Atomic Spaghetti & Meatballs

This recipe is an improved variation of one I used to cook. Some improvements I have made over the years is leaving out dried basil, adding parsley flakes, using shallots instead of onions, and using fresh chilies rather than just crushed red pepper flakes.  I also eat this dish about ten times hotter than I used to.

I recommend making this with bison or goat meat--yes, goat meat--as they are both delicious and lean.  Ultra-lean beef and ultra-lean ground pork also both turn out very well, but turkey and chicken just don't work for spaghetti and meatballs.  I don't make my own sauce except for special occasions and that creates several more dirty dishes, too, but I usually do "sup up" whatever sauce I am using.

Ingredients for Meatballs:

• One pound fresh ground meat (beef, bison, goat or pork)
• Two slices whole-wheat bread
• One whole egg
• Three cloves garlic, chopped fine
• Four large shallots, chopped fine (can substitute red onion)
• Five fresh Thai red chilies or other HOT red chili (with five chilies, this will really be atomic--if you aren't a big spice eater, one is enough to give this a zing)
• 1 teaspoon dry shredded chilies or crushed red pepper flakes (again, if you are not a spicy food eater, you may want to cut this in half)
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

 Add to 16oz Can of Sauce:

• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped coursely
• 1-2 shallots, chopped coursely
• 1 fresh red chili
• 1 teaspoon dry shredded chilies or crushed red pepper flakes

To make, put your sauce on the stove, covered, to bring to a simmer.  In the meantime, mix all the meatball ingredients using your hand and form into balls 1" to 1.5" across.  Brown these on all sides in a non-stick skillet.  If they blacken a little, that is fine--you are just cooking them so that they hold together once in the sauce.  I used to broil them in the over for 5-7 minutes, which is still an option, but as long as I am attentive I have better luck on the stovetop.

One they are browned on all sides, simple put them into the sauce and simmer from 15-20 minutes until cooked all the way through.  You can put your water on for your(whole wheat) spaghetti when you transfer the meat balls and they should finish about the same time.  It is an amazing meal with only two dirty pots and one skillet to clean, plus dishes and any sides.  A salad of course goes wonderful with a meal like this.

Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き)

This recipe violates a number of my cooking rules.  First, it calls for rather exotic ingredients that don't have a lot of other uses outside of making okonomiyaki and ones that are hard to find outside Japanese or Korean groceries, although you can order okonomiyaki ingredients online.  In fact, it cost about $30 or so just to get the ingredients.  The only justification is you then have a lot of flour, sauce and mayonnaise left over for the next time.  It also is not what you'd call healthy--fried food with bacon and mayonnaise . . . .  I use freshly butchered bacon, too, so mine isn't salted or smoked, but the taste is still spectacular.  It is really junk food, but what delicious junk food.

I like to make this dish when I have company You can mix up the ingredients beforehand so that when you are ready to cook all you need is a hot skillet.  A non-stick pan will reduce the amount of oil that you will need to use and make this a bit of a healthier dish--it will soak up as much oil as you put in, though.  And this isn't a dish you make sides for--when you have okonomiyaki, you just have okonomiyaki so again it makes a great treat for guests when you don't feel like putting on a full meal.  It has also become sort of a ritual that one day a month or so I make okonomiyaki and curl up to watch Ranma 1/2 episodes.

You can modify this recipe in lots of ways, such as adding grated Japanese yam into it, adding meat--we especially like adding squid rings--or additional vegetables.  However, this is about as simple and easy as it gets, so at least one of my cooking principles remained intact for this recipe!

INGREDIENTS (To Make Two Pancakes)
1 Cup Okonomiyaki Flour
2/3 Cup Water (or daishi for more authentic Kansai flavor)
2 Eggs
About 2 Cups of Thinly Sliced or Chopped Cabbage
Two Stalks of Green Onions, Chopped Fine
4-6 Strips of Bacon, Cut into 3" Strips
8 Large or 12 Small Shrimp

TOPPINGS:
Kewpie Mayonnaise   
Okonomi Sauce        
Aonori (Seaweed Flakes)     
Katsuobushi (Bonito Flakes)

1.    In a large bowl, whisk together Okonomiyaki Flour and Water until smooth
2.    Add Eggs, Cabbage, Onions, and Shrimp and mix until everything is fairly evenly coated.
3.    Oil a skillet, or better yet, a griddle, to 400F and add half of the Okonomiyaki mixture--enough for one pancake.  If using a smaller skillet, you can actually divide this recipe up into four little ones.
4.    Using a spatula flatten and form pancakes until around 3/4" thick
5.    Add Bacon pieces to cover top of each pancake.
6.    After about 3-4 minutes, flip over pancake (bacon side down) and cook for 4 minutes.
7.    Flip pancake again (bacon side up) and cook for 3 minutes or until firm and well browned.  I usually turn mine twice to ensure that the bacon is fully done.
8.     Remove to plate and drizzle with Kewpie mayonnaise, okonomi sauce and sprinkle with Aonori and Katsuobushi.  My guests like to see the bonito flakes "dance" on the hot okonomiyaki.


Eat them while they are hot, and enjoy this tasty Japanese treat.

Indian Egg Curry with Potatoes

 I really love egg curry with potatoes.  Not only is it absolutely delicious--in fact, I think only buffat pork or mutton curry can compete--it is easy to make as well provided you have a blender or food processor.

