Kabocha Squash Lasagna

I had a craving for kabocha no nimono  the other night, so I bought a couple of kabocha pumpkins and made some. I had quite a bit left over, though, so I had to figure out what to do with the rest. 

After a couple of days of researching, I came across a recipe for butternut squash lasagna. I realized that I could do the same thing with my kabocha. But it was already flavored with soy sauce, dashi and mirin--I couldn't use traditional lasagna flavors with that. So what could I do?

I decided to try making a sauce from the flavors I'd used, but thicken them with a roux. Sure enough, my experiment worked. My husband's only complaint was that there was no meat. Well, it was meant to be a vegetarian dish, so... 

To make this non dairy, simply use a vegetable oil instead of butter. Got a wheat allergy? Use non gluten noodles. Really, this recipe is pretty simple to change up any way you need to. 

Kabocha Squash Lasagna

Sauce:

1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
2 Tbsp mirin
6 cups Dashi

4 Tbsp soy sauce

Filling:

6 cups (720ml) Dashi
2 1/2lb (aka 9 cups) Kabocha (pumpkin)
4 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp mirin

Noodles:

1 package no-boil lasagna



Sauce: Boil the dashi in a pot. Turn off the heat and set aside. Melt the 1/2 cup of butter in a saucepan. When it starts to foam, add the flour. Whisk until it forms a paste. Add the hot dashi, a little at a time; whisk thoroughly after each addition to avoid lumps. Continue to cook the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon, then turn off the heat.

Filling: Cut the kabocha in half and remove the seeds. Cut it into slices and cut those slices into 1' pieces. Get them as even as possible. Boil the dashi in a large saucepan, one big enough to hold the kabocha. When the dashi comes to a boil, toss the kabocha in. Cover the kabocha and cook till tender, which could take up to half an hour. Check after 15 minutes; you don't want to burn this. Add the last two ingredients and gently fold to combine. Turn off the heat and replace the cover.

Assembly: Reserve 1/4 cup of sauce per person. Pour 1/2 cup of the sauce onto the bottom of the pan you'll be using for the lasagna. place three noodles on top of the sauce. Then layer it as follows: 1 cup filling, 1/2 cup sauce, 3 noodles. (Feel free to change the amounts depending on the size of the pan.) Continue layering until you reach the top, then pour the rest of the sauce over the lasagna. Cover it, put it into the oven at 375 and bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot, with 1/4 cup sauce over each slice.

Okonomiyaki!

So what's okonomiyaki (OH-ko-no-me-YA-kee)? Think pancakes, except more savory and with bacon and veggies instead of blueberries or other fruit. This is one of my favorite dishes in the world, mainly because you can throw almost anything into it.

I live within ten minutes of two different Asian stores, so the recipe I've posted here is fairly traditional. In many of these stores, especially Ranch 99, you might even be able to find okonomiyaki flour or mix-- but there are a number of substitutions you can make if you can't find some of the ingredients. You can use cake flour, potato starch and chicken stock for the wheat flour, nagaimo and dashi, and you can skip the tenkasu (or use panko or even Rice Krispies). For the oko sauce, you can combine 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 3 tablespoons of ketchup, and 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. Use Miracle Whip for the kewpie mayo. And as for the other ingredients, remember, you can use any kind of veggie or meat you want.

Since this process has a few steps, I'm going to try something different...I'm adding more pictures. Let me know what you think!

Okonomiyaki

INGREDIENTS (To Make 2)

1 cup wheat flour
2/3 cup dashi
2 Eggs
1/4 cup grated nagaimo (mountain yam)

STIR INS (bottom, clockwise)
4 cups cabbage, shredded and roughly chopped
2 cups bean sprouts
6 strips bacon, cut in half

Not pictured:
2 stalks green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup tenkasu (Tempura bits)


TOPPINGS (top left to right)
Okonomi Sauce
Kewpie Mayonnaise  
Katsuobushi (Bonito Flakes)
Furikake (dry rice seasoning)

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS (not pictured):
1/2 cup Raw shrimp cut into approx 1cm (1/2") chunks    
1-2 links Chinese sausage, cut diagonally
1 oz Beni Shoga (Pickled Ginger)


INSTRUCTIONS:
In a large bowl, whisk the okonomiyaki flour and dashi/stock until smooth. Add the eggs and combine.

Add the grated nagaimo. (Try to freeze it before you grate it, otherwise you'll have a gooey,slimy mess. The smallest holes on the grater are traditional, but I prefer the bigger ones--it's faster.)

 Add the other items (but not the bacon or toppings!) and mix lightly.

 Heat a skillet on the stove and add a tablespoon of oil to it. Swirl the pan to coat it with the oil. (I add a tiny amount of sesame oil for taste, but it's optional.)

 Add half the mixture to the pan. Press it down to the best of your ability with a spatula. It should take up most of the pan. Let it cook for three minutes or until browned on one side.

 Place the bacon strips on top of the oko and (carefully) flip the whole thing over. You may need another spatula for this, but it's OK if it gets messy.

