New Orleans

 

I am in New Orleans for a Public Health Service conference. I've been here since Monday and spent the last 4 days in meetings so not much of a chance to see New Orleans.

The Sheraton food has been barely edible mostly. Feeding 700 people usually means typical convention food and they decided to have cold everything. I did enjoy a cup of potato leek soup on Monday, and the redfish at the formal dinner Monday night tasted pretty good, but I really wanted to try some of the famous New Orleans cuisine. On Tuesday night a group of us headed out to the Bourbon House. I had some really good heirloom tomatoes for an appetizer and the redfish on the half shell with grilled shrimp was good, although not that memorable. The Acme Oyster House next door has a line of people waiting to get in but the Bourbon House was not very busy. The next day I had some free time at lunch and walked over to the Napoleon House cafe at 500 Charles St. in the historic Napoleon House. I had a quarter of a muffaletta and some jambalaya. OK, but not that good. Cold jambalaya and fairly bland muffaletta.
By this time I was getting discouraged about New Orleans food but I was hopeful about dinner at K Paul's once Steve arrived Wednesday night. We had a reservation, a good thing because they were packed. I liked the warm, inviting restaurant, with large posters of their recipes on the wall and pieces of paper on the table with recipes.



We had the special K Paul's cosmopolitans, a very nice drink. Their bread basket contained jalapeño yeast rolls, corn muffins, molasses muffins, and dinner rolls. All were so fresh and delicious. I had some gumbo, fair, nothing special. Steve ordered a special that came with a shrimp enchilada appetizer. That sounded strange but it was really good. Very fresh, perfect shrimp in a tortilla in a beef chili sauce with melted cheese. I tasted it to be polite but wanted more. Steve had a pan fried flounder with an Indian bayou sauce. From what I could tell the sauce had curry, tomato, corn, and shrimp. It was perfectly cooked fish and the sauce complimented it well. I ordered the blackened drum. Not bad, but not great either. A little over salted for my taste.


Blackened Drum



Pan Fried Flounder with Indian Bayou Sauce



K Paul's Chocolate Tart with Caramel Sauce

  Steve was nice enough to give me more of his fish! His dinner came with dessert so he ordered chocolate tart. That was a very nice chocolate tart. What I liked about it was that it looked homemade, not a perfect pastry shipped in from somewhere. Although we were so stuffed we couldn't stop eating the dessert. We waddled out of K Paul's and headed to Bourbon Street to walk off some calories. As we were walking we heard some really good music coming for a club, Fat Catz. We stopped in and ended up staying for over 2 hours listening to great rhythm and blues from the last 50 years. This group, the Cannection, was really good. Back at the hotel running through a sudden downpour, drenched, but feeling good.
Thursday was the last day of the conference so I had to attend meetings until lunch time. We ventured out to walk around and sightsee. Someone at work recommended Mother's on Poydras so we headed there to have a sandwich. A popular place, big line and full of people, Mother's has been around since 1938 and is known for "world's best baked ham". We had shrimp and oyster po boys. Probably should have gotten the "famous ferdi special" with ham, roast beef, debris and gravy, but our po boys were pretty good and just what we needed to start the day.


We walked for hours, stopped at the corner of Royal and Toulouse for a long time to listen to a man playing the saxophone.

It was unexpectedly beautiful music and I couldn't tear myself away. I have been so impressed with the music here. Our PHS dinner has an excellent local band and people stayed on to dance, a very unusual occurrence with our group.
After a rest break and workout at the gym, we left for dinner at Brennan's. I had to try Brennan's after my culinary school experience. Many of Brennan's dishes were in our textbook and I once had the assignment to make and serve Bananas Foster table side to the instructors. That was nerve wracking, to say the least! I've always heard good things about Brennan's so I was looking forward to the dinner. They have an extensive wine list and menu. We ordered on the a la carte menu rather than the 4 course "prix fixe" menu. We couldn't stand the thought of having 4 courses each--way too much food. I wanted to try the famous shrimp remoulade that I had been seeing on all the menus. Steve ordered the salad with blue cheese and spiced pecans. I did not like the shrimp! My idea of remoulade was a creamy sauce but this version was very sharp, lots of horseradish and mustard. I was thinking bad thoughts about Brennan's until my entree appeared. After 4 days of redfish I ordered a pepper filet and barbeque shrimp. The filet was perfectly cooked and had some really tasty pepper cream sauce on it. There were some cream mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables on the plate. The bbq shrimp, a New Orleans style dish of shrimp in a spicy sauce, was fabulous. Steve's redfish Perez, redfish with a crab and shrimp topping, was also outstanding. The food was served on very hot plates and stayed piping hot throughout the meal and I like my food to be hot.



