I had okonomiyaki for the first time when I visited Japan two summers ago, at a restaurant called Mitchan (seriously!) in Hiroshima.
The dish is a specialty of Hiroshima and the Kansai region in Japan, which includes the cities of Osaka and Kyoto. At its most basic, okonomiyaki is a big pile of batter, eggs, and cabbage cooked on a griddle and smothered with a thick, sweet-tart brown sauce. Additional ingredients may include noodles, squid, pork, bacon, scallions, dried seaweed, pickled ginger, mochi, cheese, mayonnaise, and best of all, dried bonito flakes that crackle, squirm, and jump around when they’re sprinkled on hot food. Okonomiyaki is sometimes called “Japanese pizza” or “Japanese omelet,” which I find odd and unnecessary. It’s kind of like calling pierogi “Polish wontons.”
Cooking With Dog has an episode devoted to okonomiyaki, and you can find it on menus all over St. Mark’s Place here in New York. Just typing this post makes me hungry.
Any recommendations for a good okonomiyaki spot?
2 weeks ago
Delicious-looking photo and recipe from Gourmet. A couple weeks ago, Nicole and I discussed the lobster roll list on Grub Street. I said something about all of the featured sandwiches looking a little too mayonnaisey for my tastes. Behold, a lobster salad with lemon vinaigrette.
3 weeks ago
I know, I’m going into recipe-dumping-mode here. But seriously, this was a marvelously delicious brunch a few weekends ago. Rosemary and bananas go very well together, as Chef Ripert has demonstrated in the past. I used yogurt in the egg mixture because I was out of milk, and things worked out just fine.
French Toast with Bananas and Pecans
for topping:
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup maple syrup
juice of 1/2 an orange
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
pinch of salt
2 bananas, sliced
1/4 cup pecans
Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add syrup, orange juice, rosemary, and salt. Bring to a simmer. Once mixture thickens a bit, add sliced bananas and pecans. Toss to coat, and let bananas heat through for a few minutes.
for French toast:
1/2 tablespoon butter
8 ounces brioche loaf (about 6 1-inch slices)
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
pinch of salt
powdered sugar for dusting
Combine eggs, yogurt, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Dip brioche slices in mixture, making sure to coat both sides evenly. Add butter to a heated pan over medium-low heat. Add French toast slices and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Top with banana-maple mixture and powdered sugar.
1 month ago
It was about time for us to try our hand at roast chicken again. This time, we had it with a bread salad full of spring vegetables (including ramps, those darlings of the farmers’ market) and crisped prosciutto, and drank a lower end French Burgundy (which was eye-opening and delicious to this wine novice).
Panzanella with Asparagus, Mushrooms, and Ramps
3 slices prosciutto (or pancetta or bacon)
4 oz stale bread, torn into bite-size pieces
5 ramps, chopped (keep bulbs and leaves separate)
2/3 lb asparagus (about 10-12 medium stalks), cut into 1-inch pieces
8 mushrooms (I used cremini and shiitake), cleaned and quartered
2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper
Heat a medium pan over medium heat. Add a bit of olive oil (or not, if you’re using bacon or pancetta), and fry prosciutto on both sides until slightly crispy. Set aside when done.
Meanwhile, toss bread with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and toast in a 350 degree oven (I used my toaster oven) for 10-15 minutes, until barely browned.
In the same pan that the prosciutto was in, add chopped ramp bulbs and asparagus. Season with salt and pepper. After a couple minutes, add mushrooms. Cook for another 5-7 minutes, tossing occasionally. Add chopped ramp leaves, and cook just until they wilt. Turn off heat, and add vinegar.
Chop prosciutto into bite-size pieces. Add bread, prosciutto, and vegetable mixture to a bowl, and toss to coat everything evenly. Drizzle olive oil over the salad if it looks like it needs some. Serve beneath a portion of roast chicken, and try not to die of happiness.
1 month ago
I really dislike egg salad made with mayonnaise. Often, the pre-made deli variety is not only an attractive den of sin for all kinds of bacteria who are ready to send you straight to the toilet with your bowels in a knot, but also blended with so much dressing (and little else) that it appears monochromatic from afar, with bits of white suspended in a sulfuric, jiggly, pale-yellow mass of yolk and mayo upon closer inspection. I like my egg salad chunky, lightly dressed, and with all kinds of colorful flavorful bits of stuff added to it. All it needs is some sliced whole-grain bread and a leaf of lettuce to become a tasty, happy little sandwich.
(makes 1 serving)
2 perfectly hard boiled eggs*, peeled
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp white balsamic vinegar (or a squeeze of lemon)
pinch of salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp minced red onion
2 cornichons, minced
5 pitted black olives (I used niçoise), chopped
2 marinated artichoke heart quarters, chopped
fresh herbs (I used dill, but chives and parsley would’ve also been good additions)
Combine mustard, vinegar or lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a small bowl. Add remaining ingredients and break up eggs with a fork. Stir to coat evenly. Notice how the egg salad does not make that squishy, pasty sound that the mayo-bomb variety usually produces.
*How to make perfect hard boiled eggs:
There is a lot of disagreement out there about the exact procedure for reliably perfect hard boiled eggs. The topic came up during one of my food science classes, and a riot nearly broke out among those of us who are also home cooks. This is how I’ve done it since high school, and it never fails. Bring eggs to a simmer in a pot of salted water. Immediately turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let it sit for 15 minutes (any longer and you’ll get that nasty greenish grayish ring of ferrous sulfide around the yolk), then transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice water (or drain the pot and fill it with ice). Peel them once they’ve cooled off.
1 month ago
I overcooked this big piece of sirloin tip, as you can see in the above photo. The goal was medium-rare for such a lean cut of beef, but a few careless extra minutes in the oven led to something more like medium-well. Nevertheless, a tasty marinade, caramelized cipollini onions, roasted potatoes with lots of black pepper, and a surprisingly light-bodied (a little too light-bodied) Australian Shiraz made the meal all right. And the leftovers were great for sandwiches.
Harissa Marinade (from Chow)
1/4 cup harissa
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
Combine all ingredients. Makes enough for about 2 pounds of meat. Marinate 8 to 12 hours, or overnight. Sear in a hot pan for a few minutes on each side, then transfer to a 375-degree oven. Roast for 20 to 22 minutes for medium-rare. Let the meat rest for 15 minutes, then slice it against the grain.
This marinade is good on flavorful, lean cuts of beef such as sirloin tip, tri-tip, and flank steak. I’d like to try it on chicken too.
1 month ago
