This Week's Menu and Shopping List

Here's this week's menu and shopping list.

Monday: Curry
Tuesday: Salmon cake
Wednesday: Broiled fish
Thursday: "Shaved ice" cooked pork
Friday: Eat out
Saturday: Rolled chicken with celery, Potato and leek soup

Shopping list:
Curry block package (1) - curry
Chicken thigh (8) - curry, rolled chicken with celery
Baby potatoes (10) - curry, leek and potato soup
Onion (1) - curry, salmon cake
Carrot (1)
Canned diced/whole tomatoes (1 small) - curry
Pink salmon (14.75 oz can) - salmon cake
Panko bread crumbs - salmon cake
Snapper or perch (2 pieces) - broiled fish
Ginger (1 small piece) - broiled fish
Thinly sliced pork (1/4 pound) - "shaved ice" cooked pork
Daikon radish (1 medium) - "shaved ice" cooked pork
Spinach (2-3 cups) - "shaved ice" cooked pork
Leek (1) - "shaved ice" cooked pork, leek and potato soup
Parsley - leek and potato soup
Celery (about 7 sticks) - rolled chicken with celery, leek and potato soup

Suggestions for sides:
Salad (curry)
Roasted red peppers (salmon cake)
Miso soup (broiled fish)
Sauteed kale and portabella mushroom (rolled chicken with celery)

Things that may or may not be in your pantry/fridge:
Salt
Pepper
Bay leaf
Olive oil
Cooking wine
Soy sauce
Mirin
Dashi no moto
Rice vinegar
Orange
Sesame oil
Parchment paper

Enjoy!

Saturday Dinner: Rolled chicken with celery

Tonight, I made a dinner that looks nice but not all that hard to make.

Rolled chicken with celery (for 3 people):
Boneless, skinless chicken thigh (4 medium) - You can totally use chicken breast or pork for this recipe.
Celery (4 sticks)
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
1. Using a smooth side of a meat tenderizer, pound the chicken pieces. If you don't have a meat tenderizer, just use the back of a wine bottle.
2. Take two pieces and put them next to each other with the ends overlapping. Place two celery sticks and roll the chicken pieces. I used celery heart sticks but if you're using outer part of celery peel it so it's not stringy. Do the same for two other chicken pieces. Put salt and pepper on the chicken.
3. Bake two chicken rolls in the oven for 25 minutes.

After they're cooked, the celery inside is still kind of crunchy, which I like. But if you don't really like that, you can boil or saute the celery before you put it in. If you're not a big fan of celery, you can substitute any other vegetables, like spinach, asparagus, or roasted red peppers. Also you can add your favorite herbs like basil and thyme.

Leek and potato soup (for 2 people):
Leek (about 3 inches - 1/2 cups sliced) - You can use onions if you like
Baby potatoes (5)
Celery (about 2 sticks - 1/2 cups chopped)
Milk (2 cups) - I used 2%
Salt
Pepper
Fresh parsley - optional
Olive oil (1/2 Tbsp)

1. Slice up leek and celery. Cut potatoes into quarters (don't need to peel them).
2. Heat pot with olive oil at medium high heat. Saute leek and celery. Put a pinch of salt in.
3. Once leek and celery are very tender, put milk and potatoes in.
4. Once the soup boils, turn the heat down to low and simmer until potatoes are tender.
5. Put the mixture in a food processor and process it.
6. Put it back into the pot and warm it at medium heat.
7. Put salt and pepper for desired taste. Put chopped parsley. If you want the soup to be thinner, you can add some milk, chicken stock, or water.

If you want to make the soup even more tasty, you can add some bacon pieces.

I put some sauteed kale and sliced portabella mushrooms on the side.

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Technorati Tags:chicken, potato soup, celery, leek

Idea for Saturday morning pancakes

As pancake lovers, we have pancakes for breakfast/brunch on a weekend morning quite often. I just use the pancake mix, so there is nothing special about pancakes themselves. But the idea I want to share is putting the grill on the table. I used to make pancakes on a skillet, but they don't really stay warm until I finish all the batter. So one of us needs to grill the pancake, and we couldn't eat together. Having the electric grill on the table is great. You just eat them as they grill while they're hot.

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Technorati Tags:pancake