Month: February 2022

Hello Again!

Today we will be starting our in-depth dive into America’s favorite Japanese food: Sushi! Sushi is another one of my favorite foods, therefore I have made it a good amount and can say it’s interesting compared to other cooking methods. This is because the most time-consuming part isn’t even cooking anything, it’s mise en place ( preparation ), and assembling your prepared ingredients. Sushi is more dependent on your knife skills, food safety knowledge, and experience ( my first few rolls I made were horrendous, you really need to be careful! ) than any cooking skills. Today we’re doing to start with one of the most important parts of any good sushi, the rice. Next week we will go over toppings, fish types, and other ingredients. In our final week, we will go over different sushi types and how to assemble them. Let’s begin below with a basic sushi rice recipe to get you started, as well as a briefing on different types of sushi.

Note: This recipe is assuming you have a rice cooker, without one the rice cooking process is very difficult and I would not recommend it to beginners.

Ingredients

• 2 cups short-grain rice ( using sticky short-grain is important regarding the texture and structure of your sushi )
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 4 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt

Instructions

• Rinse your rice in a collander using cold water until it runs clear through the rice, to ensure no starches remain.
• Put the rinsed rice in your rice cooker and pour the water over it.
• Cook the rice for 30 minutes or following the instructions on your device.
• While the rice is cooking combine rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small bowl and stir with a mini-whisk or fork until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
• Add the seasoning mix directly to the rice after its done, and fluff to combine.
• Let the rice cool, then enjoy!

Sushi Styles/ Definitions

Maki Roll – The most famous type of sushi, classified as when raw fish or other ingredients is rolled up in nori seaweed ( usually using a bamboo rolling mat ) and sushi rice then cut into thick medalions.

Nigirizushi ( or nigiri ) – Another iconic type of sushi that is more simple and traditional than maki. Nigirizushi is classified as thinly cut slabs of fish formed over rice, and is hand made.

Sashimi – This isn’t technically sushi because it doesn’t include rice, but its often sold and prepared at sushi restaurants. Sashimi is essentially just slabs of assorted raw fish and seafood, usually served with soy sauce.

I hope you enjoyed our intro to the basics of sushi making, next week we will continue with fish types and various ingredients important to the preparation of a good sushi roll! Until next time, and as always happy cooking!

More Information on Sushi Types: https://delishably.com/meat-dishes/The-Different-Kinds-of-Sushi

Sushi Rice Recipe ( If you don’t have a rice cooker ): https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/sushi-rice/

Hello all!

This post will wrap up our pasta unit by going over some simple but effective ways to season your pasta! Whether that be prepping the dough or a simple sauce, I’ll show you some of my all-time favorite ways to make your already amazing pasta somehow more amazing. We’re going to start off from the last post assuming we have pasta dough ready and for the basic sauce even cooked noodles! That being said make sure you check out my last posts on making pasta dough and then cutting and cooking noodles. The first technique we will go over is laminating, the second is a dish called Spaghetti Aglio e Olio, a widely known traditional pasta dish known for its simplicity and utilization of inexpensive, readily available ingredients.

Lamination

Laminating dough is a super-easy way to make your pasta more interesting textually and flavor-wise. It is done by picking out a fresh herb of your choice ( today we’ll be using basil leaves ) and laying them out between 2 sheets of pasta. Instructions:

1. Begin with 2 sheets of pasta, with 1 side of each not floured.
2. Arrange a fresh herb of your choice on one side of either dough sheet, then place the other dough sheet sticky side down on top of the herb layer.
3. Run this “Pasta Sandwich” through the machine or roll it once more to seal the herbs into the dough.
4. Now that you have a sheet of usable pasta dough, you can make this herb-infused pasta into noodles, lasagna, or any shape or variant you choose.

Note: Cook the laminated pasta the same you would for the basic dough we made two weeks ago, and be prepared to blow your friends and family away with this amazing but easy trick! Next, I’ll cover one of my go-to easy but delicious recipes to flavor your spaghetti.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

This pasta dish is native to Naples, Italy, and is famous for its use of widely available, inexpensive ingredients. We will walk through the ingredients and instructions below to create this quick and tasty dish.

Ingredients

1-2 Cloves of Garlic, minced ( to taste )

1 Tsp Red Chili Flakes ( or more if desired )

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Fresh Parmesan Cheese, grated ( to taste )

Salt and Pepper ( to taste )

Instructions

1. In a large pan add the oil, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes.
2. Heat on medium until garlic starts to sizzle. Note: Adding the garlic and chili to the cold oil heats up the ingredients with the oil, preventing burning and infusing the oil with the flavors.
3. Using tongs after the garlic is golden brown, add cooked fresh spaghetti and toss to coat with the olive oil.
4. Let simmer with ingredients for a couple of minutes to incorperate the flavors but not overcook the pasta, then remove from heat.
5. Top with fresh grated parmesan to taste, salt, pepper, and enjoy!

I hope you find these fun and easy ways to spice up your pasta exciting and interesting! With our pasta unit coming to a close with this post, I want to say how much I enjoyed writing this pasta trilogy, as the food is so dear to me and I love making it. Thankfully, our next unit will be on Japanese Sushi, another food that I thoroughly enjoy and hope you will too! Thanks for following along with me, happy cooking, and I’ll see you next week!

Hello all!

Today’s post will be on one of the most simple yet favorite food dishes of all, pasta! Reigning from Italy and consisting of just flour and water, pasta has become an American favorite for tons of people, including myself. Pasta is one of my comfort foods, to eat and to cook. Making pasta from scratch is a labor of love, yet doing so is such a rewarding process and the final product is incomparable to box spaghetti. We’re going to cover a very basic pasta dough that you can shape and cook into anything you desire, or simply freeze and store for six to eight months!

Ingredients

• 1 Cup All Purpose Flour (or ’00’ Semolina Flour if you have it!)
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• Salt to Taste

Yup, that’s it!

Note: Semolina flour isn’t necessary, but is finer than all-purpose and therefore yields a silkier and more manageable dough. Also, the salt and olive oil are optional and based on taste, however, olive oil can help in the kneading process. For an easy gluten-free option, you can simply replace the all-purpose flour with almond flour at a 1:1 ratio. Different flours have different structures, so if you are using some other alternatives make sure you may need to add extra egg or flour to get the consistency right.

Instructions

1. In a large bowl or on a cutting board, create a well with flour by poking a hole inthe center where your eggs will go.
2. Add eggs, oil, and salt to the center and begin to slowly pull the flour into the center well from all sides using a fork.
3. Working slowly, being to stir with the fork until a shaggy dough forms, then go in with your hands!
4. Knead the dough thoroughly ( ≈ 10 minutes ) until everything is combines and you have a springy and smooth dough.
5. Place the dough in a bowl ( if not already ) and cover with plastic wrap to let rest, then, put the covered bowl in the refridgerator for 30 minutes to let the gluten relax and soften.

Note: Be sure to flour surfaces that the dough will be touching ( cutting board, bowl, etc. ) generously to make sure it doesn’t stick to anything!

Now that you have a cohesive dough ball, you can chop it or form it into whatever pasta shapes you desire! Specific techniques for shaping dough and pasta shapes will be released in my next blog post. However, if you have a machine, you can simply roll out the dough and run it through to create sheets, noodles, and more!

Thanks for Reading!

If you by any chance make spaghetti or fettuccini ( or any noodle variety ), you can follow one of my all-time favorite pasta recipes below. It was posted by the food magazine Bon Appétit, and developed by talented food writer Molly Baz.

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pasta-al-limone