The rice vermicelli is underneath all the fixings: chiffonade romaine lettuce, cilantro, bean sprouts, green beans, ginger-garlic chicken, green onions.  The broth is hondashi, soy, and sugar.

I love how Fox mixes the sriracha and hoisin in the ladle with the broth before he pours it on.

September 2008
I miss home, especially the pizza I grew up with, Lou Malnati's, so I am on an endless quest to emulate as closely as I can the beloved Chicago deep dish pizza here in FL until I can return home for the real thing.

Crust
Stir together 1-1/2 C flour, 1 Tbsp butter or olive oll, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp yeast, and just enough warm water until it comes together in a ball. Cover and allow to proof for at least 2 hours or double in size. You can allow it to proof for up to 24 hours for a great sourdough crust.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9" deep dish pizza pan (I got mine straight from Lou Malnati's). A similar cake pan will do. With a buttered rubber spatula, scoop out the dough into the pan, press lightly to flatten, then with floured hands, smooth and press the dough around and up onto the sides of the pan. Press your fingers all around the corner to make a nice squared wall. Spray or brush olive oil very lightly over dough. Sprinkle with granulated garlic. Set on top of stove while it preheats to 450?F.

Toppings
8oz whole milk mozzarella cheese (we use Polly-O ?)
1 can whole peeled tomatoes, or stewed whole tomatoes, drained, and then mashed
1 can artichoke hearts, drained (this is the "Gemalnati's" part)
and whatever toppings you like, like mushrooms, Italian sausage, pepperoni etc
seasonings - basil, oregano, caraway, etc

Slice the cheese a scant 1/8" thick. Spread in a single layer on the crust, overlapping as necessary, cutting into pieces to cover the holes. Add the artichokes and whatever other toppings onto the cheese. Finish with ladeling the chunky tomato sauce on top, pressing into all the gaps and smoothing it out. Sprinkle with seasonings. Bake at 450?F for 30 minutes or until crust is well browned and pizza is bubbly. Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then careful not to eat the whole thing all by yourself. Rememhber to share! :D
  
*The pizza is even better the next day because reheating it in the oven yields a crispier crust. We especially like to have Lou's Fed-Ex'd to the house cuz they too bake up crispy. I actually like it better than going to the restuarant because it's usually quite soggy straight out of the oven.

October 2008
Ingredients
leftover corn tortillas (about 3 per tamale)
leftover chicken soup (below) or stock

For stock (delicious chicken soup): In a large wok, place cleaned whole chicken, veggies (carrots, onions, celery, etc), about 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cracked pepper, and fill with water about 2" below rim. Cover and bring to a boil, simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, turning chicken occasionally, skimming foam and fat from surface, until legs wiggle loosely from body or until meat is falling off the bone.

For Masa of Tamale:
1 Tbsp melted butter per tamale (optional)
garlic
salt
chili powder
canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
basil
flour

Directions
In a food processor grind corn tortillas finely. Gradually add melted butter and enough of the chicken stock to the masa until it is smooth and pasty. Add garlic powder, salt, and a little chili powder and process until incorporated.

Shred chicken from the bone finely. In a skillet, saut? shredded chicken, sprinkle lightly with flour, add garlic, basil, lots of chili powder, and a touch of chipotle pepper sauce. Cook shortly, then add just enough stock to moisten the chicken until it's thick and holds together.

Spread masa about 1/4" layer in a rectangle on a piece of foil or warmed moistened corn husk or banana leaves. Add a small spoonful of chicken down the middle, then wrap the tamale, sealing the edges of the masa and securing the wrapper. I leave one end open.



Bring steamer water to a boil then simmer on low. Steam tamales for 2 hours, adding water as necessary.  Allow to cool before unwrapping.  Top with cheese, chipotle, if desired.

 
Recommended product:
Goya or other brand.  All the ones I've tried are great, but vary in heat.  If you're getting it from a regular grocery store, it's located in the "ethnic foods" aisle.  If you're lucky enough to have a Mexican market nearby, grab dried corn husk to wrap tamale properly.