Shrimp Remoulade



Redfish Perez with Hollandaise Sauce, Shrimp, and Crab



Pepper filet with BBQ Shimp and Pepper cream sauce

For wine, Steve had a glass of Acacia Chardonnay and I had a glass of a Napa cabernet, can't remember the name. Next time we'll read up on their wines. I learned that Brennan's wine cellar has over 35,000 wines and a 56 page wine list.
We ended with the Bananas Foster and watched our server prepare it for us. It was just as I remembered it, caramelized bananas with rum and brown sugar sauce on top of vanilla ice cream.


Bananas Foster




Our plan to head back to Bourbon Street for more music was changed due to a heavy rain. We'll try tomorrow night.
Our plans for Friday include breakfast at Cafe Du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait, a street car ride to St. Charles St., lunch at Central Grocery (muffulettas), shopping and site seeing, and dinner at John Besh's August restaurant. (and another work out at the gym).
By the way, if Sandra, my personal trainer is reading this, I worked out at the gym every day, Monday-Friday, for at least 1 hour!

Friday morning we set out for Cafe Du Monde, the original location on Decatur Street, for some beignets and cafe au lait. There was a long line but it moved quickly. Our beignets were hot, chewy, and delicious and the coffee was just right.


The atmosphere was very noisy and busy so the enjoyment was lessened by the crowds. Next time I would go there late at night or very early. They are open 24 hours a day so it shouldn't be hard to find a better time.

We planned to go to Central Grocery for a muffuleta so we had to walk around a few hours to work off the beignets. New Orleans is very humid! After a short time of walking around it feels like you've been at the gym and my hair frizzed up immediately every time I walked out the door. We waited in line again for a muffuleta but it was worth it. The Central Grocery has been open since 1906 when the family who started it sold food from their native country, Italy, Sicily, to be exact. They wanted to have something that a workman could take with him that had the tastes of home--the meats, cheeses, and olives, which are prized in Sicily.
The muffuletta became the perfect combination. We ordered a whole muffuletta, but should have ordered a half because it was huge. The olive salad was chunky, fresh, and flavored nicely.

The bread was crusty, chewy, with sesame seeds and great flavor. I ate way more of it than I intended but didn't reget it. I loved the fact the store was so old and everything in it was imported from Italy.




We had a reservation at August, John Besh's restaurant on Tchoupitoulas St. What a beautiful restaurant! Very elegant and quiet with gorgeous design and lovely furniture. Flowers, champagne chilling in a silver bucket, tuxedoed waiters, and well dressed patrons. The menu was full of interesting dishes and not at all the usual New Orleans fare. We were served house made sourdough bread with hand churned creamy butter, the care and attention to even that detail was impressive.



Amuse Bouche Sabayon with Caviar

 

Chop Salad



Crispy Soft Shell Crab Almondine



Soft Shell Shrimp, Tempura style with crispy rice cakes and chile vinaigrette



 

Gnocchi with crab and black truffles 




Banana Rum Cake with Creole Cream Cheese Icing

Steve had soft shell shrimp, tempura style, with crispy rice cakes, and chile vinaigrette. He also ordered handmade potato gnocchi with blue crab and black truffles. I ordered a vegetable chop salad with petite herbs and champagne vinaigrette and crispy soft shell crab almondine with crab meat and haricot vert salad, brown butter and marcona almonds. This crab dish was one of the best things I've ever eaten, seriously. The layers of flavors were unbelieveable! We shared a bottle of Savignon Blanc, 2010 Frogs Leap, Napa, California. For dessert we shared Pere Roux's Banana rum cake with creole cream cheese icing. They also brough pralines, truffles, and a fruit candy.



If you have the chance, don't miss August. The attention to detail, freshness of the food and the atmosphere are all impeccable.

Our last eating experience was Saturday at the Cooking School of New Orleans where we took a "class" on how to make gumbo, jambalaya, bread pudding and pralines. It was fun because the chef instructor, Big Kevin, was a hoot.





He had a wise crack for every one and he didn't tae himself or cooking too seriously. I liked his tips on roux making and his version of bread pudding, although I wouldn't make it with Pina Colada mix like he did--way too sweet, but I liked his technique. He gave some good advice on how to layer flavor and how to alter the recipes to make them unique. Although I've made gumbo and jambalaya many times it was still good to learn how the locals do it. We had a great lunch as well, a good ending to our trip.


