On Busy Days... Use Your Slow Cooker... Make Jamaican Oxtails

With the exciting FIFA 2014 soccer games in full play this weekend and beautiful Father's Day celebration weather... do it easy and use your slow cooker... make it, set it, forget it... go about your day- watch your games undisturbed, bask in the sun, let your kids run in the park, and come back to a deliciously aromatic kitchen for a tasty ready-to-devour meal. Double the ingredients to serve four to six or have leftovers for the next day in Jamaican Oxtails and follow these slow cooker instructions:

1) In a large bowl, toss the oxtail with chili (if desired), mushroom soy sauce, minced garlic, seasoning salt and black pepper. Marinate for one hour to overnight.

2) Place the sliced onions on the bottom of the slow cooker and add the thyme sprigs on top, then the oxtails.
3) Pour the water over the oxtails, cover and cook on low for six to seven hours.
4) When the oxtails are cooked, remove them from the slow cooker. Remove the thyme stems from the liquid. Skim off excess oil.
5) With a blender or food processor, carefully puree the sauce, then return the oxtails to the sauce and serve immediately on individual plates. 

Set it on low and forget it!

Oxtails become fall-off-the-bone tender and succulent!! 

Serve with steamed rice and a nice side such as: Papaya Mango Black Bean Salad.

VIVA FIFA!

Curry Beef Rice Korokke... Deep-Fried Japanese Croquettes

So satisfying, with a pleasing crunchy crust and a delicious rich filling.

The Japanese version of korokke or croquette is chopped-up meat, vegetables or seafood, formed into a patty or log, coated in airy panko crumbs and deep-fried until golden brown. There are lots of varieties- ham, shrimp, pumpkin, but the classic trios remain as potato, curry rice and kani cream korokke (succulent crab in bechamel cream sauce). The one that caught my eyes and taste buds is curry rice with beef using the staple rice to bind the ingredients instead of Western-style potato or cream. Flavoured with ever-popular curry, it adds a fragrant and extraordinary bang to the rice filling. You have to, have to give this a try! There are a few steps to making these but I promise it'll be all worth it at the end!

Curry Beef Rice Korokke
Makes 4 servings

2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
3 Tbsp. curry powder, divided
1/2 cup cooking wine or sake
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. mirin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 cups cooked short-grain rice
1 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups panko
canola oil for deep-frying
1/2 cup tonkatsu sauce (similar to a thick version of Worcestershire sauce)

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for about two minutes until onions turn translucent. Add and break up the beef and cook constantly for about two minutes until the beef is cooked; add 2 Tbsp. curry powder and cook until well combined. 

Scrape the bottom of skillet when stirring to prevent curry from burning. 

Add sake, soy sauce, mirin and salt. When the mixture comes to a boil, simmer for about two minutes, stirring frequently. Add the water, bring to a boil then simmer for two minutes more. Add the rice, remaining 1 Tbsp. curry powder, black pepper and cook, stirring constantly for about three minutes, until excess liquid has been absorbed, and rice is thickened. 

Transfer the curry mixture onto a baking tray and spread it to make a flat disk about 1/2-inch thick. Refrigerate to cool and firm for about one hour. Meanwhile, prepare four shallow bowls: flour in the first, beaten egg in the second, panko crumbs in the third and an empty plate to hold the breaded korokke.

Fill a sauce pot with at least one-inch of oil. I like to use a small to medium-size pot and cook in several batches to reduce the amount of oil used. Set up a paper towel-lined plate to drain the cooked korokke.

Remove the curry mixture and cut into 16 even pieces. Form 16 korokke logs, one at a time. Pick up each piece and form into 2-inch logs. Shape quickly, as excessive handling can cause them to get soft and break during frying.

Use disposable gloves to be mess-free!

Handle logs gently. Use one hand for the dry breading and the other to dip in egg so that your hands don't get caked. Right hand to bread with flour- shake off excess, left hand to dip and roll in egg, and right hand again to pile on the panko, press and roll. Place breaded korokke on empty plate.

Heat the oil to medium-high. The oil is ready when a wooden stick inserted in the centre emits shooting tiny bubbles on its side. Carefully slide the korokke into the sauce pot. Deep-fry in batches. Drain the korokke on the paper-lined plate.