After many trials and errors, I finally came close to what I was trying to achieve.  Stovetop granola bars!  No baking necessary, I started with a basic recipe but I will try different combinations of dried fruits, seeds, and morsels to make it extra yummy and nutritious!  It's super simple and naturally delicious.
I toasted 1/4 Cup grain rice (rolled rice, called "pinipig" in Tagalog) and 1 3/4 Cup Rolled Oats in a dry wok over medium-high heat, stirring and flipping constantly until brown and toasty.  I removed from heat and stirred it until it started to cool.
In a small skillet I combined 1 Tbsp butter and 1/2 C honey.  Over medium high heat, stirring constantly I brought it up to a boil then immediately removed it from heat, and stirred in a few drops of vanilla and then poured the syrup over the oats and combined thoroughly.
I then poured it into a buttered loaf pan, pressed it down firmly, allowed it to cool for 5 minutes, then inverted it onto a board and cut into sticks.  Chewy! Finally!  *For hard crunchy granola bars, boil the sugar mixture for one minute and be sure to cut the bars while they're  warm.

To use up some leftover rice, I made grilled rice in my broiler.  I used sakura shape mold.

The nigiri mold and cutting board are moistened.  A small amount of rice is pressed into the mold

The grate is oiled with a brush and the nigiri are broiled on the top rack of the oven

The nigiri are flipped over and grilled on the other side as well.
A reduced mixture of equal parts soy, sake, mirin, and 2x part sugar is brushed on and broiled

The result is a salty sweet crispy crunchy satisfying snack.

I revisited the wok roasted chestnut because I found them to be a bit dry and not as caramelized as a more slowly-roasted nut.  But for cooking applications that's fine.  For a more moist sweet nut I went a different approach.  I sliced the skin so that they would open like a clam.  I boiled them in hot water for a few minutes, turned off the heat, and allowed them to soak for about 15 minutes.  I then drained them and roasted them covered over low-medium heat in the wok until they started to steam and bust through.  They expanded so much they literally popped out of the skin.  They were sticky and sweet and oh so good.

Well, I'm spoiled and Daddeh! sends me more chestnuts than I could snack on, so I freeze them and use them in cheesecake crust, breads, meatballs, stir-fry?Tonight I made up a bread.

2 C flour, 2 T butter, 2 T honey, 1 T milk, 2/3C water, 2 t yeast, 1 t salt, 1/2-3/4 C chopped chestnuts, 1/4 C toasted flax and sesame.  Of course, that's totally variable, I just kinda estimated what I threw in there.  The 1/4 C flax and sesame was what was left in the bottom of some granola I made the night before, so it might have some oatmeal in there too?oatmeal would also be good in the bread.  Knead until super smooth, let rise for 2 hours.  Butter loaf pan.  Dump dough in there, punch it down a little, cover and allow to rise another hour or until doming high above the rim. Brush with beaten egg.  Bake 350? for 20 min or so or until toothpick?you know the drill.

*An important side note (to myself) regarding chestnuts: NEVER DEHYDRATE CHESTNUTS!  Unless you want to break your teeth on petrified-hard-as-glass nuts, don't do it!  I learned that the hard way making my first batch of granola in the dehydrator I got for my birthday.  Now I'm picking through it trying to find and remove all the dangerous chestnut shrapnel?

Every winter my father sends me chestnuts.  Preparing them has been a tradition in our family our whole life.  But recently I've experimented with various ways of preparing them because peeling them can be challenging.  My father would bake them in the oven after cutting an X on the hump of the nut.  My mother would slow cook them for hours.  I nuke them in the microwave after snipping the tip off (3 wrapped in paper towel for 30 seconds for a crunchy nut).  But today I tried roasting them for that sweet carbonized roasty flavor that I miss from eating chestnuts in Japan.  It worked out great.

This year my dad also sent persimmons.  For a long time I wasn't crazy about persimmons because when I first tried them as a child, the one I had was under ripe, astringent, and left that chalky dry feeling in my mouth that took a while to go away.  But a couple years ago in Japan we ate some of the most delicious persimmons ever for breakfast.  The ones my dad sent me were just as good if not better.  They are deep orange, translucent, juicy, sweet, and it's easy to see why it's considered the fruit of the gods.

Deep translucent orange, ripe and sliced for snacking.

