between them.

I used Pam's recipe and went with all butter and only 1 teaspoon of sugar in the crust.

(Her suggestion to mix an egg with some water and brush on top did make a nice shiny glaze.)

For the filling, I just went with my intuition and mixed 3-4 peaches (can't be sure how much went into the pie because of those helpers I had!), a couple of cups of blueberries, 1/3 c. brown sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and powdered cinnamon and ginger. (I heart ginger and it gave it such a nice perky extra kick.)

After I added the filling, I also went with Pam's idea to squeeze half a lemon over the fruit and then dot with butter. Lovely.

Pam's tutorial does not need to be repeated here, but for posterity I will share my three biggest mistakes:

1. I let the butter warm up too much (again, I had small helpers who are very tactile). One website I used as a resource says that if you are using a food processor, you can even freeze the butter. (I also ran with their idea of mixing equal parts flour and sugar to sprinkle on the bottom crust before adding filling so it creates a non-soggy barrier, and I think that did work well.)

2. The crust got rolled too thin and the top crust tore in one spot as I placed it over the filling. As a result a bit of juices cooked through. No biggy but it wasn't exactly perfecto.

3. Pam suggested turning down the heat after the first part of baking, which I completely forgot to do. So even though I covered the pie with foil after that first segment of baking, the outside edge of the top crust browned too much for my liking.

And in spite of those foibles, the pie was deeeeeee-licious! Can't wait to try my next one. We'll be apple picking in October so I wonder what the next filling will be...

sweet figgy green smoothie

2011-09-13T13:47:00.004+09:00

So simple and so yummy. Just blend oh-so-sweet California figs that were a gift from your neighbor's fruitful tree, almond milk, orange juice, bananas, and a head of organic romaine lettuce.

(See how I used the same figs last year in a baked figgy ricotta honey almond treat.)

mac and "cheese"

2011-09-02T12:32:00.005+09:00

Veg4Health's "cheese" sauce has us all over the moon--one of our kiddiewinks ate two helpings right off the bat and the rest of us ate sizable amounts as well and completely fell in love with this stuff. There's not an iota of dairy in it but what it does have is mega flavor, folks: cashews, garlic, potato, carrot, red sweet pepper, onion, lemon juice, dijon mustard. Nummers.

She said it took her 9 years to perfect this recipe and the yum factor makes it all worth the while and wait. I paired it with whole-grain rotini and some parsley--this is the new black. (What? Anyway, whatever it is, it's going to be rotating frequently on our menu. You betcha.)

You'll need:

1 onion, chopped
1 potato, peeled and chopped
1 carrot, chopped
½ red, orange or yellow sweet pepper, chopped (I used red)
1 T fresh garlic or 1 tspn garlic powder (fresh was superb)
½ C raw cashews
1 ½ t lemon or lime juice (used lemon)
½ - 1 t Dijon mustard (didn't have so opted for spicy brown Gulden's)
2 T Earth Balance (butter or margarine)
1 t salt

Do this:

Make sure you double the ingredients, to start with. You want as much of this as possible.

Then cook the potato, carrot, onion, and sweet pepper in water till tender. Place the remaining ingredients plus 1/2 C of the veggie cooking water into your blender and blitz till smooth. Add the cooked veggies (with no broth) and blend again. (Save that leftover veggie cooking water to use for soup later--I froze mine in an ice cube tray.)

I have absolutely no idea how this is possible, but this was the cheesiest non-dairy food I've ever had. The color was red-cheddar-ish and the consistency was oh, so creamy.

Try it NOW. Or you'll be orange with envy.

Midnight snack?

carrot-almond pâté

2011-08-24T10:42:00.007+09:00

I guess you could call this a poor man's pâté (who wants to splurge on geese livers?), but it's definitely not low on flavors--earthy from roasted almonds, bright with cilantro and fresh lemon juice, and the steamed carrots add a lovely sweet dimension. Not to mention all the spices: cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, and coriander. Yum on a bun. (Or bakery bread, as the case may be.)

And we added dates to go with.

The recipe comes from a free Delicious Living magazine I got at my local grocery store and I only tweaked it slightly.

You'll need:

1/3 cup whole almonds (I used tamari-flavored ones so went easy on the salt)
2 large carrots (8 oz. or 250 g), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch rounds
1/4 t. salt (I used half of this)
1 t. each ground cumin and ground coriander
1/8 t. each ground turmeric and ground cinnamon
1 clove garlic
1/2 c. packed fresh cilantro leaves
2 t. fresh lemon juice
I also added coarse black pepper

This is easy but takes some prep stages--just do each step as you have time. You must cool the toasted almonds and steamed carrots, so either do this in advance or if you are pressed for time as I was, throw them in the freezer a few minutes to chill down to room temp.

Do this:

Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C and toast the almonds on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes or so, until crunchy. Cool them down and in the meantime, steam your carrots until tender and then cool them as well.

Throw all the ingredients into your trusty food processor and mix until blended (it will still have some texture to it).

The magazine suggested serving the pâté on a bun with cheese, roasted red peppers, and cucumber, which would've been delish, but I had The Essential Baking Company sliced bread (our fave) and toasted it, spread with Earth Balance (like butter), and then topped with the pate, sliced tomatoes, sliced cukes, and spinach.

The only thing I'd do differently next time is to at least double or triple the amounts. I want MORE.

Pâté yourself on the back for this one, folks--it's that good.

(Pssssst. Even the kiddiewinks tried it and liked it!)

yakisoba

2011-07-26T14:04:00.002+09:00

Yakisoba is not an okazu, not something you plop on rice, but with fried pork, veggies, and noodles, there's not a lot to complain about, eh!

And just like the gyudon, you add a wee bit of beni shoga (pink pickled ginger strips) and the taste just noodles its way into Japanese foodie nirvana. Reminds me so much of summer festivals (natsu matsuri) and the yakisoba food stalls. Taste of summer - yum.

Now all we need are the big ol' amazing Japanese fireworks!

Just grab a pack of yakisoba noodles from Costco (or your favorite Asian market), and in veggie oil, pan fry some thinly sliced pork (or chicken), onions, carrots, cabbage, and whatever other veggies you like (I also threw in some red pepper, green onions, garlic, and ginger). The Japanese packets of yakisoba that you buy in the grocery stores there come with a seasoning pack, but the kind I buy here in Seattle at Costco just have the noodles, so I also pour in some okonomiyaki sauce, which I tend to keep on hand. Add the noodles last and stir with your long cooking chopsticks till well combined. It's pretty yummy to let it all sit over high heat for a minute or two (after combining) so it gets a kind of deeply flavored darker crust.

Fireworks in a bowl!

harumi's gyudon

2011-07-25T14:06:00.000+09:00

Raise your hand if you love Harumi Kurihara! (I do! I do!) She's an amazing cook/cookbook writer/housewife and seems to really enjoy sharing her recipes for Japanese down-home dishes. Mama-style. And of course, Mamatouille can't resist meals made with Mama-love.

Gyudon has got to be one of the quintessential Mama-meals in Japan: It's basically very thinly sliced beef simmered with plenty of sweet onions, soy sauce, mirin, and that's about it. When we first arrived in Japan in 2001 and I was overwhelmed as a new wife and gaijin to boot, I bought packet gyudon that you could just pour over some rice. It was OK but is nothing like the real thing, baby!

For Harumi's special dish (from Harumi's Japanese Cooking), you'll need:

500 g (a little over a pound) onions
200 ml (1 c.) white wine (I use Chinese "rice cooking wine")
100 ml (1/2 c.) water
500 g thinly sliced beef (I get my favorite butcher at Better Meat to slice it for me)
150 ml (3/4 c.) soy sauce
150 ml (3/4 c.) mirin
4 T. caster sugar
600 g hot cooked rice
pickled ginger (beni shoga) to taste

Do this:

(With a window open) cut the onions in half lengthways and then slice into very thin half moons. In a saucepan, boil the water and wine, then add the beef and simmer a few minutes. You'll have to skim the scum from the top every once in a while. Splash in the soy sauce, mirin, and sugar and cover with an otoshi buta (or piece of aluminum foil, cut and folded to fit exactly into the pan, resting on top of the ingredients). (I can't find my own trusty otoshi buta so foil it is for me for the moment!)

Simmer a few more minutes and then add your onions, simmering again till the onions are soft.

Put some rice in each bowl (this makes four servings) and your gyudon on top. Don't forget to add some of the pan juices and also a mound of the reddy-pink pickled ginger.

This is Mama-cooking at its finest and most comforting. Can't you just taste that tender beef with the umami flavors of soy, mirin, and just a hint of sugar-sweetness to round it off?

Okazu. Me likey. I love rice and anything that goes on top is just icing for the ricing.

(And more coming up on the blog this week!)

pbj obento

2011-07-19T13:49:00.003+09:00

Joel had a peanut butter and jelly "3" sammie for his age, a dinosaur, and a bear (just use cookie cutters!). Some cashews and dried cranberries, too.

Now watch this. Layer up...

And the chocolate car cookie we made earlier rests happily on car and train dividers...

That's all, folks!

onigiri/omusubi obento

2011-07-18T06:56:00.005+09:00

On a recent zoo trip when we were meeting some friends for lunch and animal-visiting, I packed some obento for the kiddiewinks and me. The beanies each had a fish and a star onigiri (also called omusubi) with tuna salad inside, tamago (egg) furikake on top, and wrapped in nori (seaweed). (I have onigiri molds in all kinds of fun shapes! It's also easy to make small bite-sized rice balls by taking a bit of rice and filling and then twisting it in a piece of plastic wrap.) They also got treated to some ginger carrots, dried cranberries, and some of our favorite snacks: ginger cookies in the shape of pretzels.

You can see my mama-bento in the back: triangle-shaped onigiri with tuna salad inside, ginger cookie-pretzels, and ginger carrots.

These obento gave us plenty of energy to run around with friends, go hunting for animals, and climb like crazy in the Zoomazium.

It's a zoo out there. Better have your obento.

i think we're turning japanese...

2011-07-16T13:35:00.004+09:00

When we miss Japan (which is a lot, to be honest), I pull some of our old favorites out of a hat. Our tummies are warmed and in turn, our hearts.

You can't beat red (aka) miso soup with a stick, but stick your chopsticks in and slurp right up. This batch had enoki mushrooms, collard greens, daikon radish, carrots, onions, and our newest obsession: Island Spring organic tofu, made across the Puget Sound on Vashon Island. Gorgeous stuff.

Gyoza.

Salad with greens from my garden, grated carrots, tomatoes, edamame, and Japanese sesame dressing.

Ginger carrots, though not necessarily Japanese in origin, go really well with a Japanese meal. I used to follow the recipe from More with Less but I've made it so often I just wing it now: Boil some chopped carrots, drain the water, then add butter, powdered ginger, and either honey or brown sugar.

And you can never, ever have a Japanese dinner without a big bowl of sticky white rice.

More Japanese food coming up soon, including a couple of obento and okazu...

4th food

2011-07-09T03:41:00.001+09:00

I realize it's now the 9th but better late than never, right?

We had lovely sweet organic watermelon, braided honey-wheat pretzel sticks, corn on the cob--freshly shucked by Hubby Bean and Joel Bean, homemade coleslaw, organic chemical-free beef hot dogs, homemade hamburgers (organic ground beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, seasonings) that my friend said were the best and moistest she's ever had, kosher dill cocktail pickles, fresh tomatoes from the vine, lettuce from my garden, oven fries, sparkling lemonade and sparkling pomegranate juice.

Dessert: individual angel food cakes with coconut-water raspberry sorbet and coconut-water lemonade sorbet, blueberries, homemade raspberry sauce (the little bit of fresh lemon juice really made it outstanding), and mint from the garden.