Back to Ft. Worth now and time for some Tex-Mex. I think I'll make huevos rancheros for breakfast tomorrow!

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"A Night in Tuscany" Cooking Party

I was asked to do a cooking class at the home of Julie Treat with the theme, "A Night in Tuscany". She is family, my husband's niece, and knew about our trip to Reggio Emilia in March of this year. She has also been to Italy and is very interested in the cuisine and thought a group of her friends would enjoy sampling authentic Italian food. Although technically we were not really staying in the Tuscany region, we did visit it and had a gastronomic tour there. Our trip was centered on the Emilio-Romanga region in the town of Reggio Emilia where we visited Parma, Modena, and Bologna. There are three blog posts about the culinary immersion program in Italy if you are interested in reading about the specifics.
For Julie's cooking party we decided on this menu:

Antipasto: Fontina, gorgonzola, and pancetta with herbs on crostini
Primo: Tortelli verde with salsa bianca and salciccia
Secondo: Pork tenderloin stuffed with proscuitto and parmigiano-reggiano with Lambrusco sauce, served with herb oven roasted potatoes
Contorno: Panzanella
Dolce: Panna cotta with fresh Amaretto peach sauce



I also brought a sampling of my 30 month aged parmigiana reggiano cheese from Parma, some grissini, proscuitto, olives, and served in with aged balsamic vinegar. I couldn't resist sharing the antipasto we had nearly every meal in Italy.



Panzanella salad

Julie serve Prosecco, as an aperitif, when the guests arrived, Lambrusco and some other red wines, and Limoncello at the end.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Proscuitto and Parmigiano Reggiano and Red Wine Sauce

2 pork tenderloins
4 ounces proscuitto, thinly sliced
4 ounces parmigiano reggiano cheese, shaved
16 ounces Lambrusco wine and 16 ounces white Marsala or dry white or red wine
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp sage, minced
2 tsp parsley, chopped
2 T all-purpose flour
2 T butter

Salt and pepper the surface of the pork. Pound with mallet until uniform thickness. Divide ham and cheese in two equal amounts. Place each portion down the center of each of the two pieces of pork. Roll the meat and tie with butcher twine. Heat a large skillet to medium high and add 1 T oil. Brown the tenderloins on all sides. Place meat in a large baking pan, sprinkle it with flour, rub it with garlic, rosemary, and sage and sprinkle it with half the wine. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, until liquid is clear when pierced with a fork.
Take the meat out of the pan and allow it to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the sauce. Deglaze the pan with some of the reserved wine and cook it for 5 minutes. Strain it and add it to a small saucepan. Add butter and cook until it's smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Slice pork and drizzle with sauce. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top.
Serve with roasted potatoes.

Herb Roasted Potatoes
1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic, sage (1 tsp each)
1 T oil
1 T butter
Cut potatoes into wedges. Blanch for 5 minutes in boiling water. Drain and place on a large baking pan. Sprinkle with herbs, salt,a and pepper, oil and butter. Bake at 375 degrees until brown and tender, approximately 20-25 minutes. Turn halfway through baking. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake an additional 5 minutes for crispier potatoes.

