Mixed Rice ("Takikomi-Gohan")

Healthy and tasty rice dish with many ingredients. Everyone will love it!

Ingredients:
1 cup japanese rice
1/2 cup pearl barely
1 packet of shimeji mushrooms (large)
2 inch long carrot
1/4 tofu cutlet

For soup:
4/5 cups dashi stock or water
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp Mirin
1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce or 4/5 tsp dark soy sauce  
1/2 tsp salt

Method:
1. Wash rice and barely 30 min prior to cooking and drain on colander.
2. Cut carrots into julienne strips. Wash and drain mushrooms. Cut tofu into thin triangles.
3. Pour in the stock, mushroom, carrots and tofu into pot, and heat everything. When it begins to boil lightly, add sugar and sake, and continue to simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the soy sauce and salt, continue to simmer briefly.
4. Drain all ingredients through a sieve, reserving cooking liquid. Note: let all ingredients cool completely before cooking rice, hence it might start burning in the rice cooker.
5. Place rice and barely into rice cooker, add simmering liquid. If there is not enough simmering liquid, add some water. Add solid ingredients from the sieve and mix everything lightly. Turn on heater. Note: water should be just a little bit above rice.
6. When cooking is finished, keep the cooker covered and let stand for 10 minutes (do not use function "Keep Warm"!). Open the lid and mix everything. Serve warm with some trefoil if you like.

Kusa Mahshi

Kusa Mahshi is arabic name for minced meat stuffed baby zucchini. Usually made in tomato sauce or yogurt sauce.

Ingredients:
6-8 mini zucchini, middle part removed
150 g. minced lamb
100 g. rice soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes
3 garlic gloves
Salt and pepper
1 tsp. Baharat (arabic 7 spice mix)
1 tsp. dry mint
1 can diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp. Tomato paste
1 bouillon cube Maggi

Method:
1. Prepare zucchini by removing flesh from the middle. Wash a pat dry.
2. Fry minced lamb for 5 minutes and mix with previously soaked in boiling water rice, baharat, sat, pepper and 1 minced garlic glove. Set aside to cool.
3. Put a shallow pan on the medium fire, add 2 cups of water and dissolve one beef or lamb bullion cube. Bring to boil and add can of diced tomatoes, tomato paste and bring to a simmer.
4. Stuff zucchinis with cooled meat mixture, do not reach 0,5 cm till the top of zucchini.
5. Add remaining minced garlic and dry mint to tomato sauce, season with salt and pepper.
6. Add stuffed zucchinis to simmering sauce, cover with a lid and let it simmer on very law heat for 30-40 minutes. Do not over boil - zucchinis should be soft but not mashy to touch.
7. Serve hot with tomato sauce over vermicelli rice. Sprinkle with mint.

Sahtein!

Japanese Curry

Loving it, Loving it, Loving It! I cannot explain the taste of it - you just have to try! Authentic recipe calls to use ground beef in this recipe, but why not to experiment and tailor it to your liking? I do it vegetarian, with chicken pieces or over Katsu (breaded beef or chicken). This one is with some dried mushrooms bought from Japanese grocery!

Ingredients:
1 medium carrot
1 medium potato
1 medium onion
1/2 cup of dried mushrooms
1 cm fresh ginger
1 clove of garlic
1/2 block of "Golden Curry" Roux Medium Hot
Salt, pepper to taste
Dashi Stock or Chicken/vegetable stock
1 cup Japanese steamed rice
Pickled ginger or Kimchee for serving (not pictured)

Method:
1. Cover mushrooms with boiling water and let it stand for 30 minutes.
2. Cut onions: first cut each half of the onion into 3 wedges and dice in three parts. So the onion pieces should be pretty chunky.
3. Grind ginger and garlic.
4. Cut carrot and potatoes in medium size cubes or using Japanese technique for cutting into angles.
5. Add some canola oil into sauce pan and fry ginger and garlic for 1/2 minute.
6. Add onions, potato and carrot and stir fry for 1 minute.
7. Add mushrooms along with a water, add more water or dashi stock (you can use chicken stock from the cube).
8. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and cover with lid. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.
9. Add "Golden Curry" Roux and let it dissolve in simmering liquid of the stock. Keep on the law heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The dish is ready when all vegetables are cooked through. Be careful and do not over boil so the potato will not lose its form.
10. Remove from the heat - let it stand for 10 minutes, during this time the sauce will settle and become thicker.
11. Serve over steamed Japanese rice and eat with pickled ginger and Kimchee.

So good!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fish with Sesame Paste Sauce ("Samak Bil Tahina")

One of the best arabic dishes! Tahina sauce goes perfectly well with fish.

Ingredients:

500 g. fillet of white fish (hammour)

Salt, pepper, olive oil

1/2 tahina (sesame seed paste)

1 cup water

juice from one lemon

1/2 onion chopped

2 cloves of garlic

Pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, green onions

Method:

1. Prepare fish: wash, discard any left over bones, pat dry, season from both sides and drizzle with olive oil.

2. Bake in preheated to 180 C oven for 10-15 minutes. Time depends on if you cook one big peace or two smaller ones. Do not over bake.

3. Prepare sauce: mix tahina, lemon juice and water and bring to a light boil, just to dissolve the paste. In another skillet fry some onions with garlic in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil, add to tahina mixture and mix well.