Sunflowers to grace the table...

simple asian-inspired dinner for two beansprouts

2011-07-03T13:40:00.001+09:00

If you're pressed for time, as I was when I made this meal, have no fear! Mamatouille's here!

Luckily Seattle's full of Asian markets and our closest and favorite is HT Oaktree Market, on Aurora Avenue/Highway 99. The Japanese and Korean sections are close to each other so it's a simple matter of buying white sticky rice (I have a rice cooker), furikake (seasoning for putting on top of rice), and Korean nori (our favorite seaweed--it's cooked with sesame oil and salt).

I can also hop on over to the produce section for tofu, and for this "recipe" (I use the term loosely because I just threw it all together in a few minutes, with no guide whatsoever) I used the firm kind ("cotton").

So basically I cooked the rice in the rice cooker, and while that was steaming I drained the tofu as much as I could and then dried it with paper towels, chopped it into bite-size pieces, and pan fried in some sesame oil and seasoned salt. Then I just topped the rice with furikake, opened a packet of seaweed, dripped a bit of okonomiyaki sauce (sweet/tangy brown sauce) onto the kiddiewinks' plates for tofu dipping, and that was it.

You could go further and make ginger carrots (which our guys adore) or some roasted kabocha/Japanese pumpkin (our market also sells whole kabocha in the produce section for a pretty sweet deal) but do whatever you need to do to maintain sanity and your schedule.

Itadakimasu!

chocolate-avocado pudding

2011-06-22T13:56:00.004+09:00

Somebody I know is refusing green smoothies lately. I'm not naming any names...

I'm at my wit's end trying to get some green stuff into the kid and a friend gave me Deceptively Delicious a couple of months ago. I'm still not sure how I feel about "sneaking" healthy stuff into sugary recipes (i.e. chocolate pudding), but the beans did see me make the avocado puree and then put it into the pot with the rest of the ingredients.

I had to add some rice milk to the puree to get it into a good consistency...

But maybe adding avocado to chocolate pudding was just what the doctor ordered--for flavor and creaminess, anyway.

And I did add less sugar than the recipe called for. Oh, and I substituted dark chocolate cocoa powder for regular--that's healthy, right?

I'm afraid somebody (a few somebodies) really liked it.

You'll need:

margarine (I used butter)
avocado puree
confectioners' sugar
unsweetened cocoa powder (I used dark)
vanilla extract
cornstarch

It's a simple one-pot stovetop recipe, and the taste and consistency were absolutely divine, but I'm just not sure how far I want to go with this. Disguise fruit and veg with sugar? Hmmm.

That said, I will probably make this again. I just happen to have two more cups of avocado puree in the fridge.

And it was pretty yummerlicious.

As you can see, I'm conflicticated.

setsuko sensei's nerikiri class

2011-06-19T07:53:00.007+09:00

Through Nikkei Concerns I had the opportunity to take a nerikiri-making (Japanese sweets) class today with a pastry chef named Setsuko. She has her own business called Setsuko Pastry (based here in Seattle) and all of her creations look amazingly delicious.

The treats we made today were balls of sweet red bean paste (homemade by Setsuko) wrapped up in a neat little package of mochi (glutinous rice flour, water, sugar, and food coloring mixed with white bean paste, also homemade).

Setsuko Sensei made these as an example...

And this was one of the ones I made (they even brought sweet little boxes for us to put them in!)...

It was so much fun to knead the mochi/sweet white bean paste (shiroan) till smooth, add the food coloring and knead again, wrap up the anko (sweet red bean paste), and create fun shapes and styles. The one above was shaped by wrapping it in plastic wrap, tightening it, and twisting (the same way you can make some savory onigiri rice balls, which I have done before for the kiddiewinks).

paula's limey-mint fruit salad

2011-06-18T14:19:00.003+09:00

The best fruit salad I've ever had! Got the recipe from my friend Paula in college (she was always a great cook, even then): Just use whatever fruit you have on hand and make a marinade of chopped mint, fresh lime juice, orange juice, and honey to taste. Let it party in the fridge for a while and then serve with a smile.

(Mint contributed from my garden. I'm sad to say, herbs were harmed in the making of this fruit salad. Yummy, yummy.)

celebrating stephen with rhubarb trifle

2011-06-06T12:53:00.005+09:00

Though I'd never heard of rhubarb trifle before, I love rhubarb and I love trifle and I thought of putting them together for one big blowout dessert for Stephen's birthday. And of course when I looked online, Delia Smith already had a recipe for it and had done the legwork for me. (The only things I changed were substituting candied orange peel on the top instead of toasted pecans and I changed out the Portuguese Madeira wine for a Spanish garnacha that my grocer recommended.)

It was lovely and more-ish!

I'm not going to copy the recipe here (see link above) because it's pretty long and involved, but basically, you start with making little orange marmalade sandwiches with pound cake and put those on the bottom of a big glass bowl...
Then you poke holes in the cake and pour on the wine so the pound cake soaks it all up. Next you bake the rhubarb in a separate pan with freshly squeezed orange juice, sugar, and orange peel. You let that cool then spread the rhubarb on top of the cake.

You boil the rhubarb juices with gelatine powder (and a little more of the wine, which wasn't in the recipe, I might add), let it cool a bit, then pour it over the rhubarb and marmalade cake sandwiches. That cools overnight in the fridge and you make fresh custard, mix it with Greek yogurt, and spread it over the top. That cools in the fridge and then you decadently serve it in bowls with cream poured over!

Thanks to Silas and Lydia, Dan and Amy, and Garrison and Cora for sharing Stephen's birthday trifle!

And the leftovers went to...the birthday boy.

happy cinco de mayo!

2011-05-05T23:50:00.002+09:00

My savoury veggie bread pudding with V8-tequila sauce was one of 100 tequila recipes featured on Endless Simmer as a celebration of Cinco De Mayo today. Plates up!

easter-egg nest cookies

2011-04-24T13:16:00.003+09:00

I've been making these puppies for years--they're full of cocoa (I use dark), coconut, and oatmeal for the nest and after they come out of the oven, you just plop a little candy-coated chocolate egg on top (with the help of your older son).

I love how fun to make and how moist these cookies are. Yum.

Happy Easter!

smorgasbord snacks strike again

2011-01-28T08:57:00.004+09:00

Elder Bean had three pieces of cheese cut into shapes (the number four - for his age, a star, and an airplane), some organic animal crackers, cold cooked honey-ginger carrots, dates, and our favorite kind of nori (Korean toasted and salted seaweed). For the cheese, I use small metal cookie cutters I bought at 100-yen stores while we were in Japan.

Younger Bean's ice tray contained similar cut-out pieces of cheese (but his had the number two), plus some cashews, which he adores.

something(s) borrowed

2011-01-23T11:58:00.000+09:00

I'd had eggnog cheesecake before but I don't remember ever making it so I was really happy to find Reeni's recipe for it on Cinnamon and Spice and Everything Nice. I halved the filling ingredients, added chocolate syrup on top, and baked it in a storebought chocolate-cookie crust.

Okinawan Takoraisu (Japanese sticky rice with taco trimmings on top) was one of my favorite dishes when we lived in Japan so I was excited to find Rachael's recipe for it on Tasty Kitchen. I loved the soy sauce in the taco meat and all the lovely flavors and textures. This is one I'm going to be making often--not only does it bring back fun memories from Japan but it is one darn easy and delicious meal!

Nigella Lawson's Welsh-Rarebit Muffins are one heck of a savory treat: I serve them with bangers and roasted veggies. (Couldn't find "English" mustard powder anywhere so I substituted Chinese spicy mustard powder instead.)

Okay, this isn't really borrowed at all: My beans love creating their own fusion food. Here are Matthew's Southern cheesy grits with Japanese sesame and seaweed furikake on top. Whatever floats your boat!

yam quesadillas and black bean soup

2011-01-17T13:26:00.004+09:00

Inspired by a gorgeous meal I had last fall at a Mexican restaurant called Cactus, which included squash quesadillas, I made my own with yams that I cooked in the microwave till soft and then mashed with a little butter and kosher salt. I spread the mash on one side of the quesadilla and then threw on a 4-cheese mix (classic jack, garlic jack, hot pepper, and cheddar).

We dip-dipped it with sour cream, salsa, and (not pictured) some homemade guacamole.

My sister's black bean soup also helped make it a really special meal: Just put two cans worth of black beans (undrained) in a pot on the stove, mash the beans, and add 1/2 cup salsa, 2 t. chili powder, 16 oz. chicken broth (or 16 oz. water + 1 chicken bouillon cube). I also add some cumin and frozen corn. Bring it to the boil and then...

Guac and roll!

the sensei's gyoza

2011-01-13T14:39:00.005+09:00

I worked in three Japanese schools, rotating between them each week, for three years in Japan before we had our kiddiewinks. I gleaned a lot of insight into Japanese culture that way and some of my favorite memories include eating the school lunches every day (yum!) and discussing food with some of the other teachers.

One sensei gave me her family's recipe for making gyoza, or potstickers as they're called in the West (this is a typical Japanese version of an originally Chinese classic). I can buy them frozen here in Seattle at Asian markets, and they're OK for a gyoza-craving emergency, but I'd rather make them myself and not have to deal with the MSG. They're not hard to create and boy, are these babies absolutely amazing in the taste department.

You'll need:

gyoza skins (available in many supermarkets' produce sections near the tofu)
100 g (1/4 pound) ground pork
1 clove garlic, minced
"1 spoonful" (I used 1 tablespoon) each chopped green onions, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine, grated ginger, chopped cabbage (I used a coleslaw mix that had green cabbage, purple cabbage, and carrots and just chopped it fine), and nira (garlic chives, which I didn't have)
a bit of panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)--my own addition as I found the meat mixture a bit liquidy

Do this:

Mix the meat and other ingredients together and put a spoonful on the bottom half of each gyoza skin. Use a bit of water on your finger to wet the edge of the top half of the gyoza skin, then fold over and pinch together.

Fry in some oil till browned then add 100 g water to the pan to finish them off with some steaming.

Enjoy with a mixture of soy sauce and a few drops of rayu (Chinese hot chili oil, which I found at my local QFC grocery store in their Asian section). You probably won't have to make any other dishes as you will want to gobble these gyoza all up with a bowl of Japanese sticky rice, but save room in that tummy of yours because I have four more Japanese dishes to serve up for you...

smorgasbord snacks

2011-01-09T14:21:00.003+09:00

I got this idea from my friend Tami (who has three boys of her own): Just use an ice cube tray for your kids' snacks, filling as many or as few sections as you like. Call it "smorgasbord" and watch the healthy snacks disappear down happy gullets.

This afternoon's smorgasbord contained dried cranberries, raisins, cashews, clementines, rice crackers, a dried apricot each, and a chocolate coin from the UK.

"your best green smoothie yet"

2011-01-06T09:37:00.008+09:00

Those words from my dear hubby...and I happen to agree with him.

5 carrots
big bunch of spinach
3 avocados
2.5 bananas
juice of one fresh lime
3 big spoonfuls plain yogurt
frozen mixed berries
squeeze of honey
pomegranate-blueberry juice
8 clementines

I forgot to put in my usual flax seed meal and wheat germ but I guess it was still pretty healthy. Healthy and yummy.

This little Bean drained his mug (twice)!

holiday fun fare

2011-01-03T21:00:00.002+09:00

Eggnog eggy bread

I know it's January 3 but we are still in full holiday mode around here; in fact, our elder McMonkey McBean asked today, "Is it still Christmas?" and I informed him it is.

