the glimmering sesame

Sashimi platter for dinner

Squid/Ika, roe, octopus, tuna, and salmon sashimi served over a bed of shiso leaves, cucumbers, white turnip strands and turnip shoots/sprouts. Quick and easy to throw together if you have access to sushi-grade/safe to eat raw fish.

Cook some rice, through together a miso soup, and microwave up some frozen shumai or edamame, and you’re set for dinner!

Chicken Salad sandwich for lunch!

Chicken salad has to one of my top favorites of savory lunch sandwich fillings ever. I particularly like having a sweet and crunchy component to mine. So, I typically add toasted nuts (usually almonds) and for that sweet something, dried cranberries or golden raisins. Mustard (Dijon and whole grain), black pepper, salt, white wine vinegar, mayo, paprika, ground mustard, and a touch of honey rounds out my chicken salad mix.

Bread rolls (ie: Kaiser rolls) are a must for the perfect chicken sandwich sandwich. That, somesort of salad greens (pictured here is watercress, which is a bit bitter peppery), thin slices of onions, pickle spears, and chips complete the lunch set.

The boyfriend isn’t a fan of the sweet component I usually add in my chicken salad. I usually just add it in regardless and he would eat them regardless. However, after eating a few of my chicken salad sandwiches, the picky boyfriend caught on and grumpily requested that no golden raisins get mixed in. Boo…

For the chicken component, I usually poach bone-in chicken breast. If you can’t find skinless, bone-in breast, you can remove the skin over the poaching. An alternative is to bake the chicken breast, but I find that poaching is faster. I usually shred my chicken, but not in such thin shreds, because I just break down the chicken by hand. I would use cubed chicken breast for salads. In sandwiches, I find that cubed chicken breast has a harder time staying in the sandwich compared to shredded chicken.

Popovers: An easy, foolproof method that yields a savory or sweet popover.

I don’t have a popover pan, so I substituted my muffin pan. So, the shape isn’t as beautiful, but the muffin pan works just as fine. The popovers are just as light and fluffy in the inside, with eggy overtones and tender crisp on the outside.

Just be sure to follow the recipe directions, otherwise you’ll get sunken in, flat popovers. Remember, don’t open your oven door during the baking process! I just hovered around the oven window, peeking to see if they would inflate. I was so eggscited (eh, get it?) when they puffed up more than I had expected!

We ate these popovers with sausage, peppers, onions, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Other ideas for savory popovers: add some chopped herbs or shredded cheese to the batter. However, I’m quite sure these would be quite lovely for breakfast, snack, or tea time served with some butter and jam. This is a side dish item that can play both sides of the game, sweet or savory.

Recipe I followed: http://sugarandspice-celeste.blogspot.com/2010/04/foolproof-popovers.html

This cookie contains one of the world’s greatest ingredient combinations ever. Actually, it’s probably the ultimate combination of perfection. Chocolate, peanut butter, and banana… all rolled into one delicious chewy cookie! Doesn’t that sound delightful to you?

So, if you have any bananas that are about to go funky, instead of making banana bread, try making these. Especially if you live with one of those “I-won’t-eat-anything-with-cooked-bananas” people (*ahem* like I do, which is a travesty in itself), these cookies will definitely win them over. 

A chewy peanut butter, banana, & chocolate chip cookie. With a glass of milk, these cookies will blow your mind. So much for that diet… Well, at least you’re getting your daily intake of calcium and vitamin D with those accompanying glasses of milk!

Recipe: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/04/peanut-butter-banana-chocolate-chip-cookies/

A simple dinner of simply dressed baby lettuce greens, soft boiled egg, brie cheese, and sunflower wheat garlic toasts. The sunflower wheat bread and greens are from the local Farmers Market.

The perfect vinaigrette is based on the right ratio of ingredients. It’s usually 1 part mustard (an emulsifier which binds together the oil and acid parts), 1 part vinegar (an acid), and about 2 parts of extra virgin olive oil (fat/oil). This ratio makes it easy to manipulate the vinaigrette for your tastes.In the simple vinaigrette I made for this salad, it includes: dijion mustard, finely minced garlic, black pepper, salt, extra virgin olive oil, champagne vinegar, and a touch of honey.

To make garlic toast, just brush olive oil on bread and toast them. When they are finished toasting, take a clove of garlic and rub the clove on the toast. This is a fast way to make garlic toast. A lovely side to salads, pastas, stews, or soups to sop up those lovely sauces and juices. For a garlic-phobe boyfriend, this is one of his favorite things to eat with saucy dishes.

Fried Whole Shrimp

Whole shrimp can be intimidating with their shell and heads on. But, seriously, there’s so much flavor to be head with those shells on. If anything, do save the shells and heads for a flavorful stock. Though, fried shrimp heads are a true delicacy and you’re missing out if you haven’t tried it yet.

One thing that is extremely helpful when cleaning shell-on shrimp is kitchen shears/scissors. I have a pair that comes apart into two pieces that makes it easy for cleaning (sometimes things can get caught at the hinge). So I highly suggest investing in a pair.

Quickly dust in starch (not flour) and fry, fry, away in hot oil. Make sure you drain the fried yummies on a rack above a covered baking sheet. The rack allows for draining of the oil, but helps keep the items crisp. If you placed them directly on the covered sheet, the shrimp would steam themselves and the crispy exterior will get all soggy. Season with salt and pepper. Or, finish them off in the Chinese salt and pepper style with garlic, spicy peppers, and whatnot.

Homemade mango ice cream, made by hand without the need of an ice cream maker!

I used this recipe as the basis for my ice cream and made a few changes here and there: http://www.spicyicecream.com.au/2012/02/mango-and-saffron-swirl-ice-cream.html. My ice cream was just vanilla bean mango ice cream. In retrospect, I probably used have used more mangoes to get that rich color, but the flavor is quite nice. I was a bit skeptical since there was no need to churn it by hand or use a machine, but it was super easy to make.

Baja Shrimp and Fish Taco spread for an Anniversary dinner. Complete with chipotle yogurt sauce, pico de gallo, avocados, shredded red cabbage, jicama salad, plantains, and lime wedges.

Fit for a special dinner, plus many leftovers following that special occasion…

Bratwursts cooked in beer and onions served with mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, whole grain mustard and homemade red cabbage slaw. A simple dinner for a spring forward kinda day.

Mardi Gras King Cake!

My first time making brioche bread to use as the base for the king cake. I didn’t have any colored sugar, so I decided to color the glaze instead in the traditional colors (purple, yellow/gold, and green).

Gooey Chocolate Mini Cakes with Raspberries and Nutella!

Recipe: http://eatlittlebird.com/2012/02/19/gooey-chocolate-cakes-with-raspberries-nutella/

Steak sandwich done my way.

Sauteed onions, mushrooms, garlicky mayo, arugula, and sliced steak on bread. Have to say, a simple thing such as garlic mayo (mayo, garlic paste, and minced parsley) really makes the sandwich come together quite nicely.

Uni Ricebowl!!!!

Served with fresh shiso leaves (also known as perilla or sesame leaves), cucumber slices, and nori (not pictured). The purplely stuff sprinkled on the rice is dried purple shiso.

Caramel Crumb Bars

A definite hit with everyone and extremely simple to make!

Recipe: http://smells-like-home.com/2010/09/caramel-crumb-bars/