Monday Dinner

This is a Japanese "western food" classic. I grew up always wishing my mom would make it for dinner. I guess I'm kind of a sucker for anything with eggs:) I even went through a phase as a young teenager where I would make it for myself when I got home from school every day. And I think because of that time, I have mastered the omelet part of it. That's the tricky part. Japanese people have titled it オムライス "om-rice" or a combination of "omelet" and "rice". Yummy:)

オムライス "om-rice"
serves 4
8 eggs, beaten lightly

2 C cooked rice
1 large chicken breast, diced small
1 green pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced small
2-3 carrots, shredded
1/2 can of corn
3-4 T ketchup
vegetable oil

1. In a large wok, heat oil on medium high heat. Cook onions and carrots until lightly browned. Add chicken and cook though. And add peppers.
2. Once peppers are slightly softened, add rice and stir until rice clumps break up. Add ketchup and cook until rice turns a nice orangey-red color.
3. In a medium frying pan, add oil and heat to medium/medium-high heat. Pour about 2 eggs portion into the pan and swirl around the pan to make a crepe shape. While eggs are still not quite set, place a small portion of rice in the middle of the egg in a long strip and loosen the egg from the pan. Using a rubber scraper, pull 2 sides of the "egg crepe" up around the rice. Flip onto a place. Top with ketchup and serve.
   

A Mother's Day Feast Fit for a Queen

So for my almost first mother's day, I decided not to really celebrate since I'm not a "real" mom quite yet. So it was still ok for me to make dinner but it had to be a special one and I HAD to make a spoil-me kind of dessert. And since the Oriental Market here in Mishawaka (there's nothing like that in Elkhart, so I have to travel a little ways ...) had paper-thin sliced beef, I made the Japanese favorite, 牛丼 ("beef rice bowl" ... though that makes it sound not as good as it is ...). And for dessert I've been craving an old discontinued favorite Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, "Apple Crumble", so I decided to just make Apple Crisp and home made vanilla ice cream. For the ice cream I used Ina Garten's recipe, but used vanilla extract only instead of both extract and bean. I was amazing ... though quite a guilty treat ... For the Apple Crisp, I completely improvised, and I have to admit I think I'm improving on baked desserts because this turned out JUST as I had hoped. Perfectly crunchy on top and just the right combination of tart and sweet on the inside. You might want to cut back on the lemon to the juice of 1/2 a lemon instead of a whole one ... but I like the tartness of the apples to come through. I thought it went perfectly with the super-rich ice cream.

牛丼
serves 22 bowl portions of Japanese rice
1/2 lb paper-thin sliced beef
1 C water
1 tsp dashi powder
3 T soy sauce
2 T mirin
1 1/2 T sugar
1/2 onion

1. In a medium pot, bring water and dashi powder to a sinner. Once dashi is dissolved, add onions and let boil until softened. Add beef. Once beef is no longer red, add mirin, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir gently to make sure all ingredients are incorporated and simmer a little longer until onions change to a darker color because of the soy sauce.
2. Place rice in donburi bowls and spoon on the beef and onion mixture with a little sauce on top. Serve with benishouga (red pickled julienne ginger).

Apple Crisp and Home Made Ice Cream
Makes one pie pan of apple crisp and about a quart of ice cream Apple Crisp:
3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
3 T granulated sugar

crumb topping:
about 1/4 C chopped, roasted almonds
3 T dark brown sugar
3 heaping T all-prupose flour
3-4 T melted butter
1-2 t cinnamon
4-5 T rolled oats

1. Preheat oven to 375° and place oven rack to middle-low position.
   
2. In a medium bowl combine all ingredients in crumb topping and adjust to desired "crumbliness". Put in fridge and chill for at least 15 minutes.
3. In another bowl toss todgether apples, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.
4. In a semi-deep pie pan, place all the apple mixture and evenly coat the top with the crumb topping. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the topping is golden-brown and the juices bubble on the sides a little. Let cool for a few minutes and serve warm with ice cream.

Ice Cream:
3 C heavy cream
2/3 C granulated sugar
2 t pure vanilla extract

1. Heat cream, sugar, and vanilla in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved. It won't take very long. Strain into a bowl and refrigerate until very cold.
2. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Spoon into a freezer container and allow to chill freezer for a few hours, until firm.
   

