Pork Kebabs Masala

Another MS. We do enjoy the flavors of global food.

Preheat the broiler. Soak short bamboo skewers. Line baking sheet with rimmed foil. Oil the baking sheet.

Finely chop a small to medium red onion. Some will be sauteed and added to the Cauliflower Rice. Some will be added to the Kebabs. Some raw will be used as Garnish.*

Coarsely chop half a small bunch of cilantro. Peel and finely chop 1-1/2 T ginger.

ONION/GINGER: Heat 1 T. butter in a skillet. Add 1-1/2 T ginger and all but *2 T of the chopped onion. Cook until softened. Transfer to a bowl and cool. *Reserve 3 T for the rice. 

CILANTRO YOGURT: Make a cilantro yogurt by squeezing 1 T lime juice and cutting rest into wedges. Stir in 4 oz Greek yogurt, 1/4 milk, 1/4 of the cilantro leaves, 1 T oil and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside as you will cover the completed meal with this, a garnish of 1/4 cilantro and 2 T. chopped onions, and with lime wedges on the side.

KEBABS: Add 10 oz ground pork, the cooked onion/ginger, 1/2 the cilantro, 1/4 oz garam masala, 1/2 tsp. salt and a generous pinch of pepper to a bowl and mix well. Form the kebabs as 4-inch logs around a skewer (or not). Place on the foil-lined baking sheet and cover with a piece of foil until you broil under broiler for 8-10 minutes  

CAULIFLOWER RICE: Melt 1 T butter with 1 T oil in the skillet. Add 12 oz cauliflower rice, 1/4 oz cumin seeds and 3 T of the cooked onion/ginger mix stirring until softened about 7 minutes. It should be lightly browned in spots. Add pepper to taste. 

Spoon rice onto plates, place kebabs on top and cover with yogurt mixture. Top with the uncooked onion and the remaining1/4 cilantro.

Soba Noodles with Shrimp, Sesame, Garlic and Ginger

Make a sauce with 1/3 c. soy sauce, 2 T sesame oil, 2 T fresh lime juice and 1 T. honey. Mix in 1/2 cup sliced green onions. Set aside.

Saute 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 T grated ginger in 1 T olive or peanut oil until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Place 24 cooked or uncooked shrimp in the saute pan, cooking until just pink (if cooked, just heat.) 

Cook store-bought or homemade soba noodles until done and drain. Place noodles in a soup bowl and cover with 1/2 the sauce in each of two bowls. Top with shrimp and garlic/ginger left in pan. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and more sliced onion.

Serve cold or hot with a simple cucumber salad of sliced cucumbers, rice vinegar, salt and pepper and chopped cilantro.

Homemade Soba Noodles (with pasta maker or attachment)

Soba noodles are a Japanese noodle made of buckwheat. Fortunately, I found a blogger (Dans la Lune) who has experimented with and posted many instructions for noodles with the Philips Pasta/Noodle Makeer other than Italian pasta. I am using her recipes and suggestions, using my Philips Pasta Machine.

For soba noodles, you use the thick spaghetti disc (with six sets of 7-9 holes). There are several releases of discs. Do not use the angel hair disc with the smallest holes. 

There are also several sizes of pasta mixing bowls that allow for smaller and larger batches. You might need to experiment but my machine takes up to 600g of dry ingredients. You can follow Dans la Lune as there is a terrific video on her blog. The ingredient measurements below are edited from Dans la Lune:

INGREDIENTS FOR 600G FLOUR (FOR 5 TO 6 PEOPLE)

• 300g buckwheat flour (Bob's Red Mill makes this)
• 260g bread flour or strong flour (any grocery)
• 40g gluten flour or vital gluten (these are the same thing; Bob's Red Mill makes this)
• 210ml water

INGREDIENTS FOR 500G FLOUR (FOR 4 TO 5 PEOPLE)

• 250g buckwheat flour (Bob's Red Mill makes this)
• 217g bread flour or strong flour (any grocery)
• 33g gluten flour or vital gluten (these are the same thing; Bob's Red Mill makes this)
• 175ml water

INGREDIENTS FOR 400G (FOR 3 TO 4 PEOPLE)

• 200g buckwheat flour (Bob's Red Mill makes this)
• 173g bread flour or strong flour (any grocery)
• 27g gluten flour or vital gluten (these are the same thing; Bob's Red Mill makes this)
• 140ml water

