Sake Ochazuke (porridge with broiled salmon)

At a glance, a bowl of porridge with a piece of no-dressing, no-marinade salmon sounds almost sad. As in, it's-Saturday-night-I-am-home-alone-slurping-instant-ramen sad. But in fact, this dish is full of rich and nice flavors and has quickly become a staple at my house.

The key is to get the right ingredients and not under- or over-cook the salmon. Once you assemble the porridge with a hint of green tea and that dashi stock umami with the fatty crispy salmon skin and slightly salty salmon flakes, the flavor combination just doesn't get better than that. Oh wait, it does, put some roasted seaweed on top. Now you've got the texture, the taste, and the warmth all from a single bowl of pure goodness.

Ingredients
4oz Salted Salmon Belly
1/2 sheet Roasted Seaweed ( like Yamamoto nori)
2 cups Cooked Rice (use Nishiki brand rice)
1 cup Green Tea (use Japanese green tea such as genmaicha for its nuttiness)
1 cup Dashi Stock
Canola Oil
Salt

Direction

• Rub the salmon with a generous amount of salt
• Cover and let it refrigerate overnight
• Remove the salmon and rinse under cold water to remove the salt
• Dry the salmon with paper towels or a kitchen towel
• Drizzle oil over salmon and place under a broiler in low setting
• Broil for 15 minutes until a nice crust has formed; if the skin is still not brown enough, you can turn the broiler to "high" for a couple of minutes and monitor closely to make sure the salmon doesn't burn
• Break apart the salmon into flakes and set aside
• Add rice to a bowl with salmon flakes and seaweed on top
• When you are ready to serve, mix the hot green tea with the stock. You can add as much liquid as you would like, as long as you remember to use it in the ratio of one part tea one part dashi stock.

The Ultimate Bread Pudding

I am not an advanced chef or baker, but I am quite proud of my bread pudding. I have actually converted a non-bread-pudding-believer once. Bread pudding is just such a great dessert. It's so easy, can be made ahead of time, and you can save it in the fridge and have dessert every night for the rest of the week (depends on how fast you eat it).

I started with this recipe and modified it over the year(s). Here is my version. You can use any fruit toppings really. I have tried quite a few and everything is delicious, except bananas. Do not use bananas ever. They create this inexplicable weird rancid taste.

Do use challah bread! I have tried all kinds of bread (French, sourdough, country-style, brioche). Basically anytime I have stale bread I think, hmm, I don't want them to go to waste so I will make a bread pudding out of them. Nothing tops challah bread.

Ingredients:
1 lb of Challah bread (or a little less depending on if you want your bread pudding to be more bread-y or more custard-y)
1 cup of berries (blueberries and blackberries are excellent; you can even mix a variety of berries)
2 cups of milk
1 cup of heavy cream
3 eggs
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of bourbon (optional)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of salt
butter (for pan)

Directions:

• Use day-old Challah bread and tear it into 1" pieces and set them aside in a large bowl.
• Whisk eggs, sugar and salt together.
• Add the milk a little at a time and whisk to combine.
• Gently stir in cream, vanilla, and bourbon.
• Pour the milk mixture over the bread cubes and berries and stir to combine, pressing bread down to get the floaters if neccessary; make sure bread cubes are all covered.
• Cover and refrigerate over night.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9"x9" casserole pan.
• Bake for an hour and let it cool slightly before you serve.
  

Date Night at Chotto

Today was one of those days that we both were very blah at the end of the day and we felt that we needed something to cheer us up. We were supposed to go to Tsunami swimming practice tonight but we just did not have it in us to do it and we decided that, instead of going there and do a bad swim session, we would do an impromptu date night at Chotto - a new Japanese Izakaya restaurant in the Marina district.

We started our dinner with a carafe of hot Hakutsuru sake, Imo Age (garlic french fries with spicy miso aioli) and Tori Age (crispy chicken wings, shichimi buffalo sauce).


Bacon Mochi (applewood smoked bacon, mochi, nori) - Very interesting combination, I kind of liked it.


Tsukune (chicken meatball, eggyolk, homemade teriyaki) - I can eat multiple orders of this. Delicious!!!


Tontoro (pork cheek, sea salt, shichimi chili) - Yum yum...


Miso Tonkotsu (pork & chicken broth, miso, chashu) - I think they gave us the Karamiso Tonkotsu (the spicy miso ramen) since it had a nice spiciness to it.


