Tofu Dango

It's hard to not try a new recipe when you see the food item raved about on an anime series. Part of this recipe is about curiosity and seeing how there are so few ingredients for it, the dumplings practically begged to be made. Depending on the sauce used on the dango, it can be sweet or savory. It's pretty easy to make.

Dango (dumplings) coated with black sesame,
vanilla sauce, and a savory sauce

Prep/cooking time: 20 minutes
Cuisine: Japanese
Food type: appetizer or dessert

Tofu Dango

Ingredients

6 oz tofu (roughly half a box of Silken tofu, firm)
2/3 c. glutinous rice flour

Directions

1. Mix ingredients together in a bowl. If it is too dry, add a little bit of water. If it's too wet/sticky, add a little bit more rice flour.

2. Form into a log and separate it into equal portions. Half, then quarters, then smaller pieces from the quarters.

3. With the smaller pieces roll each into a ball. You may coat each with a some rice flour to keep it from sticking to your hands.

4. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the dumplings. Boil for 2-3 minutes or until the dumplings are floating on the water.

5. Use a slotted spoon or strainer to take the dumplings out. Immerse in a cold water bath to stop the dumplings from cooking.

6. Spear three dumplings onto a bamboo skewer. Set on a plate.

At this stage, I don't advise eating them. They're really, really bland.

Dango Sauce Variations

(savory)

1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar

Bring to a boil and let cool in a small bowl. Spoon over dango.

(simple vanilla sauce, not vegan)

1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp flour
1/4 c. milk

Bring ingredients to a boil. Let cool and serve over dango.

(sweet, black sesame)

1/4 c. black sesame seeds
1/4 c. brown sugar

Grind seeds until powdery in a suribachi or food prep. Coat the dango and serve.


View more pics.

Hon-kaeshi (soba sauce)

Hon-kaeshi is a dark Japanese noodle sauce often served with chilled soba noodles or other savory dishes. Its ingredients are a ratio of dark soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. I have adapted the ratio for 1 serving, though, it can probably be multiplied for more. And, since I'm using this with a bowl of fresh soba noodles, this preparation is for serving it fresh. A traditional method would be to cook the ingredients together for storage in the refrigerator. You could probably use unbleached granulated sugar instead of brown sugar, but you should use a good quality soy sauce and mirin. I used Takara mirin, a cooking sake.

Ingredients

1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp brown sugar

Directions

Combine ingredients and mix until sugar has dissolved. Serve as is in a separate bowl from soba noodles or mix with soba noodles, then serve.

Can also prepare with rehydrated wakame seaweed and serve over cooked soba noodles. I like wakame since it is cheaper and easier to find in the Pacific NW than bonito, and much easier to prepare than kombu seaweed.

Because this recipe calls for both sugar and soy sauce, it can also be used as a flavoring with grilled chicken (yakitori), thin slices of beef served over vegetables (sukiyaki), etc.

The traditional Kaeshi prep method is as follows:

4 1/4 c. (1 litre) good quality soy sauce
3/4 to 1 c. mirin
3/4 to 1 c. brown sugar

Directions:

1. In a pot, heat mirin until boiling, then simmer until much of the alcohol has evaporated.
2. Turn off heat and add sugar to pot, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
3. Add soy sauce and bring to a boil until liquid temp is 185 degrees F (85 degrees C).
4. Turn off heat and let cool until transferring liquid to a container.

Snickerdoodles

What's a better reason to bake cookies than making a batch of one with an amusing name. There are four primary ingredients in this recipe which make them really delicious and yet so unhealthy. They are a perfect complement with milk, ice cream, or eating them at a rest stop along Interstate 5; which, strangely enough is where I had them last this summer. In WA state, all the rest stops along I-5 are staffed by local volunteer groups like the Ham radio club of Vancouver, Lion's International, Rotary club chapters, etc. The state highway benefits from having fewer tired drivers on the road, thus fewer accidents, and the nonprofit organization is able to raise 'donation' funds. It's a really neat idea to offer free coffee/tea/cocoa and cookies to visitors at rest stops. I have never seen an accident (fortunately) between south of Olympia and north of Portland along this highway.

