Study Abroad Preparations

I'm busy putting the finishing touches on the study abroad trip I am co-leading during Spring semester. I've got rail passes in hand, hotel reservations made, sumo tournament tickets purchased, and plans for company and cultural visits galore. There's always a worry that there's something I've missed, but I think we're going to be OK...

Summer Meals:

Well, now that fall semester has started, it seems the appropriate time to update a few dinners we had toward the end of the summer. I'll start with some garlic and rosemary crusted lamb chops and cold avocado soup.

The soup was "souper" easy (sorry). I sauteed up some onions and garlic and then added some low sodium vegetable broth, a chopped ripe avocado, a chopped up stalk of lemongrass, and a pinch of paprika. I let that simmer away for a little while, hit it with the immersion blender, and chilled it down in the fridge. To serve, I topped it off with a couple slices of roasted red pepper. It was a nice, crisp way to start off the meal.

Next, I did a roasted half rack of lamb that I crusted with a paste of rosemary, garli

c, and sea salt. Again, this was super easy. I just coated the lamb with the garlic and rosemary mix, seared it for a couple minutes over high heat and then put it in the oven for 13 minutes to get the internal temp up to 135. Slice and serve.

The story I need to tell here, though, is about the serving dish. While we were in Japan this summer, I bought a number of pieces of ceramics and glassware that will be seen here in coming weeks. This wasn't one of them. This piece is actually a sashimi serving plate that Mina's sister's husband's mother (my mother-in-law-in-law?) made. We were visiting their house for a local festival when my interest in Japanese ceramics came up and she opened up a cabinet in the kitchen and said, "Take whatever you want!". There must have been 200 pieces that were all handmade and all gorgeous. While I am sure she'd be shocked to see lamb served on a dish meant for fish, I think it looks great.

Anyway, I served this lamb with a Lyeth Cabernet Sauvignon that was simply fantastic for just under $10.

Duck!

On our return from Japan I jetted off to a conference in Chicago, but had a few days to spend with the 'rents before coming back up to Syracuse for the fall semester. While in Cleveland we went down to the West Side market to pick up some pork bellies and also to get some duck breasts so that I could cook a dinner. I poked around the internets and came across a recipe that looked like it would work well, so gave it a try. The meal was a nice team effort.

First course: Cold Summer Squash Soup (the Lovely Mina). This soup was incred

ibly easy to make. We sauteed up some onion and garlic, added some peeled, seeded, and chopped zucchini and yellow squash, and some chicken broth. This boiled down until the squash were tender, then we hit it with the immersion blender and chilled it. We served it with some chives as a garnish.

Side: Barley Couscous with Olives and Cilantro (Mom). A pretty straight fo

rward dish except that we used barley couscous as opposed to regular. I thought this had a deeper, "woodier" flavor than plain couscous.

Side: Roasted Peaches with Balsamic Glaze (Me). Another super easy dish that sounds tougher than it is. The glaze was 2 parts soy sauce to 1 part lime juice (the original recipe was for 1 cup of soy sauce, which seemed excessive to me. I started with 1/4 cup), some grated ginger, a clove of grated garlic, and a few drops of sesame oil. This gets reduced, strained, and chilled. I quartered a couple of fresh peaches and sauteed them in some of the duck fat that rendered from the breasts (next) until they were tender and caramelized. I then spo

oned the glaze over the top of them.

Main Course: Seared Duck Breasts. Incredibly simply preparation, though the first step of leaving the breasts uncovered, skin side up in the refrigerator for several hours is key. I am not sure where I learned this trick (probably Alton Brown), but since the refrigerator is so dry, this helps in leaching some moisture out of the duck skin and aids in the crisping. Just before cooking, I scored the skin of the duck breasts, seasoned them up, and then seared them over medium heat with just a little olive oil. Enough fat renders from the duck that you wouldn't need any oil at all if you were using a non-stick skillet (though, as we know, you can't make a pan sauce in a non-stick skillet!). Anyway, just let the breasts cook away skin side down for 8 minutes or so, checking them periodically to be sure the skin isn't burning. Give them a flip and continue cooking until the internal temp. reached 130-135 degrees. Slice on the bias and serve.

The nice thing about this meal is that you could go red or white on the wine without issue. The peaches would go nicely with a crisp white, while the duck itself would be beautiful with a pinot noir or a zinfandel. A fruity belgian beer would also be an inspired choice, I think.

More Ramen:

We're back from Japan and I've got another photo of ramen to upload (yes, I did eat things other then ramen, but I am just not as excited about those as I am about the soup).

