Miso-Ginger Marinated Grilled Salmon

Great tasting.  Be careful of making this too strong and overpowering the salmon.  
Ingredients

• 1/4 C white miso
• 1/4 C mirin
• 2 T rice wine vinegar
• 2 to 3 T shoyu
• 2 T minced green onions
• 1 1/2 T minced fresh ginger
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 4 salmon fillets, 8 ounces each
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Whisk together the miso, mirin, rice wine vinegar, shoyu, green onions, ginger, and sesame oil in a bowl.  Place the salmon in a baking dish, pour the marinade over, and turn to coat.  

Either grill or broil, until golden brown and a crust has formed, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Turn the salmon over and continue grilling or broiling for another 3 to 4 minutes.

Recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay.

Muffin Pan Potatoes

Meh.  I made this on Feb. 19, 2017.  TOO much work.  Don't make again. And the potatoes stuck to the muffin pan.  They tasted ok but better just to make a pan of Pommes Anna.

Ingredients
3 tsp melted butter
2 tsp Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme leaves
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
8 - 10 gold potatoes, thinly sliced (use a Benriner)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.
2. Butter muffin tins.
3. Slice potatoes into thin slices using Benriner.  Place in a large mixing bowl and toss with the melted butter, Parmesan, and spices.  Coat evenly.
4. Layer potatoes into stacks and place into each individual muffin cup.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.
5. Place muffin pan in oven and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and the center is tender.
6. Remove from oven, let cool for about 5 minutes.  Garnish the finished potato stack with Parmesan, thyme, or rosemary.

Great pancakes?

Haven't tried these yet but I'm going too :)

Pete's pancakes Yields nine 6" pancakes.
Ingredients

• 2 C flour
• 3 T sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 T baking powder
• 2 eggs, beat them separately before adding to mixture
• 1/4 C butter, melted (1/8 of a pound)
• 1 3/4 C milk

Directions

1. Mix the dry ingredients first.
2. Combine the eggs and melted butter to the milk and slowly stir into the flour mixture.
3. Let sit at least 10 minutes, while heating up the pan.

IHOP's secret recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 C flour
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 C buttermilk
• 3 T sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat a skillet over medium heat.  Use a pan with a nonstick surface or apply a little nonstick spray.
2. In a blender or with a mixer, combine all of the remaining ingredients until smooth.
3. Ladle approximately 1/3 C of the batter into the hot skillet, forming 5" circles.
4. When the edges appear to firm up, after a minute or two, flip the pancakes.  They should be golden brown. 
5. Cook the pancakes on the other side for the same amount of time, until golden brown.

Makes 8 to 10 pancakes.

Oyakodon

From http://www.japanesecooking101.com/about-japanese-cooking-101/

Ingredients

• 1/4cup (60ml) Dashi
• 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp Sake
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp Mirin
• 1/4 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 chicken thigh, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 egg
• 1/2 green onion, thinly sliced
• Steamed rice

Instructions

1. Add Dashi, sugar, Sake, soy sauce and Mirin in a pan. Heat until boiling.
2. Add onion and cook for a minute at medium heat.
3. Add chicken pieces to the pan and cook until the meat is cooked through.
4. Beat egg in a small bowl and pour over the chicken and onion. Cover and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
5. Slide egg and chicken with sauce over rice in a bowl. Sprinkle with green onion.

Dashi recipe:

4 cups water

2 handfuls bonito flakes

Directions:

Boil water and add the dried bonito flakes to the pot  Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and use in recipes.

Ichiban Dashi

Ingredients: 4 C water

4" x 2" kombu

Handful of katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)

Instructions:

Put kombu in water in a pot, and heat at medium heat until just before boiling.  Remove kombu.  Add katsuobushi and let the water boil, then immediately turn off the heat.  Leave it for 5 minutes and strain.  

Marinated miso chicken

Sam Choy's Hibachi Miso Chicken with Peanut Butter I made this version on April 7, 2017.  The beer tenderized the chicken.  I thought the flavor was a little mild but the company loved it!)
I made this again on February 14, 2018 Valentine's Day.  Miguel, Sarah, Rosi, Luca, Alex and Gerald were present too.  This time I used a mixture of honey and sugar.  I made more marinade then the 2017 version because I thought the flavor was too mild the first time.  Perfect this time and very tender.  I put the chicken under the broiler for the last 5 minutes or so.

Equal parts (1/2 cup each for 5 pounds chicken).  Marinate overnight and grill or bake.

• Miso
• Peanut butter
• Shoyu
• Beer
• Sugar (I used honey)
• Garlic & ginger grated

Combine marinade ingredients and marinate chicken overnight in the refrigerator.  Grill over charcoal.

Miso chicken two

Ingredients:

• 1/4 C miso paste
• 3 T mirin
• 2 T sake
• 1 T sugar
• 1 T shoyu
• 4 chicken thighs

Instructions:

1. Mix miso, mirin, sake, sugar and shoyu in a bowl.  Marinate chicken thighs in miso mixture for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 425 F.  Wipe marinade liquid well from chicken and place chicken on oiled aluminum foil spread over a sheet pan.
3. Bake for 15 minutes, turn over and bake 10 to 15 minutes more until cooked through.

Japanese Potato Salad

I love this recipe.  It's been a hit with everyone!

4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (I used Russet)
1/3 C mayonnaise (I don't use Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise because it has MSG)
1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced (I used a Benriner mandolin)
1/4 sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/2 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
Extra sea salt for salting and blanching vegetables
Add corn and kamaboko :) 

Group A ingredients
1/3 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 T rice wine vinegar
1 T sugar
1/3 tsp Karashi, Japanese spicy mustard

Prepare potatoes and boil until cooked.  While potatoes are cooking, prepare the other vegetables.

Sprinkle both onion slices and cucumber slices lightly with sea salt, mix with hands making sure the salt coats them evenly.  Set aside for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, rinse off vegetables in a colander and gently squeeze vegetables in a clean dish cloth or a few paper towels to get all of the moisture out.  This prevents soggy potato salad.

Add carrot slices to a small saucepan of salted water, bring to a boil and blanch for two minutes.  They should still have a slight crunch, do not overcook.  Drain and set aside.

Place the cooked potatoes into a bowl and gently smash with a fork, making sure you leave some small chunks.  (I used my hands).  In a small bowl, mix together the Group A ingredients and pour over the smashed potatoes, gently tossing to evenly coat the potatoes.  Add the onions, cucumber, carrots and mayonnaise and gently combine until all the ingredients are combined.  Can either serve at room temperature or chilled.

*I added corn kernels and kamaboko.

Mochiko Chicken

Mochiko Chicken Great recipe but gotta figure out a way to cook it so it's not so greasy.  

2 lbs. chicken (thighs or breasts) cut into bite sized morsels

4 T sugar
5 T shoyu
1/4 C sesame oil
1 T oyster sauce
2 eggs, beaten
6 T mochiko flour

3 T flour
5 T cornstarch (can also use potato starch)

1/2 Tsp. salt

1/2 cup chopped green onions

3 cloves minced garlic

2 T sesame seeds

oil for frying

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl (except for the oil) and add in chicken. Mix well and marinate chicken overnight. Fry marinated chicken in oil until golden-brown. Drain oil from chicken on paper towels and newspaper. Eat!
I garnished with Chinese parsley (cilantro) and toasted sesame seeds.