It's like Julie & Julia, except I'm not named Julia (I'm actually named Becky) and I'm making all the recipes in Nintendo's Personal Trainer: Cooking. I also branch out into recipes from anime, manga and other video games, too!
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I originally made this for work, but no one ate it so I saved it for my family Christmas party.
A Belgian dessert known for its great natural sweetness. -- Game Description
Ingredients are:
Dry yeast.
Milk.
Brown sugar.
Flour.
Butter.
Eggs (3 yolks for the crust and 2 whole eggs for the custard.)
Sour cream.
Brown sugar.
Using a glass pie plate here, along with some of the other ingredients.
Butter is cut up and left to soften. This is a different way to prepare pastry than what I'm used to...
...because it's a yeast based pastry! I'm priming the yeast in some hot milk with sugar.
3-for-3 on egg separation! w00t!
Yep, that yeast was alive, all right. Everything into the pot!
As usual I had to add a little more milk to the dough to make it pliable enough to mix. I set it aside to rise for 20 minutes while I searched for my mom's whisk...wait...where is it? does she even HAVE one?
Well, she's getting one for Christmas now.
The cream topping is simply egg and sour cream whisked together.
The dough's ready so I rolled it out on some tinfoil to put in the glass pie dish.
Brown sugar goes in as the filling first, followed by the egg and sour cream mixture...
...I should mention, there is now a window on the oven. And a light. So I get to peek inside without opening up the door.
10 minutes at 425°, 20 minutes at 350°, et voila!
The tart got rave reviews from my mom's cousins and their young children, even though the crust was sort of bland and tough. But the filling wasn't overly sweet, which I loved.
I'm back! After some trials, tribulations and health scares, I'm making another recipe tonight.
It's the middle of December as I'm writing this. I've been to five parties this month already (family, neighborhood, club, work and then lolita group) so I relish the lazy day at home. In fact, it snowed pretty well last night and I spent part of this morning making sure my car was clear and dug out.
I've moved out of my previous home. In doing so we discovered a mold problem, which probably explains the bad colds that I was having earlier this year. I'm now living back with my parents (and dog!) in my attic bedroom with non-Euclidan closet. It means I can't cook as much as I like to, but today with it being snowy and my mom having come down with a cold I figured that today would be a perfect day as any to make some good comfort food--namely, Swedish meatballs.
Meatballs with potatoes elbow macaroni in a cream sauce. --
Game Description
Ingredients:
Ground beef.
Onion.
Butter and oil.
Medium potato (I ended up using a bunch of fingerling potatoes instead, about 4 1/2, since that's what we had.)
Panko bread crumbs.
Cream (I ended up using half-and-half, since that's what we had.)
Beaten egg.
Salt and pepper.
So this is my parents' kitchen. Lots more work space and lovely walnut, wrought iron and sandstone Formica decor.
"So...you like 'dem potates?" - Attack on Titan Abridged
Now we're cooking with gas. (Literally.) The potatoes for the filling are boiling on the back burner, the onion is sauteing in the front and the center pan is being reserved for the actual meatballs.
Smashing up the potato. There were still some chunks left when I made the actual meatballs so I should've let them boil a little longer.
Getting ready to mix the meatballs. I used two forks to stir everything together.
All mixed up...
It's easy to roll meatballs when you oil your hands a little (something I learned from Cooking With Dog.) Anyways, these went into the fridge to chill while I took a break, had some iced tea and watched some of White Christmas with my mom.
I cooked the meatballs in batches, and at the same time made some elbow macaroni (I had a box of it left over from my place and decided to use it up.)
Next was a cream sauce, which probably wasn't the best thing to make with half-and-half.
And finally, everything all together!
My parents gave the meal glowing reviews, but one of the meatballs my mom got wasn't completely browned so she gave it to the dog. So I guess she liked it, too.
I have really missed cooking and am glad to get back into the swing of things. I will probably be doing another entry later this week, since this week's my company's dessert contest and am thinking of making the Sugar Tart for it.
A Culinary History of Japan Friday, October 18th, 3:30-4:30 PM, in Hawthorne Riceball Workshop $3 materials fee; participation limited Saturday, October 19th, 1:00-2:00 PM, in Frost
I will be attending Another Anime Convention which will be this October 16-18 at the Radisson Hotel & Convention Center in Manchester, NH. I've been going to this convention since 2006, and it's just been growing and getting better and better each year, while still retaining its "small con" feel.
