Tempura Sushi Salad

 

This month the movie at Food ‘n Flix was very different than the one I hosted last month. Instead of a French dystopian movie, this month’s movie is a documentary about a Japanese sushi chef. Camilla is our host this month, having picked this documentary with its beautiful shots of sushi.

If anyone knows sushi, it’s Jiro. But frankly, this movie didn’t inspire me to make sushi – it terrified me. I’ve never done it before, so I knew any attempt from me would be laughable. I can just see it. It’s embarrassing even in my head. Maybe one day I’ll try sushi, but then not document my failure, because who wants everyone to see that? Being that Jiro is a huge perfectionist, I think he would have appreciated my refrain from trying to participate in his art.

In the film, Yamamoto tells us that there are five attributes of a great chef:

1. Take your work seriously
2. Aspire to improve
3. Maintain cleanliness
4. Be a better leader than a collaborator
5. Be passionate about your work

I am not a cook. I am an amateur that cooks for myself and my boyfriend. I enjoy food, but I am no cook. But I find these attributes so important to employ in all fields of work, to be a good lawyer I’ll need many of those traits as well. The only that might not quite apply is 4, because I think leaders also need to collaborate, but those five attributes can be applied to more than just cooks.

Be passionate.

–

Anyway, because I did not feel inspired to make sushi, I took it and ran with it a bit. I decided I’d use all the things I love in sushi and make a salad. Though I actually really love raw tuna in my sushi (along with other raw fish,) I’m not sure of where I could get fish fresh enough to eat raw and I didn’t want to chance severe sickness. I instead made tempura with shrimp and green beans. Considering my favorite sushi roll is the spider roll (with fried soft shell crab, yumm!) making tempura for my sushi salad seemed appropriate.

Join us at Food ‘n Flix, get inspired, be passionate.

Tempura Sushi Salad

Ingredients
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp salt, divided
8 shrimp, peeled and deveined
a handful of green beans with the ends snapped off
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup ice water
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 cup shortening, divided
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup cooked rice
2 carrots, diced
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 sheet nori, cut into strips
1 avocado, diced

Directions

1. Marinate the shrimp in the white wine and 1/4 tsp of salt for 20 minutes.

2. Mix together flour, ice water, cornstarch, egg yolk, sugar, 1 tsp of the shortening, baking powder, and 1/4 tsp of salt. Once well mixed, coat the shrimp and the green beans with the batter.

3. Heat the shortening in a cast iron skillet or a wok. Once hot add the shrimp and the green beans, in batches, a few at a time. Cook the shrimp about 3 minutes per side, until golden brown. Flip and cook for about 3 more minutes on the other side. Continue until all the shrimp and green beans are fried. Let drain on a paper towel.

4. Put your salad together in a bowl. Add 1/2 cup of rice in each bowl. Surround with the cucumber and carrot pieces. Top with half of the tempura per bowl. Top with avocado and nori.

(serve with soy sauce if you want some!)

* serves 2
* besides Food ‘n Flix, this dish is shared with #FoodieFriday & Foodie Friday

Foodie Pen Pals: May

This month my FPP buddy was Miya from Ohio. Miya made me a box of all of her favorite things with a letter that explained why she included each item. I loved the box and even made the recipe that Miya included in the box for me!

• On the 5th of the month you receive an email pairing you with information about who you’re paired with. You email that person to get information pertaining to allergies and dietary restriction.
• By the 15th you put together a box of treats and mail them to your partner.
• On the last day of the month you post a blog post about your box of treat

It’s your turn to sign up!

This box was full of a lot of thins I could snack on, which is great. Miya tells me she’s a snacker. Snacks right now are wonderful for me, with all the time I’m sitting studying for the bar and in class. I had been out of town when this box arrived. It was a delight to see and gave me a nice distraction from getting back into the groove of studying.

Miya first sent this flavored popcorn, ranking in at 100 calories for the whole bag. I was surprised with the size of the bag and how much carmalicious popcorn I could eat for 100 calories. This popcorn came with me with me to my bar prep class on Constitutional Law. It helped me get thought the 9-5 session.

Next up, Miya included jam from a local cafe that her and her daughter love. I’m not sure what flavor it is yet and I haven’t opened it yet, but she challenged me to make a homemade loaf of bread and slather this on it. I haven’t gotten around to it yet, but  twill make a nice study break to make a loaf.

The next snack in the box was a Pure Organic Chocolate Brownie Bar. This bar is full of omega-3s and antioxidants. While I know it’s healthy and while I actually did like the flavor, the texture wasn’t all there for me. It wa sa good class snack though nonetheless.