The Philips pasta maker has a built-in scale. However, I do measure my dry ingredients with a separate food scale for accuracy. You need to assemble the machine with the disc, and then plug in/turn on. Pour the dry ingredients in and then press the button for NO EGGS. This will give you the measurement of water which is very close to the measurement that Dans la Lune gives. Press MIX and pour the water in slowly, as you would for any pasta. It mixes for 3 minutes and then begins to extrude. Dans la Lune suggests cutting off the first few inches (I waited for about 8 inches) and then stop the machine and toss the noodles back in the machine. Restart. She also suggests not cutting the noodles at all, but letting them fall into a large bowl or sheet. I carefully wiped the noodles with flour every six inches or so, letting them fall with the flour on them. When the extrusion has ended, carefully place the noodles in an air-tight container and refrigerate until use. 

When cooking (about 4 minutes in boiling water), if you use half (perfect for two people), lift the raw edge and cut about two feet off at a time until you have used half. A four-foot length of noodle is a bit tough to deal with in your bowl!

I'm trying udon noodles next, but am waiting for a soba noodle disc from Japan. Why Philips won't release a set of Asian discs in the US is crazy to me. You can use the fettuccine disc but the udon noodles will be more flat than round. 

Miso Chicken with Stir-Fried Snap Peas

 

One of the best things about retirement is choosing to have dinner for lunch. Most days we do have sandwiches or leftovers, but today was a perfect day to have Sunday dinner.

Food services make it easier, of course, and today was Miso Chicken from Marley Spoon. Easy and delicious on a hot, muggy day.

I usually cook more rice than they include - it adds calories but we love rice and the dog gets some, too. I double the rice and water and use my trusty Panasonic rice cooker, a gift from my Japanese sister-in-law well over 45 years ago. 

This recipe calls for mirin and miso paste, both available in most grocery stores and Asian markets. It also calls for black sesame seeds; you could use white or a mixture. I pick up a jar when I am shopping many places, including the TJMaxx stores (Home Goods and Marshall's too.) I use a lot of sesame seeds on my homemade bread, so I always have some.

Cook the rice in a saucepan with a touch of salt - in a rice cooker until it's done. Marley Spoon added 5 oz. Jasmine rice in the ingredients; I used 10 oz. of Jasmati. 5 oz. calls for 1-1/4 cup of water and 17 minutes cooking.

Thinly slice 4 oz. of snap peas lengthwise. Slice 3 scallions crosswise, leaving out the darkest green. Finely grate 1 tsp. of fresh ginger and 1 tsp. fresh garlic. I would actually double that, but didn't this time. We love both!

Whisk 2 T of miso paste with 1/3 c. hot water and 2 oz. of mirin and 1 tsp. sugar. You could double that and have more sauce. 

Heat some oil in a skillet and stir fry the snap peas with some salt and pepper. Use a hot pan and the peas will char a bit. After 4 minutes, drop them on a piece of foil and wrap them up.

Pat two 6. oz. chicken breasts dry and season if desired with salt and pepper. Add 1 T of oil to the skillet and cook the breasts until they are brown, about 4 min. a side. Remove and set aside.

Reduce the heat and add 2 T butter, the grated garlic and ginger, the scallions. Cook until fragrant 30 seconds and then add the liquid miso mixture and simmer. Return the chicken to the skillet to warm and then serve as in the photo above, slicing chicken and garnishing with 1/4 oz sesame seeds. Cover with sauce.

Pico de Gallo Guacamole

Gerry makes a delicious guacamole. There are no real measurements but use this as a guide, doubling as necessary.  This makes about 2 cups.

2 whole firm ripe avocados (you can use frozen chunks* if your avocados aren't very good when you slice into them. See photo.)

2 large ripe red tomatoes, chopped

2 tomatillos, chopped

1/4 red onion, diced

2 T. lime juice, preferably from fresh limes

Zest from a fresh lime 

Healthy bunch of chopped fresh cilantro, to taste

Salt to taste

Simply mix the avocado chunks, tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt and serve with chips!

*I take a bag of ripe, but not overripe avocados and skin and pit them. Mash them up, still chunky. Spoon them with a scoop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Place the sheet in the freezer for a few hours. Take them off the parchment by frozen scoop and put in a large plastic tub, or in a Ziploc bag. Store in freezer until you want to use. Chunk them us still frozen if using for guacamole.