There were a total of 7 guests and all were more than willing to prepare the various dishes. Two prepared the antipasto which was enjoyed by all. Julie was very interested in learning how to make pasta so she led the pasta team. We made the dough from scratch and filled it with a chard and ricotta filling. The sauce was a simple butter, cream, parmigiano reggiano sauce and we added some browned Italian sausage to the sauce. Pasta making for the first time is not the easiest thing to do, but Julie is a quick learner and she and her friends made excellent pasta. The good thing about fresh pasta is that is cooks quickly so it was ready in just 4 minutes. The guests sat down and ate the pasta while it was hot and fresh. Judging by their comments I believe they really enjoyed it. We started on the pork tenderloin and got it stuffed and browned. In the Motti School in Reggio Emilia the student chefs placed the pork in a roasting pan, sprinkled a couple tablespoons of flour on it, tossed in a handful of chopped fresh herbs, and added about 4 cups of wine (Lambrusco and dry, not sweet, Marsala). I had never seen that technique but it resulted in a thickened wine mixture after the pork was cooked. This worked well with the class and we had a great sauce base. I strained the wine mixture and put in in a saucepan, added a little butter, salt and pepper, and the Lambrusco sauce was perfect. The pork was tender and juicy, drizzled with the wine sauce and served with the potatoes we roasted. The potato recipe was also something I learned in Italy. The chef boiled the potato wedges for 5 minutes, drained them, and placed them on a baking sheet with some oive oil and a handful of chopped herbs. Since they were partially cooked they roasted to a golden brown within about 20 minutes. The guests were happy to learn this technique so they could make their oven roasted potatoes on a weeknight without it taking over an hour. We all had samples of the pork and potatoes (including me, standing in the kitchen) and I was transported back to Italy where I enjoyed the same dish. I am hoping the guests liked it. We hurried to make the panzanella. Now this is one true Tuscan dish. When we were on the walking gastronomic tour of Florence the tour guide was telling me about what people in Florence eat at home. She explained that they enjoyed a lot of fresh vegetables in minestra (soup), then used stale bread to turn the leftover soup into ribolita (re-boiled soup with bread). She also described panzanella, made with stale bread soaked briefly in water, squeezed out, then combined with the freshest tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. With it being tomato season right now I made panzanella at home with tomatoes from my garden. I didn't have enough for the class so we used local tomatoes. We did not soak the bread since it was too fresh but it was just right combined with the tomatoes, onion, cucumber, basil and dressing. None of the guests had tasted this dish before and Julie remarked, "I'd rather have bread in my salad than lettuce!"
For dessert, I had made panna cotta at my house and transported it to the class because it takes several hours to set. We were going to make the panna cotta at Julie's but eat the ones I brought. We ended up making the fresh peaches and Amaretto and skipping the actual panna cotta making due to the lateness of the hour. I explained the process in detail, though. I used half whole milk and half heavy cream, just like the Italian student chefs did at our class and I found their panna cotta to be the best dessert I had my entire trip. I was hoping we would create a similar dessert for Julie's guests.
Two guests made the fresh peach sauce and the peaches were incredibly sweet and tasty.
When the women spooned the silky panna cotta topped with the Amaretto peaches every one of them were very pleased.
The "digestivo", Limoncello, was not the most popular item of the night. Most of the women did not care for it at all.

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Cooking class with Linda Johnson: Thai Basil Chicken



Cornmeal cakes with oven dried tomatoes

Linda Johnson has been having me over to her house since last September for private cooking lessons. We have one or two classes a month and it's been a lot of fun. What I love about Linda is her adventurous spirit. Although she readily admits she is from west Texas and doesn't know much about international cuisine, she never hesitates to try dishes from Japan, India, Thailand, Mexico, and various regions of the United States, such as southwestern.
One of her favorite classes was on how to stir fry various meats and vegetables and create a variety of sauces. She has embraced the concept and made it her own and I'm very proud of her. For someone who rarely, if ever, used most of the ingredients we use, she has become very comfortable with fresh ginger, herbs, spices, seasonings, and cooking techniques such as searing. I loved hearing her story of how she made excellent seared steaks with a spice rub for her family. She doesn't seem to be tiring of classes yet so we will carry on until she does.

For this class we made Thai Basil Chicken, Cornmeal Cakes with oven dried tomatoes (recipe is in a previous post), and dark chocolate and pecan blondies (have to have something sweet for husband, Baker)  Thai basil chicken is my husband's favorite Thai dish and one we've had many times at restaurants. In fact, we first remember eating it at an excellent Thai restaurant in Azle, of all places. The Mithsampun Restaurant had the best Spicy Thai Basil chicken or beef and the owner told me how they made it. Unfortunately they closed years ago, but I make the Thai Bssil Chicken often. It's great in the summer when basil and hot peppers are plentiful in the garden and it takes minutes to prepare. It's very versatile and can be made with beef, shrimp, tofu, pork and chicken. I serve it with brown rice, Japanese short grain rice, or Jasmine rice. I always have bags of cooked, frozen rice in my freezer, a trick my mother taught me. I just put 1 cup portions in sandwich bags and put the smaller bags in a large bag. (or to skip all the bags, put the portions on a baking sheet and freeze, then put them in a large container.

Thai Basil Chicken
2 T vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 pound chicken thighs or breasts, chopped into small pieces
1/2-2 T fish sauce
1 cup Thai basil (or Italian basil if you can't find Thai)
4 jalapeño peppers or 12 Thai chiles
3 tsp soy sauce or Golden Mountain Sauce
1 T oyster sauce
2 T lime juice

Optional ingredients:

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 T white wine
1 T brown sugar




Experiment with the sauce ingredients and vegetables to see what your preferences are.
Don't be afraid to add other vegetables you have on hand such as zucchini or okra.
Heat large skillet or wok until very hot. Add oil, then garlic, then shallots. Add chicken and stir fry for 1-2 mintues. Add peppers and sauce ingredients. Once chicken is cooked add the basil and remove from heat once basil is slightly wilted. Serve right away with rice.