Fabulous Lunch

I decided it was time to go grocery shopping since I couldn't really be creative with the minimal ingredients we had in our fridge anymore. So I was so happy to find some good spinach and deli turkey and low fat cream cheese on sale! So for lunch, I baked another home made loaf (this time I tried the "milk loaf", FYI Lisa. It was really good, you should try it) and spread out an array of sandwich fillers, which I made good use of and Blake used minimally, and we made our own healthy sandwiches for lunch.

2 slices soft white bread
cream cheese
butter
mayo
sliced tomatoes
spinach
oven roasted turkey breast
1 slice colby jack cheese
sliced avocados (which I wish I had today ... mmm! Nothing goes better with turkey than avocados!)

Saturday Brunch

I decided since Blake has to get up so early every morning with his new job, we would celebrate our second Saturday (and the joy of sleeping in) with a delicious brunch. My sister had a recipe for chocolate croissant bread pudding, but I decided to make a more brunchy version without the chocolate. So I substituted with cinnamon. You can't really go wrong with croissants, heavy cream, sugar, and cinnamon, can you? Anyway, it was delicious! Maybe a little rich for breakfast, so you'd want some kind of fruit on the side and serve pretty small portions of the pudding. Even Blake couldn't pack it down like he can with French toast or pancakes or waffles. But I guess heavy cream is quite a bit richer than milk ...

Croissant Bread Pudding
makes one 9x13 in pan9-10 small day old croissants (I used "croissant pinwheels", which is why they circles and not crescents)
2 C heavy cream
2 C half-and-half
1 C sugar
6 eggs
pinch salt
2 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Cut the croissants horizontally and layer in the baking dish.
2. In a medium sauce pan, bring the heavy cream, half-and-half, salt, and cinnamon to a simmer. Meanwhile in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Once the heavy cream mixture is at a simmer, slowly pour it into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Don't let the eggs curdle.
3. Once combined, pour mixture over the croissants and let the croissants soak up the liquid.
4. Fill a bread pan with boiling water and place on the bottom rack of the oven. Place the croissants on the middle rack. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until set. Let cool a few minutes and serve warm. If a dessert, serve with vanilla ice cream. If a brunch item, serve with fruit on the side.
   

Home made bread

So for lunch we just had left over lasagna from another night, but I decided to accompany it with some bread machine bread. Usually I make a nice french loaf, which is nice and chewy on the inside and crusty on the outside. But that loaf takes 5 hours to bake, and it was already 11 am when I decided to bake the bread, so I went for the "quick bake" recipe, which calls for rapid rise yeast instead of active dry. Anyway, I think it's my new favorite and I don't know if I'll ever go back. For those of you who have a bread machine, I will post the recipe. It seriously was my favorite loaf that the beloved bread machine (which has been working hard non-stop for us since we've moved here, I barely every take it off the counter!) has made for me. It was a lot lighter and less crusty and the inside was so moist and light. Just the way white bread should be. Amazing!

Quick baking Bread Machine White Bread
makes 1 small loaf
7/8 C water
2 1/3 C bread flour
2 T sugar
1 1/2 T dry milk
1 t salt
2 T melted butter
1 1/2 t rapid rise yeast

1. Add ingredients into bread machine in order. To add yeast, just make a little well in the middle of all the dry ingredients and carefully place in there. Don't let the water and yeast touch. Bake according to quick baking directions for your bread machine.
   

A Classic

For Dinner tonight, I decided to make homemade pasta and creamy tomato sauce that my sister taught me how to make back in my early college days. I haven't made it in a long time because though it is my favorite and surprisingly easy, it's not all that good for you ... But I hadn't had it in over a year probably, so I thought it was time! And mmmm there is nothing better in my opinion, than pappardelle.

Home made Pappardelle with Creamy Tomato Sauce
Pasta serves 4, sauce serves 6-8
Sauce:
1 can crushed tomatoes
6 cloves garlic
1 large onion
1/2 C heavy cream
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel and cut onions into half and then quarters. Peel garlic cloves. Toss all in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Or just chop by hand.
2. In a sauce pan or deep frying pan, heat Olive Oil on Medium High heat. Add Onions and garlic and cook until softened and slightly browned. If it browns too fast with no caramelization, turn heat down a little. You don't want the garlic to burn.
3. Once cooked through, add crushed tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Once heated through, add heavy cream and turn down heat a little. Sauce should thicken a little, and you're done. Add some more salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Serve with some grated pecorino romano cheese or parmigiano reggiano cheese if you want.

