Sushi Time: California Roll

Okay my friends and readers out there (I know I have a few dedicated readers out there somewhere.  Thanks for all of your comments by the way, it's nice to know my posts actually get checked out!) who of you out there enjoys a good plate of sushi?  Any of you out there brave enough to eat sashimi?  Well, my husband was nice enough to cater to my desires for our 5th anniversary this last weekend, and we went out for sushi at an actual sushi restaurant and tried a few different rolls. Since then the two of us have gone a little sushi crazy.  We wanted to learn how to make it after having some and paying a sushi chef to make it for us (it's delicious, but spendy!)

We decided to start small and simple and learn to make California Roll first.  We figured since that is using the imitation crab sticks and avocado and cucumber, it would be an easy one to try out, and if we were successful with that we could move on to more complicated recipes.  So that is why I named this post as a sort of a beginning of a category, because I honestly would love to try making a spicy tuna roll or some other kind after the success we have had with this California Roll.   I wish I had thought to take tutorial type pictures because this recipe is very simple as far as ingredients, but a bit trickier with the process/technique.  Instead of my own tutorial pics, I will link you all to a very helpful YouTube video we found and used last night.  The above picture is an actual picture of my finished product from last night.

Go here for the tutorial video of how to put everything together if you can't understand what I will be giving as directions.  And now for the recipe...

California Roll Sushi--makes 6 rolls, or 48 pieces

Sushi Rice (recipe below)
1 avocado, sliced (I also recommend sprinkling a bit of lemon juice on it to prevent discoloration)
1 cucumber, quartered, seeded, and sliced into thin strips length wise
9 imitation crab sticks
1 pkg Nori seaweed (it's the dehydrated seaweed sheets, found in the Asian section of your grocery store)
optional: toasted sesame seeds, tobiko (fish roe)

for serving: pickled ginger, wasabi paste, and soy sauce.  All of these should be in your Asian section of your local grocery store.

Tools needed: sushi mat, plastic wrap, and you may want some cooking spray so the rice doesn't stick to your hands, and a good sharp knife.

Sushi Rice recipe

4 c rice
4 c water
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned, and it's in the Asian section.)
2 tbsp salt (yes, I said TBSP--that's a TABLESPOON, not a teaspoon. It's the right amount.)

Rinse your rice in a strainer til the water runs clear.  You'll want to swirl the rice around in the sieve or strainer in cold water, and just keep running the water over it til it runs clear and you cant see any white starchy stuff in it.  Then put it in your rice cooker and add the 4 cups of water and set to cook til its done.  When it's done cooking, immediately transfer it to a large glass bowl.   Mix your vinegar, sugar and salt together in a small bowl, and microwave the mixture for 45 seconds.  Stir to make sure its all dissolved together, then pour that over your rice, and stir the rice to make sure every grain is coated in the vinegar mixture.  Let stand to cool to room temp, takes roughly half an hour.  This is a good time to prep your veggies and set up your sushi station.

Wrap your sushi mat in plastic wrap so it is covered on both sides.  Place a sheet of the Nori seaweed on the mat.  When your rice is cooled to room temp, then spread it onto the seaweed sheet and press down so it sticks.   Cover the whole sheet with the rice in a thin layer.  Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if you like, if not, then just flip your seaweed over so the rice is facing down.

Cut 3 of the crab sticks in half, and leave the other 6 sticks in tact.

Place your avocado slices in the bottom center of the seaweed,  then cucumber above it, and then lastly the crab sticks (take 1 1/2 of the sticks) above the line of cucumber.  (see video for a clearer image of this description)  Using the mat, roll the sushi up and as the mat is rolled around the sushi roll, move the mat so it doesnt get rolled into the sushi roll.  (I hope this makes sense--again, see video for clearer image/demonstration) Continue to roll it til the whole thing is rolled into a log shape.  If any of your ingredients from the center are coming out of the roll, tap the ends to push it all back in.

With a sharp knife cut the roll in half, and then each half in half, and then each of the quarters in half again to make 8 pieces.  Repeat process again til you have completed all 6 rolls.  Serve with wasabi paste and pickled ginger.  Enjoy!

