Innie or Outie

Here’s another original creation from hubby, Papa’s Chicken and Potato Dinner:

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For this beautifully plated meal, hubby made potato patties mixed with flour and finely diced onion; topped with chicken sautéed in salad oil and sprinkled with white pepper; added quartered cherry tomatoes and homegrown arugula; and smothered the entrée with canned mushroom gravy.

Here’s another new chicken meal chocked full of herbs, Minty Ginger-Basil Chicken Dinner:

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This meal consisted of chicken in a mint, ginger, basil, walnut, soy sauce, white pepper, clove, and olive oil marinade on a bed of mushroom, leek, and garlic rice – garnished with a fresh basil sprig; accompanied with a small iceberg lettuce, cherry tomato, and black olive salad – drizzled with creamy cheese dressing and dried oregano flakes; and garnished with chopped fresh basil. Here’s a brief video with further details.

Finally a chance to do some outside cooking, This-n-That BBQ Dinner:

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This meal consisted of grilled ginger-chili sauce pork roast, grilled shikwasa-garlic chicken, grilled foil-wrapped chili beans and onions, grilled foil-wrapped parsley sweet corn cob, and ochazuke onigiri. View brief video with further details.

This is a simple and tasty meal, Bleu Cheese Chicken Roll Dinner:

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The meal consisted of bleu cheese, dried tarragon flakes,and white pepper rolled chicken thigh slices wrapped in thin slices of ham; fried rice with pine nuts and chopped fresh basil; and an iceberg lettuce, cucumber, and cherry tomato slice salad topped with creamy cheese dressing and dried oregano flakes. A video with further details is available here.

This is a variation of a dish that is more commonly known as a tofu entrée, Papa’s Mabo Nasu:

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The dish consisted of ground chicken, chopped nasubi (eggplant), carrot, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, scallion, oyster sauce, toubanjyan sauce, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic paste, minced ginger paste, chicken broth granules, and rice with cracked black sesame seeds.

Hubby was really in the mood for something a little different from our normal cuisine and decided to go washyoku (traditional Japanese cooking), Papa’s Shibui-Chicken Soup:

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Presoak chopped chicken chunks in sake and sea salt; in a large pot of water, simmer konbu (seaweed) sheet until soft; remove konbu and add katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), mirin, white pepper, soy sauce, and chopped shibui (Winter gourd); bring to rolling boil (remove one cup of stock and set aside); add presoaked chicken with liquid; reduce heat and simmer until shibui is tender and chicken thoroughy cooked.

Meanwhile, prepare the accompanying dish, Papa’s 10 Grain-Kamaboko Rice:

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Cook rice adding one 10 grain rice packet, chopped shitake mushroom, diced carrot, diced gobo (burdock root) stuffed kamaboko, soy sauce, and substituting the one cup reserved konbu stock for one cup of water; plate and garnish with chopped scallions.

Plate soup and garnish with fresh arugula. Serve.

Here’s another original home cooked meal idea that’s colorful and flavorful, Stuffed Chicken Thigh Dinner:

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Sauté julienned yellow bell pepper and red bell pepper, sliced red onion, sliced mushrooms, fresh rosemary leaves, and almond slivers in sesame oil; sprinkle with white pepper; remove from heat and set aside. Slightly flatten boneless chicken thighs skin side on outside; sprinkle with black pepper; spread on a thin layer of cream cheese; sprinkle with dried oregano flakes, powdered clove, and powdered sage; top with sautéed bell pepper mixture; fold outer edges of chicken towards center to form a roll; peg with toothpicks; sear on all sides in medium hot frying pan with heated olive oil; place in baking dish and bake in preheated oven at 200 degrees Centigrade for approximately 10 minutes.

While chicken is baking, grind black olives, green olives, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil in food processor; slice one whole grain dinner roll into four pieces; spread on thin layer of minced garlic paste; toast on both sides in frying pan with heated olive oil. Sauté defrosted grilled Mediterranean vegetable medley (potato, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, eggplant, and zucchini chunks) and pine nuts in heated olive oil. Meanwhile, remove toasted bun slices from heat and top with olive mixture; blanch julienned red cabbage and carrot.

Plate cabbage-carrot mix forming a thin bed; sprinkle with crushed sesame seeds; plate toasted olive-basil bread and drizzle with olive oil; plate sautéed Mediterranean veggie mixture; remove chicken from oven, remove toothpicks, place on red cabbage-carrot bed and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Serve.

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As if the weather knows summer is coming to an end, the temperatures and humidity are starting to rise again. Given that, Hubby decided to prepare a cool and refreshing salad of his own that also reflects the increase of produce available in local supermarkets,
Papa’s Chicken Salad:

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For the salad, hubby used recently new produce times, sliced red onion and red radishes, with standards cherry tomatoes and iceburg lettuce, threw in some homegrown greens and arugula, and topped that with sliced deep-fried chicken nuggets, and completed the dish with a creamy sesame dressing.

Hubby’s back in the mood for cooking Mediterranean-influenced edibles, Papa’s Olive Chicken Pasta:

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For the entrée he sautéed chicken breast chunks in olive oil, added julienned yellow and green bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, sliced green and black olives, and garlic chives. He tossed the mixture with assorted pasta; plated; and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. To complete the meal, hubby served a small salad of homegrown greens, iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, bacon bits, and herbed croutons with an olive oil, white wine vinegar, and shikwasa (Hirami lemon) dressing.

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Finally getting down to the last few servings of somen. This is another original dish with a mild Spanish-influenced flavor, Golden Chicken in Tomato Sauce on Almond-Basil Somen:

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For the dish, thoroughly mix turmeric, dried tarragon flakes, white pepper, dried parsley flakes, paprika, dried oregano flakes, minced garlic paste and olive oil in a zip-style plastic bag; add chopped chicken breast chunks and completely coat in olive oil mixture; place in refrigerator to marinate.

About 30 minutes prior to serving, brown chicken mixture in frying pan; stir in diced onion, diced yellow bell pepper, and diced green bell pepper; cook until onion turns translucent.

Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, sauté sliced spicy sausage and start boiling somen water; remove sausage and toast almond slivers in remaing grease; add chopped stewed tomatoes with sauce and sausage to chicken mixture bringing to a light boil; reduce heat, add sliced black olives, and simmer until somen is ready.

Cook somen; remove toasted almonds from heat; strain and toss with chopped fresh basil, almonds, and olive oil; plate and ladle-on chicken mixture; top with fresh basil leaves. Serve.