My two panels for Another Anime Convention are:
A Culinary History of Japan
An extension of one of my favorite hobbies! I will present a (brief) overview of what defines Japanese cuisine and its various influences from the era of samurai warlords to the trendy cuisine of today. Learn about washoku and also see pictures of extremely weird looking Japanese pizza. I'll also provide a handout with some great further reading material, if you're adventurous enough to try out some great Japanese recipes.
Riceball Workshop - $3 Fee Payable At The Door
Feeling hungry, and got a few bucks? I'll provide you with some food, but you've got to work for it. We'll provide the rice, the toppings, the fillings, the wrappings, and some molds, and you do the rest.
So what goes into a rice ball? I'm going to provide a few classic fillings: umeboshi (pickled plum), negimiso (miso paste mixed with green onion) and tuna salad (canned tuna mixed with just the right amount of Kewpie Mayonnaise.) Also available will be some great furikake to add some flavor and crunch: gomashio (black sesame and salt), shiso (a dark red, minty herb that adds great flavor to plain rice), and possibly some others (depending on what's at H-Mart!)
Since I only have enough food for around 15-20 people, there is a cap on the amount of people who are able to participate. I will have a handout available with instructions and recipes for anyone who asks.
Important: This panel involves soy, fish and shellfish products/ingredients. I will provide packaging if you have any questions regarding an ingredient.
The times for these two panels are still up in the air but I will post another update once things are set in stone.
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So if you're wondering where I've been lately: This past August I spent most of my time working on a cosplay for Fan Expo in Toronto, Canada, followed by recovering from a particularly nasty bit of con crud I picked up.
Also, by the end of October I will be moving back in with my parents, which means I won't have as much access to a kitchen as I will like. Before then, though, I should be able to get a few recipes off the back burner before I officially move out.
About three years ago, a friend of mine on Facebook turned me on to the YouTube channel Cooking with Dog, and I have followed it ever since. I've made a few of their recipes, which include traditional Japanese food and sweets along with yoshoku (Western influenced, Japan developed recipes.)
The Dog of Cooking with Dog is Francis, who is a gray toy poodle. He's very well behaved (I've never heard him bark, but he does cry a little, especially when Chef-san is making something tasty) and a great narrator. I feel kind of bad for him when he has to wear frills and ribbons, though. (He's a boy dog! Dude needs a tux!) Francis reminds me of Smokey, the toy poodle my grandparents owned for many years. He was my parents' inspiration for getting our first family dog, an apricot/buff poodle named Babette, who joined our family when I was 4 and passed away during my freshman year of college.
Since I have some leftover beef from my nikujaga, I decided to use it to make hayashi rice. It is a yoshoku that is partially influenced by French cooking, and includes beef, onions, carrot, mushroom in a tomato and red wine based demi glace sauce.
If you'd like to learn how to make hayashi rice yourself, here is a link to the recipe on YouTube.
The ingredients. Instead of canned diced tomatoes, I cut up a fresh one, and for the beef broth I use a tube of concentrate which I reconstitute in 200ml water.
Vegetables and aromatics chopped and ready to go.
Making the roux. I am paranoid about burning it, so it never gets to the color that's in the video.
The beef is browned in oil. It's a fairly thick cut that I'm using, and kind of tough.
As the roux continues to brown, the vegetables get a quick saute.
Adding the wine. I like cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food. The wine I'm using is Trader Joe's Two Buck Chuck merlot (it's actually $3.49 Chuck.)
The roux kind of fell apart. I added way too much broth to it, so it didn't clump up. But it still worked.
Finally, I add the roux, and the peas, and give everything a good quick simmer, and it's done!
I reheated some leftover rice, buttered it, put some dried parsley on top, then spooned on some hayashi sauce goodness. The cream on top is a UHT creamer I nicked from the office break room.
This is one of my most favorite yoshoku. It's a LOT better than curry rice, and doesn't stain everything yellow. It's sweet and tangy, and has tons of color and flavor.
Recipe #44: Braised Beef and Vegetables (Nikujaga)
According to my research (volume #2 of Hetalia), nikujaga is a Japanese interpretation of British beef stew, and is one of the most famous yoshoku (Western foods) to be developed.
This is actually my 2nd try at making this dish. Last week, I attempted to make it, and found that both the potatoes I purchased for it had turned almost completely green under the skin. So it turned into Gyudon a la Ochikeron, which turned out pretty good.
I've made this dish before, and each time it's come out extremely sweet, so I am cutting the amount of sugar used.
