Recipe #7: Cole Slaw

A southern favorite, but not my favorite until I tried some of Will's mom's Cole Slaw! Now I willingly eat it. :)
I decided to make it because I had half a bag of shredded cabbage left after making yakisoba last night! Too often it goes to waste, but not this time! :)
Here is the recipe:

1/2 head of cabbage
4 carrots
(or use the handy bag of shredded cabbage and carrots!)
pickle slices 2 or 3
salt and pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup pickle juice or vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil

• Chop up carrots and cabbage in a bowl....or pour mix out of bag and into bowl! :)
• In another small bowl whisk together the mayo, pickle juice/vinegar, and olive oil
• Pour over the cabbage and mix together
• Enjoy! 

Katie's Cooking Essentials

Everybody is different in their "must haves" for the kitchen. And all though my cupboards are full of random things, there are a few things that I use on a regular basis.

1. KitchenAid mixer. I love it, and is perfect for so many things!
2. Rice cooker. Mine came straight from Japan, and makes perfect rice every time!
3. A deep dish skillet with lid. I think if this is the only pan I had, I would be fine, I use it for anything and everything!
4. Wooden spoons. Not those rounded top ones, but the flat top that are perfect for mixing up anything, sauteing etc.
5. Silicone bakeware. The ones I have are great. My loaf pans work so well.
6. Two round cake pans. You can use them to bake layered cakes or for quiches! :)
7. A grill, who wants a hot kitchen in the summer?!

and that is all I can think of for now....as other stuff comes to mind I will add, but really, I think i could live with just these things.

Also the most essential place: an Asian food store! Unfortunately my favorite one is Hmart, all the way in Atlanta, but any little whole in the wall place is great, they just tend to be more expensive. And thankfully you can find Japanese rice in almost any grocery store now, just look in the Asian section.

Those are the essentials, but it is the little things that make cooking and eating fun, for example, my cute ohashioki (chopstick rests)...The little things that make me smile.

Recipe #6: Yakisoba

Yakisoba, a favorite of mine of Japan that quickly became a favorite from Will's too! This is an easy recipe, thanks in part that the noodles and seasoning come in a handy little packet like this

This is not the normal kind I get but H-mart was out so I settled on this one!

You will need the following ingredients:

Cabbage

Carrots 

(skip the step of cutting them up by buying a cole slaw mix instead!) 

Bean Sprouts are great too

chicken, cut into small pieces

yakisoba packet

In a deep skillet or wok, stir fry up the veggies first, put to the side

Add the chicken and cook until done. While meat is cooking make sure the noodle packets are open and ready to go in!

Add the veggies back in.

Pull the noodles apart and add to the pan, and pour in a little water to loosen up noodles,

Add the seasoning packets and mix together!

Enjoy!

Recipes #4 and #5: Grilled Veggies and Hamburgers!

Hot, sunny, summer days = the need to grill in the Plunkett household! Will does most of the actual grilling, while I do some of the set up, however today he took total charge of the burgers and they were AMAZING!

But first, the veggies. Today we only did onions and potatoes, but if I have it on hand, we have probably tried it on the grill at some time or another!

Cut up the veggies, I usually do the potatoes and onions in thin round slices. I put each vegetable in its own ziploc, add a little olive oil and then whatever herbs I want. My go to is always rosemary and I picked some from the bush in my yard to add in. I have used thyme or dill with onions before, that was good too. When I do mushrooms I usually drizzle soy sauce on them instead of olive oil and add sesame seeds. That is pretty good! Green peppers are great too. Corn on the cob is fabulous, just put a little butter on it before grilling. Asparagus is also great!
Be sure to get a grill pan so nothing falls through. Grill until they are soft or burnt to your liking! :)

Next recipe, Will's amazing hamburgers. This is your basic burger, done to perfection!

• Get your ground beef out. shape to the size of your your choice. 
• Once they are all shaped, make a little well in the top of each burger. 
• Will added some salt, pepper, olive oil, and seasoning to the well. (We use Webers gourmet burger seasoning, when that finishes we will probably try out some other seasonings, but that is delicious!) 
• Stick on the grill at about 450 for about 4-5 and flipped them, then continue flipping them every so often until they are nice and done!

It was WONDERFUL! 

Recipe #3: Boule Bread

Will grew up in Italy and bread as we know it in the states didn't really exist, instead, they feasted on the delicious heavy crusted bread and baguettes, both of which tend to be overpriced in the average american supermarkets. So when I happened across the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day in my mom's house and instantly was curious to find out if it was really that easy. The authors, Hertzberg and Francois, worked long and hard to make the recipe simple and I appreciate their troubles!