If the oil is too hot, the korokke will burn; if too low, they will be soggy and greasy.

Cook the korokke for about three minutes until they are golden brown.

Serve immediately with tonkatsu sauce on the side.

Absolutely aromatic and delicious with hearty curry beef flavour! Nom Nom!

If you love curry, you may also like: Japanese Curry in a Hurry and Curry Beef Palmiers.

Garden Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

As an ambassador for the ongoing Food Revolution, each month we are given challenges to engage our family, friends, communities and influences with a recipe to foster deeper connections with fresh food. For June, we have this simple sensational tasting salad! You can start just about any meal with a garden salad or serve it alongside almost anything. Add grilled or boiled shrimp, sliced grilled chicken breast or flank steak to turn a garden salad into a main course.

From the mouth of Jamie Oliver and my sentiments exactly: "I never understand why anyone would want to buy store-bought salad dressings when they’re so easy to make, taste far nicer and aren’t pumped full of preservatives if you make them yourself!" Jamie makes his in a jam jar so that leftovers can be stored easily in the fridge – it will sit quite happily for up to a week so he often makes up double batches to save himself time after a busy day at work.

Garden Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

Makes 4 Servings

For the dressing:
1½ tsp. dry mustard
3 Tbsp. seasoned rice wine vinegar
5 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup buttermilk (or add 1/2 Tbsp. vinegar/lemon juice to 1/2 cup whole milk- let sit five mins.)
1 Tbsp. finely chopped shallot
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill or 1 ½ teaspoons dried dill
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the salad:
1 head Boston or small heart of romaine lettuce
1 large or 2 small carrots
½ cucumber
6 or so radishes
A handful of cherry or grape tomatoes, about 1 cup

Put all the dressing ingredients in a small jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake really well. The dressing makes twice as much as you will need for this salad. The rest can be refrigerated for up to a week.

For the salad, pull off any wilty or bruised outer leaves. Separate the leaves, tear out any thick stems and tear the leaves into bite-size pieces. Wash the leaves and spin them in a salad spinner.

Peel and grate the carrot, cut the cucumber in half lengthwise, then into half-moon slices. Slice the radishes thin and cut the cherry tomatoes in half (or leave them whole if you like). Add all the vegetables to the lettuce. Give the dressing a good shake, pour half of it over the salad and toss.

TIP: Once you've learned to make this salad try adding your other favourite ingredients like a few toasted nuts, some peppery arugula, or some crumbled feta.

Refreshing and Dill-icious!

Have you ever read the ingredients on bottled dressing? I bet you can’t pronounce half of them. By making double the amount of dressing, as the recipe suggests, you can keep the rest in the fridge and it can become your house dressing (and one without a whole bunch of mystery ingredients.) Once you’ve made it, you’ll forget it took any time at all to prepare and you'll easily do it again next time!

"Sui Gow" Dumplings in Soup...

Cantonese-style "Sui Gow" (水饺) are large boiled Chinese soup dumplings that literally translates to "water dumplings". These are different from wontons which are wrapped smaller and while there are many versions out there, the classic wontons are made of just chopped shrimps. I grew up on wontons filled with mainly minced pork, shrimp, black mushroom fungus and chives and they remain my all-time-favourite. However, I also thoroughly enjoy their larger heartier cousin and my version of "sui gow" are made with mainly shrimp, minced pork, black mushroom fungus and bamboo shoots; the exceptional filling was inspired by a bowl I had at a mom and pop noodle joint which has sadly closed. I love making a big batch-- to eat some for the day and have extras frozen for later meals. Always a delightful treat to have frozen dumplings ready at your whim!

Siu gow dumplings served with a fave companion fish paste dumplings!

Sui Gow Dumplings
Makes about 70 dumplings

1 lb. lean ground pork
1 tsp. salt 

1/4 tsp. ground white pepper

1 tsp. fish or chicken seasoning powder
1 tsp. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. sesame oil

1 Tbsp. cooking wine
1-1/2 packages 500 g raw shrimp, shelled, cleaned, rinsed and patted dry 

1/3 cup dried black mushroom fungus slice, rehydrated in water for 1 hour, drained and chopped
1/2 cup of chopped bamboo shoots
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 package of wonton wrappers (I like the Hung Wang brand)

Season ground pork in a large bowl with salt, pepper, seasoning powder, soy sauce, sesame oil and cooking wine; incorporate well. 