A beef-and-potato stew with a rich soy-sauce flavor. -- Game Description
Ingredients used:
Potatoes.
Onion.
Beef.
Green peas.
Dashi stock (I use freeze-dried stock granules)
Soy sauce.
Mirin.
Sugar.
Hopefully these potatoes will be better than the ones I had last week...
There was a little bitty bit of green on one of them, but I think I scraped it completely off.
Onions cut into wedges. They'll soften in the broth.
And meat.
Starting out with giving the onions and potato a quick whirl in the sauce pan with some oil.
Then it's time for the meat's turn...
Everyone into the hot tub...er, dashi stock!
I'm almost out of these foam skimmer things--it also acts as a great drop lid for times like these. When I make larger amounts of nikujaga, I trim a cake circle (those cardboard circles that you put a cake ready to decorate on) into the proper size and cover it with foil to make a drop lid. Since this is just for my dinner tonight, I'm just using this one.
As everything simmers, the sugar, mirin, and soy sauce are gradually added. Now to let the broth reduce...
The final touch: the thawed out green peas.
I heated up some leftover rice and spooned some nikujaga over it.
It was a good idea to cut the sugar (I used a somewhat equal sugar to soy sauce ratio) because the finished dish ended up not being as cloyingly sweet as it had been in the past. Most of the potatoes ended up retaining their shape, but a few got really soft and thickened the broth a little. It really depends on what kind of potato you use (the game recommended russet potatoes.) The rice soaks up the broth, but the potatoes and meat absorb the salty-sweet flavor. The meat I used wasn't of the best quality, but after getting browned and braised turned out tender and flavorful.
It's kind of a boring day where the best thing you can do is beat the heat, and it put me into a cooking mood. This meal was a pleasant surprise for me...a little sweet, a little heat, a little spice, everything nice.
A spicy eggplant stir-fry flavored with garlic and ginger. - Game Description
Ingredients:
Eggplant (I found a small graffiti eggplant at Market Basket, it turned out to be the perfect size.
Ground meat (the game asks for a beef/pork mixture, but I only had beef.)
Green onions (scallions)
Ginger.
Garlic.
Douban jiang, aka chili-bean sauce
Soy sauce.
Sake.
Sugar.
Stock (the game calls for Chinese chicken stock, but I used beef stock instead)
Starch dissolved in water
Sesame oil.
Our ingredients! My eggplant is streaking...
The aromatics (garlic, ginger, and green onions) are sliced and waiting while I cut the eggplant into rolling wedges.
I don't have a pan for deep frying, so I took the eggplant and pan fried it a few pieces at a time.
Worked out pretty well.
As the eggplant drains, brown the ground beef...
The aromatics get added, along with the douban jiang, and then after a few minutes, take the pan off the heat.
Add the liquid ingredients, then the eggplant, and put the heat back on to let everything simmer together.
The dissolved starch goes in first, and then a drizzle of sesame oil goes in last.
This turned out really delicious! The sauce was somewhat bland, but has a spicy undertone from the douban jiang. The eggplant frying process made it really tender and slightly sweet. You could potentially make it with tofu or vegetarian protein instead of the ground meat to make it completely vegetarian.
I've been playing Animal Crossing lately, so much so that I'm thinking about making a separate Tumblr just for my adventures. But I've still been keeping up with my cooking.
I really like Indian food and I just recently learned that the best place near me to get it, Gourmet India, closed a lot of its locations (I am not sure about the one in Burlington, MA though.) I was really looking forward to getting a meal there when I was at the Prudential Center for Anime Boston.
This is a great vegetarian food, with lots of protein-packed chickpeas, and a good helping of spice. I have bought it pre-packaged before (either in the sealed package or in a frozen version) and this is the first time I'll be making it from scratch.
A chickpea curry with spices that really bring out its simple taste. -- Game Description
Ingredients:
Canned chickpeas.
Onion.
Ginger.
Garlic.
Tomato.
Chili powder.
Turmeric.
Cumin.
Coriander.
We've got our ingredients laid out.
And chopped up.
The canned chickpeas get drained...
...the onions get sauteed...
...and the aromatics join the fun.
Finally the tomato gets sweated, and the water and canned chickpeas are added.
After adding the spices I gave everything a taste and was surprised to find that it was rather salty. I looked at the chickpea can and yes, there had been salt added to the chickpeas, which I should've looked out for when I was shopping for them in the first place.
I defrosted some leftover rice, and served up some of the channa masala. It was pretty salty, and that overpowered almost everything else. If I make this again, I'll have to find a can of salt-free chickpeas. In the meantime, there's always Trader Joe's.
