Picture from: http://www.purcellmountainfarms.com/

I happily survived the holidays this year. Yule was beautiful! The morning was cloudy and fairly well lit with predawn glow, but the roads were clear enough that I drove out to the very edge of town just before sunrise. There was a dusting of snow on the grass & the plowed cornfield in front of my car. I was cozy in my car, enjoying the stillness all around. At the appointed time (0714 here in Central IL) I noticed a definite strengthening in the light. The morning began to glow from the backlit clouds. So quiet. I was reminded of the final line from a song that I sang for a play (Oh, oh! Here Comes Christmas) several years past, "And tomorrow morning, when the longest night is done, something ancient & deep will stir in me and my face will tilt toward the sun."

Christmas Eve found us at the bedecked house of my sister-in-law, feasting on all manner of Christmas goodies. There was ham, deviled eggs, German potato salad, cheese platter, cookies, homemade jalapeño poppers, and - my personal favourite - bacon crackers… ho, these are wicked good! They are a Paula Deen recipe (see FoodNetwork.com), the queen of decadent yummies. They are so rich that it is a good & healthy thing that we only eat them at Christmas. Even then, I limit myself to two or three… ok, four at the utmost. ~_^ So rich! The recipe is simplicity itself:

One sleeve of rectangular butter crackers
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
1 lb sliced bacon cut in half (I only use 1/2 lb and cut THAT in 1/2 for a little "lighter" version)

Preheat oven to desired temperature. You'll be baking them for 2 hours at 250 degrees F or at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes if you're in a hurry. I line my cookie sheets with parchment paper (not wax) to ease clean-up. Take a cracker, place about a tsp of cheese on top of it and wrap it with 1/2 (or 1/4) of a slice of bacon, tucking the end underneath the cracker and place it on the cookie sheet. Repeat until you have used the sleeve of crackers (24 pcs) and bake as directed above. They should be crisp & the bacon brown when done. Set to drain on paper towels. Can be served cold but they are at their best right out of the oven.

So after all the decadence of this weekend, I felt like something lighter & healthier. Thus today's bento. I am quite fond of breakfast for dinner and it sounded good for lunch as well. I made Japanese/American/Scottish fusion that turned out rather yummy, very filling but not too rich.

Lazy-Girl's Tomago-yaki (Japanese-style Omelet)

diced onion, to taste (I used about 1/4 C)
1 egg
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp mirin (Japanese cooking wine. Use a healthy pinch of sugar if you prefer)

Heat small fry pan (I use a 6" cast iron) on medium. Take a stick of butter (no, don't panic; I'm not Paula Deen. ~_^) & peel back the wrapper on one end & glide it quickly over the bottom of the hot pan to just coat it. I use this technique all the time when I want just enough to cook with & add a little flavour without adding a lot of calories or using cooking spray. Brown the onions. While they are browning, crack the egg into a small bowl & whisk until just blended but not frothy. Chopsticks or a fork work great for this. Mix in the soy sauce & mirin. When the onions are ready, turn down the heat to medium low. Pour the mixture into the pan & tilt to coat the bottom evenly. Let it cook very slowly until it is almost completely set but still a touch damp. Turn off the heat & gently roll the egg up, like a jelly-roll. Cover your pan and let it set for a few minutes. It will finish cooking and help it to stay rolled. Take it out of the pan and let it cool. Refrigerate and slice into 1/2 inch rounds before putting in bento. I like to take a little furikake to sprinkle on it or even a little Bull Dog/tonkatsu sauce, but it's tasty enough all by itself. If you are having this as your main protein, you will want to double or triple the recipe.