Anyhow, back to the recipe. We can safely assume that these cookies originated from Western Europe, or wherever there was a large influx of sugar and dairy traders. The Joy of Cooking book attributes the cookie's origin to Germany. Other sources seem to indicate it being of Dutch, New England (Pennsylvania USA), or Roman origin. It is basically a butter-sugar cookie dough rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking. Traditionally it was made with cream of tartar as its leavening agent and aluminum-free baking powder can be substituted. It's interesting to note that these cookies don't resemble snails in any way, so attributing the origin to the German word Schneckennudeln ("snail noodles") is odd.

I'd imagine that the cinnamon could be swapped out with other spices like ground ginger, cardamom, allspice, or nutmeg, and the spice flavor would be much more intense.

Dough Ingredients

2 3/4 c. all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks, softened)
1 1/2 c. granulated unbleached cane sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Coating

1/3 c. granulated unbleached cane sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

1a. In a bowl, combine dry dough ingredients together.

1b. In a smaller bowl, whisk together sugar and ground cinnamon. Set aside.

1c. In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs.

If you have a stand mixer, you could cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and vanilla extract. And, gradually add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt) until entirely incorporated into a dough. But alas, I don't have a stand mixer.

3. Gradually mix together dry with wet until a dough forms.

4. Take a teaspoon and scoop out some dough. Roll it into a ball and then roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Place ball on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and squish flat with the underside of the 1-cup measuring cup, or a large glass.

5. Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are golden brown; if you don't, the thicker cookies will taste a bit raw in the center. Let cool on racks before storing in an air tight container at room temperature.

Snickerdoodles Cooling on a Wire Rack

Bread Machine Pita Bread

The easiest way to knead dough is to have someone else do it for you. For this recipe I used a bread machine that typically spews out 1-lb loaves of squarely-shaped bread. Like most people reading/doing a recipe for the first time, things don't always come out in uniform shapes nor is the dough cut into equal-sized pieces. The flour used for this attempt is a mix between all-purpose unbleached flour and whole wheat all-purpose flour because I only have one container large enough to store 5+ lbs of flour and I bought whole wheat by accident the last time I was at the store. Anyhow...

A 500 degree F oven is very hot and was the perfect complement to the start of the rainy season in the NW. I was concerned that the dough wouldn't rise properly after it'd been cut and rolled out to form pita-like shapes (roundish) from the apparent humidity and cooler weather. The most awesome thing to see was the pitas being baked. They swelled up like little balloons in the oven. Taking them out was a challenge. Hot oven = hot pita bread. I'd advise against using tongs because they ripped through a few of the pitas. Only half way through the batch I realized that a metal spatula worked much better.

This is an average pita recipe which you can find just about anywhere on the Net. The bread machine not only kneads the dough, but provides a nice, warm enclosed space for the dough to rise properly. I also misread the original recipe and cut the dough into 12 pieces instead of 8. No wonder why I couldn't roll them out into 6" diameter circles.

Ingredients

1 1/8 c. warm water (110 degrees F)
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1. Put all the ingredients into bread machine and select the Dough setting.

2. Once risen (in the machine), turn dough out onto a floured surface. Gently roll and stretch it into a 12" rope. Divide dough into equal pieces. Set aside to rise for 30 minutes or until puffy.

I used lightly floured parchment sheets for this step so that the pitas wouldn't stick together.

3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Place a few pitas directly onto the oven rack and bake pitas for up to 5 minutes. If they turn golden brown, you've cooked them for too long.

4. Remove puffed up pitas from the oven and place in a large paper bag lined with a kitchen towel. Look, I don't know why this step works better than say, laying them out on a cooling rack, but it does.

5. Store pitas in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to a week; or store in freezer for 1-2 months.

These pair well with the baba ganoush recipe.

Pitas Baking in the Oven

Finished Pitas Cooling in a Paper Bag

Baba Ganoush (eggplant dip)

This recipe is surprisingly easy and has a total prep/cook time of an hour. You'll need a large European eggplant, not the long, thin Japanese eggplant. There are two parts to this recipe, the eggplant and the tahini (sesame paste).

Tahini Ingredients

2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 c. warm water, scant

Eggplant Dip Ingredients

1 large eggplant
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. tahini
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 1/2 tsp olive oil (optional)
dash of paprika (optional)

Directions

1. In a food prep (large enough to accommodate 3 cups), combine 2 tbsp sesame seeds, sesame oil, and sea salt. Grind by adding a little water at a time until a smooth paste forms.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

3. Take eggplant and slice in half. Putting the cut side down onto a lightly oiled baking dish, say a 9" x 13" glass or ceramic baking dish. It is not necessary to turn the eggplant while it bakes, nor be concerned if the skin starts to char.

