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Cookies, Japanese, Lactose Free, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Furikake Animal Crackers

April 26, 2021

My friend Michelle’s mom, Tomoe, always has a treat for me when I stop by to deliver produce from our garden. Like me, she is always busy making goodies to give away. Pickled mango, takuan, and mango bread are just a few of the delightful treats she makes. On a recent visit, Tomoe gave me a container of furikake animal crackers. I shared them with my co-workers and they all raved about how tasty they were. So here’s another recipe from Tomoe, who by the way is in her 90’s and still having fun in the kitchen.

The original recipe calls for 2 pounds of animal crackers (Target sells giant tubs in the cookie aisle). I cut the recipe in half and used 1 pound of crackers and made my own version (lactose free).

There are many variations of furikake available. For this recipe, it’s best to use one that has simple ingredients such as sesame seeds and nori (seaweed).

These couldn’t be simpler to make. Prepare the sauce, mix it up with the crackers, sprinkle with furikake, toss and bake.

These crackers bake low and slow for about an hour. You will need to toss them every 15 minutes to ensure they crisp up evenly. I found that after the 1 hour baking time was up, some of the animal crackers were stuck together. Just split them apart with a thin spatula before you set them aside to cool.

Nicely glazed with bits of sesame seeds and nori on each cookie, these are a tasty treat.

Furikake Animal Crackers

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Adapted from Tomoe's recipe

Author: Kiyo Miller

Serves: 1 pound

Ingredients

1 pound animal crackers
⅓ cup furikake
½ stick (2 ounces) vegan Buttery Sticks (or regular butter)
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 scant teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons canola oil

Preparation

Heat oven to 250 degrees. Line a rimmed half sheet pan (jelly roll pan) with heavy duty foil.
Pile animal crackers on the foil lined baking sheet. Set aside.
Melt Buttery Stick in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add sugar and salt and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Add corn syrup and oil. Whisk to combine. Pour syrup over animal crackers. Using disposable gloves, toss crackers with syrup until evenly coated. Sprinkle furikake over crackers and toss again. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes so the crackers bake evenly. Remove pan from oven to cool. If you notice any crackers stuck to one another, split them before they cool completely. The syrup will harden as the crackers cool. Store crackers in tightly sealed containers. I keep mine in the refrigerator.

Dinner, Eggs, Lactose Free, Pasta, Recipes

TikTok Ramen

April 15, 2021

This tasty ramen recipe comes from TikTok, the wildly popular social app that lets users create and share a diverse assortment of short videos. Since the videos are quick, anywhere from 15 seconds to a minute or so, you have to move fast. That’s what is so cool about this recipe. Besides cooking the noodles in a pot, the rest of the dish is made in just one pan which is music to my ears.

Not only is this a fast recipe, it is inexpensive to boot. And adding Everything Bagel seasoning is ingenious!

Instant ramen is one of the most inexpensive items you will find in the Asian section of your grocery store. When on sale, they cost a mere 50¢ or less per package. I always keep a stash of them in my cupboard. They also star in this crunchy cabbage salad.

Butter (lactose free for me) along with garlic and red pepper flakes are stirred together in a pan until the garlic softens a bit. Soy sauce and brown sugar are added to make a sauce full of our “5th taste,” umami.

The cooked ramen gets tossed with the sauce before two eggs are added to the pan.

And as mentioned earlier, this is a one-pan meal. There’s no need to whisk the eggs in a separate bowl, just add to the pan and scramble alongside the ramen.

This ramen dish reminds me of Sam Sato’s dry mein which is similar in that there is no broth, just a very delicious sauce coating the noodles. Leftovers are still tasty and fresh if you want to save some for a snack later.

