Mock Nisshido Mochi Recipe

Does this chichi dango mochi look familiar? Okay, I put a tad bit too much katakuriko (potato starch) on it, but I think it looks almost like Nisshido's chichidango mochi.  

Regular red food coloring does not result in the bright fluorescent pink mochi that Nisshido sells. But Wilton's "Rose" color gel results in a nice pink colored mochi.

Here's the mochi prior to cooking it in the oven.
Here's the recipe that I used:
1 box (1lb) mochiko (rice flour)
2.5 cups +1 T granulated sugar
1 t. baking powder
3 cups water
1/2 can (~1 cup) coconut milk
1.5 t. vanilla extract
Rose colored gel

**Katakuriko (potato starch) for dusting and cutting the finished mochi.
Preheat the oven to 350F, grease a 9"x13: pan.

Mix all the wet ingredient (water, coconut milk, vanilla extract) together.  Add all the dry ingredients except for the katakuriko in to the wet ingredient and combine. Add colored gel until mixture is a dark pink color.

Pour mixture into pan, cover the pan with foil and then bake for 1 hour.

Cool mochi. Then cut mochi into desired piece size (I cut it into 1.5" by .75" pieces), and dust with potato starch.

**As a sidenote, I used a plastic knife to cut the mochi.  Not the disposable type, but a more heavy-duty plastic knife that doesn't cut a metal pan.

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip

I was pleasantly surprised when I came back from my work travels and saw the package containing the KC Masterpiece Buffalo Chicken sauce! Score! As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received the KC Masterpiece Buffalo sauce.

I was at a bar in Michigan a few months back and had this awesome spicy buffalo chicken dip. It was so good that I told Mike about it and told him, "I want to try to make this!"  I have never made buffalo sauce from scratch, so I was so excited when the buffalo sauce came in the mail!

This was my attempt at the dip.  It was pretty much a warm dip containing shredded chicken, buffalo sauce, seasonings, and cheese. 

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Dip
1/2 cup KC Masterpiece Buffalo Sauce
2 cups cooked Chicken (shredded)
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
Salt to taste (~1 tsp)

I was in a time crunch so I boiled some chicken tenders. I bet you could use canned chicken breast, although the texture of the chicken might be more fine and stringy. 

Pre-heat oven to 375F.

Beat cream cheese, ranch dressing, and Buffalo Sauce.
Fold in marinated shredded chicken. Spread mixture into a casserole dish or pan. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 in oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips, or warm bread.

We decided to serve this to some friends who came over for a "Settlers of Catan" game night.   Everyone really enjoyed the dip.  This recipe will definitely be placed in my "keeper" recipes book!

Simple Quick Dinner~Tofu Salad

Now with Mike and me working long hours every day, cooking is not as high a priority for us.  We end up eating quick meals a few times a week, frozen food once a week, and eating out once a week. I was fortunate to grow up in a home where my family ate home-cooked meals together at the dinner table with the TV turned off.  We always had a salad or some kind of fresh vegetable and for the most part ate healthy meals. That's why I crinkle my nose in disgust after I succumbed to the fact that the lack of time means that Mike sometimes eats lunchables and I eat lean cuisines or hot pockets for lunch. 
This is my attempt in making a healthy meal.

I put this together the other night and Mike was sweet and told me that this dish was pretty enough to serve at a party.  We ate this salad with the enoki mushroom and seaweed soup from the previous post. 

1 cucumber-thinly sliced
1 block soft tofu
1 can kogai-ajitsuke clams (in a sweet soy sauce)-do not drain
chopped green onion for garnish (optional)
soy sauce (optional for those who like more flavor)

Stack all the ingredients on top of each other and serve. 

What to do with Enoki Mushrooms

 Sometimes I wonder if people actually read my blog. I track the number of viewers on Google Analytics, but comments are quickest way I know that someone actually stopped by to read the post.  But then when I call some of my friends, we'll be having a conversation and they will casually bring up something I posted about.

 Hence, this post is dedicated to my sister.  She has set up her homepage to my blog because she's a nice sister and also so she can read about my cooking experiments.  The other day we were talking about her great deal 100 grams of enoki mushrooms for $0.33. That's pretty cheap. Being the younger sister I am, I burst her bubble and told her the asian market I shop at had that same special going on. 
My sister asked me how I usually cook my enoki mushrooms and I cook it in an Izakaya style with butter, garlic, salt and pepper. 

Here are my other enoki mushroom creations.

Simple soup (kind of tastes like nira soup)
Dried Seaweed
garlic
enoki mushrooms
hon-dashi -fish stock (same thing we use to make saimin broth)
Salt, pepper, soy sauce to taste.

