Caramel Corn

Food is such a universal thing.  I miss the foods from where I've been and am excited to try new things.

I have a friend in Canada who occasionally sends care packages of things she's talked about or that she thinks I would like.  My most recent one was for my birthday a couple of weeks ago.  She sent Cheezies, which look like Cheetos but have a different texture to them.  Sometimes the same brands in the US and Canada come in different flavors, so she sent a box of Shake'n Bake Honey Garlic flavor.  She talks about it all the time but I've never been able to find it here.  She also sent a big bag of Smarties for the boys.  Smarties in the US are small hard candies kind of like flavored powder pressed together in a cake form.  Canadian Smarties are more like M&M's but with a thicker candy coating.

Then she sent a bag of Old Dutch Popcorn Twists.  They are sort of like Cheetos with no cheese.  On the back of the bag is a recipe for Caramel Corn.  So while the boys were here to help me eat them, I decided to make a batch.

The recipe was simple.  A whole lot of butter, brown sugar, light corn syrup cooked together.

Then you add a tsp of baking SODA.  Watch out it foams up!

You mix it in with the popcorn twists.

When it's all covered, bake it in a pan on a low oven (250 degrees) for about 45 min, stirring every 10-15 min.  Take it out and pour onto waxed paper or parchment paper and let cool.  Break it up into smaller pieces and enjoy!

OMG it was so good!  Buttery and sweet and no hard popcorn kernels and I didn't find popcorn skin stuck in my teeth hours later.  (You know what I'm talking about, it happens with coconut too.  That's why Rabbit wouldn't eat coconut for a long time).  I'm glad the boys ate most of it because I would not have shared with anyone else and eaten the whole batch myself.

Light Shrimp Carbonara

It was the boys' last dinner with us for spring break and I let them choose what they wanted to eat.  I was hoping pizza or something easy to...pick up.  The insisted on carbonara.  I've made this basic pasta dish for years, using bacon, pancetta or even spam!  My old recipe used 2 lbs of pasta, oil, garlic, a can of spam or half a pound of bacon, 4 eggs, a cup of heavy cream, a cup and a half of grated Parmesan.  I lightened it up this time and the kids LOVED it.

Light Shrimp Carbonara

8 oz whole wheat spaghetti

12 oz of precooked frozen shrimp, thawed

1 slice of bacon, cut into 1/8th inch pieces

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1/3 c ready to eat bacon bits ( Hormel or Oscar Mayer)

1/2 c grated Parmesan

2 eggs

salt and pepper

Cook pasta as directed and set aside.  Heat frying pan and put in bacon and garlic.  Saute for 2 or 3 minutes until the grease starts to cook out of the bacon a bit.  Add the cooked spaghetti.  Toss occasionally until noodles are hot.  Add bacon bits, grated Parmesan and shrimp.  Toss until evenly distributed, a couple minutes.  Take off the heat and add the eggs and toss until everything is coated.  Let sit for a couple minutes to let the egg set, then season with salt and pepper.

Simple, fast and way healthier than my old recipe (which we still love too).  This one is a keeper!

Splurge Meal @ HuHot

My boys are HUGE eaters, they always have been.  I've seen them polish off 3 heaping big plates of food at a buffet and then have dessert.

Recently, we've been trying to teach them portions and smarter choices.  That anything is okay in moderation and you are even permitted to throw all that to the wind...on occasion.  Yesterday's lunch was one of those times.

Rabbit and Horse both like Mongolian BBQ.  We've been to many mom and pop places in California.  Kenosha, unfortunately, is completely lacking in good or even decent Asian restaurants.  We go to a chain place here called HuHot Mongolian BBQ.  If I don't view it as real Asian food then it's a pretty decent place.

The reasons the boys like to go is 1)  It's a buffet.  2) They get to create their own dishes.

Rabbit and Horse putting together their meal

If you've never been to a restaurant of this type, this is how it works.  You grab a bowl and go up to the buffet line.  They have thin sliced meats (chicken, beef, pork at the very least), tofu, plain noodles, and cut up veggies (cabbage, bean sprouts, zukes, mushrooms, water chestnuts, onions, bell pepper, pineapple, tomatoes, cilantro and a whole lot more).  You pile up what you want in a bowl (or two bowls)  then you head over to the sauce bar.  Mom and Pop places usually have 4 or 5 including teriyaki and kun pao.  HuHot does out of the ordinary stuff, check out their website.  Ladle in at least 5 ladles of these, you can mix and match.  Then you can add additional seasonings like lemon juice, garlic or ginger water, wine, sesame or chili oil.

