Red Tomato Chutney

You may or may not remember that I made chutney for the first time last winter. And we loved it! It is a Pear and Peach Chutney with ginger root in it that makes it nice and HOT! It is great with curry and rice!

So, when my friend at Shinshu Life published a recipe for red (vs. still green) tomato chutney, I was really enthralled! Just looking at the color made me want to rush out and make it. However, Shinshu Life cooking is based on their wonderful and HUGE gardening enterprise. My balcony garden, on the other hand, was recycled early on in the summer, and replaced with flowers. So, when I compared prices of "real" (fresh) tomatoes with canned, canned won out. Here is my version of Shinshu Life's school textbook's Red Tomato Chutney:



Red Tomato Chutney


2 cans whole peeled tomatoes - I roughly cut them up with a pair of kitchen shears
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. pickle spice wrapped in a mesh cloth - cloves are the ticket, I think!
1 cup sugar

I threw all of this (EXCEPT THE SUGAR) into a saucepan and boiled it till the liquid was reduced by about 1/2. About 20 minutes. Then I added the sugar and boiled it for about 20-30 minutes. Ryu (my husband), isn't a real vinegar fan, and found this to be a bit sour at first, so be sure to adjust the sugar to your own taste. This made 2-3 cups of chutney. The color is so rich and the flavor so robust! I love it!

We weren't sure what to eat it on but it would work with yogurt - REALLY! and cream cheese and crackers. It is also great with chicken and white rice. I think we will be finishing it up tonight! Mmmm! Thanks for the inspiration, Heather!

Sesame Dressing

We had only been married a little time before Ryu told me he liked Chinese food also. Wow! Learning to make Japanese food as well as Chinese - I recruited his help. We bought a Chinese cookbook at the 100 yen (Dollar) store and have used it and used it!

This is the Sesame Dressing for one of the dishes (whose name I can't remember or READ!)

The cookbook is Bon Cook #23 Chinese...Something. The recipe is on page 48.

Anyway, this is Ryu's dish to make, but, we are on a chicken eating frenzy, so I am always looking for ideas. The other day I decided to boil a chicken breast, tear it into shreds, steam some green beans and cut them in half, and pour this sauce over it all. We were ALL (meaning, Jun too!) in heaven!

Sesame Dressing

3 Tbsp. White Sesame Seeds - grind these up in a food mixer you can later add wet ingredients too for ease in preparation. (I'm sure you could use black too. We used roasted white ones.)
3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp. Sugar
1 Tbsp. Vinegar
1/2 tsp. Sesame oil
1/2 tsp. rayu (very hot oil. We leave it out when Jun is eating with us - ALWAYS - though we love it!)

After grinding up the sesame seeds, add the rest of the ingredients and blend well. This is the first time I used our food grinder/mixer. Ryu does it by hand. Do as you wish, but I will always use our cheapo frustrating mixer after this! So easy!

This is great over chicken and pork. Also, over steamed veggies like broccoli, green beans or spinach. It would also be great over a salad or chilled tofu! Of course, you can adjust the flavor/sweetness to your liking, too! Try it!

Soboro Bento (Lunch)

I originally thought that the name of this lunch was the same word used in Japanese for "not doing what you should be doing. Goofing off!" Turns out it isn't, but they are close. The simplicity of this obento is perfect for those days when I'm just not up to making a cutsie obento. O.K. I'm never into making cutsie obentos. So, this obento is great when Jun and I have to eat in PUBLIC with PEOPLE we KNOW! And, I have received compliments on the way it looks and the way it tastes. So there.

A retired male student, who is the new cook in his family, was afraid I would let Ryu starve - especially when I told him about the lunches I fixed, and gave me a cookbook on making lunches. No pictures. As I "read" this recipe to make sure I got all the important points for you, I noticed it said that "if you put something sweet in a lunch box, it helps the eater to relax." I didn't say I understood it. I said it said it. I always DID like a cookie in my lunch bag, though!

SOBORO BENTO (Lunch)

Meat

100 gm. ground chicken
4 Tbsp. water
2 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. sake (surely white wine or water would suffice?)
2 tsp. sugar

Mix it all well (the meat is still raw!). Then cook it in a fry pan till the meat is all broken up into TINY pieces and much of the sauce has cooked down.

Egg

1 egg
1 tsp. water
dash of salt
dash of sugar

Mix it all up. Heat up the frying pan. Use a tad bit of oil if you need to. Pour in the egg. Grasp 5-6 chopsticks in your hand at once (that's what it SAYS in the book!) and stir away at the egg. This cooks it while breaking it up into TINY pieces like the meat. I have been known to use a small metal whisk for this job with adequate results.

Veggie

This obento should have three colors - that's how to WOW people. Any green veggie will do. I tend to use my spinach with gomae recipe.

Now, (for those new to obentos) put rice in the box (Tupperware stuff works too.) Then divide it into thirds and cover with the three toppings. I always double/triple the recipe as needed.

