Innie or Outie

Here is another “fast food” meal, yakisoba. Basically it is cabbage, carrots, shrimp, squid, pork, and soba noodles quick-fried in a wok with a sauce and then topped with nori flakes. The meal also included rice sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, as well as pickled radish (daikon) and ginger. I ordered a side salad to complete the dinner.

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Here’s a way to have a relaxing fondue meal without worrying about an open flame, Crockette Fondue:

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Approximately one hour prior to serving, begin preheating by placing 2 cups of water in the Crockette (mini slow cooker) and heating on high. When you are ready to serve the fondue, empty the water from the Crockette and transfer prepared fondue cheese into the mini slow cooker. Place the Crockette on a table and plug into an electric outlet. Serve with a prepared Fondue Platter.

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For our platter we chose bread pieces, raw broccoli, raw cauliflower, raw carrot, and bratwurst.

(NOTE: Because we could not find Gruyere cheese this time, we used a prepackaged fondue cheese product found in a local supermarket. This was a real time and energy saver because all that was required to prepare the product was to heat it in the microwave for three minutes. The flavor was not that bad at all – which surprised us because we had tried a prepackaged fondue cheese product two years ago without much satisfaction.)

With St. Patty’s Day over and the beginning of Spring, thoughts of bunnies begin to pop into my head. Here’s an idea for those who are looking for a way to make bunny pastries:

honey bunnies

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.)

This fast food meal combines a little bit of everything: grilled chicken in tomato sauce, ground beef in demi-glaze, sausage, broccoli, corn, potatoes, a few strands of spaghetti, and rice.

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In the early ‘90s I created a St. Patty’s Day appetizer as a joke, Deviled Green Eggs:

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This year hubby and I decided to use the appetizer as part of a complete St Patrick’s Day meal so this is what we had for the occasion, Green Eggs and Ham Meal:

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The meal consisted of Green Egg Salad, Stir-Fried Ham and Broccoli, and Herb New Potatoes. (Although it’s difficult to tell from the pictures, the eggs are avocado-colored and the ham and broccoli had a light chicken bouillon and cornstarch green-colored sauce.)

So you have your St Patty’s edibles all planned out. But you might still need something to wash the munchies down. Here are some other than the traditional alcoholic beverage ideas:

matcha

shamrock shake

leprechaun cooler

So you live in an atypical environment and want to add a little of the local cuture to your St. Pat’s celebrations, or may be you just want to try something a little different. Here is an idea that might help you achieve that goal, matcha. Matcha is powdered green tea that is also edible. Below are several ideas that make use of matcha in interesting ways:

cheesecake

doughnuts

tiramisu

Here’s a creative idea for those who just haven’t found that right recipe for St. Patrick’s Day:

If you like celebrating St. Pat’s in a more traditional manner, a stew might be your idea of a lucky charm; or you might be a person who likes to make the most of a holiday by celebrating all day, beginning with breakfast. Or perhaps you are looking for a twist, like waiting till the end of the day to spring last minute surprises on family and friends with unique dessert ideas.

For many people, a St. Patty’s celebration just isn’t complete without some version of a shamrock. Could it be that you’re a gelatin kind of person? A great idea sure to bring a little charm to St. Patrick’s Day.