So our tree is still up and our table continues to be laden with all sorts of goodies, including:

Eggnog eggy bread (aka French toast) - I used this recipe as a start but basically it's just bread, eggs, eggnog, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. And don't forget to add snow (that's my sons' favorite part). (See photo above.)
Apple-cranberry-orange crumble - I had some leftover candied orange peel from making Grandma Wright's Christmas pudding so I decided to put it to good use. With the idea of an apple-cranberry crumble, I found this to base it on. Use a 9x13 pan, grease it, preheat to 375, peel and slice 3 lb. of apples, roughly chop 1/2 bag of cranberries, use 4 oz. candied orange peel (half box), and mix all that with 1/4 c. granulated sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon and vanilla. For the crumble, mix 2 c. all-purpose flour, 1/2 t. salt, some powdered ginger, 1 c. brown sugar, and 1.5 sticks butter. Bake 30 min. or so. Oh yum. (See photo below.)
Christmas pudding with brandy butter (brandy butter recipe in my mother-in-law's words) - 4oz butter, 4oz caster sugar, and 2 to 3 tablespoons of brandy. Cream the butter and sugar together until white and fluffy then add the brandy a little at a time. It is a bit soft at this stage but just put it into the pot that you are going to serve it in and put it in the fridge and it brings it back to butter consistency. (It is really easy to do especially with an electric beater.)
Punkin-choco cheesecake - It's even better with a chocolate cookie crust!
Pumpkin-raisin bread pudding with custard sauce - Just add pureed pumpkin in with the eggs and milk for a regular bread pudding recipe, shake in some cinnamon, toss some raisins over the top, bake as usual, and serve warm with Bird's custard.
Christmas dinner: I made a supremely tender turkey covered in bacon and herbs and garlic with special British bangers (sausages) roasted on the side. (I love our local butcher--they carry everything.) I also made roasted carrots and parsnips with olive oil, kosher salt, and balsamic vinegar, and fresh green beans roasted with fresh chopped garlic and olive oil, also homemade cranberry sauce (I make it with grated apples, rind and juice of fresh oranges, cinnamon, sugar, and sangria!), homemade cornbread dressing, and some other bits and pieces. I bought lovely organic potato rolls and our friends brought a really yummy potato casserole with chives, bacon, parmesan cheese, and cream. We also had a semi-homemade turkey gravy (I bought made-up turkey gravy from the deli but then added the pan juices from our turkey, bacon, and sausage roast). I also had a relish tray with different kinds of olives, tiny garlicky pickles, and marinated artichoke hearts, plus some cheeses (our favorite was Grandma Singleton's apple-pie cheese from the UK!) and crackers, white wine, eggnog (with a splash of brandy for some!), and sparkling apple cider. Plus I made a pumpkin chocolate cheesecake with a sour cream topping for dessert!
New Year's Day: The requisite Southern-style black-eyed peas (add a little sriracha for extra kick!) and homemade cornbread (I find the mixes way too sweet), roasted veggies (carrots, plus zucchini with garlic), sweet potato oven fries, and homemade tangy coleslaw with rice vinegar and oil instead of mayo (served over romaine).
Lots more to come! I've got loads of ideas left to spin this holiday season out as long as possible...so stay tuned to BEAN2011 FM...

Apple-cranberry-orange crumble

What was your favorite holiday food?

apricot ginger cardamom muffins

2010-12-18T12:44:00.004+09:00

When we first moved to Japan I was taking semi-private language lessons with a wonderful lady named Kazuko (who also became like my Japanese mom). In the class with me was a neighbor and friend named Sheena and she brought some yummy apricot pecan muffins with her to class one day.

These are the apricot pecans muffins, minus the pecans and tweaked with some of our spicy favorites. (No kidding, our beans will eat crystallized ginger piece by piece, gulp their milk in between bites and then ask for more ginger.)

Bean 1 and Bean 2 helped me make these, including some their size that they wanted to put candles on while they sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.

You'll need:

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (original recipe called for 1/4 t. nutmeg)
1 T. baking powder
2 c. flour (I used all purpose)
1/2 c. golden brown sugar (I used dark brown)
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 t. or more orange peel (I used my microplane grater)
2.5 ounce package of crystallized ginger, chopped, plus more for topping
1 egg
3/4 c. milk (plus a splash more if batter seems dry)
125 g (1/4 pound) melted butter
sliced almonds for topping

Do this:

Preheat your trusty oven to 190 C/375 F and butter or oil some muffins tins--this made 11 regular-sized muffins and 8 mini ones.

Sift together the cardamom, baking powder, and flour, then stir in the brown sugar and mash with your hands to get the lumps out. Add the apricots, ginger, and orange peel to the dry mixture, and in a separate bowl, mix the egg, milk, and melted butter. Make a well in the dry mixture and add the wet ingredients, stirring just till combined. Add to your muffin tins, sprinkling some sliced almonds and chopped crystallized ginger pieces over the top.

Bake about 12-15 minutes for the mini muffs and 20 or so for the big daddies.

Yum. Spicy yum.

And don't forget the milk...

my little gingerbread men

2010-12-09T14:50:00.004+09:00

More cookie on the boys than the men...one boy rolls out the dough and the other one drives a "snow plow" through the flour...

We used this delicious recipe (the only thing I altered was trading out margarine for butter and substituting pumpkin pie spice for all four spices - all the same spices in one convenient scoop)...

this and that, and more of that

2010-12-07T22:23:00.002+09:00

I've been busy in the kitchen--honestly! I know, I know, nothing's shown up lately on ye olde blog but hey, you're still here, right? (Right?)

So what have I been up to, culinarily speaking?

Here are a few honorable mentions, in no particular order (some are possibly from a couple of months ago, but nobody's telling):

Greek lemon yogurt pound cake, with a mixed berry sauce I conjured up from frozen berries, sugar, and a wee dram of white wine (drool over photo above)
Greek chickpea stew (revithatha)--lovely for winter (I also added lemon juice and cayenne pepper)
Red lentil soup--comfort food found via Small Notebook that originated from Orangette (Seattle-based foodie)
Lotsa homemade soup - asparagus, tomato, lentil, leek and potato, chicken and orzo, etc.
I've made a couple of meals for families with new babies from my MOPS group--I love TakeThemaMeal.com! One family was vegan so I made lentil curry, rice, salad, and a vegan-friendly version of the chocolate tofu peanut-butter pie (I changed the choco out for carob and the mommy told me she loved it so much she actually dreamed about it that night after eating it!). I've also made fish pie and cottage pie for some other folks.
M-Bean and I made cookies this afternoon--his request was "chocolate-raisin cookies" so I used an old standby chocolate-chip oatmeal cookie recipe and we threw in some mixed dried fruit that included raisins, apples, pears, peaches, and apricots. I chopped some Lindt 50% chocolate to add and it turned out dandy.
Guinness brownies, again and again
When berries were in season, I dressed up an Everyday Food magazine recipe--a raspberry baked custard became a blackberry-chocolate baked custard. Yum.

I've made homemade cranberry sauce twice this holiday season so far--in Japan I used my homemade umeshu (plum wine) in the sauce, but now that we're in the States, I'm adding bottled sangria instead and it lends a nice fruity flavor. The original recipe calls for port but I never have any of that on hand. The cranberry sauce got rave reviews at my friends' home on Thanksgiving! (And if you happen to have any left over, it's great on plain yogurt for a pre-bedtime snack.)

Wanting to make and devour:

Julia Child's French bread (I've got her DVD set and she makes it look so fun!)
Kim's egg nog (yummy-soh!)
Pioneer Woman's leek and potato pizza (in her cookbook that I waited months for at our library)
latkes - a friend told me about her Hanukkah party and made me drool!

Better go get some sleep so I have energy to get back in the kitchen tomorrow...

helen's plum compote

2010-11-14T20:00:00.002+09:00

Perchance because my own mama left this mornin' to head back to the Midwest, I'm feeling nostalgic for all things mom-(mum-)ish and so my thoughts turn to my mother-in-law's plum compote (originally from a Le Cordon Bleu cookbook). She made this for us while she and my father-in-law were visiting recently. Oh my word. Amazing. Mum serves it with a dollop each of creme fraiche and mascarpone and the sweet-tartness of the plums fuses perfectly with the smooth creaminess of the two toppings.

You'll need:

plums (why not?)
red wine
red currant jelly (a whole jar)
creme fraiche and/or mascarpone (or ice cream)

Do this:

Wash your plums, halve them, and then take all the pits out. (No need to peel the fruit.) In a shallow (but wide) pan on the stove top, add the red wine and reduce it by half, then add the red currant jelly. Throw in your plums with cut sides upwards.

Bring it back to the boil and simmer with the lid on till the plums are poached and soft.

Devour hot or cold. Either way you're going to be plum happy.

guinness brownies

2010-11-09T21:29:00.002+09:00

Beer. Brownies. What could be better together?

When a friend sent me this recipe (she's not sure where she got it originally), I knew I had to try it.

And a couple of years later...here we are. Makin' brownies with a lovely beer.

These are actually better after sitting a day or two, so if you're planning on serving them to guests, make them at least a day ahead. The flavors meld and you can taste the slight hint of tart/sour Guinness, which works perfectly with the chocolate.

You'll need:

4 large eggs
3/4 c. flour (I used all purpose)
3/4 c. sugar (I used a bit less than 1/2 c.)
3/4 c. cocoa powder
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I use at least 70%)
4 oz. good-quality white chocolate
1 1/4 c. Guinness
6 T. unsalted butter
confectioners' sugar

Do this:

Preheat your oven to 375 F and butter an 8x8 inch pan. Combine the egg and sugar with an electric mixer till fluffy, then melt together the dark chocolate, white chocolate, and butter. Remove the pan from the heat then add the egg and sugar mixture to it. Sift the flour and cocoa together, beat it into the chocolate mixture, and then whisk the Guinness in. Pour into the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool. Let sit for a day or so (OK, have one piece while you're waiting) and then chow, baby, chow. Cheers! Kanpai!

maters

2010-11-04T14:40:00.003+09:00

Tomato season came to Seattle a bit late this year and these were my final harvest (about 2 weeks ago). Aren't they purty?

And the taste--so flavorful they almost made your taste buds wince, but in a good way.

grandma wright's christmas pudding

2010-10-27T07:14:00.012+09:00

You know, I still have a letter on blue paper from my husband's Grandma Wright that she mailed to us in Japan from the UK in 2001. I had asked her for her Christmas pudding recipe and she indulged me (in her usual sweet way). We miss her so much but know we will see her again someday.

In the meantime, my mother-in-law (Grandma Wright's daughter) and I made Grandma's famous pudding today (ready to mature until Christmas and beyond) and it was a wonderful way to remember special moments from her life.

This is a gorgeous "pudding" that is basically a brandied-fruited-succulent-dense-moist-spicy-heady cake.

It takes two days to make so I will break it down for you (and for my own future reference!).

Day 1

Grab 3 "pudding basins" (if you're in the US, just get some round Pyrex glass bowls with lips, 1 quart/950 ml each). Cut 3 pieces of wax paper into circles to fit the tops of the bowls. Cut 3 pieces of aluminum foil into squares, bigger than the wax paper circles and big enough to cover the bowls and go down over the sides. Get yourself 3 pieces of muslin or white sheets, cut into squares big enough to cover the top of the bowls and to be able to tie up over the top (more on that later). You'll also need 3 pieces of string, each long enough to wrap around the bowls (under the lip) about three times and then to tie off.

Soak 12 ounces sultanas (or golden raisins), 12 ounces currants, 12 ounces raisins, 2 ounces chopped candied orange peel, 2 ounces chopped candied citron peel (or a total of 4 ounces "mixed peel" as it's called in the UK), and 1/2 ounce chopped almonds (I bought slivered almonds and then just chopped them a bit more) in "2 egg cups of brandy" (or in my case, two sake cups). I soaked mine in a casserole dish with a lid.

