 Hakone Garden, Saratoga After two weeks of dine-out lunches and meandering about the San Francisco Bay area, Mom returned home to Hawaii. We sent her home with a suitcase full of Trader Joe's omiyage and a list of Korean tofu houses in Honolulu. Now, it's back on my own. Mom's not one for spicy food, so we're adding a little more pep. Here's what I am cooking this week. MondayOrange Salsa Pork Chops, Okinawan Sweet Potatoes, rice, and curry-roasted cauliflower.
Straw, blue, rasp and blackberries!
| FridayTacos--No Mix, and my own GuacamoleAfternoon snacks for the ravenous teenagersBerries are in peak season. Drizzled with yogurt and granola. I've also bought fresh tamales from Whole Foods, tortillas with shredded cheese and salsa, Kee Wah Bakery croissants and pork curry puffs, and yes, two bags of potato chips. After all, they are teenagers. Eat Well. Be Well. |
One of my dearest friends, very sweetly, but very firmly, tells her clients, "I can't pay ink any amount of money to dry faster, and I don't have the super-power to add more time between right now and then." These are words to live by, especially now that I've taken a consulting gig again. From Monday through Friday, I will somehow allocate each 24 hours to taking care of my darling husband, my real ohana, Feeding My Ohana, my new job, excercise, sleeping and what my mom calls 'goof off' time (i.e., checking on our most-awesome San Jose Sharks, reading People magazine, watching TV, Facebook, or simply sitting in my WiFi-less Adirondack chair--doing and thinking nothing, with a cup of coffee or tea). I'm no different from any working parent. There are days when things work out great, and days when you set the oven on fire, literally. The new gig means a little change this week. There are still 5 meals, but instead of Mon-Fri, I've done a proper Sunday meal that will be good for leftovers, and have already designated Friday as "Leftovers Roulette."  Peanut Butter Beer Miso Chicken A Proper Sunday Meal Peanut Butter Beer Miso Chicken, Japanese Potato Salad (new recipe--posting mid-week), grilled zucchini, rice and kim chee. Made a lot of chicken and potato salad for leftovers. Sunday Prep Keo's ribs for baking on Monday. 20 minutes to steam ribs and make marinade). Ribs will sit in their coconut-milk bath 'til Monday afternoon, when they will finish in the oven. Grandma Nancy's Ranch Dip--to eat with quick veggies throughout the week. MondayKeo's Ribs, raw carrots, celery and microwaved broccoli with Grandma Nancy's Ranch Dip and rice. Raw broccoli is a little strong for us, so a quick microwave does the trick. TuesdaySloppy Joes from Scratch on green onion bread and a green salad. 30 minutes for dinner. Important when you have ravenous teenagers and a late-afternoon conference call.
 Bacon Salmon WednesdayFrom Scratch Falafel with yogurt sauce, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and pita. I make patties instead of the traditional ping-pong ball shape. Less oil for cooking and much easier to pack into a pita. ThursdayBacon Salmon, spinach, toasted Safeway asiago cheese bread. Everyone loves this meal. FridayLeftovers Roulette. Some possibilities include Sloppy Joe nachos, salmon salad, miso chicken wrap with shredded cabbage, and Japanese potato salad croquettes. It just depends on what's left. That's the fun of it. Eat Well. Be Well.
 Now that I've made my very own batch of My Dad's Ogo (see blog post " Thursday is Poi and Ogo Day"), I'm feeling a little home-(cooking)-sick. Especially since May is feeling at lot more like November lately. Brrr. Thankfully, the Buddhist temple's teriyaki chicken fundraiser was just at the right time. Their all-volunteer homemade teriyaki chicken is really a cross between a barbecued teriyaki and old-time huli-huli chicken. As a bonus, I also got some homemade tsukemono (Japanese pickled cabbage), and two humongous bags of leftover rice for fried rice.
 Torch ginger Rounding out the week with food from Grandma, Dad and my sister. Toss in a photo or two from home, and I can smell the home cooking from here. Monday--Buddhist Temple Teriyaki Chicken, essentially takeout Tuesday-- My Grandma's Meat and Macaroni and fresh salad with homegrown lettuce Wednesday-- My Daddy's Killer Fried Rice, Leftover rice bag #1--using char siu, scrambled eggs, carrots, onions and green beans. Thursday-- Sanny's Hamburgers and Gravy, rice and broccoli Friday-- Bacon salmon & My Daddy's Killer Fried Rice, Leftover rice bag #2, using the bacon from the salmon, onions, shredded carrots, and edamame A sure cure for なつかしい (natsukashii--missing/longing for something). Eat Well. Be Well.
Hope everyone had a good Easter and/or Passover. This week is dedicated to household favorites--the go-to, most-requested, and typically most often served at our potlucks. Monday-- Bulgogi. My son doesn't eat cow, but he will make an exception for this. It's definitely warm enough to grill now. You can get the Korean/Hawaii-style shortribs at most Asian markets. Safeway will also cut them this way if you ask them. Tuesday-- Smoked Salmon Pasta. You just can't eat rice every day. This recipe uses no garlic, shoyu, vinegar or salt. All the flavor comes from smoked salmon, clam juice, a lemon and a shot of heavy cream.  Crock Pot Kalua Pig Wednesday-- Crock Pot Kalua Pig. Start it in the morning and come home to the lovely smell of smoky kalua pig. If you make a lot, you can use leftovers for Kalua Pig quesadillas, or freeze it for some other time when you don't feel like cooking. Thursday--Homage to Mom and Dad dinner. From mom-- Ung Choy (probably will use spinach) with Shoyu-Mirin Sauce (See below). And My Dad's Killer Fried Rice. Remember, just a little bacon goes a long way. We eat this breakfast, lunch and dinner when we back home in Hawaii.
 Mom's Ung Choy with Shoyu-Mirin Sauce Friday-- Peanut-Butter-Beer Miso Chicken. This is my favorite chicken, descended from the Sam Choy recipe. Absolute respect to Sam Choy's risk-taking, creative genius--taking ordinary household ingredients--peanut butter, beer, garlic, and shoyu and miso (ok, those last two are ordinary mostly to Asian households!) to make something so utterly sublimely good. Eat Well. Be Well.
 Yesterday with New Food on Monday, and I started with an onion bacon tart. The end result was quite good, but too much prep time! Here's what I did. This is descended from a recipe from Bon Apetit. 1) 1 onion, thinly sliced into strings 2) 1 sheet of square Trader Joe's puff pastry (I *LOVE* this stuff) 3) 1/4 cup of honey and 1/4 cup white wine, mixed in a bowl 4) 1/2 package of bacon finely chopped 5) About 1/4 cup of creme fraiche with some nutmeg thrown in Cook the bacon until crisp and drain. Mix together honey, wine and some bacon drippings in a bowl and then toss the onions with that. Roast the onions flat for at least an hour until they start to carmelize. (The recipe said 30 minutes--NOT! This is where I started thinking it was too much prep time) Roll out the the puff pastry so that it's pretty thin and then fold over the edges and smush them down with a fork. Spread the creme fraiche over the pastry. Spread the roasted onions and then top with bacon. Bake for another 30 minutes or so until the puff pastry puffs and turns brown. It tastes marvy, and I'll definitely try it again. However, next time I'm streamlining in a major way. Click here for the recipe in progress.
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