An easy spin on Miso...

So, to counter my devilish New Years recipe, I thought I would offer something lighter and healthier.

Ozoni is a traditional breakfast/brunch food fed to Japanese families on New Years Day. It has a history of being served to the elite in historic Japan - offered to Samurais and royalty alike. Today, commoners and elite share in the tradition as it is served in the hopes of bringing prosperity all year long. As a point of interest, many New Year's Day foods are served in Japan for reasons other than taste.

However, my reasons are found in the flavor. It's similar to miso, but has more vegetables. Moreover, it is often served with an un-sweet mochi that I just LOVE. I also have a bit of a confession - while I love the stuff on New Years, I usually get on a kick and make this throughout the colder months of January and February. It's simple, and fast. Now, I will admit that this is not traditional - but it is adopted from a family friend of Japanese ancestry. I say adopted because some of the "traditional" vegetables are hard for me to come by, and I don't add the chicken. Here's the "available in Florida" recipe (and I'll point out where the chicken comes in):

Ozoni Soup:

Per 3 cups of water in a pot (double and triple as necessary), add 1 teaspoon dashi, and one tablespoon of soy sauce. Bring to a boil in a pot big enough to add the following vegetables (pick and choose with your tastes) -

mushrooms (shittake - but I cheated and added baby portobellos)
scallions
julienned carrots
Daikon (Japanese radish)
Napa Cabbage
And really just about any other kind of vegetable that suits your fancy.

Now, if you want to add chicken, you should add and boil for about an hour BEFORE the vegetables - until the chicken is completely falling apart and easily broken up into pieces. If you're making this for a crowd,I see nothing wrong with making a whole chicken. But, if you're making it for a few, feel free to add a breast or a couple of thighs.

Let cook to desired tenderness (I let mine just barely Blanche, as I like crunchy veggies).

Serve as it is, or with savory mochi. To cook mochi, you can boil (my usual choice) or grill. I have to warn you, this is a very difficult ingredient to find online. You want to find a Japanese food store. The mochi pieces are shelf-stable, individually wrapped, and very hard. It has no bean paste inside, just plain mochi. If you're really stuck, and you want the full experience, ask the store owner for mochi used for ozoni. Otherwise, you can easily (and authentically) substitute tofu or serve with nothing at all!

I also should add that traditional ozoni is served with kamaboko, which is a difficult ingredient for me to find. If you can manage it - it should be included for authenticity!

And, just because I hate to leave you here without at least the knowledge of TRUE Ozoni (as in, made from someone who has had the recipe handed down to them), here are some links:

http://www.champuru.net/blog/2008/12/31/easy-ozoni-recipe/

http://1tess.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/ozoni-new-years-day-soup/

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/FOOD/news/12/29/ozoni.soup/

Happy and healthy 2009!

Happy 2009, everyone!

What does this old, beaten down, cookbook........and these bags of vegetables have in common?
Well, first you must need to know a little about my personal history.

I was born, what seems to be getting longer and longer ago, in Alaska. Around the age of 7 (which is when we relocated) my parents must have decided our family needed something besides what we were being afforded in this very cold state. They subsequently packed all our things, put them on a barge, and flew the whole family to our new home: Honolulu, Hawaii.

I lived there until I was 14 when my parents moved us to the "mainland" - Portland, Oregon. The years in Hawaii shaped my culinary attitude so much more than I am even aware of. Sashimi and sushi doesn't really seem like a delicacy - it seems like it should be part of an every day diet (although living in Florida, I have accepted the former). Words like poki and musubi peak my interest, and you haven't LIVED until you've tried local Ice Cream Mochi.

But I digress...

Those familiar with Japanese culture, know how important the New Year holiday is. Those of you that know Hawaii, know how integrated Japanese culture is (among others). With that said, I need to admit that my family didn't really celebrate the New Year until we moved to Oregon. That was when we became good friends with a family whose matriarch has Japanese Ancestry and was also relocated from the islands. For my entire high school career (and a bit beyond) I recall eating over there every New Years Day. When I moved to Florida, this same matriarch shared a few things with me so I could recreate the holiday in my own home.

In the past, New Years Day has included: shoyu chicken, chicken long rice, lomi lomi salmon, rice, sashimi, Kalua pork, sushi, ozoni, butter mochi, fermented black beans, and a few other items I know I am missing...and probably mispelling. At home in Florida, I did most of those same items - except for the black beans. But THIS year, trying to avoid meat as much as possible, I was stuck. Shoyu chicken can't be vegetarian - neither can chicken long rice, lomi salmon, or Kalua Pork. Those are some mainstays in the feast!