Measure out 4 ounces of breadcrumbs, 6 ounces self-rising flour, 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. If your flour doesn't have salt, add 1/2 teaspoon salt, otherwise leave it out. Store the breadcrumbs in one covered bowl and the rest of these dry ingredients in another bowl for tomorrow's use.

Day 2

Chop 8 ounces of suet (a block of beef fat--I got mine from Better Meat) into small cubes the size of breadcrumbs.

Put the soaked fruit, nuts, and peel into a stock pot (or other very large bowl or pot) for mixing. Add 2 ounces demerara sugar (or dark brown sugar) and mix in well, then the suet and mix that in as well. Then beat 3 eggs in a separate bowl and stir those puppies in. Next comes the breadcrumbs and after they're stirred in well, throw in the flour and spice mixture bit by bit. Stir with your wooden spoon each time you've added a bit of the flour mixture and if you've got a man hovering around anywhere, get him to do it--it gets very thick and hard to move around.

If the batter is a bit stiff with just 3 eggs, splash in a bit of milk to loosen things up.

Butter the 3 Pyrex bowls well and divide the batter into 3 parts. Scoop 1/3 of the batter into each bowl and pat down well.

Butter one side of each of the wax paper sheets and pat one down on to the top of the batter in each bowl (butter side down), making sure there's no air between the batter and the wax paper.

Then place a piece of foil over each one, shiny side down.

Next, tie the muslin or sheet on the top of each bowl, wrapping the string under the lip of the bowl three times or so, then knot tightly.

Pretend you are wrapping an omiyage with a furoshiki and tie two opposite corners together at the top, then the other two corners over that.

Now you've got a Christmas pudding parcel!

All you have to do now is steam them for 4 hours or so (preferably 6). Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the bottom of the pan...

And you can even steam 2 at once if it makes you happy (and if you don't happen to have tons of large pots hanging around with nothing to do). Check often to make sure the water hasn't boiled out and left your pan dry and if you do need more water, boil it in a separate pot or kettle before adding it to your pots with the puddings.

Stay tuned for Christmas Day when we'll be setting our Christmas pudding on fire and serving it with brandy butter!

Just remember to re-steam the pudding for 2 hours before eating it. Oh, and it can be stored at room temp--all that brandy sloshing around in there is great for preserving it. And the more years it sits, the better. Honestly. It just gets better and better, my friends.

This pudding is stunning. Thank you, Little Grandma!

something's fishy pie

2010-10-10T13:09:00.015+09:00

Sorry about that title. I just can't help it if I'm a product of the Wheel of Fortune generation. (Where is Vanna these days, anyway?)

This pie was definitely a joint effort: My aunt peeled and cut up the potatoes, my mother-in-law inspired me to add the parsley to the sauce and also made the mashed potatoes for the topping, my father-in-law minded the white sauce while I answered the door and then he washed the dishes after the meal (mother-in-law dried them), my uncle read to the kiddos, hubby worked, and two boy-beans chipped in and helped me eat it after all was ready.

Went down like a treat.

A Mamatouille special so I'll try to recreate this for you here but my memory is a tad hazy. I mean, come on, I made it two whole weeks ago. Don't hit me if the ingredient amounts are a bit nebulous, either. I'm trying here, folks! (Or am I trying your patience?)

This makes two casserole dish-fuls, one 9X13 inches and one 8X10 or so.

You'll need:

5 pieces of salmon, probably about 1.5 pounds or so
1 package of tiny scallops, about a pound
Olive oil
Seasoned salt
1 package bacon, chopped and pan fried till crispy
Frozen organic green peas, probably a pound or so
Grated cheddar cheese for the mash and also for sprinkling on top
Plenty of potatoes - peeled, chopped, boiled, and mashed
Milk, butter, minced garlic, and seasonings for the mash
Chopped fresh parsley
8 cups milk, 16 T. flour, 16 T. butter (for the white sauce)
S&P

Do this:

Pan fry the salmon and scallops in olive oil (adding seasoned salt), flake the salmon and add that and the scallops into the bottom of the two casserole dishes. Toss over the peas and then add the chopped cooked bacon.

Make a white sauce (I like to use a wire whisk to eliminate any lumps) by melting the butter and then whisking in the flour. Gradually pour in the milk, whisking all the time till thickened. Stir in the fresh chopped parsley and check for seasonings.

Pour the white sauce over the fish, scallops, peas, and bacon.

Spoon the cheesy garlicky mash over the top of the two casseroles and then sprinkle a bit of extra cheese and parsley over the top. Bake at about 350 F/180 C for about 30 minutes or so until bubbly and utterly delish.

Consume with some of your favorite peeps and serve with yo mama's carrot-pineapple-raisin-apple salad, nice bakery bread, vine-ripe sliced tomatoes, and some chilled white vino.

papatouille's peachy lamb

2010-09-12T11:04:00.008+09:00

Buwahaha! When the cat's away, the Papatouille mouse will post on her blog.

OK, well actually, Mamatouille asked me to post this one. Actually, she has been asking me to make this recipe for a long, long time. Approximately 9 years in fact. Or, to put it another way, the temporal distance from our Ireland honeymoon to now.

So, after 9 years of begging, ol' Mama T boxed me into a corner by buying me two of the crucial ingredients - lamb and peaches. What could I do? I couldn't let the lamb die in vain.

All I had to do was to remember the recipe itself. Ah, yes. The other indispensable factor - which I could not remember. You see, when we were in Ireland (near a tiny dot-on-the-map of a place called Dunmanway), I just made it up as I went along. Okay, so I will throw out a small crumb of credit to my darling mother, who I am sure made something like this in the long-distant past of my childhood. But even then, all I was really going on was the lamb and the peaches.

So that is where I started tonight - with a slab-pack of stewing lamb (3/4 lb - or 0.34 kilos in real money), and two peachy peaches.

What to add to recreate the romantic dinner of yore?

Well, if you ever get to see any more Papatouille posts (which is about a 50/50 chance at this stage of this post) you will know that the big P does not let such things as recipes hold him back. The key is to see what you have, and then try to figure a way to blend it - tastefully - together.

A quick raid of the fridge and the pantry resulted in the following haul:

1 onion
1 bayleaf
1/2 an orange bell pepper
A bottle of red wine (a bit excessive to use the whole bottle, so we will try to restrain ourselves and just use a splash)
Some salt
Some rubbed sage
Some garlic in a toothpaste tube
A pack of couscous
Some Tuscan butter with garlic and Italian herbs

So, without further ado, let's cut to the (food) chase and , in the immortal words of Mrs. M, "Do this":

Slap some butter in the pan and get it sizzling nicely. Now, dump the lamb in and get it nicely browned on all sides. (Don't go too nuts with this. The center does not have to be well-cooked as it will get done as the evening progresses.)

Remove the lamb to a separate plate, and now it is the turn of the veggies. In go the onions and bell pepper. Toss in the bay leaf, a pinch of salt, some Worcester Sauce (oops, forgot to mention that in the list) and the sage. Stir it up until the vegetable matter is slightly browned and soft.

Now the lamb can skip back on in. Throw in a large dash of the red vino and a squeeze of garlic toothpaste and let the mixture simmer for about 20 minutes. Last to go in are the two peaches, peeled and cut up small.

The interesting and mysterious thing is that, for some inexplicable reason, the arrival of the peaches results in a welcome thickening of the sauce. Another 15 minutes of slow simmering, and the peaches are blending in and looking less like fruit salad.

The Peachy Lamb has reached its peak and is ready to be consumed.

And so you sit down to enjoy your lamb and.... couscous. At which point, you realize you have completely forgotten about that little detail. Fortunately, couscous is deadly simple to prepare, even if it does require the tedious process of actually reading some instructions on a box and following them. No room for ad libbing there, I'm afraid. Sorry about that. But at least you can get it done quickly.

So what are you waiting for? Run along and do that before your lamb gets cold.

Waits. Twiddles thumbs.

You're back? Great. Serve the lamb over the nice, fresh couscous and enjoy.

Bonny appetite, as they say in Scotland.

zucchini-lime quick bread

2010-09-11T14:13:00.002+09:00

Though I've only got a small veggie garden in the backyard, the zucchini seems to enjoy it here in the Pacific Northwest and went a bit mad on ye olde multiplying. I made up my own zuke smoothies the other day and have tried out all sorts fun-ness, including my own take on a traditional quick bread.

You can find a zucchini quick bread recipe anywhere online (I used one from my favorite cookbook, More with Less) and instead of adding the staple spices (cinnamon, etc.), I zested and juiced two limes. (I also used half whole-wheat flour and half all-purpose.)

My two favorite little beans helped me put it all together and of course they've also been helping me nibble on it. I like mine with cream cheese! Maybe Mamatouille's a bit cheesy after all. (We knew that.)

zuke smoothie

2010-09-05T09:19:00.009+09:00

It's so much fun heading out to my wee garden in the backyard every day and finding hidden treasures (such as this 10-inch zucchini!).

I thought this one was cute.

I have loads of new zuke recipes to post, but for now, I will leave one of my latest smoothies with you: Blitz 2 bananas, 1/2 fresh pineapple, 1 cup frozen blueberries, toasted wheat germ, flax seed meal, lime juice, 1 zucchini, 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, a huge handful of spinach, and some plain yogurt. Enjoy in a glass with a straw (somehow I can drink a green smoothie quicker with a straw than without).

View from my kitchen window. Stones courtesy of Deception Pass, Whidbey Island.

oh bring me some figgy ricotta!

2010-08-27T12:43:00.005+09:00

OK, so these are actually grilled figs with spiced ricotta, a cinnamon-infused syrup, and topped off with sliced almonds...

Have I got your attention yet?

It all started with a bowlful of Californian green figs (grown right here in Seattle) from my next-door neighbor's tree and left on our front porch. You gotta love this street--another neighbor left us a gorgeous bouquet of homegrown dahlias and other flowery goodies recently and if you forgot to buy sesame seeds on your last grocery run, someone nearby will have some for you to borrow a bit.

Recipe adapted from an Australian gem simply called Healthy Eating (published by Bay Books).

Grilled Figs with Ricotta

You'll need:

2 T. honey
1 cinnamon stick
3 T. flaked almonds
4 large or 8 small fresh figs
125 g (1/2 c.) low-fat ricotta cheese (but I admit I used full-fat!)
1/2 t. vanilla essence
2 T. icing (confectioners') sugar, sifted
pinch of ground cinnamon
1/2 t. finely grated orange zest (I used my microplane grater)
I also added a splash of lime juice and a pinch of nutmeg to the ricotta mixture

Do this:

Along with 80 ml (1/3 c.) water, add the honey and cinnamon stick to a small pan and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 6 minutes, or until it's all thickened up and reduced to about half of what it originally was. Turn off the heat, take out the cinnamon stick, and stir in the almonds.

Preheat your grill (broiler). Grease a baking pan and slice the figs into quarters, being careful not to go all the way through and keeping them attached at the base. Put 'em in your baking pan, side by side and ready for some grilling action, baby.

In a smallish bowl, stir up the ricotta with the vanilla, sifted sugar, ground cinnamon, orange zest, lime juice, and pinch of nutmeg. Divvy it up amongst the cute little figgy-wiggies, spooning some syrup with almonds over each one. Broil/grill (watch it carefully!!!) until the almonds are slightly browned (note: I used my camera carefully because a few of my burnt almonds told me they were a bit embarrassed). Cool for a few minutes, spooning over any juices and almonds that are in the bottom of the pan.

