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Dinner, Fish, Japanese, Lactose Free, Pasta, Recipes

Japanese-Style Tuna Udon Noodle Salad

July 10, 2020

Japanese-Style Tuna Udon Noodle Salad

If you’re looking for a tasty summer dish that isn’t time consuming, this tuna udon salad should be at the top of your list.  Besides being absolutely delicious, it is a beautiful bowl filled with udon noodles, rich and flavorful tuna in olive oil, crisp cucumbers, radishes and watercress.  Feel free to come up with your own version using different vegetables such as shredded iceberg lettuce or red cabbage, julienned carrots, bean sprouts and so on.  Ever since I spotted this recipe on Carolyn’s Food Gal blog I knew it was something I would thoroughly enjoy.  I tweaked the recipe a bit by omitting the wakame which I have never been a big fan of, but use it if you fancy it.

Ortiz Tuna in Olive Oil

Be sure to use a good canned tuna in olive oil for this dish.  Tuna in olive oil is silky, tender and so flavorful. I recently read an article in Cook’s Illustrated that rated canned tuna in olive oil.  Ortiz took top honors as did Tonnino (6.7 ounce jar).  But these brands may be difficult to find.  However, they also recommended a few brands that are more widely available; Starkist Selects solid yellowfin tuna in extra virgin olive and Wild Planet albacore in extra virgin olive oil.

Hakubaku Organic Udon Noodles

Japanese Cucumber, Red Radish, Watercress

I sliced the vegetables very thin so they melded nicely with the silky noodles and buttery tuna.  Placing the sliced radishes in an ice water bath for a few minutes helps to crisp them up.

Cold Mountain Mellow White Miso Paste

There are so many miso options these days, I always have a few tubs of them on hand.  I am quite fond of Cold Mountain’s mellow white miso. It lends the perfect flavor to many dishes, including the dressing for this recipe.

Japanese-Style Tuna Udon Noodle Salad Dressing

The dressing for this tuna noodle salad is very simple to make.  Whisk the ingredients in a bowl and you’re all set.  The dressing would also be excellent for any crunchy salad such as iceberg lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, red and green cabbage.

Japanese-Style Tuna Udon Noodle Salad

Japanese-Style Tuna Udon Noodle Salad
 
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Author:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • Salad:
  • 6 ounces dried udon noodles (Hakubaku is a good choice)
  • 1 small Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium red radish, thinly sliced and soaked in an ice water bath for 10 minutes
  • handful of watercress, chopped (optional)
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • nori, cut into thin strips
  • 1 can tuna in olive oil, drained slightly (I used Ortiz)
  • 1 teaspoon furikake or roasted sesame seeds
  • Dressing:
  • 2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce (Kikkoman recommended)
  • 2 tablespoons mellow miso paste
Preparation
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the udon noodles and cook according to package instructions. Pour the noodles into a colander and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain very well. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Set aside.
  3. Transfer the drained noodles to large bowl (it's best if the noodles are free of any water to ensure the dressing doesn't get diluted). Add some of the dressing to the noodles, tossing to coat them thoroughly. Divide the noodles among 2 bowls (shallow rather than deep). Arrange the cucumbers, radishes, watercress, green onions and nori around the perimeter of each bowl. Place the tuna in the center of the bowls, sprinkle with furikake or sesame seeds. Serve extra dressing on the side.

 

Dinner, Kimchi, Korean, Recipes, Side Dishes, Veggies

Oi Kimchi (Cucumber Kimchi)

July 3, 2020

Crunchy Oi Kimchi

Here in Hawaii, we have a melting pot of cuisines.  One dish we all enjoy is the Korean specialty: kimchi.  A favorite version of ours is is spicy cucumber kimchi, the perfect accompaniment  to rice and Korean barbecued beef.  If you want to keep your meal vegetarian, skip the beef and serve the kimchi with rice and grilled teriyaki tofu.  And, if you don’t have time to fire up the grill, a bowl of steaming Japanese rice, white or brown will do just fine.  This is a quick and tasty side dish.

Japanese Cucumbers

Japanese cucumbers are best for this recipe as they are extra crisp and have very few seeds.

Gochugaru

There are  many varieties of kimchi (hundreds by some accounts) but one of the things they all have in common is gochugaru, Korean chili flakes.  This is the chili that I cook with most often.  Gochugaru has a smoky, sweet flavor, gorgeous deep red color and gentle heat.  It’s widely available on line and in local Asian markets.

