Innie or Outie

Crockpot Paella Gone Wrong

We’ve all had an occasion when, even with the best of intentions, the dish just goes horribly wrong. A car breaks down, traffic is outrageous and unrelenting, a late last minute meeting at the office, or whatever – you get stuck far away from the cooking crockpot meal. Well this is one of those dishes when I couldn’t get to it in time and the crockpot just kept steaming the rice until I ended up with a Crockpot Paella Mushy Mess:

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But that doesn’t mean it can’t be saved, Baked Crockpot Paella:

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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the mushy mess in a small paella pan (or pie dish) and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the paella from the oven and using a fork turn the mixture. Return to the oven and bake for 15 more minutes.

Remove from oven, sprinkle with approximately ½ cup crushed tortilla chips for added texture, ½ teaspoon capers, and freshly snipped parsley.

Serve with a salad of fresh crunchy salad greens and veggies (such as radishes) dressed with a vinaigrette.

One of the great things about leftovers is that they challenge a person to be creative in developing new recipes and dishes. Here is one I came up with for leftover fish stew, Curried Fish Stew Pot Pie:

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I simply added 2 tablespoons curry powder and 1 cup frozen peas to approximately 3 cups Crockpot Fish Stew and heated thoroughly in a skillet on medium heat.

Meanwhile I preheated the oven to 375 degrees, buttered and lined a casserole dish with 1 pot pie dough sheet, then added the curried stew and topped with a second dough sheet.

I then baked the pie in the oven for approximately 25 minutes.

Here is relaxing springtime seafood brunch that tastes great after working in the yard. The entrée can be prepared ahead of time and then placed in the refrigerator, Seafood Salad:

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This salad can be made with a variety of ingredients including sashimi. I took what was already in the house and used canned tuna, shrimp, iceberg lettuce, seaweed, cherry tomatoes, black olives, scallions, oregano, basil, parsley; herbed croutons, soy sauce, and a creamy salad dressing (Don’t dress the salad until ready to serve).

To go with the salad, we saved some time and energy with premade grocery store Sushi:

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And to top off the meal we added Miso Soup:

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This meal is neither your traditional beer-battered fish and chips nor your traditional tenpura. Instead, I came up with a meal that is a little of both worlds, Asian Beer Batter Niblet Dinner:

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Ingredients for the meal consisted of cooked rice sprinkled with crushed toasted sesame seeds, miso soup, 2 cups of freshly-made beer batter, and an Asian Beer Batter Niblet Platter:

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1 large Russian red fish fillet (cut into bite-size pieces)
6 shitake mushrooms
10 fresh green beans
10 fresh shiso leaves
10 fresh basil leaves
10 slices of carrot
1 medium zucchini (sliced)

Rinse a pat dry vegetables. Then simply coat the ingredients thoroughly in the beer batter (a few at a time) and cook in a mini deep fryer until golden brown. We also added some nori sheets to the meal as a side munchie and soy sauce as a dipping sauce.

(NOTE: Although this doesn’t look like much food, the platter actually ended-up making enough niblets for 3 – 4 persons.)

Although St. Patrick’s Day is still a few days away, someone is back in the kitchen and getting a little green:

Papa’s St. Patty’s Herb Pesce Dinner

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For this dinner, hubby braised new potatoes and basil, sautéed Russian Red Fish in olive oil, added asparagus, then smothered it all in herb sauce. The plate was accompanied by a small bowl of salad greens, sweet peppers, and red radish topped with Sesame Thousand Island dressing.

This is a simple meal that can be served almost anytime of the day:

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Okonomiyaki

Hubby brought this premixed okonomiyaki (Japanese Combination Pancake) set back from his trip to Osaka (a city renown throughout Japan for their particular expertise in the meal).

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To the premix, we added sliced pork, dried krill, squid-flavored deep-fried tenpura batter droplets, three eggs, 120cc water, grated cabbage and carrot mix, Japanese mayonnaise, and pickled ginger.

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This is a very simple meal to prepare:

Mix the prepackaged batter powder, eggs, and water until smooth. Then add the krill, tenpura droplets, and veggie mix.

Place the pork on the electric skillet in four sections and brown on one side.

Ladle the batter mixture onto the skillet in four sections (one at a time) and place the pork on top of the sections (uncooked side facing up). Let cook until slightly brown (approximately five minutes), flip and continue to cook for approximately ten minutes (or until pork and batter are thoroughly cooked).

Top with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, seaweed flakes, pickled ginger, and shredded dried bonito (fish).

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There are many different methods used to prepare okonomiyaki. If you prefer to cook from scratch, here is one way.