My food on the grill

When that's all done you take your bowl up to a counter.  The cooks throw it on a huge round flat grill.  Each to it's own section.  You can watch them cook it.  It's a show for the kids in itself .  On a busy night there might be 8-10 different meals cooking at one time. (the grill looks like a mess but they had just finished a few orders, they clean the grill before starting on the next order)  When it's done they scoop it into a clean plate and hand it back to you.  You can usually add different toppings such as crunchy chop suey noodles, peanuts, hot chili sauce, sesame seeds or coconut.  Then take it back to your table.

My finished plate.  I added coconut, sesame seeds and chili paste.

My boys love to cook and in this way they can experiment to their hearts content.  The boys ate 3 plates each but hey, they are on vacation.

Quickie Miso Salmon

I rarely plan out meals.  Usually it is a couple of hours before dinnertime when I'm looking in the fridge or freezer for inspiration.  This method of menu non-planning means I don't have the time use recipes that call for marinating something overnight.  One of my favorite dishes in the world is butterfish or salmon misoyaki.  If you do a search you'll find recipes online. Most call for at least miso, mirin and/or sugar, and ginger.  All the authentic recipes call for this to stand at least overnight.  The marinade sort of brines the fish, tightening the flesh a bit and drives the taste deep inside.  In some Japanese markets, you can buy this already made, cooked and uncooked.

Years ago, I came up with a quickie recipe that delivers the same taste without having to marinate the fish.  

Fast Miso Salmon

Salmon fillets or steaks

Miso (I use Shiro or white miso, it has a milder taste than the red)

Mayo (Regular or light)

Sugar

Ginger, grated

Mirin(optional, sweet cooking sake)

To make the topping the ratios are 2 parts Mayo to one part miso and on part sugar.  (For 4 servings I use about 1/4 cup mayo, 1/8 cup each miso and sugar, a tsp of ginger and 1 tsp of mirin).  Mix it all into a smooth paste.

Line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment or spray with non stick spray.  Lay the salmon on the baking sheet and spoon the topping on top.  Spread it out so it completely covers the top and sides too, if you like.  It should be spread moderately thick.

Place Salmon under the broiler set at it's highest setting.  Broil until salmon is cooked and topping is browned (or even just a bit black).  Serve with rice or noodles.  I served mine with cold soba and green beans.

Baaaaaa-lated Easter Dinner!

Most of us here eat a pretty wide variety of things.  Even my boys are used to eating a lot of different ethnic cuisines.  As a matter of fact, as long as it's meat and starch, my kids will eat it.  We're working on the fruits and veggie thing with the boys and they are getting better.

I'm finding meat here in Wisconsin can be so expensive.  We LOVE lamb but at $8-$20 per lb, we can't afford it often.  Imagine our delight when at our last Costco trip we found boneless leg of lamb for $5.99 a lb!  It is also one of the only meats The Greek's younger son will eat (he doesn't do any kind of poultry or seafood and even pork is iffy).

Since we went to brunch on Easter, I was too full to think about cooking the rest of the day so we moved the lamb to the middle of the week.  I decided to roast the lamb, and serve it with tzatziki sauce, Greek rice and flat bread.

Roast Lamb
Boneless Leg of Lamb (mine was 6 lbs but any size is ok)
3 cloves of garlic minced or pressed
1 T dried oregano, crushed
1 T dried rosemary, crushed
1 1/2 c red wine (I used Cabernet sauvignon because that's what I had)
Juice of one lemon

Mix all the ingredients together and marinate the lamb for at least 2 hours or overnight.  Heat the oven to 500 degrees then put the lamb on a rack in a pan and put in the oven for 10 min.  Lower temp to 425 and cook until desired doneness.  I like mine rarer so I cook to an internal temp of about 130-135 degrees.  Mine did smoke up the house a bit and I think next time I'll put the marinade in the pan below the roast..  Remove from oven and let sit at least 15 min before slicing. The 6 lb roast took about 90 min.

Bathing in Red Wine

Just out of the oven

Tzatziki Sauce
24 oz of plain Greek yogurt
1 cup cucumber, coarsely grated or chopped
1 tsp salt
1 clove of garlic, minced or pressed
2 T Lemon juice
2 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp mint extract (optional)

Line a strainer with a drip coffee filter or a couple layers of cheesecloth.  Scoop the yogurt in and let drain over a bowl for at least an hour.   (If you want to use regular plain yogurt, do this step but let it set at least overnight, dumping out the liquid if it gets too high.)  Put the shredded or chopped cucumber in a colander and sprinkle with salt and mix.  Let that sit over or inside a bowl for an hour.  After an hour squeeze out as much liquid as you can out of the cucumbers.  I just do this with my hands but you can use a towel or cheesecloth.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for another hour to let everything "meld".  You can put chopped fresh mint in too or instead of the dill and the extract.  I love the extra burst of freshness the mint gives this sauce..

