This Week's Menu and Shopping List

Another week has passed. Let's review this week's menu.

Monday: Portabella mushroom and sun-dried tomato pizza
Tuesday: Pork and celery stir-fry
Wednesday: Kale and sausage minestrone
Thursday: Chicken and beans, spinach miso soup
Friday: Grilled flounder

Shopping List:
Flounder fillet (2 pieces, any white fish) - grilled flounder
Chicken drum (4) - chicken and beans
Pork (1/4 pound) - pork stir-fry
Sausage - minestrone
Pizza dough (1 package) - pizza
Portabella mushroom (1) - pizza
Sun-dried tomatoes - pizza
Red onion (1) - pizza, grilled flounder
Celery - pork stir-fry, minestrone
Ginger - pork stir-fry
Anchovies - pizza
Shredded mozzarella cheese - pizza
Fresh basil leaves - pizza
Kale (one bunch) - minestrone
Potatoes (6-7 baby ones) - minestrone, grilled flounder
Carrot (1) - minestrone
Chick peas (1 cup cooked) - minestrone
Soy beans (1 cup cooked) - chicken and beans
Zucchini (1) - minestrone
Onion (1 medium-sized) - minestrone
Spinach (1 bunch) - miso soup, grilled flounder
Seaweed (dried) - miso soup
Garlic - grilled flounder

Things that may or may not be in your pantry/fridge:
Salt
Pepper
Sesame seeds
Soy sauce
Cooking wine - sake
Vegetable oil
Olive oil
Canned whole tomatoes (1 small)
Chicken stock
Brown sugar
Sesame oil
Bay leaf
Dried oregano
Miso
Dashi no moto

I think pizza was the one that took most time and ingredients to make this week. I think it's worth making something that's little elaborate once a week though!

Friday Dinner: Grilled flounder

Last Sunday, I got fresh whole flounder. When you get whole fish, make sure you clean the gut right away, cut it (if you are going to), wash/clean it, AND dry really well with paper towel. After that, you can cook it on the same day, or seal it tightly in a freezer bag and freeze it.



Grilled flounder and vegetables (for 2 people):
Flounder (2 large pieces) - You can use any white fish fillet.
Red onion (1/2)
Potatoes (2 baby ones)
Olive oil (about 1 Tbs)
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven at 380 degrees.
1. Cut potatoes in half and slice the onion (not thinly).
2. Put potatoes and onion on a cookie sheet. Use a Silicone sheet or aluminum foil on the cookie sheet to make cleaning easier.
3. Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and put salt and pepper over them as well.
4. Put them in the oven for 10 min.
5. Bring them out and make some room for fish fillet. Place fillet on the same sheet and salt and pepper it.
6. Bake for about 8 min. depending on how thick your fillet is. Check after 5 min. to make sure it doesn't get over cooked.

I also sauteed spinach with olive oil and garlic for the side. I think if you use a good piece of fish, it can turn into a really nice dinner. I had Chardonnay from Monterey called Estancia with the meal, which was cheap but pretty good.

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Technorati Tags:flounder, sole, grilled fish

Thursday Dinner: Japanese dinner

So, I call this "Japanese dinner" for several reasons. Well, the main dish, chicken and beans have a sweet-soy-sauce-based taste, which I think is a very typical Japanese taste. Also, there is the miso soup and rice. Miso soup is really really simple to make. You should definitely try it.


Chicken and beans (for 2 people):
Soy beans (1 cup cooked) - They take about 1 to 1.5 hours to cook if you have dried ones. Soak them overnight before you start cooking. I've never seen canned soy beans, but you can get dried ones at any Asian store.
Chicken drum (4)
Brown sugar (1 Tbs) - very important for carmelization
Cooking wine (1 Tbs)
Soy sauce (3 Tbs)
Water (1 cup)
Sesame oil (2 Tbs)

1. Heat sesame oil on high heat in a pot.
2. Grill chicken until sides are brown.
3. Throw in beans and mix them well, making sure nothing burns.
4. Put water in.
5. Put sugar and cooking wine in.
6. Put soy sauce in.
7. Turn the heat down to medium low and cook until there is almost no soup left (with no lid on). It'll take about 15 min. Stir it half way to make sure all sides get cooked in the soup.

It'll actually taste better if you let it rest. You can put it in the fridge overnight if you have time.

