Tartare sauce

We had grilled Salmon (marinated with salt and roughly ground pepper) last night so I made some tartare sauce. Here's the recipe:

1.
500g home made mayonnaise
1 chopped hard boiled egg
30 g chopped onion
70g chopped gherkins
10g chopped parsley
1tsp chopped capers

2. Mix all the ingredients together. Leave in refrigerator to chill and allow flavour to blend. Use within 3-5 days.

Did you know?

Mayonnaise

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mayonnaise is a thick sauce made primarily from vegetable oil and egg yolks.^[1] Generally whitish-yellow in color, it is a stable emulsion formed from the oil and yolks and is generally flavored with mustard, salt, pepper, vinegar, and/or lemon juice. Numerous other sauces can be created from it by adding additional seasonings

Traditional recipe

The traditional French recipe is essentially the same as the basic one described above, but it uses top-quality olive oil and sometimes vinegar or lemon juice. Some nouvelle cuisine recipes specify safflower oil. It is considered essential to constantly beat the mayonnaise using a whisk while adding the olive oil a drop at a time, fully incorporating the oil before adding the next tablespoon. Experienced cooks can judge when the mayonnaise is done by the emulsion's resistance to the beating action. Mayonnaise made this way may taste too strong or sharp to people accustomed to commercial products.

Composition

Homemade mayonnaise can approach 85% fat before the emulsion breaks down; commercial mayonnaises are more typically 70-80% fat. "Low fat" mayonnaise products contain starches, cellulose gel, or other ingredients to simulate the texture of real mayonnaise.

Commercial producers either pasteurize the yolks, freeze them and substitute water for most of their liquid, or use other emulsifiers. For homemade mayonnaise it is recommended using the freshest eggs possible. Some stores sell pasteurized eggs for home use. The eggs can also be coddled in 170°F (77°C) water, after which the hot yolks, now slightly cooked, are removed from the whites. Homemade mayonnaise will generally only keep under refrigeration for three to four days. A lower-fat version can be made with silken tofu.

Homemade mayonnaise can also be made using raw egg whites, with no yolks at all, if it is done at high speed in a food processor. The resulting texture appears to be the same, and – if seasoned, for example, with salt, pepper, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, and a little paprika – the taste is similar to traditional mayonnaise made with egg yolks.

Mayonnaise has a pH between 3.8 and 4.6, making it an acidic food. There is a misconception that foods like potato salad can make a person sick if left out in the sun, due to the mayonnaise spoiling. This is false; the pH of mayonnaise prevents harmful bacteria from growing in it. Left out of refrigeration, mayonnaise will develop an unappetizing taste and smell, due to other types of bacteria and molds that can spoil it; but will not make one sick. ^[4]

I always make my own Mayonnaise. My children says it's a lot tastier and I use either Canola or Safflower oil. It's a good base for potato salads, tuna mayo, dips, tartare sauce, thousand island, cocktail sauce, etc, etc. The list is endless!

The recipe is very simple if you maintain one very important point. Add the oil bit by bit gradually until it stabilizes.

The recipe:
1.
2 large (Fresh) egg yolks "A"
1/2 tsp French or English mustard
1 tbsp vinegar
250 ml Canola or Safflower or Olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp boiling water

2. Put egg yolks into Kenwood mixer with "K" beater.
3. Beat until egg yolks turn pale.
4. Add teaspoon by teaspoon oil and beat at high speed.
5. Half way through adding the oil, add vinegar and
mustard and continue beating.
6. After adding all the oil, add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Last beat in 1-2 tablespoon of boiling water, this will help
to stabilize and whiten the mayonnaise.
8. Viola!! Beautiful, tasty mayonnaise.

BENTO #7

It's Onigiri from my "stock box" again. Today is hamburger onigiri and Spam in a barrel shape rice ball in the right Bento box. Next to it is some fried fish cake. These are rectangle shape and very nice. It all looked very 'Yellow' so I used 'flower' carrots to garnish it.