Next up, French Pure Butter Cookies. Miya describes these cookies like “a little piece of heaven.” I can’t say I disagree! We actually ate some of these in the peanut butter further below and indulged.

Before opening this box I just thrown some crystallized ginger away, not because I didn’t like it, but because it was very old. I plan to have a baking adventure around these pieces.

I love mustard, so I was happy to see this hot dog mustard. I haven’t had a purpose for it, but a summer night grill of hot dogs may be in the near future.

Here’s that peanut butter I was talking about. Cookie Nookie is amazing. I’ve been hoping a foodie pen pal would send me flavored peanut butter because I’ve wanted to try it, but I couldn’t justify buying myself a jar of it. I’m not going to lie though, I probably shouldn’t have this in my house… it’s already gone. :X

Lastly, Miya included a jar of Herbs de Provence. She uses it on everything. I actually hadn’t ever used it before, so I’m glad she included a recipe for me to try it with. How else should I use this spice blend?

 

The recipe Miya included for me was for an asparagus and goat cheese omelet. I didn’t have any goat cheese, so I used what I had on hand: Monterey Jack cheese. I haven’t ever actually made an omelet before and I was shocked at how pretty mine looked when I was done. Besides using the Herbs de Provence  I’m going to need make some more omelets!

Asparagus Omelet

Ingredients
2 cups asparagus, cut into small pieces
2 tbsp unsalted butter
salt and pepper, to taste
5 eggs, beaten
3 oz Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
1 tbsp green onions, chopped
1 tsp Herbs de Provence

Directions

1. Melt 1 tbsp butter in in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus and toss to coat with butter. Add 2 tbsp of water and cover, steaming the asparagus until cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes.

2. Add remaining butter to pan and place back over the medium-high heat. When the butter has melted pour in the eggs. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the edges of the egg as it sets, titling the pan to allow the liquid egg to run underneath. Once the eggs have began to set in the center, sprinkle the cheese down the center of the omelet, topping with asparagus. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid and remove from heat, allowing the residual heat to continue cooking the eggs for about one more minute.

3. Form the sides of the omelet into the center to cover the filling. Gently slide onto a plate and sprinkle with green onions.

* serves 2
* Besides the FPP roundup, this recipe is being shared with Weekend Potluck, #FoodieFriday, & Foodie Friday

Curried Lentil Squash Stew

This month I hosted Food ‘n Flix, showing the French  film Delicatessen. As I mentioned in my announcement post, Delicatessen is a dark movie. The movie focuses mainly on Louison, an unemployed clown, who answers an ad in a newspaper for work. This ad however actually designed to lure unknown victims to the building, so that he can butcher them for meat.

Let me say, this isn’t a movie based in the world as we know it. Rather, Delicatessen is a post-apocalyptic film in a time where people use food as currency.

In the beginning of the movie, when Louison arrives at the butcher’s in a taxi, he pays the cab driver in lentils (and his shoes.) I love lentils, and such, I ran with that thread in making this dinner of lentils and squash. I wonder how much all of the components of this dish would be worth in Louison’s world.

If you haven’t yet, make sure you enter your post-apocalyptic or French or wherever you decide to take it dish before May 29th to be included in our round-up. Please no cannibalism!

Curried Lentil Squash Stew
(source)

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger powder
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup dried lentils
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 summer squash, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
2 red potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
5 oz baby spinach

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onions and carrots, for about 8 minutes or until soft.

2. Add the garlic, ginger, curry, and salt. Cook, stirring until fragrant.

3. Stir in the lentils, broth, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

4. Add the squash and potatoes. Cover and simmer for an hour.

5. Remove the lid and stir in the spinach until wilted.

* serves 2
* besides Food ‘n Flix, this dish is being shared with See Ya In The Gumbo

 

Carbonnade Flamande

 

This dish was made for my ‘journey’ to Belgium. Carbonnade flamande is a stew chocked with flavor, with onions and beef. Google translates tells me that carbonnade flamande means: beef stewed in beer seasoned with garlic and served with boiled potatoes. I wish I had looked at google before making this, because it would have gone great with potatoes. Instead I just enjoyed the stew on its own.

The use of mustard in the broth was unlike anything I’ve made before. I loved how thick the broth was. It’s the perfect bar examination prep food.

Carbonnade Flamande
(source)

Inredients
3 lbs chuck roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
salt and pepper, to taste
4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 medium onions, sliced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 1/2 cups Belgian beer
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar

Directions

1. Pat the beef dry and season with salt and pepper. In a heavy pot over medium-high melt 2 tbsp of the butter. Add the beef and brown, 3 minutes per side. Remove the beef from the pot and set aside.