But sushi...well sushi can be anything I want it to be. And mochi is still safe. Thus our "new" New Years was invented:

Veggie, California, and Spicy Tempeh sushi rolls (last one is from Veganomicon)
Vegetarian Chop Chey (Korean noodle dish)
Salad with ginger dressing.
Butter and Regular Mochi
Coconut cupcakes adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

For breakfast, we do Okinawan doughnuts.

For lunch, we will still do a version of Onozi, made without the chicken. I still have to use Dashi, but as we did for Christmas, all land animals have been eliminated.

Now, none of this has answered the questions posed above.

The bags contain the vegetables I pre-chopped for tomorrow's holiday and pre-mixed dry ingredients. It took well over an hour, so I'm glad I got that done ahead of time.

The cookbook is from the elementary school I attended in Hawaii. My mother gave it to me a number of years ago, and it is very "local" in it's flavor. Recipes passed down from generations are in there, and as such, it is one of my most treasured cookbooks. You can't buy that thing in stores. I can't replace it - but when I need a recipe that is "local" in flavor and authenticity - THAT is where I turn. So naturally, that contains some of the recipes I plan on using tomorrow.

You will notice that I don't have any of them posted here, now. I can't give you EVERYTHING in one post, can I? Moreover, I don't have any yummy pictures to post right now either. So...hold tight. I will be sharing them. But I do need fodder for the blog in the coming month!

In the mean time, cuddle up next to someone you love tonight (I plan on doing so), and have a fantastic evening. From my kitchen to yours - I hope 2009 brings nothing but the best!

Better n' takeout.

Hello, my name is Hollee, and I am a carboholic.

No, really, I am.

Atkins...it can kiss my white flour loving behind. I love all carbs, but especially those that are "bad" for me: white rice, white pasta, white bread. One of life's simple pleasures is a PBJ made with my strawberry jam, all natural peanut butter, between two heavenly slices of plain 'ole white bread. Yum-O!

Now, clearly I can give up other things in favor of carbs - namely meat. I could give up dairy before I gave up carbs. Easy.

Why am I talking about carbs? Well, it leads me to my favorite part of Chinese takeout: fried rice. I love the stuff. But there's a certain flavor that seems elusive to most westerners in their cooking. And that, my food lovin' friends, is oyster Sauce.

We were out and about this weekend, and I did feel like cooking tonight. I had to run to the store, as we were out of items like milk and butter. So, while there I grabbed a bag of frozen vegetables. I had a big bowl of leftover rice unused. I also had (at home) eggs, soy sauce, peanut oil, garlic, and (optional) fresh tomatoes.

In a dutch oven (it's easier to stir in the rice), put down a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil and some garlic (a clove is sufficient), heat over medium to medium-high heat. Then toss in the entire bag of vegetables. Cook until warm. You really want the vegetables to be crisp-tender to contrast with the rice.

If you really MUST add meat - go ahead and cook that up before you add the vegetables. It's really not necessary in this dish.

Add 2-3 cups of leftover white rice. It depends on your preferred ration of rice to vegetables. Stir in, break up clumps.

While this is happening, go ahead and scramble 3 eggs in a pan. You can do this without dirtying another dish. Put down a Tablespoon of peanut oil, then drop in three eggs. Once the whites have turned opaque, but before the yokes have really begun to set, break the yokes and begin the scramble. No, these won't be the prettiest scrambled eggs, but they will be fine camouflaged by the soy and oyster sauces.

Now add soy and oyster sauce. Oyster Sauce is pretty thick, and it depends on how flavorful you like your rice. I added about 1/4 cup. I then added about 1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce. Toss in the eggs, stir together, taste, and adjust flavor. Do NOT add salt, all the sodium you need will come from the soy. If there is not enough flavor, add more soy or oyster. Taste each to see which you prefer, and that way you can add more of what tastes good to you.

Last thing, remove from heat and add tomatoes. Let sit, covered, for just a moment. That will heat the tomatoes through. Tomatoes in fried rice? It's a Thai thing, but I really love it. Even in Chinese-inspired fried rice.

Another variation? Those of you who like yoke-y eggs can go ahead and fry one or two on the side, keeping it REALLY runny. Toss those eggs on top of your rice, break the yokes, and let that be a sort of gravy. This is very "Hawaiian style" and is actually a common breakfast in the islands.

This goes together so quick, and was a very easy "I don't want to cook tonight" dinner from my kitchen. I'm even going to get some more of those frozen vegetables the next time they go on sale, just to go on hand.

Not just for Asia.

When I moved in with my husband, I brought with me a college relic that I hadn't yet replaced: my old rice pot. Batter and bruised, and certainly not a nice version, it did the trick of cooking rice. My husband was totally amazed: the only other place that he had seen one of these gadgets was in the kitchen of a school friend. Said friend was Vietnamese.