Miso soup (spinach and seaweed) for 2 people:
Spinach (1 cup)
Seaweed (2 Tbs dried)
Miso (2-3 Tbs)
Dashi no moto
Water (2 cups)

1. In a pot, boil water with a sprinkle of dashi no moto.
2. Chop up spinach.
3. Chop up seaweed if not already cut.
4. When water boils, put spinach in and let it cook for few minutes.
5. Take miso on a small whisk and whisk it into the soup. The amount of miso really depends on what kind of miso you have. Some are saltier than others. So start small and taste to make sure that it's not too salty. Also, it gets saltier after you boil, so keep that in mind.
6. Put seaweed in. You don't want to cook seaweed for too long.
7. Right before the soup comes to boil, stop the heat. It's best to serve it right away, but if you can't don't worry, just heat it up before serving.

It's best not to cook miso for too long because it loses nice flavor. You can really put so many other things in miso soup.
Here are some variations:
onion slices and potatoes
daikon radish slices
tofu and seaweed
fried tofu (aburaage) and cabbage

If you've never bought miso before, you should get "medium." Miso ranges from aka (red) to shiro (white), and aka is salty and shiro is sweet. So, it's best to get something in between. You can usually tell by the color.

Well, so a simple Japanese meal is not complicated at all right? I mean, it's not like making sushi or tempura!

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Technorati Tags:chicken, soy beans, miso soup

Wednesday Dinner: Kale and sausage minestrone

On Wednesday night, I made a very hearty dish, kale minestrone. Kale is such an underused vegetable. It tastes like sweet cabbage and delicious. They have really fresh kale at the local farmer's market I always go to.



Kale and sausage minestrone (for 3 people):
Kale (1/3 of big bunch)
Sausage (1 uncooked)
Potatoes (4-5 baby ones or 2 regular ones)
Carrot (1)
Celery (2 long or 3-4 short stems)
Chick peas (1 cup cooked) - I used dried ones and just cooked them over the weekend, but you can use canned chick peas.
Zucchini (1)
Onion (1/2 of medium-sized)
Olive oil (2 Tbs)
Canned whole tomatoes (1/2 of a big can or 1 small can) - I use whole but you can use diced tomatoes too.
Chicken stock (3 cups)
Bay leaf (1)
Dried oregano (1/2 tsp) - optional
Salt (1 tbs) - adjust the amount according to how salty your chicken stock is
Pepper

1. Dice potatoes and soak them in water. You don't need to peel them if they are baby potatoes but, if they are regular ones, peel them and soak them in water. This prevents the soup from getting starchy.
2. Chop up kale. It doesn't really reduce in volume that much, so I think you should chop it up pretty small.
3. Slice sausage.
4. Dice all the other vegetables. Don't need to cut them too small. I personally like chunky vegetables, but it's totally up to you.
5. Heat olive oil in a big pot on medium high heat. Grill sausage pieces until they're brown then add diced onions. Keep stirring until onions are translucent.
6. Add all the other vegetables until potatoes and kale. When everything is well incorporated (no need to cook everything through), add chicken stock and tomatoes. If you're using whole tomatoes, crush them as you put them into the pot.
7. Once the soup boils, add potatoes, kale, and chick peas. Add salt and pepper.
8. Put bay leaf in and cook for about 20 min on low heat with the lid on until all the vegetables are nice and tender.
9. Add dried oregano in the end.
10. Serve it up!

Oh minestrone is so versatile. You can almost put anything. Instead of using sausage, you could use diced chicken meat, bacon, etc. In terms of vegetables, you can use diced cabbage instead of kale. You can also add things like garlic, chili peppers, and basil to spice up your soup. For beans, you can also use lentils. If you want little more volume, you can also add some pasta or serve some bread on the side. Just be creative or throw in anything left in your fridge!

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Technorati Tags:sausage, kale, minestrone

Tuesday Dinner: Pork and celery stir-fry with egg drop soup

Tonight, I made super simple stir-fry and egg drop soup. Everything was done in 20 min. or so. The trick is to cook everything while rice is cooking. So, start cooking rice first, if you are having rice.






Pork and celery stir-fry (for 2-3 people):
Pork (1/4 pound) - I used lean meat, but you can use any part.
Celery (5 stems)
Ginger (1 small piece)
Sesame seeds
Salt (1/2 tsp)
Pepper
Soy sauce (1 TBS)
Cooking wine - sake (1 TBS)
Vegetable oil (2 TBS)

1. Slice pork as thinly as possible. Slice celery diagonally. Peel and julienne or just slice the ginger.
2. Heat your wok or pan on high heat with vegetable oil. Put salt in oil - it gets infused in the oil.
3. Put ginger strips and then meat in the wok. Pepper the meat and keep stirring. When the color of meat changes (still pink in some parts), throw in celery.
4. Put cooking wine and keep stirring.
5. When meat seems cooked through, put soy sauce in the work, but don't put it directly on the food. Put meat and celery aside little bit and "grill" soy sauce first before you mix them all together. This is will give smoky flavor to soy sauce.
6. Throw in sesame seeds and mix everything together.
7. Put it on a plate.