Lemon Curd

Alright, this is a rare thing that most people in America have no idea about, but my family LOVES it.  Pretty much everyone I have talked to has had a lemon bar/lemon square so they have eaten lemon curd before, but they have never known what it was, just this delicious lemon stuff on top of a shortbread crust.  But it has much more potential than just for that.

Last week Bountiful Baskets had an add-on of a 38 lb box of lemons for $21.  I suggested to my mom that we split the box and make some lemon curd which is one of her favorite toppings for toast.  Or make lemonade concentrate, or just frozen lemon juice in ice cube trays for later use, or pie or whatever we wanted.  She said that was a good idea and today we got my sister to join us for a day full of canning a bunch of lemon curd.  Mom also did a few ice cube trays of lemon juice, and some candied lemon peel for later use.  All in all it was a pretty successful day.

So, anyway, back to the original subject, our recipe of the day.  Lemon curd is a custard like lemon jam.  It's spreadable gold in my book, delicious on toast, pancakes, waffles, gingerbread, scones, english muffins, or even as a filling for lemon cake (or cupcakes for that matter).  It's also commonly used in baked form on lemon bars as mentioned before.  The only difference between the lemon bars and the curd in the jar is that you just mix everything together and pour it over the crust and it bakes in the oven for the bars, and for the jarred stuff you cook it on the stove til it thickens and then pour it into canning jars and then process it to seal the lids.  So imagine lemon bars flavoring on your toast in the morning.  Yup, you got it, it's DELICIOUS!

Here's how you make it.  We tripled the batches to make it go faster, and made about 26 jars for the 3 of us to split up and take home.  Trust me, you'll want the triple batch, it makes about 5 jars and it's worth the work.

Lemon Curd

juice and zest of 9 lemons (about 3 cups juice)
3 sticks of butter
1 pinch salt
3 cups of sugar
9 egg yolks
3 whole eggs

Zest your lemons with a microplane or fine grater or citrus zester.  Then roll lemons on the counter to loosen the juice inside, and cut them in half to juice them.  This is where an electric citrus juicer comes in very handy because it really makes things go faster.  My mom has a juicer attachment for her Kitchen Aid and we just hooked it up and it made it go really fast.  You'll want to use a sieve over whatever bowl or measuring cup you use for the juice (we used one of those Pyrex measuring pitchers) so it catches the pulp and seeds.  Once you have gotten all of the lemon halves juiced, measure to make sure its roughly 3 cups of juice, then add your zest to the juice.  Set aside.

In a double boiler, or a pot of water with a heat proof bowl over top of it, melt the butter.  Add sugar and salt and stir together, and then add lemon juice and zest.   Whisk over medium low heat til sugar is dissolved and mixture is heated through.

Separate your eggs (the first 9) and whisk the yolks with the 3 whole eggs til they are lemony in color and uniform.  When the lemon mixture is dissolved and heated through, add approximately 1 cup of the lemon sugar mix to the eggs and whisk vigorously while slowly pouring in the lemon mixture.  Once the eggs and lemon juice are together, and mixed well, add the whole thing back to the lemon juice and sugar on the stove, and continue to cook and stir for about 15 minutes til the mixture thickens to the consistency of honey and it looks glossy.

Take your canning jars out of your canner (a large pot that processes canning jars) and carefully ladle the curd into half pint jars and then top the jar with a lid and ring and screw on tight, and then flip it over onto a towel on the counter or table to seal.  Let stand for about an hour til the lid is sealed tight (when you press the center it shouldnt go down or make a clicking sound).  Store in a cool place for up to 2 years.

Spread on toast, english muffins, cake, banana bread, brownies, shortbread cookies, whatever you want. You could pipe it into the center of cupcakes too if you want.  Or on pound cake or gingerbread cake.  Delicious!

Quick and Easy Asian Style Salad

Do you ever have those nights when you are craving veggies like crazy and you don't feel like cooking a big heavy hot meal?  Or it's a warm summer night and you don't want to heat the kitchen up by cooking something in the oven?  Or maybe you just want something light and healthy and quick before you run off to your next family thing of the evening...

