Crispy Rice Spicy Tuna Yum Yum

One of my current favorite sushi items is spicy tuna served on crispy rice.  I first had it at Koi in Las Vegas a few years back.  It isn't served at my regular sushi bar and I haven't seen it too many other places.  It appears it might be an L.A. trend - and Las Vegas lucks out because Koi has a restaurant here.

While we were in L.A. this past weekend we went to The Little Izaka-ya in Sherman Oaks and had several orders of the yumminess.  I decided it was time to make it for myself and I started with this recipe.  I stayed pretty close to the tuna component but left out the green onions.  I cooked the rice the day before, not following the sushi rice instructions but just making it 2C rice with 3C water that had some salt, a little soy sauce and red pepper flakes in it..  After it cooled, I patted it into a rectangle about not quite 1/2" thick and refrigerated it over night. Thanks to BFD for that great idea. Today I mixed the tuna and then cut out small bites of rice which I browned in butter, sesame oil and a little soy sauce.  I topped the rice patties with tuna and then put a couple of slices of shishito pepper on each one.

The presentation isn't as nice as it might be and I hope I'll improve with practice.  The patties were also a little bit greasy so I either need to make the oil hotter or use less.  And next time I'll make the rice bites a little thinner.  Overall they were delicious and I'll be making them often.

Marmalade Cranberry Walnut Muffins

The base for these muffins came from the Marmalade Mogul Muffins recipe that is in the book Tough Cookie by Diane Mott Davidson.  The protagonist in Davidson's books is a caterer who solves mysteries; the books all have recipes included.

The recipe in the book claims to make 28 muffins.  They must be some pretty big muffins because I halved the recipe and still got 20 muffins.  I also added some ingredients but that couldn't have increased the volume too much.

I've been using Greek yogurt in the place of milk and buttermilk lately and I made that same substitution here.  I read somewhere on the Internet that you can substitute yogurt for milk when baking but should add 1/2 baking soda for every cup of yogurt.  You should stir the yogurt to thin it and I sometimes add a bit of water or juice to make it even thinner depending on what I'm making.  In this recipe I used 3/4 C of yogurt and 1/4 C of tangerine juice to replace the buttermilk.


My adapted recipe:

1 Stick butter (1/4 lb)
3/4 C Sugar
2 eggs
3/4 C Greek yogurt (I used 2%)
1/4 C Tangerine Juice
1 3/4 C unbleached white flour
1/4 C whole wheat flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 T orange zest
1/2 C marmalade
1/3 to 1/2 C chopped walnuts (to your taste)
1/3 to 1/2 C 1/2 C dried cranberries (to your taste) 

I tossed the cranberries with a bit of flour and chopped them up
Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
Cream the butter and sugar and then add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  I mixed the tangerine juice into the yogurt before pouring that into the butter, sugar, egg mixture.  Add the dry ingredients.  The batter will be thick.  Stir in the marmalade, zest, walnuts and cranberries. Fill your muffin cups 3/4 full. I did use silicon liners but you can also use paper liners. The original recipe calls from sprinkling additional sugar on the tops before baking but I didn't do that.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

I love the orange flavor in these muffins along with the cranberries and nuts.  I do think they were just a little bit dry and that might be from adding the wheat flour but they were still delicious.  I might put some applesauce in next time for some extra moisture.

Parmesan Thyme Crackers

I decided I needed some flavorful crackers to go with my Cucumber Avocado Soup and went to this recipe for Parmesan Thyme Crackers.  I was pretty true to the recipe except I didn't have fresh thyme so I used dried - a little less than 1/2 teaspoon.  I also cut the crackers a little thinner - probably about 1/4 inch instead of 3/8.

These crackers are dangerously good. My batch made 36 and I could have eaten most of them in one sitting.  I refrained though because I did the math and they are about 35 calories each, making the batch over 1250 calories.  With all the butter and cheese they are really just Parmesan shortbread.  They went well with my soup but they are perfectly fine just by themselves.  I can see them with a little goat cheese, or maybe some guacamole.  Along with a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc. YUM.