To go along with my eggs, I wanted some oat meal or pancakes for my carb. I love oats, crave them actually, more than any carbohydrate. Of the different types of oatmeal, steel cut (also called Scottish) are my ultimate fave; they are so nutty & delicious! I had some on hand that I wanted to use before they went rancid but I didn't feel like plain oatmeal. I had fried patties on my mind from recipes I'd read over at Just Bento & Hapa Bento blogs that I frequent (wonderful sites, BTW if you're into bento lunches!). I am not a baker by any means; too much of that pesky measuring involved for this throw-it-in-the-pan-if-it-sounds-good gal. ^_^ As long as I've learned a basic recipe & know my proportions, I feel confident that I can cook anything be it for one person or 20 but the only recipe creation that I've ever attempted as far as baking is concerned, was modifying my mother's pecan pie recipe so that it wouldn't boil over in the 7000 ft+ altitude of Flagstaff, AZ. But, I figured, I'd give these pancakes for one a try and, if they didn't turn out, I could try a different combo with little loss of ingredients. Miracle of miracles, they were a nice consistency and tasted great! There was just enough for my lunch with the above eggs, a few nibbles of cheese (Swiss emmental) and a few nuts to round it out.

Oatcakes for One

1/2 C water
1/4 C steel cut oats
a small handful of dried cherries, cranberries or raisins
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 TB of whole wheat flour
pinch of salt
large pinch of cinnamon
2 pieces of leftover maple bacon, crumbled (optional but a wonderful addition for taste & texture)

Place the oats and dried cherries in a heat-proof bowl. I use a small round Rubbermaid dish that's about a pint (2 C) - boiling water won't hurt it. Boil the water and stir it into the oats & cherries. Cover loosely and let soak overnight.

In the morning, drain off any non-absorbed water. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg until blended but not frothy. Add the vanilla, salt cinnamon and oats. Stir until blended. Add a little whole wheat flour at a time to the mixture until it is the consistency of a medium loose pancake batter. I used only about 2 TB but you'll have to adjust it according to how damp your oats still are and how large your egg is. Fold in the bacon, if you're using it.

Heat your pan to medium or just a little less and melt a little butter in the bottom. Spoon out a couple of tablespoons worth for each pancake to form a cake about 2-1/2 inches (7 cm) wide. Brown them on the one side and flip browning the other as well. If you are putting them into a bento, let them cool before packing. Otherwise they are wonderful hot. The above recipe makes about 6 of the little cakes. I drizzled them with the tiniest amount of real maple syrup and that was all the sweetener they needed. So filling and healthy!

Enjoy! Aloha!

Photo from: iStockphoto.com

I love gardening and am passionate about tomatoes in particular. To quote my beloved John Denver, "Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes, ain't nothin' in the world like homegrown tomatoes. Only two things that money can't buy and that's true love and homegrown tomatoes." We've lived at the house for five summers now. I plant more and more each year but I keep still keep it very basic. This year I planted grape & full-sized tomatoes, rosemary, cilantro, catnip, parsley, Japanese & American eggplant, carrots, marigolds & pansies (which I love in salads) and then chicks & hens (which my mom-in-love gave me last year). Odd thing with the large tomatoes, I didn't have a single one that matured to red-ripe on the vine and even the ones that were picked greener and put on a shaded windowsill never ripened properly and turned quite mealy. And so began the great search and ongoing experimentation to create green tomato recipes. ^_^ I do make a mean fried green tomato but one of my favourite recipes so far is one of the simplest… green tomato parmesan. It was loosely inspired by a recipe on Taste of Home's site. First I browned a couple of handfuls of pine nuts in a little butter. Watch them closely; they go from toasty to black in a heartbeat. I make fried green tomatoes with a drench of soured milk (a little drizzle of vinegar does the trick - I never have buttermilk on hand so I use this), a few shakes of Frank's hot sauce, pepper, a tiny pinch of celery salt, and enough all purpose flour to make a very thin, pancake-like batter. Make a dredge of one part corn flour (corn meal will work but the finer grade clings better) and one part inexpensive grated parmesan cheese. Stir in a TB or two of sugar into the dredge as well. Take thinly sliced green tomatoes (between 1/8"-1/4"), drench them in the batter, dredge them, gently shaking off the excess, and pan fry them in about 1/2" of hot olive oil until deep golden brown. Set aside on paper towels while cooking the other batches. When you are on your last batch, preheat oven to 350 F. After the last batch has drained, take a baking dish & pour a little of your favourite spaghetti sauce to coat the bottom, put a layer of fried tomatoes, sprinkle grated mozzarella over all and then another layer of tomatoes (if your dish is deep enough). Top with more sauce, a goodly sprinkling of toasted pine nuts and mozzarella, finally finishing with grated parmesan (regiano, if you have it). Bake until heated thru', bubbly and golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. I took this to lunch for a couple of days & goodly sized portion is just about all you need, since it has veggies & plenty of gooey, cheezy protein. Aloha!

