2 Fasian Salads

Fasian = Faux Asian

Here are 2 yaki toppings for an Asian-flavored salad to make it more substantial. Either can also be eaten on their own. The first, the Ramen Fritter, is probably a WT creation, although it does slightly remind me a bit of the okonomiyaki I had in Osaka (without the octopus, bbq sauce, mustard and mayo). The second, the tamagoyaki, is a bit more authentic. I bought a tamagoyaki pan at KoMart (for 6 bucks!). My first attempts to make it had not been successful, it does take time to learn how to make it properly. I did better after watching a few videos on YouTube with people making it.

Ramen Fritter
1 package ramen noodles
2 eggs, beaten
4 green onions, white and green chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 TBSP soy sauce
dash coriander
vegetable oil

Cook ramen to package instructions. Drain off broth - do not rinse. Add eggs, onions, garlic, soy sauce, and coriander.

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Drop 1/4 of mixture as a glob onto the frying pan and flatten out. Cook until sets and turns golden brown (about 3-4 minutes). Flip and cook other side the same. Repeat until you're out of mixture.

I used this recipe to make the Tamagoyaki. I chose this one to make because most recipes I found are require dashi, which I didn't have handy.



I overcooked a couple layers, and I didn't use a sushi rolling mat, but the taste was pretty good, especially drizzled with a little extra soy sauce.

Mother's Day Coffee Cake

A lovely former co-worker of mine brought in this great coffee cake - cream cheese, raspberry, and almonds with a crumb topping. She gave me the recipe, which came from a Pillsbury cookbook. I am not a huge raspberry fan (LOVE them fresh, but not so much as a jam). So I substituted the raspberry preserves for blueberry. The only other time I had made it was last Mother's Day, so I thought it would be a perfect chance to make it again. Last year, I think I over-cooked it, so this year, I took it out a few minutes early.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup margarine or butter, very cold and cut into slices
1 egg
3/4 cup dairy sour cream
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup preserves
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease and flour bottom and sides of a 9-or 10-inch springform pan. In large bowl, combine flour and 3/4 cup sugar until blended, then cut in butter or margarine with a pastry blender, or two table knives, until coarse crumbs form. Reserve I cup crumb mixture.

In a small bowl, beat the first egg, then add to it the sour cream, almond extract, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine thoroughly, then add to the crumb mixture remaining in the bowl, and blend well. Batter will be sticky and thick.

Spread batter over bottom and two inches up sides of prepared pan. (Batter will be about 1/4 inch thick.)

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until it easily comes away easily from the beaters. Add 1/4 cup sugar and continue beating until well blended. Add the second egg and beat until completely incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl as necessary, and beat mixture until it is completely smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture into the batter-lined pan. Carefully spoon preserves over cream cheese mixture. Mix sliced almonds with the 1 cup reserved crumb mixture and sprinkle over preserves.

Bake for 45 minutes or until cream cheese filling is set and crust is golden brown. Cool 15 minutes. Remove sides of pan. Great served warm.

Moscow Mojito and Grilled Salmon, Wasabi Mashed Potatoes, and Sugar Snap Peas

Since the weather was perfect tonight, Brian and I decided to grill salmon steaks. While Brian we heating up the grill, I put together some cocktails. I cannot take credit for the name. I put together this drink (per Brian's direction, honestly), and he gave it the name of Moscow Mojito, or just now as I was typing this he re-named it the "Soviet Summer Special." So, here you go:

Moscow Mojito AKA Soviet Summer Special

To a rocks glass filled with ice, add:
1 oz Vodka
1 oz Limoncello
splash (about 1/4 oz) Lime Juice
3-4 mint leaves

Fill to the to the top with seltzer. Garnish with a twist of lemon.

(Darn - the photo was blurry!)

Brian marinated the salmon steaks with Soy Vey, lemon pepper, garlic granules, and salt. They were super-duper yummy!!!

For sides I made Wasabi Mashed Potatoes and Sugar Snap peas.

Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

For 2 servings, boil 3 medium to large red potatoes. Cook until soft (I usually chop them up in chunks to make them boil quicker). Once you are able to stick a fork through them and pull it out easily, drain, and place in mixer bowl. Add 3 pats of butter and a little less than 1/4 cup half and half (or milk), about 1 and 1/2 tsp wasabi powder, salt and pepper. Mix until blended. Taste and adjust flavor.

The snap peas are super easy!

Sesame Snap Peas

Add desired amount of frozen snap peas to microwave bowl. Cook until fully cooked. Drain excess liquid. Toss with toasted sesame oil and toasted sesame seeds.

Blondies are back

That Throwdown with Bobby Flay really inspired Brian to come up with the perfect blondie. So here we are again, trying another recipe.

This time we used the Nestle recipe for Blonde Brownies

Blonde Brownies
Estimated Times:
Preparation - 10 min | Cooking - 20 min | Cooling Time - 20 min cooling | Yields - 36 brownies

Golden brownies with pure brown sugar, butter and vanilla for a caramelesque, butterscotchy flavor. A super treat to tuck into lunch bags.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (12-ounce package) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan.

COMBINE flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Spread into prepared pan.

BAKE for 20 to 25 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack

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Instead of Semi-sweet chips, we used White chocolate, and we added about 1/2 cup of chopped cashews. Pretty good, but I screwed up and took them out of the oven before they were done (I was tired!), and Brian put them back in. These were more cakey than the other's we've made.

Salad du Jour

I took the rest of the sundried tomato pesto that Brian made for the panini the other night, and mixed it with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil to make a dressing. To that we had:

Spinach
Olive
Sundried tomato
Onion
Green Bell Pepper
Feta Cheese

Brian made a Sundried Tomato Cannelli bean dip to go with it (which I wish he'd write down because it was really good!).

We were sundried tomato'n it and loved it!