Tonight I was craving the veggies, and we had a bunch of good produce in the fridge from our Bountiful Basket that we picked up on Saturday.  This time we ordered the Asian pack with it, so my wonderful husband has been having some fun experimenting with different stir fry recipes and we've been enjoying the different flavors. Tonight I was trying to decide how to make a quick dinner that would satisfy my veggie craving and also feed my hungry bear of a husband.  He had a headache tonight and wasn't feeling so great, so it was up to me to make sure something made its way to the table.  Salad to the rescue!  It seems silly to write a recipe for a salad, but here we go.

Asian Salad

1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped into thin strips (about 1/4 inch wide)
2 carrots, chopped fine
2 ribs of celery, chopped fine
a handful of sugar snap peas
2 green onions, sliced thin
1 avocado, peeled and diced small
sesame ginger salad dressing.  We used Newman's Own, but you can also make your own pretty easily.

Dressing suggestion:

1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/3 c rice wine vinegar
1/3 c olive oil
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 c soy sauce

Whisk together til well combined.  Pour over salad when ready to serve, toss well to coat everything and then serve.

We got a head of romaine lettuce in the basket on Saturday, and we already had half of a head left from before Saturday, so it needed to be used up before it all went bad.  I used the half head and chopped it into thin strips and then added some carrots, celery, green onions, and snap peas, and then a chopped up avocado (I cut it up pretty small so hubby wouldn't notice it so much--he's not a huge fan of the avocado for some strange reason).  Then I just tossed it in some dressing and served it all along side some pan fried potstickers (which I got from the frozen foods section of my local Costco--cheating, I know, but let's be honest, potstickers are a big pain to make from scratch unless you have a party of 20 people hanging out at your house for the night and you all make them together).

We loved it and it felt good to have something fresh and light for dinner.  It was also quick and easy and ready by the time the potstickers were done cooking on the stove.  I had dinner done in about 10 minutes!

So that's what we had for dinner tonight.  What did you make for your family?

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Today was rainy.  Very, very, wet and rainy.  At first I was kind of disappointed because it was so warm a couple days ago and I loved having the sun shining and being able to wear short sleeved shirts without worrying about a jacket.  I love Spring, it is my favorite season, but mostly I just love the sunshine of it, and the blooming flowers and green grass and trees, and the birds and because I love it so much I'll mention it again, the SUNSHINE.  After a bit of accepting the fact that it was going to rain and I would just have to deal, my husband saved the day and my mood by suggesting we have soup for dinner.

We had some broccoli in the fridge that needed to be used (and I guess he decided afterall that he wasn't going to make Chinese style beef and broccoli with it), so he suggested I go to one of the fancy grocery stores on my way home from the hospital and get some good quality sharp cheddar and make broccoli cheddar soup tonight.  Umm.... do you have to ask me twice?  I love broccoli cheddar soup! And I love ANY excuse to shop at our local "gourmet" grocery store (this is Utah, where it can be VERY hard to find unique and high quality meats, cheeses and produce--you have to search for a bit, so when this store opened my foodie heart was THRILLED).

**Warning, blatant tangent begins here** Seriously, people, I could get myself into serious trouble here.... they have a cheese counter, totally dedicated to high quality cheeses, and a nice bakery with yummy artisan bread, a fantastic seafood counter, and a meat department with all kinds of amazing meat options.  The produce department is huge, and everything is ripe and the right color (I know, that sounds weird to be excited about, but it's hard to find here sometimes), and you can get all kinds of different ethnic foods and things.  I could spend hours and lots of money at this place if I am not careful.

So... back to our regularly scheduled blog post... the soup.  I've tried making this before and to be honest, while it was good, it wasn't great.  I tried too many variations and should have stuck more to the basic idea of the recipe.    So here is the new version, and I hope you like it.

