Recipe Review from 12/28/2015

This will be the wrap up recipes for 2015.  Despite not being in the house for nearly three months during the remodel, then trying to move back in (which was harder than I anticipated), and my several weeks of vacation in August, we did pretty good in the new recipe department.  Only a handful of recipes bombed, several stand outs, and lots of yummy meals in between.  

Wine Grapes, Corvallis, OR

This last week of the year the Husband was in charge of the weekday Menu:
Sat (L) Miso Soup
Sun: (L) leftover Christmas dinner  (S) leftover miso soup
Mon: (yoga)  leftover Chicken Quinoa Enchiladas
Tues:  Slow cooked Irish Coddle
Wed: leftovers
Thurs: (NYE get-together at friends)
Fri: salmon and veggies
Sat: (L) leftovers  (S)  afternoon wedding

Lunches - Husband had sandwiches; I had fried rice. 


Miso Soup (Steamy Kitchen via Pinterest)  gluten free, vegetarian** if consume fish

I had been craving miso soup, and I know it's pretty simple to make, but of course I had to make it more complicated but it really wasn't my fault!!  Co-op doesn't carry instant dashi.  ((grumble))  But, a very helpful fellow at the co-op looked up what I would need to make my own dashi broth (below), and it was simple enough that I plowed ahead.

The homemade dashi stock and the miso recipe liquid amounts don't quite match, so I reduced the miso quantities accordingly.  This made enough for lunch for two, and leftovers for one.

I skipped the dried wakambe (sp?) seaweed because it's not necessarily my favorite and after buying the kombu for the stock, I decided one seaweed in the cupboard was plenty.

End result?  Tasted just like what I get in the restaurant, perhaps a bit blander.  I added a plop of siracha sauce to my last bowl.  Sacrilege, I know, but hey, it added a little bit of zing!   Perfect for a chilly day.  I do believe I'm going to try and find some instant dashi so I can make this again.  Miso soup really is that simple. 

photo from Steamy Kitchen blog

Authors notes:  This miso soup recipe can be made in 10 minutes! Remember, you don't want to boil the miso paste -- add it at the end with the heat off to avoid a gritty texture.

8 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons instant dashi granules 
1/4 cup miso paste
1 tablespoon dried seaweed (for miso soup), soaked in water I skipped...just,cause.
1/2 cup cubed tofu 
2 tablespoons chopped green onion

1. Pour the water into a pot and bring to a boil. Add the instant dashi and whisk to dissolve. Turn the heat to medium-low and add the tofu. Drain the seaweed and add the seaweed to the pot. Simmer for 2 minutes.

2. In the meatime, Spoon the miso paste into a bowl. Ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot dashi broth into a bowl and whisk with chopsticks or a whisk to mix and melt the miso paste so that it becomes a smooth mixture.

3. Turn the heat off, add the miso paste to the pot and stir well. Taste the soup - if it needs more flavor, whisk in another tablespoon or two of miso paste. Top with green onions and serve immediately.



Homemade Dashi: 

Makes 6 cups

1 (6-inch) piece kombu (dried kelp), wiped lightly with damp cloth*

2 (5-gram) packages (about 1 cup) katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)*

*available at Asian markets or maybe your co-op. 

1. In large saucepan over moderately high heat, combine 6 1/2 cups cold water and kombu. Bring to boil, then remove and discard kombu. Remove pan from heat and stir in bonito flakes. Cover pan and let steep 3 minutes.
2. Strain stock through cheesecloth-lined sieve into large bowl. Use immediately or cool, uncovered, then refrigerate, covered, up to 1 week. 

Slow Cooked Dublin Coddle  (Cooking in Bliss Blog)  gluten free
The Husband picked and assembled this dish.  His one complaint was he didn't realize how much pre-sauteing there would be.  Bacon had to be fried, sausages had to be fried, onions had to be sauteed.  Add in a mid-assembly slow-cooker switch (needed the bigger one) and he was a bit frustrated.

We use a local "organic" bacon, which tends to render a lot of fat.  The Husband noted that he should have drained off some of the bacon fat before frying the onions.  I suggested he could have baked the bacon in the oven, then used just a tbsp to fry the onions and sausages.   He also noted, that he thinks using something like Canadian Bacon would add flavor but less fat.  Might be worth considering.

So, other than the excessive bacon grease, this was a pretty tasty dish.  Serve along side some nice crusty bread to mop up the juices, and add a salad for some greens.   

Photo from Cooking in Bliss Blog

• 6 Sausages (preferably Irish Sausage)  We used polish sausage
• 9 strips of Bacon (thick slices) 
• 6 large potatoes
• 2 large carrots
• 2 medium onions
• 1 beef stock cube  We used 1 cup beef stock

Instructions

1. Add 1 cup of water to your crock pot and turn it on high. Drop in the beef stock cube and stir until it dissolves.
2. Chop your bacon and fry it in a large skillet.
3. Slice the sausage how you would prefer – in half or 4’s. Add the sausage to the frying bacon.
4. Cut your onions into rounds and add them into the sausage and bacon; fry until translucent.
5. Peel, rinse and cut your potatoes into large chunks. Cut up your carrots.
6. Once the meat and onions are through cooking add them into the crock pot. Top with the potatoes and carrots.
7. Put the lid on the crock pot and cook at high (4 hours) or low setting (8 hours) until done.