i hope you eat good food, grow beautiful things, and have more love than you know what to do with.
Ginkgo biloba is a beautiful tree that has been planted for its ornamental value in both the east and the west. It has been praised for its medicinal qualities and for improving memory. It’s a large and long lived tree, requiring both a male and …
I bought a bag of gingko nuts and picked up a pack of chicken gizzards (they looked so fresh!) and decided to grill the gizzards yakitori style. While chicken gizzards are often not to everyone’s taste (even if they are delicious morsels perfect for grilling …
Both my 4 year old and 1 year old are fiends for ikura (salted salmon roe) so whenever I make the trip to the Asian supermarket (I now live far from Flushing), I always endeavor to buy some. It’s cheaper than ordering at the restaurant.
When I make the trip out to NJ in a few weeks, I’ll see if they have fresh salmon roe and salt it myself as home-made is best-made.
Together, my daughters will finish humongous bowls of rice, topped with these succulent, salty jewels that glisten in the sun. I’m also very partial to it, and enjoy it immensely when I don’t have any competition for it (which I almost always do.)
Anyway, the bento is simple, no recipe here. The little bear in the center is a quail egg which required a lot more work to deal with the nori since the pieces have to be tiny.
Hope you enjoyed looking at it as much as we all enjoyed eating it!
We had prime rib at my mother-in-laws house for Christmas yesterday, and took home a lot of the steak as leftovers. An easy and delicious way to use it up was to cube it and make teriyaki. The sauce is very easy, with all the …
One of my favorite rolls is the Boston roll. I know, it’s weird right? For someone who loves raw fish as much as I do, why would I want to eat something that’s as common as some shrimp, cucumber, mayo, and lettuce in a roll? …
I was tired of buying crackers and thought it shouldn’t be too difficult to make, right? In my course of trying to become “supermarket independent,” this has been one of my better ideas.
What more is that the kids LOVE helping, because it’s simple, with a consistency like play dough, and while you can bake one flat sheet that you break up into pieces, if you have cute cookie cutters, this is the perfect time to use them because they hold the mold very well!
The recipe is so unbelievable easy. Just 4 ingredients almost everyone has in their pantry. It takes about 15 minutes for me to make a batch (without cutting–much longer with cutting) so it’s quick, and stores very well. It remains crispy in the fridge, but the trick to that is to make sure they cool before you store them! The’re great for dips, or for cheese and lunchmeat.
You can also make different flavors if you incorporate dried herbs or garlic powder (or even cheese since the texture is similar to goldfish crackers). I haven’t tried it yet but I’m sure it would be delicious.
Recipe
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt and mix well. Add olive oil and water and combine until a dough forms. It’s alright if it’s crumbly.
2. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until flat, about 1/4 inch thick or less. The thinner it is, the more crispy it will be, but also the more easily it will burn.
3. Lay the sheet on a pan lined with parchment paper, or a greased pan, and bake in the oven for 8-11 minutes, watching carefully it doesn’t burn.
4. Once golden, remove and allow to cool. Store in a cool, dry place.
At one of the largest Japanese outlets in the northeast, Mitsuwa, they have onigiri in the flavor of spicy tuna and wasabi tuna. I really enjoy both, and usually buy one two munch on while I shop. I sometimes recreate it at home because it’s …
If you’ve never had cheese on your Japanese curry, you’re missing out! The combination is absolutely scrumptious! In this recipe, rather than putting vegetables in the curry (although you definitely can!) I used it plain, with just water. I always have boxes of House Food’s …
I had a single sweet potato I bought for sweet potato rice porridge (my youngest is getting over a virus right now and very picky about what she eats–but she loves sweet potatoes.) I also had some zucchini, red onions, as well as a bag of shredded carrots, so I decided to do a more traditional bento today.
Vegetable tempura with a side salad and rice. Some tamago and frankfurter crabs with peas for decoration.
I have been doing tempura at least once a week, since it’s a great way to make sure my kids eat their veggies. The batter is a very light coating. The trick to making it extra crispy is to have the batter very cold (I will put ice cubes in it). This batter can be used for any type of tempura!
Ingredients for Tempura Batter
Vegetables:
Other Ingredients:
Tempura Tsuyu Recipe:
1. Whisk egg until light and frothy. Then add flour and baking soda and mix until just combined.
2. Heat vegetable oil on medium high heat, careful not to burn. If the oil smokes, the color will be dark and burned looking. The oil will be hot enough when you drop a bit of the batter and it begins sizzling.
3. Coat the vegetables in a thin layer of corn or sweet potato starch (this helps the batter cling to the vegetable and not slide off in the oil.) Dip the coated vegetables in the batter and place into the hot oil. Fry on both sides until golden. Serve with tempura tsuyu (combine all the tsuyu ingredients in a saucepan, heat until the alcohol from the mirin has just evaporated. Serve with grated daikon.)
Our second daughter was born in the year of the monkey–a sign that pretty much describes her to the T. Inquisitive, funny, mischievous, and very, very precocious, my cute little monkey girl inspired this bento today. You can use either chicken or pork–I just so …