Arugula micro greens or other peppery micro greens
Salt and pepper
Sriracha mayo
Mix furikake with rice to your liking. Divide rice into 2 balls and smash to make a cake. Pan fry in neutral oil like avocado until golden on each side. They should be crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Set on a paper towel.
Poach both eggs.
Assemble benedict with rice cake on the bottom, egg (sprinkle with salt), shiso leaf, avocado, tuna and micro greens. Top with fresh cracked pepper. Serve with sriracha mayo on the side along with a vinegary side salad.
I love the roulette experience of eating these. You never know when you might get a spicy one. These are such an easy appetizer that can be done in less than 10 mins.
Fresh shishito peppers (~25)
Avocado oil or other neutral oil
Flaky salt
Furikake, optional
Ranch dip, optional
Togarashi, optional
Heat a cast iron skillet on med/high until water drops sizzle and evaporated quickly.
Toss peppers with oil to just coat.
In a single layer with sufficient space between each pepper, put peppers on hot skillet. Let sit 2-4 mins until brown and blistered. Turn and blister the other side. Note, it will get a little Smokey so keep your exhaust on.
Once blistered, you want the peppers to remain a little crunchy. So don’t over cook or they’ll get too soft and unpleasant. Remove from skillet and toss with salt and any other toppings of your choice. Serve with dipping sauce or plain.
I posted a poke recipe before and it’s great. This time, I tried making a version we recently had in Oahu called the CA roll poke. It’s the perfect combination of fresh and decadent. Make this and eat it over rice or salad.
Spicy Ahi Poke on the left, other poke recipe on right
1/2 lb sushi grade ahi tuna, diced into 1/2” chunks
1/4 cup kewpie mayo
3 TBSP Sriracha
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1-2 green onion, thinly sliced
1/4 hot house English cucumber, super thinly sliced
1 avocado, diced into 1/4” chunks
1-2 TBSP tobiko
Mix mayo, sriracha, soy sauce and sesame oil. Taste and adjust to your liking (it will mellow a bit).
Combine tuna, veggies and sauce. Do not over mix or you’ll have smashed tuna and the avocado pieces will disappear
Refrigerate for at least 20 mins or up to 1 day.
Serve with shiso leaf, pickled ginger, and furikake, over rice or salad and wasabi lotus chips on the side if you can find them.
Do you ever crave eggplant? One of my friends back in the 90’s told me it had addictive properties (like nicotine, or something). I believed her. Less so now but I definitely crave it often. This recipe is a good alternative to the dips and addition to veggie stews.
It looks like a heap but it’s a damn good heap.
Miso Eggplant
Adapted from justonecookbook.com
3-4 Japanese eggplant or 1 big one, sliced in half or quarters lengthwise
1 TBSP sesame oil
3 TBSP white miso
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP rice vinegar (mirin)
1 TBSP water
White sesame seeds
Green onion, cut into 1/4” rounds
Shiso leaves, julienne
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Heat water. Mix with sugar, miso and vinegar. Set aside.
Cut meat side of sliced eggplant diagonally about of a third of the way to the skin. turn and cut again on the diagonal creating a cross cross pattern in the flesh. Be careful not to cut too far into the meat. This is so the flavors can get into the eggplant. Not to create little pieces.
Soak the eggplant in water for 10 mins. Then remove, give a little squeeze and dry with a paper towel.
Brush with sesame oil and place cut side down on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 15 mins.
Remove from oven and change oven to broil. Turn eggplant over and coat meat side with miso glaze.
Broil for 5-15 mins until golden brown.
Sprinkle with green onions, sesame seeds, shiso leaf and nori. Serve with rice and an egg or as a side dish. So delish!!
Made again so you can see it out of the oven with toppings added before it becomes a heap
I have been on a sriracha craze lately. I can’t get enough. And it’s crab season. So, why not make this delicious appetizer to share with friends and family? So decadent and it’s super good the next day with a fried egg.
Spicy Crab Dip
8 – 12 oz lump crab meat
4 cups cooked white rice
½ cup Japanese mayo
½ cup cream cheese
2 tbs sriracha
½ cup okonomiyaki sauce
¼ cup furikake
2 green onions, sliced
Sliced cucumber
Sliced avocado
Snack seaweed sheets
Mix crab, mayo, cream cheese, & sriracha
In 9×13 dish, layer rice, furikake, & crab mix
Drizzle sriracha, mayo, & okonomiyaki sauce
Bake at 450F for 10 mins, broil for 3-5 mins
Top w/ green onions
Serve w/ roasted seaweed snack sheets, cucumbers, avocado and enjoy!