Gochugaru, Carrots, Chives, Grated Apple, Ginger, Garlic

Julienned carrots add color and flavor to the cucumber kimchi.  If you don’t have chives you may substitute them with slender green onions.

Kimchi Sauce

Salted Japanese Cucumbers

The cucumbers for this recipe are cut into baton shaped pieces which I find is the perfect size.  This recipe will keep for a good 3-4 days and the cucumbers will retain their crunchy texture.

Crunchy Oi Kimchi with Teriyaki Meat Sticks, Mac Salad & Onigiri

Serve the kimchi with your favorite grilled meat or tofu and steamed Japanese rice.

Crunchy Oi Kimchi

Oi Kimchi (Cucumber Kimchi)
 
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Author:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 3 Japanese cucumbers (about 1 pound) cut into batons, about 2-inches long
  • 1 scant tablespoon kosher salt
  • ¼ cup julienned carrots
  • 5 chives, cut into 1½-inch pieces
  • Sauce:
  • 1 tablespoon gochugaru
  • 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic
  • ½ teaspoon finely grated ginger
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated apple, drained
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar (unseasoned)
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • dash of fish sauce (optional)
  • roasted sesame seeds
Preparation
  1. Trim the ends of the cucumbers. Cut into 2-inch long pieces. Cut each piece in half lengthwise, then into 4 even batons (sticks). Place the cucumber pieces in a colander and toss with a scant tablespoon of kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal). Place the colander over a bowl to catch any drips and set a timer for 30 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
  3. Gently pat the cucumbers dry without removing all of the salt. Transfer the cucumbers to a wide bowl along with the carrots and chives, and toss with the sauce. I use disposable gloves to mix the cucumbers with the sauce which helps to coat every piece evenly. Transfer to a clean bowl and chill until ready to serve.

 

Appetizers, Canning, Jams & Jellies, Lactose Free, Recipes

Maui Jalapeno Pepper Jam

June 27, 2020

Maui Jalapeno Jam

Every year we grow hot peppers, jalapeños and fresnos.  Occasionally we have a particularly large crop, and after putting up our usual jars of pickled nacho rings, jalapeño hot sauce and Maui cowboy candy, we still have peppers left over. After a little research, John discovered a jalapeño jam recipe on the Serious Eats website.  He tweaked it a bit and this terrific, sweet, spicy jam is the result.

Mucho Nacho Jalapeños

These particular jalapeños are a hybrid known as Mucho Nacho.  They are particularly hot!

Seeded Mucho Nacho Jalapeños with and without Ribs & Pith

Prepare the peppers by cutting off the stems, slicing them lengthwise and removing the seeds with your fingers (disposable gloves are essential).  Contrary to popular myth, the seeds do not contain capsaician.  If you want a milder jam, remove the pith and ribs from the interior of the pepper as seen above.

Mucho Nacho Jalapeños Finely Chopped

Once the stems and seeds are removed, place the peppers in a bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until the peppers are finely chopped.

Maui Jalapeno Jam

Late in the season your peppers may start ripening to red.  You can use them to make a beautiful red version of the jam.  Do not mix the two colors of peppers or you will end up with brown jam!Maui Jalapeno Jam

Maui Jalapeno Pepper Jam
 
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Adapted from Serious Eats
Author:
Serves: 7 Jars
Ingredients
  • 28-30 medium-sized jalapeños (28 ounces after removing stems and seeds)
  • 1¼ cups cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup fresh lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt (we use Diamond Crystal)
  • 6 tablespoons dry pectin (we use Ball brand Real Fruit Classic Pectin)
  • 6 cups granulated sugar
Preparation
  1. Special equipment: Food processor, boiling water canning equipment, (7) 8 ounce canning jars with rings and 2-piece lids.
  2. Wash jars, place in water filled canner. Bring water to a simmer.
  3. Wash peppers and remove stems. Slice in half lengthwise and remove the seeds with your fingers (gloves are essential). Place the peppers in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer peppers to a deep saucepan. Stir in the cider vinegar, lime juice, salt and pectin. Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the sugar and return to a rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove the saucepan from heat.
  4. Remove jars from canner and ladle hot jam into hot jars leaving ¼-inch headspace. Secure lids and rings just to finger tight. Cover and process jars in boiling hot water bath for 10 minutes. Turn off heat, leave jars in hot water for additional 5 minutes. Remove jars and let cool for 24 hours. Serve on crackers with cream cheese, use as a spicy barbecue glaze, or a spicy PBJ.

