In my quest to avoid MSG, high fructose corn syrup, and products made with GMO corn, I’ve pretty much given up all “ito” products. Leave it to Byron to coin a clever phrase.

-OjiChef

Dragon Fruit! (Definitely an Eastern as opposed to Western dragon...)

Susan iPhoto-ing the Specimen

Dragon Fruit Innards

So! It honestly tasted just like it looked. It tasted like black sesame seeds inside a slightly watered down watermelon/cucumbery flesh. Susan says that it tastes like kiwi, but not sour. Either way, it’s definitely worth trying, but I don’t know if I’d be getting it again any time soon. It’s somewhat expensive for the flavor.

Also, I should note that the nifty looking outer skin comes right off it without a hassle leaving an interesting half brain looking thing ready to be devoured. Go forth and consume some dragon brains today!

-OjiChef

To get us started, please enjoy the following passage from The Chinese Cookbook published in 1952 (Crown Publishers) by Wallace Yee Hong:

“Won-ton (sic) is one of the most popular dishes in China, and is usually eaten at luncheon or late supper. It is very similar to Italian ravioli and Jewish kreplach. Its skin, which is made of flour, eggs, and salt, can be made at home or purchased in Chinatown or at any Chinese noodle factory by the pound. Each skin is about 6 or 8 inches square, and each pound contains about 18 or 20 skins. As with the home-made skins, they may be cut in quarters for won-tons or used whole for egg rolls.

The won-ton, or egg roll, skin is extremely versatile and, in Chinese cooking or adapted to American cooking, adds a delightful touch to any meal. Its uses are unlimited. For the explorer in culinary art, the use of the won-ton skins lends an element of surprise, and is a delight to the sign, smell and, above all, to the taste. This dinner table pleasure cannot be described, it must e experienced.”

I’ve chosen a variety of recipes to post, some of which are very interesting. I hope you enjoy them and, as always, let me know how it goes for you. Recipes after the jump.

Chorizo Sausage and Manchego Wontons
From Cooking With Paula Deen: November/December 2006, p. 75

Wontons may be made up to 2 weeks ahead, cooked, and frozen, in a single layer on baking sheets. Remove to resealable plastic bags after freezing. Place frozen wontons on baking sheets, and bake at 350 degrees F until crisp (about 10 to 15 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 1 (12-ounce) package chorizo sausage, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup shredded manchego cheese
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 50 wonton wrappers
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Ancho Chili Sauce (used for dipping, ibid. p. 73)

In a medium skillet, combine sausage, onion, and garlic. Cook over medium heat until sausage is browned and crumbled. Stir in cream cheese, manchego cheese, and lime juice until combined.

Place 1 tsp of sausage mixture in center of each wonton wrapper. Moisten edges of wrapper with water. Bring corners together, pressing to seal.

In a dutch oven, pour oil to a depth of two inches and heat to 350 degrees F. Fry wontons in batches until golden, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

Holy crap, a recipe by Paula Deen that doesn’t call for 8 sticks of butter. It’s a miracle!

Won-Ton (or Egg Roll) Skin (Won-Ton Pe)
From The Chinese Cookbook by Wallace Lee Hong, Crown Publishers, 1952 p. 36

Ingredients:

• 2 cubs flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup ice water

Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Add the salt and mix. Add the ice water and mix until dough is formed. Knead until firm and smooth. Lay dough on a board oor clean table and roll it until it is almost as thin as paper. Cut into 6 inch squares and stack them, making sure that each piece is well flours. Wrap in waxed paper and keep in refrigerator, no more than 2 weeks. The 6 inch squares may be used as egg roll skins; cut in half both ways, in 3 inch squares, 4 won-ton skins can be made out of each egg roll skin.

Won-Ton Meat Filling
From The Chinese Cookbook by Wallace Lee Hong, Crown Publishers, 1952 p. 36

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. lean raw pork, chopped very fine
• 1 tsp fresh scallions, chopped very fine with the pork
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 tsp seasoning powder (Note: I have no idea what this is, sorry guys! There’s no reference or entry in the book for it)
• 1/2 tsp stal and a dash of pepper

Mix the meat and scallions together. Add the eggs, seasoning powder, salt, and pepper and mix thoroughly. (If mixture is not to be used immediately, keep in a refrigerator.) To fill skin, proceed as follows. Using a small butter knife (wooden knife preferred), pick up about 1/2 tsp of meat (or fish) mixture and place on one corner of the won-ton skin. Roll almost to the opposite corner. Wet the left end with beaten egg, then bring right and left ends togther and press firmly so that they stick together. The usual serving is 12 to 15 won-tons per person.

