Use It or Lose It - Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese pancake, the name literally translates to "Things you like, fried". A traditional okonomiyaki is made with eggs, cabbage, flour, broth, and desired additions.
A few days ago, I tried to make a stuffed cabbage casserole. The result was mostly rice with some ham and cabbage. It wasn't very good, so I put it in the fridge.
This is my main leftover ingredient. I decided on okonomiyaki because of the cabbage. I chopped the cabbage that was already in the dish, and went from there. Since flour is typically used as a binder, I decided the sticky cold brown rice would do just as well.

My Okonomiyaki
(makes 12 pancakes)

2 cups leftover brown rice
2 cups chopped cabbage
1/2 cup chopped ham or cooked bacon
6 eggs

Ingredients of choice, prepared to fold into batter
(this can be ANYTHING. I used mushrooms, onions, garlic, and extra ham.)
Butter for frying

1/2 cup mayonnaise, in a pastry/ziplock bag
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce, BBQ sauce, or Heinz 57 sauce in a pastry/ziplock bag

Combine the first 4 ingredients, and fold in your additional ingredients. It should have the consistency of thick pancake batter. If it's too thick, add a little water.
Preheat a skillet to medium heat. For each pancake, melt 1/4 tbsp of butter in the pan and add 1/2 cup of batter. Don't make them too big, they will fall apart. Also, don't cover them. The moisture needs to evaporate, or else it will get soggy. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip.


If you are making okonomiyaki in bulk, prepare a greased cookie sheet and store your finished pancakes in a 200 degree oven while you work.

Snip a small hole in your sauce bags and pipe the mayonnaise and sauce onto the finished cake in any design you choose.

Vegetarian Scotch Egg, Deconstructed

...For me, deconstructed usually means whatever I was trying to make fell apart. The lesson here? When your food falls apart, never fear! Just tell people the dish is deconstructed. They'll think you did it on purpose. ;)
The mashed potatoes used to make this are seasoned the same way I season turkey sausage.

4 hard or soft boiled eggs
2 cups mashed potatoes
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Oil for frying
Soy sauce (for garnish)




To make the faux-sausage, combine ingredients 2-7.
I had every intention of coating the eggs in the mashed potatoes, then rolling in breadcrumbs and deep-frying. They came together okay but the bread crumb coating came off during frying. So, I salvaged the fried bits with a small strainer and removed the mashed potato from the egg. I piped the potato onto the plate, sliced the egg, and garnished with the fried bits and some soy sauce.
To quote my mother, "Mmmm...Fried crunchy bits!".
The result tastes amazing, just like a Scotch egg! So, feel free to do with this blog what you will. You can make this with meat instead, you can try to find a way to keep the coating on, or you can do what I did and just take the whole thing apart!

3 Courses with a Foreman Grill

I recently became reacquainted with my George Foreman grill. It's pretty handy, especially since grilling outdoors is nearly impossible in a 3rd floor apartment. Whether you're in a dorm or just feel like mixing things up, here are some different things you can do with a Foreman grill.

Cottage Fries

2 medium sized potatoes
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the grill. Wash potatoes and slice each potato into 8-10 round slices, not including the ends. I don't peel mine and I discard the small round ends, but you can peel if you want to. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Assemble in a single layer and cook for 30-45 minutes. You may need to turn them halfway through.

Mixed Grill w/ Onions

Okay, so hot dogs and ham is hardly a 'mixed grill'. You can use any meats you like. Toss some sliced onions with olive oil, salt, and pepper and throw them in next to your meat. The result is beautiful grilled onions that require almost no effort. 

Cinnamon Sticks (yes, from a Foreman grill!)

Dough:

1 cup flour + more for kneading

1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup warm water (90-105)

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp active dry yeast

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Topping:

1 Tbsp melted butter

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Icing:

1 Tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3-4 Tbsp water

To make dough:

In a bowl, combine flour, salt, and 1 tsp cinnamon. In a separate container, combine water, sugar, and yeast. Allow yeast to proof. Add yeast mixture and oil to flour mixture. Combine until ingredients hold. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for 7-10 minutes adding flour as needed. This dough WILL be sticky, just knead quickly. Place dough in a well oiled bowl and allow to rise covered in a warm place for 1 hour.

For more detailed breadmaking instructions, see Italian Bread.

Once dough has risen, punch it down. Let it rest for a few minutes while you preheat the grill. Once the grill is hot, spray it with cooking spray and add the dough:

When it's done, after about 5-7 minutes, it should look like this:

Remove the loaf from the grill and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top to coat. Cut the loaf into sticks. To make the icing, combine the melted butter, powdered sugar, and water in a bowl. Whisk with a fork until smooth. 

Use or Lose - Beet Green Minestrone and Baked Cauliflower

This week's leftovers inspired me to go Italian. These two dishes can easily be made 100% vegetarian/vegan by swapping vegetable stock for the chicken stock.