• 4-6 hard boiled eggs
• 4 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
• 2 medium sized onion cut into quarters
• 3 medium sized tomatoes cut into quarters
• 2 green or red chillies
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 inch of ginger, crushed
• 3-4 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• Salt to taste
• 2 potatoes cut into 1" cubes (optional) or about 10 new potatoes

Preparation:

•  Remember you need to hard boil your eggs first.
• I always put the potatoes on to boil in a pot as I begin chopping the onions, garlic and ginger.  I boil them until about half done -they begin to be soft- and set to the side.
• Heat 2 tbsps of the cooking oil in a deep pan and when hot, add the onions. Fry till slightly golden. Turn off the fire. Use a slotted spoon to remove the onions from the pan and put them in a food processor. Grind the onions, tomatoes, green chillies into a smooth paste. Do not to add water while grinding, if possible.
• Heat the remaining oil in the same pan and add the paste you just made to it when it is hot. Fry for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the ginger and garlic pastes, all the dry spices, mix and fry till the oil begins to separate from the masala (onion-tomato-spice mix).
• Now add 1.5 cups of warm water (I use the hot water from my potatoes) to this masala and bring to a boil on a medium flame.  You may need to add a little more water, but later you will really want this to reduce.
• If adding potatoes to the curry, add them now.
• Half slit the boiled eggs vertically and add them gently to the gravy. Simmer the flame and cook for 10 minutes or till the gravy is thickened/ reduced to about 3/4 of the original quantity (when you added the water). If you have added potatoes they should ideally be cooked by now.
• Turn off the fire!  Serve hot with rice and a vegetable side dish with pappads.

Mango Chutney

I am in Cambodia now, and it is mango season.  So while I am getting mangoes for 13 cents for two pounds, canning is still an economical way to store these fruits anywhere when you catch them on sale.

I do have an important disclaimer.  I do not follow the recommendations of the US Department on Agriculture on canning to the letter.  You can find information on their suggested processing of acid foods here.  The reason is because I can't find all the equipment, like a canning rack, that I need to process canned fruit here in Cambodia.  Next time I am in Phnom Pehn, though, I will try to look there for all my needs.  But in the meantime, I must refrigerate my chutneys and pickles.

My perspective is that people have been canning for at least 4000 years.  The Egyptians were know to have pickled foods beginning between 3000 BCE-1000 BCE and we actually have recipes from the Romans that date to 100 CE.  Basically, vegetables were salted and then put into vinegar, soured wine, or packed in honey.  These went into clay pots that were often buried to help preserve them.  Here in Cambodia vegetables are pickled in much the same way but put into non-sterilized screw-top plastic containers.  Now, I quote for the USDA:

Many older recipes call for pickles to be packed into jars and sealed without processing. This method is no longer recommended because microorganisms may enter the food when it is being transferred from the pickling container to the jar; processing destroys them.

I have found a happy medium in pickling.  I sterilize all my jars which are clamp-top glass jars and lemon juice to my vinegar solution increase the acidity.  Then my fruit, pickles, relishes or chutneys are transferred into these. I refrigerate them, and while if processed they could store for two years on the shelf, they will keep six months in the fridge. It should be fine without the additional acidity, but I wanted to take the added precaution.  Folks planning on using it fresh can skip that ingredient.

If using fresh like me they should be stored 1 week before using.  If canning, store 1 month before consuming.  If canned, will keep unopened for 2 years.  Uncanned and refrigerated, it should be consumed within six months.  In both cases, they should be eaten within six weeks after opening.  So depending on how much chutney you eat, plan on using jar sizes that you will eat within a month.  This recipe yields about two cups.


Mango Chutney

Three very ripe Mangoes
1/8 cup Raisins
1/2 medium Onion, chopped fine
1-2 cloves Garlic, chopped fine
1.5" fresh Ginger, chopped fine
2-3 fresh Red or Green Chilies, chopped fine*
1/4 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1/4 teaspoon Black Mustard Seeds (can substitute Yellow)
1/4 teaspoon Caraway Seeds
1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon (go easy on this as it can overwhelm other tastes)
1 tablespoon Sea Salt (or other non-iodized salt)
1 cup white Sugar
1 teaspoon Lemon or Lime Juice
1/2 cup White Distilled Vinegar (at least 5% acidity)

*We eat all our food fiery hot.  We do not de-seed our chilies, and with three red chilies with chutney is far beyond what most people and tolerate.  For milder tastes, one de-seeded chili is plenty of heat.

Remember to sterilize your jars beforehand. 

Cut peeled mango into 1/2" or so squares, mix with salt and let sit two hours.  The secret to peeling a mango is to cut slits in the skins into quarters or eighths.  Then you can simply peel the skin off with your fingers.  Salt pulls water out of the mangoes that gets replaced with vinegar.

Add raisins to vinegar and soak two hours in a non-reactive pan (stainless steel or Pyrex).  Be sure everything that comes into contact with the chutney is non-reactive (steel, glass, or organic like wooded or bamboo spoons).  Copper-containing instruments will react with the acidity and poison the food.  Never use copper or iron pots when canning.  Aluminum is suppose to be fine, but I only use non-coated stainless steel.

Add sugar and bring vinegar to simmering boil in a non-reactive pan (stainless steel or Pyrex), let sugar completely dissolve.  Add lemon juice.

Stir in all other ingredients without draining mango.

Simmer for 35-45 minutes.  Keep an eye on it to ensure it does not stick to bottom on the pan.  It should thicken considerably and have a thick syrupy consistency.

Allow to cool until warm and add to your canning jars or, if planning in using fresh, in a covered jar and refrigerate.