TikTok Ramen

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Adapted from TikTok Ramen

Author: Kiyo Miller

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 packages instant ramen (discard seasoning packets)
2 tablespoons vegan butter (or regular butter)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons Kikkoman Less Sodium soy sauce
2 large eggs
Everything bagel seasoning (you can make your own version with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dried minced garlic and onion, flaky sea salt)
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Preparation

Cook the ramen 1 minute less than package directions. Drain immediately in a colander and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking. Drain again and set aside.
In a medium pan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir until garlic has softened, about 3 minutes, adjusting heat as needed so the garlic does not burn. Stir in the brown sugar and soy sauce. Add drained noodles to the pan and using tongs toss the noodles with the sauce.
Push the noodles to one side of the pan and turn the heat up a bit. Add the eggs to the pan, opposite of the noodles. Gently scramble the eggs until just set. Toss eggs with noodles. Remove from heat and divide noodles between two bowls. Sprinkle everything bagel seasoning over the noodles along with the sliced green onions. Serve right away.

Dinner, Italian, Lactose Free, Pasta, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Homemade Busiate Pasta

April 6, 2021

Busiate comes from Trapani, located on the west coast of Sicily. The name is derived from buso, a Mediterranean grass, the stem of which was used to shape this spiraled pasta. Today’s home cooks rely more on modern metal tools such as a ferretto. Not having a ferretto, I used a thin wire cut from a metal hanger. I have even used a thin, long, cake pop stick that worked fine. It produced a thicker spiral but both are acceptable.

Most recipes call for semolina flour, water and salt. I tried this but found I preferred to use 00 flour with semolina. I used a recipe from Thomas McNaughton’s Flour + Water Pasta cookbook. Thomas is the Executive Chef and co-owner of the highly regarded Flour + Water restaurant in San Francisco. The 00 flour and semolina along with warm water and kosher salt proved to be the perfect combination for a toothsome yet tender pasta.

If you have a friend or family member available to help, it will shorten the time it takes you to shape the pasta. This is especially true if you are making pasta for more than two servings. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I found that rolling and twisting the pasta dough was quite relaxing.

The dough will be very dry. You can spritz it with a bit of water but not too much. Once you knead the dough (about 10 minutes) it will become smoother and easier to handle.

After kneading the dough, it is covered with plastic wrap and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

I made the ropes about the thickness of a standard birthday candle. The pasta ropes can tighten up a bit so another quick roll before shaping is recommended.

Here I use a metal wire (from a hanger) to shape the pasta into spiral shapes.

The ropes are twisted on the wire to form a spiral shaped pasta. It may seem a bit tricky, but after a few attempts you will master the technique. Because it is handmade, each piece will not be exactly uniform as is commercial dried pasta. It’s rustic and that makes it so charming.

Have a sheet pan sprinkled with semolina ready to hold your shaped pasta. Once I was done shaping the pasta, I covered the pan loosely with plastic wrap for about 3 hours until I was ready to cook it.

My favorite way to serve the busiate is with any type of pesto. The pesto clings to the nooks and crannies of the spiral pasta making this an ultra delicious meal.

Homemade Busiate Pasta

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Author: Kiyo Miller

Serves: 4

Ingredients

180g (1 c) semolina flour
180g (1 c) 00 flour
178g salted warm water (3/4 cup made with 10g (1 tablespoon) kosher salt

Preparation

Special equipment: Metal wire for shaping the pasta
Whisk together the semolina and 00 flour in a medium bowl. Add salted water, stirring with a wooden spoon or stiff spatula to combine ingredients. Place dough onto a clean workspace and knead the dough until smooth, about 10 minutes. You may lightly spritz the dough with water if it seems too dry. Form dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap to rest for 30 minutes.
Divide dough into 4 pieces. Working with one piece at a time (keep rest of dough covered with plastic wrap), divide each piece into 4 more pieces. Roll each piece into a long, thin rope, about 20-inches long. Cut the rope into four even pieces. Give each piece of rope a quick roll if it springs back a bit before shaping to ensure it measures about 5-inches. Using your thumb and index finger, gently pinch one end of the pasta rope around the top of the wire. Use your other hand to roll the wire on your work surface around the dough, to form a corkscrew shape (not too tight). Gently roll the wire back and forth a few times before sliding the pasta off the wire. If you find the dough sticks to the wire, lightly dust the wire with flour before proceeding with the next piece. Place shaped pasta on semolina dusted sheet pan. Continue until you have used up the dough. Cover the pasta loosely with plastic wrap until you are ready to cook it (I left mine out for 3 hours).
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add busiate and cook for about 4-5 minutes, until al dente. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce. Pesto is ideal.