Pasta: (recipe from "America's Test Kitchen" cookbook. Best book EVER)
2 C all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed
3 large eggs
(water)

1. Pulse flour in food processor. Add eggs and process until dough forms into a rough ball, about 30 seconds.
2. Turn out dough ball and small bits onto a clean surface. Knead dough until smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.
3. To roll, use a pasta machine. And slowly roll out to thinnest setting. Let dry a little so it won't stick together. Then gently fold pasta width wise and cut pasta to desired thickness. For pappardelle, you want about 3/4 inch~1 inch.
4. To boil, just toss noodles into boiling salted water and once they turn whitish and start to float, they are ready to be eaten.
   

Today's food

I was just thinking about how the title of this blog is "My Food Journal" and aren't journals supposed to be more day-to-day than just new recipes I make up once in a long while? So though I will spare all of you with boring pictures of cereal for breakfast, when I have something I like I will post it:) Other than when I go out to eat. That might be awkward, carrying a huge digital SLR around with me. Not that there is much glamorous eating out around these parts. But I meant things I make anyway. So here is my food journal so far today.

Breakfast:
Banana Oat Muffins
So I've posted this recipe on the blog before. But I didn't have cream cheese (or baking soda ... so pathetic) and I didn't want to run to the store for one thing, what with gas prices these days! I thought I'd try to be innovative and work with what I already have in my kitchen. I discovered fat free vanilla yogurt, so I replace the cream cheese with that. And what a pleasant surprise! It added a little sweetness and tartness and they turned out SOOOOO rich and moist. So I am even tempted now to say take out the cream cheese altogether and use fat free vanilla yogurt instead. I substituted 1 C for 1 package of cream cheese. And for the crumble, I used one rounded Tablespoon on top or each. I thought I'd try something different by packing the crumble topping and putting a ball of it on top. I thought it looked cool and this way it didn't fall off everywhere, but Blake was disappointed that some bites didn't have the topping. So I don't reccomend this method. Just use a tablespoon of crumble topping and evenly sprinkle it on each muffin.

Power Lunch!
Protein Crazy Sandwiches (that I only get to eat when I'm alone)
Since being pregnant I've tried to eat the things I love and learn to be a little healthier and more balanced as I do so. And since I gave Blake the rest of the ginger chicken from last night, I decided to enjoy food that he won't eat with me for my own lunch. And boy, it was worth giving up my chicken!

This sandwich was inspired by the the sandwich that Adam Sandler makes in "Spanglish". I remember after watching the movie, I couldn't get that meal out of my mind and Megan, my roommate at the time, told me the same thing. So we made similar sandwiches and they were sooooo good! Unfortunately I didn't have parsley, which was sorely missed. So if you try to make it yourself, don't forget to add parsley to your shopping list. You won't be disappointed!

2 slices homemade french bread loaf
2 eggs
light Hellman's mayo (a.k.a. "best food's")
2 slices oven roasted turkey
4 thin slices tomato
2 slices colby jack cheese
a little butter

tooth picks. You will need them!

1. Cut each slice of bread in half and toast to desired darkness. (I like it pretty crispy) Butter the bread and spread mayo on one side.
2. Meanwhile, fry the eggs to desired doneness. (I like the yolk pretty runny still)
3. Layer cheese, turkey, egg, and tomato (I like the tomato to touch the mayo side) on the slices of bread, place toothpicks in place to hold the sandwich together, and cut sandwiches in half.
   

Financial and Environmental Adaptations ...

Since we just moved and there's no Costco around here (so sad!) I've had to make some compromises when it comes to quality of ingredients for budget reasons. And since I have a way huger kitchen and no job to go to all day, I've really really enjoyed cooking special dinners for Blake. One of his favorites is 豚のしょうが焼き(Ginger Pork), which I used to make pretty often because it's easy and amazingly tasty. But since good pork chops are hard to come by with my Costco close by, and in general more expensive than chicken, I decided to try it with chicken. And I was pleasantly surprised! It was so tender and tasty and for some reason really sweet. I guess that has something to do with the mirin that I put in it. Good stuff. A serious staple for Japanese cooking.