Piri-Piri Chicken with Tarragon Aioli and Couscous Salad

This Marley Spoon recipe is delicious, especially in the summer with fresh peaches, zucchini, corn and tarragon.

• 3 oz Irsaeli couscous
• 1 ripe peach
• 1 zucchini
• 1 ear of corn
• 1/4 oz. tarragon, fresh
• 2 oz mayonnaise
• 1/4 oz piri-piri spice blend
• 12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 oz blue cheese crumbles
• olive oil, salt and pepper, and white wine vinegar or vinegar of your choice

At the same time, you will cook couscous, grill vegetables and fruit, and then grill chicken. It's easiest if you prepare everything to start.

Prepare: Halve the peach and discard the pit. Do not peel. Cut zucchini crosswise and then slice into 3/4-inch slices. Shuck the corn, remove any corn silk. 

Pick tarragon leaves from stems. Discard stems. Chop half the tarragon and leave the rest whole. 

Whisk together 2 oz. mayonnaise and 1 tsp water for mayo mixture. Slowly add in 1/4 oil while constantly whisking.  Use 1 T. mayo for chicken marinade. Use the rest for aoili.

Prepare aoili with chopped tarragon and salt and pepper. Set aside for serving.

Wash and dry the chicken on paper towels. Pat it dry and season with salt and pepper.Take 1 T of the mayo mixture, 1 tsp. vinegar and all the piri-piri spice to make the marinade. Place marinade and chicken in small bowl and marinate for at least 10 minutes.

Couscous: With 1 T. olive oil in a saucepan, cook the couscous until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add 3/4 c. water and 1/2 tsp salt to the couscous and cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until liquid is absorbed - about 10-12 minutes. Set on a plate to cool. 

Veggies and fruit: Brush grill or grill pan with oil. Brush peach halves, zucchini slices and whole corn with oil and salt and pepper, place on grill, cut side down. Cook turning occasionally until peaches are charred and softened 6-8 minutes. At the same time grill the zucchini and corn, turning corn occasionally, 8-10 minutes until tender and charred. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut peaches and zucchini into 1/2 inch chunks and cut kernels from the corn cob. 

Chicken: Place chicken on a grill and cook until lightly charred and cooked through 3-4 minutes. 

Couscous Veggie/Fruit Salad: Mix peach and veggies, blue cheese, whole tarragon leaves, 1 T olive oil, 2 tsp. vinegar and any resting juices from the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice grilled chicken. Serve with piri-piri chicken and tarragon aoili and the couscous salad.

Note: You can grill your veggies and fruit, and your chicken on any grill OR on a grill on a gas cooktop.

Roasted Garlic

 A few holidays ago, our neighbor Karen Alves gifted us with a jar of her homemade, signature-roasted garlic. It was delicious, and as we love garlic in everything, we went through the small jar very quickly. A batch of roasted garlic takes about 20 bulbs, or a whole bag from Costco. So far, I've been able to fill two to three small 4-ounce jars with roasted garlic. I might have to revise my recipe to only cloves because the whole bulb, roasted, leaves so much garlic puree behind.  

In any event, I cut the tip end of the bulb as close to the actual tip as possible and remove any dry excess papery skin. I place them tip up in a piece of foil (three to foil per foil), making sure I have enough foil to close them up. I drizzle olive oil over the bulb and sprinkle sea salt. I place some fresh thyme springs (you could use rosemary, too) under the bulbs. I wrap the foil into a tight pouch and I placed the pouches in a baking dish or on a baking sheet and roast for about 40 minutes at 400 degrees  

After they cool, I smash the bulbs and squeeze out the softened garlic.*

I used an immersion blender, making a roasted garlic paste with a bit more oil and sea salt.  I use about a tablespoon in lieu of some garlic and oil when cooking pretty much anything! Or use your food processor if you are roasting 4 lbs or so  

One bag from Costco about three or four 4-ounce Mason jars with lids. 

*I might have to revise my recipe to only cloves because the whole bulb, roasted, leaves so much garlic puree behind. Another idea is to cut the tips off about a third of the way and squeeze the smaller bits of raw garlic onto the rest of the bulb before roasting. I will also experiment with roasting for less time until the cloves are just soft, therefore keeping them somewhat whole. I hate wasting the garlic! I did take all the skin waste and simmered it in chicken stock making a broth. I drained the skins and pressed any soft garlic through. I plan to use it as a base for some soups. I'd like to figure out how to can and process this broth.