The Bento on the left is a cup of corn kernels and some blanched Asparagus. In front of the Bento is Tartare sauce which I made yesterday for part of our dinner.

Bento #6

Today's Bento is very easy. Tuna Onigiri, Tamago, Spinach and butter cake.



Ready to go. Small Tupperware contains shoyu and some wasabi for the Onigiri and Tamago. A Quaker Granola bar to snack on.

Sabbath

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The term Sabbath or Sabbat is originally derived from the Hebrew shābath "to rest". In Judeo-Christian religion it refers to a weekly day of rest and worship. In religion: Sabbath in Christianity, a weekly religious day of rest in Christianity.
In Christianity, the Sabbath is a weekly religious day of rest as ordained by one of the Ten Commandments: the third commandment by Roman Catholic Church.

For my family, Sunday is a day of worship and time spent with our Catholic community. After Sunday Mass, we normally spend more than half the day at Church participating in activities of personal interests and appeal.

For me, it's also Bento preparation time for the upcoming week. I need to get my Bento staples and supplies ready.

Today, I prepared the "Aburaage" (Japanese taufu pok) for Inari Sushi. It's very easy and delicious. I always prepare the aburaage ahead of time and leave in the fridge. It can easily last for 10 days. This recipe I have is much nicer than the commercial ones that you can buy from Jusco.

The recipe:
1.
10 pcs aburaage
2 cups dashi
4 tbsp shoyu
5 tbsp sugar
8 tbsp mirin

Remove oil from aburaage by rinsing in hot water.
Simmer all the ingredients in a pot and line arburaage layer by layer gently without damaging it. Just let it simmer until almost dry. Use a "Otoshi buta" (literally: drop-lid) so that it doesn't dry out too fast.

2. Squeeze dry the aburaage so that all the remainder liquids are removed.

3. Then you cut the aburaage into half and gently open it up so that you can stuff the sushi rice into it.

4. Viola! It's ready - Enjoy!

Note: I didn't stuff mine today because I'm preparing them for use later in the week.

I also made a batch of dipping sauce for 'Cha Soba'. This is my children's all time favourite dish. It's good for 'abstinence' days or hot days because it's meatless. So easy!!

The recipe:
1.
2 cups dashi
1/2 cup Mirin
1/2 cup shoyu
pinch of sugar

Mix all in a pot and bring to boil. Cool down and refrigerate until chilled.

Note: In my case, I freeze it and thaw when I need to use. I freeze some in small containers so that my daughters can also bring Cha Soba to school to eat. By break time at school, the dipping sauce is half thawed. You just need to keep them in a plastic bag so that the cold water droplets don't wet the rest of the stuff in the Bento bag.

I made a whole batch of Onigiri this evening.
See top row: Onigiri with mini hamburgers
See middle row: Spam Musubi and some Onigiri with mixed left overs.
See bottom row: Triangle ones stuffed with tuna and mayo.

Look at the 5 cups of sushi rice I cooked!

Onigiri with mini hamburgers

Spam Musubi

Did you know?

Many years ago my mum and I went to Albany, USA for a Macrobiotic Summer camp. It was over a period of 10 days. We sampled organic cooked foods, learnt the basics of Macrobiotic cooking by many Macrobiotic "Guru's", was exposed to the organic planting etc, etc.

There, we were taught to cook Miso soup. Firstly, you're not supposed to add the Miso paste into the hot (below boiling point) Dashi stock. Only then, the supposedly biologically active Miso paste won't 'die' and thus ending the health benefits of it.

You're supposed to scoop the hot Dashi into another container and then add the Miso paste to dissolve them together.

Once dissolved, switch off the fire for the Dashi stock and add the dissolved Miso mixture, stir and then serve. When re-heating, do not bring to a boil because then the taste will change and you loose the "friendly bacteria" supposedly good for the flora of your intestines. Check out the last line of the extract below on Miso nutrition from Wikipedea (Lactobacillus acidophilus [3]).