I wish I had a wooden knife laying around. ^_^ Also, I would imagine you’d be able to use just about any meat you’d like here. Asian cooking uses a lot of minced pork in ways many Americans do not. I’m sure lean beef, lamb, chicken, or even vegetables would work nicely here.

Won-Ton Seafood Filling
From The Chinese Cookbook by Wallace Lee Hong, Crown Publishers, 1952 p. 36

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. fillet of any kind of fish, chopped very fine
• 1/2 lb. fresh shrimp (or dried shrimp), lobster or crab meat, chopped very fine
• 1 tbsp fresh scallions, chopped very fine
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1/2 tsp salt and a sash of pepper

Mix chopped ingredients (fish, shrimp, lobster or crab meat, and scallions) together. Add the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. To fill skin, see the previous recipe.

Mmmm…looks tasty to me. I really like the idea of using lobster.

Fried Won-Ton
From The Chinese Cookbook by Wallace Lee Hong, Crown Publishers, 1952 p. 36

Prepare won-tons as instructed in the previous two recipes. Put about 3 inches of oil (or lard) in a large skillet or deep pan. Heat oil to boiling point. Fry won-tons until they float to surface, and turn until both sides are brown.

Serve hot–plain, with duck sauce or with sweet and sour sauce.

Note: Fried won-tons are generally used for breakfast, served with Congee, or late at night for a snack. The younger generation use them at cocktail parties, bridge or mah-jong parties, or whenever they entertain friends. They may also be used as appetizers.

I suppose we count as the younger generation eh? ^_^

Wonton Wrapped Prawns
From Homestyle Asian by Bay Books, 2008 p. 32

Prep time: 20 min + 20 min refrigeration | Total cooking time: 10 min | Makes 24

Ingredients:

• 24 raw prawns (shrimp)
• 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
• 24 wonton wrappers (follow above recipe or use store bought)
• Oil, for deep-frying
• 125 ml (4 fl oz / 1/2 cup) sweet chili sauce (Available in nearly any grocery store in the Asian food aisle)
• 1 tbsp lime juice

Peel and devein the prawns, leaving the tails intact.

Mix the cornflour with 1 tsp water in a small bowl. Work with tone wonton wrapper at a time, keeping the rest covered with a damp tea towel (dish towel) to prevent drying out. Fold a wrapper in half to form a triangle. Wrap a prawn in the wrapper, leaving the tail exposed. Seal at the end by brushing with a little of the cornflour mixture, then pressing gently. Spread the wrapped prawns on a baking tray, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Fill a deep heavy-based saucepan one-third full of oil and heat to 180°C (350° F), or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 15 seconds. Cook the prawns in batches for 1 1/2 minutes each batch, or until crisp, golden and cooked through. The cooking time may vary depending on the size of the prawns. Check the time by cooking one prawn and testing it before continuing. Remove the prawns from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on crumpled paper towels.

Stir the sweet chili sauce and lime juice together in a small bowl. Serve with the prawns.

Now this one looks tasty! I can’t wait to try this one. Just you wait, I’ll have my weight companion bread cube ready to toss in that hot oil and you can bet I’ll have a stopwatch to make sure it’s 15 seconds of pure torture.

Crab Dumpling Soup
From Homestyle Asian by Bay Books, 2008 p. 32

Prep time: 25 min | Total cooking time: 20 min | Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 170g (6 oz) tin crabmeat, well drained (I never recommend using a tin or can for crab meat. *always* buy the stuff in the plastic vacuum containers or even the imitation crab sticks. It’s way better)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped spring onions (scallions)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tsp sesame oil (With sesame oil, brand makes a huge difference. If you can, get a “real” brand such as Shirakiku. Don’t use LaChoy or something cheap like Taste of Asia. The difference is night and day. Good sesame oil should be powerful and almost smokey smelling. If you can’t smell it from across the room, it’s not good.)
• 3 tsp chopped fresh ginger
• 12 small wonton wrappers (rounded)
• 3 spring onions (scallions), extra
• 1.25 litres (44 fl. oz/5 cups) chicken stock
• 1 tbsp soy sauce (Again, like the sesame oil, go with a real brand here. Avoid LaChoy or store brands. My personal favorite is Yamasa or Lee Kum Kee. I like them even more than Kikkoman, but please, spring for the real stuff over the others. LaChoy and store brands are too salty and not rich enough.)
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1 tsp sugar

To make the crab filling, mix the crab with the chopped spring onion, half the garlic, 1 tsp of sesame oil and 1 tsp of the ginger.

Place 2 tsp of the filling on one half of each wrapper. Moisten the edges with some water and fold over to form a crescent. Press the edges together firmly. Lay the dumplings on a lightly floured surface.