UPDATE:  On second tasting, I think the crackers might be just a tad too salty. I may leave out the salt next time and rely on the natural saltiness of Parmesan.

UPDATE 2:  I just realized there it a typo in the recipe I linked to.  It says 1/2 lb (1 stick) of butter.  1/2 lb of butter is 2 sticks in a 4 stick package.  I used 1 stick which is 1/4lb butter and it was plenty of butter.

Cucumber Avocado Soup

I discovered the basic recipe for this cucumber avocado soup on Pinterest (of course).  It seemed like the perfect soup for a hot Las Vegas afternoon.  I modified the recipe a bit:

1 Cucumber
1 Avocado
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 1/2 C Non-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 C water
1/2 C chopped green onions
1/4 C chopped red onion
1/4 C chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the cucumber into thirds and rough chop two thirds.  Halve the avocado and rough chop one half.  You are reserving the remaining avocado and cucumber to add to the finished product.  Put the chopped avocado and cucumber along with all the other ingredients into a bowl that is deep enough to use your immersion blender.  If you don't have an immersion blender, stop now and go buy one.  You'll love it.  Blend the ingredients until smooth.  Add more water if you'd like your soup a little thinner.  I may use broth in my next batch.

Chop the remaining cucumber and avocado into small dice and add some to each bowl of soup.  I added a shrimp and mint leaf for garnish.  My brother would say the mint is unnecessary since I didn't eat it, just used it to spice up the picture.

The original recipe says this serves four.  I think that is only if you are serving it as a starter.  If you're having it for lunch, I'd say it serves two.

Gazpacho Recipe

I know I've raved before about Trader Joe's gazpacho and my  opinion stands; it is delicious and I rely on it for  a quick, satisfying taste treat. Though TJ's container of soup is a bargain, I was spending a lot of money on it.  Eventually I discovered that for about the same price, I can make about 6 times as much soup.

I based my recipe of of Ina's Gazpacho.  I used one yellow and one red pepper, five small pearl tomatoes, one red onion, and one cucumber.  Ina recommends you rough chop the veggies and then use a food processor but I just chopped everything fine.   I used the garlic press on the 3 cloves of garlic.  Instead of tomato juice, I used a 6oz can of tomato paste and thinned it with water.  Next time I think I'll use broth to thin it.  I added about 4 cups of water but you should do it to taste.   I added the 1/4 C olive oil and almost 1/4 C vinegar.  Be careful with the vinegar!  Then I added the juice of one orange and a bit of orange zest - I got that from reading the ingredients on the TJ's version. Of course, I added red pepper flakes. I'm thinking a jalapeño next time.  Then salt and pepper to taste.

I ate some of mine right away but it gets even better with time.

Avocado Pasta

When I first saw a pin for avocado pasta on Pinterest, my reaction was "No way."  Then I saw it it again, and then again.  Finally I decided that since I do love avocados, perhaps I should give it a chance.  So I followed the recipe.  I was surprised to find I liked it.   But it was a bit TOO avocado for me.  I know, I never thought I'd say that.  Yesterday I made it again but reduced the avocado to 1/2.  I also thinned it a little with some olive oil.  I happened to have lemon infused olive oil AND jalapeño infused olive oil so I used both - about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of each. And now I have a recipe I will use often.   It is extremely rich and 6oz will probably satisfy 2 people and still result in leftovers.  Especially if you add some shrimp or chicken to go with it.  Or in it.

Today I had my leftover pasta with some tuna and halved grape tomatoes.  The pasta had been in the refrigerator so I warmed it up just a bit (40 seconds) in the microwave before adding the new ingredients.  It was delicious.

Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose

Not everything I cook is a soaring success and mostly I blog about the successes.  My first try with salmon this week wasn't my greatest creation ever but I'll write about it anyway because I think there is hope for the sauce.