Enoki mushroom, caramelized onion, mozzarella, and goat cheese flatbread pizza
Goat cheese or any kind of cheese you want
Garlic
Caramelized onions
Olive oil
Bought the flatbread for ~$5 at Sam's Club

Kay Reag, hope you enjoyed this mushroom post!

Beef Bourguignon

Watching "Julie and Julia" made me curious about this dish called beef bourguignon.  It sounded wonderful and I had to try it.  I searched online for a recipe and saw that Julia Child's original recipe required over 4 hours of cooking! I searched until I found a modified recipe which required only 2 hours of cook time and then modified it even more. I went grocery shopping and was going to purchase pearl onions and then thought, "I don't like pearl onions" so I didn't buy them.  If I had used this same philosophy with the wine, my beef bourguignon might have ended up as a stir-fry. 
I don't want to bore you with all the details, so long story short; I bought my ingredients and went home to cook the beef.

Here's the beef bourguignon simmering in my new dutch oven!  After it simmered for a total of 4 hours (the meat was tough after 2 hours, so I left it in the oven), I drained the liquid and made a sauce by reducing the liquids and adding a flour-butter paste. 

My final assessment, I do not think I would make it again.  Why? It took a lot more time (and dishes) than I expected, I do not care for the taste of wine, and I do not like stewed meat.   Mike rolled his eyes when I told him that.  He was like, "Hello, if you make a recipe named 'beef bourguignon' there will be beef and wine in it." I knew that, I just was curious if I could make it or not. 
Mike enjoyed the dish.  He said it was a bit more gourmet than the beef burgundy that he makes at home in which its more like a stew and there isn't a sauce to pour over the meat and vegetables. 

Matcha Green Tea Powder

Late last year a company called Matcha Source contacted me and asked if I would like a sample of green tea to try their product.  I jumped at the opportunity because I enjoy the taste of green tea and like to experiment with baked goods with an asian flair (incoporating green tea, azuki beans, yuzu, etc). 



I was sent a sample of their Gotcha Match Cafe Grade powder. The scientist in me tasted the powder straight and it had an authentic green tea flavor.   I then tried out Matcha Source's Chilled Green Tea Latte recipe and it was yummy! I did doctor it up with some splenda to give the latte a little bit more sweetness. 

Matcha Source also sent me a bodum frother so that I could froth milk for my green tea lattes. 



I have a little bit of matcha powder left and used it on my macarons (see previous post) and am debating what I want to do with the remaining powder. I was thinking about creating a Green Tea-rimisu (get it? tirimisu) and instead of soaking lady fingers in coffee, I'd soak them in green tea.  I can just imagine it now, a pastel green tiramisu with matcha powder dusted on the top layer of whipped cream. 

Smirnoff Summer Entertaining Extravaganza:Grown-Up Kids Party

We were lucky to have been selected to host a "Smirnoff Summer Entertaining Extravaganza" this past weekend. Much thanks to Foodbuzz and Smirnoff for sponsoring this event.

The theme of our party was a "Grown-Up Kids Party," which involved kids' food with an adult twist to them. These foods had a gourmet spin on them, but realistically, it meant that we included alcohol into these foods. A bunch of us Food Science graduate students had a great time chomping down on all the food and just hanging out.

The stars of our "Grown-Up Kids Party" Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade and Smirnoff Vodka Mojito. Prior to the event Aaron and I had a pre-party and sampled these drinks on the rocks for experimental purposes. After all, we needed to figure out how to best incorporate these beverages into our foods.
Extra Lime-y Mojito. See Recipe Below
Colorful Kiddie Fruit Punch (Melon Ball with Grenadine).
Slushy Mojito. Smirnoff Vodka Mojito Mix, Lime Juice, and Ice Blended. Our adult version of frozen slushes and icees.Outdoor Games and Grilling.
We began with the appetizers. As you can see, just like little kids, we all ignored the vegetable platter.
Warm Brie with Aaron's Homemade Sweet Cherry Jam in Puff Pastry. Any kid or adult cannot resist oozing melted cheese! This was soooo good.

Grown-Up Grilled Goat Cheese and Pesto Sandwiches (my personal favorite dish of the night) and our Mini-Hot Dog Bites which consisted of Little Smokies wrapped in Bacon and topped with Maple Syrup.Shrimp Cocktail Concoction (cream cheese covered with shrimp, and cajun cocktail sauce)
Smirnoff Mojito Marinated Shrimp Skewers with three kinds of Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade dipping sauces. We had a Black Peppercorn Parmigiano-Reggiano Dipping Sauce, a Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade Infused Sweet and Sour Sauce, and a Zesty Tuscan Lemonade Infused Sauce. Recipes are below.
I forgot to take a picture of the chicken skewers when they first came off the grill, so this is a picture of the remaining surviving chicken pieces. We also served the chicken with the dipping sauces.