Cut the extra spring onions into thin strips and set aside. Heat the remaining sesame oil in a saucepan, add the remaining garlic and ginger and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, or until the garlic is lightly golden. Add the stock, soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Bring to a boil, add the spring onion strips (reserving some to garnish) and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil, add 3-4 dumplings at a time and cook for 5 minutes, or until just cooked. Place in bowls, ladle the stock over the dumplings, garnish with the spring onions strips and serve.

I know this technically isn’t a wonton recipe, but it’s using the wrappers mentioned in the first recipe. Also, I wanted it to be shown that not everything has to be fried.

Sweet Wontons
From The Essential Asian Cookbook by Bay Books, 2008 p. 292

Prep time: 15 min | Total cooking time: 20 min | Makes 30

Ingredients:

• 125g (4 oz) dates, pitted and chopped
• 2 bananas, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (45g/1.5 oz) flaked almonds, lightly crushed
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 60 wonton wrappers
• oil, for deep-frying
• icing sugar, to dust (Confectioners or powdered sugar)

Mix together the dates, bananas, almonds and cinnamon. Place 2 tsp of the fruit mixture into the center of a wonton wrapper, and brush the edges lightly with water. Place another wonton wrapper on top at an angle so that the wrappers make a star shape. Place the wontons on a tray lined with baking paper. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, taking care not to stack the wontons on top of each other or they will stick together.

Heat the oil in a large pan until moderately hot; add the wontons in small batches and deep-fry for 2 minutes or until crisp and golden.

Drain on paper towels. Dust the wontons lightly with the icing sugar before serving.

Methinks this could be delicious with a little drizzle of honey. I chose this because not many people use dates very often.

And, of course, there’s Crab Rangoon, which is what the person asking me to write this was after in the first place. Check out this recipe for Crab Rangoon from Recipezaar if that’s what you’re after. It has the highest rating/review ratio so it’s theoretically the best.

Let me know how these go for you and always, happy cooking!

-OjiChef

The first thing you might notice from the pics is that this recipe also calls for some Alfredo sauce. Every time I’ve made this lasagna I’ve also made a batch of the chicken florentine lasagna, so I had some leftover alfredo to use up. Actually, that’s what inspired me to make this in first place, I needed a use for the leftovers. So, if you’re making all of these at the same time, great! Save some alfredo. If not, go back to the Chicken Florentine Lasagna entry and follow the alfredo directions. You’ll have a lot of extra if you’re making it just for this, but toss some of that tasty alfredo on some fettuccine and go to town.

You’ll also notice that this recipe calls for Japanese mayonnaise. Before you ask, NO! American mayonnaise will not work. Hellman’s, Kraft, Miracle Whip, homemade, it’s all out. If you want it to taste right, you need the Japanese stuff. It’s creamier and less tangy than its American counterparts and, in my opinion, stands up to heat much better.

So! Let’s get started.

Seafood Lasagna with Japanese Cream Sauce
Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 frozen wild salmon fillets (From the bag shown in the pictures. You can use one if you’re making a loaf pan sized lasagna or two if you’re using a whole baking dish.)
• Pre-cooked shrimp, 20 to 40 (Quantity varies on size of shrimp and size of baking dish used)
• Crab meat (Real crab can be used but it’s labor intensive. I find that the imitation crab sticks sold in Asian grocery stores work just fine. You can also use the crab meat chunks found in the bags. Please do not use anything canned)
• Alfredo sauce (see note above)
• Kewpie Japanese Mayonnaise
• Lasagna noodles
• Mozzarella cheese (I use the shredded kind in a package but you can get the real stuff if you want. You’ll have to grate it yourself. The only reason I don’t use the good stuff is the money factor and, to a lesser extend, the moisture factor.)
• Ricotta Cheese (No cottage cheese for this one, just ricotta)
• Wakame Seaweed (See pic, pronounced “wah-kah-may”)
• Black pepper, basil, oregano and paprika for appearance

(You can do a lot of the following steps concurrently but doing multiple things at once in the kitchen makes some people panic so do these at your own pace. Each of the steps can be done separately with no harm, it just takes longer.)