Ok, so this time is a Pork Bone/Soy Sauce ramen that I had in the Lovely Mina's hometown of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. I'd had a couple of beverages prior to arriving at the shop, so you'll have to forgive me for not remembering the name...In any event, the chances of any of my loyal reader(s) ever getting to Iwaki for a bowl of soup are pretty small, I imagine.

In any event, this was a heck of a bowl of soup. The marriage of pork bone soup and soy sauce base was lovely, as was the addition of cabbage, which I had never seen before. The crispness was appreciated. We found that adding a dollop of "toubanjan", a Chinese hot bean paste, was key for this soup. It added a complexity that the base soup was missing. Plus, it was spicy!

With an order of gyoza, this was a fabulous way to end an evening out.

Ichiran Ramen in Shibuya:

Here in Japan on a research trip, I need to get my ramen jones on. I figure to eat ramen at least 5 times in 4 weeks, which will mean I'll easily surpass my yearly required salt intake in those 5 meals, but it will be worth it.

First stop was a place called Ichiran (there's now a Manhattan branch) that is an outpost of traditional Kyushu Pork Bone Soup Ramen in Tokyo. I'd been to the original Ichiran in Fukuoka with my brother years ago, so this was a nice start to the tour. They let you choose your noodle doneness, the amount of garlic, spiciness, and really importantly the relative "thickness" of the soup. I went all out and got the strongest soup possible. No messing around here.

One of the really interesting things about the shop is that they put you in individual stalls to eat, rather than seating you at a counter or tables. You never see any of the workers. It's a bit like visiting a Ramen Love Hotel, actually. I suppose the rationale is that you'll slurp your noodles to your heart's content if there's no chance of being observed in your revelry. Works for me.

Anyway, I had my soup and a soft boiled egg and it was wonderful. The noodles had just the right amount of spring to them and the soup was nicely balanced. The Chashu pork was tender and sweet. No complaints at all. Next stop on this will be some Pork Bone/Soy Sauce Ramen, which I think is the king of Ramens. I'm hoping to find the best of the best on our return to Tokyo on Friday. Good times!

Dinners Out the Yin-Yang:

As a recent comment points out, it's been a while since I posted and I have backlog of dinners to report about. So, here goes. We'll start with the most recent and go from there.

Hickory and Applewood Smoked Pork Shoulder - This was my project for this past weekend. A

 week of watching grilling specials on FoodTV had me wanting to get outside to spend some quality time with my Weber. Anyway, I picked up a 3 pound hunk of pork shoulder at

 Wegmans the other day. Saturday night I rubbed it down with a mix of salt, pepper, garlic powder, 

onion powder, paprika, celery seed, cumin, and coffee (the last three items I ground down in my mortar and pestle). Sunday I fired up the grill, generally using about 15 kingsford briqu

ettes to maintain a temperature between 225 and 260 degrees F. I also soaked some hickor

y and some applewood chips in water for about 30 minutes and put them on top of the first two sets of coals to provide some extra smokiness. You're looking at about 90 minutes per pound of pork shoulder to get it up to an internal temperature of 185 degrees F. Mine cooked from about 1:00 to about 5:00 on the grill and then I took it inside to finish it in the oven (250 degrees) while I prepared the rest of our meal. Q purists will shudder at this move, I suspect, but I figured that I'd gotten all the smoke penetration I was going to get in those first several hours and didn't want to deal with going in and out of my apartment to check on the meat and fire while I was doing other

things. Anyway, once the meat hit 185, I pulled it out of the oven, let it rest for a while, and commenced shredding wit

h a couple of forks. Look at the smoke ring in the first picture there! Bliss!

For sauce, I whipped up a combination of ketchup, cider vinegar, worcestershire sauce, molasses, grated garlic and grated onion, and chili powder. I also sliced up some poblano pepper that I had smoked for the first 90 minutes of the time the meat was on the fire and added that for a little oomph. All in all, this was a fantastic meal and one of those things that's so inexpensive (the meat was $0.99 per pound) that you can't believe it tasted that good. We had some cole slaw on the side.

Mahi-Mahi in Herbed White Wine Sauce with Grilled Lemons:

OK, this one was from a couple of weeks ago. The sauce started with some sauteed onion and garlic, to which I added fish stock and white wine in roughly equal parts (the original recipe called for bottle clam juice, which I had forgotten to buy at the store...). I added thyme and oregano to this and let it steep on very low heat while I prepared the rest of the meal. The fish was simply salted and peppered and pan seared. The lemons were sliced very thin and caramelized over low heat as well. To finish the sauce, I added some butter at the end. Over the fish I sprinkled some walnuts that I had roasted, some sliced roasted red pepper, and finally some fresh chopped flat leaf parsley. I had a Washington State Dry Riesling (Covey Run) with this.

