We haven't had a chance to go to the store in the past few days, so we're using up food we have left in the house. Tonight for dinner I made a dish that's supposed to use ground pork, but I used ground chicken instead. The chicken is cooked in spicy miso and served with tofu, topped with green onions. I also made some shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves) and a daikon salad. The daikon salad is the apple pickles with the apples taken out because my husband hated them. The quest for a savory dish with fruit in it that he enjoys continues...



Last night! Last night I made a dish I'm kind of proud of. It's a mix of Okinawan tacos rice and a doria, a Japanese dish that's kind of a rice casserole. I chopped up some chicken, garlic, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, black beans, and olives and sauteed them in a bit of olive oil. Then I added a bit of ketchup, and a powder tacos mix (from Trader Joe's, it was spicy and delicious!). Finally, I added maybe two cups of rice and some chicken broth and simmered it down. Then I scooped it into casserole dishes, topped it with cheese, and threw it in the oven. It came out wonderfully! Served with apple-daikon pickles and some green beans stir-fried with garlic and ginger.


The inside of the doria! Delicious!

The crisis in Japan is still ongoing, and if you're looking for a reliable way to help, I recommend either the Red Cross or the Japan Society. If you'd like to donate through a LGBTQ organization to make a donation and at the same time make governments aware of issues facing LGBTQ survivors, this might be a good place to donate. Even the smallest donation will make a big difference.

One of the challenges in cooking for my husband and I is the difference in our palates. It's not cultural, because I love Japanese food and will choose it over Western style cooking anytime I get the chance. It's simply that, like most men, my husband leans toward the salty and greasy end of cooking, and I love sweet food. I adore dinner dishes that incorporate fruit into the savory. I love pineapple on pizza. I love apples and pork. I saw a recipe for banana curry and was dying to try it, but my husband nixed that idea the first time I mentioned it. He hates fruit and sweetness in his dinners. I know this, and yet I still struggle to find a recipe that uses fruit that he likes. I haven't managed this yet. Last night's dinner was no exception.
I tried a recipe for daikon and apple pickles, from this book by Elizabeth Andoh that I highly recommend. I loved them! Sweet apple, tangy vinegar pickling liquid, crispy daikon... my husband was less enthusiastic, asking me, "Why do you have to put lemon and fruit in everything?" So... that's another dish that I'll occasionally make and force him to eat because it is good, just not to his taste.
I served the daikon-apple pickles with some miso-marinated chicken, and I also steamed some hakusai and topped it with a umeboshi sauce my husband loves. Of course he loves it, it's salty. But umeboshi is something we can compromise on...

American-style food

It's been over a week since the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the disaster is certainly far from over. I'm still having difficulty wrapping my head around it, and understanding what's really happening there. I can't even really comprehend what it's like for all my friends in Tokyo.
This is bringing back memories of the Kobe quake for my husband and in-laws, and I've been listening to their stories on top of watching the news about Sendai. I can't imagine what any of this is like.
As I said yesterday, if you're looking for a reliable way to help, I recommend either the Red Cross or the Japan Society. If you'd like to donate through a LGBTQ organization to make a donation and at the same time make governments aware of issues facing LGBTQ survivors, this might be a good place to donate. And, as always, keep up with the nuclear situation and its ramifications at the University of Chicago blog here. Even the smallest donation will make a big difference.

Our meal tonight was somewhat decadent, and I'm dealing with slight guilt issues over that now. Yet, we had to use what we had in our fridge. We went for a really stereotypically American feast tonight: a giant chunk of New York strip steak topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms, then further topped with crumbled Blue Stilton (the yummiest of cheeses) and scallions. I served it on a plate with a pile of garlic mashed potatoes, creamy and with more scallions whipped in.



For vegetables, I made simple beets--one of my favorite vegetables. My inability to buy beets last year in Japan was one of the few things I missed--I once paid a ridiculous price for a single beet there, but most of the time I couldn't even find them. I love beets, just blanched in water or even in a smoothie. They're so sweet and delicious, I think I could eat them every day. Anyway, I made sliced, blanched beets and a steamed cabbage salad for some greens. I topped the steamed cabbage with a bit of homemade aioli, which absolutely did not whip up right. That said, it was still flavorful and a nice dressing for the sweet, steamed cabbage.



We're back on more spartan rations tomorrow. Friends in Japan, the thoughts and love of both my husband and I are with you.

Japanese Disasters

It's been awhile since I posted. It's not that I haven't been cooking, but it's that the earthquake and tsunami in Japan have overwhelmed everything else. Luckily, our family is safe--I wish everyone could say the same. The scale of the tragedy is so hard to comprehend, especially from this distance.
If you're looking for a reliable way to help, I recommend either the Red Cross or the Japan Society. If you'd like to donate through a LGBTQ organization to make a donation and at the same time make governments aware of issues facing LGBTQ survivors, this might be a good place to donate.
Please, even the smallest amount will make a difference.
If you're interested in the nuclear situation, here's a blog I recommend about that. The University of Chicago had been planning a symposium on the Atomic Age on May 21, and unfortunately now we'll have even more to talk about there.

In the face of this, my blog seems silly and pointless. But I want to try and get back into a routine, so I'm posting tonight.
I made salmon tonight. Rather than cook it in the broiler, I slow-cooked it in the oven, which resulted in a juicy and perfectly cooked fish. I then topped it with some herb-garlic olive oil, which was nice, although I over-sauced it. It was still good.


I also made the grilled tomato topped with cheese again. That's always a hit, my husband really likes them, and when the tomato has a nice char they're quite good.


Finally, some grilled asparagus. I buttered the grill before I put them on, but I think they were OK. Not perfect. I'd like to try dry-grilling them next time but I'm worried they'd stick to the pan.


Overall, a fast meal done in less than half an hour. And fairly healthy too, despite all the olive oil I used.

I've got a big pot of chicken noodle soup bubbling on my stove. Part of this is in preparation for tomorrow, when I have a medical procedure scheduled. The doctors said I will probably be in pain tomorrow, and I've been nervous about it for awhile. So today has been full of nervousness, and now a bit of cooking for tomorrow.
But then! When I check my mail this afternoon, what did I have?!?
A wonderful package from a truly beautiful person in Japan.



My day is a little brighter, and tomorrow will be easier, because I have such wonderful friends.

Thank you.

Pizza!

Tonight: homemade pizza! I tried a new dough recipe, it was pretty good. I borrowed the pizza recipe from this website. In fact, that entire pizza looked so good, I used a Japanese satsuma-imo and reproduced it for myself:



A pizza topped with gruyere, pine nuts, satsuma-imo (sweet potatoes), garlic, fresh basil, and a bit of tomato sauce. It was pretty good. Served with cheesy brussels sprouts and sauteed daikon greens!