OYAKO DONBURI

Have you ever come home too tired and uninspired to cook dinner?

That’s me (almost everyday).

This delicious one pot meal is a favourite of my kids and hubby.  I love it too.  It’s savoury and comforting.  Though I’m not Japanese, I’m thinking this might be one of those common weekday meals for the family because it’s so darned easy and economical.

When I came home today, I had all of half an hour to think of and make dinner.  I started my rice cooker and then I whipped out a pot and dumped in the sauce ingredients and brought that to a boil while I sliced onions and the raw chicken.  I dumped the chicken and onions in, lowered the heat and covered the lid for a little while while I cracked the eggs into a bowl.   By the time my daughter had almost finished practicing piano, I was pretty much done with the prep work.

I went down to listen to the last bit of her practicing and we got into another argument about how many times she’s supposed to practice her pieces.  She thinks that playing each piece twice (really fast) is enough; whereas I think that for the money I’m paying for lessons, I’d like her to practice each piece at least 4 times or even more until the icky-sounding parts sound better.  There was a lot of whining, which is high up there on my pet peeves…and a lot of wasting of time while she sighed and threw her little chest out as she pouted.   Since I don’t tolerate whining, there was a stand-off as usual.  Eventually, she relented.   I wonder why I  never acted like this when I practiced when I was younger.  I just did it and kept going at it until the piece of music sounded decent.  I couldn’t stand it if it didn’t sound like music to my ears.  I don’t even recall my mom telling me to go practice.  I just kind of did it.  

Well, by the time she was finished the oyako donburi was ready.   The savoury soy flavoured sauce and tender chicken and egg went down well.  We all forgot about the nit-pickyness of a few minutes ago.  Oyako Donburi tastes like a big hug.

 
OYAKO DONBURI
4 cups cooked rice (Japanese rice preferred)
1 cup chopped chicken meat
1 cup sliced onions
4 large eggs
1 T chopped green onion
Sauce:
2 T sugar
4 T soya sauce
1 T mirin
1/4 t salt
1 t dashinomoto (instant stock mix)
1 cup water
freshly steamed rice to serve.

1. Mix sauce ingredients together and heat in a medium saucepan
   
2. Add chicken or beef and onions to the sauce. Cook until meat is done.
   
3. Add slightly beaten eggs into the sauce mixture. Gently cook on medium heat (do not boil). Once eggs are cooked, turn heat off and let sit for approximately 3 minutes
   
4. Pour the sauce mixture over bowls of hot rice
   
5. Garnish with shredded nori and finely chopped green onions

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COMFORT FOODS: COOL THINGS WITH CHEESE!

broccoli & cheese casserole

When fall is in full swing in Vancouver and it's drippy wet outside I find myself wanting comfort foods. For some reason I associate cheese with comfort foods...especially ooey gooey melted cheese. I personally love an authentic fondue but only Bebe loves cheese. But I digress...I tried out a quick recipe I found in a magazine advertising Campbell's Condensed Mushroom Soup.

BROCCOLI & CHEESE CASSEROLE
1 16 oz bag broccoli florets
1 can Campbell's Condensed Mushroom Soup
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 T butter, melted

Dump the whole bag of broccoli in a baking dish, add the mushroom soup, milk and cheese and stir the whole mixture. Mix the breadcrumbs and melted butter together and sprinkle that on top of the whole thing and bake it in a moderate oven (350F) for 30-35 minutes or until hot and bubbling.

It was a cheesy & yummy way to eat broccoli!

Now, on another cheesy note...

macaroni & cheese with caramelized onions

I made this mac & cheese with a cheese sauce from scratch. I must admit I didn't follow any recipe but just kind of made a bechamel and then tossed in however much cheese looked good to me. I caramelized onions and garlic and mixed that in with the cheese sauce and finally topped the whole casserole with fried onions. I covered it with foil and baked it until it was bubbling hot, about 20-30 minutes.