I often sing the praises of one of my favorite household appliances around this time every year, the kotatsu or table heater. Tonight I’ll show one of the advantages of having such a convenient and energy saving item in the house. This recipe is one variation on a very popular wintertime dish in Japan:

Kani (Crab) Nabe for Two

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Dashi

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3 cups water
1 ½ pieces dashi konbu (a variety of seaweed) – break as needed

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6 pieces musubi konbu (another variety of seaweed)

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1/3 cup katsuo dashi (liquid type)

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1 tablespoon mirin
½ teaspoon minced ginger

Platter

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Crab legs (halved)
Shungiku (spring chrysanthemum stems) – cut into large chunks
Nametake mushrooms
Shironegi (leek) – cut into 1 inch pieces
1 block Shimadofu (tofu) – cubed
Chinese cabbage – cut into large chunks

Other Items Needed

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1 ceramic nabe pot with lid
1 crockette (mini-slow cooker)
1 portable tabletop butane burner

I began in an unconventional way by using a crockette (mini-slow cooker) to prepare the dashi. I did this for three reasons:

• Hubby’s schedule is so spontaneous; we have a hard time setting specific timetables for meals.
• It’s my belief that stocks taste better when given lengthy steeping periods.
• I don’t like having to stand over or repeatedly check the stove while the stock is steeping.

Place the water, dashi conbu, and musubi conbu in the crockette and cover.
After four hours remove two-thirds of the dashi conbu. Leave the remaining one-third for additional flavor.
Stir in katsuo dashi, mirin, and ginger. Cover and let continue to cook for at least another four hours.

You can prepare the platter at your convenience and place in the refrigerator, if needed. I usually start preparations approximately one-half hour prior to setting table for dinner.

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At dinnertime, prepare the table with the tabletop burner, eating utensils, and individual bowls.
Place the platter on the table.
Transfer two-thirds of dashi and musubi conbu to the nabe pot. Place the pot on the tabletop burner and add small portions of each item of the platter. Cover with the nabe pot lid and let come to a low boil. (Veggies are done when slightly soft to the touch. Crab is done when red in color.)

Serve cooked items combined in individual bowls accompanied by a small amount of dashi liquid.

After dinner, strain any remaining dashi liquid into a container. Remove the final one-third dashi konbu from the crockette. Add the crockette liquid to the container and store in refrigerator or freezer to use as starter dashi for the next time you prepare nabe.

This is an easy, yet deliciously spicy, seafood recipe:

Crockpot Spicy Seafood Stew

2 medium potatoes (quartered and sliced)
1 large red bell pepper (julienned)
1 large onion (quartered and sliced)
2 large tomatoes (quartered and sliced)
1 package frozen seafood mix (thawed) – this is a combination (approximately 3 cups) of peeled shrimp, bite-size squid, and clams found in the frozen food section at local supermarkets
1 cup peeled shrimp
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried red chili pepper flakes
2 teaspoons turmeric
½ teaspoon mustard powder
1 cup white wine
2 cups fish stock or chicken broth
1 tablespoon dried cilantro flakes
1 large pinch salt

Place potatoes in bottom of crockpot. Top with bell pepper, onion tomatoes, seafood mix, and shrimp. Add olive oil, garlic, chili pepper, turmeric, and mustard powder. Pour in wine and fish stock. Finish with cilantro and salt.

Cover the crockpot and cook for 8 to 10 hours on high. Stir occasionally. Serve over rice or with bread.

This is a quick, simple meal and the whole process takes little more than 20 minutes.

Sea Chicken (Tuna) Pasta

1/2 small onion (diced)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 can tuna (in oil)
1 tablespoon oregano flakes
1 tablespoon basil flakes
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon red ginger (the julienned type that is more commonly used for Okinawan style soba)
Linguini

Begin cooking pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, cook onion, garlic, and tuna (including oil) in a frying pan over medium heat for approximately five minutes.

After five minutes stir in oregano, basil, parsley, white pepper, and soy sauce. Reduce heat to low and simmer until pasta is cooked.

Strain pasta and add to the tuna mixture. Thoroughly mix pasta and tuna mixture, then mix in red ginger and lightly toss until red ginger is evenly spread through out the pasta mixture and serve.

Have you ever wondered how to make perfectly-shaped rice balls (onigiri) without burning your hands with the hot, freshly-made rice? This is a pic of one of the secrets used by local housewifes…

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No Fuss Rice Balls (Onigiri)

Simply make some fresh rice; place rice in the press until about half full; add filling (about one teaspoon) in the center of the rice; top with more rice; and press.

Two of the more popular fillings are tuna spread (see Chanpuru-No Rules-Cooking☆Recipe#2)and miso. Or you can simply press the rice ball and place a sheet of pressed seaweed on the outside of the onigiri. The possibilities are unlimited.