Eatyet’s Weblog

As lovely as the rosemary bread was, I think this is even more awesome.

Chop one stalk of scallion, mix with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of black pepper. Knead half (or more) of the scallion mixture into a large ‘grapefruit sized’ piece of dough, place on a floured surface and top the dough with the rest of the scallion. Let dough rest for 20mins, cut slits (I shaped it just like the rosemary bread), and I baked it in an enameled cast iron pot (preheated with oven to 450º for 20mins), baked with lid on for 20mins and another 15mins lid off till it was the color I wanted. It taste heavenly, so savory and aromatic. Where as rosemary loses it’s intensity when baked, scallion becomes even more flavorful.

-L

I was inspired by Japanese ‘big rolls’, which are usually large (1 + 1/2 sheets of nori to wrap around) with an omelet center and other stuffing. This is a smaller, quicker, lazier version with all the fillings cooked together as one. Making nori rolls gets easier with practice and bamboo rolling mats. Also remember to use plastic wrap on the bamboo mat to help keep it clean.

Nori Egg Roll (3 rolls)

• 2 cups cooked sushi rice (1 cup raw)
• 3 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (if unseasoned, add 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt)
• 3 sheets of nori
• 3 eggs
• oil for pan
• 1 1/2 cup raw baby spinach
• 4 shitake mushrooms
• 2 tsp mirin
• 3/4 tsp salt
• sesame seeds (optional)

1. Mix rice vinegar into warm (cooked) rice, set aside. Beat the eggs with half the salt in a bowl, set aside.
2. Cut mushrooms into thin strips and roughly chop up the spinach if the leaves are large.
3. Heat up a small pan (cast iron or nonstick 6-8in) medium high, add oil (2 tsp), then mushrooms, spinach, mirin and salt; cook until spinach is wilted.
4. Pour spinach mixture into bowl of beaten eggs and mix to combine.
5. Heat pan up again medium high, add more oil to coat pan. Pour eggs into pan, spread out the spinach and mushrooms.
6. When edges set after a minute or so, fold 2 opposite sides towards the center, ending with something rectangular in shape.
7. Turn heat low and finish cooking till it’s no longer runny in the center. You can try to flip it over or just put a lid on it for a minute or so. Cut egg into 3 equal long strips.
8. Spread 1/3 of the rice on 3/4 of the nori sheet.
9. Put a strip of egg on the part of the sheet with no rice.
10. Roll it up starting from the egg end, using the bamboo mat to roll and press.
11. Cut roll up into 6 or 8 pieces, and sprinkle on sesame seeds.

-L

Some of the orzo got a little burnt, resulting in the variations of color.

Orzo, being a rice shaped pasta, gives you the quick cooking time of pasta and the applications of rice. You can make a fast faux risotto or a substitute rice salad. I prefer not to cook orzo in a large pot of water like you would most pasta. I like to toast the dry orzo in a pan with some oil till golden brown before adding liquid to it. This ensures the pasta won’t become too soggy and adds more flavor to the finished dish.

Porcini Orzo (for 2 or 4 as sides)

• 1 small onion diced
• 1 pint cremini or button mushrooms diced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 oz dried porcini (+ 2/3 cup hot water)
• 1 cup dry orzo
• 1 1/3 cup water
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp of chopped rosemary or thyme
• 1/2 cup peas (frozen or fresh)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• pepper to taste

About 3oz or however much that looks like to you.

1. Soak porcini in hot water for about 15-20mins, when softened, cut the porcini into semi large pieces, reserve the liquid (you can strain it through a coffee filter to get out all the grit).
2. In a wide pot or sauté pan on medium high heat, add in oil to coat pan. Then add the diced onions, stir, and cook till translucent with slight browning on edges.
3. Add bay leaf and orzo to the pan, stirring a lot to make sure the orzo is coated in oil and doesn’t get burned.
4. When orzo looks toasted, add in diced mushrooms and salt, stir and cook till mushrooms have shrunk.
5. Add in porcini and its liquid, the peas, along with the 1 1/3 cup of water. Stir thoroughly and bring to a simmer, turn heat down to low and cover for 9-11mins.
6. There should be no liquid left after that, but if it’s too dry and the pasta is kind of hard, stir in another 1/4 cup of (hot) water and cook on medium low till it’s absorbed. If there is too much liquid after the initial cooking, just cook it uncovered till it dries up.
7. Stir in chopped herbs and pepper at the end.

-Lina

My rosemary plant has more than doubled in size. Here I added two tablespoons of chopped rosemary into some dough. The final shape was an accident, I flattened it out too much in the center. The slits were done with a pair of kitchen shears (easier than knives).

-L

  Soba salad with smoked mackerel.