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

2 15 oz cans of low sodium chicken broth or stock (about 4 cups)
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 c all purpose flour
8 oz good sharp cheddar cheese, grated (trust me guys, its worth getting the good stuff--the flavor is oh so much better)
2 heads broccoli, cut into florets, and stems chopped up fine
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small onion, finely diced
pinch salt
pinch cayenne pepper, and black pepper
1/2 c milk

In a medium saucepan, melt butter and then add onions.  Saute onions in butter til soft and translucent.  Stir in flour, and mix til flour is absorbed into butter and all is combined well.  Add chicken broth or stock, and stir to combine.  Bring to a simmer, and then add your cheese and half the broccoli, and all of the carrots.  Simmer for about 15 minutes, and then add the rest of your broccoli.  Continue to cook for another 5 minutes, and then serve hot with more cheese on top and if you like, a dollop of sour cream.  We ate ours with sliced roasted garlic artisan bread.

Enjoy!

P.S. I realize this post got kind of long.  I guess I have been needing to blog for awhile, and I had a lot to blab on about today.  Sorry!  Hope the recipe is worth the random babble.  If not, feel free to skip the babble and go straight to the recipe--it's a good one, I promise.

Thanks for your patience!

I appreciate you all bearing with me while I was away for awhile.  I am now recovered from my c-section and life is getting a bit easier.  My son is still in NICU (and will be for about 6 more weeks), but he is doing well and for the most part is stable.  So while I am still making multiple trips a week down to the hospital, I am beginning to get back into the swing of cooking again.

I think I have finally gotten tired of frozen foods and short cuts again, enough that I am willing to put forth the effort to make things homemade again.  Don't get me wrong, I always prefer homemade from scratch over quick fix boxed or frozen meals.  I just haven't had the energy or brain power to come up with menus and dinner ideas for awhile.  Too many other things going through my head recently (like the health and welfare of my premature baby boy) and not enough energy to spend the whole day at the hospital and then come home to figure out what groceries to buy and put together for dinner.

So I appreciate very much that you all have given me the time needed to get back into my groove, so to speak. I was lagging a lot anyway before the c-section because of the low energy due to pregnancy, but I think most of the fatigue is really starting to wear off and my energy is coming back up to normal levels and I am ready to cook again for awhile.  I may have to beg your pardon again when our baby boy comes home in a few weeks, but hopefully not for too long.

And now....let's get started again!  I am going to post another recipe tonight, and I think you'll all enjoy it.  It's good for those Spring days when the weather can't quite decide if it wants to be warm or cold, and I bet your whole family will love it!

Happy Cooking!

Taking a break for a bit

So I am going to be taking a hiatus from the blog for a bit.  I had a c-section and delivered very early due to some blood pressure trouble and so I am recovering from surgery and visiting my little baby boy in the hospital each day--not much time for cooking, and when I am home, I have my feet up to keep the swelling down.

I probably won't be blogging for the next 2 months while my little guy is in the NICU, so I hope you guys don't mind the lack of posts for the time being and in the meantime can find some good recipes in my previous blog posts by using my search tool on the right side bar.

Until next time, Happy Cooking!

Valentines Day Menu

This year my husband and I decided because of our previous bad luck in years past to find restaurants for Valentines Day, that we would make dinner at home and save ourselves the nightmare of waiting for 2 hours for a table at some random restaurant.  I don't know if you readers have the same trouble in your area, but for us it seemed silly to wait til 8pm to eat even though it meant we had to be at the restaurant at 6pm because NOWHERE takes reservations anymore!  So anyway, I thought about it for a few weeks, searched recipe pages online and combed through Pinterest endlessly, and I came up with a few ideas for a fancy romantic dinner of my own.  I hope you like them and maybe find them useful for your Valentines dinner next year, or maybe just for any romantic occasion you have coming up.

I decided my menu would be:

Linguini with Shrimp, Roasted Red Peppers, and Artichoke hearts in a garlic cream sauce

Stuffed Mushrooms

Homemade Caesar Salad with homemade croutons

Roasted Garlic Artisan Bread (most local grocers sell this--check out your store's bakery)

and for dessert...Cheesecake with sliced strawberries.