 

 

 

 

Cookies, Dessert, Lactose Free, Recipes, Vegan

Cranzac Cookies

June 21, 2020

Cranzac Cookies

These “biscuits,” popular in Australia and New Zealand, are soft and chewy in the middle with crisp edges.  They are packed with oats, coconut and in this case tart dried cherries.  Some recipes call for cranberries, hence the name Cranzac biscuits.  Others call for sultanas (golden raisins), and many omit dried fruit.  The three things they all seem to have in common are oats, coconut, and Golden Syrup.  I first learned of these delightful cookies via David Lebovitz’s blog.  David’s explanation of how wonderful these cookies are, convinced me to order some Golden Syrup from Amazon so that I could make these as quickly as my order arrived.  And I did, two days in a row.

Lyle's Golden Syrup, Dried Tart Cherries, Unsweetened Coconut

Lyle’s Golden Syrup (also known as “light treacle”) is made from cane sugar and has a wonderful caramel flavor.  It is quite thick and sticky.  I used sweetened coconut flakes the first time I made the cookies (biscuits) since that was all I had on hand.  They tasted great.  But I wanted to try the recipe with unsweetened coconut so I bought a small bag at our local health food market.  I found that the coconut flavor really shines when using the unsweetened version.  So for a more detectable and bright flavor, use unsweetened shredded coconut.

Cranzac Cookie Dough

These tasty cherries are good addition to one’s pantry.  They are a nice snack served with nuts and cheese or baked in cream cheese scones.

Dried Tart Cherries

After baking two batches of these cookies I had a lot to share with family and friends.  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed them.

Cranzac Cookies

Cranzac Cookies
 
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Adapted from David Lebovitz's recipe
Author:
Serves: 14
Ingredients
  • ⅓ cup (35g) old fashioned rolled oats
  • ½ cup packed (100g) dark brown sugar
  • ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (88g) all-purpose flour
  • ⅓ c (30g) unsweetened shredded coconut
  • ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (55g) tart dried cherries
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1½ tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons (30g) Earth Balance Buttery Sticks melted (or regular butter)
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) Lyle's Golden Syrup
Preparation
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with oven rack positioned in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, flour, coconut, dried cherries, baking soda, and salt. Add the water, melted Buttery Sticks and golden syrup. Stir until everything is well combined.
  3. Shape dough into 14 small balls and place them evenly spaced apart (about 1") on the baking sheet. Use your hand to slightly flatten each ball so they are about half as high as they originally were.
  4. Bake cookies, rotating the baking sheet half way through, until the cookies are lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool completely.

 

Appetizers, Dinner, Lactose Free, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetarian, Veggies

Mustard & Mayonnaise Glazed Asparagus

June 14, 2020

Mustard & Mayonnaise Glazed Asparagus

Asparagus is one of the most versatile vegetables around.  Endless preparations come to mind: steamed and served with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, stir-fried and seasoned with sesame oil and soy sauce, and crispy panko coated tempura.  Now that summer is here, grilling is the obvious choice for many reasons.  The weather is gorgeous, your kitchen stays cool without the stove or oven in use, and you can make this for two people, or for a group.  The marinade for this recipe is truly delicious, and this has become my favorite way to serve asparagus.

Fresh Asparagus Spears

Thick asparagus spears fare better than the pencil thin type when grilling. They hold their shape and texture without becoming droopy and soggy. To peel or not to peel the stems.  It’s up to you.  With thick asparagus I always peel a thin layer off the lower part of the stems.  The spears look beautiful and they are guaranteed to be tender and are never stringy.

Fresh Peeled Asparagus Spears

This recipe comes from Nate Appelman of San Francisco’s popular A16 and SPQR restaurants.  The marinade is a combination of mayonnaise, grainy mustard, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, garlic and salt and pepper.  It coats the asparagus beautifully and any extra marinade can be slathered on the grilled asparagus before serving if you wish.