Dehydrating some in the oven. 

A few hours later they've shrunken considerably.

Last time I made dumplings from chopped pork from the ribs section.  This time I did it from ground Turkey.  I still have trouble pleating the dumplings neatly, but they're so tasty anyway.

Wrapper: I mixed 1/2 C of flour, a couple dashes of salt, and enough water to make the dough come together but not be sticky.  Kneaded for a few minutes until smooth.  Let rest at least 1/2 hour.

Filling: Mixed about 1/2 lb. ground turkey, a couple chopped scallions, about 1 Tbsp each of soy sauce, sake, sugar, grated frozen ginger, cornstarch, and then a little granulated garlic, and salt.  I let that marry while the wrapper dough was resting

I kneaded the dough for a minute to smooth it out, then rolled it into the diameter of a quarter and sliced 1/2" slices.  Over a lightly floured board, I used a rolling pin to flatten the wrapper into a paper thin translucent circle.  Holding the wrapper in hand, not on the palm but over the fingers, I spooned in a tsp of filling, then pinch/pleat closed and arranged on a floured tray.  This batch made 16 dumplings.

To cook I brought 2 cups of water to boil in a deep 11" skillet.  I covered the metal steamer basket with a layer of lettuce and arranged 8 of the dumplings, covered, and steamed for 8 minutes.  For the second batch I replaced the 2 cups of water but the lettuce was still fine to steam a second time.  To serve, I used another fresh piece of lettuce on the the plate.

I generously buttered an 8" skillet with cold butter, ripped up a few slices of stale French bread into little pieces into the pan, sprinkled a handful of raisins in, and dusted with cinnamon and nutmeg.  In a 2-cup measuring cup, I beat two medium eggs and added enough milk to equal 1-1/2 C, added 3 Tbsp of sugar, and whisked to incorporate.  I poured this over the bread and raisins, then smashed it all repeatedly with a flat spatula to remove air from the bread and allow it to 'inhale' the custard mixture.  I covered it and cooked it over 20% heat for 40 minutes.  It puffed up and a fork inserted came out clean.  I turned off the heat and allowed it to deflate, then served.  Hot or cold, it's a light, almost fat-free dessert, snack, or breakfast (same ingredients as French Toast).  Super easy and quick, using simple ingredients and utilizing stale bread.  I think I would reduce the sugar to 2 Tbsp as long as I had enough raisins in there, because they're pretty sweet.  Without raisins, I'd probably keep the sugar at 3 Tbsp (1 Tbsp per 1/2 C of liquid) and add a little hazelnut or vanilla extract.

I gave up years ago trying to make char siu bao (or siao pao in Tagalog) after trying several recipes from both Chinese and Filipino sources.  I got over it, and today I decided to wing it since I had some pork marinating in the fridge.  I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

I marinated ribs in a Chinese barbecue mix the other day.  I cut off a big hunk that had no bone and cooked it for several hours in the mini slow-cooker.  I added brown sugar, soy, and granulated garlic.

Meanwhile for the dough, I mixed 1 C flour, 3 T sugar, 1/4 t salt, 1 t yeast, and enough warm water to make a slightly tacky dough.  Kneaded for a couple minutes until smooth, and covered for a couple hours until double in size.  Kneaded again for a minute, then allowed to proof another hour to rise again.

By that time, the meat is super loose and gorgeous.  I removed it from heat and added a spoonful of cornstarch to it.

I divided the dough into 4 balls, flattened them out, cupped one in my hand and stuffed it generously with meat, then pleated/pinched to seal and placed it seam-side down on a 3" square of waxed paper.  I arranged them on the counter close together and placed a large bowl over them and allowed to proof another 1/2 hour or so.

I prepared the steamer, just a small amount of water, maybe 1/2" in a large skillet/saucepan brought to boil, and placed the 4 bao on the E.T. spaceship steamer thingy.  Covered and steamed for 10-15 minutes.  They're ready to eat immediately afterward.  Wow.  I did a happy dance.  The dough was light, sweet, and chewy.  The pork was savory, sweet, and stringy-tender.  I've already started a new batch of dough so we can have more bao around 5am, it's worth staying up for!