Consume and then roll your eyes in taste-bud ecstasy. There's just something special about figs and cheese--a match made in heaven.

two!

2010-08-24T13:59:00.006+09:00

Happy two years to me, happy two years to me, happy two years, dear Mamatouille, happy two years to moi!

Two years...203 posts...

Take a gander at a few of my faves:

Guest post: Oh, baby! (I can't believe my baby is now over two himself!)
Guest post: Maffew-bean makes eggs (and he's now 4!)
Grandma's Hankyu train cake (sweetness)
Guacamole-smothered Mexican burgers (my mom's delish Mexican meatloaf in a different form)
Sweet-hot lotus root (because it reminds me of Japan!)
Persimmon pudding (another lovely reminder of Japan, and my grandma, too!)
Mamatouille apron strings (thanks again, Hollysnail!)
Christmas cheesecake with sloshed cranberry sauce (one of my forever faves)
Lemon-yogurt chicken with raisin-pecan couscous (don't you love it when you have yummy brainwaves?)
Cranberry-lemon bread pudding with plum-wine sauce (another Mamatouille original)

Seems like a lot of cranberry and lemon floating around these here pages.

Anyway, thanks to all of you still reading Mamatouille! I haven't kept up with Foodbuzz and I hardly comment on anyone else's blogs anymore, but if you're stickin' with me, I wanna blow you a big kiss from Seattle! Love ya!

current fave pancakes

2010-08-21T12:55:00.002+09:00

I know it's probably not blog-worthy that I (ahem) use a pancake mix, but would it make you feel any better if I told you it's Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Pancake and Waffle Mix? Only shipped in from one state away? I also figure it's cheaper for me to purchase the mix than it is to actually go out and buy ten different grains to make it myself.

Plus, when you've got at least one little preschoolertouille who wakes up before 6:00 (yes, that's a.m.) every day, then you want something to fix in the morning that doesn't require too much brainwork.

BUT because I'm Mamatouille, of course I mix these babies with a twist. Instead of water, I use equal amounts of whole milk, applesauce, and pureed organic pumpkin. And I also throw in some freshly grated Oregonian cheese. (See, I do some work in the morning! I grate! I probably should have my cuppa before operating any sort of sharp machinery such as a box grater, but what the hey, I live dangerously.)

These are great slathered with honey.

And you gotta love your honeys a lot to be flipping 'cakes at 6.

red-bean smoothies

2010-08-05T05:39:00.005+09:00

After going to an outdoor kids' concert to see Recess Monkey in Kirkland, Washington, the other day, we stopped by Cafe Happy (vegetarian Taiwanese style) on our way back to the car. Their red-bean smoothie was absolutely delish and I decided I had to try to make it for myself!

So I got myself down to an Asian market a few days later and bought a can of sweet red bean paste from Japan. Maybe you've heard of azuki beans? These were the mushed and smushed variety called an or anko.

I made one version with rice milk, ice, bean paste, spinach, cinnamon, and mixed frozen berries. Yum.

The other version was bean paste, ice, rice milk, spinach, and cinnamon. Also very yummy.

yeast-fighting foods

2010-08-03T05:25:00.003+09:00

Plain yogurt, homemade iced cinnamon tea, salad smothered in olive-oil sauteed garlic cloves

Sometimes our bodies get out of kilter and yeast decides to rear its ugliness and invade our lives.

This is when I say no to

sugary foods
bread (even my beloved Wasa crackers have yeast listed as an ingredient)
beer

And a resounding yes to

plenty of plain yogurt
whole garlic cloves by the boatloads
cranberry juice (no sugar added) and cranberry supplements as well
probiotic acidophilus supplements (refrigerate after opening)
cinnamon (tea recipe to follow)

Years ago my grandma gave me a Reader's Digest booklet called Favorite Remedies from Your Kitchen and it has come in handy on so many occasions. Here's their cinnamon yeast-fighting tea recipe: Add 8 to 10 broken cinnamon sticks (I buy them in bulk from the bin section of the store--it's much cheaper that way) to 4 cups boiling water and let it all simmer for 5 minutes, then take the pot off the burner. It goes on to say that you should let it steep for 45 minutes, but I do it overnight and then refrigerate and serve it with ice.

I think yeast problems are more rampant than we like to think (apparently even men can get them!) and if you'd like more information from a source that's a great help to me, check out The Yeast Infection Homepage, which has super-duper ideas for fighting back!

I hope I haven't grossed anybody out, I just really want to pass on creative and helpful ideas to any of you who might suffer in this way. Here's to your great health! Cheers! (Just make sure you're clanking cranberry-juice glasses--no beer right now, please!)

chard smoothie and green-smoothie fridging

2010-08-01T13:33:00.001+09:00

So this is what a green-smoothie addict has in her fridge (list of fresh produce taken at a random moment after a trip to farmers market and grocery store): broccoli, red chard, spinach, pineapple, mango, rhubarb, carrots, strawberries, ginger, cabbage, canteloupe, grapes, oranges, apples, bananas, avocados, zucchini, cukes, cilantro, celery, and watermelon. At one time. No joke.

And a chard smoothie I concocted that we really loved: broccoli, red chard, kale, honey, toasted wheat germ, plain yogurt, orange juice, water, mango, pineapple, carrots, apple.

I'm thinking of having my middle name legally changed to Green.

dried squirrel brains

2010-07-14T06:40:00.005+09:00

Sounds like the name of an alternative rock band, hey.

Actually, this is what happens when you've got two little boy-beans and one Papatouille who thinks he's Calvin's dad--everything gets renamed. These just happen to be sweet-savoury oven-roasted pecans, inspired by some Sahale Valdosta pecans (with cranberries, black pepper, and orange zest) I bought to put on a spinach strawberry salad. We all loved them so I decided to buy my own bag of pecans and do something about it.

I just made it up as I went along and the little beanies helped as well. They shook in some spices and stirred them up really diligently, knowing the prize awaiting them at the end.

You'll need:

10-oz. bag pecans
2 teaspoons olive oil
one cinnamon stick
microplane grater
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
some shakes of cumin, ginger, coriander, madras curry powder
1/8 c. brown sugar, not packed tightly

Do this:

Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C. Grab a baking sheet and line it with foil, then pour about a teaspoon of olive oil in one hand and use it to coat a handful of pecans in your other hand, rubbing it all together with both hands, and repeating until all your pecans are well slicked and ready for some roasting action. Put them on the pan in a single layer and then grate your cinnamon stick into a separate bowl, adding the other spices and sugar and mixing it all up well. Toss this over your pecans and stir it with your hands, making sure that the pecans are well coated and then lying in a single layer again. Bake for 4 to 4.5 minutes, take it out and stir, then bake for the same amount of time again.

Try to let them cool before popping one after another into your waiting gob!

taking the guest-work out of pbj bread pudding

2010-07-03T05:41:00.004+09:00

Guest posted today over at Tribeca Yummy Mummy--here's a little photo preview:

And don't forget to check out the rhubarb crumble ice cream I made a few days ago! Summer is upon us (finally)...

rhubarb crumble ice cream!!!

2010-07-01T13:30:00.004+09:00

Almost every time we've visited the UK, my mother-in-law makes this Delia Smith recipe and it knocks our socks off with every tart-sweet creamy luscious bite. A hint of ginger in the crumble adds a surprising subtle kick.

We were having friends over for dinner on Monday evening and so I spent quite a chunk of Sunday afternoon making this BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!

You don't even have to have an ice cream maker, thank goodness. (I had some leftover rhubarb so I had the idea to bake it as you would for this recipe but then just use it as a topping on storebought vanilla ice cream or blend it in with a hand mixer.)

I did add some vanilla to the rhubarb part and a pinch of salt to the crumble, but other than that, left well enough alone.

Oh man. This is GOOD STUFF. (I don't usually write in a lot of caps but sometimes you just need to. This ice cream just MAKES me use caps. I can't help it.)

choco pb ice cream cake

2010-05-06T05:35:00.006+09:00

When our soon-to-turn-two-year-old asked for "chocolate milk cake" for his upcoming birthday, a friend suggested an ice cream cake.

It was meant to be.

I went a step further in my imagination, adding peanut butter to the mix, and then just did a quick online search for chocolate peanut butter ice cream cake. After finding this one from Eggs on Sunday, I knew I had to go for it, so I did!

Starting with a dark chocolate cookie/butter base, Breyer's chocolate ice cream blended with chopped peanut butter cups for a middle, smothered in a 60% cacao chips and heavy cream ganache, and then topped with more chopped peanut butter cups, this cake is really a once-a-year treat. But hey, if it's birthday time, indulge!

(Helpful hint: Slice the cake when it's fresh out of the freezer--if you wait too long, the middle gets squishy and the ganache stays firm, which make for a messy piece of cake.)

And our third child enjoyed it, too...

greening my kitchen...and my tummy

2010-04-29T13:29:00.005+09:00

I know you're thinking I should just give up the "food" blog and start one just for green smoothies, but what the hey, I'm all for integration...

I've found that for green smoothies, the best way to layer it all up is to put the mushiest, juiciest fruit at the bottom, add some juice (or water), and put the harder veggies or fruit, like carrots, near the middle. After I liquefy it all, I then add my leafy greens.

This one had honeydew melon, cilantro, celery, cucumber, carrots, apple, apple juice, blueberry-pomegranate-veggie juice, bananas, clementines, plain yogurt, frozen marion blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries, wheat germ, and spinach (spinach not shown because I hadn't blitzed it all yet).

And just to show you that I do put other substances besides green smoothies in my bod...

One of my favorite snacks of all times: ants on a log! My mom used to make these for us--just slather some all-natural peanut butter (no sugar or sweeteners) on celery sticks and then top with raisins. Mmmmm, mmmmm, good!

What was your favorite snackage as a kid?

One more question--my soon-to-be-two-year-old wants me to make him a "chocolate milk cake" for his birthday. Any ideas for me?

long time no see mamatouille

2010-04-21T12:14:00.005+09:00

I'm sure you know how it is when you move--you're not really up to your usual prowess in the kitchen. That's how it was with me anyway when we moved here to Seattle a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still not all there (or anywhere, for that matter).

So this actually was my first real meal that I made, and it was just thrown together with what I had available (foodwise and utensil/pot-wise), but we loved it so much I've already made it a second time in two weeks.

I added three cups uncooked rice to the rice cooker, about 6 boneless chicken tenders cut into bite-sized pieces, about 2 t. curry powder, 1/2 c. raisins, 2 carrots chopped in tiny cubes, a dash or two of cinnamon, a drizzle of honey, a dab of veggie oil, about 1 t. salt, and 4 c. water and cooked it as you would any white rice. Love, love, love it. And the kiddiewinks enjoyed it, too.

Our first green smoothie after we moved here: orange-tangerine juice, apple juice, carrots, cilantro, minced ginger, spinach, pineapple, baby romaine, bananas, mikan (clementines--sorry, I can't stop using Japanese!), frozen mixed berries, plain yogurt, and honey.

And I've been making them almost every day to make up for the frozen pizzas and lasagna we've been consuming!

For healthy on-the-go snackage, I've been whipping up fresh guacamole a lot lately. We do "dip-dip" (as our toddler calls it) with raw sugar snap peas, baby carrots, sliced red peppers, and crunchy salty tortilla chips. For my guac, I just mash avocados with plain yogurt, lemon or lime juice, fresh chopped cilantro, salt, salsa, and plenty of minced garlic.

