(no subject)
All the people I am meeting are speaking of MugenJou High.
Ban, Ginji and Envy (the young men I jsut cooked for) are all students there. Ban and Ginji are my age as well and will be graduating but I never needed school, nor went to it anyway. Besides, I doubt they want a pirate in there anyway.
So, how is MugenJou High then? Is it in need of a cooking teacher at all?...A second cooking teacher? A chef?
Well either way here is what Ban, Ginji, and Envy got to eat tonight:
Starters:
Shitake Mushrrom Dumplings
8 oz 230 g Pork, freshly ground
1 thumb 5 ml Ginger, grated
2 Garlic cloves, minced
3 Green onions, minced
3 tbsp 45 ml Peanut oil
4 oz 115 g Shitake mushrooms, minced
1 oz 30 g Dry wood ear mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup 60 ml Dry sherry
2-3 tbsp 30-45 ml Mushroom soy
16 Dumpling Wrappers
1 Egg white
Fry the onions, garlic, and ginger in the peanut oil until fragrant brown. Add the minced shitake mushrooms and cook until soft and golden. Rehydrate the wood ear mushrooms in the sherry by bringing both to a boil and then allowing them to soak until soft. Mix the pork and the egg white together, add in both the mushroom mixtures, and season with soy. Fill the dumpling wrappers with the pork mixture, and seal by pinching both the top and bottom edges with your fingers. Steam in a hot wok until the mixture is cooked. Serve with a sweet chili dipping sauce.
Japanese Octopus Salad Good to start off with the shitaki dumplings. The tastes compliment one another.
2 Octopus arm, cooked
1 Japanese cucumber, sliced with peeler
½ cup 125 ml Onion, sliced and soaked in water 5 min.
Japanese bonito tuna flakes
2 Tomato, blanched and sliced
1 Cherry blossom pickle
3 tbsp 45 ml Onion, minced
3 tbsp 45 ml Soy sauce
Japanese rice vinegar
3 tbsp 45 ml Sugar
3 tbsp 45 ml Sesame seeds, whole
3 tbsp 45 ml Sesame seeds, ground
Light sesame oil
3 tbsp 45 ml Dark sesame oil
3 tbsp 45 ml Daikon radish sprouts, cut in half
On an angle, slice 6-8 very thin slices from octopus arm. Combine onion and bonito. On a plate, arrange in order: tomatoes, onion mixture, cucumber, octopus slices. Add cherry blossom pickle on top. Whisk together minced onion, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds, and sesame oils. Drizzle over octopus. Garnish with radish sprouts.
Entrees:
Braised and Balsamic Glazed Eggplant
Italian globe eggplant (medium), sliced into ½ inch rounds and scored
½ cup 125 ml Olive oil
½ cup 125 ml Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp 5 ml Rosemary, chopped
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 tsp 5 ml Lemon zest
1 tbsp 15 ml Honey
Sea salt and black pepper
Preheat the oven to 425° F. Evenly distribute the eggplant rounds on a porcelain or glass baking dish. Mix together the oil, vinegar, rosemary, garlic, honey, lemon zest, and a pinch of sea salt. Gently whisk all together. Brush the eggplant rounds generously with the vinegar mixture and place in the oven (45 min-1 hr). Bake until soft, brushing more marinade over each eggplant round every 10-15 minutes. Turn the broiler on during the last 5 minutes to completely caramelize the eggplant. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Allow to completely cool before handling.
Braised Rabbit in Beer, Almond an Mustard Seed Sauce
2 Fresh rabbits, cleaned and sectioned
3 tbsp 45 ml Butter, unsalted
2 Yellow onions, medium diced
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp 45 ml Toasted mustard seeds
½ cup 125 ml Blanched sliced almonds
1 Bouquet garni (leek greens, fresh thyme, parsley, and bay leaf)
1 Carrot, peeled and cut in half
1 ½ bottles 500 ml Stout or bitter ale
3 tbsp 45 ml Wildflower honey
2 Orange, zested and juiced
2 250 ml Chicken stock
2 Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Season the rabbits with salt and pepper and then sear them in butter until nicely browned, making sure to start with the thicker parts first. Remove rabbits from the pan and put to one side. Add a little more butter to the pan and sauté the onions until golden. Add the garlic and the almonds and mustard seeds. When the seeds start to pop and the almonds are a little brown, add the orange zest and then deglaze the pan when the zest is toasty looking. Return the rabbits to the pan and deglaze with the beer and honey. Add the bouquet garni and the carrots and lightly season. Bring the whole dish to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Half way through, add the chicken stock and continue cooking until the rabbit meat is tender and falling off the bone. Remove the meat to a service platter and bring the sauce to a boil before removing the bouquet garni and the carrots. Add the orange juice into the sauce and spoon over the meat. Garnish with some sliced toasted almonds and deep fried parsley.
Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta
2 tbsp 30 ml Extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup 85 ml Medium-sized, extra spicy Italian sausages, cut into ½ inch lengths
1 Cloves garlic, sliced medium thin
¼ cup 60 ml Red chili flakes
1 Head broccoli
1 tbsp 15 ml Box favorite rigatoni pasta
2 tbsp Italian parsley, chopped
Pinch Sea salt
Method
In a large sauté pan, begin cooking the garlic in the olive oil. When starting to turn colour, add the chili flakes and a good pinch of salt. Add in the sausages and cook thoroughly. During the last three minutes of the pasta’s cooking time, blanch the broccoli in the same water as the pasta is cooking. When al dente, drain the pasta (make sure to reserve a little cooking water!) and add the pasta and broccoli to the sauté pan. Add a little pasta water if necessary or even a little more olive oil. Adjust the seasoning and toss with the parsley. Serve right out of the pan.
Dessert:
Yogurt Lassi with Mango
4 cups 1 L Full fat natural yogurt
4 Ripe Mangos
1 cup 250 ml Cooked tapioca
½ cup 125 ml Coconut milk
1 tsp 5 ml Sugar
2 cups 500 ml Mango juice
1 Good pinch of salt
Method
Combine the coconut milk with sugar and bring to a boil. Add the tapioca and salt and set aside to allow it to absorb the coconut flavor. Cut up the mango into chunks and reserve half for garnish. Mix the yogurt with the remaining mango and blend. In highball glass, layer some mango, then some tapioca, then the yogurt and mango lassi, and then mango juice. Serve in a high ball glass with a large straw, a parfait spoon, and a lime garnish.
Ban, Ginji and Envy (the young men I jsut cooked for) are all students there. Ban and Ginji are my age as well and will be graduating but I never needed school, nor went to it anyway. Besides, I doubt they want a pirate in there anyway.
So, how is MugenJou High then? Is it in need of a cooking teacher at all?...A second cooking teacher? A chef?
Well either way here is what Ban, Ginji, and Envy got to eat tonight:
Starters:
Shitake Mushrrom Dumplings
8 oz 230 g Pork, freshly ground
1 thumb 5 ml Ginger, grated
2 Garlic cloves, minced
3 Green onions, minced
3 tbsp 45 ml Peanut oil
4 oz 115 g Shitake mushrooms, minced
1 oz 30 g Dry wood ear mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup 60 ml Dry sherry
2-3 tbsp 30-45 ml Mushroom soy
16 Dumpling Wrappers
1 Egg white
Fry the onions, garlic, and ginger in the peanut oil until fragrant brown. Add the minced shitake mushrooms and cook until soft and golden. Rehydrate the wood ear mushrooms in the sherry by bringing both to a boil and then allowing them to soak until soft. Mix the pork and the egg white together, add in both the mushroom mixtures, and season with soy. Fill the dumpling wrappers with the pork mixture, and seal by pinching both the top and bottom edges with your fingers. Steam in a hot wok until the mixture is cooked. Serve with a sweet chili dipping sauce.
Japanese Octopus Salad Good to start off with the shitaki dumplings. The tastes compliment one another.
2 Octopus arm, cooked
1 Japanese cucumber, sliced with peeler
½ cup 125 ml Onion, sliced and soaked in water 5 min.
Japanese bonito tuna flakes
2 Tomato, blanched and sliced
1 Cherry blossom pickle
3 tbsp 45 ml Onion, minced
3 tbsp 45 ml Soy sauce
Japanese rice vinegar
3 tbsp 45 ml Sugar
3 tbsp 45 ml Sesame seeds, whole
3 tbsp 45 ml Sesame seeds, ground
Light sesame oil
3 tbsp 45 ml Dark sesame oil
3 tbsp 45 ml Daikon radish sprouts, cut in half
On an angle, slice 6-8 very thin slices from octopus arm. Combine onion and bonito. On a plate, arrange in order: tomatoes, onion mixture, cucumber, octopus slices. Add cherry blossom pickle on top. Whisk together minced onion, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds, and sesame oils. Drizzle over octopus. Garnish with radish sprouts.