Dark Chocolate and Pecan Blondies



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Azle Farmers Market: Grilled Lemongrass Beef with Rice Noodles

Grilled Lemongrass Beef with Rice Noodles



Today was the first day I was back at the Azle Farmers Market since last year.  My life has been so hectic with the garden tour, deployment training, Japanese Cooking Series, and trip to Houston that this was the first Saturday I could go. I wanted to showcase my first attempt to grow lemongrass and also use some nice hot Serrano peppers I'm growing so I decided on Lemongrass Beef with Rice Noodles. I have also made this with chicken and shrimp and the marinade is really flavorful and exciting. Tofu is a good vegetarian choice as well. This is a perfect summertime dish because it is eaten cold, although the meat can be warm from the grill if you like.

Marinade
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 small hot chiles (Thai, Serrano, jalapeño) stemmed, seeded and chopped
1 piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 T sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 T soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 T lime juice
1 T sesame seeds
1 1/2 pounds beef (tenderloin, sirloin, top round) sliced paper thin, across the grain

Place garlic, lemon grass, shallot, ginger, chiles, sugar, black pepper and salt in a heavy mortar and pound to a puree with a pestle. (or use a food processor) Add the fish sauce and soy sauce. Stir in sesame seeds. Add marinade to a large plastic bag and marinate for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.

Rice Noodles
8 ounces rice noodles (vermicelli)
Prepare according to package directions--they tend to differ depending on the brand. I boil them for a few minutes, drain and place in a bowl and keep in the refrigerator. I like the texture of them after they've chilled for a few hours.

Vegetables
Lettuces leaves, left whole (Boston lettuce) or shredded red leaf or other lettuce
1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
2-4 Thai chiles, thinly sliced
2-3 cups bean sprouts
1 bunch Thai basil, rinsed, dried and torn into sprigs
1 bunch fresh mint, rinsed, dried and torn into sprigs
1 bunch fresh cilantro, rinsed, dried, and torn into sprigs

Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
1 carrot, peeled
2 T sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 hot chile, cut into thin pieces
Use a vegetable peeler to cut 4 paper thin strips of carrot and then cut into thin slices. Add the rest of the ingredients.

1/2 cup finely chopped salted, roasted peanuts.

Serve by placing noodles, beef, vegetables and sauce on lettuce leaves or chopped lettuce and top with peanuts and more cilantro and the sauce.

Please try this recipe. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

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Japanese Cooking Series: Gyoza, Chicken Curry, and Omurice

The BEST EVER Japanese Chicken Curry

I have been teaching a series of Japanese cooking classes for the Fort Worth Japanese Society since April of this year.  This three part series started with a class on hot pot (nabemono) dishes, followed by a class on donburi dishes such as katsudon, magurodon, and gyudon.  The last class was on yoshoku, or Western inspired dishes.  I wanted to teach a class on some of my favorite Japanese comfort foods that I associate with living in Japan and also with foods I watched my mother cook at home.
Yoshoku and Chuka foods are technically not Japanese foods but the Japanese have made them their own by adapting these imported foods to Japanese tastes.  Yoshoku began by altering Western recipes but over time some dishes evolved that are not based on European foods, such as chicken rice and omurice (omelet rice).  Chinese dishes (chuka) such as gyoza are very popular in Japan.  I wanted to spotlight these foods for my last class in the Fort Worth Japanese Society cooking series.  In recent trips to Japan I spotted these dishes in display cases everywhere. 




I'm ready to start the class.



Students ready for the class to begin

Japanese chicken curry was the first dish I made.  We could let the curry cook during the class so it would be ready to eat by the end of class.  I have made this curry many times and it is by far the best Japanese curry I've ever had.  It is by no means like authentic Indian curry where all the spices are hand ground.  The Japanese put together their own blend and it works just fine.  I do not use the blocks of curry seasoning because they are full of MSG and other processed foods and don't taste good to me. 


Making curry from scratch is not difficult but it is harder than throwing together a packaged paste and some meat and vegetables.  You have to make a roux and use the freshest spices and vegetables to have the best curry you've ever tasted, but it is so worth it!  Feel free to use tofu, beef, or even shrimp in this curry.
(See photo of the finished curry at the top of this post.)