"The Fresh guy" (as our preschooler calls him) is my hero--Seattle is the only city in the world Amazon Fresh delivers to, and boy am I happy about that!

happy birthday and a green smoothie for you

2010-03-31T06:17:00.002+09:00

In honor of my dad-in-law's birthday today, and the fact that he has started making his own green smoothies every day, here's my latest green smoothie concoction:

purple cabbage
radicchio
leafy green lettuce
spinach
carrots
wheat germ
flaxseed meal
pears
clementines
apple juice
honey
plain yogurt
bananas
mangoes
pineapple
frozen mixed berries
grapefruit juice
strawberry and banana V-Fusion veggie/fruit juice

Happy birthday, Dad, and a happy, healthy new green year for you!

To everyone else, yes, I'm still cooking, just gearing up for yet another move (this time across the country instead of an international one), so not posting much. More to come soon...from Seattle!

the latest greenage

2010-03-04T06:14:00.004+09:00

Green smoothie I made this morning: a bunch of fresh cilantro, frozen peaches, two bananas, sprinkling of cinnamon, one-quarter fresh pineapple, about a cup of apple juice, a bit of toasted wheat germ, flaxseed meal, one plum, one carrot, and plenty of fresh organic baby spinach. YUM.

What a fresh-tasting, zingy concoction, and I loved the outdoorsy, springy flavor of the cilantro. Try it, Mikey, you'll like it!

cottage pie

2010-02-23T12:14:00.005+09:00

Florida girl that I am, I never knew that shepherd's pie was actually made with lamb and cottage pie with beef--until I spent some time in the UK studying and then married a Brit whose mum is a wonderful cook.

I first had cottage pie with baked beans at my in-laws' home (in Buckinghamshire) and haven't looked back. Yum. My mother-in-law usually adds crushed potato chips (crisps) on top with dabs of butter so that it gets all brown and crunchy. Double yum.

This post is dedicated to my little sis who asked me today to post my "recipe" for cottage pie--I use the term loosely because I change it a little every time I make it.

Here's today's version for your delectation.

You'll need:

1 lb. organic ground beef
3 carrots, grated (they'll cook faster that way)
one onion, diced
5 or 6 cloves garlic, diced finely
4 sticks celery, diced
a blob of tomato paste
a few splashes Worcestershire sauce
a spoonful of ketchup
vegetarian baked beans (about 16 oz. or so)
Nature's Seasons seasoning salt
ground black pepper
about 6 or 7 potatoes, peeled and chopped
whole milk or half and half
butter
shredded cheese
more Nature's Seasons

Do this:

Saute the ground beef with the veggies and garlic, then add the ketchup, tomato paste (about 4 T.), Worcestershire sauce, baked beans, seasoning salt, and pepper. Let simmer a bit and in the meanwhile, boil the potatoes till tender, drain, mash, and add heated milk, butter, cheese, and seasonings.

In a casserole dish, plop the meat mixture on bottom and then spread the mashed taters over the top, adding crushed potato chips if you've got them. Bake at about 350 F/180 C for 15 minutes or so, till bubbly on bottom and a bit browned on top.

Grab a spoon and dig in! Itadakimasu!

mayan hot chocolate

2010-02-10T13:20:00.002+09:00

Got this little gem of a recipe off the chocolate soy milk carton.

Mix one cup of chocolate soy milk (or, I presume, any kind of chocolate milk), one teaspoon cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Heat and serve with a cinnamon stick.

I made my mom and hubby taste this and we all rolled our eyes and said, "That's good!"

Honestly, I've never had such gorgeous hot chocolate. Ever.

chinese green smoothie

2010-02-10T13:13:00.002+09:00

One of my friends in Japan, Noriko, took me to a Chinese restaurant one day for lunch--I think I was pregnant at the time and craving fruit and veggies like there's no tomorrow. The restaurant was upscale and absolutely beautiful with a dark wood, minimalist kind of decor, and the menu was unlike any Chinese food I'd ever had.

When I saw this smoothie, I had to try it--full of fresh cabbage, kiwi, grapefruit, pineapple, and ice, it's overflowing with goodness and good taste.

I tried to replicate it at home today and threw in one quarter of a cabbage, half a grapefruit, two kiwi, one quarter of a pineapple, plenty of ice, and some honey.

Delicious? Absolutely.

fasoulia khadra

2010-02-10T12:43:00.004+09:00

The hubster and I rarely get to have dates, but on a recent one we visited a Syrian restaurant called The Shish Cafe (here in the Madison area). It was a Friday night, hopping, and we were glad we had reservations. They were short one waiter and our poor waitress was run off her feet, but the owner/chef and the waitress were very gracious in spite of that.

We started off with baba ghanouj, hummus, tabouleh (all three the best I've ever had!), and warm pita to scoop it all up. Stephen ordered the "lamb fasoulieh" (lamb and green bean stew), and I had the "lamb borek" (small savoury pies with ground lamb, toasted pine nuts, parsley, onions, and garlic). Both fabulous choices, but we both ended up oohing and ahhing the most over Stephen's stew.

I had to find out how to make it!

The fasoulia khadra recipe I found and made yesterday came very close and we do recommend it. Even if you can't get to The Shish Cafe, at least you can do this yourself at home and ooh and ahh with your family at your own dinner table. I served it with couscous (I make mine with chicken bouillon and olive oil), paprika, toasted slivered almonds, and some parsley on top like they did at the restaurant. I made the stew in the crock pot and the lamb was extremely tender.

The whole thing is so more-ish I might have to have some leftovers as a midnight snack tonight. Mmmmmmmmm...

tym's cranberry curd

2010-02-09T12:22:00.000+09:00

I've been aching to make Tribeca Yummy Mummy's cranberry curd ever since she posted it a year ago. We didn't have access to fresh cranberries in Japan so I just had to bite my empty spoon and hold my breath until we moved to the States and got ourselves a big industrial-sized bag of the little red tart fruits from Costco.

And away I went! The only thing I didn't have on hand was orange blossom water, so I just added some grated orange peel instead.

It's great on everything, including organic flaxseed waffles.

Just make sure you don't spill half your just-made curd all over your jeans, sweater, slippers, and socks--you want as much of this stuff as possible to spill into your gob.

pigout!

2010-02-02T23:02:00.002+09:00

My love of food is nothing new, apparently. My aunt is helping my grandparents go through their stacks of paperwork and found a notebook that my grandma wrote in on a motorhome trip in 1985 that my sister and I took with my grandparents. My grandma had written funny quotes that my sister and I made every day.

One day there was going to be a BBQ in an RV park where we were staying. My sister said she was not going to go to that "pigout"!

My answer? "I'm definitely going--it's the opportunity of a lifetime!"

Amen, sister.

simple celery soup

2010-01-18T04:30:00.004+09:00

Live in Snow Country? Feeling a bit chilled? This soup will warm your tummy, and even if you don't particularly care for celery, will make your taste buds verrrrry happy.

Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, this has been Mamatouille-messed-with and now I'm sure has a completely different cellular composition than what BH & G started with. Anyway, try it and see if you like it - it's a bit vague so just play as you go.

You'll need:

celery, about 4 cups chopped
1 or 2 onions, chopped
water, about 1.5 cups
chicken stock cubes - maybe 3 or so?
chopped parsley, to taste
white pepper, to taste

For the thin white sauce:

3 T. butter
3 T. flour
3 cups milk

Do this:

In a stock pot, boil the celery and onions till tender in some water and chicken stock cubes. In a separate small pan, make the white sauce (I like to use a wire whisk so the flour doesn't clump) by melting the butter, adding the flour bit by bit, stirring with the wire whisk, and then gradually adding the milk and stirring till thickened a bit. This will be thin so don't worry if you can't make a sidewalk with it.

Using a hand blender (immersion blender) or regular blender, blitz the celery, onions, and cooking water till almost smooth. Pour in the white sauce and taste for seasonings, throwing in a bit of chopped parsley and some ground white pepper. You shouldn't need any extra salt because of the highly salty stock cubes, but use your own personal judgment. You're a smart cookie - you can do it.

As you can see from the photo, our kiddiewinks love this, and I'll bet yours will, too.

happy healthy new year and a lime green smoothie

2010-01-11T05:09:00.002+09:00

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu (happy new year)!

We're well into our second month of green smoothies and we're feeling re-energized and recharged in the new year.

Here's my latest Mamatouille made-up concoction - just blend fresh lime juice, fresh pineapple, clementines, honey, spinach, carrots, grapefruit juice, banana, flaxseed meal, and wheat germ. Zesty and refreshing!

I make at least one batch of green smoothie every day and it's usually gone in a matter of minutes. And every time it's a different blend, just using whatever I have on hand.

Have a gander at concoctions I've blended in the past:

goya pineapple smoothie (when we were living in Japan and had access to goya)
green smoothie intro
Mexican breakfast cactus smoothie

If you've got little beans in your household, I guarantee you they will hoover this stuff down - and using a straw makes it even more fun!

cacti concoctions

2009-12-31T12:59:00.004+09:00

Man oh man, I just can't help wanting to try new foods all the time (and drool over ones I already know and love). I left two of my boys (aka hubby and older bean - baby bean was home taking a nap with grandma on the watch) at Mickey D's playing and I walked across the parking lot to a Latin grocery store. I browsed to my heart's content, seeing something green and fresh, chopped up, in the fridge section. It looked like green peppers but turned out to be cactus, something I've never had but immediately decided I had to try. I bought a bag of the fresh plus a jar of cactus in brine (very spicy!!!). The lovely Mexican couple who run the store gave me some great ideas for how to use it.

I bought some of their homemade pico de gallo, rinsed off some of the jarred cactus (as instructed by the couple), and chopped it and mixed it in together. Lovely with lime-flavored tortilla chips.

And for the fresh cactus, they told me that in Mexico a lot of people blend raw cactus, celery, pineapple, and grapefruit juice together for a breakfast drink. It turned out to be a delicious smoothie - kind of a woodsy, fresh taste from the celery, a hint of sourness from the cactus, and the pineapple and grapefruit flavors melded it all together into one unique drink - it's like nothing I've ever tasted!

If you live in the Middleton, Wisconsin area, then stop by the shop located at the corner of Century and Allen. You'll have fun browsing and buying! (I sure did.)

christmas brunch

2009-12-29T14:09:00.004+09:00

Lovely family, lovely food. It doesn't get much better than that! (Of course we missed our family and friends in other parts of the country and world - cheers to all of you!)

My mom made a luscious spinach, mushroom, turkey ham, cheesy quiche with a half whole wheat and half white flour base (mixed with cream cheese and butter). Oh. my. word.

Back in the day, my friend Paula from college gave me a marinated fruit salad recipe: You just choose whatever fruit you want and soak it in a mixture of freshly squeezed lime juice, orange juice, chopped fresh mint, and honey. Mmmmm.

And for drinks we had a blend of Simply Limeade and pomegranate 7-Up (idea courtesy of some neighbor friends of ours who served it at their Christmas party).

savoury veggie bread pudding with v8-tequila sauce

2009-12-17T09:59:00.009+09:00

OK, so I got a little carried away here! It all started when we had some leftover artisan roasted garlic bread and it was a little on the stale side (nice crusty bread hardly ever gets old around here, though - this was a fluke for sure). What to do? I just looked up a basic bread pudding recipe (complete with cinnamon, raisins, and vanilla), looked around the kitchen for savoury substitutions, and went a little mad (not so unusual, actually).

I had bought some mushrooms, onions, zucchini, and yellow squash, so I sliced 'em up and sauteed in a little olive oil. Meanwhile, I chopped the bread, had Matthew help me mix up the grated cheese, milk, and eggs, added a few extras, slopped it all together in a greased pan, and baked in a nice relaxing jacuzzi (aka water bath) for a bit.

And shhhhhh, don't tell anybody (oh, maybe I already gave it away in the title), but I made a creamy milky tomato sauce with leftover V8 juice and a few sloshes (whoopsies) of tequila! Mmmmm.