As an alternative, you can also add Chinese chives (here I used mellow yellow chives) or instead of bamboo shoots. 

I like to add sliced shiitake mushrooms in the soup broth.

Coarsely chop the shrimps. Take half and mince well with a sharp knife. Add the minced shrimp to the pork and mix well with a pair of chopsticks, raking the meat mixture back and forth for several minutes to create a sticky blended mixture. Add the cornstarch, remaining chopped shrimps, mushroom fungus and bamboo shoots and continue to rake the mixture until well distributed. Wrap and chill at least one hour for flavours to meld.

Raking creates stickiness that delivers a tasty bounce in the dumplings!

Assemble dumplings right before cooking. Wet the top triangle of the wrapper with your finger tip dipped in water. Spoon 1-1/2 Tbsp. filling in centre of wonton wrapper. Wrap the bottom triangle upwards to encase the filling and pinch at seams to seal. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling. Cook immediately and freeze the remainder (see tip). Do not refrigerate or they will get moist and stick to the plate.

I like to seal the bottom just under the rim to create more loose skin.

FREEZING TIP: Lay the dumplings slightly overlapping if there are many on a baking tray and freeze for 20 minutes; this will prevent sticking. Then, place a plastic wrap on the bottom of a Tupperware or reusable plastic container. Lay the dumplings in a single layer. Then, cover with plastic wrap to add a second layer. Place another plastic wrap before closing tightly  with lid. Can be frozen for two months if properly sealed.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add 2 tsp. chicken seasoning to flavour the dumplings during cooking. Carefully add the dumplings and cook for three to four minutes or until they are all floating. Remove with a large slotted spoon or strainer.

An easy chicken broth was made by boiling then simmering a cornish hen in a
pot of water for 1-1/2 hours. Skim the surface for scum and excess oil. Season.

Serve with soup, noodles and cooked greens. And of course top with chopped cilantro, green onions and red vinegar for dumpling dipping. A little chili oil drizzled on top adds pizzazz!  

Comfort food at it's heavenly best!

Check out my related recipes: How to Make Delicious Wontons, My Heaven In a Bowl.... Wonton Noodle Soup, and Try Turkey Broth Instead.

Perfect Potluck... Greek Quinoa Salad

My kids' end-of-year school concert last night. I committed to contributing a salad for the post concert eats and there was no doubt in my mind, this was the perfect crowd-pleaser salad to make with it's healthful ingredients and tasty flavours! A large fresh bed of both romaine and mixed greens topped with textured nutty grains of quinoa and a medley of crunchy colourful vegetables dressed with garlicky lemony dill.  And I was right, it was cleaned out! I reduced the recipe to make for a reasonable serving.

Photo update from my sons` birthday picnic!

Greek Dill Quinoa Salad

Makes 8 servings

3 cups hot, low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1-1/2 cups quinoa, rinsed
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp. kosher or sea salt, more to taste
ground pepper to taste 

6 cups mixed salad greens 

3 cups romaine lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces or omit salad greens and use 9 cups romaine
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small English cucumber, sliced and quartered
1 small red onion, halved and very thinly sliced
1/2 cup whole pitted kalamata or black olives
sprigs of fresh dill for garnish

Heat the broth in a large saucepan placed over high heat. When it has just come to the boil, add the quinoa and stir well. Allow to return to the boil, then immediately reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed. When cooked, transfer mixture to a large, shallow bowl to cool. Combine the dill, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to blend well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Layer the mixed greens then romaine lettuce on a serving platter. Drizzle with half the dressing.

Place all the vegetables in a large bowl; toss with the quinoa and remaining vinaigrette. Layer on top of the greens. Garnish with fresh dill and serve. TIP: If desired, crumble feta cheese over top. Presentation Suggestions: Eliminate the greens completely if desired. Or present the salad in layers. The greens on the bottom, layered with just quinoa, then topped with the dressed mixture of vegetables. It looks stunning this way too!