I LOVE cornbread, any way, shape or form. As we transition into Autumn, I am craving it more and more. I am still taking a bento for lunch four days a week. I wanted something more than just a carb to fill in for the rice, something savoury but easily packable in the bento form. I had some excess broccoli that I wanted to use up before it slimed out but, as much as I like salads or pickled anything, I just wasn't in the mood. I played it completely by ear as to the liquid content & got VERY lucky. These turned out perfectly. The measurements of the everything other than the eggs & the milk are approximate; I just threw things in by "feel". ^_^

Cornbread "Casserole" Muffins

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
2 eggs
1/3 C milk
2 TB toasted pine nuts
1-1/2 C parboiled broccoli
2 TB minced sweet onion
6 sliced sundried tomato halves
1/4 C grated cheddar cheese
sweet corn, 1/4 C thawed if frozen or cut off ear if fresh
small hand full of cubed cooked bacon or ham (optional)

Preheat oven 375 F.
Prep all the extra items. I don't sauté the onion but you could. Put all into a medium sized bowl and let cool so as not to scramble your eggs when you add them. In a small bowl, gently beat eggs until homogenous but not frothy. Add milk, stir to combine and then pour over ingredients in other bowl. Dump cornbread mix into bowl and stir (actually "fold" is a better word here) until just combined. Lumpy is good. Line a 6-hole muffin tin with paper cups or grease the cups. Spoon mixture to the top of each one. Depending on how much extras you've added, you may have enough for one or two extra muffins. I had enough just for one and I spooned it into an oven proof baking cup. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown and fragrant. Remove from oven let cool in the tin until room temperature. Remove from tin & place in a gallon baggie or Rubbermaid-type container in a single layer. The extra one, store in it's container or eat immediately. These are better the second day after the veggies give off some of their liquid to the cornbread. Nuke for about 20 seconds each or split them in half horizontally, melt a little butter in a hot skillet (I use my little cast iron) and brown with the cut side down, covered until toasted. Aloha!!!

More Pickled Tofu

After the success of my last pickled tofu, I am in a pickling frenzy. Next I pickled tofu & beets. I used Aunt Nellie's (but YOUR favourite brand would do) pickled beets & juice. It's even easier than the Tofu with Dill:

Pickled Tofu with Beets

1 block firm tofu
6-8 pearl onions
4 cloves of garlic, julienned
4-6 pickled beets, diced
leftover red wine (any kind of drinkable red wine will do, experiment with your favorite)
1/2 C (125ml) leftover pickled beet juice

Cut the tofu block in half, length-wise & parallel to the table. Place the halves between two cutting boards or a cutting board and a plate. Tilt them slightly (put a knife handle or a fork or something underneath to add a moderate slope) and place a light weight on the top one… I used a 6" (15cm) iron fry pan. Let the extra water drain from the tofu while you prep the rest. Slice the pearl onions in half, lengthwise, cutting the roots and the top ends off. Slip off the skins. Heat a small fry pan on medium high heat, drizzle a little sesame oil in (or olive oil, if you prefer) and swirl to coat the bottom. Put the onions, sliced sides down and brown them until almost burned, flip them over ( I use cooking chopsticks) and push on them to separate the layers. Toss them for a minute or two until they have softened and browned on the other side. While the onions are browning, slice up your garlic and beets. Turn the heat down to medium low, add the garlic, and stir. Let that sauté a bit until it begins to soften, being careful that you don't let it burn and turn bitter. Meanwhile, pat the drained tofu lightly on both sides with a clean cloth or paper towel, then slice each half into thirds lengthwise. Cut those slices crosswise forming little cubes. Place tofu & beets within storage container. Increase your heat to medium. Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Stir for a moment. Pour pickling juice into hot pan and stir until hot and it just begins to boil. Remove pan from heat and let cool for a minute so that you don't melt your container and then pour it over the tofu and beets . Make sure all the tofu is below the pickling juice. If not add a little more. Store in the refrigerator for up to three days.