I cheated and bought the cheesecake and the bread.  And I used that new stuff out there called Philadelphia Cooking Creme for the garlic sauce on the pasta.  But here I post the recipes for the Stuffed Mushrooms and the pasta, and the croutons for the salad.  I usually don't cheat so much, but I am 6 months pregnant and tired these days and I didn't want to spend all of my energetic time cooking, rather than spending it with my husband.  I wish I had pictures but unfortunately I forgot to take them the night of and my husband ate all of the leftovers before I got around to it.  Sorry about that!

First here is the recipe for the croutons since you'll want to make those ahead.

Homemade Croutons

1 loaf french bread (whatever you can get cheap at the store)

4-6 tbsp olive oil

seasoning salt or salt and pepper to taste

granulated garlic

parmesan cheese, optional

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut the bread into cubes.  I actually like to wait a day or two after I buy the bread so its a bit stale but not super dried out.  Toss bread in olive oil and seasonings and then spread in an even layer on a cookie sheet.  Make sure you don't have any overlapping pieces, and use 2 cookie sheets if needed.  They can be close together, just not on top of each other.  Bake for about 10 minutes, then use a spatula to move them around and turn them all over, and bake for another 10-15 minutes, til golden brown.   Let cool and then store in a large ziplock bag.  When you are ready to make your salad, just toss them with your cut up romaine lettuce, more parmesan cheese, and your Caesar dressing.  I added some diced heirloom tomatoes, too, but that was just a variation my husband and I love.  You could always also add some diced roasted red pepper, or some grilled chicken (if you weren't already doing the shrimp pasta).  Enjoy!

And now for the....

Stuffed Mushrooms

1 lb large cap white mushrooms, about 16 mushrooms (I got mine at Costco, for some reason they always have giant mushrooms!)

1/2 c breadcrumbs (seasoned or not, doesn't really matter

1/4 c parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

1-2 tbsp olive oil or butter

4 slices bacon, diced fine, optional (I didn't use this this time, but my sister says it's my brother in law's favorite.  If you use bacon, you can probably omit the oil)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove stems from mushrooms and carve out the insides to make room for your filling.  Leave the caps in tact, but you'll want to take out some of the outer edge around the stem, so you can fill it up with your filling. Place the trimmed mushrooms onto a cookie sheet.

Dice up your stems and a couple other whole mushrooms very finely.  They need to be small so they can be spooned into the caps easily and not fall out or have big air pockets.  Saute the mushrooms with the olive oil and garlic until about half their volume.  Place this into a medium mixing bowl.  Add breadcrumbs and cheese, and mix together til well combined.  Using a teaspoon, spoon your filling into your caps, trying not to over fill or spill.  Top your filled caps with more cheese, and then bake for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

And lastly, the pasta.

Shrimp Linguini with Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Hearts

1/2 lb linguini (I used fresh, but it doesn't really matter what you use, just cook according to pkg directions)

1 lb raw, peeled and deveined shrimp

1 15 ounce can quartered unmarinated artichoke hearts, drained

1 or 2 roasted bell pepper halves (I bought the jarred ones, but you can do your own under your broiler), diced

1 container Philadelphia brand Cooking Creme, classic garlic flavor

1 small can lump crabmeat, drained and rinsed

Bring a pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.  

While you wait for the water to boil, saute shrimp in a bit of olive oil and some garlic powder or fresh minced garlic.  Remove from pan when they just barely get pink (overcooked shrimp turn rubbery and unflavorful, not good).  In the same pan you cooked the shrimp, add your cooking creme and mix with the garlic oil and shrimp juices. Stir in your artichoke hearts and roasted bell peppers and let the flavors come together for a bit.  

Meanwhile, cook your pasta.  If it's fresh pasta then it should only take a couple of minutes, if its dry then it will take about 7 minutes or so.  Once it's fully cooked, drain it and add it to your saute pan.  At this point you will want to reduce the heat, and add back your shrimp and then your crab meat.  Toss it all together til the pasta is coated and everything is well combined, then transfer to your serving bowl and serve immediately with your salad and bread and stuffed mushrooms.

And that's it!  Enjoy your meal with your special someone, and when you are ready a couple hours later, have some cheesecake, too.  You have to be decadent sometimes....