Oil Containers

Does anybody else not like these hard-to-grab containers?  ☹️

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I searched online for recipes to make use of the rest of the Costco chicken that we got.  I chose the chicken enchilada casserole recipe from the Simple Joy website.

This is my modified version.  It's topped with olives, salsa, sour cream, taco sauce and cilantro.

1 package of small corn tortillas (12)

3 cups cheese

Enchilada Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

15 oz. can enchilada sauce

Sautee the onions and garlic in olive oil.  Add canned enchilada sauce.

Chicken layer

3 cups shredded chicken

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup diced green chiles

1/2 can (15 oz.) kidney beans, drained

1/2 cup prepared enchilada sauce

Combine ingredients for chicken layer.

Pour 1/2 cup of prepared enchilada sauce into 9 x 13 pan.

Dip 6 tortillas in the sauce and line pan.

Layer half of chicken mixture.

Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese.

Dip 6 tortillas in sauce and layer.

Add remaining chicken mixture.

Add remaining enchilada sauce.

Sprinkle 2 cups of cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Black Cod on Sale

It's on sale at Times again, and it's the same individually wrapped ones in a two-pack.  I bought more.  Sale ends on 10/29.  

My Fake Duck in Bun

 It's actually Costco chicken in naan bread with mayo and hoisin sauce.  😁

Black Cod from Times

Times had frozen black cod on sale last week for $12.99/pound.  They were packed two to a tray.  When I unwrapped the tray I was surprised to see that each piece was sealed individually.  The fillet pieces were firm with a large flaky texture and . . . another surprise . . . totally boneless.

I'll be checking the ads for another sale and, cross fingers, hoping that they'll be of the same quality.

I used the recipe from here to make miso butterfish.  Was winnahs. 

Dd's Buta Nikujaga

The potatoes seem like an unusual addition, but I think it would be my favorite part of the dish.

BUTA NIKUJAGA

 

10 pc. snow peas, trimmed

Salted water as needed

1 TB canola oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 medium onion, wedges

2 cloves garlic, smashed

½ -inch knob fresh ginger, peeled, crushed

½ # sukiyaki-style thinly sliced pork

2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, stew cut

Seasoning:

2 c. dashi

¼ c. mirin

¼ c. soy sauce

2 TB sake

1 TB agave nectar

 

In a small saucepan over medium heat blanch snow peas 30-45 seconds.  Immediately place in iced water; set aside. 

In a medium saucepan over medium high heat saute onion, garlic and ginger in oils. Add pork stirring to coat well with oils. Cook until no longer pink. Add dashi to almost cover ingredients. Add potatoes. Bring to a boil. Skim any scum and foam from surface with a skimmer. Add remaining seasoning ingredients. Cover; allow to simmer, stirring occasionally until potatoes are cooked through; about 15-17 minutes depending on your preference.  For this dish, I prefer my potatoes a bit overcooked.  Allow to sit covered, 15-20 minutes.

For service: top with snow peas. Serves 3-4.

Elsie Amoy's Curry Dip

Wendell's mom used to make this dip all the time.  I liked it a lot.  I was so stoked when I discovered the recipe while rummaging through my old recipe box.

 

 

Cleta's Tomato Chutney

So interesting, right!!??  I wish Cleta was my next-door neighbor.  She said the recipe is from the Something About Sandwiches site, and she used a little less sugar than called for.

Ingredients

• 1 lb / 500g Fresh Tomatoes, finely diced
• 7 oz / 200g Red Onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cup / 100g Light Brown Sugar
• 1/4 cup / 60ml Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Red Chilli, deseeded & finely diced (optional)
• 1 clove of Garlic, minced/finely diced
• dash of Olive Oil
• Salt & Black Pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Add onion, chilli and garlic to a large pan over medium heat with a dash of olive oil. Gently fry until they begin to soften. Don't allow them to char.
• Add in tomatoes, sugar, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Give it all a good stir.
• For a quick chutney just place it on a rapid simmer and stir until it reduces down. This should take around 20 mins. Whilst it's quick, the texture won't be as thick/glossy and the flavours won't be quite as developed, but it still does the trick. Or, keep on a low simmer for 1-1.5 hours, stirring occasionally until the chutney reduced to a jammy consistency. 
• Allow to cool then serve or store.

Failed Pound Cake

We ended up with extra sour cream so I decided to make some pound cake using my mom's recipe.  It's very simple with just a few ingredients including a box of cake mix.

It's supposed to make 3 loaves, but after I poured the batter into the pans it just didn't seem right.  The level was so low.

 

It came out funny looking and wasn't as moist as usual. 