You guys! I am congratulating myself and slapping my thighs over this masterpiece of a recipe I just mashed together with Thanksgiving leftovers. Make this now.
Turkey Silog
4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed a bit
3 Tbsp veggie oil
2 cups cooked, day old jasmine rice
2 cups leftover turkey, about half a breast and some dark meat, shredded
1 cup leftover stuffing
1/4 – 1/2 cup leftover gravy
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt
A couple shakes of red chili flakes
Fried eggs
Lemon slices
Sriracha
On a cutting board, mix turkey, garlic salt, chili flakes, soy sauce, a squeeze of lemon, stuffing and gravy. Set aside.
This is a 3 pan adventure – small, medium, and large.
In the large pan, heat the oil and garlic until the garlic starts getting soft and slightly brown. Smash up the garlic with a spatula until it’s in little pieces.
Pour 1/2 the oil and garlic into the medium pan.
In the large pan, add the cooked rice and heat up with the remaining oil and garlic. Set aside.
Heat the medium pan over medium high heat. Add the turkey mixture and fry until crispy on each side.
In the small pan, fry your egg.
Sever together with sriracha and a slice of lemon.
We had some seriously ripe bananas that luckily made it to the weekend. The girls made these muffins with the bananas and they’re delicious. the muffin is super simple but the crumble takes it to the top. It is now a favorite muffin.
People tend to think my kids are picky. I think they just like momma’s cooking (and carbs). Oh, and they go through phases. Well, Good news. They LOVED this.
Broccoli Beef
2 thick NY steaks, sliced against the grain
2 heads of broccoli, broken down
Sesame seeds
Veggie oil
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup boiling water
6 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp corn starch
2 Tbsp sesame oil
Pepper to taste
Sesame seeds for garnish
Make sure you start your rice because this is going to be quick.
Heat pan on medium high and add a tablespoon or so of oil. Cook broccoli until bright green. Set aside.
Increase heat on pan to high heat. Add a tablespoon or so of oil. Brown the beef. Note: dont overcook and Don’t over crowd the pan. This was about 3 batches for the pan I have. I just added each batch to the broccoli bowl that was set aside. I cooked the beef until medium rare.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.
Add the broccoli and beef back to the pan with the sauce and cook for about 3 mins or until the sauce thickens a bit. It should just stick to the back of a spoon.
Test for pepper. Add some sesame seeds. Serve over rice with some siracha for added deliciousness. Enjoy!
We had the best time at Disneyland. Now that I’m home, I’m missing the food so bad. We were lucky enough to get reservations at The Blue Bayou one day and enjoyed the gumbo and 2 glasses of Pinot Noir. So, why not try to recreate it – missing the boats rolling by.
Funny side note, I thought this was too blonde since it was so dark eating in Pirates. But this was almost as good.
PS I made a second attempt at making this recipe but had to double it for family pre-thanksgiving. It came out great doubling the recipe. I just needed more chicken broth in the end to thin it out a bit. I used 2 whole box containers.
Gumbo
Serves 4
1 smoked andouille sausage, sliced
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chopped
3 celery ribs, sliced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, chopped (I used purple)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium tomato, diced
3 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 cup butter
1 1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
1 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 cup frozen cut okra
1 tsp Gumbo File (can omit if you don’t find it)
First make the roux. Take your time. This is where the love gets added. Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium low heat. Sprinkle in flour and whisk. It’ll look like a paste and then start to look like a thick pale sauce. Increase the heat to medium and constantly whisk until in begins to look the color of peanut butter. Then it should start to turn toward the color of hot cocoa (note, I got too impatient to wait and ended when it looked like caramel). This should take approx 30 – 45 mins if you’re cooking on med low. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Wash the pot.
Reheat the pot over medium heat. Add 1 TBPS olive oil and add sausage. Cook for 3 mins. Add celery, onions, bell pepper, garlic and cook for another 5 mins.
Add onion powder, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and bay leaf. Add chicken, tomato and 1 1/2 cup chicken broth. Cover and simmer for 10 mins.
Slowly mix 1 1/4 cup of chicken broth into the roux. Add the roux, okra, gumbo file and chili powder. Cook for 5 mins until the okra is hot.
Scrumptious Bits 