Sweet Simmered Kabocha recipe

What do I do with half a kabocha?

I used half of my kabocha for the nishime and half was left staring at me from the top shelf of my refrigerator. I didn't want to make it into soup - I wasn't in the mood for soup today.  Besides, the last time I made kabocha soup, Butterfly went from loving the soup to deciding she hated it. Kids!

So, I decided to make sweet simmered kabocha.  It's really easy to make (easy is always tops on my list!) You just scoop out the seeds from the pumpkin, cut it up into 1" chunks, pop it into the saucepan, pour in the water, sugar, and shoyu and then simmer until tender. The whole job takes about 1/2 hour.

Kabocha chunks

I didn't peel any of the skin off the kabocha before cooking it.  That was probably a mistake.  In the past I've peeled parts of the skin off and have had fine results.  This kabocha may have been sitting on my kitchen counter a little longer than it should have with resulting tough skin.  It's really not necessary to peel all the skin off this type of pumpkin. Of course, your milage may differ.

Finished dish: Sweet Simmered Kabocha

Sweet Simmered Kabocha

1/2 kabocha (1 lb.), seeds removed
1 cup water
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce

 Cut kabocha into about 1 inch cubes. Peel kabocha skin around the edges. Put water, sugar, soy sauce, and kabocha in a medium pot. Heat on high heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cover with lid. Simmer kabocha for about 15 minutes, or until the liquid is almost gone.

Nishime (Japanese Vegetable Stew) recipe

Wednesday was cause for celebration - my Saab (named Gwen) came home! She is running smoothly and happily. The gears shift easily. The engine purrs. AND I can get to places quickly again.

To celebrate I wanted to make nishime (Japanese vegetable stew.) I'd never made it before but I remembered Mama's version. Her nishime was one of the meals she made that I absolutely loved (there were several that made me want to throw up, but that's another story.) So, I had to try to reproduce it.

Preparing the vegetables take more time than cooking the meal. Peeling, chopping, slicing, and making matchsticks took me about 1 1/2 hours to do. The actual cooking time was only about 1/2 hour. So, the meal takes a short time to cook once you've got all the prep work out of the way.

I had far too many veggies for the size pan I had. I had to make a special trip just to buy a large stockpot. The enamel pot is hardly glamorous but it's functional and inexpensive and worked just fine.

I took some of the finished product over to Auntie's house. I called first to let her know I was bringing it. She said, "Nishime, humbug you know" (translation: You realize that nishime is a real pain to make, right?) I told her that, yes, nishime is humbug but I really love it and love to cook anyway, so it's okay. She called me the next day to tell me that she thought the stew was delicious. Yea, success!

Nishime (Japanese Vegetable Stew)

1 lb thinly sliced beef (or pork)
2 Tablespoons oil
7 cups water
2 packages Shiratake
2 36" Strips Nishime(not Dashi) Kombu(Kelp)
1 small daikon, cut into wedges (2 cups)
1 large carrot, cut into wedges
1 lotus root, peeled, quartered, and sliced
2 cans bamboo tips (takenoko), sliced lengthwise
2 stalks gobo, scraped with a spoon, placed in water, cut into matchsticks
12-15 Satoimo/Araimo/Dasheen(Japanese Taro), peeled and placed in water to cover
1/2 kabocha pumpkin, seeds scraped out, cut into cubes
1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, quartered if large
1 Cup Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Mirin
4 Tb Sake
1 Tsp salt
4 Cloves Garlic Minced

Wash kombu, and strip lengthwise if wider then 3 inches. Tie into knots at 2 inch intervals. Cut between the knots and soak in water for 20 minutes.

Heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and beef and saute until light brown in color.

Add water, all the vegetables (except shiitakes), sugar, sake, and mirin. Bring to a slow boil and cook for 15 minutes.

Add shiitakes, soy sauce, and salt and simmer 15 minutes, or until cooked. Taste and make adjustments to flavoring.

Note: A friend sent an email reminding me that I can get all the nishime vegetables pre-prepped in the frozen section of most groceries in areas with large Asian populations.  Yeah, you can use the frozen stuff but I'm a food snob in many ways and think that the frozen dasheen/araimo/sato imo has the consistency of wet sponge, but hey, that's just my mouth.  Mama thinks there's no difference.  My friend thinks there's no difference. Maybe I'm the weird one.  No matter.  Use the frozen veggies to save yourself a ton of time. But as for me and my household, we'll shop/chop/slice fresh.

Now and Later French Bread recipe

This is a great recipe that makes four small loaves of crusty French bread; one to bake right away and three to wrap up in the freezer to bake later. Each loaf is the perfect size for one meal serving four people. The frozen dough stays good for about 6 weeks; that's plenty of time to come up with 4 meals that would go well with hot bread.

