rice with salmon flakes

serves 3

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Ingredients

for the salmon flakes:

1/2 lb filet fresh salmon, seasoned with salt and grilled until cooked

1 tablespoon sake (i used 1/2 tablesppon of sake and 1/2 tablespoon of mirin)

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

6 tablespoon furikake or toasted black sesame seed

1 3/4 cups hot cooked rice

ikura (salmon roe) - to taste (i used flying fish roe instead. wish i lived closer to nijiya. :-( )

chopped spring onions or chives - to garnish

Directions

1. Discard any skin or bones on the salmon and flake the flesh.

2. Transfer the salmon to a small pan and pour over the sake. Put on a medium heat until cooked through. Flake again then add the light soy sauce.

3. Turn off heat and add the fruikake or sesame seeds.

4. Put the cooked rice into individual bowls and put some of the salmon flakes on top. Add a spoonful of kura and garnish with choppied spring onions or chives.

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Recipe from 'Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking'

minced chicken donburi

serves 3

Ingredients
for the chicken topping:
1 cup of minced chicken
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon superfine sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons mirin
for the sweetened shiitake mushrooms:
6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in 1/4 cup water until soft
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons mirin
1 teaspoon superfine sugar

handful of peas
1 egg
3 3/4 cups hot cooked rice

Directions
Chicken topping: In a pan, mix the minced chicken, soy sauce, sugar and mirin together and simmer. Cook until all the liquid has evaporated.
Sweetened shiitake mushrooms: Lightly squeeze to remove any excess water, reserving the water. Discard the stalks and slice each into 6 pieces. Place in a small pan, add the reserved water, soy sauce, mirin and sugar, and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.
In a separate pan, parboil the peas, chill in cold water.
Boil the egg for 7-8 minutes. Shell and chop the egg into 4 pieces.
Divide the rice into individual bowls. Serve the chicken with the shiitake mushrooms mixture on top, together with a few peas and the boiled egg.

Recipe from 'Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking'

spicy sauteed fish with olives & cherry tomatoes

serves 4
Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
2 pounds tilapia, red snapper, or orange roughy fillets
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives, chopped
6 garlic cloves, mince garlic
Directions Heat olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Add half of fish to skillet and sauté until just opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer fish to platter. Repeat with remaining fish. Add parsley and crushed red pepper to same skillet; sauté 1 minute. Add tomatoes, olives, and garlic; sauté until tomatoes are soft and juicy, about 2 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper; spoon over fish.
Bon Appetit May 2002 - Candida Sportiello, Ventotene, Italy

giada's spicy chicken

serves 4

Ingredients x
4 chicken thighs with skin and bones
2 chicken breasts with skin and bones, halved crosswise
Salt and black pepper
3 tablespoons Chili Oil, recipe follows
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup pitted, coarsely chopped green olives
4 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons drained capers
2/3 cup dry white wine

Directions
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the garlic, olives, 3 tablespoons of parsley and capers. Add the wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the chicken mixture to a platter. Spoon the sauce over. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley and serve.

Chili Oil:
2 cups olive oil
4 teaspoons dried crushed red pepper flakes
Combine the oil and crushed red pepper flakes in a heavy small saucepan. Cook over low heat until a thermometer inserted into the oil registers 180 degrees F, about 5 minutes.
Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Transfer the oil and pepper flakes to a 4-ounce bottle. Seal the lid. Refrigerate up to 1 month.
Yield: 2 cups

Bún bò Huế - attempt #1

mistake #1 - no pork
mistake #2 - no shrimp paste
mistake #3 - heating up this soup after a night of drinking... very bad idea.

your heart is an empty room

macaroon cookies from miette
Your Heart Is An Empty Room - Death Cab

hamachi bapsang

buttery gootsness

beer can chicken

sexy chicken
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Ingredients

1 medium whole chicken (4 to 5 pounds)

2 1/2 tablespoons your own mix - Lindsey and I used cajun spice mix, salt, and pepper

1 can (12 ounces) beer at room temperature

olive oil to coat the skin

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Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse chicken inside and out, drain and pat dry.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the rub inside the neck and body cavity, then rub another 1 tablespoon and olive oil all over the skin of the bird.

Pop the tab on the beer can.

Using a "church key"-style can opener, make 6 or 7 holes in the top of the can.

DRINK or pour out the top inch of beer, then spoon the remaining dry rub through the holes into the beer.

Holding the chicken upright, push the chicken down onto the beer can so that the can goes into the cavity. Stand the "stuffed" chicken on a roasting pan. The bottom of the beer can and the two legs form a triangular support.

Roast about 2 hours until the skin is crisp and the juices run clear when the bird is poked with the tip of a knife.

Allow the finished bird to rest before carving.

oven roasted chicken