As with the dilly tofu, I put a half of a block's worth into my bento lunches and added a little more protein with nuts and/or cheese. Aloha!

Pickle My Fancy

Picture from: http://passionateeater.blogspot.com/

Oh... I'm sorry... that's a terrible pun but I just couldn't resist! ^_^

Something you should know about me… I LOVE pickles! I crave them in any shape or form. Last week I was going through my refrigerator looking for items to make for lunch and found some firm tofu that was going to go out of date in a few days. I wasn't in the mood for my usual teriyaki or BBQ'd tofu, so I had a few moments of, "What to do?" I then remembered that I had saved some of the pickling "juice" from pickled green beans. It was all natural, with only white wine vinegar, sugar, dill seeds and garlic… yummo! I was instantly inspired. I would make pickled tofu with a German/European influence rather than Asian or Mediterranean. This was so easy it hardly needs a recipe but here we go:

Pickled Tofu with Dill

1 block firm tofu
6-8 pearl onions
4 cloves of garlic, julienned
4 oz fresh baby portabella mushrooms or white or even fresh shiitake
1 tsp dried dill weed or 1 Tablespoon of fresh
2 Tablespoons of any white wine (optional & more to taste) (I used about 1/4 Cup/60ml)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar or honey (optional)
1/2 C leftover pickling juice (or make your own from 1/4 C white wine vinegar, 1/4 C water, 2 TB sugar, 1/2 tsp dill seed. Warmed & stirred 'til sugar is melted. Let set for a day or two if you have the time)

Cut the tofu block in half, length-wise & parallel to the table. Place the halves between two cutting boards or a cutting board and a plate. Tilt them slightly (put a knife handle or a fork or something underneath to add a moderate slope) and place a light weight on the top one… I used a 6" (15cm) iron fry pan. Let the extra water drain from the tofu while you prep the rest. Slice the pearl onions in half, lengthwise, cutting the roots and the top ends off. Slip off the skins. Heat a small fry pan on medium high heat, drizzle a little sesame oil in (or olive oil, if you prefer, but realize that it will solidify somewhat when cold) and swirl to coat the bottom. Put the onions, sliced sides down and brown them until almost burned, flip them over ( I use cooking chopsticks) and push on them to separate the layers. Toss them for a minute or two until they have softened and browned on the other side. While the onions are browning, wipe off any dirt on the mushrooms and quarter them if they're small and cut them into 1/2 inch cubes (1cm to 1-1/2cm) & slice up your garlic. Remove the onions from the pan and put them into the container you plan to store them in. Quickly rinse the pan out with cold water (be careful! It may sputter a bit) to remove any overly browned bits. Wipe carefully with a paper towel and put back on medium heat. Let pan warm for a moment and then swirl in a little oil as before. Toss the mushrooms and let them sauté' and brown just a bit. Meanwhile, pat the drained tofu lightly on both sides with a clean cloth or paper towel, then slice each half into thirds lengthwise. Cut those slices crosswise forming little cubes. Toss them very gently with the onions in the container. Turn down the heat in your pan to medium low and add the garlic. Let that sauté' a bit until it begins to soften. Sprinkle the brown sugar or honey over the mushrooms & garlic. Toss and immediately increase your heat to medium. Add the white wine to deglaze the pan. Stir for a moment. Pour pickling juice into the pan and stir until hot and it just begins to boil. Remove pan from heat and let cool for a minute so that you don't melt your container and then pour it over the tofu and onions . Make sure all the tofu is below the pickling juice. If not add a little more. Store in the refrigerator for up to three days.

I put a half of a block's worth into my bento lunches and add a little more protein with nuts and/or cheese. Otherwise, enjoy with any meal as you would pickles. Aloha!