*Mirin is sweet Japanese cooking wine. And it really is used in basically EVERYTHING.

Ginger Chicken (鳥のしょうが焼き)
serves 3-4
marinade:
1 t fresh grated ginger (with juice)
2 t mirin
juice 1/2 lemon
1 t rice wine vinegar

sauce:
2 T mirin
1 T fresh grated ginger
2 t soy sauce
1/2 T sugar

1 large chicken breast (or pork chop)
vegetable oil for pan

1. slice the chicken breast at an angle, across the grain, as thin as possible. Place in a rectangular tray and pour marinade over the top. This takes out the harsh "meaty" smell and tenderizes the meat. Leave in marinade for 5-10 minutes. Wipe off excess moisture.
2. Meanwhile mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan on medium heat and lay the chicken slices in the pan. Flip pieces over once. Once heated through, pour sauce and cover the chicken completely. Once sauce is reduced slightly, you can take it out and arrange on a small platter and serve.

Just a word ...

I had to comment on my new found love for Chinese ground fresh chili paste. I love it. And I've read that this brand with the rooster is the best. FYI. I was using is for some green pepper, scallion, and garlic sauté for dinner last night and had to take a picture. It's really great in peanut sauce also. But use sparingly. It's got a pretty strong kick to it!

Some Random Updates

Now that I have basically settled in to our new home, I have finally found my recipe notebook and these old photos of recipes I need to include. So it'll be a little bit random, but bear with me. They were all created at totally different times.

Lemon Panna Cotta
4-8 servings (depending on the size of ramekin)

My sister taught me how to make Panna Cotta when I was in high school and it has always been one of my favorite desserts. And one day, she made lemon panna cotta for me when I went over to her and house I couldn't believe how much better it was (if that's possible!), so I decided for Christmas Dinner to try to make it myself. It was a lot easier to adjust than I thought. You can't get much better than lemon and cream. Perfect combination.

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 C heavy cream
1/3 C sugar
2 T cold water
1 C half and half
2 t pure vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon (I recommend using a microplane grater)
juice of 1 lemon

*berries or whatever fruit is in season that you think would go well. I added strawberries and blueberries tossed in sugar, lemon juice, and a little cinnamon in this picture.

1. In a small microwavable bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water and let settle until softened. Microwave mixture until gelatin is dessolved. 5-10 seconds.
2. In a saucepan bring the cream, half and half and sugar to a boil, constantly stirring. remove pan from heat and add gelatin, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla until combined.
3. Divide cream into 4-8 molds and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

*To un-mold, dip mold into hot water for 2-3 seconds and invert onto a plate and serve. I like to serve it in the ramekin that it's molded to so I never worry about that. But if you like fancier presentation, go ahead and un-mold it:)

Thai Coconut Curry
serves 4

I got this idea from Everday Food by Martha Stewart Living. I love Thai curry but had never made it before, so I decided to give it a try. I took a few liberties, though, and made it more authentic than her recipe seemed to be. If you don't like shrimp, I think this will help you to like it, or if you hate it that much, you can always use beef or chicken. But I really think Thai coconut curry is best with shrimp.

salt and pepper
about 2 T vegetable oil
1 lb shrimp (or chicken or beef tenderloin, cut into thin strips)
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 bell peppers (I used red here, but I think green would also be great), thinly sliced
2 small Japanese eggplant or 2/3 of a big eggplant, diced
1 T Thai red curry paste
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
1 C Thai basil leaves, torn into little pieces
1 T fresh lemon juice

Rice to serve it with

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 T oil over medium-high. Season shrimp (or chicken or beef) with salt and pepper and add to skillet until almost cooked through. (For shrimp, that is when it starts to get pink and opaque, but don't let it got cooked all the way through or it will be over cooked and rubbery later)
2. Put Eggplant in skillet and cook until slightly softened. Add onions, bell pepper, salt and pepper and cook until crisp-tender. 3-4 minutes.
3. Add curry pastes, cook scraping the bottom of the skillet, about 1 minute.
4. Return shrimp to the skillet and add coconut milk. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in basil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve with Japanese white rice.