Let it cook until it's brown on the other side and the bacon is cooked, about 4 minutes. Flip it one more time and cook for another three minutes.

 Slide the Oko onto a plate. But wait, there's more! Drizzle the okonomiyaki sauce and the kewpie mayo over your oko. Sprinkle the furikake and katusoboshi on top.

Eat it while it's hot!

Curry, curry everywhere...

I decided tonight to make curry, but all the recipes I'd seen were pretty complicated. I managed to stumble across yet another one in Allrecipes.com that was surprisingly simple. I had to change a few things--the original recipe had tomato sauce, not tomato paste, as well as crushed tomatoes (which I had none of). Nevertheless, the household loves it. Hmm, I guess curry really isn't that hard to make after all...

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 teaspoon salt and pepper, or to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
1 (8 ounce) can tomato paste
8 ounces water
3 tablespoons sugar

Directions

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
Heat oil and curry powder in a large skillet over medium-high heat for two minutes. Stir in onions and garlic, and cook 1 minute more. Add chicken, tossing lightly to coat with curry oil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear. Mix the tomato paste with water and blend till smooth.

Pour coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato paste mix, and sugar into the pan, and stir to combine. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.

Meat and Veggie Soup

When I got home today, I realized that I was going to have to get creative since it's almost the end of the month, and the household is starting to run a little low on food. Ransacking the kitchen, I found a bunch of random items and bits of leftover meat in the freezer and refrigerator, so I threw everything into a pot with some water and spices. (My roommate found the bacon and insisted that it be included.) And you know what? It was really, REALLY good.

I'm not sure if these are the exact amounts, but feel free to taste as you go to make sure this works for you. Your ingredients will probably vary anyway. Also, bear in mind that the water level will drop as it cooks. So keep an eye on it--the last thing you want is for this to burn.

Bacon, Turkey, Steak and Veggie Soup

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups baby carrots, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 slices bacon, diced
1 thin steak, diced
4 turkey breakfast sausages, diced
1 small chunk corned beef, diced
2 cups pinto beans
Water to cover
Seasoned salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Saute carrots, onion, garlic, steak and breakfast sausages in olive oil in the bottom of a large pot until meat is browned and vegetables are soft. Add 2 cups pinto beans and cover with water. Add bacon and cook for 1 1/2-2 hours, until beans are done. Add seasoned salt and pepper to taste. Serve as is or over rice.

American Style Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki was created in Japan. It's basically a Japanese pancake consisting of a basic batter with various meats and vegetables added, and traditionally served with mayonnaise and oko sauce. It is, as Alton Brown would say, "refrigerator velcro" since you can use just about anything in it. I used cabbage, bacon and chicken in mine, but I purposely made this recipe non specific to encourage you to use your own ingredients. Most of the toppings, in particular, can be found at your local Asian section, or better, a local Asian store.

My version of oko isn't standard; it's a basic pancake mix with fillings. A more traditional one can be found here. There are two schools of thought concerning the making of oko--you can either mix the vegetables and batter up in a bowl and then pour it on top of the meat, or you can pour the batter on top of the meat and then add the veggies--but either way, it's quick and delicious, especially if you have everything cut up beforehand.

Shavon's American Style Okonomiyaki

Batter:
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 tablespoon sugar
1 to 1 1/2 cups milk

Fillings:
1-2 cups total chopped veggies
1-2 cups total chopped meats

Toppings:
Okonomiyaki sauce (a recipe can be found in the link above)
Bonito flakes
Hoisin sauce
Mayonnaise

Combine batter ingredients, using enough milk to bring the batter to a runny consistency. Put 1/4 cup meats in nonstick pan on medium heat. Place 1/4 cup vegetables in a separate bowl and add 1/2 cup batter, mixing until ingredients are covered in batter. Pour over meats and let cook for 3-4 minutes (or until meats are done--if using cooked meat, till batter is set. Flip oko over and cook the other side. Serve with bonito flakes, oko sauce, hoisin sauce and/or mayonnaise. Serves four.

Baked Tilapia and Fried Okra

My fiance and I came back from martial arts practice exhausted. While he began another load of laundry, I came up with this recipe. I love a full freezer. It makes life so much easier.


Baked Tilapia and Fried Okra


4 tilapia filets

1/2 bag breaded Okra

2 small potatoes, cut into small sections

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 cups canola oil

3 fresh garlic cloves, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste


Pour the oil into a heavy skillet and set the heat to medium high. Spray a pan with nonstick coating. Put the filets in the pan. Season with salt, pepper and garlic on both sides. Place in 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.


While the fish is cooking, toss the potato chunks into the cornstarch. Set aside. Drop one piece of breaded okra into the oil. If it sizzles, the oil is hot enough to cook with. Add okra and potato chunks carefully in batches, using no more than half the pan space at a time. Cook till golden brown, then carefully remove and drain on a paper towel.Season with salt and pepper.


Pull the fish out of the oven after 30-35 minutes and check for doneness. If the fish flakes when you gently twist a fork in it, it's done. Serve hot with okra and potatoes.