Now and Later French Bread
Makes 4 loaves

7 to 8 cups flour
1 Tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3 Tablespoons yeast (3 packages)
3 Tablespoons butter, softened
2 1/2 cups very warm tap water
Cornmeal
Peanut oil
1 egg white, beaten
1 Tablespoon old water
Toasted sesame seeds OR poppy seeds

In a large bowl thoroughly mix 2 1/2 cups flour, salt, sugar and undissolved yeast. Add butter.

Gradually add tap water to dry ingredients and beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Add 1 cup flour. Beat at high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto lightly floured board; knead a few times to form a ball.

Divide into 4 pieces. Roll each into a 15 x 8-inch oblong. Roll up tightly as for jelly roll. Place on greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Brush with peanut oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Freeze until firm. Remove from baking sheet and wrap each with plastic wrap. Keep frozen up to 6 weeks.

Remove from freezer; place on ungreased baking sheets, cornmeal side down. Let stand, covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature until fully thawed, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Let rise i warm place, free from draft, until more than double in bulk, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

This is the result when you can't fit a cookie sheet in the freezer to rest the dough on. It'll be fine when it thaws.

Gently brush with combined egg white and cold water. Sprinkle with the seeds. Bake at 450F 20 to 25 minutes, or until done. Remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

Curried Zucchini Soup recipe

Yesterday was a "need to create something" type of day. I was upset about my car needing more work at the shop, frustrated about not having a "real" job that brings in a living wage, and mildly depressed by the too-many-days-of-overcast weather. So I cooked.

I started out with Spicy Zucchini Soup from Simply Recipes.  I soon realized that without the chicken or vegetable broth called for in the recipe, the soup was going to have a rather bland ending.

Looking through my rather bare cupboards, I spied a can of coconut milk. That ingredient sent my mind heading off into visions of curry. After I'd pureed the soup I wanted more "chew", so I added frozen corn and broccoli. Those additions made for a comforting soup. Butterfly even went back for seconds. Nice.

Curried Zucchini Soup

4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 serrano chili (seeds, stems and ribs removed), chopped
3 cloves garlic
2 pounds chopped zucchini (skin on)
1 1/2 cups chopped day-old bread
3 cups water
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup sake, or white wine (optional)
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 cups frozen corn
4 cups frozen broccoli pieces
salt to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and serrano chile and saute for 4-5 minutes until the onions are translucent, but not browned. Add the garlic and zucchini and saute for another 3-4 minutes stirring often.

Add the bread, water, coconut milk, sake, liquid smoke, and soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Add salt to taste. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat. Puree in a blender or use an immersion blender until the soup is as smooth as you want it.

Return the soup to the pot. Add the curry powder, cumin and white pepper. Mix in the seasonings and adjust them to your taste.

Add the corn and broccoli. Heat through.

Serves 4-6

5 Bean Salad recipe

I love beans.  I love the colors, the varieties, the unique patterns, the different tastes; pretty much everything there is to beans.  And I especially love the fact that they are an inexpensive protein.

I've been wanting a good bean salad for several days now and finally decided to take the time to make one.  I sorted through my collection of bean packages, selected the ones that I thought would make a pretty salad, and set the beans to soaking overnight.

 They make a pretty picture, don't they?

The tedious part was just boiling the different beans for long enough to make them tender. Since I don't own 5 small pots I had to do this in stages. You can save time by just purchasing 5 cans of different varieties of beans, but I have more time than money right now, so starting with dried beans was my preferred method.

This recipe is pretty forgiving. You choose your bean varieties, decide which veggies you want to include, mix up the dressing and combine everything.

5 Bean Salad
The Beans
5 different varieties of beans (I used garbanzo, pinks, pinto, kidney, and black-eyed peas)
Either use 5 cans of beans OR 3/4 cup of each dried bean variety
If you use dried beans, soak them in water to cover for at least 4 hours or overnight. After they've soaked, boil each variety separately until the beans are tender.

The Vegetables
You can choose whatever veggies appeal to you. I think sliced radishes would be a very nice addition but I didn't have any on hand so I used these:

1/2 onion, minced
1/2 green pepper, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, peeled and minced

The Dressing
1 cup vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Mix everything together. Refrigerate for several hours.

Yum!

Needing Validation

Installed Saab clutch

What's with all the problems with my clutch? My car went into the shop exactly three weeks ago with a dead clutch. I got the news tonight that the newly installed clutch is "dragging" and is "not right". Aaaarrrggg!!!!!

An after-market clutch had been installed. I have no problem with after-market car parts; they save money and normally work just fine. This time though...

Apparently, my '96 Saab can have one of two different clutches, depending on the engine number. One of those clutches is here on the island, the other has to be ordered from the mainland. IF the on-island clutch is the correct one, then I MIGHT get my car back tomorrow. If it has to be ordered from the mainland, it'll be ANOTHER week before I get it back.