Deeeelicious-o! 

Quinoa is protein-rich and a highly regarded superfood! It takes on surrounding flavours very well and a smart healthy replacement to carbs in your meals. For alternative quinoa salads, try a sweet version: Simple Cranberry Quinoa Salad or savoury with Mexican flavours: Black Bean Quinoa Salad. 

Halfway Homemade... Japanese Curry in A Hurry...

It seems that everyone in Japan loves curry? But it doesn't sound exactly Japanese... what's up with Japanese-style curry? When the English version was introduced to the country, it was more of a soup meant to be sopped up with bread. The Japanese adapted it to their taste by thickening it so it could be easily eaten with rice and added familiar ingredients to make it more homey- their classic curry pronounced as karé contains onion, carrots and potatoes and often apples for sweetness. It's a favourite eaten in school cafeterias, restaurants and home kitchens! It's also popular in mine! My kids love the classic curry especially the crunchy apples, and there are some fantastic tasting Japanese brands of curry sauce that meets your meal preparations halfway, but not halfway delicious. Glico and S&B brands package curry sauce in a dry block format for convenient use. They can easily be found in most Asian supermarkets. You can choose the degree of spiciness from mild, medium to spicy. Serve it with toasted French baguette, ladled over steamed rice or noodles-- Japanese udon works really well!

Follow the simple directions on the back of package for a nice batch of curry. I serve 4-6 using half the package- usually four curry blocks. For the ingredients, choose 1 lb. of meat, cut into bite-size pieces; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 1/2 to 1 medium onion; 1-2 carrots; 2-3 potatoes, and other favourite vegetables or fruit all cut into bite-size pieces.

I used chicken thighs, sweet potato and two apples.

I love that these blocks already contain thickeners.

In a large skillet, stir fry onions and garlic with 1 Tbsp. oil. Add the meat, and cook for two to three minutes until almost done, then add the remaining vegetables. Add two cups of water and bring to a boil. Cook covered on medium low for 15 minutes or until tender. 

Remove from heat and break one block of curry sauce into skillet to serve four. Each package comes with two blocks. Stir until completely melted. Add the apples. Cover and set aside for ten minutes before serving.

Add apples at the end to maintain their crunch! Cantaloupe and honeydew melon works too!

Toast Vietnamese bread or French baguette for some heavenly sopping!

Or serve over short-grain steamed rice which is the traditional Japanese way....

Add sambal oelek or other chili sauce to give it some kick!

For fun form rice balls into a cute caricature with nori for facial features and ketchup for cheeks courtesy of my sis-in-law Yoko!

Credit: Dan Ng

If you've never tried Japanese curry, give it a whirl. It’s thicker and has a milder flavour than its Indian counterpart, and the real secret is … using a curry sauce from a box! Japanese people like to make a lot of dishes from scratch; however, when it comes to curry, there are not too many people that do. Add a simple green salad, and you have a tasty complete meal for your family! OISHI!!

Korean Assorted Lettuce Wraps

We love Korean food in this household, and Korean BBQ do-it-yourself wraps have been an occasional meal of choice for weekends. Now that summer is finally here, these mouthwatering packages of grilled seasoned meats- often any kind of well-marbled beef and lean pork belly, a bit of steamed rice, garlic and jalapeno slices, with a helping of savoury tangy onion mixture served with sesame oil dominate our cravings! Ssam (쌈) means “wrapped” in Korean. Ssambap (쌈밥) means rice wrapped in lettuce or other veggies with some other protein such as fish, bulgogi, kalbi, etc. Typically, the popular lettuce type used for wrapping is red lettuce leaf. I also throw in perilla leaves for a second variety. When I came across these beautifully arranged packages of assorted leaves displayed in the fresh meat aisle in the Galleria Korean supermarket, I was estatic! They were absolutely gorgeous and I was hungry to serve them at the next round of Korean bbqing.

That's seven varieties of leaves! 

Some leaves were crunchy, while others tender, but their natural tastes subdued when the layered ingredients of complex flavours were encased. My kids didn't protest at the selection. It's a great way to engage them in new varieties of different colours and textures with foods they love already!