After dinner, we decided to stop by at the La Folie Lounge for some night caps on the way home. Porgy got Dark and Stormy (Goslings dark rum, ginger beer, lime, canton ginger cognac) and I Rye Manhattan (Rittenhouse rye, carpano antica sweet vermouth, bitters).


So did I feel guilty for skipping swimming practice? Eh... kind of but not really. I think it's nice to be able to do this impromptu date nights to keep ourselves sane. We promised ourselves we would go to the practice on Wednesday and Thursday but we'll see how that goes.

Roast Pork Shoulder

I was so confused on what to make for this week’s lunch. I knew I wanted to cook the Minestrone soup for dinner because of the cold weather but bringing the soup to the office is somewhat out of the question because of potential spillage issue. After browsing online, I decided to make Roast Pork Shoulder – which can be used for lunch with some kind of side vegetables and carbs or for the toppings on our dinner salad – using a recipe from this blog My husband cooks.

It seems that the trick of making a good roast of a big piece of meat are 1) marinate at least overnight and 2) cook it slow and steady in a low oven temperature. I knew about the importance of marinating but stupid me I didn’t read the whole cooking instructions on the site until Sunday afternoon when I found out that it needed to be cooked for 9-10 hours at 250F. After scrambling around to do some more online research while preheating the oven, I found out from Simply Recipes that I can cook it in a much shorter time and still get the caramelization that I want by first cook it uncovered in a 450F oven for 30 minutes and then cook it covered in a 325F oven for 3 hours. Phew! The roast pork shoulder turned out to be super tasty and moist – thanks to all those pork fat!


Ingredients:
4 lbs pork shoulder (boneless)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup of dry white wine

Directions:

• In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, salt, paprika, cumin, red pepper flakes, cayenne, and turmeric.
• Pat dry the pork shoulder with paper towels and rub the seasoning mixture evenly over the pork shoulder inside and out.
• Wrap the pork shoulder tightly in plastic wrap to hold the marinade against the skin, put it in a large bowl and marinate overnight. It will give up a cup or more of liquid so make sure your container is big enough to prevent spillage.
• 1 hour before cooking, take out the pork shoulder from the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 450°.
• Place the pork shoulder on aluminum foil wrapper roasting pan (so it’s easier to clean) and roast uncovered for 30 minutes.
• Turn the oven heat down to 325° and add the wine and cover the roasting pan with another sheet of aluminum foil and slow roast for 3 hours until the pork shoulder is very tender and pulls apart easily when probed with a fork. If you want, you can add some more white water every hour or so to baste the pork shoulder.
• Transfer the pork shoulder to a serving plate and drizzle the pan juice over the meat.

Meyer Lemon and Blood Orange Marmalade

Since the Alameda antique fair was canceled because of the rain, I found myself with plenty of time to kill today. We went to grab coffee at Contraband, had brunch at a mom-and-pop diner nearby, cleaned up the aquarium and the house, finished off tax documents, cooked Roast Pork Shoulder (which is still cooking in the oven as I'm blogging) and it's not even dinner time yet. So I decided to catch up with my blog and post this Meyer Lemon and Blood Orange Marmalade that I made about a month ago.

I have never made jams or marmalade before but after having my neighbor's tasty apricot jam, I was compelled to try making it and found that this NYTimes marmalade recipe is easy enough for me to follow. It turned out pretty good although next time I would not use the white part of the orange as it makes the marmalade a bit bitter.


Ingredients:
3 medium Meyer lemons, ends trimmed
1 medium blood orange, ends trimmed
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups Demerara (raw) sugar

Directions:

• Place several small plates or saucers in the freezer.
• Wash the citrus well under warm running water. Cut the lemons and orange in half lengthwise. Cut each half into 1/8-inch segments, lengthwise. Pluck out any exposed membrane and remove the seeds.
• Measure the cut citrus. You should have 2 1/2 cups, but if you have less, use the same volume of water and sugar as you have citrus. (If there are only 2 cups, for example, use 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar.) Place the citrus and the same volume of water into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until the peels are very soft and fully cooked, about 20 to 30 minutes.
• Add the sugar to the pot, stir to combine. Turn the heat up to high and bring back to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and let the marmalade simmer until set. It should take about 20 to 30 minutes, but start checking after 15 minutes to see if it is set by spooning a little onto a chilled plate from the freezer. If it looks like jam and not runny syrup, it’s ready. (If you want to use a candy thermometer, you are looking for 222 degrees.)
• Allow marmalade to cool to room temperature before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator and use within a month.