Miso nutrition (from Wikipedia)

The nutritional benefits of miso have been widely touted by commercial enterprises and home cooks alike. However, claims that miso is high in vitamin B₁₂ have been contradicted in some studies [1]. Part of the confusion may stem from the fact that some soy products are high in B vitamins (though not necessarily B₁₂), and some, such as soy milk, may be fortified with vitamin B₁₂. Some, especially proponents of healthy eating, suggest that miso can help treat radiation sickness, citing cases in Japan and Russia where people have been fed miso after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Notably, Japanese doctor Shinichiro Akizuki, director of Saint Francis Hospital in Nagasaki during the World War II, theorized that miso helps protect against radiation sickness [2]. Also some experts suggest that miso is a source of Lactobacillus acidophilus [3].

Did you know?

How to make a Bento

I picked this up from Wikipedia. I hope it's okay otherwise someone please inform me if I'm contravening some kind of law or something.

A bento is traditionally made in a 4:3:2:1 ratio: 4 parts of rice, 3 parts of the side dish (either meat or fish), 2 parts of vegetables, and 1 part of a serving of pickled vegetables or a dessert. However, almost anything can be used to make a bento.

Several precautions should be taken when making a bento. The most important thing is to avoid food poisoning, especially in summer. Foods should be cooked well and the bento must be stored in a cool, dry location. If sushi is a part of the bento, it should be prepared with more wasabi than normal. Foods covered with sauce should be carefully packed, or avoided altogether, as sauce may spill over on to the other foods. When cooked rice is a part of a bento, it should be cooled by leaving the bento open first. If a bento is closed before it is sufficiently cooled, the steam from the rice will condense inside the bento and make the food soggy.

Potato Tortilla - Bento #5

Delicious Potato Tortilla for daughter number 2,

Rolled onto Potato Tortilla - Cream cheese, salad, tuna, Kyuri (Japanese cucumber), Egg fried with cream and Cheddar cheese and Kewpie Mayo.










Toasted marshmallow to go with the Tortilla?

Tamagoyaki, Teriyaki Sake (Salmon), Enoki and Miso soup

This was tonight's dinner. Yum, Yum!

Tamagoyaki



That's how you 'roll' the Tamago

On the left - frying the Salmon.

Right - cooking the teriyaki sauce.








Left - Soaking dried Wakame for Miso soup

Next to the bowl is the Silken Tofu.

Right - Wakame "expanded".

Left - mixing the Miso into some Dashi stock .

Right - the final product,
Miso soup!!

Fried Enoki (straw mushrooms) with strips of carrot.
Sauteed with garlic and oyster sauce.
Class one!!

My Pickles are ready

My second batch of pickles. Delicious!!

Easy Bento #4

Daughter number 1 requested for 'one ton mee' for today's Bento.
She says it's best in the world!! Ha! Ha! Inspired to go on. Top Bento ~ Sawi and fish balls on a bed of 'one ton mee'. Bottom Bento ~ Banana washed and sliced with skin intact, raisins and marshmellows.

The ready Bento box to go. Next to it is the
'Sabah chilli sauce'
mixed with shoyu and hot water.
This is very potent and goes very well
with any type of oriental styled noodles.
My father-in-law never fails to bring our supply
when he comes to visit.
God bless him!

Experimenting on wiener (cocktail sausages)

I experimented with the wiener (cocktail sausages) molds today. It was quite challenging because I didn't have the cocktail ones, only had the regular long ones in the freezer.

If you look from the top of the plate clockwise, you can see the regular "scored" sausage. In front is the "octopus" shape sausage and further in front is the crab shape sausage. Further clockwise of the "crab" is the 'tulip" shape sausage.


These are the molds that shaped the sausages.

Clockwise the pink one is the crab mold, the yellow one is the tulip, the red one in front is the octopus and the yellow on the left is to 'score' (cut) the sausage.

Real cool stuff!!! Had lots of fun trying them out and my two elder girls were delighted!! We finished them all for lunch.

BTW behind the molds is my favourite cup which contains my favourite green tea!!

A close up on the 'crab'.

