Innie or Outie

This simple dish has a spicy twist, Papa’s Curried Fried-Rice Dinner:

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For the meal hubby used chopped canned oysters, shrimp, carrot, and onion sautéed in olive oil; then added curry powder, chicken broth granules, and precooked rice. Accompaning the dish was a small salad of iceberg lettuce, homegrown arugula and salad greens, sliced cherry tomatoes, and chopped chives; topped with a creamy cheese dressing; and sprinkled with bacon bits.

Here’s another flavorful and simple meal from a variety of influences, Ginger-Almond Rice & Shrimp Wrap Dinner:

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The meal consisted of a shrimp sautéed in sesame oil with red onion, bell pepper, white pepper, red chili pepper flakes, minced ginger paste, and shikwasa juice mixture in a lettuce and miso-covered tortilla wrap; diced pickled-ginger and toasted almond rice; and soup of choice (in this case miso). A brief video with further details is available here.

A simple throw together with an Asian twist for a busy day, Seafood Stew Snack:

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For the snack, 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, topped with 1 cup leftover Crockpot Seafood Minestrone Stew, zasai (pickled turnip), chopped nori (seaweed), and cracked black sesame seeds.

Hubby’s back in a pasta mood, Papa’s Shrimp Pepperoncini Dinner:

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This version of a pasta favorite consisted of sliced onion, chopped bacon, red chili pepper flakes, white pepper, minced garlic paste, and shrimp sautéed in olive oil; tossed with spaghetti and homegrown basil; and topped with parmesan cheese. As a side dish, a small salad of iceberg lettuce, homegrown arugula and salad greens, chopped cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and chives, bacon bits, and herbed croutons topped with a creamy sesame dressing.

The weather is cooling is a bit, so I decided it’s time to drag out the slow cooker, Crockpot Seafood Minestrone Stew Dinner:

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This original meal for two consisted of 1 potato, 1 small carrot, 1 small bell pepper, 1/2 medium onion, 1 1/2 cups frozen seafood mix, 1 tablespoon minced garlic paste, 1 tablespoon minced ginger paste, 1 tablespoon chicken broth granules, 1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes, one 15 ounce can tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce,1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon white pepper, 10 Spanish olives, 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes, 3 small bay leaves, 100 grams pasta, 1 whole wheat dinner roll, 1 teaspoon minced garlic paste, 1 teaspoon almond baby cheese, and four fresh basil leaves. View this video for further details.

Now that the somen has run its course, I’m experimenting with other pantry items, Curried Tuna-Rice Pocket Meal:

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For the meal, I preheated the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade; formed a stuffing of powdered curry, flaked canned tuna, precooked rice, almond slivers, dried parsley flakes, powdered thyme, chopped black olives, white pepper, and diced red onion; coated one side of a tortillas with egg wash; filled with stuffing; sealed, coated outside of stuffed tortillas with egg wash; placed pockets in greased baking dish and cooked for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, the finger salad dip was made by mixing 1/2 sodium red miso paste, toasted sesame oil, minced garlic, white wine vinegar, toubanjyan sauce, soy sauce, and minced ginger paste; then set aside.

The finger salad was plated; consisting of iceberg lettuce leaves, topped with julienned carrot, cucumber, and red onion; black olives were added and the dip spooned into a lettuce cup bed then topped with grated black sesame seeds. The pockets were plated and the meal served.

A simple, yet tasty, way to use leftover rice, Papa’s 10 Grain-Pork Risotto:

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For this dish, hubby used 10 Grain-Kamaboko Rice, added cream, pizza-toast cheese, sliced pork sausage, and grated parmesan cheese; then garnished with chopped arugula and chives.

To accompany the entrée, a simple a side dish, Papa’s Red & Green Salad:

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The salad consisted of homegrown salad greens and arugula with iceberg lettuce, julienned red onion, quartered cherry tomatoes, sliced red radish, and bacon bits, topped with a creamy cheese dressing.

Well here it is the end of another summer and to celebrate, a final new dish using the last of the twenty-five 70 grams somen packets, Shrimp Noodle Crunch:

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The dish consisted of shrimp and diced red onion sautéed in sesame oil; with blanched mixed veggie (cauliflower, broccoli, and carrot) medley, diced red bell pepper, diced yellow bell pepper, and sliced shitake mushrooms; in a sauce of miso, honey, white wine vinegar, minced garlic paste, minced ginger paste, toubanjyan sauce, soy sauce, chicken broth, black sesame seeds, and corn starch; on a bed of deep-fried somen tossed with julienned red cabbage sautéed in olive oil.

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.

So you’re in the mood for a little pampering, but you don’t have a bagel in the pantry. No problem, here’s an alternative idea, Cream Cheese-Caviar Quesadilla:

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Simply spread a layer of cream cheese on one half of a flour tortilla; top with a layer of caviar; fold other half on top; place in a frying pan to toast; remove, slice, and serve.