4. Bake the eggplant for 40 minutes, until soft. Remove from oven and scoop out the eggplant flesh into the food prep where the tahini is already. Add minced garlic and lemon juice. Blend until smooth. View pic.

5. Remove eggplant dip to a container and let chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.

6. When serving, add olive oil on top of the spread and sprinkle with paprika.

Makes almost 2 cups.

Note: Trader Joe's now carries 2.4 oz bottles of raw white sesame seeds for $1.99. It's in their spice section.

Fresh Blueberry Scones

It'll be blueberry season through September and I'll probably go to Majestic Farms either this weekend or on Labor Day weekend for more blueberries. I'd say that fresh blueberries have a shelf life of about 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator after they've been washed, dried, and put into an airtight container. I'd like to make blueberry crepes before the season is over and need more fresh blueberries for that. Sure, I have already picked 11.5 pounds of blueberries, most of which are in the freezer or have been eaten or made into something. There's just no beating the fresh taste of blueberries.

Ingredients

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries
1 tsp grated lemon zest (optional)
1/3 c. heavy cream
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a bowl, sift flour, 3 tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in butter.

3. Using a fork, whisk egg and cream together in a cup. Pour into the center of the dry ingredients. Stir lightly until the dough comes together.

4. Carefully fold in blueberries. I suggest that the bowl you are mixing the flour in be large enough to accommodate all the ingredients because kneading the dough on a floured board just doesn't seem feasible, at least, not to me. And this way it is far less messy. Though, that's not to say you won't make a mess.

5. Turn out dough onto a floured board and pat into a square-like shape, roughly 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into scone-like shapes (usually triangles, but any shape will do). Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

6. Sprinkle tops of scones with granulated sugar.

7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on wire racks before eating.

Fresh Blueberry Muffins

I made these for a friend's vegan potluck last weekend. Mostly because I picked the blueberries from a local farm, the blueberries aren't sprayed, and darn it, baked blueberry goods are just tasty. Sure, they aren't exactly vegan, having both eggs and butter in it; but I wasn't about to sub out the eggs for ground flax seeds for the "goo" part and what's wrong with butter?? Those vegans just don't know how to live it up.

This is an ordinary muffin recipe and has been modded to include fresh blueberries.

Ingredients

crumb topping:

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

muffin batter:

1 3/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 c. olive oil
3/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries, about 5-6 blueberries per muffin

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

For the crumb topping:

In a separate bowl, combine the ingredients together until coarse crumbs form. Set aside.

For the batter:

1. In a bowl sift together dry ingredients. Beat together eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix well with dry ingredients. Batter will be thicker and heavier than pancake batter.

2. Grease with butter or olive oil, or use paper muffin cups, a 12-cup muffin pan. Excess batter can be spooned into 4 oz buttered ramekins.

3. Fill each cup with 1 heaping tbsp batter, add 5-6 fresh blueberries, spoon a little batter on top of the blueberries, then top with some crumb topping. It's a much faster process if you fill all the cups first with batter.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before serving.

Slow roasted roma tomatoes

I'm liking this slow roasting technique a lot. The flavor that comes out from the vegetables is very much like what you'd get at a restaurant so I can see why these foods can command such a menu price.

A 13" x 9" roasting pan doesn't seem like it'd be enough for the tomatoes that are about to be roasted. Most of the romas I halved and put in cut-side-up in the pan. A few of the romas were sliced lengthwise then eighthed, and the rest were cut into slices.

To this, I poured a bit of olive oil on top of the tomatoes then added fresh thyme leaves and garlic cloves.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Bake for 3 hours.

These are intended for sandwiches, for a salad, or eaten as is.

(Peruvian) Quinoa Salad

I put the Peruvian in parathesis in the title because quinoa originally comes from Peru. At least the country is the top exporter in the world, followed by Bolivia and Ecuador. It's like saying American hotdogs or Chinese dim sum. It is neither a grain nor a grass, but rather more like amaranth seeds. And, per cup serving it is also very high in protein (13% per dry weight) and it makes a great complement to other foods. This recipe adaptation is not my own and is one that I got from a potluck this year. This is a perfect summer time dish and is very easy to make.