Minestrone (kind of) Soup

Today I made this soup based on a simplified Minestrone recipe on NYTimes in preparation for the cold and wet weather coming to San Francisco. To make it even healthier and substantial, I added some sliced sausages and a can of white kidney (cannellini) bean. I am not really sure if I can still call it Minestrone soup or not but I know that now I am ready to take on the rain!


Ingredients:
4 Italian sausages, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
4 garlic, finely chopped
2 potatoes, cut to 1-inch sections
1 can diced tomatoes, drained & rinsed
1 can white kidney (cannellini) beans, drained & rinsed
1 cup of dry white wine
2 cup of vegetable (or chicken) broth
2 cup of water
1/2 cup of chopped parsley
1 cup of frozen peas
salt & pepper

Directions:

• Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a Dutch oven over a medium heat for a couple of minutes and saute the sliced sausages for a few minutes until totally cooked and set aside.
• Add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil into the pan and saute the chopped onion, carrot, celery rib and minced garlic for 5 minutes.
• Add the cubes potatoes and cooked for 2 minutes.
• Add the drained tomatoes, white wine, broth, and water.
• Cook until boil and lower the heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.
• Add the drained beans and simmer for another 15 minutes.
• Add in the chopped parsley and frozen peas.

Stir-fried Yu Choi and Shiitake Mushroom

Here is a simple and delicious vegetable dish that can be used as a main dish or a side dish for something like Osso Buco since it can stand up for itself. It took me only 5 minutes to prep and another 5 minutes to cook the dish.


Ingredients:
1 lb yu choi or other chinese vegetables, ends trimmed
1/2 lb shiitake mushroom, sliced
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1-inch ginger, julienned
2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce:
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 wine
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions:

• Combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a wok on a medium high heat and, when hot, add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry quickly for 1 minute or so until fragrant.
• Add in the vegetables, mushroom, and sauce and stir until combined. Cover and cook for 2-3 more minutes.

Osso Buco

It's going to snow in San Francisco... it's going to snow in San Francisco... NOT! After a non-stop hoopla in the news in the past week, snow did not arrive in San Francisco this weekend. Although it was cold, it was sunny all weekend long and it reminded me of the days when Arthur just laid out on the balcony or in front of the window enjoying the sun. My beautiful dog Arthur passed away 2 weeks ago because of lymphoma cancer, he came to my life, turned it up side down for good and I missed him dearly.

I made this Simply Recipes' Osso Buco in expectation that it would be an overcast wet and cold weekend and in memory of Arthur because I know that he would enjoy gnawing the bone marrow out of the shanks. I couldn't find any veal shanks so I used beef shanks instead which means I had to cook it for another hour to get it tender. I served this delicious goodness on top of steamed white rice, sprinkle with gremolata and a side of Stir-fried Yu Choi and Shiitake Mushroom.


Ingredients:
1/4 pound pancetta, diced 1/4 inch cubes (do not substitute bacon)
2-1/2 to 3 pounds veal shanks (4 to 6 pieces 2-3 inches thick)
1/2 cup diced carrot (1/4 inch cubes)
1/2 cup diced celery (1/4 inch cubes)
1 medium onion, diced 1/4 inch pieces
2 tablespoons (about 4 cloves) chopped garlic
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 cup dry white wine
1-2 cups chicken or veal stock
flour for dusting the meat before browning
salt and pepper

Gremolata:
2 tablespoons minced flat (Italian) parsley
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Heat a dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat for about five minutes. Add pancetta to pan, cook, stirring occasionally. When the pancetta is crispy and most of the fat has rendered (about 5 minutes of cooking), remove the pancetta to a plate covered with some paper towel and set aside. If necessary, drain off all but two tablespoons of the fat from the pan.
• Season the veal shank well with salt and pepper. Dredge the veal shanks through some flour, shake off any excess, and add the meat to the hot fat in the pan. Increase the heat to medium high and cook the meat on each side until well browned (about 5 minutes per side). Remove the shanks to a plate, set aside.
• Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the dutch oven. Cook the onion mixture, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent (about five minutes) and toss in the garlic and thyme. Continue cooking until the vegetables just begin to brown (about 10 minutes).
• Add the shanks and the pancetta back to the pan. Pour in the wine, and then add enough stock to come a little more than half way up the side of the shanks. Bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and put it in the oven to cook until the meat is tender, about 2-2.5 hours.
• Combine the gremolata ingredients, place in a separate small serving dish.