1. NOODLES (Yes, I know that there are no-boil recipes out there, this isn’t one of them) Boil water, salt generously and toss in the noodles. Be sure to move them around a bit in the beginning so they don’t stick. Nothing sucks more than tearing a noodle and having to boil more water for a single missing noodle. Lay out the noodles in the baking dish first to guess how many you need. Add three for contingency. Once the noodles are cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. (Protip: Any time you’re cooking pasta that’s going to get baked, give them a rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Otherwise they’ll keep cooking in the oven and come out too squishy.)
2. WAKAME Grab about 1/4 cup of the little dried wakame bits and toss into a bowl of water. They’ll expand and get floppy as they rehydrate. Once it looks and feels, you know, like seaweed, it’s ready. Be sure to drain the water and give it a squeeze.
3. SEAFOOD You want a roughly 2/2/1 ratio of salmon/shrimp/crab, but honestly, just use what you have and you’ll be fine. You can even toss in tilapia, halibut, swordfish, grouper or scallops. (I *really* want to try this sometime with scallops and roe. ^___^ ) Anyway, Poke a hole in the plastic wrap of the frozen salmon and toss it in the microwave for four minutes. It will cook in its own juices to perfection. Your cooking time may vary but be careful when you take it out, it’s hot. Meanwhile, defrost the shrimp. I do it by putting the shrimp in a cereal bowl and letting it sit in the sink under gently running HOT water until they’re thawed and warm. Be sure to remove the tails. For the crab I either toss it in with the shrimp or just zap in the microwave for 30 seconds. Once everything is thawed and warm, dice it all up on a cutting board with your trusty chefs knife or large santoku.
4. SAUCE/MIX Grab a mixing bowl and toss in the seafood mix. Squirt some mayo on it and stir it around until it’s just sort wet and sticking together like chicken salad. Add the alfredo but only enough that it’s about 1/4 to 1/3 the amount of mayo you used. Stir it up, it should look like slightly wet chicken salad. It should be the same consistency of as the chicken/alfredo mix in the florentine lasagna from yesterday.
5. ASSEMBLAH!
   1. Prep your pan by brushing the bottom with extra virgin olive oil.
   2. Put a layer of noodles down. If they’re too long, trim them down to size with kitchen shears or hack ‘em on a cutting board.
   3. Spoon on a layer of seafood/sauce mix. You want to cover the noodles completely and that’s it. No noodles peeking through but also no giant piles. Make it even and make sure there’s meat everywhere.
   4. Top the sauce/meat mix with a light layer of mozzarella between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. (yes, the mozzarella goes directly on top of the meat) You’ll notice that this isn’t as thick of a layer that was used with the traditional lasagna. It’s because the creamy alfredo in the sauce already had a nice cheese taste too it. Just cover the meat, no need to make it super thick.
   5. Add another layer of noodles, no oil needed this time.
   6. Spread a layer of ricotta cheese about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick.
   7. Add a good 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick layer of wakame. No need to press it down, just let it fall and spread it around.
   8. Add another layer of noodles.
   9. Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5
   10. Brush the top layer of noodles to prevent burning/drying and sprinkle a little bit of mozzarella on top (see pics). Garnish with crushed black pepper, oregano, basil and some paprika for looks.
6. BAKING Toss it in the oven until it bubbles and is browned on top. How hot? Well, that’s a good question. I’ve made it at 325, 350 and 375 and haven’t noticed much difference except in how fast it gets “done.” It’s really not cooking at this point, it’s just making sure everything is melted and hot. I find that 30 minutes at any of the temps does a good job but 375 makes it nice and brown on top. You’ll be able to see it bubbling out the top when it’s done. Don’t stress about times and temps. When it’s brown and bubbling, it’s done.

While typing out this recipe I sort of had a revelation. Let’s call this version of the recipe “Japanese Ojisagna Mk 1.” I have several changes that I’d like to try with this.

1. I *really* want to try using scallops in this. A girl I met in Evansville once made me some extremely delicious scallops using cooking sake and soy sauce. I need to acquire this.
2. Instead of topping the lasagna with oregano and basil I want to spoon a garnish of tobiko on top.
3. Either instead of or in addition to the seafood mix, I’d like to have some octopus and maybe a little bit of squid. Clams would be delicious, but it wouldn’t be terribly Japanese then.
4. In addition to putting it on top, I think that some tobiko would work well added in the wakame layer.
5. Lastly, I think that adding a touch of soy sauce, dashi stock, mirin, and cooking sake to the ricotta would be nice. Just a touch though, it needs to be subtle.

Sweet! I can’t wait to try Ojisagna: Japanese Seafood Mk. II! I’ll let you know how it turns out and, as always, please leave a comment or question! Tomorrow I’ll post my last recipe, the zucchini and squash vegetarian version.

-OjiChef

]]> http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?feed=rss2&p=180 0 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=157 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=157#comments Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:59:16 +0000 The Vlargitect http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=157 Yesterday I started a multipart entry on my adventures with lasagna. As promised, I’m continuing my posting and today we’ll talk about my Chicken Florentine lasagna. Be sure to go back and read Part One if you haven’t yet as this entry assumes you understand the basics from it.