Potato Salad

My friend, Megu, asked for an American Potato Salad recipe. Not like Japanese potato salad, with fruit in it (which my mother absolutely loves, by the way), but one with pickles and eggs in it - like I happen to make! I hope it reminds you of your university days in the States, Megu! The day she asked for a recipe, I had been pondering how to use the last three potatoes and the egg in the fridge! Great inspiration, Megu!

Potato Salad

3 potatoes (in Japan I always use the Mekuin? ones because they are so easy to peel and don't dissolve in the water.)
1-2 hard boiled eggs
2 Tbsp. yogurt or mayo (we never seem to have mayo, but my Mom uses it!)
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard straight out of the bottle
2 heaping Tbsp. relish (you could cut up sweet pickles, or you could buy relish, or you could make my homemade relish. Mmmmmm.)
2 Tbsp. pickle/relish juice.

Peel and cut the potatoes up into large chunks (6 pieces or so per potato). Boil them in salted water. This is also a "point". Potatoes and eggs need a lot of salt, but not too much. A recipe book I consulted recommended 1/2 tsp. salt per cup of water. I tried it, and it turned out perfect. At the same time, boil your eggs. Now comes a major difference between American families' potato salad, I'm told. Some people cut their boiled potatoes into big chunks. Others mash them. I use a potato masher, but only crush each piece of potato and boiled egg once with them. So, they are in small chunks.

Mix the dressing ingredients together and toss the salad gently. Refrigerate before serving.

When Ryu tasted my Mom's potato salad, he said, "Yours tastes just like it!" So, I guess it is an authentic American recipe! HAHAHAHA!

Sweet-Hot Lotus Root

Well, I didn't go to the veggie store the other evening, and the sweet and sour cabbage was refused by Jun and Ryu. Ryu had ochazuke (rice with powdered tea and seaweed, etc. on top with hot water!) So, I felt the need to redeem myself with dinner last night. Jun and I made the cold trek to the drug store for diapers and the veggie shop for...veggies! Right outside the door, where the sale items are, were lotus roots! 45 yen per 100 gm.! I know, those of you outside Japan are just not impressed, but...I bought about 200 gms worth because I remembered Abigail had made a yummy sounding lotus root side-dish. This was my first time to buy or fix lotus root (that I can remember), and it was easy and fun to make.

Sweet-Hot Lotus Root recipe

I also sliced up some carrots to put with it for color and...because they are carrots, and carrots are supposed to be good for you!

Well, Jun took one uncoerced bite and pronounced, "kore, oishii!" (This is GOOD!) Later, when Ryu got home, he echoed Jun's opinion, and I have a fun recipe to continue to make with lotus root! Thanks, Abigail!

Creamy Baked Beans

In the 1960's my Mom found a recipe on the back of an evaporated milk can for Creamy Baked Beans - or something like that. She always made it for picnics and parties. They are sooo yummy, creamy and mild. No other baked beans really do it for me.

Well, we moved a ton of times and the 1960's are long past, and the recipe only apparently exists, lodged in our food memories. No sign of it on the web, anywhere!

So, this evening we attempted to recreate the recipe. And it was good!

Creamy Baked Beans

1 14.5 oz. can of pork 'n beans
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1 Tbs. prepared mustard (any that you put on your hot dogs will do!)
1/4 cup cream or evaporated milk

Pour it in a casserole dish and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Stir well before serving. It has a lighter color than traditional baked beans, and a light creamy flavor. Of course you can double/triple the recipe if you want. Just bake it for an hour or so.

I sauteed 1/4 of an onion till it was soft and stirred it in before baking. You could also add cooked hamburger or whatever floats your boat and it would be yummy too!

Eggplant - Hot & Sour

Sachiko also taught me this recipe. Ryu, who hates vinegar, loves this. Go figure!

Eggplant - Hot & Sour

3 Japanese eggplants (trim the tops off them. Then make 2 2-inch-deep cuts - like an "X" in the top of them. Wrap each of them in wrap and pop them in the microwave for 4 minutes. When they are done, CAREFULLY unwrap and, using the cuts as a start, pull the eggplants into four long strips.) NOTE: I actually use this method of cooking eggplants for other dishes that I don't want to use oil to cook them in.

1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
a little rayu (very hot red oil with a sesame base) The link has a recipe for rayu, if you can't find it in your super. EVERY Japanese supermarket has it, I'm sure.

Mix the sauce up and then stir in the eggplant so each piece is coated well. Put in the fridge and serve chilled. Yummy and easy!

NOTE: I haven't used this sauce on other steamed veggies, but, it just might be delicious!

Goma Ae - Sesamae Sauce

My friend, Sachiko, also taught me this "essential" recipe for use when feeding a Japanese husband. And, HEY! He likes it!