Dinner, Fruit, Gardening, Lactose Free, Recipes, Salad, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Avocado Salad with Herbs & Capers

March 26, 2021

Now that it’s avocado season, we have been enjoying avocado sandwiches with cheddar, chunky guacamole, avocado toast, and avocado eggs Benedict. The Green Gold tree in our back yard is a heavy bearer and the avocados are incredibly tasty. So here we have a new addition to our ever expanding recipe file. The tart dressing and herby flavors compliment the rich, velvety avocado slices. This salad is a keeper.

The Green Gold avocado has to be one of the best varieties to grow in Hawaii (a cultivar developed by the University of Hawaii). The trees are heavy bearers and produce beautiful fruit that are rich and creamy and known for their high oil content. If you are thinking of planting an avocado tree I highly recommend seeking out the Green Gold.

The dressing is reminiscent of a chimichurri sauce. A good splash of red wine vinegar gives the right acidic touch to the herbs, jalapeño and garlic.

The addition of a jalapeño makes for a nice pop of heat. Since jalapeños vary in their level of spiciness, test the one you use and add more or less according to your taste. If you don’t have one, sprinkle in some red chili flakes. You could even use pickled jalapeños if you have those in your refrigerator.

My favorite way to serve this salad is with good, crusty grilled sourdough bread. Drizzle some of the dressing onto the grilled bread, or scoop some of the avocado salad onto the bread. Delicious.

Avocado Salad with Herbs & Capers

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Adapted from NYT Cooking

Author: Kiyo Miller

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 medium bunch cilantro
1 medium bunch Italian parsley
2 scallions, very finely chopped
1 medium garlic clove, finely grated or minced
1 small or ½ medium jalapeño, seeded and very finely chopped
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
2 teaspoons capers, drained
Maldon sea salt or other flaky salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Reserve ½ cup of both whole cilantro leaves and parsley leaves. Finely chop the rest of the leaves and transfer to a medium bowl. Add scallions, garlic, jalapeños, salt and vinegar. Stir in oil. Taste and add more salt, vinegar or both if needed.
Scatter the reserved whole cilantro and parsley leaves over two serving plates. Fan the avocado slices over the top, and sprinkle lightly with salt to taste. Spoon herb dressing over the avocado slices, making sure to include the oil in the bowl (you may not use all of the dressing), and top with the capers. Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt and pepper. Serve with crusty grilled sourdough bread brushed with olive oil.

Dinner, Lactose Free, Recipes, Sauces, Tofu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Crispy Tofu with Homemade Barbecue Sauce

March 19, 2021

This is a very tasty tofu dish that can be made in an hour. The delicious sauce is quite versatile and can be used in multiple ways. It’s excellent with the crispy tofu but I’m sure it would be just as good with grilled chicken or pork chops if tofu is not your thing. However, it’s a must with this tofu. You will be pleasantly surprised at how yummy it is.

Serve the tofu over white or brown rice along with your favorite greens, and extra sauce on the side.

Use extra firm tofu so it holds its shape once the water is pressed out. Wildwood is my favorite brand. You can find it at Down to Earth here on Maui.

If you are looking for the very best way to press out the water from a tofu block, consider buying the TofuXpress. You will never regret it, especially if you bake tofu often. Pressing tofu with paper towels or a kitchen towel doesn’t hold a candle to this little gadget. I’ve had mine for over 10 years.

The tofu block is cut into 1/2-inch slices, then cut into short sticks.

A little bit of panko added to the cornstarch makes all the difference in giving the tofu a crispy exterior.

The barbecue sauce uses ingredients that are not difficult to find. Better yet, the sauce does not require any cooking.

Glorious homemade barbecue sauce with a twist. The sauce has Asian ingredients such as soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil, but it also has the more typical maple syrup, chili powder and tomato paste that you might find in an American style barbecue sauce. The combination turns out a sauce that’s seriously addicting.