Spinach With Vidalia Onions, Baked Chicken Thighs

Dude. I. like, wrote up two thirds of this entry, and inadvertently erased it ALL.


*sigh* OK, round two...


For my birthday, even though I was hacking up a lung, I managed to make us dinner. The spinach dish is something my mom used to make when I was a kid; she would add a little bit of sugar to caramelize the onions. But she never knew about Vidalias, which are now available year round. I skip the sugar and use those instead. It's now my fiance's favorite dish.The baked chicken thighs are one of the easiest recipes ever, and you'll see why in a moment.


To be fair, my fiance did make rice--four cups of it. And I mean four UNCOOKED cups, which translates into, like, 8-10 cups of cooked rice.


Meh...at least we have leftovers.

Do you have any creative tricks for leftovers?


Spinach with Vidalia Onions


2 tablespoons oil or a few blasts of a nonstick spray

1 bag of spinach

1 sweet onion, sliced into rounds (it doesn't have to be a Vidalia; sweet onions go by many names. Look for them near the yellow onions, and look for the sticker).

Salt and pepper to taste


Add oil or spray to a pan. If you're using a nonstick one, you can skip this step. Give the pan a minute or two to get hot over medium to medium high heat, then add the onions. Cook till they become slightly translucent. Then, add the spinach. Cook everything until the spinach is fully wilted and the onions are slightly browned. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Baked Chicken Thighs


2 tablespoons oil or a few blasts of a nonstick spray

1 package chicken thighs, boneless

Salt and pepper to taste


Spray an oven safe pan with oil or nonstick spray. Preheat the oven to 350. Salt and pepper the thighs, place them in the pan, and bake for an hour or until chicken is no longer pink. That's it!

Baked Chicken and Peas With Bacon

So yesterday, I raced off to a job interview at a local paper. It took me forever to get there, since my boyfriend had the car, and lemme tell ya, public transit in the Bay is not perfect. By the time I got home, it was almost 8 PM--and I'd left at five. From there, I raced off to visit a friend I hadn't seen in ages. But I knew my boyfriend was hungry, and I didn't want to leave him with nothing to eat--that didn't seem right at all. So I made Baked Chicken and Peas with Bacon. Or rather, I started the chicken and prepped the peas, and he finished it. I hope he didn't feel abandoned, even though he only saw me for five minutes.


What kinds of meals do you make for someone who doesn't cook very often ( children, spouse, elderly person) that can be finished quickly and easily?

Baked Chicken and Peas With Bacon

1 whole chicken

1 cup frozen peas

1 slice bacon

Garlic powder

salt and pepper

Get a 9x13 baking pan, preferably Pyrex or metal. Spray it to avoid sticking. Take one chicken, defrosted, and cut it apart. Carefully arrange the pieces in the pan, then season the chicken with garlic powder, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Flip the pieces and do the same for the other side. Bake at 350 for 1-1/2 hours or until done.

Just before the chicken finishes cooking, put a cup of frozen peas in a microwave safe bowl. Add a tablespoon of water, and one slice of raw bacon. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a microwave safe lid, then nuke the whole thing for three to four minutes, making sure the bacon is done. Serve everything hot. May serve two or more.

Gnocchi with Chicken and Sweet Potato

Last night, I reread my issue of Gourmet magazine and decided I wanted to make gnocchi from scratch. My boyfriend had no idea what gnocchi was; for him, and for those who aren't aware, gnocchi are tiny Italian dumplings. They're a little larger than a pencil eraser, and have ridges on them to hold the sauce. As it turns out, my boyfriend and I ended up going grocery shopping, and I stumbled across a box of gnocchi. Realizing that this would cut my cooking time in half ( and it was close to nine at night anyway), I asked him, "Are you still interested in gnocchi?" Loyally, he replied, "If you're cooking it, I'll eat it.

Why yes, I AM a lucky woman.

What kinds of recipes do you cook when you don't have a lot of time?

Brown Butter Gnocchi with Sweet Potato and Baked Chicken

1 box potato gnocchi
1/2 a sweet potato (make sure you're getting a sweet potato and not a yam-- yams aren't as sweet)
10 fresh sage leaves
1/2 stick butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
Leftover baked chicken

Put the butter into a small saucepan, and let it heat until it turns a dark brown. Remove it from the heat and set it aside.

Set a four quart pot full of water to boil on the stove.

Cut the sweet potato into small chunks, and brown them in three tablespoons of olive oil. Remove them from the pan to drain on a paper towel, and set them aside.

Fry the sage leaves in the leftover oil for 30 seconds at a time. Remove from the oil and set them aside to drain on a paper towel (they will get crispier as they cool).

Check the water. If it's boiling, add the entire box of gnocchi. Cook and drain according to the directions. Dump the brown butter in the pan that was used to cook the sage and sweet potato, then add the gnocchi and turn to coat. Divide into three servings (or 1 1/2 if you're serving two), and garnish with the sweet potato chunks and sage leaves. Serve hot, with leftover baked chicken.