Food By Franz

Recipe of the Month#1 – August 2009 – Cold Japanese Noodles

Soba Noodles are a japanese buckwheat noodle – you can use any pasta, but the wheat noodles give this more texture & earthy flavor. The soba noodles also help on the caloric scale. This recipe is built for two, but it can be combined to make a wonderful picnic side.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp grated/minced ginger
1 lb chicken breast
1/3 C soy sauce
¼ C aji mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 tsp Sirracha (asian hot sauce)
2 tsp sesame oil
Pkg of buckwheat soba noodles
1 bag fresh baby spinach
2 Tbsp red pepper, sliced fine ( I use a red jalapeno or hotter pepper)
4 crimini mushrooms, sliced fine (any fresh mushroom)
Chopped green onions
Toasted sesame seeds or crushed peanuts

To Assemble: Boil water for noodles, drain noodles – wilt spinach in same water, keep noodles handy in cold water. Mix together soy, mirin, ginger, chile paste and sesame oil. Set ½ C aside – toss the rest with the chicken. Grill or broil chicken until done, 4-5 minutes per side approximately, when cool tear or cut into bit size pieces. Assemble your salad – pile noodles in the bottom of each bowl & toss with the red pepper, top with spinach, chicken and mushrooms. Pour the ½ C of sauce between two bowls, garnish with chopped green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

This travels well and is a wonderful chilled salad main for summer. Feel free to add additional vegetables, I have used sliced baby corn, julienne carrots, water chestnuts, even thinly sliced cauliflower.

Caloric Information (from Google)
Chicken – breast or leg – 1 portion, 140 Cal
Mushrooms, Brown, Italian, Or Crimini, Raw – 1 cup, 19 Cal
Noodles, Japanese, Soba, Cooked – 1 cup, 112 Cal (if you use regular pasta-1 portion 248)
Soy Sauce Made From Soy&Wheat (Shoyu) – 1 tbsp, 8 Cal
Spinach – 1 portion, 34 Cal
Oil, Sesame, Salad Or Cooking-1 tbsp, 123 Cal
Dinner – 436 Calories approximately per serving.

published as first ROM – August 2009

Tired of the same old chicken? – Try any of these for a nice grilling change. All these marinades are designed to use a resealable bag for convenience, usually overnight. Remember to squeeze out as much air as you can & seal – this ensures even marinading – turning it over a couple of times in the frig helps, too. I always use skinless chicken, but all recipe’s can use skin on chicken too.

Michi’s Chicken Marinade
2 cubes bullion or 1 Tbsp of chicken base
1 Tbsp Italian seasonings (oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil) – use a Tbsp of each if you are using fresh spices
½ Tbsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves, minced)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp olive oil
S & P –

Marinade your chicken pieces in this mix, make sure to poke meat through – BBQ. This is a great all around, light chicken recipe

Quicky BBQ sauce marinade

1 (12 oz) bottle chili sauce
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp horseradish
1 clove garlic, mashed
1 tsp salt

Marinade overnight & grill

Fiesta Chicken Marinade

2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 medium cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
a few dashes cayenne powder

Great on a bed of spiced black beans with some “quesa fresca” (mexican cheese) sprinkled on top. Or, grilled then added to your favorite “taco salad” or shredded for soft taco’s or enchiladas.

Far Eastern Flavor

1/4 C aji mirin or sherry or sake
1/3 c. EEVO
1 tsp. garlic powder (or 2 crushed cloves fresh)
1 tsp. ground ginger (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
4 Tbsp soy sauce
1 C green onion, chopped
1 tsp. MSG (optional) or Accent

Marinade chicken overnight, grill This is awesome on a oriental style chicken salad. I’ve even used this recipe for lettuce wraps, but used boneless, skinless, thigh meat & diced finely

Pho restaurants are all the rage. Pho is not difficult to make, but it does take some time to get the broth right. There are lots of “short cut” bullion like cubes that can be purchased at oriental stores to bypass the broth step -but believe me, its worth the time.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Chili Paste (sirracha works great here)
1 small onion, rough chopped
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, smashed
2″ stick cinnamon
1 stalk lemon grass
1 quart of beef broth
1 lb lean beef (petite sirloin works great here) thin sliced across the grain
1 lb rice sticks – prepare as directed
4 jalapeno chiles, split, deveined & slice into thin half rings
1 tsp fish sauce (nam pla in oriental stores)
3-4 Tbsp chopped green onion
1/4 lb bean sprouts
1/2 C nappa cabbage, finely sliced
1/2 C fresh basil, chopped
1/2 C fresh cilantro, chopped

To Prepare: In a 4 qt pan, add the chili paste, onion, ginger, cinnamon, lemon grass and broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for an hour. Strain the broth, discard all solids. Prepare your rice sticks. When you are ready to serve the Pho, bring the broth back up to simmer and slide in the beef, fish sauce and half the jalapenos. Turn off the heat, the trick here is to not overcook the beef. Place a load of noodles in each bowl, divide the meat between bowls, pour broth over each serving. Garnish each bowl with the green onion, spouts, cabbage, basil and cilantro. Pass the remaining jalapeno’s.

This was commonly known as “Saigon Soup” during the Vietnam era – a cross between a soup and a salad, its a variable main dish soup. I have used pork instead of beef, but the pork needs about 10 minutes to cook in the broth. I have also used baby corn-split, julienned carrots, and even sliced bok choy in addition to the basic vegetables. Based on a DeWitt/Gerlach recipe

To choose a nice salmon fillet, it should be semi-firm with some fat grain visible. A strong smell indicates age. Frozen salmon fillets or steaks work fine for this recipe. Some rice and a green vegetable make this a wonderful, flavorful and quick dinner.

Ingredients:
3/4 lb salmon
1/4 C aji mirin* (japanese sweet rice wine)
Ginger, fresh
1/8 C honey
a lime for juice
1 Tbsp wasabi powder* (japanese horseradish)
Soy sauce

Marinade
1/4 C aji mirin
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp soy (optional)
1/8 C rice vinegar*(optional)

Marinade the fish, skin side up for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400. Prepare a pan to bake/broil the fish in (I usually line it with foil for easier clean up). Drain excess marinade, place the fish skin side down in the prepared pan. Place the pan high in the oven for approximately 10 minutes – depending on how you like your fish cooked and how thick the fillets are, then flip the oven off and turn the broiler on. Broil the fish until the top is slightly blackened – another 3-4 minutes. Pull the fish and let “rest” for 5 minutes. Place the portions on each plate – flake the fish apart slightly and drizzle with the sauce. Some rice and a green vegetable make this a wonderful, flavorful and quick dinner.

Sauce to drizzle
1 Tbsp soy
1/8 C honey
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice (to taste)
1 Tbsp wasabi powder (optional)
1 tsp of water
In a small, microwavable bowl, warm the honey slightly, add the rest of ingredients and mix until smooth. Drizzle over fish just before serving.

*Note – Aji mirin, rice vinegar and wasabi powder are commonly found in the “oriental” sections of most major stores (smiths, albertsons etc).

When buying fresh ginger – look for a round, firm, 1″ long sized piece. No mold, or dehydration wrinkles on skin if possible – break off what you need if you don’t use ginger in other recipes.