2. Add the remaining butter to the pot. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onions and season with salt. Cook until the onions are browned, about 15 minutes. Add the flour and stir until the onions are coated with the flour. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the broth, scraping the bottom of the pan to get loosen the browned bits. Stir in the beer, thyme, bay leaves, and the beef.

3. Increase the heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Stir occasionally. A half hour before serving stir in the mustard and brown sugar. When time to serve, remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.

* serves 6
* this recipe is shared with Tasteful Tuesday & Tempt My Tummy

Taco Salad

 

I’m part of the website swap-bot. I participate in a lot of recipe swaps. Recently one of the swaps I participated in was called Send Me Some New Recipes. The swap required that you mail an envelope with at least 25 recipes in it, taken from anywhere. I sent recipes to my partners cut from magazines, handwritten from my personal collection, and printed from blogs online. One of the envelopes I received was a ton (25) recipes written on neon index cards. I added these to my recipe box collection, which has become significantly fuller since I started swap-bot.

This recipe was written on a neon green index card. This was a super easy recipe and was very delicious.

Taco Salad

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp Penzey’s Bold Taco spice
3/4 cup water
10 cups romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup onion, chopped
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup salad dressing of choice
1/2 cup tortilla chips, crushed
sour cream, optional (also, guacamole could work!)

Directions

1. In a large skillet cook the ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain. Stir in the taco spice and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, cooking for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl combine the lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and cheese. Stir in the ground beef. Drizzle with the salad dressing and toss to coat. Sprinkle with the crushed chips. Serve with option sour cream or guacamole (or both!) on top.

* serves 5
* shared with Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, & #Foodie Friday

Braised Short Ribs In Tomatillo Sauce

 

The next country in my around-the-world adventure was Mexico. Though I make Mexican food frequently, I decided to search online for authentic Mexican recipes. My searching led me to Receta de Costillas de Res en Salsa Verde, or.. Braised Short Ribs In Tomatillo Sauce. Actually though, the literal translation is Beef Ribs Recipe for Green Salsa.

Anyway – I made the ribs and served it over tortilla chips. I don’t use tomatillos nearly as often as I should and every time I do, I’m always excited at how neat they are. If you’ve never had the opportunity to cook with tomatillos before, you should make yourself the opportunity now! And cook these ribs!

Braised Short Ribs in Tomatillo Sauce
(source)

Ingredients
2 lbs beef short ribs
1 1/2 lbs tomatillos, peeled
2 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno pepper
1 cup cilantro, chopped
salt, to taste
ground pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the short ribs to the pot and brown on each side.  Add 1/2 cup of water and cover the pot with a lid. Cook on medium heat for 1 1/2 hours.

2. While the meat is cooking place a griddle over medium-high heat. Roast the tomatillos, garlic, and jalapeno until charred.

3 . Once the meat is cooked, add the tomatillos, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, and some salt and pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Remove 1/2 cup of the meat juice from the cooked ribs and add the juice to the food processor. Process everything in the food processor, until well combined and a sauce is formed.

4. Remove the ribs from the pot. Add the tomatillo salsa to the pan and cook for three minutes.

5. With two forks, remove the beef from the ribs, shredding it into pieces. Add the meat back into the pot with the salsa and cook for 3 more minutes.

* serves 6
* Shared with Full Plate Thursday, Showcase Your Talent Thursday, & Catch A Glimpse Party

Roasted Artichokes

Until recently I hadn’t had artichokes in a very long time. I remember being a little girl fascinated by this strange food. Eating it is a process – a fun process! You get to use your hands. You eat it in a way I don’t think any other food is eaten. As a little girl, artichoke with dinner was a huge thing. But I don’t know what’s happened since then. I can’t even recall the last time I ate an artichoke (before this time of course.)

Artichokes right now are everywhere at the farmer’s market. There are several vendors with just piles and piles of artichokes. Since alphabakes this month is on the letter A (hosted by The More Than Occasional Baker with co-host Caroline Bakes) it seemed perfect to get myself some artichokes!

Making the artichoke is easy. It’s so easy in fact, that I’m not posting a real recipe. But here are some instructions:

- Cut the top of the artichoke off and the bottom of the artichoke’s stem off (about 1/2 inch on the top)
- Drizzle artichoke with olive oil and lemon juice
- Put a smashed garlic clove in the center of the leaves
- Wrap in foil
- Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes at 425

* besides alphabakes, this recipe has been shared with Tasteful Tuesday Party & Tempt My Tummy 

Kuku Paka

 

As part of my Eating Around The World journey, I spun the globe and got Kenya. After googling around the web I found references to this dish, which demonstrates the melding of cultures. Quite literally, kuku paka translates to “chicken cat?” Paka must have another meaning that I can’t find, because this coconut chicken curry hardly has reference to felines. From what I’ve read, the etymology of paka in this context is unclear.