So what is Florentine and why should you care? Well, I’m not sure you should care, but generally when a dish is considered Florentine it contains spinach and some type of white creamy sauce. Hence, this lasagna is made with spinach and alfredo sauce instead of tomato sauce.

Speaking of sauce, let’s jump into this. You can see in the pictures a packet of alfredo mix. You can use this. You can also use a jar of Bertolli or Classico or whatever. Just make sure, as with the tomato sauce from the traditional lasagna, that it’s as basic as possible. Remember, we’re wanting a blank canvas. If you want to go balls-to-the-wall, you can make your own. (See my recipe for that here: Penne Alfredo with Shrimp)

Okay let’s do this! As with the traditional lasagna, I treat the individual parts with lots of attention in order to make the best combination of flavors when it’s brought together.

Chicken Florentine Lasagna
Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed (From the bag in the picture, they’re actually quite large. I suppose that in reality it’s probably a pound and a half to two pounds of chicken)
• 5 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• Alfredo sauce (see note above)
• Lasagna noodles
• Mozzarella cheese (I use the shredded kind in a package but you can get the real stuff if you want. You’ll have to grate it yourself. The only reason I don’t use the good stuff is the money factor and, to a lesser extend, the moisture factor.)
• Cottage Cheese
• Ricotta Cheese (Yep, I use both cheese for this)
• Black pepper, salt, garlic powder, chili powder, parsley, paprika, and McCormick Cajun Seasoning
• Sesame oil, chili oil, wok oil, sesame chili oil (I have a bottle with all of these mixed the way I like it, grab some oils mix them to your liking, put them in a bottle. You’ll thank me later)
• Olive Oil (used to keep things from sticking)
• Spinach Leaves

(You can do a lot of the following steps concurrently but doing multiple things at once in the kitchen makes some people panic so do these at your own pace. Each of the steps can be done separately with no harm, it just takes longer.)

1. NOODLES (Yes, I know that there are no-boil recipes out there, this isn’t one of them) Boil water, salt generously and toss in the noodles. Be sure to move them around a bit in the beginning so they don’t stick. Nothing sucks more than tearing a noodle and having to boil more water for a single missing noodle. Lay out the noodles in the baking dish first to guess how many you need. Add three for contingency. Once the noodles are cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. (Protip: Any time you’re cooking pasta that’s going to get baked, give them a rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Otherwise they’ll keep cooking in the oven and come out too squishy.)
2. SAUCE Start with your sauce method of choice. I absolutely don’t have precise measurements for this part. I’ve never tried to measure out what I add as I always do it by taste. Grab yourself a small sauce pan and empty the jar of pasta sauce into it. (or use the same pan you made the sauce in on the stove) If the sauce is cold, set it to medium-low heat. If it’s already hot, leave it on low. First thing I do is upend a jar of garlic powder until I get a nice little mound sitting on top of the sauce. We’re talking about a heaping tablespoon here. Grind some black pepper into the sauce and a twist or two of salt. Now, here’s the secret ingredient. I guarantee my alfredo is better than any you’ve ever tasted because of one unexpected ingredient. Chili powder. Add chili powder and stir until the sauce turns a light pink then taste. Now jizz in your pants. Now thank me.
3. MEAT Get a large skillet or a wok over high heat and coat it with some of the oil mix. Once the oil gives off a wisp of smoke, toss in the garlic and move it around. It should give a satisfying “PSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!” If it didn’t, the pan’s not hot enough. Once the garlic has a touch of color on it, add some butter. How much? Well…that depends on how rich you like your chicken. If you want it retardedly rich, throw in 3/4 a stick and essentially boil the chicken in it. If you just want the nutty taste the butter imparts, add a tablespoon only. It’s up to you. Add the chicken. Stir to coat it in the flavored oils evenly then spread it out to cover as much of the hot pan as possible. Cover with some paprika, cajun seasoning, and parsley. Turn the meat over to put the seasoned side down and repeat the seasoning. Cook until just ever-so-slightly blackened (but obviously cooked through) Once the meat is cooked, shred it with two forks or chop it finely on a cutting board.
4. MIX Once the meat is shredded add it to the alfredo pan. Turn the heat to low, stir to mix and let this sit and bubble for five to ten minutes to blend.
5. ASSEMBLAH!
   1. Prep your pan by brushing the bottom with extra virgin olive oil.
   2. Put a layer of noodles down. If they’re too long, trim them down to size with kitchen shears or hack ‘em on a cutting board.
   3. Spoon on a layer of chicken/alfredo mix. You want to cover the noodles completely and that’s it. No noodles peeking through but also no giant piles. Make it even and make sure there’s meat everywhere.
   4. Top the sauce/meat mix with a light layer of mozzarella between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. (yes, the mozzarella goes directly on top of the meat) You’ll notice that this isn’t as thick of a layer that was used with the traditional lasagna. It’s because the creamy alfredo already had a nice cheese taste too it. Just cover the meat, no need to make it thick.
   5. Add another layer of noodles, no oil needed this time.
   6. Mix equal parts cottage cheese with ricotta cheese and cover the noodles with 1/2 inch of this mix.
   7. Add a tasty blanket of spinach to the cheese mix
   8. Add another layer of noodles.
   9. Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5
   10. Brush the top layer of noodles to prevent burning/drying and sprinkle a little bit of mozzarella on top (see pics). Garnish with crushed black pepper, oregano, basil and some paprika for looks.
6. BAKING Toss it in the oven until it bubbles and is browned on top. How hot? Well, that’s a good question. I’ve made it at 325, 350 and 375 and haven’t noticed much difference except in how fast it gets “done.” It’s really not cooking at this point, it’s just making sure everything is melted and hot. I find that 30 minutes at any of the temps does a good job but 375 makes it nice and brown on top. You’ll be able to see it bubbling out the top when it’s done. Don’t stress about times and temps. When it’s brown and bubbling, it’s done.

