For Cynthia/Junior

Ok, i love cabbage. I LOVE stir fries. Ever since I got off my butt and went and bought a REAL wok and seasoned it, I have re-fallen in love with Asian cooking. This is something that is rediculously easy, quick, nutritious, and tasty. It's also awesome cause it only has 4-5 ingredients. :-D If you haven't really read the blog before, memmi is the Japanese Udon/tempura base (basically soy sauce and bonito), and it's a killer stir fry sauce. It's cheap (under $3 a bottle), and has a nice depth of flavor. If you don't have a wok, use a pot withOUT nonstick on it so you can crank the heat. Stir frying is all about quick cooking, and non-stick on medium just doesn't cut it. Then you end up with steamed things.

Quick Cabbage Stir Fry
1 medium head cabbage (or 2 half heads - 1 each of green and red)
a thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and quartered
3 garlic cloves, sliced
olive oil (about 1 tbsp, enough to wet the wok)
a couple tbsp of water - set aside in a cup, just in case things start sticking or burning
memmi - about 1/4c you'll add this as you go along, so it's really more about eyeballing it
optional - 1 tbsp red pepper, 1 tsp sesame oil (for a little more flavor)

Rinse cabbage, shake mostly dry, decore, and cut up into about 1" cubes. The dimmension really doesn't matter, just try to be sensible, and cut up the thicker stuff smaller. Heat oil, ginger, and garlic in a wok (toss everything together in the cold pan) at med/high till everything starts sizzling. toss for a minute or 2, just until the garlic starts to crisp up a little. This is mainly to flavor the oil without burning the spices. Turn up heat to high and toss in cabbage. Toss in pan with wok spatula frequently until the thicker parts of the cabbage are beginning to steam nicely. Add Memmi...a few glugs here, the cabbage will start to wilt into the color...stir fry for another couple of minutes, add a few more glugs (you want to avoid the pool of it at the bottom, so keep stirring!), turn off the heat, toss a couple more times, and serve.

it's been a while

Yea, whatever. I ended up doing a weird twist with lamb that was absolutely amazing, kind of a fake banh mi. It's marinated overnight, but worth the wait. This is what happens to me when i go to the grocery store/farmer's market hungry... i get inspired! Tryyyy ittttt...

Lamb Sandwiched with Pesto and Carrot Pickles

basil pesto
1 lb lamb, a grillable cut
mayo
2 whole wheat french rolls (i just like whole wheat better)
rice vinegar
1 cucumber
memi
shredded carrots (like for salads)
cilantro
crushed red pepper
black pepper

To marinade.
Set the lamb in a marinating container. Pour on a tbsp or so of memmi. Flip, repeat. Cover. Put about a cup of shredded carrots in a small container. Add 2 tsp of water, a little black pepper, and about 1 tbsp of crushed red pepper. Add about 1/4 of rice vinegar, which should about cover the carrots if you smush them down. Keep both in the fridge overnight till it's time to cook.

The Sammiches.
Grill or pan cook the lamb for about 8 min on each side (sear each side for 2, then cover and cook for about 6 min). It's ready when the center is rare, don't be afraid to cut it, you're going to cut it up anyways. Toss a couple of wheat french rolls into the oven and warm them for about 5min. During this time, drain the carrots, cut a couple of lenghtwise slivers of cucumbers, and wash and de-stem about a handfull of cilantro. Pull the rolls out of the oven and split lenthwise. Spread mayo on one side of the sandwich and pesto on the other. Slice the cooked lamb and fill each sandwich. Top with carrots, cucumber, and cilantro. eat. drool. yum.

sunday dinners

On sunday nights, i try to cook lunches for both me and D for a few days. That way, if i come home late late, he will still have dinner. Here are the recipes for the food i made for the week.

stir fried tofu and green beans

1/2 block firm tofu, squeezed and cubed
1 c frozen green beans
1/2 can shredded bamboo shoots
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
memmi
a big handful of shittake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 tsp chopped garlic
olive oil
crushed red pepper

put cubes of tofu in a pan with garlic and a swirl of olive oil. Fry for about 5 min on medium high, until one side is beginning to turn golden. Add memmi (2 or 3 good swirls), bamboo, shittakes, and onion, and stir, cook for another 4 minutes. Add green beans, another swirl of memmi, and red pepper. Cook for another 5 min, stir frying until green beans are tender.




Tofu Green Curry (not so traditional)

1/2 block firm tofu, squeezed, cubed
1 can coconut milk
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 handful snow peas
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 can shredded bamboo shoots
1 tsp fish sauce
green curry paste
turbinado sugar

stir fry onion in a swirl of olive oil in a wok for about 4 minutes. add garlic, and stir fry for another 3. add tofu, coconut milk, bamboo, fish sauce, about 3 tbsp of curry paste, and 3 tbsp sugar. Reduce to simmer, cover for about 5 minutes. taste for heat and sweetness balance, add more as needed. add everything else and simmer for another 5 min. serve hot with jasmine rice. MMMMMM



toasty tempeh
Ok, so i've never made tempeh before. mom has, and it's been good, but i never really had the urge to buy it. well, i bought it, and attempted to cook it this way. Other than the onions getting a little more charred than carmelized, it's really very tasty, nutty, and totally snackable.