The word, "sauce", is used very loosely. It never turns into a sauce, but mixes nicely with the slight moisture left in the cooked veggies.

I made this last night after NOT having made it for awhile. Jun asked for a taste. I gave her one. I asked her to let me put it in the fridge to chill. She said "no". She asked for a spoon. I gave her one. She stood there eating spinach! A beautiful sight for this mother's eyes! After watching her shovel in carrots with her lunch curry - influenced, I am sure by Auntie Yoko-chan, who babysat yesterday morning while I was at "oshigoto" - work, I was a truly happy Mama!

This mixture is wonderful when mixed with boiled and squeezed spinach, and good with green beans, asparagas, sweet peas (in the pod kind), and...well, try it on whatever you like.

When I made this last night, I was making it from a poor memory. Jun's love for it showed that I had, indeed, put too much sugar in it, so here is a better version I came up with!

Goma Ae

2 Tbsp. roasted sesamae seeds ground up. You can buy them like this, you can roast them on your own and grind them with a pestal and motar, or you can use a handy dandy grinder on your blender, etc.
1/2 Tbsp. sugar - I used 1 Tbsp. last night. Daddy loved it too! Too sweet, though.
1 tsp. soy sauce
a dash of salt

Mix this all up in a bowl and add 100-200 gm of cooked veggies. Mix gently with a fork or chop sticks. Put in the fridge, and you have a nice semi-sweet salad for dinner.

Sweet Potato Casserole

This dish really needs a more splendid name. A more exotic one! One that those who HATE sweet potatoes will RUN to. Any ideas?

I got this recipe from my friend, Tracy, who doesn't cook. It is amazing how the recipes she has given me are not just good, but REALLY good. I guess she saves her strength up and GOES for it. She got the recipe from a friend who got it from her husband's cousin's wife. We think.

I love it because it uses vanilla to flavor the sweet potatoes. Not a flavoring I had ever had with those beasts. I taught my home stay wife, here in Japan, the recipe years ago. She makes her version of it each year and brings it to potlucks at church.

Here's the real McCoy! Sugar, butter, nuts and ALL!

SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

3 c. sweet potatoes, cooked
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. milk
1/2 c. oleo, softened (In the beginning, man (woman?) created
margarine, and called it oleo.) You can use butter too!
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla

Beat sweet potatoes and eggs together well.
Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Put into greased casserole dish.

Topping:

1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. nuts (pecans)
1/4 c. flour
2 1/2 T. oleo, softened (margarine/butter)

Mix together, cutting oleo in until well-mixed.
Put on top of sweet potatoes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

No marshmallows for me this Thanksgiving/Christmas! Bring on the pecans!!!

Cumin

It is sweet potato time in Japan. My husband dislikes sweet potatoes because - they are sweet. So, I was excited to find a savory (non-sweet) recipe for sweet potatoes on Abagail's food blog, Mamatouille.

Her recipe for Sweet Potato Fries uses cumin. I remembered seeing cumin in the back of my spice basket, and was so happy to find that I still had it. And surprised! It was a full spice jar of cumin. Never been opened. The expiration date was sometime in 2005. When did I buy this? Why did I buy this? How did it find itself into my spice basket?

Well, being raised on antique spices, I didn't hesitate to scoop out the teaspoon of cumin and make the Sweet Potato Fries. I forgot to weigh the sweet potatoes first, so, over seasoned them a bit, but I really liked them. I didn't know cumin was part of the curry family of spices. Ryu gave the potatoes a rating of "fushigi" (unusual), and Jun wanted "more".

The next evening I added the remaining cubed up fries to a chicken dish I made, added a tad bit more cumin, and it got the "omoi" (heavy) rating, which is the highest in our household. So fun to find a "new" spice for us!

NOTE: When making a bland curry-from-the-box for dinner the other night, I added 1/4 tsp. of cumin (I used 1/4 of the box roux) to the mixture and Ryu was SOOO impressed. Me too. It was pretty terrible before the cumin!

Real Juice Jello

I live in Japan and don't have the rows and rows of JELLO brand jello to choose from when shopping. Also, I have a little baby and was looking for some way to get a few more veggies into her. I came across this simple recipe for homemade jello. I use store-bought vegetable/fruit combination juice. My baby loves it. My husband and I prefer the sweet artificial flavors of Jello brand jello, I am afraid. SMILE. Perhaps if we used a fruit juice instead, we would like it much better.

1. 2 Cups of juice
2. 1 Tablespoon of gelatin

Pour one cup of juice in a bowl that can take some heat and sprinkle the gelatin over the juice evenly. Let it set while heating the other cup of juice just to boiling. Stir the cold juice, add the boiling juice, and stir. Refrigerate and eat when ready - a few hours. I thought of putting orange colored vegetable juice jello in a cute little food mold and add some frozen peas to it. Maybe cooked carrots with the green juice. Maybe I should stop while I am ahead!