Well, I'll get it back if the flywheel isn't causing the dragging. It looks like my flywheel had suffered heat damage from the previous owner's bad driving habits of peeling out from a dead stop and who knows what other horrors he performed on my poor Gwen. Normally only minuscule shaving has to be done to recondition the flywheel, but in this case, because of the pitting from the heat damage, much deeper shaving had to be done. There's the possibility that I'll need another flywheel... That means more time, more money, more delays. Aaarrrggg!!!

Only Son and daughter-in-law are on island right now visiting prior to their friend's wedding. I WAS going to let them use my car while here but I have to have a working car in my possession first.

I called Oldest Daughter to cry on her shoulder. She listened sympathetically, tut-tutted and said all the right words. I just needed some validation of my frustrations to start feeling better.

We all need validation of our feelings. This video is one of the best one's out there that shows the importance of validation in our lives. I hope you enjoy it.

Oh, and wish me luck in quickly resolving the car issues.

The Road to Happiness

I have a lot of blog postings, advertisements, quotes, and the like coming into my email inbox every day. I'm becoming disillusioned with the so-called encouragement messages on "How to Avoid Stress", "Make 1000s Weekly Online", "You've Been Selected", "Changing Your Life is as Easy as Breathing" and on and on ad nauseum. ALL of them involve spending my money to purchase something that will make THEIR lives better!

There's a sucker born every minute!

Yes, I realize that I'm SUPPOSED to look at them as services that I'd pay for to enhance my life, but I'm feeling really jaded right now about all the ads. They all boil down to requests for money. For money I don't have.

So many of these ads state that they'll help me make a fortune if I purchase their scheme for ONLY a small amount of money. Then when I look further into the mail, the initial small amount has much, much larger amounts piggy-backed on for enhanced services that will make it easier for me to accrue those fortunes. Seems to me that the only people making the fortunes are the ones selling the services.

I hit upon an interesting discovery last week. I'd purchased a chocolate candy bar and left it in my bag as I worked at the commissary. I found that the other candies weren't interesting because I already had candy that I could eat anytime I felt like it. It made me realize that I stop desiring things when I feel like I have enough. Funny how the "I have what I want" feeling translates to "I have enough" and "I have everything I need".  I want to get to the point where I feel like I have "enough" in my life and these silly advertisements are simply adding to my frustrations.

Prosperity is right around the bend

I'm sure those ads appeal to many people. They just irritate me so I'm apparently the wrong audience. Cure: unsubscribe to ALL of them.  I've done this in the past and somehow they've proliferated again.

I think the cure for the "wanting" that I have is making enough money to live comfortably. A friend has said that he's positive that everything I've ever wanted is right around the bend. Nice thought that I'm  hanging on to. In the meantime, I'm attracting hypnotherapy clients. Yea!  It's a start!

Sourdough Pigs in Blankets reipe

Butterfly is going through a growth spurt. She is ravenous multiple times each day and is consuming teenage-boy amounts of food. Trying to keep her slender body fueled is a challenge.

I was given three packages of hot dogs. Yeah, I know, hot dogs are on the low end of anything remotely nutritious, but hey, I was given these things and on my cash-strapped budget any food gift is vastly appreciated. And Butterfly loves them.

So, what to do with these things?

I was flipping through my sourdough cookbook (I'd already made the starter for pancakes) and came across the perfect recipe: "Frankfurters in Sourdough Buns". We just call them pigs in blankets.

This recipe makes 2 dozen little piggies which I put on two cookie sheets. I left the first sheet in the oven 5 minutes too long and they came out a little browner than I'd have liked. As I lifted the sheet out of the oven, the buns slid forward and a couple fell off the sheet onto the electric element. I wish I'd had my camera handy to photograph the splendid buns_on_fire to show you what NOT to do, but my adrenaline was up a little too high and those fiery buns ended up floating in the dish water in the sink. So sad.

The second sheet of buns came out perfectly, so those are the photos you get.

Basic Sourdough Starter
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast (1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups warm water

In a 4- or 6-cup plastic pitcher with a strainer in lad or in a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Beat with a wooden or plastic spoon. Fermentation will dissolve small lumps. Cover pitcher with lid turning strainer in lid to pouring lip. Cover bowl with a cloth. Set in a warm place free from drafts. Let ferment 2 to 3 days Stir mixture several times each day.
To use, remove starter needed for recipe. Refrigerate remaining starter in pitcher or in a plastic container with lid that has an air vent or hole in it. Label container with contents. Replenish every 7 to 10 days by stirring in equal amounts of water and all-purpose flour. After replenishing, let stand at room temperature overnight. Return to refrigerator. If a clear liquid forms on top, stir back into starter. Makes 3 to 4 cups.