Chunky Banana Oat Muffins
makes 12 muffins

I got this idea from Ina Garten's cookbook. I can't remember which one. Since I've been pregnant I've been craving bananas like crazy and we always have bananas in our house. So I thought I'd try out her chunky banana bran muffin recipe, but I ended up changing it a lot because I like oat-ey muffins instead of bran-ey ones and I like a good crumb topping on them. So here is my successful experiment. And just to let you know, this is where I got the idea of the strawberry white chocolate muffins for Lisa Hall's shower. I just took this recipe and altered the add-ins.


1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 C rolled oats
1/4 C honey
1/4 C brown sugar
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 C melted butter
1 egg
3/4 C milk
2 t pure vanilla extract
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softenend
1 mashed banana
3 bananas, cut into 1/2 in chunks

Oat Crumb topping:
1 C melted butter
2-4 T cinnamon
about 3 C brown sugar
2 C flour
about 2 1/2 C oats

1. Combine flour, oats, sugar, bakindg powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg slightly. Stir in milk, melted butter, vanilla, and honey. Add the mashed banana, and combine thoroughly. Gradually stir in flour mixture until just combined. Once batter is combined, carefully add banana chunks.
3. Line a 12 C muffin pan with paper baking cups and divie batter among them.
4. Generously sprinkle crumb topping on all muffins.
   
5. Bake at 400°F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
   

Japanese Cucumber Salad
Serves 21/2 onion, sliced very thin, soaking in water
2 T dried wakame seaweed
2 Japanese cucumbers, sliced thin at a diagnal
1 T rice wine vinegar
2 T sesame seed oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. put the wakame in a bowl with warm water until reconstituted. Drain.
2. Add cucumber, wakame, and onion and toss with vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
3. serve cold.
   

Lisa and baby Hall's Shower

In early March I got to host a baby shower for Lisa Hall at my house. I love hosting showers for people because I love having an excuse to invent new recipes, sticking to a theme. I decided to go with the hors d'oeuvres kind of theme like Christina's bridal shower. Here are a couple recipes from Lisa's shower. A couple of them might be similar to Chrissy's but I made some changes that I think are improvements:)

Puff Pastry Tartletts with Parsley-Almond Pesto and Rotisserie Chicken
makes about 24-36 tartletts
1 box puff pastry (2 sheets)

3 C parsley, packed
3/4 C almonds
2/3 C Pecorino Romano Cheese
1 head of garlic
3/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
salt & pepper to taste

2-3 C shredded rotisserie chicken

1. roast the garlic by cutting off about 1/2 in of the top, placing in aluminum foil and generously coating in olive oil and a little salt. Bake in a 400° oven for 30-35 minutes or until individual cloves are very soft. Set aside and cool.
2. In a frying pan, toast the almonds on medium-high heat until fragrant and slightly darkened.
3. Pulse the cheese, parsley, almonds, and lemon zest in a food processor until ground small.
4. With food processor still running, add olive oil, garlic cloves, and lemon juice and salt and pepper until smooth.
5. Combine the chicken and pesto in a mixing bowl.
   
6. According to puff pastry directions, preheat the oven. Cut the puff pastry sheets into 12-16 squares, depending on how big you want them.
7. Place a little spoonful (1-2 t) of chicken and pesto mixture in the middle of a puff pastry square and sprinkle with additional Pecorino Romano and Mozzarella.
8. Bake according to puff pastry directions or until golden brown and pastry is puffed. Let cool and serve.
   

Blueberry Mini Tortes
makes about 24-36 mini tortes
1 recipe of cinnamon paté sucrée (sweet pie crust)*

1 1/2 C heavy cream
1 package gelatin
2 t vanilla extract
3 T white granulated sugar
zest of 1 lemon (use a fine zester like a microplane grater)
juice of 1 lemon
1 container blueberries

1. Roll out paté sucrée extra thin, cut into little squares (about 1 1/2 in) and fit into mini muffin pans. With a fork, prick the bottom of each crust. Bake at 400° for about 10 minutes or until golden brown and baked through. Set aside and cool completely.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat heavy cream, sugar, lemon zest and juice and vanilla until soft peaks form.
   
3. In a small bowl combine 1 T cream and gelatin and heat in microwave for 10-15 seconds and stir until combined. Add to lemon cream mixture until stiff peaks form.
   
4. Pipe in cream mixture into shells and refrigerate until set.
5. Toss cleaned blueberries with sugar and lemon juice and top tortes (with 2-3 berries each). Serve.