The first day of the heat wave, I was mostly hiding out in my room with the air conditioner. I wasn’t willing to cook a big meal or even stand in front of the stove for long. Soba noodles are noodles made with buckwheat flour; it has slightly nutty flavor, and is all around healthy. The cooking time is only three minutes in boiling water. In colder weather I love soba in hot broth. In summer, they can be eaten chilled with cold dipping sauce. I like it hot or cold with tororo (grated yam). And of course as a salad one dish light meal.

Soba Salad (for 2)

• 6oz dried soba (2/3 of most small packages)
• 4 cups (roughly) baby salad greens
• 1/2 small onion (thinly sliced)
• 1 scallion (thinly sliced)
• 3 tbsp dried wakame 
• smoked fish or leftover meats (optional)
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• ponzu + olive oil or salad dressing or…

soy citrus dressing:

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 minced garlic clove
• juice of 1 lemon or lime
• few drops of fish sauce (optional)
• few drops of sesame oil
• 2 tsp olive (or canola) oil
• 3-4 tbsp water to dilute

Cook noodles in boiling water for 3mins, drain and rinse under cold water till completely cooled. Set aside and let water continue to drain away. Rehydrate wakame in some hot water, let it sit for 2mins or so, then drain. Toss cold noodles, vegetables, fish, and wakame together with dressing, top with sesame seeds.

To make it completely vegan, leave out any fish/meat or fish sauce. You can add firm tofu or just leave it plain. I didn’t have any at the time, but thinly slice cucumbers would also be great. Wakame adds a really nice ‘sea’ flavor but if you can’t get any, you can also add other seaweeds like finely shredded nori at the end.

-Lina

The hubby was ill all this week too, and now finally showing signs of improvement. Earlier in the week he wanted apple sauce, I had some apples in the fridge and figured I’d give it a try. At first I was wondering how long do I have to cook it to get it mushy, then I remembered I had an immersion blender (so it didn’t matter). Then later on I realized that I could’ve just blended the apples raw. But I guess cooking it gave it a smoother texture. The red apple skins made it a pretty rosy color and it was far better than store bought apple sauce. I’m feeling quite worn out this week and can’t think off the top of my head what else to do with apple sauce (pork chops, for the meat-eaters?).

Apple sauce

• 3 small apples (I had the kid sized organic ones from Whole Foods)
• 2/3 – 3/4 cup water (enough to submerge but not to cover all the apples)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• squeeze of lemon (1tsp more or less)
• dash of cinnamon
• pinch of cloves

Core and dice apples, with skins on (if organic, peel otherwise). Put in pot with water, sugar and spices. Simmer for 10min. Take off heat and use immersion blender to puree or put into blender/food processor. If it’s too thin, put back into pot and simmer till desired consistency and adjust sugar if necessary.

Apple sauce in tarts? I have to try that later.

 -L

Right now, I fear I will catch what the hubby has (fever, aches, and coughs). He never gets this sick usually. I’m keeping him hydrated, and made rice porridge (not the one pictured, that was from weeks ago). By the time he’s better, my immune system will probably give in. And this will be his instructions. I don’t expect him to be able to make anything more than just the rice porridge part.

Rice porridge

• Dashi:
• 2 quarts water
• 5×8inch piece of kombu
• 1/2 cup bonito flakes

• 1 1/2 cup white rice (long or short grain)

 small cooked piece of kombu, used bonito tea bag, pack of tea bags

Put water, kombu and bonito flakes (in tea bag/dashi bag/or tied up cheese cloth) in pot. Cover, bring to a boil on medium, let simmer for a minute or two, then turn off heat, and remove the kombu and bonito package. Kombu will expand when cooked. For a vegan dashi; use kombu and one dried shitake mushroom. Or simply make it with only water.

Rinse rice with cold water and add to dashi. If using a regular pot on stovetop, bring to boil and let simmer on low for 90mins to 2hrs. When using a rice cooker you can just put it in and let it run on porridge mode, but make sure you know what the maximum capacity for porridge is. If using a pressure cooker (making sure you are well with in the max fill line) secure the lid, and bring to a boil, locking in the lid. On medium low, let it cook for 20-25mins. After turning off the heat and letting the pressure dissipate, take the lid off, stir (add more water if it seems to be too thick) and simmer for another 5-10mins.

Kombu enoki relish

• Kombu leftover from dashi
• 1 large package of enoki (about 1 3/4 cup worth when chopped)
• 3/4 cup water
• 3-4 tbsp of soy sauce
• 2 tbsp of mirin
• dash of sansho pepper

Cut kombu into small 1/2 -3/4 inch pieces. Cut enoki into 3/4 -1 inch long segments. Combine kombu, enoki with water, soy, mirin in small pot and bring to a boil, simmer on medium till the liquid is mostly gone and you are left with a syrupy sauce. Sprinkle on sansho pepper at the end.