1 cup dry quinoa = 2 cups cooked quinoa

Ingredients:

1-2 cups dry quinoa
2-4 cups water

For the salad:

1 cucumber, diced
2-3 small tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeño, cut into small pieces (or use 1/2 jalapeno if only making 2 cooked cups of quinoa)
1/4 cup fresh lemon (or lime) juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
To cook the quinoa, add quinoa to a pot of boiling water (or add the quinoa to a pot of water then bring to a boil, it really doesn't matter). Cook on medium heat until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool before mixing in salad ingredients.

Toss well with cucumber, tomatoes, jalapeño, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Serve.

Roasted Bell Peppers

Roasting bell peppers seems simple enough, so why blog about it? Because tastes are individual and this ratio and process works for my oven. ;) For this recipe I used Himalayan pink salt. Maybe one day I'll try it with Sicillian sea salt which also is in the pantry. Also, when I roasted the peppers the first time, I used parchment paper with a baking sheet; but alas, that did not work so well.

If you're going to use a baking sheet, you need to butter or lightly grease it so that the carmelized peppers do not burn or stick to the sheet.

Materials

An oven-proof glass or ceramic baking pan large enough to accommodate the peppers

Ingredients

Fresh bell peppers, whole or sliced, any variety
Olive oil
Salt, any variety

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Add whole or sliced peppers to baking pan. Drizzle olive oil on top of peppers. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, turning the peppers at least once.

Remove from oven and add to other recipes or enjoy as is.

Making Xian Bing ("meat pies")

This is bing as in a bread-styled appetizer found in Chinese cuisine, such as shao bing ("small bread" kind of like a pita), jian bing (crepes), cong you bing (pancakes), etc. This recipe comes from the book of unintelligible Chinese recipes. Basically, it comes from a recipe book written entirely in Chinese from my mom's cookbook collection, none of which I can actually read.

Ingredients

5 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. water

1 3/4 lb ground pork
2 tbsp soy sauce
8 tbsp water
dash of sea salt
2-3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
10 small shitake mushrooms, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced

Directions

1. Except for the flour, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour with 1 cup of water. (Note: if you're using whole wheat flour, you'll need more water). Stir to combine and knead until it comes together as a dough.

3. Form a log and slice into equal chunks. Roll out a dough chunk into a 5" diameter circle.

4. Fill with 2 tbsp of pork mixture and roll the dough up like a pouch. It's better to have the dough in one hand and crimp the edges with the other.

5. Fry on low heat until golden brown on both sides.

View pics.

Roasted Shimp with Honey-Ginger

I'm not sure when this recipe was scribble down on a random piece of paper (I'll write out recipes on whatever can be written upon, blank spots of used envelopes, scraps of paper, etc.), but it looks good enough to repeat.

Marinade

1/4 c. soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp dry yellow mustard
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

1 1/2 lb large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.

Marinade shrimp for a few hours. Remove from marinade and lay out shrimp in a single layer on a baking dish or tray.

Bake for 5 to 8 minutes, or until shrimp begins to curl and its flesh is no longer translucent. Remove from heat and serve.

Review: Serious Pie (Seattle, WA)

Serious Pie is exactly what its name suggests. For a corner pizza place in downtown Seattle, this restaurant isn't ordinary and their ingredients are far from the usually expected. I ate here on Sunday with my sibling and his wife. We ordered two really tasty pizzas (roasted yellowfoot mushrooms, truffle cheese and the penn cove clams, house pancetta, lemon thyme) and promptly devoured both. The mushroom pizza was a little saltier than I like; but the clam pizza more than made up for it.

The shop doesn't have much footprint inside, so it's best to come here at a off-eating hour. And, they don't take reservations. I'm told that during the summer, the line to get into the restaurant goes out the door, down the block, and around the building. It's that popular.

The only downside is the limited food menu. There are only six starters, seven pizzas, and three desserts. The rest of the menu are beverages.

It is one of many eateries that was created and managed by Tom Douglas, a Seattle chef, who also owns Lola, Palace Kitchen, Dahlia Lounge, Dahlia Bakery, and Etta's.

Price: $$ to $$$
Serious Pie location: 316 Virginia & 3rd Street, Seattle, WA
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