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Or, "I'm an adult, I can cook what I want in my nice cool apartment."
One of my favorite restaurant meals is French onion soup, but it needs to be done RIGHT. All too often I get something that tastes like they used soy sauce instead of beef broth. A few places I've been to have been able to do it right (Panera for one--I recommend getting it in the bread bowl.) This isn't a recipe I've tacked for myself yet, so I decided to give the Personal Trainer: Cooking version a try. (Someday, I'll have to try the Alton Brown version. He adds calvados to it!)
French onion soup also appears in Kitchen Princess, in the final chapter of volume #1 (Recipe #5.) It's the end of the year festival at Seika Gakuen, and Najika has just been presented a special prize by the acting director (!) Sora Kitazawa. Her classmate Akane has won Seika's symbol, the silver spoon--which is the exact same spoon that Najika was left when her Flan Prince saved her life so many years ago. When Najika's spoon falls out of her pocket, Akane stomps on it and tells Najika how much she hates her. (Ironically, the quote about the philosophy behind the silver spoon--what you eat is what shapes you--foreshadows the reason behind Akane's suffering in volume #2.) At the end of the chapter, Najika prepares to leave the academy for Hokkaido, feeling that she truly does not belong, but on her way out stops to prepare a meal for Daichi, who is practicing basketball on campus. One stale baguette, one onion, and a bunch of shredded cheese later, she makes him some piping hot onion soup, and leaves a goodbye message. Luckily, Sora and Daichi stop her just in time, and Sora reveals to her--and to us--the reason why she was selected to the special class: her absolute sense of taste.
An onion soup topped with baguette slices and baked in the oven. -- In game description.
Ingredients:
Onion (I'm using a Vidalia onion, which has a ton of natural sweetness. Added bonus: they don't make you tear up.)
Beef stock.
Gruyere cheese.
Sliced French bread.
Flour.
The ingredients also called for white wine which I don't have, so I will be substituting sake.
Salt and pepper.
All of the ingredients. The French bread is a nice crusty baguette loaf.
Chopped onions. It may seem like a lot but they will need to sweat and caramelize.
And that takes a very...
very...
VERY long time.
Finally everything's broken down, so it's time to add the beef stock and let it simmer. (In hindsight, though, I should've let it saute longer, because the finished product was not as sweet.)
The crocks I'm using--bought them at Christmas Tree Shops way back when. (I don't have an oven safe dish big enough for all the soup to fit in.)
Once the onions have enhanced the broth flavor, it's time to add the bread and cheese.
I grated some gruyere. Love that stuff.
I accidentally poured some of the soup on one of the bread slices so I decided to do one crock with just cheese added and one crock with the bread and cheese. They went into the oven...
A few minutes later I took the crock without the bread out (hey, I was hungry!) and tried it out. The soup's flavor was a little more savory than sweet, and the cheese stuck to my teeth.
Finally, the crock with the bread and cheese was done. Looks good, doesn't it?
I have to say, though, that I should've spent more time on the onions. I've never been able to caramelize onions completely and I know its something that takes practice, experience and time. Either way, it was pretty good--warm and filling comfort food.
Why not celebrate hitting the big 4-0 (recipes, that is) with a nice, juicy steak?
Argentinian-style beef with a spicy parsley-and-garlic sauce. - Game Description
Ingredients:
A steak.
Green pepper (I used 1/2 of the smallest one I could find at the grocery store.
Italian parsley. (Still going through the regular stuff I mistakenly bought.)
A garlic clove.
Paprika.
Oregano.
White wine vinegar.
Olive oil.
Salt and pepper.
The game also has a lemon as a garnish, but I didn't have one handy.
As you may recall, I was going to do this last weekend, but forgot to buy the oregano on my regular shopping trip. So I'm making it tonight.
Lots and lots of chopping...
And more chopping...
And more chopping.
Finally.
The sauce is given a pinch of kosher salt, a sprinkle of pepper, and added paprika and oregano.
Then the oil and vinegar are added...but it seems like way too much for what I've made.
Steak gets a quick kosher salt and pepper bath. Instead of putting it on the grill, it's being sauteed.
Quick flip...
...then put it on the plate and top it with the sauce. The game suggests you let the steak and the sauce stand for the flavors to mingle, which I did. I'm also concerned that I might've added too much liquid to the sauce--the steak was practically SWIMMING in the vinegar and oil from the sauce.