Secret to a thick Tzatziki is to let everything drain well

This is what drained off after an hour .  At least 1.5 cups each

Finished Sauce.  Wish you could smell this!

Greek Rice in the rice cooker
1 T butter (or olive oil)
2 c rice (I used half long grain white and half brown basmati)
3-4 c chicken broth*
2 T lemon juice
1/4 c flat leaf parsley, chopped fine

Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium high heat and put the rice in and stir until it's all coated.  Keep stirring for about 3 min.  You don't want the rice to change color much.  I dumped the rice, chicken broth and lemon juice into my rice cooker and turned it on.  When it was done, I stirred in the parsley.

*The amount of chicken broth will depend on the rice.  Brown rice requires more liquid.  Use whatever you would normally or whatever the instructions for your rice says to.

I served everything with flatbread, gyros style.  It was so good.  I can't wait for lunch leftovers today!

This makes for some good eating!

Cream Chicken

There are certain things my boys request me to cook every time they come.  The main one we call Cream Chicken or Cream Porkchops.  The basic recipe is the same, I either use chicken thighs or pork steaks.  I devised this recipe during one of my low carb phases.  It is simple and doesn't use exotic ingredients.


Creamed Chicken
8 chicken thighs (more or less)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
A little oil for the pot
1 can of chicken broth (or 1 1/2 cups of water and a bullion cube)
1 1/2 c of heavy cream (whipping cream)
Seasonings of your choice:   Pepper, sage ( I love this one), bay leaf, oregano....(not all at the same time, unless you want to)
Salt, maybe

Heat oil in a big pot or very large skillet and add garlic clove.  Stir for a minute then lay the chicken skin side down and brown, then turn over and lightly brown the other side.  You may need to do this in batches depending on how big your pot is.

Put all the chicken back in the pot and pour the chicken broth over it and add any seasonings you would like.  Don't add any salt yet.  Bring to a boil and turn down the heat.  When you lift the lid, the broth should be bubbling enough to nearly cover the chicken, if not turn it up a bit.  If it wants to boil over, turn it down.  Cover.  After 30 min, move meat around so that any pieces on top are now on the bottom.  Cover and simmer for another 30 min.  Take the lid off and boil the liquid until most of it is evaporated.  There should be between a quarter and a half cup.  Stir in the heavy cream and bring to a boil again.  If it's not as thick as you want (it shouldn't be too thick)  boil for a few more minutes.  Taste, I usually don't need salt but correct the seasonings as you see fit. I serve this with rice or couscous.  If I'm low carbing, mashed cauliflower or even steamed or sauteed shredded cabbage is awesome to pick up the sauce.

Not a pretty plate unless you are the one who gets to eat it!

I tried to make this a little healthier for those not on a low carb diet.  After boiling and reducing the stock, skim off any excess oil.  Add a can of evaporated skim milk and bring to a boil again.  Mix half a cup of cold water and 2 tsp of cornstarch and add to pot.  Stir until thick then turn off.

To my kids, this is Momma's cooking and Momma is always happy to make it for them.

A Different Kind of Noodle Soup

http://flipsideumami.blogspot.com/2011/04/quickie-go-to-meal.htmlA few posts back, I talked about soba in miso soup .   It is my answer to ramen, which I love but it's full of fat.  This dish is fast to put together and satisfies any cravings I may have.  Today for lunch, I did a twist on this dish.

I used half soba noodles and half shirataki noodles.  Instant miso soup packets work for the broth and I added shrimp and kamaboko (fishcake).  I also added won bok (napa cabbage) and a sliced portabella mushroom to mine.  The boys LOVE it!

Today's version, white noodles are shirataki.

For those who are not familiar with shirataki noodles, they are made out of yams.  They have always been part of traditional Japanese cuisine, usually found in sukiyaki and nabe.  The original contains no carbs, no fat, no protein, no calories just pure fiber.  The tofu ones add a tiny amount of carbs and calories (I think 5 cal/serving).  They have recently become more available because of those stats for almost any kind of diet.  You can find them in the store refrigerated section, usually where the tofu is also kept.

Try it sometime and let me know how you like it!

My "normal" version