More to come from my archives of the last couple weeks.

"Bluto: Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

Otter: Germans? 

Boon: Forget it, he's rolling." - Animal House

Anyway, I am rolling. A couple more good recipes to report on today as I sit with a cup of coffee listening to The Be Good Tanyas.

First up is a modification of an epicurious.com recipe for veal chops with white beans and spinach. First, rub your veal chops with a mashed up clove of garlic and then salt and pepper them and cook them in a skillet over moderately high heat for about 4 minutes per side. They should be about medium rare at that point. Nice and pink on the inside.

The next step is the beans and spinach. Add a little olive oil to the skillet and saute up some  garlic. Add your white beans and spinach along with 2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar

 (apple cider vinegar would also be nice in this, I think). Then, add about 1/2 cup of chicken stock that has 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch whisked into it. Stir this around in the pan with the beans and spinach as a way of deglazing and picking up the goodness that is left over from searing the veal chops. The sauce should come together pretty nicely. A minute or so before you think it's ready, add a teaspoon or so of chopped, fresh rosemary. Salt and Pepper to taste and drizzle a little of the sauce over the veal chops. The vinegar and rosemary are what really make this dish. They add a brightness that is really unexpected.

The original recipe for veal chops with radicchio is here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Veal-Chop-with-Radicchio-White-Beans-and-Rosemary-109029

The next recipe is my take on pot au feau. I was poking around the freezer a

nd noticed that we had some scraps of italian sausage and turkey breast, so I decided to experiment and this is what I came up with. I sliced up some garlic and about 1/4 pound of turkey breast and sauteed them up in a cast iron dutch oven. To this, I added about 3/4 of a chopped up sweet potato and 1/4 cup of white wine to deglaze. Then, I added chicken broth to cover, the green end of a leek, a bay leaf, and some dried thyme and parsley and put the lid on the pot to let it simmer until the potatoes were cooked through and tender.

In the meantime, I fried up the italian sausage and sliced it up and then quickly sauteed some

 sliced up brussel sprouts in the fat rendered from the sausage. This, a 4 oz. salmon filet that I

 had sliced up, and half of a can of red kidney beans went into the pot about 10 minutes before serving. At that point, I also pulled out the leek tops and the bay leaf. Ladel the soup into serving bowls and top with a little grated parm.

I had a nice 2006 Las Locas Granache-Syrah from Spain along with this dish. This was a surprisingly versatile dish. The flavors were bold enough to hold up, but I think a dry white or a dry rose would have worked equally well. 

"Spring is Here, Spring is Here / Life is Skittle, Life is Beer..."*

Well, a couple of interesting dinners to post today. Things have been pretty busy with school, Model UN, and a trip to St. Simon's Island for Spring Break, so I've not had a chance to get these posted. Anyway, these are a couple of nice Springtime dishes that should go over well with my reader(ship).

First, from Food & Wine magazine is a penne pasta dish with asparagus and fresh peas. We had a surprising warm snap in the middle

 of March that prompted me to look for something light and green to make for dinner and this happened to be in the most recent issue of the F&W magazine. As the recipe suggests, I really do recommend fresh peas and they really only need to go into the dish at the very end so that the residual heat from the pasta cooks them just slightly. I was satisfied with the recommendation of a Sauvignon Blanc to go along with this. For sure, you wouldn't want an oaky Chardonna

y, but a Pinot Grigio or a Viognier might be an interesting alternative choice. Here's the recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/penne-with-asparagus-sage-and-peas

The other recipe is a White Turkey Chili that I found on the Epicurious.com website. 

White Chili is one of those things that, at least for me, I remember exactly where I had it for the first time. It was at the Pufferbelly Restaurant in Berea, OH and we were there for a Father's Day

 or Easter brunch, if my memories serves. Anyway, white chilis are such a change of pace from the usual tomato based chili recipes and this one was fantastic. I ground up my cumin seeds fresh in a mortar and pestle and I think that added a really nice brightness to the flavor. I le

ft the jalapeno out because the Lovely Mina isn't a fan of really spicy food, but then added it in to my chili at the table. I really recommend this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/White-Turkey-Chili-4560

It was chili, so a cold, crisp beer was the obvious drink of choice. If I was going to have a wine with it, I think I would have chosen something red to deal with the cumin.

* Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, by Tom Lehrer

Valentine's Dinner, 2009:

Somehow, Mina and I were both in the mood for lamb this weekend and I wanted to try something new, so I poked around on the net to find a recipe for a rack of lamb. Racks, like most roast type meats, are relatively hard to find in Japan (likely correlated with the lack of ovens as standard equipment in most kitchens...), so for most of my cooking life were not really an option.

Anyway, we picked up a frenched rack of lamb and some magic transpired (partial thanks to Epicurious.com - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spice-Coated-Rack-of-Lamb-for-Two-with-Arugula-Avocado-and-Blood-Orange-Salad-351234).

For those who don't want to click through, here's what you do: mix a tablespoon of ground cumin (freshly ground is best), a tablespoon of ground coffee, a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa

 powder, and a couple of grinds of black pepper. Rub this all over an 8-bone rack of lamb, then sear on all sides in a couple of tablespoons of canola oil. Whack that into a 400 degree (F) oven for 7 minutes, then top the lamb with a tablespoon of unsalted butter than you chop into little pieces.

The recipe calls for a couple of sprigs of thyme, but I just sprinkled some dried thyme over the lamb at this point. Continue roasting in the oven until the internal temperature of the lamb hits 130 F (about 7-8 more minutes). Actually, mine was at 140 after 5 minutes, so I pulled it at that point and let it rest for 10 minutes. Carry over got me up to 144 degrees, which is what my meat thermometer calls medium rare for lamb. I was a little worried that it would be over done, but as the picture indicates, it turned out a lovely pink on the inside. The texture was perfect and the flavors complex. This was really one of the best lamb dishes I have made.

I served it with the avocado-arugula salad that is suggested in the recipe and some wild rice. We had a 2006 Nieto Senetiner Cab from Argentina along with it. Dry, but not too dry, and it complemented the spices on the meat nicely.

For dessert, a chocolate mousse with golden raspberries.

First of 2009 - Pork Tenderloin with a Peanut Satay Sauce (adapted from a recipe by Bobby Flay - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/pork-satay-recipe/index.html):

I had a taste for some Asian flavors yesterday, so put my thinking cap on, searched around the internet, and eventually decided on this recipe. The original is actually for skewered pork, but I decided to roast my pork tenderloin whole and then spoon the sauce over at the end. I also had neither the time nor enough peanut butter to marinate the pork for the recommended 2-4 hours, so I just skipped that step. My guess is that you'd have a much spicier, richer dish for that step.

Anyway, I started by making a half batch of the sauce, substituting a couple of squirts of Sriracha sauce for the recommended Thai bird chili pepper. This kept the heat in the background and at a level that the Lovely Mina, who is not (yet) a big fan of spicy food, can handle. With that done, I seasoned my smallish pork tenderloin and seared it over medium heat (well, medium on my stove, which is actually pretty hot) for 4 minutes per side. I then finished the meat in a 375 degree oven until the internal temperature hit 150 f. I rested the meat under an aluminum foil tent for 5+ minutes and then sliced. On went the sauce.

In an ideal world I would have served this with some jasmine rice. But, we didn't have any, so I went with some simple pan roasted potatoes and a salad. An ice cold beer on the side completed things.

Two American Classics (Pot Roast & Chicken and Dumplings):

When I lived overseas, one of the most interesting questions that came up was always, "What is American food?" When you think about it, Italian, French, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, German, all of these different ethnic cuisines are pretty easy to identify. But, what's American? We eat all of the above cuisines withouth thinking about it and have "Americanized" versions of them all. The question, though, of what's truly American was always an interesting one for me to think about. The easiest answers are barbecue, for which there is clearly not a non-Americ

an alternative, and Thanksgiving dinner. A little thought, though, and a few other things come to mind: fried catfish, hushpuppies/cornbread, crabcakes, etc.

This weekend, though, I had in mind to make a good old-fashioned pot roast for Mina. She'd never had it, and with the weather turning colder it seemed like just the ticket. Unfortunately, she was feeling kind of sick on Saturday, so I didn't get to the supermarket until a little later on Saturday than I usually do. Without 4 hours to do the pot roast, I had to come up with something on the fly, and decided on another great American dish: Chicken and Dumplings. I'd actually never made it before, but it was simple, and a fantastic stick to your ribs kind of meal.