I served it with rice. I don't put stock in this stir-fry because celery gives out a good amount of juice. If you put stock in it, it gets too soggy. You could add different things to this stir-fry like chili sauce, sliced carrots, egg plants, etc.

Egg drop soup (for 2 people):
Egg (1)
Chicken stock (2 cups)
Pak Choy (3 small)
Salt (1 tsp)
Pepper

1. Chop up the pak choy.
2. Boil chicken stock in a small pot and put pak choy in it. Put salt and some pepper. Keep cooking on medium heat.
3. Beat the egg.
4. When the color is bright green, drizzle in egg little by little.
5. Close the lid for 30 sec. or so until the egg is cooked.
6. Serve it in a small bowl.

Could it get any simpler?! You still get fresh vegetable though, which I like. You can try other kinds of green vegetables like nappa cabbage and spinach. Depending on how salty the chicken stock is, adjust the amount of salt you put in the soup.

Enjoy this super easy meal!

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Technorati Tags:stir-fry, egg drop soupasian soup

Monday Dinner: Portabella mushroom and sun-dried tomato pizza

Tonight, I made a super easy dinner with premade pizza dough. I got the "almost whole wheat" dough at Trader Joe's, but I'm sure you can find pizza dough at a regular grocery store too.

Portabella mushroom and sun-dried tomato pizza (size of a cookie sheet):
Pizza dough (1 package) - It makes a big pizza that is the size of a cookie sheet. If you want, you can just use half and freeze the other half.
Portabella mushroom (1) - I got three but ended up using only one. I froze the other two for some other week.
Sun-dried tomatoes (about 1/4 of a jar)
Red onion (less than 1/2)
Anchovies (1/2 of can)
Shredded mozzarella cheese (about 1/2 of a bag)
Fresh basil leaves (10 leaves or so)
Salt (1/2 tsp or less)
Pepper

Preheat the oven at 425 degrees.
1. Spread out the dough all over a cookie sheet. I put a silicone sheet over it. You can try aluminum foil (greased) or greasing the cookie sheet.
2. Slice the red onion as thinly as you can and spread the pieces all over the dough.
3. Slice portabella mushroom and spread the pieces all over the dough.
4. Take pieces of sun-dried tomatoes out from the jar and spread them all over the dough (cut them up if the pieces are too large).
5. Take pieces of anchovies and break them into halves with your fingers as you spread them all over the dough.
6. Spread shredded mozzarella cheese all over the dough. You can try other types of cheese as well.
7. Put washed basil leaves all over the dough. If leaves are too big, just cut them in half.
8. Sprinkle salt all over the dough. Anchovies are salty, so you don't need a lot of salt.
9. Sprinkle pepper all over the dough and put the dough in the oven.
10. Bake for 20-25 min.

So, you notice that there is no picture today? Well... I screwed up and burned my pizza. I put it in the oven for too long, like 35 min. It was still OK, but cheese was dark brown, so I didn't take a picture. I will try this recipe again, but for now, please check the oven after 20 min. or so and make sure it's not in there for too long. If you feel like cheese is browning but other ingredients are not being cooked, try putting a foil over the pizza. That might help. Taste was good, though, so I'll definitely try this recipe again...

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Technorati Tags:portabella, sundried tomato, anchovy, pizza

Yoshida Brothers concert

Last night, my boyfriend and I went to Yoshida Brothers' concert at a jazz house/sushi restaurant called Yoshi's in Oakland, CA. Yoshida Brothers are brothers from Japan who play the shamisen (traditional Japanese guitar) but with like a modern twist. The concert was really good. For some pieces, they had a piano guy and drum guy. I don't know much about the shamisen, but I think they were really able to tell stories with their shamisen. They had two pieces called, Sun-set and Sun-rise, and I could really picture the images of sun-set and sun-rise in my mind, listening to their music.

Anyway, before the concert, we had dinner at Yoshi's. We were seated at the sushi bar because it was completely full, but I really wasn't impressed with the sushi chefs. I understand that they had a particularly busy night, but they seemed so caught up in their work and it wasn't a "sushi bar" atmosphere at all. The chef who was in front of us pointed his finger at us several times to tell other chefs to bring food to us, which I thought was extremely rude. I mean, what's the point of having this bar setting if he's going to completely ignore us and pretend like we are not there? Well, food, I thought was not super good, but good though. We had several orders of sushi and kobe beef salad. Overall, I don't think I would go back there if not for a concert.