Sourdough Pigs in Blankets
3/4 cup hot water
3 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup warm water
2 envelopes active dry yeast (2 tablespoons)
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 egg, beaten
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
24 hotdogs
2 tablespoons butter, melted

In a small bowl, combine 3/4 cup hot water, shortening, sugar and salt. Stir until shortening is melted. Set aside to cool. Warm a large bowl. Pour 1 cup warm water into warmed bowl. Sprinkle yeast over warm water. Set aside to soften 5 minutes. Stir in cooled sugar mixture, sourdough starter and egg until blended. Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Clean and grease bowl; set aside. Knead dough 8 to 10 minutes for until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if necessary. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all sides.. Cover with a cloth and set in a warm place free from drafts. Let rise 1 to 2 hours or until almost doubled in size.

Grease 2 large baking sheets; set aside. Punch down dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 24 equal pieces. Roll or pat each piece into a 7" x 3" rectangle. Top each with 1 hotdog. Wrap dough around hotdog, covering completely. Pinch edges to seal. Arrange wrapped hotdogs on prepared baking sheets. Cover with a cloth and set i a warm place free from drafts. Let rise 45 minutes or until double in size.
Preheat oven to 400F. Bake hot dogs 20 to 25 minutes or until buns are golden brown. Remove from oven. Brush with melted butter. Serve immediately or cool on rack.  
To refrigerate or freeze: Wrap 4 cooled buns airtight in foil or place in a container with a tight-fitting lid, making as many packages as desired. Refrigerate or freeze packaged buns. Store in refrigerator 5 days. Store in freezer about 5 months. To serve, preheat over to 400F.  Bake refrigerated buns 10 to 15 minutes and frozen buns 20 to 25 minutes or until hot in center. Makes 24 servings.

Recipe from Sourdough Cookery by Rita Davenport

Chocolate Sheetcake recipe

My car being in the shop translates to much longer commute times on the bus. That means less time to get things done around the house and it also means less money coming in because I can't physically get to one of the jobs anymore. All of that equals much more stress. Stress around here means chocolate. Pretty much NOT the healthiest way of handling stress, but I already get lots of exercise at work (read that as physical labor). And I WANT chocolate.

This recipe is from the archives of my LDS mother (I have a REALLY complicated genealogy). She was a wonderful cook who filled the house with cookies, cakes, pies and handmade candies. A true dynamo, she was my inspiration for the kind of homemaker I wanted to grow up to become.

This cake's really more like a brownie and the frosting is fudge-like. It's decadent and very yummy and EXACTLY what I need on this stress-filled day!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

½ c (1 stick) butter
1 c water
3 T cocoa
½ c shortening
2 c flour
2 c sugar
½ c buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp soda
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat 350° oven. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch cake pan.
Place the butter, water, cocoa, and shortening in a small pot and boil. Set aside.
Mix the flour and sugar together; pour the cocoa mixture over them. Mix well. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into cake pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Frosting
½ c (1 stick) butter
3 T cocoa
6 T milk
1 box powdered sugar (that's equal to 1 lb OR 1/2 of a 2 lb bag)
1 tsp vanilla
½ c chopped pecans

Boil butter, cocoa and milk together. Pour over the powdered sugar. Mix in the vanilla and pecans. Spread over the hot cake.

Mmmmmmm, Butterfly and I licked the bowls of batter and frosting... DELICIOUS!!!

Honey White Bread recipe

I returned from my vacation in Utah to a dead car; the clutch in the Saab had exploded and needed to be replaced. The problem with European cars in Hawaii is a lack of locally available parts, so all parts must be ordered from the mainland. The car's been in the shop for two weeks now; maybe I'll get it back by the end of next week.

In the meantime, I've been taking the bus to work. That simple little change has added an additional 4 hours a day to my commute time. That's time I would have normally been spending working on this blog and doing any number of other interesting things.

The lack of car has meant that I can't work at the Hickham commissary because I can no longer get on base. That means a cut in pay in an already meager existence.

So, in spite of lack of time, I'm now making as many things from scratch as possible; bread for instance. It's a good thing I used to make bread from scratch all the time (back when I was a stay at home housewife and could afford the luxury of making EVERYTHING from basic ingredients.)

I developed this recipe in that long ago time. It makes 5 loaves of heavenly white bread. It's delicious hot out of the oven slathered with real butter and honey.

Honey White Bread

½ cup honey
1/3 cup oil
2 Tablespoons salt
7 cups warm milk
2 Tablespoons yeast (2 pkg)
12 or more cups of flour

Mix everything but the flour together. Add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Place in oiled bowl. Cover. Let rise until doubled (around 2 hours)

Divide into 5 equal pieces. Form into loaves and place in oiled bread pans. Cover with a towel and again allow to rise until doubled.

Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until tops of loaves are browned. Oil the tops of the loaves. Remove from bread pans and cool on wire racks.