Spiked Gummies. For the recipe, check out my previous post. Gummy colas soaked in rum (get it...Rum and Coke), and Gummy Bears soaked in Raspberry liquor and vodka.
Original Gummy Bear-->Drunken Gummy Bear

Guinness Chocolate Cake with Bailey's Cream Cheese Frosting. Even though we were all stuffed with all the other yummy food, we all found room in our stomachs to enjoy this decadent cake!

The party was a success! We all were able to enjoy our favorite kids foods with a grown-up spin to them.

RECIPES
Smirnoff Mojito Marinated Shrimp Skewers
Mojito Marinade
1 & 1/4 c. Smirnoff Mojito
5 Cloves Garlic-crush in garlic press
1 Serrano Chili-finely chopped
Juice of Two limes
1/2 c. Canola Oil
1 t. Ground Cumin
1/4 c. Red Onion-finely chopped
1/2 t. Salt

Marinade shrimp for approximately 30 minutes. Then thread onto presoaked (with water) skewers. Grill Shrimp.

Black Peppercorn Parmigiano-Reggiano Dipping Sauce
1/3 c. Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade
1 c. Mayonnaise
1/4 c. Buttermilk
1 T. Freshly Ground Peppercorns
1 t. Garlic Powder
1 t. Onion Powder
1/2 t. Garlic Salt
1 Egg Yolk
1/4 c. Canola Oil
1 T. Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend for a few seconds.

Zesty Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade Dipping Sauce
1/4 c. Smirnoff Tuscan Lemonade
1/2 c. Mayonnaise
1/4 c. Buttermilk
1/8 c. Red Onion-Roughly Chopped
2 Cloves Garlic
Salt to Taste (1/8 t.)

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend for a few seconds.

Extra Lime-y Mojito
1/2-1 c. Smirnoff Vodka Mojito
8 Mint Leaves-muddled
Juice of 1 Lime
2 T. Sugar
1/2 c. club soda
Handful of Ice Cubes


The aftermath of all the dishes we used!

Pom Wonderful~Layered Jello

Last week I received an email from Pom Wonderful asking if I wanted to be sent a sample of pomegranate juice. I was a bit skeptical because I started this blog for fun and have never been offered any food samples before. Plus there was no strings attached to the sample (i.e. no requirement to blog about the product).I'll be moving out of my apartment in a couple of months, so I figured that if I emailed the lady my address, so I figured that I wouldn't receive any spam mail. Plus I live in a secure apartment in which you need a keycard to enter. *yes, I am slightly paranoid when it comes to safety. I used to carry pepper spray, I've taken self-defense classes, and hold my keys a particular way when I walk home just in case I need to strike someone*

I digressed...so last Friday I was pleasantly surprised to find an 8-pack of pomegranate juice waiting for me when I arrived at home.

I was making rainbow jello for a party I attended, so I thought, "why not make pomegranate jello?"

Recipe
(9"x9" square pan)

Ingredients
Pomegranate jello
1/2 cup cold pomegranate juice
2 packets of Knox gelatin

1.5 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1. Gelatin Mixture-Stir in 2 packets of knox gelatin in 0.5 cups of cold pomegranate juice. Let sit for 5 minutes.

2. In a sauce pan, heat 1.5 cups pomegranate juice to a boil. Take off the heat and stir in 0.5 cups of sugar. Then stir in the gelatin and pomegranate juice mixture.

Cream jello
1/4 cup cold water
2 packets of Knox gelatin
3/4 cup water

1 can condensed milk
1 cup hot water

1. Gelatin Mixture-Stir in 2 packets of knox gelatin in 1/4 cup water. Let sit for 5 minutes.
2. In a bowl, mix together the condensed milk and 1 cup of hot water.
3. In a sauce pan, heat 3/4 cup water to a boil. Take off the heat and stir in the gelatin mixture. 4. Pour the hot water gelatin mixture into the condensed milk mixture and mix well.

Assembling the layered jello
1. Pour ~3/4 cup pomegranate mixture into the pan. Place in the refrigerator and let gelatin set for 15-20 minutes.
2. Pour ~3/4 cup cream mixture into the pan. Place in the refrigerator and let gelatin set for 15-20 minutes.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2, until you have 3 layers of pomegranate jello, and 2 layers of cream.
4. Cut into squares or rectangles and serve.

*side note* You will have extra cream jello mixture left, so you can pour it into a container and cut up and eat as a snack.