This recipe is only one of many in the book and I look forward to trying more. Of course mine doesn't turn out like the pictures, but I don't have all the great equipment either, if it seems like this is something we will start making often I might invest in some stuff, but no point in filling up the kitchen cupboards with more stuff that I won't use! :)

the recipe is simple:
3 cups lukewarm water
1.5 Tbsp yeast
1.5 Tbsp kosher salt
6.5 cups flour Do not pat the flour down, just "scoop and sweep"

• First mix the yeast and salt in the water. You don't need to make it dissolve completely.
• Add the flour, I used the dough hook on my mixer, but a wooden spoon would work great too. Mix until everything is evenly moistened
• Then cover with a lid and let it rise. I waited about 2 hours. It probably would have been better to wait a little longer, but I was a little eager! Make sure you have a big container! I picked one i thought would be too big, but it turned out to be just the right size!  
• Cut off a piece of the dough, about a 1lb worth. The authors compared it to a grapefruit.
• (The rest of the dough can go in the fridge, and will last for the next two weeks, homemade bread everyday? yes please!)
• make sure your hands are floured so it is not too sticky, and then pull at the sides a bit and turn it under to make the nice little ball shape. 
• Let it sit for about an hour. after about 20 minutes, preheat the oven to 450. I just used a cookie sheet for this time and i went ahead and put it in so it would be warm. Also add a little container for water. 
• Before putting the bread in the oven flour the top and cut some slits in it. i did the tic-tac-toe pattern. 
• Add a cup of water to the container so that the bread can steam, I guess it helps with the crust. 
• anyways, 30 minutes later I pulled it out of the oven! 

we devoured it with some rosemary and pepper olive oil dipping sauce! It was really delicious! Nice crackly crust and soft in the middle! I couldn't even wait for it to cool all the way I was so curious to eat some!

If you want to try the recipe I would definitely check out the book because they give a lot more tips on how to make it work so easily! I think I want to get their companion book Healthy Breads in Five Minutes a Day. If I am going to eat this much yummy bread, it might be nice to use some whole grains! :) 

But in the meantime, I will enjoy making a loaf whenever because there is enough for another 3 loaves! So easy and so fabulous!

Recipe #2: Hamburger and Rice

* This post was interrupted by a severe thunderstorm in which we lost power! But now I am up insanely early because it is the last day of school and I can hardly contain my excitement! :)

Some meals remind you of days long ago and this is definitely one of them! An easy meal my mom would fix in Japan when my dad would have to head out the door for English class just as we would be arriving home from volleyball practice, or whatever sport it was. It really takes only about 15 minutes hands on time and is a favorite in our house!

• Put on a pot of rice. I use a rice cooker, rice is not rice unless it is made in a rice cooker! I made about 3 cups today.
• While the rice is going, brown some ground beef, or ground turkey. about a pound. 
• Once the rice and the meat are done mix together over really low heat (you don't even need heat on, I just do it to makes sure everything stays warm!) 
• Add some soy sauce, about a 1/4 of a cup i would say... I really don't measure I just pour some in and stop when some rice is brown and other is white! ha, what an exact measurement that is! :) definitely not too much so that it is too wet.
• you can either stop at that, or in the last several years, i have loved adding a little bit of sesame oil, add just a bit to give it a great taste!

Of course this meal is not complete without green beans or corn as a side veggie. In my mind it has to be one of those vegetables, most likely because that is what my mom usually had with it. It is one of the only meals though where i am willing to eat the food together. 

I have to admit, I am more in to food presentation than what you see here, but what you don't see in the picture is the shopping list to the right and Will feeding Alex to the left. Also, Alex trying to reach out and grab my plate on more than one occasion! 

It has begun!

I realized that I picked the worst week ever to start my mission to try a new recipe everyday! School is ending and with that comes end of year events, catching up on things at home, and hoping to have an evening out with Will, I realized there wasn't much time left to try new recipes! Oh well, we will see how things go-- I have some recipes to try that I am pretty excited about!
Anyways, today I decided to do a recent favorite that takes about 10 minutes hands on time...QUICHE! Quiche used to seem quite involved. My mom made it only on special occasions. Now I realize that its because the crust was so involved! I originally found this recipe that kind of got me rolling:     http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quiche-Lorraine-I/Detail.aspx but since I didn't have all of the ingredients in my house, I improvised. Also Will is a carnivore and prefers meat to veggies. So this is my spin off on the original...

preheat oven to 425

1 refrigerated pie crust (those make my life so much easier!)
1 cup cheese...give or take, use whatever you have on hand
1 cupish bacon (fried) or any kind of cold cuts. i have used turkey, salami, ham, whatever is in the fridge!

put the pie crust in the pie plate and then put the cheese and meat inside.

in a small bowl, mix:
5-6 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (adds a nice kick!)
pepper to taste

pour the egg mixture into the pie shell stir it up a bit.
put in oven for 15 minutes. afterwards put temp down to 300 and bake for another 30 minutes.

In the meantime, you can wash the dishes or bathe your child, and then when it is done let it rest for 15 minutes or so. So it won't be so soggy.

Sometime I want to do two--a meatier one for Will and a veggie one for me. Spinach, onions, mushrooms, asparagus...the possibilities are endless... and so delicious!