Japanese Chicken Curry
3 cups chicken stock (homemade or low sodium Swanson's)
1 T vegetable or canola oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" chunks
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 T butter
1 tsp grated ginger
1 medium onion, 1/2 diced, 1/2 cut into 1" pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
4 T flour
2 T S & B curry powder
2 T crushed San Marzano tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 carrot, sliced into 1/2" thick rounds
1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 small Fuji apple, peeled, cored, and grated
1 tsp honey
1 T soy sauce
Steamed Japanese rice
Simmer the chicken stock in a medium pot on the stove.  Season chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat 4-5 quart pot and add 1 T oil.  Brown chicken and remove from pot.  Set aside.
Return the pot to medium-high heat and melt the butter.  Add the ginger, chopped onions, and garlic and cook until onions are softened.  Sprinkle in flour and cook until mixture is light brown, about 2 minutes.  Add curry powder and tomatoes.  Mix well and remove from heat.  Add 1 cup of the warm chicken stock and whisk to combine.  Add the rest of the chicken stock, then add the chicken thigh meat, onion pieces, carrots, bay leaf and potatoes.  Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer.  Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the apples, honey, and soy sauce and salt to taste.  Cook for 5 more minutes.  Serve with steamed Japanese rice and beni shoga (red ginger).


Curry is not quite ready yet...



Gyoza

You've probably eaten gyoza or "potstickers" somewhere in your lifetime.  They can be incredibly good or incredibly bad depending on how they were cooked and how long they've been sitting around.  Making your own is a good way to have succulent, fresh and out of this world gyoza.  It is a bit time consuming but a fun thing to make with friends.  For the class I had the students fill the wrappers and then I cooked their

finished gyoza.  We made a sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar and spicy chile oil.  By their comments and the disappearing gyoza I know they loved this dish!

Gyoza
Filling
2 cups napa cabbage, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 T chopped scallions
6 ounces ground pork or beef
4 ounces shrimp, minced (optional)
pinch of sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 T sake
1 1/2 T soy ssauce

3 dozen gyoza wrappers

Sauce
5 T soy sauce
2 1/2 T unseasoned rice vinegar
1/2 tsp chile oil
S & B Japanese hot mustard, prepared according to directions on the can

Toss cabbage with salt and set aside for 15 minutes. Drain water, rinse cabbage and drain again.  Squeeze out all excess liquid.  Combine cabbage with filling ingredients and mix well.  Fill wrappers with 1 T of filling and create a half moon shape.  Use a few drops of water to help the wrapper stick.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and keep covered with a dry kitchen towel.
To pan fry, use a large skillet heated over medium high heat.  Add 1 T oil, then add gyoza.  Fry 1-2 minutes until light brown on the bottom.  Add 1/3 cup hot water to skillet holding lid close to top of pan.  Cover pan and let steam for 6 minutes.  Remove cover and cook until water is gone.
Combine sauce ingredients.  Serve with sauce and Japanese mustard.


Gyoza with bottoms on top to show how brown they should be



Omurice (omelet rice)

I recall my mother asking my youngest daughter one day, "Do you want me to make you some omurice?"  This is to Japanese what macaroni and cheese is to Americans.  It is simple and children love it.

Omu Raisu
Chicken Fried Rice for filling
4 cups day old white or brown rice
3 T butter or oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 pound chicken breast meat, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup green peas (frozen or fresh)
1/4 cup ketchup
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the butter or oil and saute the onion.  Cook the onion over low heat until it is solf.  Add the carrot and cook for 1 minute.  Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add the chicken stock and salt and pepper.  Raise the heat to medium high and cook until the liquid is absorbed.  Add th erice and peas, turn to high heat and stir until the rice is heated through and mixed with the chicken.  Add the ketuchp and stir.

Omelette
3 eggs, beaten
2 T butter or oil
1/2 recipe chicken fried rice
Season eggs with salt and pepper.  Heat an 8-10 inch skillet and add the butter or oil.  Add the eggs all at once and quickly swirl to coat the bottom of the pan evenly.  Cook until they are set on the bottom and half cooked on top.  Spread the fried rice over half the omelet and fold the other half over, covering the rice completely.  Place a plate over the top of the skillet and carefully flip the plate over to plate the omelet
Serve with ketchup.
Variations:  Use any type of fried rice with this dish and substitute tofu, mushrooms, etc. for the meat.
Also try using a brown rice filling and egg white outside for a "zen omu rice".

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