This completes part two of my Ojisagna series. Check back tomorrow for the Seafood Lasagna recipe. Again, if you have any questions or comments, please post them and I’ll be happy to answer or challenge you to fisticuffs. Happy cooking!

-OjiChef

]]> http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?feed=rss2&p=157 0 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=133 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=133#comments Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:54:27 +0000 The Vlargitect http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=133 Lately I’ve had a few in-depth discussions about lasagna. This, coupled with a recent Lasagna & Chianti Night at my place, have spurned several requests for my lasagna recipes. The recent dinner engagement included four lasagnas: traditional, chicken Florentine, Japanese seafood, and vegetarian.



Lasagna should look like this, not a wet runny pile of ooze


Before we begin let me give you a little history of my experience with lasagna. It all started sometime during my sophomore year at BSU when a girl named Michelle grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into a kitchenette. (I know what you’re thinking, but no, it wasn’t like that) She said,

“We’re gonna make lasagna!” to which I replied,

“Cool, I’ve never done that.”

And it was way easier than I’d ever imagined. I’ve only made it three or four times since then, always just winging it, but it’s gotten rave reviews each time. (excepting the time that I followed a recipe mind you, please read about that here: Most Disappointing Lasagna Ever) This is the first time I’ve committed to paper (disk?) my methods for lasagna. Anyway moving on…

To me, lasagna is similar to pizza. It has a starch, a meat, a sauce, cheeses, and layers. Also similar to pizza is the need for each ingredient to simultaneously shine on its own and mesh with the other ingredients. When eating, a person should be able to appreciate the distinct flavors of each part but the gestalt should be overwhelming bliss. Given this idea of synergistic food, I make sure to pay special attention to not just the the sauce, but also the meat going in it before they’re combined. The beauty of lasagna is that you get you to taste every single ingredient before you bake it. You have complete control of how it will taste. Armed with this knowledge, be sure that the sauce and meat are both perfect before you assemble. If it doesn’t taste right fix it! Otherwise you have only yourself to blame.

As mentioned during the Lasagna & Chianti Night, I made four different versions. You’ll notice from the pics that I made them in loaf pans. This way I can stack them a bit higher than your typical cake pans and also I don’t have a retarded amount of leftovers to contend with. You can make them in whatever you want.

Traditional Lasagna
Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey (I use turkey because I pretty much use turkey any chance I get instead of beef, but by all means you can use beef. If you do you use beef you will definitely want to drain as much of the excess liquid from the meat before combining it with the sauce. If you don’t do this, you’ll get failsagna. Also, you can add sausage and/or pepperoni to the meat mix, just be sure to use it as an addition and not as the majority of the meat)
• 5 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced (I use the standard yellow onions in the five pound bags. If you want an arguably bolder taste, go with a red onion. If you want a sweeter taste, spring for a vidalia. If you want a crispier taste, get a white one.)
• 1 jar of the cheapest most basic pasta sauce you can find (Yes, I buy the sauce. However, I *really* mess with this stuff. I get the most basic stuff I can find and use it as a blank canvas. Meaning you should buy “tomato sauce” and not “tomato basil cheese herb garden sauce.” I’d love to try making lasagna sometime with fresh roma tomatoes and some tomato paste but as of yet, I haven’t gotten around to it.)
• Lasagna noodles (A single box made enough noodles for all four loaf pans)
• Mozzarella cheese (I use the shredded kind in a package but you can get the real stuff if you want. You’ll have to grate it yourself. The only reason I don’t use the good stuff is the money factor and, to a lesser extend, the moisture factor.)
• Parmesan cheese (Kraft kind is fine but parmigiana reggiano is retardedly awesome) (This ingredient is totally optional. If you’re a sucker for long dramatic strings of cheese when you lift out a piece, then you’ll definitely want this, otherwise you can leave it out.)
• Cottage Cheese (If I hear one peep about ricotta vs. cottage I swear I’ll throw a shoe. To me, cottage blends much better with traditional style lasagna. I reserve ricotta cheese for the more delicate seafood lasagna)
• Black pepper, salt, oregano, basil, garlic powder, cumin, thyme, rosemary, ground red pepper, paprika, soy sauce (sometimes)
• Sesame oil, chili oil, wok oil, veggie oil (I have a bottle with all of these mixed the way I like it, grab some oils mix them to your liking, put them in a bottle. You’ll thank me later)
• Olive Oil (used to keep things from sticking)

