Scallops and Chinese Egg Noodles:

Here's an interesting dish. We had some scallops in the freezer and some dried Chinese egg noodles in the pantry, so I whipped together a sort of Asian fusion pasta. The scallops were pretty simply seared with sea salt and black pepper. For the noodles, I chopped up some parsley, green onions, and garlic and made a sauce of lemon juice, olive oil, fish sauce, and cilantro. I topped it off with some lemon zest for color and brightness of flavor, and we had ourselves a really nice, easy dinner. I went with a California Sauvignon Blanc with this that set off the brightness of the sauce nicely.

Tempura:

Mina is a pretty amazing cook. She usually writes about the recipes she really likes on her own blog, but the other night she made tempura and it was so good I decided to put a picture and description here.

The selection included mushrooms, pumpkin (actually, buttercup squash, but it is the closest thing we can find to Japanese kabocha pumpkins at a reasonable price), kaki-age (a mish-mash of sliced onion and carrot), and shiso leaves. Along side she had some marinated and fried beef strips. Bowls of white rice and tempura dipping sauce completed the meal. We had ice cold beers with this dinner, but I really wanted a nice, cold sake. One of these days I will do something about that jones.

In any event, this was the first time Mina had ever made tempura for me. Hopefully it won't be the last!

An Amazing Dinner - Chicken with Spicy Plum Sauce and Focaccia with Tonnato and Anchovies:

My reader knows by now that I take a chance now and then when I cook. While I am usually pretty excited about the things that I cook, there is once in a while a meal that I am really surprised by, a combination of flavors that is new, unexpected, and just a real treat. This weekend's chicken dish was one of those. This was another Food & Wine magazine recipe, slightly modified to fit my pantry and Mina's tastes for spiciness.

The chicken is remarkably simple. I sauteed about 1/8 cup of diced red onion in butter, then added a black plum that I had chopped into 1/2 inch chunks. The plum breaks down, and at that point, I mixed in 1/8 cup of Thai Sweet and Spicy Chili relish and a tablespoon of dijon mustard. All of this went into a food processor, and that was the sauce. I grilled up some chicken thighs and slathered on the sauce.

The tonnato sauce for the focaccia is made with anchovy filets, capers, roasted red peppers, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and mayonaisse all whacked together in a food processor. A little olive oil on the bread and a slice of red pepper and another anchovy filet on top, you have a little side dish. Just a lovely, fresh flavor.

Together with this I had a Camelot Pinot Noir. Normally, I find this wine a little weak, but I trusted the guy at the wine store who said this was a good wine to go with plums. Pretty decent, if not spectacular.

The food, though. Wow. If only I can do this well again next week.

2nd Anniversary Dinner:

We stopped into the Wegman's supermarket on Tuesday night to look for a suitably special meat selection for our anniversary dinner and saw a couple of strip steaks that were just about the perfect size and at a decent price.

In thinking about what to do with these, I wanted something that was simple enough so as not to overpower the perfection that is a nice steak, but also something that would be a good mixing of our American and Japanese cultures. What I found was a recipe for Chimichurri sauce, a light, flavorful steak sauce that is popular in Argentina, that I modified to take advantage of some Japanese ingredients that we had in the pantry.

Chimichurri is usually made with white wine vinegar, parsley, cilantro, garlic, onion, and lime juice. I substituted rice wine vinegar, shiso for the cilantro, and kabosu juice (kabosu is somewhat similar to yuzu for those familiar with these asian citrus fruits), and what resulted was a nice, sparkley sauce that helped cut through the richness of the beef (and the egg, as pictured).

To go with the steaks, I sauteed some mushrooms in garlic and olive oil, Mina made some dinner rolls, and we had a nice salad. A nice California zinfandel topped the meal off.

2 Years:

Today was Mina's and my 2nd Anniversary. Time certainly flies, there's no way to put it otherwise. I knocked off the studying early and came home to cook a steak dinner for the two of us that turned out pretty nicely, if I do say so myself (photos and recipes over the weekend; please be patient, dear reader).

The past year has been one of all the ups and downs that I guess you expect in married life, and probably on or two that you don't. Mina had a couple of surgeries on her hands and minor as they were, it still had to be scary for her to go through that in a foreign country. Still, the carpal tunnel syndrome she seems to have picked up from her days as a computer engineer seems to have been relived.

