Innie or Outie

Sea Chicken (Tuna) Stroganoff

1/2 medium onion thinly diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 6 ounce can tuna (undrained)
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1 tablespoon dried oregano flakes
1 tablespoon dried basil flakes
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup plain yogurt
16 ounces fettuccini
Parmesan cheese

Prepare pasta according to instructions.

Meanwhile, sauté onions and garlic in the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat.
When onions become translucent, add tuna, tomatoes, tomato paste, lemon juice, parsley, oregano, and basil. Cook on low heat until pasta is ready, stirring occasionally.

Once pasta is ready, drain liquid and replace pasta in cooking pot on low heat adding the tuna/tomato sauce and yogurt. Mix thoroughly.

Place in serving bowl and top with enough parmesan cheese to meet your own taste.

This time of year one feels as though the sun is playing a game of peek-a-boo.  Here are some individual dipping sauces  to use in place of marinades for those who find themselves suddenly facing impromptu B-B-Qs.

Spicy Mustard Sauce(good for sausage, pork, and steak):
     1 tablespoon Japanese Kewpie Arabiki mustard (a nutty, whole grain, Dijon-style mustard)
     2 tablespoons smooth German mustard

Spicy Tomato Sauce (good for shrimp):
     ½ teaspoon minced garlic paste
     1 tablespoon chili sauce
     2 tablespoons ketchup

Spicy Asian Sauce (good for chicken, steak, and vegetables):
     1 teaspoon wasabi (Japanese green horseradish) paste
     1 tablespoon sesame oil
     3 tablespoons dark soy sauce

This recipe is almost like a smooth tuna pate. It can be used as a dip or spread. It even makes a great snack or light entree when used as a topping over rice.

Sea Chicken Spread

1 can of tuna – more commonly called “sea chicken” on Okinawa Finely diced white onion – use as much as suits your taste, but make sure it is very finely sliced
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon soysauce
2 tablespoons dill pickle juice – dill pickles on Okinawa are still limited to very few grocery stores, so I found that the juice is a good substitute if a smooth final consistency is desired.
1 tablespoon dried parsley

Mix all the ingredients together with enough Japanese mayonnaise to obtain a smooth but firm consistency – the flavor of Japanese mayonnaise is very different from regular mayonnaise. If you can’t find Japanese mayonnaise, you might want to try adding a little lemon juice and regular mayonnaise.

Taki comes from a time on Okinawa, post WWII, when food supplies for the general population were limited and the coping mechanism was to throw whatever was available together.  This became known as chanpuru, a mixture of seemingly non-compatible ingredients.  The most commonly known is goya chanpuru.

I, on the other hand, was given a complete set of Good Housekeeping cookbooks as a wedding gift from my mother. (Since I possessed very limited cooking skills, she had hoped to spare Taki’s stomach.)  Although the gesture was well intended, the reality of the situation thirty years ago, when Taki and I were married, was that there was a very limited selection of Western- style food products available to the local market, in fact it was almost nonexistent. Instead, I learned to try and substitute various items.  And although the food line has improved greatly, there still is a lack of most of the main products in local supermarkets.

Over the years, this chanpuru-style of cooking has sparked some interesting recipes.  We decided it might be fun to share some of these “throw- together” home concoctions with other people who enjoy the art of creating new edibles. Every once in a while I will post one of our Chanpuru-No Rules-Cooking Recipes.  This is the first:

Guacamole

 1      over-ripe avocado
65   grams Old El Paso Taco Sauce
 3     teaspoons sour cream

Mix all the ingredients until smooth, then enjoy as a topping or dip.

During my research for holiday food art, I ran across several sites that had various levels of video cooking instructions. Many of the videos contain techniques that can be a blessing for anyone who has ever fallen into the “cooking challenged” category.

(Last Updated 24 Jun 2007)

azcentral.com – Recipes Section

Better Homes and Gardens – Food Videos

Cooking.com – Techniques

Cuisine at Home – Videos Section

ENJoy – Cooking with Phil

Epicurious – How To

FoodNetwork

Kraft Foods – Cooking School

Land O’ Lakes – Baking Demonstrations

PBS – Julia Child Series

Pepperidge Farm – Puff Pastry Videos

The Daily Pork – Demonstration Videos

The Pulse-Journal – Look Who’s Cooking – Home Videos

The Taunton Press – Fine Cooking Section

A list of various online cooking videos.

Hi and welcome to my new foodie blog. I hope to have this up and running as soon as possible. Until then, you can check my latest food posts here.