4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/8 c chopped onion
1/8 tsp cardamon
3 tbsp shoyu (or whatever soy sauce you got)
1 pack original tempeh

cube up tempeh, add to a pan with oil. fry for about 5 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add garlic, cardamon, and onion, and fry for another 5 minutes. Add soy sauce and fry until the tempeh is toasty. Drain on napkins.




^^mustard greens ^kale

seasoned asian greens
Now, i LOVE the kind I get from Frenchy's in the ward, but a) that is the TINIEST cup ever of greens for $3, and b) that stuff is horrible for you. This kinds are still tasty, but cheap, filling, and really good for you.

1 bunch greens, washed, washed again, and chopped
memmi
1/4 sweet yellow onion, chopped
a clove of garlic, crushed
ginger powder

boil 4 c water in a saucepan. add stems and simmer for 5 minutes, add onion and garlic, and simmer for another 5. The water should be mostly gone by now. add everything else (about 3 tbsp memmi), and cook for another 5 min, stirring constantly. Once all the greens are steamed, add a swirl more of memmi and serve hot.


OH, and I did make some meat for the week for my carnivore.

Some Basic (but new) home cookin.

This is lovingly pilfered from my post from yesterday on facebook.

So today, i whipped up 3 really good recipes.
The middle one is the only one that can be made veggie. This is kind of everyday style home cooking, but new recipes.

Key ingredients:


FRESH shittake mushrooms and


Bonito and soy based soup base (usually called memmi, tempura sauce, or bonito soup base).





You can find the soup base and noodles in the Asian isle from Krogers, and the mushrooms by the.... well... mushrooms.

(the pic shows somen noodles, but you get the idea. still my cooking)

Udons
Fresh Udons are the best! For a variation, add a couple of pieces or chopped crab stick a couple of minutes before the snow peas or a scrambled egg. Even if you buy the udons in the package (for 89 cents... you know those), use the broth and still tastes better.

1/4c soup base
3 cups water
1 thumb size piece ginger, unpeeled, and halved
2 servings dried udon noodles
8 fresh shittake mushrooms, cleaned and destemmed
1 handfull of snow peas
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 c diced tofu

boil udons and shittakes in 3 cups of water for about 8 minutes, till noodles are tender. drain, and run under cold water. remove mushrooms, slice, set aside. Put 3 cups of water with soup base. Add sliced mushrooms, tofu, and ginger. Bring to a boil, fish out ginger, taste, add more soup base if needed, add noodles and everything else and turn off heat. Serve!




Stir fried yum
I love shittakes. Not only are they good for you, but they are hearty enough to be a meat substitute in many dishes.

2 handfulls fresh shittakes, cleaned, destemmed, and slides in thirds
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups sugar snap peas
sesame oil
olive oil
1/4c bonito soup base OR 1/4 soy sauce with 4 tbsp sugar dissolved in it
some red pepper flakes

make a swirl of olive oil and a swirl sesame oil in a pan over med high heat. add mushrooms and garlic, cook for about 5 minutes, until all oil is absorbed and a couple of the edges of the mushrooms brown. Add 1/2 c water, and cook for another 5 minutes. add bonito sauce and about 1/2 c water and snap peas. Toss frequently, cook until peas are steamed




spicy squid salad
I had a squid salad the other day at nidda thai that was phenominal. this is not AS good, but still pretty damn good. Not to mention, it only costs about $5 to make, cause most of the stuff i already have in my fridge.

1/2lb calamari steak
6 tbsp fresh lime juice
3 tbsp fish sauce
sugar (to taste)
3 red dried chilis, crushed (really, to taste. I added 4 and it was perfect heat for me)
black pepper (to taste)
1.5 c shredded green cabbage
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 roma tomatoes, chopped and de-seeded
3 green onions, sliced

Boil calimari in 2 c of water until it starts to cool. Rinse with cold water and put in a plate in the freezer to cool it off. Add all veggies into a tupperware (covered) bowl. Mix it up a little bit, shake it. Mix fish sauce, a little pepper, chilis, sugar, and lime juice in either a bowl or a shaker jar. Mix until sugar is dissolved. taste the sauce to make sure it is sweet, it should be a nice combo of sweet and sour... Remove calamari from the fridge and cube into little 1/2" cubes. add to veggies. add fish sauce mix to bowl, cover tightly and SHAKE. Put in the fridge for 20 minutes, pulling it out to shake everything up about every 5 minutes. Shake and serve on a bed of lettuce if you like.