Okonomiyaki

These are Japanese cabbage pancakes that I gather are usually eaten as street food.  They're delicious--we eat them twice a month, probably, which is amazing since Mark hates eating things more than once. This recipe isn't mine originally--it comes from here, but I've made some changes so I'll post my version below.    Don't skip the bonito flakes--you can get them at Whole Foods or any Asian grocery store.  This feeds the two of us for dinner, and while it's slightly more than we need I wouldn't try to serve three without doubling.  Zach and David, you're SOL on the shrimp.  I'm not really sure what a good substitute would be--that crab stick stuff that has no crab in it? I might try chicken sausage, actually.  Pork would work, but that doesn't help much!

Sauce:
Mix mayonnaise, soy sauce and sriracha, to taste.  I usually start with about a third of a cup of mayo and go from there. Leftovers are great for dipping vegetables in.

Pancakes:
5 eggs
Glob of soy sauce
Glob of sesame oil
Salt
1/2 c flour (gluten free works great here)
Wedge of cabbage (maybe...1/5 - 1/6 of a normal size cabbage?) sliced as thin as you can get it. You want 2-3 c of cabbage, but I never measure.
Bunch of scallions (chopped finely--white and dark green parts), or an onion (sliced as thin as you can get)
1 c raw shrimp, chopped finely
Neutral Oil
bonito flakes

1.  Whisk the eggs, soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt
2. Whisk in the flour
3. Stir in the cabbage, scallions, and shrimp
4. Heat a large, non-stick pan over medium-high and add the oil. Cook the pancakes (I usually use the same measuring cup to scoop the batter.  Flatten the pancakes once they hit the pan so they're mostly even). Cook for about three minutes a side.
5. Serve by spreading pancakes with sauce and sprinkling with bonito flakes.  NOM.

Grav Lax

Many thanks to Zach for inviting me to contribute to this blog.

I'll start out with this recipe, which is currently in-process in my fridge.

Ingredients:

1 lb salmon fillet

2 tbs salt

2 tbs white sugar

2 tsp black pepper

fresh herbs (dill, tarragon, mint, etc.)

Ever wanted to cure salmon at home?  This is how to do it.

You need sushi-grade salmon to do this.  Ask at Whole Foods and they will bring it out from the back.  Or buy a share of a Community Supported Seafood (if you live in Philadelphia, we recommend Otolith)

1.  Defrost the fish, wash and dry it, and take out the bones (and de-scale if neccesary.

2.  Mix together the salt, sugar, and black pepper

3.  Put some plastic wrap down in a pan and then put the fish on top of it.

4.  Cover the fish with the mixture.

5.  Put the fresh herbs directly on top of it - no need to chop them or take them off of the stalks.  Dill is traditional, but I don't like it very much, so I've used mint and tarragon before with great success.  Reserve some for garnish.

6.  Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

7.  Forget about it for 48-72 hours.

8.  Take it out of the fridge, through out of the now-soggy herbs, and rinse off the fish.

9.  Using a sharp knife, slice it very thin.  Garnish with reserved herbs.

10.  Serve with crackers, crème fraîche, boiled potatoes, mustard, chopped onion, chopped hard boiled eggs, or whatever else you'd like.

David

(adapted from http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/132/Gravlax)

Hurricane Butternut Squash Soup

The name comes from the fact that I first made it during the hurricane in the fall. The soup is easy to make and really good.

Ingredients:

1 Onion

1 Butternut Squash (~2.5 lbs)

1 Clove of Garlic

4 Carrots

Chicken Stock

Olive Oil

Cumin

Salt

Pepper

Serving size:

~5 – 6 people

Instructions:

·         Chop onion, squash, garlic, and peeled carrots

·         In large pot, warm Olive Oil and add onion and garlic

·         Sauté until onion is translucent. (~5 minutes)

·         Add chopped butternut squash and chopped carrots.

·         Add Chicken Stock until vegetables are covered. This is about 2.75 small cans (~40 oz)

·         Add ½ TSP Cumin, ½ TSP Salt, ½ TSP Pepper

·         Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15- 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender

·         Remove from the heat and puree the soup using an immersion blender

·         Return to heat and add more spices to taste. For me, that was:

o   ½ TSP garlic powder

o   1/3 TSP Cumin

o   ¼ TSP Curry Powder depending on who is going to eat the soup

Oven pancakes

I've seen these called German or Dutch pancakes.  I call them "Ned's birthday pancakes" in honor of Yalie Kate/Ned O'Brien, who introduced me to them on her birthday.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
a pinch of salt
a pinch of vanilla extract
butter
lemon juice
confectionary sugar

Preheat oven and cast-iron skillet to 400 degrees. Beat eggs lightly in a bowl; add flour and stir until smooth. Add milk, salt, vanilla extract and mix together.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in the cast iron skillet, and add the whole mixture (if it's a large skillet) or half the mixture (if it's small or medium). Cook for 10-15 minutes, until it is puffy and the top is golden. Drizzle with lemon juice and sugar. Repeat if using small skillet. This serves two people (unless they're very hungry.)

Zucchini Pasta

This is a very simple but tasty recipe I swiped from my former Italian flatmate, who inherited it from his mother.

Ingredients:

1-2 onions chopped into thin slices
around 6 zucchinis chopped into thin slices
olive oil
dried thyme
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
pasta

Saute the onions for a few minutes in a generous amount of olive oil on medium heat, and then add all the chopped zucchinis. You'll need a big pan, but the zucchini will shrink, so don't be alarmed. Add salt, pepper, and lots of dried thyme, and cook for a long time, stirring occasionally. You want to cook it until the zucchini are falling apart and all mushy (not just sauteed) -- this will take at least 30 minutes. It gets a lot tastier once the zucchini are falling apart, so be patient!

Serve with pasta. Top with lots of parmesan and more olive oil if you're feeling Italian.