Sushi

Thanks, Daniel!

You need Sushi Rice not long grain rice.

2 Cups Water and 2 Cups Sushi (aka short-grained rice). Put in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes (till all the liquid is absorbed). Turn off the heat and let sit covered till you are ready to do the next part.
While the rice is cooking,
combine in a bowl (for the microwave) or a small pot on the stove.
1/4 Cup Rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon of sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
The point here is to dissolve the sugar and salt, so just heat it and stir it till that happens...just a couple of minutes.

Pour the rice from the pot into a wooden or ceramic bowl and stir it with a lifting motion. Adding a little of the vinegar mixture at a time. You want to combine it into the rice and cool it  which makes it glossy.  If you can use a fan in one hand while stirring  or recruit a  friend  or  have an  electric fan  that helps.  If the rice gets sticky on the  spoon/spatula  rinse it in cold water like you do to the sushi  knife  to  "de-goo-ify"  it.

When it comes to actually rolling the sushi, do the following:

-lay out a sheet of nori.

-Place a large glob of sushi rice onto the nori.

-Use the back side of a spoon (Dipped in water to help keep the rice from sticking) to spread an even layer of rice over most of the sheet of nori. Leave about an inch strip along one edge clear of rice.

-Place a strip of whatever ingrideants you want running parallel to the bare strip of nori, but on the far edge.

-Use your finger to wet the bare strip of nori, and then roll up the nori form the ingrediant side. The wet edge of nori should adhere to the rest of the roll and keep it from unraveling.

-cut to desired thickness.

Mint Liquor-- mixed results.

I threw in about three cups of mint, 1 cup of rock sugar, and 2 cups of white liquor into a jar and let it sit for three days. The resulting drink has a pleasing mint flavor, but is brown.

Next test: rub mint in sugar, use fine sugar so it dissolves faster, and leave mint in for less than a day. That might help preserve the pretty green color. Or, if using for a party, just always plan to make it the day beforehand.

Egg Vegetable Dish on Rice (Maybe Donburi?)

Basic Ingredients:
-onion
-green vegetable (spinach, kale, cabbage)
-eggs
-oil
-soy sauce
-rice

Other optional Ingredients:
-carrot
-soft potatoes (the red-skin potatoes, or the soft yellow ones I think of as "butter potatoes" but I really don't know what they're really called. NOT the big brown dirty hard baking potatoes.)
-bell pepper, any color
-garlic
-ginger
-mushroom
-zucchini
-bits of tofu would probably be tasty, but I've never tried.

1. Get the rice cooking.
2. Cut your onions into small slices (or dice them, depending how you want the texture). Heat a pan with oil, and start the onions cooking on low to medium heat.
3. While the onions are cooking, chop carrots. Fine rounds, or half moons, or quarters are fine, or dicing them. Again, depends on texture. Put in with carrots, and stir around. Add a few tablespoons of soy sauce (the water on the bottom of the pan will help keep it from burning while you cook other things). Adding a lid helps things cook longer.
4. If you want to add ginger, mince or grate it and add it now, so the flavors have time to diffuse. Also, if you want garlic, add it now. I have never done both garlic and ginger at the same time, but, who knows, it may be tasty!
5. Add any medium-hardness vegetables (not hard like carrots or potatoes, but not soft like a leaf. Bell peppers, mushrooms. Now's also a good time to add the stems of the leafy vegetables, or  very small chopped cabbage, if you want).
6. Crack a few eggs into a bowl and mix with a fork/whisk.
7. When the onions look clear and the potatoes/carrots are getting soft and edible, put in the soft leafy vegetables. Dark green soft-leaved vegetables, like spinach, bok choy, or komatsuna, can be chopped coarsely.
8. After you put in the greens, turn the whole mess over a few times with a spoon to get the greens started and make sure everything else is cooked, and then pour eggs over. I whisk while I pour so the eggs drizzle out instead of sliding out with a big plop, and I can cover more of the vegetables more finely.
9. I turn the mess over once, and then turn the heat off before all the eggs cook-- the heat of the vegetables will cook most of the raw bits of egg. If you are in America and are more worried about salmonela, cook until the eggs are all firm.
10. Serve over rice! Yum!

Baked Vegetable Soup

Kale and Roasted Vegetable SoupServes 4
3 medium carrots, cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges (or 1 15-ounce can of no added salt tomatoes)
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into 6 to 8 wedges
6 big cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes (you can also use eggplant)
1 bunch of kale, stacked, rolled up, then thinly sliced
1 can cannellini beans, drained, or 1 1/2 cups freshly cooked white beans
6 cups vegetable stock
1 heaping teaspoon dried thyme or a palm-full of fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Lightly oil a rimmed baking pan. Arrange the carrots and squash (or eggplant) on one end and the onions, garlic, and tomato on the other. Roast until everything is slightly browned, around 30 minutes.
• Scoop the onions, tomatoes, and garlic into a blender. Puree the vegetables briefly. Add the stock and mix briefly.
• Bring the stock with blended veggies to a simmer. Add the kale, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook until the kale is tender, about 30 minutes.
• Add the carrots, squash (eggplant), and white beans. Cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove the bay leaf and the thyme sprigs if you used fresh thyme.
• Season to taste and serve hot.

Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 271
Fat: 4 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Carbohydrate: 49 g
Fiber: 11 g
Sugars: 7 g
Sodium: 192 mg (without added salt)
Protein: 19 g

Umeboshi

http://www.justhungry.com/homemade-umeboshi-japanese-pickled-plums

Thanks for the link, Ron!

Angela's Food

http://angelasfood.blogspot.jp/

Thanks, Angela!

Smokey Watermelon Gazpacho

Smokey Watermelon Gazpacho
Serves 4
Ingredients:
6 cups watermelon, black seeds removed
5 big tomatoes, quartered
1 heaping tablespoon smoked paprika
1 clove garlic, peeled
1/2 cup whole almonds, toasted
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon minced chipotle in adobo sauce
Kosher salt to taste
Garnish:
1/4 sweet onion or red onion, finely diced
1 small cucumber, finely diced
Stuff your blender with ingredients up to about 2/3 full and blend until fairly smooth. Do this again with the rest of the ingredients. Taste and adjust. Garnish each bowl of gazpacho with some onion and cucumber.

Good Cooking Blog and tips

http://tabemoto.com/2012/07/

07/quick-tips/

Quick tips on not having food go bad.

Thanks, Angela!

Cold Summer Quinoa/Couscous Salad

Cook Quinoa or couscous. Let cool. (can put in the refridgerator for a while, or just use yesterday's.)
Thinly slice or dice cucumber.
Cut some avocado.
Grill some salmon-- better if it's shredded (haven't tried frying shredded salmon yet-- will let you know how that goes)

Dressing: light mayo, lemon, vinegar dressing

Goya Champloo

Ingredients:

• 1 goya (bitter gourd)
• 1 block cotton tofu, drained
• 1/4 lb thinly sliced pork, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sake
• salt and pepper
• vegetable oil for frying

Preparation:

Cut goya in half lengthwise. Remove seeds with a spoon. Slice the goya thinly and place goya slices in a bowl. Sprinkle some salt over them. Let them sit for about 10 minutes. Wash goya slices and drain well. Squeeze them to remove excess water. Heat about 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Stir-fry pork and season with salt and pepper. Add goya slices and cook until softened. Crumble tofu into large pieces and add in the skillet. Lightly stir-fry with pork and goya. Season with sake. Pour beaten eggs over and stir quickly. Season with soy sauce. Stop the heat. Adjust the flavor with salt.