New motivation.....Thanks Gordon Ramsay
Its that time of the year, Masterchef and Hell's Kitchen are back on TV. Its sad, but true, that these shows get me motivated to get back in the kitchen. I love seeing what these chefs and cooks are making and how they mix flavors to create the final dish. After watching the shows last year my mother found a groupon for the Top Chef University, an online culinary course. I instantly bought it with aspirations to be whipping up culinary masterpieces in no time. That didn't happen. I learned a lot but soon life got in the way and the lessons fell to the back burner. During that time I did try new recipes-some successful, some disastrous. Now I am determined to get back in the kitchen. I already had a restaurant re-do in my mine that I am planning on making on Sunday night!
But fear not, I have some recipes to share, as I have photographed some of my meals in the time being and would love to share them. On one adverteruous evening I decided to try my hand at making sushi. After doing lots of research (read: youtube videos) and exploring the local Japanese markets (gotta love the Bay Area-I have two authentic markets just blocks away) I decided I was ready. I was fairly successful the first time but these pictures are from my second attempt with my little sister.
Gathering supplies was the first step. I found a generic sushi-making kit from a kitchen supply store. It had a sushi rolling mat and a sushi mold. I found it easier to just use the mat and I tossed the mold. It did find it very helpful to wrap the mat in saran wrap-actually this is a very important step. Next I had to find the ingredients-tempura mix, wasabi, sushi-nori, unagi oil, and japanese mayo. I was able to find the imitation crab, avocado, rice, rice vinegar, salt, sugar, shrimp and cucumber at my local grocery store. I was able to get all of these at the local stores.
Next it was time to start cooking.
First I started the sushi rice. The rice recipe needs to be followed very carefully or it will not work as a glue to hold the roll together. I used this recipe.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sushi-rice-recipe/index.html
Next we prepped the crab meat. I just used the imitation crab meat from the store and mixed it with japanese mayo. I am not a big fan of mayo so the first time I barely used any and my sushi was a little bland. the second time, I put my sister in charge of prepping the faux-crab meat and she is a mayo-fiend (gross). Anyways, she added more mayo than I would ever would but it did make all the difference in the world-so much extra flavor!
Next we made the shrimp tempura. I just used mix from a box and followed the directions. When I was younger I tried frying chicken in oil and ended up with a bunch of raw chicken-YUM! Since then, I have tried to avoid frying foods but we were fairly successful with the shrimp. First, you have to use deveined tail on shrimp. Next pierce the inside of the shrimp with a fork, as shown, and try to straighten shrimp as best as possible. Next, follow tempura instructions and fry those shrimp!
Other prep included chopping cucumbers into large matchsticks and chopping the avocado very thinly. Once you have everything cooked and ready it is time to start assembling the rolls.
First, place the nori on the mat and apply a thin layer of sushi rice. Make sure it is pretty thin or the roll will be mainly rice and very large. Then flip over nori so the rice side is on the rolling mat.
Next, add what every you want inside the roll. We decided on the crab meat, cucumbers, and shrimp tempura.
Then roll. This is a little tricky but easy to get a hang of. Try to wrap it as tight as possible and use pressure to squeeze the roll down. Continue rolling until all of the roll's inside ingredients are incased in the nori. We would cut off the excess until we figured out the right size needed for the nori. Now you have the basic roll!
But I like to go the extra mile. We then added the very thinly sliced avocado on top. Next, we covered in saran wrap and put the mat over everything again. Once the mat is in place, we applied pressure to the roll and squished (very technical wording, I know) the avocado onto the roll.
Remove the mat but leave the saran wrap in place. This will help make cutting the roll a lot easier. Use a very sharp knife and slice through the roll. This step is a lot harder than you would expect. Once your pieces are cut, remove the saran wrap and arrange on a plate and add the unagi sauce.
Enjoy! Its definitely a lot of work and my kitchen was destroyed by the end. However, now I can say I have made sushi! Its a fun thing to make, I would definitely try it again. It is a lot more fun to make with other people-sushi making party maybe?
Ginger Soft Cookies
So, I wanted to find a special way to welcome him back to California so I decided that his favorite Ginger Soft Cookies would be the perfect way. I even brought some to him when I picked him up at the airport. It took a little while to find some molasses (Don't try Trader Joe's, look for them in the cooking aisles in regular supermarkets.) I found the recipe on Food.com. A lot of the reviews said to add more flour, bake longer, etc... but I was very lucky to have it work out for me and the results were amazing. I do recommend making the cookies small, less than one inch as they are very dense. Also, the cloves add quite a kick, if you don't want that, I would recommend decreasing it. Also, the cookies stay fresh. I put them in a ziploc bag and they tasted just like they were fresh from the oven!