Thomas Keller's Gruyère Gougères

I first heard of gougères from Ruth Reichl's book Garlic and Sapphires. The way she described these little cheesy wonders that are so simple, elegant, and so frequently made in the household of a former NYT food critic really makes you salivate. Since then, I have made gruyère gougères several times. The most recent time I opted to use a Thomas Keller recipe. As usual, any recipe touched by Thomas Keller is instantly 50% more complicated than any other recipes. But hey, what other Thomas Keller dishes can be done under an hour (even by a slow cook like me)?

So next time you have friends over and need an appetizer or snack to munch on, make gougères. And make sure they are hot out of the oven when you serve them. That's when they are the puffiest, butteriest, and tastiest.

Note: The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of salt and the gougères ended up way too salty for me. Since the cheese already has a salty flavor, I'd adjust the salt amount by half next time. Also, add some cayenne pepper! It will make the flavors richer and more intense.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon kosher salt (I suggest using much less)
1 pinch of sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour4 large eggs (up to 5 eggs)
1 1/4 cups grated Gruyère
Freshly ground white pepper
1 pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.
• In a medium saucepan, combine the water, butter, salt and sugar and bring to a boil. Add all the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium, and stir with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes, or until the mixture forms a ball and the excess moisture has evaporated. (If the ball forms more quickly, continue to cook and stir for a full 2 minutes.)
• Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle and beat for about 30 seconds at medium speed to cool slightly. Add 4 eggs and continue to mix until completely combined and the batter has a smooth, silky texture. Stop the machine and lift up the beater to check the consistency of the batter. The batter in the mixing bowl should form a peak with a tip that falls over. If it is too stiff, beat in the white of the remaining egg. Check again and, if necessary, add the yolk. Finally, mix in 3/4 cup of the Gruyère and adjust the seasoning with salt and white pepper.
• Fill a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8-inch plain pastry tip with the gougère batter. Pipe the batter into one-tablespoon mounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between the gougères as the mixture will spread during the baking. Sprinkle the top of each gougère with about 1/2 teaspoon of the remaining grated cheese.
• Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until they puff and hold their shape. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes. When the gougères are done, they should be a light golden brown color. When you break one open, it should be hollow; the inside should be cooked but still slightly moist. Remove the pans from the oven and serve the gougères while hot.

Alton Brown's City Ham

If you are going, what is City Ham? Is it made from urban pigs? Here is what chef/scientist/nerd Alton Brown has to say about city style ham: A city ham is basically any brined ham that's packed in a plastic bag, held in a refrigerated case and marked "ready to cook", "partially cooked" or "ready to serve". Better city hams are also labeled "ham in natural juices".

Simply put: those big wrapped up hefty chunk of ham you see in grocery stores that's not labeled "lunch meat." I will suggest though, get a piece with a bone in it! They yield a much tastier result.

This recipe does require hours of work, waiting for the ham to slowly roast in the oven. It's perfect for big get-togethers, like Thanksgiving, where you are hosting a large number of people, and will be stuck in the kitchen making food all day anyway. After all, City Ham is a very low maintenance dish. Prep work doesn't take very long, and it makes a very beautiful and delicious entree.

Ingredients:
1 city style (brined) ham
1/4 cup brown mustard
2 cups dark brown sugar
1-ounce bourbon (poured into a spritz bottle)
2 cups crushed ginger snap cookies

Directions:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees F.
• Remove ham from bag, rinse and drain thoroughly.
• Place ham, cut side down, in a roasting pan. Using a small paring knife or clean utility knife set to the smallest blade setting, score the ham from bottom to top, spiraling clockwise as you cut. (If you're using a paring knife, be careful to only cut through the skin and first few layers of fat). Rotate the ham after each cut so that the scores are no more than 2-inches across. Once you've made it all the way around, move the knife to the other hand and repeat, spiraling counter clockwise. The aim is to create a diamond pattern all over the ham. (Don't worry too much about precision here.)
• Tent the ham with heavy duty foil, insert a thermometer, and cook for 3 to 4 hours or until the internal temperature at the deepest part of the meat registers 130 degrees F.
• Remove and use tongs to pull away the diamonds of skin and any sheets of fat that come off with them.
  Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Dab dry with paper towels, then brush on a liberal coat of mustard, using either a basting brush or a clean paint brush (clean as in never-touched paint). Sprinkle on brown sugar, packing loosely as you go until the ham is coated. Spritz this layer lightly with bourbon, then loosely pack on as much of the crushed cookies as you can.
• Insert the thermometer (don't use the old hole) and return to the oven (uncovered). Cook until interior temperature reaches 140 degrees F, approximately 1 hour.
• Let the roast rest for 1/2 hour before carving.