(You can do a lot of the following steps concurrently but doing multiple things at once in the kitchen makes some people panic so do these at your own pace. Each of the steps can be done separately with no harm, it just takes longer.)

1. NOODLES Boil water, salt generously and toss in the noodles. Be sure to move them around a bit in the beginning so they don’t stick. Nothing sucks more than tearing a noodle and having to boil more water for a single missing noodle. Lay out the noodles in the baking dish first to guess how many you need. Add three for contingency. Once the noodles are cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. (Protip: Any time you’re cooking pasta that’s going to get baked, give them a rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Otherwise they’ll keep cooking in the oven and come out too squishy.)
2. SAUCE I absolutely don’t have precise measurements for this part. I’ve never tried to measure out what I add as I always do it by taste. We’re going for a “dark and somewhat spicy” taste. Most sauces are way too sweet and transparent out of the jar. Think dark chocolate espresso as opposed Irish Cream latte. So! Grab yourself a small sauce pan and empty the jar of pasta sauce into it. Set it to medium-low heat. First thing I do is upend a jar of garlic powder until I get a nice little mound sitting on top of the sauce. We’re talking about a heaping tablespoon here. Grind a very generous amount of black pepper into the sauce, a twist or two of salt, maybe a teaspoon or so of oregano, half teaspoon of basil, a quick swirl of ground red pepper (to taste), a couple dashes of cumin, a half or so teaspoon of thyme, and a sprinkle of rosemary. All of this is to taste. Make it bold. Make it balanced. Make it good. Sometimes you can have trouble getting that store-bought sweetness out of the sauce. You can alleviate this two ways. Either add a lot more black pepper and some more garlic powder or add in some soy sauce. Be sure to add in the soy sauce about 1/4 teaspoon at a time because it really upset the balance of your sauce. Once the sauce tastes right and starts to bubble randomly, turn it down to low.
3. MEAT Get a large skillet over high heat and coat it with some oil. Once the oil gives off a wisp of smoke, toss in the garlic and move it around. It should give a satisfying “PSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!” If it didn’t, the pan’s not hot enough. Once the garlic has a touch of color on it, toss in the onions and stir until they’ve wilted then add the MEAT. Stir to coat it in the flavored oil evenly then spread it out to cover as much of the hot pan as possible. Grind some salt and a decent amount of pepper onto the meat. Add essentially all of the ingredients that were added to sauce and stir. Now brown the meat. This does not mean to merely cook the meat until it turns grey. BROWN IT. To brown meat you need to cook it over high heat (not medium!) and let it sit for a few moments before moving. If you continually move your meat around it won’t have time to brown. Now I hear what you’re saying, “If I don’t keep it moving it’ll burn!” well, it browns before it burns, so just have faith and try it. The flavor that comes out with the browning is very important to complex and rich theme we’re going for. (If you’ve got a lot of juices, drain it. Don’t just drain it, get a heavy pan and squeeze that meat! If you have too much liquid, it’s bad news. If you make it with turkey, you probably won’t have to do this.)
4. MIX Once the meat is ready (it should be quite tasty if eaten on its own), turn the heat to low and pour the pan of sauce onto it. Stir to mix. Let this sit and bubble for five to ten minutes to blend.
5. ASSEMBLAH!
   1. Prep your pan by brushing the bottom with extra virgin olive oil.
   2. Put a layer of noodles down. If they’re too long, trim them down to size with kitchen shears or hack ‘em on a cutting board.
   3. Spoon on a layer of meat. You want to cover the noodles completely and that’s it. No noodles peeking through but also no giant piles. Make it even and make sure there’s meat everywhere.
   4. Top the meat with a generous layer of mozzarella between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick. (yes, the mozzarella goes directly on top of the meat) Like the noodles, you want to cover it completely but not have it be ridiculously high. (This is where you would add the Parmesan if you want the long strings of cheese. For some reason, adding a dusting of parm under and on top of the mozz makes the cheese super stringy)
   5. Add another layer of noodles, no oil needed this time.
   6. Cover the noodles with 1/2 inch of cottage cheese.
   7. Add another layer of noodles.
   8. Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5
   9. Brush the top layer of noodles to prevent burning/drying and sprinkle a little bit of mozzarella on top (see pics). Garnish with crushed black pepper, oregano, basil and some paprika for looks.
6. BAKING Toss it in the oven until it bubbles and is browned on top. How hot? Well, that’s a good question. I’ve made it at 325, 350 and 375 and haven’t noticed much difference except in how fast it gets “done.” It’s really not cooking at this point, it’s just making sure everything is melted and hot. I find that 30 minutes at any of the temps does a good job but 375 makes it nice and brown on top. You’ll be able to see it bubbling out the top when it’s done. Don’t stress about times and temps. When it’s brown and bubbling, it’s done.