After spending several years in Hawaii, my family considered rice cookers a necessity. Sort of like a blender or waffle maker - every household should have one. In fact, I would have to look up exactly how to make plain rice on the stove. I've only done it but a handful of times in my life.

Back to newly married life, this rice cooker was definitely low end. The rice ALWAYS burned to the bottom, meaning you had to soak it for 24 hours before cleaning. It was also very small. good enough for two - but it certainly wouldn't handle two.

My mom, upon a trip down here, noticed that I still had this sad little rice maker, and sent me an upgrade for Christmas. My rice is always restaurant perfect, never burnt to the bottom, and all I have to do is set it and go. Literally, wash short or medium grained rice three times, add 1.5 times the amount of water to drained rice, press go. When light flicks to warm, put two layers of paper towels to absorb excess moisture for around 15 minutes. Enjoy wonderful sticky rice! Good for a side dish, or maybe making sushi (oooh, I'll have to add that one day) :) I just have to note that you need to buy a good quality one. This is (unfortunately) one area where I think that the better brands are foreign made. Ours is Zojirushi.

Working on a wonderful new recipe for tropical muffins. My batch today was to DIE for, but I want to see if can improve yet again.

I'm thinking pizza will be up tomorrow. I know, I know...I have been promising. I just wanted to see if I could do one other thing to improve the crust. Turns out, I could :)

Out of the fire, and into the frying pan.

Well, we’re all slowly recovering from the weekend de flu. The ball and chain found himself roasting from the insides on Monday morning, as did my pretty little 3 year old. Somehow, the young man of the house has avoided this. I am thankful, as he is the one with the nasty asthma secondary to RSV.

So today, my first day back at work since Friday, seemed like a great day to make the fam something tasty from the kitchen. Aside from reheating and pressing “go” on the coffee pot, I’ve not been domestic in nearly a week. I feel like I’m going through withdrawals.

A cold front just pushed through down here, and while it’s sunny and beautiful, it’s also COLD. When you’ve been living in the 101-102 range all weekend, and you find yourself in the “normal” range of the 97’s, cold just seems colder or something. I wanted something hearty, stick to your ribs, and flavorful enough to penetrate my stuffy nose.

Ah…a curry for the non curry lovers – Massaman.

I first discovered it at my best friend’s house. She insisted that I try their favorite Thai dish. I happily ordered my Pad Thai, but then gave the Massaman a whirl. I was set to hate it – I’ve hated all curry that I’ve ever tried. But Massaman is different. Smoother, less pungent. Sort of sweet, but savory enough to feel like a real meal. The spices make your nose and mouth happy all at the same time.

Because of this love of Thai, I really wanted to master my favorite dishes. Curry was the first (and only, thus far) that I have been at all successful with. It seems exotic and scary, but it’s basically a stew with coconut milk.

2 - 2½ cups diced protein source (chicken, beef, pork, or tofu. Traditional is beef)
3-4 ounces of massaman curry paste (just less than a can). This is totally to taste, and the variety of paste you use. If you like things more flavorful, add more, if you like subtler Massaman, add less. I prefer less.
1 small onion, finely diced/minced
2 small-medium cloves of garlic diced/minced
1/8 cup vegetable oil
4 small potatoes, peeled and diced.
1 ½ cup peanuts
2 T. Lemon juice.
2 T. Sugar
Salt (original recipe calls for 2 T., but I found that to be WAY too salty. I would stick with no more than 1 T.)
2 Cans of coconut milk (full fat has more flavor, but light is okay if you insist).

In a soup pot or Dutch oven on the stove: Begin to heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and paste. Let cook for 5 minutes, reduce heat if necessary to prevent burning. Add oil if it gets too dry.

Add Lemon Juice, sugar, and protein source (raw). Cook until done.

Add coconut milk, peanuts, and potatoes. Cook together until potatoes are soft.

Add salt to desired taste.

This is most traditionally served over Jasmine rice. You should be able to find that in any grocery store.

The above batch is LARGE; it will make at least 8 meals (and those are 8 big meals with the rice). I make them big because (a) we don’t eat meat so I don’t worry about the meat going bad before we eat the leftovers and (b) Massaman gets better the day after. I had a wonderful dinner, and I now look forward to lovely lunches today and tomorrow! I’ve never tried freezing this, I might if I have too much and it’s getting ready to go bad. I’m not sure how the coconut milk and potatoes will hold up in sub-zero temps.

So, the idea above is that if you want a smaller batch to try, go ahead and half the recipe. It should divide out just fine.