Once enough time was up, I dug in. The steak was tender and chewy, and the sauce helped to tenderize and flavor the meat. The first thing that hits you is the acidity, then you get the slight bight from the raw garlic, a small minty kick from the oregano and parsley, and the crunch of the raw green peppers.
I'd definitely make this again, but adapt the recipe to steak skewers or something along those lines, because it was an awful lot of sauce to use for the steak I had (the game called for a 7 ounce steak, but I only had a 5 ounce one.)
Today's weather is terrible so I might as well pretend it's a hot summer day. I'm going to eat this with some Spaghetti Peperoncino for a square meal.
A light and refreshing tomato-and-mozzarella salad. -- Game Description
Ingredients:
A tomato. (I actually used half of the tomato.)
Mozzarella cheese (using some leftovers from the pizza from the other night.
Shredded basil.
Olive oil.
Balsamic vinegar.
Salt and pepper.
Yet again, not much in the ingredients department.
Just chop up your tomato...
...and alternate it with the cheese, tart-creamy-tart-creamy.
I chiffonaded the basil leaves to go on top. Once I added the basil, the plate went into the fridge to chill.
Here is the start of the dressing for the salad. The little white flecks are salt crystals in the balsamic vinegar. I liked the contrast, it was interesting to see.
Add olive oil, stir...
...and here's the finished product.
This is a fairly light salad with a refreshing, tart and minty taste. I kind of wish it was a hot summer day, but you gotta take what you can get. It was certainly a good palate cleanser after the spaghetti.
Recipe #37 and #38: Steak with Herb Butter and Spinach Sautéed with Butter
I was all set to make Steak with Chimichurri Sauce tonight until I got home and realized I had forgotten to buy one of the sauce ingredients at the store, so change of plans. I also managed to buy the WRONG variety of parsley, so I will have to make do.
I don't eat steak a lot. When I was growing up, we had it almost every week as a family. Nowadays I let the professionals (or my mother) handle steak cooking most of the time, but every so often I get the urge for one.
The game calls for the steak to be served with a side of fries (steak frites in French) but I will be substituting the side with a nice side of sauteed spinach. And I'll take it a step further and saute the spinach in the same herb butter topping the steak!
Mouthwatering steak and fries served with herb-and-lemon butter.-- Game Description for Steak with Herb Butter
Spinach sautéed in butter and seasoned with salt and pepper.-- Game Description for Spinach Sautéed with Butter
Ingredients for Steak with Herb Butter:
A steak.
Butter.
Lemon juice.
Finely chopped Italian parsley.
Salt and pepper.
Ingredients for Spinach Sautéed with Butter:
Spinach.
Salt and pepper.
Leftover herb butter.
The game calls for nutmeg to be added, but since I'm not sure the flavors will marry with the herb butter, I'm leaving it out.
Tonight's ingredients, including the bunch of parsley I got for 99 cents.
It's an awful lot of parsley, especially from just one sprig.
When I was mixing the herb butter I noticed that the lemon juice was not mixing properly with the butter, and chalked it up to oil vs. water.
Once the butter is mixed, just pop it into the fridge to chill. Meanwhile...it's spinach time!
Blanch the spinach in boiling water and let it cool.
The herb butter's ready, and so is the spinach!
Now that the spinach is cooked, it's time to grill the steak. It just gets a light sprinkle of salt and pepper.
I use a George Foreman grill for times like these. It does its job pretty well. At this point, though, my iPhone died, so I wasn't able to get any more pictures until after I was able to serve my dinner.
Finally...the steak and spinach are done!
I didn't really use a very thick or high quality steak, so there's not much flavor in it. The butter mingles with the juices of the meat, but the flavor was kind of bland since I used unsalted butter (I've done this with both salted and unsalted and the salted butter does make a difference.) The spinach was exactly to my liking--tender crisp and not limp, like the frozen spinach from the package my mom would serve (I'd have to drench it in soy sauce just to make it palatable.)
It has been a VERY busy two weeks for me, for one reason or another. First, I went to Anime Boston for Saturday and Sunday only, then came back and nursed a nasty case of con crud which became bronchitis...right before my boyfriend was due to fly in from Canada for an extended weekend. A quick trip to the doctor and some meds later and I was pretty much recovered in time for his four day visit, which included the new Star Trek movie, afternoon tea at L'Espalier in Boston, and a day at Canobie Lake Park. So I haven't been able to cook as much as I'd like lately.