Asparagus with Marinade

Mustard & Mayonnaise Glazed Asparagus

Mustard & Mayonnaise Glazed Asparagus
 
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Adapted from Nate Appleman's recipe
Author:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1½ tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 1½ tablespoons grainy mustard
  • 1½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 medium garlic clove, crushed
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste)
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ pound thick asparagus, trimmed
Preparation
  1. Whisk the mayonnaise with the mustard, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest. garlic, salt and pepper. Pour the marinade over the asparagus (use a large plate) and turn to coat. Let stand for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat your grill to medium-high (we use a gas grill which takes 15 minutes to heat up). Grill the asparagus, turning occasionally, until the spears are tender and lightly blistered in spots, about 6 minutes.Serve the asparagus hot or at room temperature.

 

 

 

Beans, Dinner, Lactose Free, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Falafel

June 7, 2020

Beautiful Falafel

I have always loved falafel though it’s not something you find often in Hawaii, and especially where we live, Maui.  Cook’s Illustrated developed their recipe a few years back and I finally got around to making it.  Maybe it took so long because in my mind I thought it would be a time consuming and fussy recipe.  But once I made my own falafel, it was so delicious I was convinced that it was worth the effort and as it turned out, it’s not very fussy at all.

Soaking Dried Chickpeas

One of the important things to know is that dried chickpeas rule in this recipe.  I soak them in the evening before I go to bed, then drain them in the morning.

Fresh Parsley, Cilantro and Mint

Good falafel is full of fresh herbs and spices like cumin, coriander and a bit of cayenne pepper.  The herbs make for a gorgeous color and terrific flavor in each bite.

Fresh Parsley, Cilantro, Mint, Onion, Garlic & Spices

Falafel Mix

Cook’s Illustrated incorporated the Asian bread-baking technique of using tangzhong in their falafel. This helps to make a cohesive mixture that ensures the falafel is moist and tender once cooked.  The tangzhong for this recipe, consists of flour, water and baking powder.  Try to work quickly once the tangzhong is ready. The baking powder is full of life.

Tangzhong Paste

Beautiful Falafel

These beautiful falafel patties are crisp on the exterior with tender interiors.  They cook quickly and evenly and are easy to stuff into soft, warmed pitas.  I pan- fried my falafel in a bit of oil, however, the original recipe instructs you to deep fry the falafel.  You may prefer to follow this step if you shape your falafel into balls rather than patties. Serve the falafel with tahini sauce.

Falafel with Tahini Sauce in Pita Bread

Falafel with Tahini Sauce

Falafel
 
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Delicious falafel adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Author:
Serves: 20
Ingredients
  • 8 ounces dried chickpeas, picked over and rinsed
  • 2 ounces fresh herbs: Italian parsley, cilantro and mint
  • ½ cup chopped onion (fine)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • ¾ teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (up to ¼ teaspoon for spicier falafel)
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • oil for shallow frying or more for deep frying
Preparation
  1. Place chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with water by 2 to 3 inches. Make sure your bowl has plenty of space for the chickpeas to expand. Cover and soak in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
  2. Process Italian parsley, cilantro, mint, onion, garlic, coriander, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper in a food processor for 5 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue to process until the mixture resembles pesto, about 5 seconds longer. Add drained chickpeas and pulse 6 times. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue to pulse until the chickpeas are coarsely chopped and resemble sesame seeds, about 6-10 more pulses. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and set aside.
  3. Whisk flour and ⅓ cup water in a bowl until no lumps remain. Microwave, whisking every 10 seconds, until mixture thickens to stiff, smooth pudding-like consistency that forms a mound when dropped from end of whisk into bowl; 20-40 seconds. Stir baking powder into the flour paste.
  4. Add flour paste to chickpea mixture and using a rubber spatula, mix until fully incorporated. Divide mixture into 20 pieces (24 if forming balls) and gently form into a patty shape. If making balls, roll mixture into golf ball-size spheres. Transfer patties to a parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet. The formed falafel can be refrigerated for up to 2 hours, covered.
  5. Heat enough oil to reach ¼-inch up the sides of a wide high sided skillet (mine has 3" sides) over medium to medium-high heat. (If deep frying, heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat to 325 degrees and fry half at a time for about 5 minutes until deep brown in color). Once the oil is hot, add patties and fry, turning the falafel to ensure all sides have browned nicely. You may need to turn the heat down if it's too hot (medium). Transfer cooked falafel to a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Serve with tahini sauce (see link to recipe above).

 

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