                                                       The Leftovers:

Chicken stock - I made a bunch in bulk
Some marinara that I made in a coffee cup
Stale bread
Most of a head of cauliflower
Beet greens from some beets that hubby pickled

The plan:
Definitely a soup, with the chicken broth and the marinara mixed in for color and flavor. Stale bread becomes bread crumbs so easily; tear it up and bake at 250 for 30 minutes or so, then crumble. I don't want to mess with the cauliflower too much, I like the taste. Beet greens can be treated like just about any other green, so don't throw them away!






Lentil Minestrone with Beet Greens

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, chopped

4 cups chicken stock
4 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup marinara sauce
1 large bunch of beet greens
1 cup dry lentils
4oz dry pasta

Heat oil in a large pot. Cook onions and garlic over low heat until just soft. Add the stock, water, tomatoes, and marinara sauce. Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
Meanwhile, prepare the greens. You want to do this carefully; stem and grit are not pleasant things to bite into!
Start by cutting away the hard stems.

Then, wash the leaves thoroughly.

Shake the water out and cut the leaves into small pieces, I use kitchen shears.

Add the chopped greens to the pot. Reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 45-60 minutes.
Next, add lentils and pasta. Adjust cooking times per package directions; example, if the lentils take 35 minutes and the pasta takes 8 minutes, add the pasta after the lentils have cooked for 27 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.


Baked Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 Tbsp melted butter, optional

Preheat oven to 400. Cut the cauliflower into bite sized pieces and put the pieces in a baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the top and season with salt and pepper. Top with a layer of breadcrumbs, and drizzle butter over breadcrumbs if you like. Bake for 30 minutes.

These two dishes compliment each other nicely for a light lunch. Don't forget the bread and wine! :)

Vegetarian Patty Melt

The patty melt is right up there in my top 10 favorite sandwiches ever. Even without the meat, you can make a delicious patty melt style sandwich to satisfy your craving.

Vegetarian Patty Melt (Or, an awesome grilled cheese hack)

1/3 cup sliced onion
1 Tbsp butter
A pinch of brown sugar
2 slices of your favorite bread
1 Tbsp butter, divided
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 oz provolone cheese (or your favorite melty white cheese)

Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a pan. Cook onions with brown sugar until the onions are soft. Assemble sandwich with mayo, onions, and cheese. Cook sandwich like a grilled cheese using remaining butter.
Enjoy.
It's like a patty melt with *slightly* less guilt. ;)

Black Forest Fix

Every once in a while, I get a very specific craving. This time it was black forest cake. I didn't want to make a huge cake, or go shopping. Using what I had on hand, I made it work. :)

Black Forest Cake Fix

(makes 1 layer)

Cake: (from Better Homes and Gardens new cookbook 10th edition, c 1993)

1 cup flour 

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Filling:

1 can cherry pie filling OR

1 jar maraschino cherries + 1/2 cup sugar + 1 Tbsp cornstarch

Frosting:

1 tub Cool Whip OR

3 cups powdered sugar + 1/2 cup shortening + 1/4 tsp salt + water as needed

To make cake, preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour an 8" cake pan.

In a bowl, combine cake ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until smooth, 2 minutes or so. Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

If you are using the maraschino cherries, pour them into a nonstick saucepan, undrained. Reserve 7 cherries to decorate the cake with. Stir in the cornstarch and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thickened.

If you're making the frosting, combine the sugar, shortening, and salt in a bowl. Combine ingredients with beaters turned OFF. 1 Tbsp at a time, add water. Beat with electric mixer until fluffy, adding water as needed.

Once the cake cools, slice it in half horizontally. Spread a good amount of cherry filling onto the bottom layer, then put the cake back together. Frost the cake and garnish with chocolate shavings, extra cake crumbs, OR...

Sprinkle a little cocoa powder over the top of the cake. Using your finger, swirl the powder into the  frosting. It will have a marbled effect.

Arrange the cherries on top of the cake. Enjoy.

Chicken Quesadillas

If you haven't noticed, I love bread and cheese. The classic quesadilla is easy to make and requires very few ingredients. You can make restaurant style quesadillas at home by following a few simple steps.

Chicken Quesadillas (serves 4)

1 lb chicken breast
1 clove garlic
1 tsp salt
8 small or 4 medium flour or corn tortillas
2 Tbsp butter (divided)
1 cup of your favorite shredded cheese
Quesadilla sauce, recipe follows






First, boil your chicken breast with a crushed garlic clove and 1 tsp salt for 35-40 minutes. Allow chicken to cool, then shred it.
Preheat oven to 400 and prepare a large baking dish.
Heat a small skillet. For each quesadilla, melt 1/4 Tbsp of butter in the hot pan. Add a tortilla. Pile on 1/8 cup shredded chicken and 1/8 cup cheese, followed by a generous spoonful of special sauce. Fold over. Cook for 30 seconds on each side, then transfer to the prepared baking dish. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then serve with your favorite toppings; sour cream, guacamole, salsa, extra special sauce, anything you like.

Special quesadilla sauce:

This sauce is a very close clone to the sauce on Taco Bell's quesadillas. Enjoy. :)

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp brine from a jar of jalapenos
3/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp garlic salt

Stir until combined and try not to eat the whole thing like pudding.