I recently bought a container of herbs from Trader Joe's.  The pot includes mint, oregano and thyme.  The mint is growing like mad, so I wanted some ideas and turned to the web.  I found a recipe for cilantro mint sauce and decided to try it.  It consists of 2 cups cilantro leaves, a dozen or so mint leaves, a Serrano pepper, some oil, a little water and salt.  Just blend it all together to make a spicy, minty sauce.  The result was not bad at all.  I decided to marinate some salmon in the sauce and then bake the salmon, which I wrapped in aluminum foil.  The final product was fine but not great.  I served it up with some lentils & feta and a few slices of avocado.  A decent meal.  I have some of the sauce left over and I'm trying to decide where it might be more successful.

The next attempt at salmon was a spectacular success.  I love the sweet chili salmon that Whole Foods sells in the prepared foods department.  I don't love the cost though - $23.00/lb.  I decided I could make something just as good for about half the cost.  I travelled around the web a bit and found a recipe for Chili-Garlic Glazed Salmon.  I didn't have green onions but I did happen to have sweet chili garlic sauce that I add to many, many things for a little heat in the event I don't use sriracha.  I also have some orange marmalade.   Both should be staples in your kitchen.   And of course, I always have soy sauce.  I did not measure, I just mixed things in until I liked the taste. Then I broiled the salmon as suggested - a little longer in my case.  The salmon was so moist and sweet and spicy.  I outdid Whole Foods and will never spend $23/lb again.

I served my salmon with some homemade cucumber salad.  I marinated the cucumbers in a mix of rice vinegar, water and sugar.  I think the original recipe called for equal parts of all but I use a little more vinegar and a little less sugar.  You can add salt to taste and garlic if you like.  I heat the mixture to melt the sugar and make a more syrupy consistency.  I slice the cucumber very, very thin.  Think mandoline. Wait for the liquid to cool, cover the cucumbers and let them sit at least an hour in the refrigerator.  I can eat them plain, but I love them with salmon.

That concludes my salmon update for the week.  If you have thoughts about how I can use the mint & cilantro sauce, speak up.

P.S.  I did buy the salmon at Whole Foods in the seafood department (much less than $23/lb), so they do deserve some of the credit.

Spicy Lemon Shrimp

Another great find from Pinterest.  I probably need to work on my food photography skills because I guarantee you this looked much better in real life.  And, it was awesomely delicious.   I was working with this Spicy Lemon Shrimp Skewers recipe from the FoodNetwork.  I altered it a bit because I didn't have skewers and I was missing a few key ingredients.  I was shocked to discover that Whole Foods did not have fish sauce. They did have some lovely raw shrimp though so I forgave them.   I forgot to buy lemongrass which I know WF has but I wasn't about to go back to the store when I discovered I had forgotten it.  To replace the fish sauce, I used some soy sauce and a little anchovy paste.  Someone on the web suggested soy sauce and Worcestershire but I love anchovies and decided to go with the paste instead.  The shrimp were shelled and deveined by WF.  I marinated them the hour and them cooked them in a hot non-stick pan.  I served them with some avocado and rice.  So good!  So spicy!  Give them a try.

Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pasta

If you like pasta and garlic and Parmesan, I think you'll really love this Creamy Garlic Pasta. The secret is cooking the pasta in the sauce. Saute some garlic in olive oil and add the butter, salt and pepper and then add your broth (I used vegetable stock).  Bring the broth to a boil and cook the pasta normally.  When the pasta is just how you like it, add the cheese, parsley and cream.  Voilà, you have a great, creamy pasta dish.

I used whole wheat pasta and thought maybe it would absorb more water so I used a bit less than the 1/2lb called for.  Turns out that wasn't really necessary, there was plenty of broth for some more pasta.  I also used cilantro instead of parsley because that is what I had in the house.  And, of course, I added some red chile flakes to the broth because that is what I do.

I also caramelized some Crimini mushrooms while the pasta was cooking and then added the pasta to my pan with the caramelized mushrooms.  I could have added the mushrooms to the pasta but I thought by adding the pasta to the pan with the mushrooms, I'd take advantage of all the caramelized goodness in the pan.

This may become my default way to make pasta.  Next time I'll probably use this technique but also use some wine and whiskey à la Pioneer Woman.  And then, the next time use asparagus instead of mushrooms.  Or maybe artichokes.  You get the idea.