4. Remove fish from the oven and spread tahina sauce over it. Place back to the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

5. Garnish with fried pine nuts and green onions on top.

Sahten! :-)

PS: for side dish i made some basmati rice with turmeric and raisins:

1. Wash 2 cups of basmati rice until water will become clear. Let it drain in a sieve for 30 minutes.

2. Heat some olive oil in heavy pan and fry rice for 2 minutes until coated well in oil and extra liquid evaporated.

3. Add 3 cups of boiling salted water and close the lead, leave on law heat for 10 minutes.

4. Open the lead and quickly drizzle 1 tsp. of turmeric over rice, close the lead again and cook for another 5 minutes or until rice cooked through and fluffy.

5. In small skillet heat 1 Tbs. of olive oil, add washed and dried raisins and fry for a minute.

6. Add to rice and mix all together before serving. Or just drizzle over rice on serving plate.

Risotto with portobello mushrooms (Risotto Ala Fungi)

Loving risottos!

Ingredients:

(serves 2)

2 medium fresh portobello mushrooms

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 litre vegetable or chicken stock

1 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup white wine (Marsala or other flavorable white wine)

2 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. Virgin Olive oil

30 g. grated Romano cheese

20 g. grated Parmigiano cheese

Handfull chopped parsley

Method:

1. Slice mushrooms in medium chunks. Put stock on low fire and keep it simmering during all cooking time. Stock should be hot, so when it will be added to rice it will not stop rice from cooking though.

2. Heat 1 Tbsp of butter and 1 Tbsp. of olive oil heave skillet (i used cast iron) on medium heat.

3. Add shallots and garlic and fry until transparent. Keep stirring all the time.

3. Add half the mushrooms to pan and fry for about 2 minutes, until mushrooms will become slightly brown.

4. Add rice and fry for 5 minutes, keep stirring until rice is fully covered in oil.

5. Pour wine. Let it be evaporated by 1/3.

6. Reduce heat to law, add remaining mushrooms and 1 cup os stock, season with salt and pepper. Keep adding stock and stirring for 15-20 minutes. Next cup of stock should be added only after previous one absorbed and level of liquid dropped to 1/3. Do not stop stirring. If you run out of stock add some hot water.

7. After 15 minutes pass - try the rice. If it is almost tender, but slightly hard in the middle - it is done. Simmer until remaining liquid will be absorbed by 90 %.

8. Stir in 1 Tbsp. of butter and all grated Romano. Remove from heat.

9. Close your pan with lid and let stand for few minutes. at this point risotto will gain its creaminess.

10. Stir in some parsley and serve. Garnish with some Parmigiano and more parsley.

Bon Appétit!

Spicy chicken Nasi Goreng

Nasi Goreng, literally meaning "Fried Rice" in Indonesian. Dish easy to prepare from left over rice from last dinner. In proper version, can be used tamarind, ginger, red pepper. But we have ow in supermarkets ready thai curry paste which makes this dish simple to make.

Ingredients:

2 medium eggs

2 tsp corn starch

2 Tbsp water

2 cups cooked basmati rice

1 large chicken breast, diced in bite size pieces

6 large pealed (with tales on) cooked shrimps or 150 g. small shrimps

3 medium shallots, diced

Bunch roughly chopped coriander

1-2 Tbsp hot or medium hot red curry paste

0,5 cucumber, pealed, finely chopped.

Method:

1. Beat eggs slightly and strain though a sieve. Mix corn starch in water and mix in beaten eggs. Make thin omelets on slightly oiled pan. Omelets should be thickness on the crepe.

Roll omelets and cut them into stripes. Set aside.

2. Heat wok with 1 Tbsp of canola oil and fry shallots until crispy. Drain from oil excess and keep aside on the paper towel.

3. Wipe wok clean from any oil. Add curry paste and heat it well.

4. Add chicken pieces and stir fry, mixing with two spatulas all he time, coating chicken in curry. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes, until chicken is tender.

5. Add shrimps, rice and stir fry for 2 minutes. Make sure to mix very well so all rice covered in curry paste.

6. Remove from heat, add shallots, coriander, omelets, cucumber and mix.

Serve immediately with thick soy sauce on the side.

Artichokes

Simple healthy dish for "after work" quick dinner.

Ingredients:
1 pkg (300 g.) of frozen artichoke hearts
300 g. of minced meat (i used minces beef)
1 cup of vegetable stock
1 Tomat
1 medium onion (i did not use)


Spices:
1/2 tsp. Baharat (all spices)
1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
Salt and Pepper
How to prepare:
1. Boil artichokes in salted water with lemon juice for 15 min., no need to defrost prior.After boiling cover them with cold water to stop the process of cooking immediately.
2. Fry in 1 tsp. of olive oil onion (if using) till transparent, add minced meat, spices mix and cook for 10 minutes till meat will become brown.
3. Artichokes prior to stuffing you can also fry for 2 min in the oil just to give them nice color, but i did not do it, hence i do not feel need for extra fat in food.
4. Place a 1 tsp. of meat into each artichoke. Dice tomato in very small cubes and sprinkle over the meat.
5. There is two ways to cook it: either place them in the pan with just enough stock to cover 3/4 of artichokes and simmer on low heat for 10 min under closed lid. Or, the second option, place them in the baking tray with the same amount of stock, cover with foil and bake for 10-15 min in the hot oven.
6. Artichokes can be served, for sauce - reduce the stock from cooking and add a bit of flour to thicken it.


I had some fried minced meat left, so i made arabic rice with fried meat: just add some washed and drained basmati rice to the pan with meat, add a little more cumin for flavor and fry for 5 min to coat rice in oil. add hot water (3 cups for every 2 cups of rice) and simmer under the closed lid until cooked through.



Bon Appétit!