I look at her talking on skype to her mom and sister and recall my doing so almost weekly in Japan and realize that it's really all about family, and I am glad I have mine.

Pizzas (Again):

I was watching a recent Wine Spectator Podcast about matching wine with pizza and realized we hadn't had a homemade pizza in a while. In fact, the last really great pizza we had was on our recent trip to Japan, where we had two really incredible pizza experiences. Most people might not think of Japan as a pizza mecca, but from my point of view they do an incredible job on pizzas with these incredibly thin crusts, pay careful attention to using only the best toppings, and never overload the pizzas. Add to that what seems to be an incredibly loose legal code where open flames are concerned, and you get a wood fired pizza oven in even the smallest local pizza joint. I don't have one of those, but it doesn't stop me from trying to make that crispy, thin crust pizza that I love so much. Anyway, we had a pizza lunch at a little place on a side street in Shibuya, and then my brother- and sister-in-law took us to a fantastic place called La Piccola Tavola in Eifukucho, which apparently has quite a reputation. Here is a Japanese blog posting about it with some pictures: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/fujisawamix/e/7c8c72916cb60f6c8edf9e6228a28217

Anyway, I am always trying to replicate that thin, crispy crust, and this time, I got closer than I ever have. One of the pizzas is something I would call a sausage carbonara pizza (it resembles a recipe for sausage carbonara pasta that I found in a Jamie Oliver cookbook, I think). Brush a liberal coating of olive oil onto your pizza crust and top with shredded asiago cheese. Next comes your sausage; I used hot Italian chicken sausage. If you have a pizza stone, heat it in the oven at 450 for 10 minutes or so, then slip the pizza in. About halfway through your cooking time (6 minutes for me), pour one scrambled egg over the pizza. When the crust is done to your liking, remove the pizza from the oven and top with some freshly cracked black pepper.

The second pizza I made was a pretty traditional Margherita. I brushed some olive oil onto the crust and topped with a thin layer of tomato sauce. I followed this with a little asiago cheese and some fresh, shredded mozzarella. When the pizza comes out of the oven, top with torn basil leaves and, if you like (I do), a torn up slice of prosciutto. Don't let the pizzas sit around too long, though, or all your hard work in rolling out a sublimely thin crust will be lost!

It was hot today, so I went with a chilled rose from Italy with these pizzas. The one I picked up was a Centine 2005 Rose, which is a blend of sangiovese, cabernet, and merlot (http://www.banfistore.com/product.php/catID/4/prodID/11). I found it a nice option for the price. It was crisp, stayed out of the way of the flavors on the pizzas, and has a relatively low 12.5% alcohol content, which makes it nice for hot summer nights when you might want to have more than...2 or 3...glasses...

Turkey Leg Osso Bucco (Adapted from Emiril Lagase and Epicurious.com):

I usually go to the supermarket without a clear plan of what I want to cook for the weekend meals. Mina and I maintain a reasonably well stocked pantry and have 15 varieties of herbs growing on the balcony, and this allows me to arrive at the store and create menus in my head based on what looks good in terms of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit.

This week I saw some turkey drumsticks and a turkey back that were pretty reasonably priced and I remembered seeing this take on Osso Bucco on Emeril Live a few months or more back. The forecast was for thunderstorms all afternoon, so this seemed like it might make for a good Sunday dinner.

The recipe is relatively simple. Chop some onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Dredge the turkey legs in seasoned flour and brown on all sides. Sweat the vegetables and deglaze the pan with some white wine. Add a can of tomatoes, some thyme and a bay leaf, and return the turkey legs to the pan. Add some chicken or turkey stock to the pan and cover, placing the whole thing in a 350 degree oven. Braising takes about an hour, but be sure to check the level of the liquid every 15-20 minutes, adding more stock as necessary.

In the meantime, prepare a gremolata of chopped parsley, lemon zest, and orange zest to top the dish with when serving. 20 minutes prior to serving, add a cup or so of Orzo pasta to the pan (it looks like rice, but is pasta). When the orzo is al dente, the meat should be falling off the bone and ready to serve. I macerated some strawberries in balsamic vinegar and honey and served those as the dressing for a simple salad.