I had 4 chicken thighs that I salted and peppered and then roasted in the oven at 375 F for about 45 minutes. In the meantime, I sauteed some onion in butter and then added flour to make a roux. In went some carrot and celery along with some herbs (sage and rosemary) and some chicken stock and white wine. Once the stew had formed, the chicken went back in. The dumplings were just bisquik and milk (the basic recipe for biscuits). I just dropped balls of the dough into the stew and let them steam to finish.

Sunday, I had time to do the pot roast, so just braised it in my crock pot. When the meat was falling apart tender, I strained the cooking liquid and reduced it by 2/3. Right at the end I mixed in a little heavy cream to make a fantasic pan sauce/gravy.

These two dishes were examples of classic, simple, American food. Not too heavy, but hearty. Hopefully Mina liked them, and hopefully the pictures do them justice.

SSO and the Eroica Trio:

Mina and I had tickets to the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra's season opening concert this evening, which featured the Eroica Trio doing Beethoven's Concerto for Piano, Violin, and Cello in C Major (Op. 56), or the "Triple" Concerto. I had only ever heard this concerto on a live CD as performed by Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, and Yo-Yo Ma with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, but had heard that it is one of the least performed of Beethoven's catalog because it is so difficult to find either three top virtuoso soloists who are willing to work together as a team or a trio that is technically proficient enough to really handle the piece. I was curious to see 

what a world class trio like the Eroica group could do with it.

My impression was that this group was good, but not great on this very difficult pie

ce. They have become famous for performing it with various orchestras, but I was left with the feeling that this fame may come more from the novelty of there being a group that focuses on this concerto rather than their actual proficiency with it. The violin part (Susie Park) was played very, very well, and was the clear winning part of the piece. The piano (Erika Nickrenz) was quite good, if a little timid at times. The cello (Sara Sant'Ambrogio) part, however, was likely a little out of range. The liner notes to the piece indicate that it is written to stay in the cello's high register so that the instrument doesn't get lost between the violin and piano, and this may account for the tone problems that were (at least to my unprofessional ear) apparent. When the trio played a tango for their encores, all of the issues I had with their sound on the Beethoven disappeared. Perhaps that piece is just too much?

The concert was iminently enjoyable, however. I like to hear groups that challenge themselves and that seem to be having a good time doing so. The Eroica Trio shared smiles with each other, with the conductor of the SSO, and with the audience throughout (especially when the audience erupted in applause after the 1st movement...something that happens way too often at SSO concerts...)

The SSO part of the concert prior to the intermission was well performed. The Star Spangled Banner was a nice touch to the beginning of the season and their renditions of Shostakovich's Festive Overture, Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain (which reminded me of the movie score to Midway), and Borodin's Polovtian Dances were all spirited, well rehearsed, and full sounding.

All in all, this was a nice opening to the season. Hopefully there will be other high points to report as we go through the year.

Post Comprehensive Exams - A Return to the Kitchen:

With my comprehensive exams in the rear view mirror (actually, I won't know whether I passed for another week or so, but the tests are over, anyway), I have had some time to spend in the kitchen and have had a couple of good dinners. I recently got the October issue of Food & Wine magazine and put together the Baked Orecchiette with Pork Sugo that was featured. Think baked ziti, but rather than that mass produced buffet lunch staple, this was just a fantastic dish, full of rustic flavors.

To start, brown off about 1 pound of meaty western style pork ribs, and then sweat a mix of diced onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in a cast iron dutch oven. Deglaze with about 1 cup of dry red wine and add a 14 oz. can of diced tomatos and a sachet of thyme sprigs and a bay leaf. Return the meat to the pot and reduce the liquid by about half. At this point, add enough chicken stock to just cover the meat. Cover up the pot and simmer for 1.5 - 2 hours. Once the meat is tender, remove it from the bone and shred it in a food processor. Use an immersion blender to chop up the vegetables in the liquid.

The final step is to boil about 1/2 poind of orecchiette pasta (medium shells or farfalle would also work) for about 5 minutes (the package I used suggested 11 minutes to al dente, so you are cooking the pasta only part way). Mix the pasta with the soup and the shredded por

k and pour it all into a casserole and top with shredded parmesan cheese. This goes into a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or so, or until the cheese is golden brown and delicious. I drank part of a bottle of a South African Cabernet Sauvignon with this dish.

For dessert, we had found some fresh raspberries on sale and so I decided to make a ch

ocolate lava cake that had berries inside rather than chocolate. A super-rich dessert, but the raspberries added a brightness that most lava cakes sacrifice for decadence. Not only was this a 

delicious dessert, it looked nice too!

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.