Crispy Tofu with Homemade Barbecue Sauce

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Sauce adapted from MOB Kitchen recipe

Author: Kiyo Miller

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

14 ounce extra firm tofu, water pressed out
½ cup corn starch
¼ cup fine panko
1½ teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
1 small garlic clove, grated or finely minced (about ¼ teaspoon or up to ½ teaspoon for garlic lovers)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon mild chili powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce (Kikkoman recommended)
2 tablespoons lite soy sauce (Kikkoman recommended)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
roasted sesame seeds for serving

Preparation

Press water from tofu, preferably with tofu press if available.
Cut tofu into ½ -inch slices. Cut each slice crosswise to make two pieces, then lengthwise to make 4 pieces (about 28 pieces). Combine corn starch with panko in a pie plate or wide bowl and set aside.
For the sauce, in a medium bowl, combine ginger, garlic, tomato paste, maple syrup, chili powder, soy sauces and sesame oil. Whisk to combine, set aside.
Toss tofu pieces in cornstarch panko mixture pressing gently so the coating adheres to the tofu
Heat canola oil (enough to go up the sides of a pan about ¼-inch) in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Fry tofu until crispy, turning now and then, about 4 minutes or so. Adjust heat as needed so the tofu doesn't burn and is just golden brown. Remove tofu to a paper towel-lined plate.
To serve, place tofu over rice and spoon barbecue sauce over tofu. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the top. Serve with your favorite greens (broccoli, bok choy, green beans) and extra barbecue sauce on the side.

Breakfast, Dinner, Eggs, Lactose Free, Recipes, Rice Dishes, Side Dishes, Veggies

Kale Fried Rice

March 8, 2021

There are countless versions of fried rice. It can be a stand-alone meal or a splendid side dish. Some of my favorites are ramen fried rice and kimchi and Spam fried rice. Quick and inexpensive, this particular version couldn’t be easier to make. Leftover brown rice with wilted kale makes for a healthy meal. I make it regularly and I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it.

Don’t skip the turmeric. It’s what gives this dish a slightly earthy flavor and a gorgeous color.

Once the rice is warmed and crisped, handfuls of kale get tossed into the pan until wilted. If your pan is hot enough, some of the kale will get a bit charred. This adds another level of flavor to the fried rice.

The garlic is cut into thin slices then lightly browned until the edges are crisp. Fresh ginger and green onions are stir-fried with the garlic before adding the turmeric and eggs.

You’ll end up with a gorgeous pan of fried rice that is healthy and delicious.

I like to serve the fried rice with sriracha sauce which adds the perfect kick to this meal. Sprinkle sliced green onions and squeeze fresh lime juice over the rice just before serving.

Kale Fried Rice

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Adapted from Bon Appetit

Author: Kiyo Miller

Serves: 2

Ingredients

6 green onions, thinly sliced (set aside a tablespoon for serving)
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil, divided (or another mild flavored oil such as canola)
2 cups cooked short grain brown rice (day old is best)
1 small bunch Tuscan kale, ribs and stems removed, leaves torn (about 2-3 ounces)
2 small garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled ginger
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 large eggs
lime wedges for serving

Preparation

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add rice, breaking up any lumps. Pat down into an even layer and cook, undisturbed until beginning to crisp, about 3 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, adding kale by the handfuls and letting wilt slightly before adding more. Toss occasionally, until rice is heated through and all the kale is wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and transfer to a plate.
Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic, ginger, and green onions, stirring often until garlic is lightly browned (careful not to burn) around the edges, about 1-2 minutes. Turn heat up to medium sprinkle turmeric over, then stir in eggs. Using a pair of chopsticks or a heatproof spatula, blend whites and yolks with garlic, ginger, and green onions until the eggs are barely set. Return rice and kale to the skillet, tossing occasionally until hot, adjusting heat as necessary. Divide fried rice between two plates and top with reserved green onions. Serve with sriracha sauce.

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Furikake Animal Crackers

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TikTok Ramen

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Homemade Busiate Pasta

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Avocado Salad with Herbs & Capers

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Crispy Tofu with Homemade Barbecue Sauce

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Kale Fried Rice

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