Ahhh, what a lovely bath...

For the savoury veggie bread pudding you'll need:

3/4 loaf stale roasted garlic bread, cubed (or use regular bread and add garlic)
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c. grated sharp cheese
4.5 c. whole milk
2 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, halved lengthwise and then thinly sliced
2 c. sliced mushrooms
2 small onions, diced
olive oil for sauteing
seasoned salt
1/4 c. flaxseed meal
grated parmesan and romano cheeses

For the V8-tequila sauce you'll need:

6 T butter
6 T flour
1/2 c. whole milk
3/4 c. V8 juice
few splashes tequila
seasoned salt
ground black pepper
powdered garlic

Do this:

Saute the veggies with seasoned salt in olive oil till tender, then beat the eggs, milk, grated sharp cheese, and flaxseed meal in a large bowl. Toss in the bread and veggies to coat, then dump it all into a greased pan. Grate or shake the grated cheeses over the top. Set that pan in a larger pan with sides, place in a preheated 350 F/180 C oven, then pour hot water into the larger pan on the bottom, about 1 inch deep. Bake about an hour, checking to see that it doesn't get too browned on top - if it does, just cover with foil till done.

Make the sauce just like you would a regular white sauce. (I like to use a wire whisk to avoid any clumps.) Melt the butter in a pan, toss in your flour bit by bit, whisking all the while (whistling if you like, and if you can). Slowly add in the milk and V8 juice, still whisking, and then season with powdered garlic, seasoned salt, black pepper, and slosh in a bit of that fragrant tequila. Simmer (while whisking, of course) till thickened.

Serve in big whopping helpings with a happy splash of sauce on top. Eat with a spoon and a croon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I haven't been doing much food blogging lately, but of course I've been cooking and eating! Can't stop me!

A few things I've made (and devoured) recently:

cranberry sauce (I can get fresh cranberries now - yea!!!) - great on vanilla or chocolate ice cream
peanut butter and choco shortbread (and don't worry, if you use self-rising flour instead of all-purpose and it ends up too salty, just crumble the shortbread over ice cream - yum)
apple and sour cherry crumble (just made this one up)
silken tofu chocolate peanut-butter pie
pumpkin cheesecake
carrot curry soup
butternut squash soup
lentil stew (a must-have for Wisconsin winters)
our favorite green smoothie lately: 2 T flaxseed meal, 2 bananas, 3 clementines, 2 mangoes, plain yogurt, honey, a splash or two of orange juice, and heaps of organic baby spinach and romaine lettuce
and lots more!

Planning on making Tribeca Yummy Mummy's cranberry curd just as soon as I can buy some more eggs. I promise I'll let ya know how it is and what I slather it on.

it's easy (and yummy) being green

2009-12-03T11:41:00.003+09:00

I've been reading about green smoothies online for ages, but when we were living in Japan we didn't have access to the organic ingredients we wanted, and we couldn't actually afford to buy all the loads of fresh fruits and veggies that go into these puppies (each blenderfull is packed!). We were waiting till we moved to the States to go for it - and go for it, we have!

There are plenty of high-powered, professional-grade blenders out there on the market that green smoothie advocates will tell you you need, but actually, my hubby read reviews for all of them, and our new KitchenAid came out on top in all the ratings. We LOVE it.

We also ordered Victoria Boutenko's Green Smoothie Revolution, mainly for the 200+ recipes. I followed them to the letter for exactly one week but have moved on and do my own thang now. They were a good jumping-off point, and I will go back to them again from time to time, but Mamatouille (my alter ego) kicks in and I just can't help adding whatever floats my boat right at that particular moment.

Today's conjuring led to a blender full of organic spinach, cilantro, purple butter lettuce, frozen bananas, frozen mixed berries, fresh tomatoes, clementines (mikan), V-Fusion tangerine and pomegranate juice, and plain yogurt.

Our favorites always include clementines - they just seem to add the right tang to the greens. We made a Costco run the other day and also have fresh mangoes, pineapples, apples, pears, navel oranges, and organic baby spinach. It's fun to add parsley or cilantro, apricots, and the kitchen sink as well.

And the beans DEVOUR them, ask for seconds and thirds, and beg me to make the smoothies at all hours.

It's great because they are getting all kinds of goodness that they wouldn't normally eat loads of - all packed into a slurpilicious cupful (or three).

The only drawback to green smoothies: green diapers.

hubbard ave. diner

2009-12-02T10:08:00.002+09:00

One of our newest pitstops here in Middleton, Wisconsin, and right next to our local library so we can feed our minds and our bods in one convenient swoop.

Above, the "Wisconsin Burger", loaded with locally made cheese and other goodies. The seasoned waffle fries are to cry for. Mmmmmm.

Famous for their decadent pies...

But I couldn't resist the lemon poppyseed cheesecake - one of the best pieces of cheesecake I've ever had, I tell ya.

Stay tuned for my next post where I will show you how we are combatting American-sized portions of (yummy) calorificness with a little somethin' green every day (and what our beans clamor for - seriously)...

bloggeraid cookbook now available

2009-11-16T05:53:00.003+09:00

I don't know if you remember my cookbook teaser back in February, but the BloggerAid cookbook is now available for sale! Yea!

100% of the proceeds from the book will go towards the World Food Programme's School Meals for underprivileged children around the world, so what are you waiting for?

Get to orderin' this minute.

american punkins

2009-10-30T11:01:00.006+09:00

I suppose it's only fitting that my first Mamatouille blog post after moving back to America from Japan would be loaded with all kinds of quaint (and yummy) Americana. We're staying with my parentals in the Madison, Wisconsin, area and I'm trying to be a proper tourist while here. I've never lived in Wisconsin so I've been doing my part by consuming vast amounts of cheese.

But a few days ago it was all about pumpkins when we visited Green Thumb Farms.

Food? Yes, please! That's what I like to see, folks. I'm all over that.

At only $1 per squash, I couldn't resist.

I got myself a little box of ambercup, butternut, acorn, and carnival squashes and can't wait to fire up my creative juices with these babies (more on that in a future post).

A whole roomful of baskets, apples, apple cider, apple cider donuts, apple butter, and pumpkin bars (somehow I managed to resist the back room full of mouthwatering pies of infinite variety and beauty).

Crumby lips that loved those apple cider donuts!

Amazing, moist, and not-too-sweet pumpkin bars with cream-cheese frosting, and apple cider donuts that were so more-ish I was glad I only bought one box (and deigned to share, too!).

Haven't tried the farm-brewed (non-alcoholic for you UK folks reading this!) apple cider yet but am looking forward to heating up a cup soon - betcha it would be fun to stir around with a cinnamon stick.

I, Mamatouille, would like to propose a new holiday for every fall from now on: Hug-a-Punkin Day! Anybody with me?

seasons

2009-10-09T14:48:00.004+09:00

With all of our hanging out with friends and getting ready for our big trans-Pacific move, I don't have tons of time to wax very philosophical, but these autumnal kaki (persimmon) on my kitchen windowsill are reminding me of the season we are finishing and the new one about to begin.

For some reason, the kaki this year just seem to taste sweeter than usual.

rummified stuffed dates

2009-09-21T16:53:00.006+09:00

These are not for the children, folks.

I had a big bag of dates, and though I'd never tried stuffed ones, for some reason I got fixated on the idea and had to look it up. This recipe from cooks.com uses dates, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and orange peel, but I didn't have the peel. (Definitely trying the orange-peel version for Christmas, though.)

Guess what I substituted? You got it! Rum, mon! (Not Jamaican, but still yummy in these little bites.) And I threw on a dusting of nutmeg at the end.

DO NOT make these if you are hungry. DO NOT make these if you are sitting down to watch a movie. DO NOT make these if you like sweeeeeet things + the sour hit of cream cheese.

So if you DO NOT make these, let me know how you like them.

tocino

2009-09-20T21:29:00.005+09:00

My friend Lissa is such a sweetheart, and when she and her family recently came back from visiting their family and friends in the Philippines, not only did they bring us some amazing peanut polvoron (powdered milk candy - like a dense, milky, melt-in-your-mouth cookie), but the other day she also gave me a marinade mix for tocino.

Tocino is usually made with pork, but I went the chicken route, marinated it overnight, and then cooked it like Lissa said: Pour some water into the pot with the chicken, cook it till the water's gone, then add in a little oil and stir it around. It's a lovely mix of sweet and salty and cooking it with water meant that it got really really tender.

I'd never had tocino and didn't know what to expect, but it was YUMMY!!!

(Thanks, Lissa! Did I do it right?)

goya juice

2009-09-19T14:02:00.004+09:00

When I blogged yesterday about goya chanpuru and how much I love the bitter taste of bitter melon (goya), I said stay tuned for a juice recipe that Stephen's boss makes for all the employees almost every day. He grows goya in the garden around the office so has them on hand to help refresh the workers - and this juice really does bring a zing to your day!

This is all you need:

Blitz half a goya (chopped and deseeded, with the white pith removed), 250 ml (about 8 ounces) pineapple juice, about 2 shiso leaves, and honey to taste (I added about 1-2 T.). Blend till frothy (at least a minute and a half) and enjoy!

Note: Even though goya has amazing healthful properties, apparently it is not recommended for use during pregnancy.

goya chanpuru

2009-09-17T13:30:00.003+09:00

Goya (bitter melon) is such a cool veggie - I could eat it all the time and never get tired of it (it's bitter, though, as the English name for it implies, so if you're not into bitter tastes, it might not be for you). It's grown in Okinawa and a bit in other parts of Japan, and I received one as a gift from my friend Nobue and her garden recently. I asked her how she likes to eat it best and her answer was chanpuru, a dish that used to only be eaten in Okinawa but is now common elsewhere in Japan as well.

Nobue's directions: Cut the goya in half lengthwise, scrape out the white part and the seeds, slice it, and then soak it in salt water for a while to help take away some of the bitterness. Saute it with oil, pork, and vegetables such as carrots, bean sprouts (moyashi), and garlic chives (nira). Beat some egg and add to the pan with some chopped drained hard tofu. For flavor, add salt, pepper, and soy sauce at the end. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Well, I didn't have everything on hand, so I took some liberties, substituting and adding as I went, and this is how I ended up doing it: I sauteed some chopped chicken and minced garlic in oil, then added some cooking sake, sliced onions, and carrots. Next came the goya and some cooked soybeans (in lieu of the tofu I didn't have). I used mostly egg whites (leftover from making lemon-lovers' pie) instead of whole eggs, and instead of the salt and pepper, I used seasoned salt along with the soy sauce.

It's a nice mixture of different flavors (sweet carrots, bitter goya) and textures (soft chicken, crunchy veggies). Can you find or grow goya where you live?

Oh, guys, make sure you stay tuned for a goya juice recipe that my hubby's boss makes for all the employees! Coming soon to a Mamatouille near you...

lemon-lovers' pie

2009-09-10T20:28:00.004+09:00

My friend Julie (of the silken tofu peanut-butter choco pie fame) kindly gave me an extra pre-made cookie pie crust (hard to come by in Japan), and I'd been craving lemon pie for a while.

One time I brought a bottle of key-lime juice back from Florida and once the juice was used up, I just converted the recipe on the back to a lemon pie recipe (you can get bottled lemon juice or fresh lemons here pretty easily).

So here is Mrs. Biddle's Key Lime Pie, morphed into lemon.

You'll need:

One cookie pie crust (homemade or storebought)
14 oz. (414 ml) can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
3 or 4 oz. (6 to 8 T.) of lemon juice (better with fresh if you have it)
Doesn't call for it, but I also add the zest of two lemons

Do this:

Combine the milk and egg yolks on low speed and then slowly add the juice, mixing until well blended. Pour into a cookie crust and bake at 350/180 for 15 minutes. Cool and then refrigerate. (You could probably pour it into individual oven-proof serving cups and nix the crust if you didn't have the energy, resources, or inclination for it. More like lemon custard.)

