Houston

I've been in Houston for several days visiting my daughter, Helen, granddaughter, Grace, Helen's boyfriend, Will and his son Atticus. Alexandra, my youngest daughter came down for a week before me and has stayed this week too. It's been great to spend time with Helen and Grace who I don't get to see much and I've enjoyed getting to know Will. Helen has had to work so I've been hanging out with Grace and Alex. Cooking for them has been fun and different. Will is a pescatarian (eats only seafood-no other meat) so I've been making things with tofu, shrimp, roasted vegetables, and cheese. Here's the list of what I've made this week:Sunday: Mabo dofu (spicy tofu) with shrimp, garlic scallion noodlesMonday: Roasted eggplant, zuchinni, summer squash (from my garden), sweet potatoes with feta...

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Okonomiyaki/Takoyaki Food Demonstration

Above: Hiroshima style okonmiyaki, yakisoba, and takoyakitakoyaki cooking Hiroshima style okonomiyakiAs you read from the previous post I was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of the Fort Worth Japanese Society on July 18. I decided to talk about Japanese street foods and demonstrate two, takoyaki and okonomiyaki. I first heard about takoyaki on an episode of Bizarre Foods where Andrew Zimmern visited Osaka. He made a big deal out of sampling the takoyaki, calling it an "octopus ball" and showing the tenacles like they were nasty. When he stuffed the whole thing in his mouth (dumb!) he burned his tongue and was hopping up and down trying...

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The following excerpt is from the Fort Worth Japanese Society July/August Newsletter:July LuncheonPresented by Julia DunawayJulia Dunaway, a member of our society and a graduate of the CulinarySchool of Fort Worth, will talk about and demonstrate one of the mostpopular of Japanese foods –Japanese Street Food. Anyone who hasvisited Japan is overwhelmed by the number of street kiosks cooking andselling Japanese favorites such as yakitori, oden, squid on a stick, grilledosembe, takoyaki and okonomiyaki. Julia will prepare these last two,takoyaki and okonomiyaki.We will all get a sample taste of Julia’ cooking. To satisfy our hunger, wewill also have catered Chinese food. $12.00 per person ($6.00 forchildren up to 10 years old. Free for children 5 years old and under).About Julia: Julia has been...

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Stir-fried Vegetables and Meat

I got to test my new outdoor cast iron burner at the farmers market. Photos are coming--but just picture the type of burner you might see under a huge pot of oil people use for frying turkeys outside. The burner is great for outdoor cooking demonstrations too! It attaches to a propane tank and gets really hot fast.So many fresh vegetables in season now and I've found the quick stir frying method very handy and healthy. Many of you have probably had bad "stir-fry" at some point. Unfortunately most of what is called "stir-fry" is a generic mixture of soggy vegetables and tough meat swimming in a bottled overly sweet or salty sauce and way too much sauce for that matter. If you try the instructions below you will discover how this dish should really taste. I never use bottled stir fry sauces...

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Oven Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Summer Vegetables on Cornmeal Cakes

I'm finally taking a little time to catch up. Last week I prepared fresh corn cakes with some of my oven dried tomatoes, herb goat cheese, and roasted eggplant. I used the Ichiban eggplant from my garden and simply cut it into cubes and roasted it in the oven with a little olive oil and sea salt for about 30 minutes. The combination of the nutty eggplant with the goat cheese, intense tomato flavor from the dried tomato, and the fresh corn, still a little crisp, was wonderful.When I came back this week two people told me they went home and made the corn cakes!Also, a woman who sampled my migas tacos the first week who appeared to be very elderly and frail, having diffculty walking with her cane but patiently watched me prepare the migas and asked many questions, told me she made the recipe...

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