Today's recipe is a fairly simple one, with a bare minimum of ingredients. (I need time to enjoy it with a cold beer while I watch the Bruins play the Penguins, after all.) I'm going a step further and adding some grated Parmesan (since I still have a shaker of that stuff!) and a few dribbles of balsamic vinegar.
A classic pizza, topped with tomato, mozzarella, and basil. - Game Description
Ingredients:
Pizza crust. I am using a standard Boboli thin crust.
A tomato.
Fresh basil.
Fresh mozzarella cheese.
As extra toppings: Parmesan and some balsamic vinegar
This is pretty much all you need.
A very ripe tomato indeed.
I bought some fresh mozzarella, which I will also be using for another recipe later this week. The recipe said to cut it into cubes, but I tore part of it into irregular chunks.
The pizza crust, a little too big for the pan.
Just pile the toppings on top...There's not that many, really. I put a little Parmesan and a glug of balsamic on top for extra flavor.
Seven minutes later...
That's a bottle of Samuel Adams Porch Rocker I've got opened next to the pizza. Very good lemony lager beer!
Sometimes it's the most simple of ingredients that make the best food, and this is certainly the case.
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Anime Boston is this weekend, and in honor of this occasion I'll be making the soybean baci from Volume 8 of Kitchen Princess (it's from Recipe 38.)
So what does the book refer to when it says "soybean flour?" It refers to kinako, a type of flour made from ground, roasted yellow soy beans. When mixed with a little sugar and salt, the taste is reminiscent of peanut butter. It's most commonly a topping for rice product-based wagashi, or traditional Japanese sweets (one example is Cooking With Dog's Skewered Tofu Dango.) Seiya makes these for Najika after a stint at the Fujita Diner where Najika reintroduced him to what she believes makes cooking great: when you get a smile from your customer.
Ingredients:
Kinako
Sugar
Flour
Eggs (yolks only)
Butter
Gathering the ingredients up and letting the butter soften...
Then cream it together with the sugar.
I usually separate eggs by hand--besides, egg separators are such unitaskers--and it's easier that way.
Add the egg yolks...
And then add the two flours and mix everything until it looks crumbly, kind of like wet sand.
Next step: Roll into small balls, then bake for 15 minutes at 350°.
And voila!
These baci are not overly sweet: They have a refined taste as befitting a conceited fusion dessert chef like Seiya Mizuno. The kinako taste is kind of light compared to the taste you'd get when eating it with mochi or dango, which I would highly recommend if you get the chance to. Perhaps with a larger kinako to flour ratio, the flavor could get enhanced, and with a little more moisture, could you make kinako cookies just like the peanut butter cookies you make the fork patterns in? Hmm...
Doing another Kitchen Princess recipe for dinner tonight! This one is from Recipe #30 in Volume 7 of Kitchen Princess. Najika has just competed in a madeleine baking contest with the arrogant new transfer student, Seiya Mizuno, and since she'd rather not have any more sweets for the time being (really?) Daichi offers to make her dinner. It seems, though, that someone else has realized that Daichi has feelings for Najika...
This is an example of yoshoku, or a Western influenced Japanese recipe. Cooking with Dog also has an excellent recipe for neapolitan spaghetti that I'd like to try someday. Other yoshoku recipes for spaghetti that I've tried include plain spaghetti topped with umeboshi paste (extremely sour and salty pickled plum) and tarako (spicy cod roe) with a garnish of shredded nori. If you can find them at an Asian grocery store, I would recommend checking them out for a little something out of the ordinary on your plate.
Ingredients:
Spaghetti (using thick spaghetti)
Bell pepper (green bell pepper, cut into strips)
Onion (Vidalia onion)
Bacon (ordinary bacon)
Ketchup
Worcestershire sauce
The recipe also calls for vegetable oil, but when I'm cooking this I let the bacon render a bit, then stir fry the vegetables in the bacon fat.
The ingredients, ready to go. (And my copy of Kitchen Princess #7, too!)
The main sauce components, chopped up and ready, while the water for the spaghetti boils on the stove.
Bacon renders in the frying pan, with spaghetti cooking on the left.
Adding the peppers and onions, then a nice dollop of ketchup and a dash of Worcestershire to perk up the flavor.
Finally, once the pasta is finished boiling, just toss it in and give it a quick stir...
And voila! Simple, flavorful and satisfying yoshoku!
This is a really good and quick meal for people on a budget with not much in their pantry, or even beginner cooks (like Daichi.) It's got a smoky sweet flavor from the bacon, vegetables and ketchup.
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