*Cinnamon Paté Sucrée recipe:
1 C flour, plus more if needed
1/2 t salt
3-4 T confectioner's sugar
1/2 C cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 egg yolks beaten with 2 T ice water and 1/2 t vanilla extract
1 T cinnamon (more if you want)

1. In a food processor process flour, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and butter for 15-20 seconds until crumbs form. Remove cover and pour in egg mixture. Don't let it form a ball or it will be tough. If the dough seems dry, add a little water.
2. Place the dough on a piece of plastic wrap and holding the plastic between you and the dough, press forward on the dough away from you. Turn 90° and repeat until dough is combined. Don't overwork the dough.
3. Flatten dough and tightly wrap in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.
   

Mini strawberry white chocolate muffins
makes about 36 muffins
1 lb diced strawberries (about 1 good sized container)
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 1/2 C flour
1 C rolled oats
1/4 C white sugar
1/2 C dark brown sugar
1 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 C melted btter
1 egg
3/4 C milk
1 t vanilla
1 8 oz package cream cheese at room temperature

oat crumb topping: (shown without crumb topping)
1 C melted butter
2-4 T cinnamon
about 3 C brown sugar
2 C flour
about 2 1/2 C oats

1. Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt.
2. Beat eggs, add milk, oil, vanilla. Stir dry ingredients into wet until combined.
3. Gently add white chocolate chips and strawberries.
4. Line mini muffin pans with paper bake cups* and add about 1 T batter into each cup. Sprinkle with oat crumb topping. *remember to use paper liners, otherwise you will NOT be able to get the little muffins out! I promise it's worth it!
   
5. Bake at 400° for 10-12 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean.
   

Strata

This Strata is really yummy for breakfast or dinner or any meal, really. I got the idea from watching Rachel Ray yesterday morning, and made my own adjustments. You can really use any meat or green veggie or cheese you like, I just liked my own combination.


Strata
(serves about 6-8, depending on how much each person can eat:))

12 eggs
2 C milk (I recommend using fattier milk, though low-fat will be just fine. Not as rich or tasty)
1-2 heads of broccoli, cut small (I used 2 just because that's how much I had in the fridge and had to use it up. And it didn't feel like too much. But you might like to use less)
2 C grated cheddar cheese
12-16 oz good quality bacon
4 C bread, torn into big chunks. About 1 loaf of a baguette. I used a "flax seed" loaf and used about 3/4 of it. I think a crustier bread would be better, though
salt and pepper to taste
1 T Dijon mustard (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
   
2. Cut bacon into little squares and cook through until crispy. Meanwhile, tear bread and place into a greased 9x13 baking pan, making sure the bottom of the pan is covered with bread. Cut broccoli into little pieces and toss evenly on top.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, and salt and pepper (and Dijon mustard, if using)
   
4. Once the bacon is cooked through, drained of excess grease, and slightly cooled, sprinkle evenly on top of the bread and broccoli.
5. Sprinkle cheese generously on top and then pour the egg and milk mixture evenly over the ingredients.
6. Bake at 350 for 60+ minutes. Once browned on top and cooked through, pull out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm-hot.
   

Banana Bread Improvement

Yes, it has been a long time since I've added, and I'm sorry I have no photo this time. But I discovered something about my banana bread recipe! If you roast the bananas first, then you only have to use 1/2 C brown sugar and 1/2 C white sugar for the whole recipe! It's amazing. This is how you do it:

325 degree oven.
Place bananas (still in the peel) on a cookie sheet and roast for about 20-25 minutes, or until skins are black
Let them cool a little and cut the ends of the peel. The flesh should just slide out. Place banana flesh in a large bowl. It'll be a little watery, so throw away some of the excess water if you want. It's a little gross looking, but it's really amazing, I promise!
Once you've peeled all the bananas, mash them up with a potato masher and add them to the recipe at the usual time. Remember to reduce the sugar to 1/2 C brown 1/2 C white.

This trick makes it way lower in sugar, and ultra moist. You won't believe it!

Need to Catch Up!