Alleluia! Bento #3

I knew I could depend on daughter number 2. She took a look at the camera and said "I don't know what to do". *Mum sighs* She goes on hhmmm.....check the Internet and see if I can get help.

Next moment she said: "Check out the memory card mum and see if it's there?" Sure enough it's there with all my pictures intact. *Happy* *Happy*.

This Bento is for daughter
number 1.
Left Bento contains blanched broccoli, cauliflower and canned corn. I drizzled Kewpie mayo and scattered grated Parmesan cheese on top.
Next to it is a mix of tiny Japanese biscuits.

Right Bento contains and organic crusty bread. I spread a thick layer of butter in between to keep it moist. Next to it are slices of Kiwi (full of vitamins) and garnished with a tulip carrot.



This Bento is for daughter
number 2.
The only difference is the crusty bread. This one likes grains in her bread whereas her elder sister doesn't like anything she terms "weird".

Daughter number 2 is very adventurous with food whereas the elder sister is very conservative and like her father, also loves RICE. Fortunately she's more open to Italian food though.

I'm glad these pictures didn't get 'lost'. I thought that the colour combination today was pretty good.

Mum - "A woman of substance"

I think I shall take a picture of my breakfast table while I am preparing my kids Bento. It's a complete havoc, as though a hurricane just passed through. There are tongs, chopsticks, cutting boards and knives, empty plates, plates full of food, sauces, Bento boxes, other containers, Bento accessories, etc. etc.

My kitchen is not spared either. Sometimes three stoves are running at the same time. On one stove - heating up some food, on another boiling water to blanch the vegetables and on another, more boiling water to heat up the noodles or steam rice. I try not to use the microwave oven too often due to personal preference.

I'm very happy and driven to prepare my kids Bento. I enjoy hearing them give me feedback about how they enjoyed their food during break time or how one didn't like the cherry tomatoes I put in and how the other loved it.

The Bento is such a topic of conversation for us that my youngest daughter (number 3) also insisted that she brings a 'Bento' to school too. That's why I had to buy a single layer, clip lock one for her. She's very picky with her food and has a very, very limited and constrained food group that she consumes. This is probably the work of the grandmother - my mother.

As I said in my earlier blog, mum is a fantastic cook and while my kids were growing up she'd spoil them whole scale by always cooking their favourite food. (even now when I'm not at home...but my elder two girls tend to compromise with the youngest one now just so that grandma doesn't break her back 'over-cooking') On the dining table would be a rice dish for one kid, a plate of noodles for another kid or a soupy noodle or porridge for another. Then there's my husband and I who will eat rice with several other dishes. However much I tried to coax mum not to cook in that way fell on deaf ears!

I really appreciate mum and her cooking enthusiasm but every dinner was like a buffet table laid out to please and satisfy the different palettes of the different people in the house. We've been very blessed with a woman who unconditionally loves and labour out of the love of the ones around her. In our daily prayers, we can only pray that God continues to love and take care of her soul and her health.

Mum may not have packed Bentos for my brothers and I when we were kids at school but the 'buffet table' she laid out every day is testimony enough of the unconditional love that she had for us all. Mum worked all her life and retired at 50 (took optional retirement).

Now, she spends her time with my family and my one other older brother and his family. My eldest brother passed away with cancer more than ten years ago and my dad more than 20 years ago. Mum has always been a pillar of strength and support in bad and good times. Really.... "A woman of substance"!

Sigh! Maybe no pictures today

I'm distraught! I packed two pretty Bento's this morning and while sending daughter number 2 to school, I was happily thinking of how I was going to upload those pictures onto my blog.

I got back, tried to get the memory chip out to extract the pictures and found that the memory chip was in the other camera. OH NO!! When I used the 'quick view' function this morning I could view the pictures. So where are my pictures now?? "Keep Calm".

I'll just have to wait for daughter number 2 to get back from school and ask her to check out the camera. She is 15 years old and very good with these gadgets.

"Patience is a virtue, good things come to those who wait"