Let it sit and firm up a bit before cutting into it. If you go in too soon it’ll just squish everywhere, regardless of how much of the excess juice you squished out. Enjoy your dish with some garlic bread, salad and a nice sangiovese. Let me know if this works out for you. I’ve opened the comments up so moderation is no longer required before one is visible. Love it? Hate it? Let me know!

That’s it for tonight, I’ll post the Chicken Florentine and Japanese Seafood recipes later this week. Check back soon!

-OjiChef

]]> http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?feed=rss2&p=133 0 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=128 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=128#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 04:47:21 +0000 The Vlargitect http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=128 Making pigs-in-blankets is fun, but sometimes I get lazy and just want it to be over.



I wasn’t lazy on *all* of them.
]]> http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?feed=rss2&p=128 0 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=126 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=126#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:42:18 +0000 The Vlargitect http://reciperesolution.com/?p=126 Not since the Texas Double Whopper has Burger King had a sandwich that was down right irresistible. The Western Whopper and the Steakhouse burgers were mediocre at best. (go ahead, flame me) But this new Indy Double Whopper is the stuff of legend. Two beef patties, four strips of bacon, lettuce, tomato and a cajun mayo for kick make this sandwich a creamy web dream of the burger world. Photo below…

Indy Double Whopper with Obligatory Shockers
As you can see, my intern and I look very happy as we’re about to split it. (Do you really want us to eat the whole thing? I mean come on, we want to meet our grandkids some day…) Either way, we were 10 fold happier after we ate it than before. Too bad I won’t be having one again any time soon since I want to live to be 80.

-Oji Chef

]]> http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?feed=rss2&p=126 0 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=125 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=125#comments Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:17:43 +0000 The Vlargitect http://reciperesolution.com/?p=125 Hey guys it’s been fun, but some things are changing in my life I will no longer be able to do a new recipe each day. I have a back log of recipes to post from this week which I will get to soon. However, I’ll probably only be doing a few new recipes a week or even per month. The fact is, I have no time for friends (unless they come over for dinner), exercise, or any free lance work. Don’t fret though! Instead of posting new recipes, I’ll still be posting some of my tried and true foods as I make them so there will still be some fun content to keep an eye out for. It’s going to be quality over quantity as these are recipes I’ve made many times in the past. Thanks for the support from all who’ve been regulars of my site and you’ve gotta admit, a month and a half of new recipes is certainly a lot to be proud of.

-Oji Chef

]]> http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?feed=rss2&p=125 0 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=119 http://vlargocity.net/edibles/?p=119#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2008 01:49:44 +0000 The Vlargitect http://reciperesolution.com/?p=119 One thing I haven’t had the chance to do in a while is eat out at a good restaurant. I figure since I’ve already made several *more* recipes than one per day, I deserved a day to myself to do some research at Buca di Beppo. My friend Paul told me about a wonderful dish they had which we will be attempting to reproduce soon. Photos below.

Starting off with a tasty bruschetta

Paired with tasty chianti

And evidently Sunday is sample night? Peach bellini and sour apple martinis!

Seafood Cannelloni, shrimp and crab with a lobster sauce. Tasty. (though a bit strange after the first one…oddly…a bit heavy on an herb I couldn’t place)

Porcheta Rustica: The reason for the drive. This is what Paul and I will be trying to reproduce soon. Herb roasted pork loin topped with a red wine blueberry sauce with capers. Absolutely delicious.

So there’s the “research.” I hope to make one soon!

-Oji Chef

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