Nori sauce

• 4 sheets of nori, torn into small pieces
• 2 shitake mushrooms sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1/4 water
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tsp sake (optional)
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Combine nori, mushrooms, soy, mirin, sake, and water in small pot and bring to a boil, simmer on medium till the liquid is mostly gone and you are left with a syrupy sauce. Sprinkle on sesame seeds at the end.

Spinach with sesame

• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1 clove garlic chopped
• 2 tsp oil (olive or canola)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp sesame seeds
• 1/4 tsp salt

Heat skillet on medium high, add oil, garlic and sesame seeds, then add in the spinach. Stir and cook till spinach just wilts, turn off heat, add in salt and sesame oil, toss and mix well.

Addition sides

• ume (umeboshi)
• fish (hot smoked mackerel or salmon, fish cake)
• egg (hard/soft boiled)
• edamame

Wish spring was here already.

According to wikipedia; ‘appam’ is fermented bread usually prepared with finely powdered rice flour. Palappam has a crisp lacy edge from being cooked in curved pans like woks.

The first time I had tried them was at a Sri Lankan restaurant in Staten Island, they called them hoppers (not to be confused with string hoppers which I had done at another Sri Lankan restaurant).

An egg goes on every fourth one (optional?), and I tried to keep the yolk runny. I used the recipe from Salt and Pepper, a simple recipe with really helpful photos, using just rice flour, coconut milk, and yeast. From what is I saw of all the rest of the recipes online, you basically need some raw rice and cooked rice. I took 2 tablespoons of rice flour and cooked it with some water to form a paste, the “kurukku” part (to be mixed with raw rice flour, can of coconut milk, and yeast). It ferments overnight, so plan ahead. In the morning the batter was thick and needed to be thinned out. The first one stuck to the pan, but the rest worked out great. This broke in my newly seasoned wok. Overall, it was much easier than I had expected. Unfortunately I didn’t have a good Sri Lankan fish curry to go with it. You can also eat it with sweet accompaniments instead of savory. They have a slight tangy coconut flavor and fluffy texture.

-L

I bought organic whole wheat filo sheets earlier this week thinking I was going to make something with spinach or peas. But the idea of a sweet red bean filled treat was more exciting. I didn’t make it in layers like a traditional baklava. Instead I had wrapped them up initially like a turnover (or pop-tart) roughly 4 x 5 inches, and then I decided to cut them into pieces. Thought it would be kind of like a cookie. After tasting and testing the sweetness, I decided to dip them into the honey syrup I made earlier. When they cooled completely, the syrup made it really more… baklava tasting. The red bean adds a smooth texture and works well with the cinnamon and honey. Guess it’s like East meets (near) Middle East?

Baklava with red bean and almond

• 1lb package of filo
• 1 1/2 cup sweet red bean paste*
• 2/3 cup almonds chopped
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 cup (possibly more) of oil or melted butter **
Syrup:
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup water 

*I bought red bean paste from an Asian market; they are made from adzuki beans (a small red bean) and sugar, comes in cans or bags and in smooth or chunky style. Quality usually coincides with price. You can make it yourself from dried adzuki beans but it would take a really really long time.

**Sometimes I use (organic) baking spray to coat each layer with oil, but I had none this time. It’s faster than brushing them but does waste a can of the stuff.

Preheat oven to 325°. (In the past I had always baked filo at higher temperatures but 325° was really better at crisping up every layer evenly. However the color was a bit on the pale side, so maybe it’s just my oven or you might want to go up to 335° or 340°.)

Toast up the nuts briefly in a dry pan over medium high heat while stirring (3mins), add in cinnamon and mix into red bean paste.  

Lay out the all the filo on work surface or baking sheet (the whole stack, mine had exactly 16 sheets, 15×18inches).

Brush a sheet with oil, pick up the sheet and flip it over onto the sheet under it and press together.

Place about 3 (or 4) tablespoons of filling on the right side center, a few inches in from the edge, spreading it into small rectangle (3.5×4.5 inches roughly).

Fold the edge flap (of the two sheets) over the filling, fold top flap over the center, and then the bottom flap. Then just keep rolling/folding it over onto itself, like wrapping a large flat egg roll. With my 16 sheets it came out perfectly to 8 filo packets, 4×5 inches.

Press on them gently to make sure the filling is evenly distributed.

Brush them all with oil.

Cut each packet into 3 equal pieces.

Space them out on a baking sheet and bake for an hour.

Bring honey, sugar and water to a boil; simmer for 5-6 minutes.

After baking, cool pieces for 5mins, and then dip each one briefly into the syrup, then cool for another 15mins.