I have a love of curries. I don’t have a huge knowledge of African curries, but if this is what African curries are generally like – it was nice and I like it! Not only was it delicious, it was easy to make.

Now.. The next stop for the Around The World challenge looks like it will be Costa Rica!

Kuku Paka
(source)

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger, minced
1 jalapeno, diced
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
salt, to taste
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
6 small red potatoes, cut into chunks
1 tomato, diced
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
2 cups coconut milk
cilantro, chopped for garnish

Directions

1. Place the chicken and the ginger, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, and lemon juice in a ziplock bag. Set aside.

2. In a cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil. Fry the onions until golden. Add the chicken mixture and mix, cooking for 10 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes and mix in. Then add the potatoes and mix in, cooking for 5 minutes. Add the turmeric and cook for several more minutes.

4. Add the water and cook for 15 minutes.

5. Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes.

6. Garnish with cilantro.

* serves 2
* This recipe is being shared with Mix It Up Monday & Mealtime Monday

Spicy Roasted Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese

 

This month’s Pasta Please theme was chilies and was hosted by Shaheen.

I’m looking at the picture of this dish, and I’m realizing there is way too many breadcrumbs on the dish. Once scooped out of the dish, they obviously got lost in the noodles – but oh my goodness – this picture looks like a breadcrumb dish.

Anyway, after poking around different corners of the internet and looking for something that would work for this challenge, I found a delicious looking mac and cheese. I didn’t venture out as much as I could have with this challenge. I should have bought a red chili to substitute the crushed red chili flakes – but alas, I did not. I like spicy food. I just really hate cutting chilies. Without a doubt, for as careful as I try to be, I touch my eyes or rub my nose or get the chili juices somewhere that just doesn’t feel great – and oh my goodness, it’s hard to get rid of it once you do it. Even when I wear gloves, I somehow manage to just create so much pain for myself. I love the taste, I just hate the process.

Because of this, I rely on red chili flakes to add the heat from a fresh chili (though.. obviously not the same, I know.)

Anyway, this was a yummy mac and cheese. It created a lot of dirty dishes, but was delicious!

Spicy Roasted Vegetable Macaroni and Cheese
(source)

Ingredients
1 cup broccoli florets, cut into pieces
1 yellow squash, diced
1 orange bellow pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 cups elbow pasta
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups skim milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried chili flakes
2 tbsp bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Set a medium pot of water to boil. Cook the noodles per package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil covering it. Toss the broccoli, squash, bell pepper, and carrots on a baking sheet. Coat with half the olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes.

3. Heat the remaining oil in a skillet. Once hot, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk, stirring until the mixture thickens.  Remove from heat. Stir in cheddar, allowing to melt. Add the red chili flakes and cayenne. Add the macaroni and vegetables.

4. Place the mixture in a casserole dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place under the broiler for 4 minutes.

* serves 6
* Besides Pasta Please, this recipe is being shared with See Ya In The Gumbo

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops over Roasted Cabbage

 

The idea of slicing cabbage into chunks, smearing olive oil on top of it, and sticking it in the oven seemed rather foreign to me. There just seemed something wrong about it, something that should never be done or something. But I pushed my judgments aside because Martha Stewart usually knows what she’s talking about when it comes to food. If it’s okay with Martha, it’s worth trying.

Even though these two recipes had different cooking times and temperatures, I stuck the cabbage in the oven at the same time I was doing the pork chops. Parts of it came out a little charred, but it was easier than putting the cabbage in for 40 minutes at 400 and then putting the pork in for 30 more minutes at 425.

Most of dinner’s cook time last night involved watching Project Runway, because I had to wait for it to cook.

It was a delicious meal and I’ll definitely do cabbage this way again.

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops
(source)

Ingredients
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 pork chops, boneless

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a shallow dish combine the flour, salt, paprika, and pepper. In another shallow dish combine the egg and Worcestershire sauce. In a final shallow dish combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan.

2. Coat each pork chop with the flour. Then dip in the egg. Finally coat with the bread crumbs. Place in a baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve on top of cabbage (recipe follows.)

* serves 2

 

Roasted Cabbage
(source)

Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
1 head of cabbage, cut into 1-inch thick rounds
salt and pepper, to taste
ground thyme, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with 1 tbsp olive oil. Place the cabbage rounds on the baking sheet.

2. Brush the cabbage with the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme. Bake for 35 minutes.

* serves 6

* This recipe is shared with Weekend Cooking