I really could eat the whole dang pie, but I was generous and shared half with hubby (over 2 nights running).

I'm a sucker for lemons in any form.

cream-of-mushroom okazu

2009-09-10T20:21:00.004+09:00

Still using up staples from the cupboard, and this is one way to get my guys to eat veggies and chicken all in one meal.

Okazu just means anything you put over rice, and I make this differently every time. The base is just cream of mushroom soup, plus I throw in whatever veggies, chicken, and other bits and bobs that I have around.

This is how I made it tonight: Sauteed chopped chicken and minced garlic in oil till done, added chopped cooked carrots and kabocha pumpkin, stirred in two cans cream of mushroom soup, pureed frozen and thawed spinach in some milk with my immersion blender and then added that mixture (chopped spinach is not acceptable to some small palates around here but pureed is fine), and threw in some grated mozzarella and parmesan. Stirred till hot and blended, and served over rice!

wakey-shakey

2009-09-08T15:24:00.004+09:00

Well, Matthew's not so much into naps anymore (poo!) but Joel still has his daily kip about 1 p.m. After he wakes up we all tromp into the kitchen to make yogurt fruit shakes.

Here are some recent combos we've had (using plain yogurt always):

yogurt, bananas, blueberries, toasted wheat germ, and Kagome purple veggie/fruit juice
yogurt, peaches, wheat germ, and honey
yogurt, kiwi, bananas, pineapple, papaya, honey, and wheat germ
yogurt, orange marmalade, wheat germ, and bananas
yogurt, mikan oranges, bananas, fruit-juice sweetened strawberry jam, and wheat germ

The possibilities are endless...

pumpkin and sweet-potato salad

2009-09-06T17:23:00.008+09:00

I got to use up some of my big bag of raisins for this delicious summery Japanese salad that is perfect to put in obento lunchboxes. In fact, I first had it years ago at the Nagoya Basho sumo tournament when a friend brought some in a multi-tiered traditional lacquered bento box, and I was smitten from the get-go.

I'm sure every Japanese housewife has her own version. My friend Nobue gave me her formula, which is so so simple and really yummy with the sweetness of pumpkin (kabocha), sweet potatoes (satsumaimo), and raisins, and a combo sour hit of plain yogurt and cream cheese.

You just dice up some unpeeled sweet potatoes and pumpkin, then cook them as you like (boil, steam, or microwave) till soft. Plump up the raisins with some boiled water, then drain.

While the pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and raisins are still hot, stir in some cubed cream cheese, plain yogurt, and a tiny bit of mayo (I'm not a mayo fan but the Japanese Kewpie-style mayo is not too bad - not sweet like some Western mayos).

Refrigerate and voila! Oishiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii (yummy)!

P.S. Stay tuned for even more pantry-clearing oishii bites to eat...

coconut-milk pudding pops

2009-08-27T13:22:00.005+09:00

Yep, I'm still using up what's left in our cabinet and for sure, that "popsicle stick" is one of my rubber-handled metal measuring spoons! I'll explain in a bit...

The wheels started turning when I was thinking about my cans of coconut milk and I remembered I had a recipe for chocolate pudding pops--so why not do coconut instead? Everybody was happy with the results except hubby who thinks everything should be chocolate (plus he's not a coconut fan). That's OK, though, because it left more for the rest of us.

Matthew-Bean wasn't complaining...he just cruised through his popsicle.

So I assessed my options and realized I probably didn't have enough popsicle molds--no worries because I improvized with plastic cups, waxed paper, and yes, measuring spoons.

I cut waxed paper into circles the size of the bottoms of the cups, laid it in there, and then placed more around the sides of the cups before pouring in the cooled pudding. After it had set for a while in the freezer, I added the measuring spoons when the pudding was frozen enough for the spoons to stay upright.

I had to let them warm up a bit at room temp (or you could run some hot water over the base of the cups) before easily pulling them out...

Then you just unwrap the waxed paper from the sides and peel off the circle from the top of the popsicle.

They were nice and creamy, cold, not too sweet, and with just a hint of cinnamon, would be perfect at the end of a curry meal--though they were wonderful just for a snack all by themselves.

I ended up fusing two recipes: a chocolate pudding pops recipe from More with Less and a Puerto Rican Christmas coconut pudding recipe (tembleque) from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook.

Here's my version, great for nice summery pudding pops. It took 1.5 cans of coconut milk, and I used the leftovers to add to a mandarin orange yogurt shake (plain yogurt, coconut milk, mandarin orange segments, honey, and toasted wheat germ all creamified with the immersion blender).

For the pops, you'll need:

2.5 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. cornstarch
ground cinnamon

Do this:

Combine the milk, sugar, and salt in a pan on the stove over low heat, then use a bit of that mixture in a separate bowl to dissolve the cornstarch. Add that back into the pot, and cook until it's thickened, then cook an additional 5 minutes on low, constantly stirring. Add some ground cinnamon to taste, then let it cool a while.

Pour into popsicle molds of your choice (cups, waxed paper, and measuring spoons are fine). This made enough for 4 popsicles in the proper mold plus 3 small plastic cups' worth.

balsamic (soy)bean dippy spread

2009-08-21T13:17:00.004+09:00

Thanks for your suggestions and helping me use up what I've got left before we head off across the Pacific for our big move (still doesn't seem real--after 8 years in Japan, life in America will be a bit different!).

I neglected to mention I have 1.5 bottles of balsamic vinegar (got them on sale!), so I was thinking balsamic + beans = ?

Bean dip! Found the recipe I liked at Epicurious (came to them via Bon Appetit, apparently). Of course I changed a few things, as I am wont to do, and instead of cannellini beans I used soybeans (it took 3 small cans at 140 g each). I also added minced garlic, seasoned salt, and instead of using sun-dried tomato oil, I just dolloped on some olive oil with the balsamic, and chopped some fresh basil to strew across. (The soybeans I use come in a dry-pack can, so they are harder and drier than cannellini. I had to add a bit of water to the processor to get it to a good consistency.)

We used it as a spread on baguettes, but of course you could take a dip in it if you like. We LOVED LOVED LOVED this and I highly recommend it--a nice blend of creamy olive-oily beans with the spiky sour hit of the vinegar. Lovely.

counting down and using up

2009-08-18T13:50:00.007+09:00

It's not that long till we are moving to the States, and my cupboards (OK, the closet in the Japanese 6-mat tatami room that we use as our dining room/computer room/playroom) is still running over with too many overzealous Costco purchases. We are blessed to have so many provisions!

Here's a quick overview of some of the things I need to use before we go:

6 cans tuna
2 kg of regular flour (Japanese "soft" flour)
9 cans black beans
4 cans soybeans
4 cans black olives
4 cans kidney beans
1 can chickpeas
4 cans creamed corn
6 cans refried beans
1.5 big bags old-fashioned oatmeal
4 cans coconut milk
10 cans cream of mushroom soup
10 cans tomato soup
4 bags (500 g or 1 lb. each) penne pasta
3 bags (500 g or 1 lb. each) angel hair pasta

We've also got some dried chickpeas, dried mixed beans, dried black-eyed peas (I've got a recipe for a black-eyed pea curry meal I'm hoping to try soon), dried lentils, and some staples like couscous and rice.

I feel like I'm cooking up a storm all the time and hardly using up anything (a very good - miraculous? - problem to have).

I've got some ideas already forming, but I'm open to any and all suggestions you may have about easy, fast, fuss-free, and summer-friendly meals that I could make using any/all of these ingredients.

Oh, and by the way, we're probably not going to Costco in Japan anymore! We've got plenty! (OK, maybe just for wet wipes for the kids. We love the Kirkland big, soft wipes for baby bottoms.)

one baguette = two delish dinners

2009-08-12T20:24:00.002+09:00

So let's start with the soysage egg mcmamatouilles. I had one fresh baguette, a bit of leftover egg salad (just with mustard, mayo, and seasoned salt), and some leftover soysage (yes, soy sausages) that I had browned the day before. What to do? Toast the baguette slices with some marg, slap on the egg salad, and arrange the reheated soysages on top with some ketchup. Hubby loved it!

The next day we had a big lunch out so needed a light supper. I had two zucchini in the fridge I needed to deal with, so I chopped them, some onion, yellow pepper, and cherry tomatoes. First into the pan went some olive oil, minced garlic, the zucchini, onion, and yellow pepper, and then after they were nicely sauteed, I added the tomatoes and some seasoned salt. Yummy spread on toasted baguette slices with parmesan and basil!

The kiddietouilles got their veggies turned into a puree for their baguette slices (what the eye does not see the taste buds like anyway)...

And sliced into bite-sized pieces that Mamatouille called "pizza". They were mostly eaten by the little beans, and what they couldn't finish turned into an extra little snack for Daddytouille.

I found a small fruit stand at a train station nearby that has two luscious Japanese peaches for only 250 yen (about US$2.60), a bargain here! So I bought four for our dessert - a lovely sweet way to end the veggie-full supper.

mamatouille musings

2009-08-10T13:50:00.004+09:00

I've figured it out - the meaning of life and what separates us humanoids from the animal kingdom.

The answer? Ready for this?

Recipes.

(image from shawsinn.com)

summer sakana salad

2009-08-09T14:03:00.001+09:00

This is another recipe from my favorite cooking show (and about the only TV that I watch) in Japan (Oshaberi Kukkingu) - it comes on at 1:05 for about 15 minutes, right after I get my boys in bed for naps. Perfect timing!

Sakana is "fish" in Japanese, and you can use any sashimi-grade cut for this more-ish cool-and-tangy salad. Don't worry, though - if you're squeamish about raw seafood, this has had boiled water poured over the fish slices and it's perfectly, tenderly, and completely done.

The salad recipe also calls for myohga, a cousin of shohga (ginger), but if you can't find it in your neck of the woods, you could always substitute ginger or maybe even water chestnuts. Myohga has an almost grassy-earthy flavor with a hint of sourness and I sure hope you can try it - it's not as strong as ginger and it adds a wonderful crunchy herby zinginess to this salad. Just what the doctor ordered for when you're natsubatte (wilting in the summer heat).

Myohga - isn't it beautiful?

For the salad you'll need:

1 carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
2 Japanese thin cucumbers, cut the same way
3 myohga, ditto on the cutting method
sashimi fish, about 24o g, sliced thinly
6 cherry tomatoes, halved

For the dressing you'll need:

1 T. mustard (I used dijon)
2 T. white wine vinegar
1/2 t. salt
bit of cracked pepper
5 T. oil (I used canola - any will do)

Do this:

Mix the dressing ingredients together in a bowl and set aside (I used a small whisk for this). The chef on the show said to add an extra pinch of salt to the dressing for "umami balance."

Put the sliced fish in a colander, set over a bigger bowl, and pour boiling water over it into the bowl. Almost immediately pick up the colander with the cooked fish and place in another bowl full of ice water. Allow the fish to cool, then lift out and drain on a paper towel (also wipe the top with a paper towel) and sprinkle with some salt.

Place a platter or big plate in the fridge to cool, then in a big bowl toss the sliced veggies (except tomatoes), fish, and dressing, reserving a bit of dressing to add at the end. Pull out your cold platter, place the salad on it, then arrange the tomatoes on and around the salad, adding the last bit of dressing over all.

I served this with some suh-weeeeeet corn-on-the-cob for a light summer supper, and I've already ordered the ingredients from the co-op to make it again next week! Can't wait!