Entrees:
Braised and Balsamic Glazed Eggplant
Italian globe eggplant (medium), sliced into ½ inch rounds and scored
½ cup 125 ml Olive oil
½ cup 125 ml Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp 5 ml Rosemary, chopped
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 tsp 5 ml Lemon zest
1 tbsp 15 ml Honey
Sea salt and black pepper
Preheat the oven to 425° F. Evenly distribute the eggplant rounds on a porcelain or glass baking dish. Mix together the oil, vinegar, rosemary, garlic, honey, lemon zest, and a pinch of sea salt. Gently whisk all together. Brush the eggplant rounds generously with the vinegar mixture and place in the oven (45 min-1 hr). Bake until soft, brushing more marinade over each eggplant round every 10-15 minutes. Turn the broiler on during the last 5 minutes to completely caramelize the eggplant. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Allow to completely cool before handling.
Braised Rabbit in Beer, Almond an Mustard Seed Sauce
2 Fresh rabbits, cleaned and sectioned
3 tbsp 45 ml Butter, unsalted
2 Yellow onions, medium diced
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
3 tbsp 45 ml Toasted mustard seeds
½ cup 125 ml Blanched sliced almonds
1 Bouquet garni (leek greens, fresh thyme, parsley, and bay leaf)
1 Carrot, peeled and cut in half
1 ½ bottles 500 ml Stout or bitter ale
3 tbsp 45 ml Wildflower honey
2 Orange, zested and juiced
2 250 ml Chicken stock
2 Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Season the rabbits with salt and pepper and then sear them in butter until nicely browned, making sure to start with the thicker parts first. Remove rabbits from the pan and put to one side. Add a little more butter to the pan and sauté the onions until golden. Add the garlic and the almonds and mustard seeds. When the seeds start to pop and the almonds are a little brown, add the orange zest and then deglaze the pan when the zest is toasty looking. Return the rabbits to the pan and deglaze with the beer and honey. Add the bouquet garni and the carrots and lightly season. Bring the whole dish to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Half way through, add the chicken stock and continue cooking until the rabbit meat is tender and falling off the bone. Remove the meat to a service platter and bring the sauce to a boil before removing the bouquet garni and the carrots. Add the orange juice into the sauce and spoon over the meat. Garnish with some sliced toasted almonds and deep fried parsley.
Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta
2 tbsp 30 ml Extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup 85 ml Medium-sized, extra spicy Italian sausages, cut into ½ inch lengths
1 Cloves garlic, sliced medium thin
¼ cup 60 ml Red chili flakes
1 Head broccoli
1 tbsp 15 ml Box favorite rigatoni pasta
2 tbsp Italian parsley, chopped
Pinch Sea salt
Method
In a large sauté pan, begin cooking the garlic in the olive oil. When starting to turn colour, add the chili flakes and a good pinch of salt. Add in the sausages and cook thoroughly. During the last three minutes of the pasta’s cooking time, blanch the broccoli in the same water as the pasta is cooking. When al dente, drain the pasta (make sure to reserve a little cooking water!) and add the pasta and broccoli to the sauté pan. Add a little pasta water if necessary or even a little more olive oil. Adjust the seasoning and toss with the parsley. Serve right out of the pan.
Dessert:
Yogurt Lassi with Mango
4 cups 1 L Full fat natural yogurt
4 Ripe Mangos
1 cup 250 ml Cooked tapioca
½ cup 125 ml Coconut milk
1 tsp 5 ml Sugar
2 cups 500 ml Mango juice
1 Good pinch of salt
Method
Combine the coconut milk with sugar and bring to a boil. Add the tapioca and salt and set aside to allow it to absorb the coconut flavor. Cut up the mango into chunks and reserve half for garnish. Mix the yogurt with the remaining mango and blend. In highball glass, layer some mango, then some tapioca, then the yogurt and mango lassi, and then mango juice. Serve in a high ball glass with a large straw, a parfait spoon, and a lime garnish.