   

I suspected it was the cake mix's fault (not mine) and did some investigation.  It turns out that a few years back Duncan Hines (and others) lessened the amount of mix in the box.  It used to be 18.25 ounces and now it's 15.25.  That's 3 whole ounces less than before.  According to Google calculations that's around 2/3 cup!   So now, all those Hongwanji Cook Book and other old cook book recipes calling for a box of cake mix gotta be adjusted.  😳

Edwina's Lunch

Edwina sent me this photo last week.  She said:   Today's special at Tanaka Saimin.   1/2 real crab 1/2 imitation.   Comes with soup or toss salad.  Cost is $15.50.  Looks good but I wouldn't order it again. 

I've never been to Tanaka Saimin before.  The Yelp photos look good.  Especially the banana cream pie.

Dd's Vinha D'Alhos

This is Dd's adobo-ish dish with the pork fried just how I like it!

PORTUGUESE VINHA D’ALHOS

 

3-4# pork shoulder, 1 ½-2 inch cubes

1 TB vegetable oil

1 c. water, as needed

4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, wedges

Marinade:

1 ½ c. white vinegar

1 ½ tsp. salt

3 Hawaiian chili peppers, stems removed

5 garlic cloves, crushed

3 bay leaves

 

In  a large container combine meat with marinade ingredients. Allow to sit overnight or at least 6-8 hours. Toss meat mixture after 3-4 hours. Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking. 

In a large saucepot brown meat in oil on all sides. Cook in batches as needed. Return meat to saucepot; top with water as needed to barely cover. Reserve marinade. Bring to a boil; reduce to a low simmer.

Allow to simmer 1 ½ hours. Add potatoes and ¾ -1 cup of reserved marinade. Bring back to a boil; reduce to a medium simmer uncovered. Continue reducing until no liquid remains and meat cubes have browned to desired consistency.  Serves 5-6.

Apple Custard Cake

Last week Wendell handed me the Crave section from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and pointed to Mariko Jackson's Invisible Nashi Cake recipe.  He said, "Since you've been into baking recently."

I read the article and said, "Hmmm, I'd probably want to do it with apples instead of Asian pear."  A few days later he came home with 2 pounds of apples.  😁

Mariko called it a "golden, custardy cake", and I wasn't sure what to expect.  It turned out to be much like an apple bread pudding . . . ono with a dab of whipped cream.  Main thing, Wendell loved it and ate two pieces right away.  Thank you, Mariko.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 3 nashi or Asian Pears (over 2 pounds) (or if you're like me, apples)

• 3 eggs

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 1 cup flour (can be gluten-free blend)

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a bread loaf pan (should be at least 3 inches deep on the inside) by laying a piece of parchment across the bottom and letting it overhang on the long sides of the pan (like a sling). Spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs for 2-3 minutes, until the color has lightened and it flows like a batter. Add the butter, salt and milk, and whisk until uniform. Whisk in the flour and baking powder just until combined. If the flour is gluten-free, whisk in the flour first thoroughly, and then stir in the baking powder. Gluten-free flour has a tendency to be grainy unless you let it soak a bit before baking.

Peel nashi and cut into quarters. Cut the core out of the quarters with a flat cut so the edge is straight. Thinly slice the fruit. It shouldn’t be paper thin, but as thin as you can get it by hand without a mandoline. As you cut the fruit, add the slices to the batter and fold them in to prevent them from browning from sitting exposed to the air.

Once you have sliced and added all of the nashi, you’ll transfer them to the bread pan, overlapping the slices in layers and try to line up the straight sides with the edges of the pan. The pattern really doesn’t need to be perfect. Pour the rest of the batter over the top and tap the pan on the countertop a couple of times to allow it to settle down between the cracks. Bake the cake for an hour and let cool without removing it from the pan for at least 90 minutes. You can serve the cake at room temperature or store in the fridge and eat cold.

Makes one 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch cake.

ValPak Coupon

I got all excited when I pulled the ValPak envelope from our mailbox yesterday.  I quickly sliced that thing open, sat down and leafed through the coupons.

The coupon below is my sister's.  She lives in town.  Neva have in my envelope.  Shucks.

I'm curious.  Did you get one? 

Easy Spanish Rice

I made this Spanish Rice to go with pasteles that we had for dinner awhile back.  I used jasmine rice for a less sticky texture.  My favorite part was the bits of crunchiness that accidentally happened.  I hope I can reproduce that the next time.

The recipe is from the AllRecipes site.  I substituted salsa for the called-for picante sauce.

2 tbs. oil

2 tbs. chopped onion

1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup bottled salsa

1.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add onion; stir until tender, about 5 minutes.

2.  Add rice; stir until rice begins to turn golden brown.  Stir in chicken broth and salsa.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until liquid has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Marukai Score

 Pal Edwina said that she got all these items from Marukai for free.

 

She even got this bag.  For free.  (Funky formatting below, but screw it. I'm just going with the flow.)

You know that ValPak mail that you usually just toss in the trash? There was a coupon in there.