I just need to defend myself by saying that I have still been making yummy food at home and taking pictures, I just couldn't really find the time to write down the recipes. But I am going to take advantage of this lazy conference weekend to get things done finally! I've been really into making Japanese or Chinese dishes lately, so most of these are related. You should really try making Japanese food at home and see how you feel. I bet you'll feel better. I get in these moods especially when I'm feeling particularly fat or unhealthy. It puts me back to where I want to be pretty fast. And I just feel cleaner inside! (not in a gross way ...) Anyway, that's why a lot of these have similar ingredients. I think the Yaki Udon, the stir fry, and the obento were all within a couple of days of each other. And I didn't feel like buying a ton of different vegetables everyday.

Ton-Katsu
(And Katsu-curry)
serves 2
1 pork chop, sliced into 2 thin pieces
1 C flour
1 C panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
2 eggs
3 C oil

For Curry:
1 package of curry (I recommend "Vermont Curry")
potatoes
carrots
onion

1 C cooked white Japanese rice

1. Heat oil in a wok or deep frying pan on medium-high to 350°F.
2. Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towel. Put the flour, panko, and stirred egg in 3 separate shallow bowls.
3. Dip the first pork chop into the flour and make sure it is completely covered in flour. Pat the excess off or the breading will just fall off. Then dip in egg. Again, get as much excess off as you can, and dip in panko. Cover the whole pork chop in panko and set aside on a wire rack. Repeat with second pork chop.
4. Follow directions on box to make the curry.
5. Carefully place the breaded pork chops in the hot oil and cook until golden brown on both sides. Pull out and let cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack.
6. Place rice on one half of a bowl or plate. Cut the pork chop into strips width-wise. Pour curry on top and serve while hot.
   

Baby Bok Choy and Mushroom Stir Fry
serves 2

5 baby bok choy or bok choy jr.
6-7 Chinese mushrooms
1/2 medium onion
3 large shallots
2 cloves garlic
3-4 T Tsuyu (also called "memmi". You can find it in the Asian section with all the different Asian sauces)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat some oil in a wok on medium-high and add onions and shallots. Cook until tender. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 10-15 seconds. Add bok choy and mushrooms. Cook until bok choy stems are tender. You may want to add some water to the wok to steam the bok choy stems. This will help speed up the process.
2. Add tsuyu and salt and pepper. Serve.

Simple Obento
serves 1
This one's really really simple. I usually make lunch for the next day (at least for Blake) right after dinner. And by then I'm too tired to think of something creative or time consuming, so I'll make one-pot meals like this. But I promise they are TASTY! And you feel so good after eating it:)

1 small handful of soy bean sprouts (can substitute normal bean sprouts)
2 Chinese mushrooms or Shiitake (I like to cut an "x" into the top, just for looks)
2-3 Baby Bok Choy or Bok Choy Jr
1/2 C cooked white Japanese rice
2 C "dashi"*
1 T soy sauce
salt and white pepper to taste
tsuyu to taste (about 2 t)

1. In a small pot, add dashi and soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Add mushrooms and bok choy. Cover and let cook until Bok choy stems are tender. remove and set aside.
2. In a small frying pan add a little oil and heat to medium-high. Add soy bean sprouts and season with salt and pepper (and a little soy sauce if you like). fry until tender.
3. Put rice in the bottom of a Japanese bento box or a small tupperware. Add veggies on top in a pretty arrangement. Pour on tsuyu to taste.

*dashi is a Japanese broth made of konbu (type of seaweed) and bonito flakes. You can substitue Chicken broth or vegetable broth if you want, but it will not taste very Japanese. I just use an instant powder that I add to the hot water and it makes the hot broth for me:)

Meatless Breakfast Sandwiches
serves 2
*these are just meatless because we didn't have any breakfast meat on hand ... so you can totally add bacon or ham or something to it. It would probably taste better that way:) AND the white part you see in the picture is the melted mozzarella, not the egg whites!
2 tasty rolls
3 eggs
1/4 C grated cheddar cheese
1/4 C grated mozzarella cheese
2 small tomatoes, sliced
couple sprigs parsley
butter for the rolls
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the rolls in half so they have a top and bottom half. Toast with cut side up. Butter when done.
2. While bread is toasting, break eggs into a small bowl and take out the white stringy part. Add cheddar cheese and stirr until well blended. Add a little bit of salt and pepper for taste.
   
3. put in a small frying pan on medium-low heat and stir constantly until custardy texture. Add mozzarella on top and turn off the heat and put the lid on until the cheese on top is melted.
4. Put eggs on rolls, then tomatoes, and a little parsley and serve while hot.