Here's a rough approximation of the recipe as I recall it:

Cakebrain's Macaroni & Cheese with Caramelized Onions
1 box macaroni, cooked al dente
3 T flour
3 T butter
salt & pepper to taste
3 cups milk
2 cups grated old cheddar cheese
1 small onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
4 T fried onions

• Make a bechamel sauce: in a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour, creating a roux. Cook the roux until golden brown and fragrant. Add salt & pepper. Add nutmeg if you like it. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly to prevent lumps and burning. When the sauce is thickened, add the cheddar cheese and mix thoroughly. Allow the sauce to rest, covered and off the burner.
• In a saute pan, heat the olive oil on med.-high heat and then add the onion. Saute the onions until they are translucent. Then add the garlic and continue cooking until the onions are caramelized. If you like some zing in your macaroni, you can add a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar or hot sauce here. Season with salt & pepper.
• Mix the onion mixture with the cheese sauce.
• In a large casserole dish combine the cooked macaroni and the cheese sauce. Mix thoroughly. The cheese sauce should look slightly runny because as it bakes it will be absorbed in the pasta. If you like your macaroni really moist, you can add more milk to the casserole if it looks too dry for your liking.
• Sprinkle the fried onions over the whole casserole; cover with foil and bake in a moderate oven for 20-30 minutes, or until bubbly

those aren't breadcrumbs, they're fried onions! yum!

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CHICKEN RICE "GAI FAAN"

gai faan

If you don't have a clay pot, you can make this in a rice cooker. My zojirushi has a "mixed rice" setting.

chicken rice, "gai faan"

2 cups long grain rice, washed
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 fresh chicken, about 750 g (1 1/2 lb), cut into small pieces [or 5 chicken thighs, cut in chunks. You can throw the bones in for flavour too. You can use boneless chicken too]
2 chinese sausages, cut in one inch lengths
4 cm ginger, thinly sliced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
Marinade:
2 T oil
3 T oyster sauce
1 T soya sauce
1 T Chinese wine
1/2 t sesame oil
1 t black soy sauce
1 t sugar
1/2 t white pepper
1 T cornstarch

Claypot method: Marinate the chicken. Put the rice in a clay pot with the chicken stock, cover and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes. While the rice is cooking, sear the marinated chicken and sausages in a nonstick pan or wok. When the rice has cooked for 20 minutes, spread the seared chicken, sausages, and sliced ginger on top. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with spring onions and serve.

chicken rice in my zojirushi rice cooker

Rice cooker method: Marinate chicken. Disregard the liquid measurements and rice measurements in the recipe and use your rice cooker's measuring tools. Measure 3 little "cups" of rice using the cooker's measuring tools. Add stock or plain water according to the number 3 "line" indicated. Sear the marinated chicken and sausages in a nonstick pan. You do not have to cook through. Spread the entire mixture on top of the rice. Select "mixed rice" feature, if there is one; or just press "cook". Sprinkle with spring onions and serve.

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KIMCHI FRIED RICE

Here's a version of fried rice with KimChi added to it. Yum.

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THAI FRIED RICE

There's nothing like fried rice with a bit of kick. I wanted to make some and intentionally cooked extra rice the day before. However, unbeknownst to me, Stomach had packed most of it for lunch. I was looking all over the place for the extra rice but could only find a little container of some in the fridge.

I had to quickly make extra rice, spread it thinly on a cookie sheet and stick it in the freezer to cool before I made my fried rice. Thank goodness it turned out! All I know is it's a bad idea to make fried rice with fresh rice because everything sticks together. I learned that the hard way.

I love making fried rice because you can throw all sorts of stuff from your fridge and get rid of odds and ends of things. Here's a nice hot version I made yesterday. It was great. Of course, use whatever meat and veggies you have on hand in whatever proportions you want. The green curry paste doesn't look hot, but it is!

cakebrain's thai fried rice

CAKEBRAIN'S THAI FRIED RICE
4 cups cooked, cold rice (leftover preferably from night before)
4 eggs, scrambled
3 stalks green onion, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 T green curry paste
2 T fish sauce
1 t sugar
1 t kosher salt
1 cup bbq pork, chopped
1 chinese sausage, chopped
1 cup shrimp
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 T vegetable oil

1. Heat oil in a nonstick pan or wok. Saute onions on medium heat with curry paste until onions are soft. Add sugar and salt and mix well. Add bbq pork, sausage and red pepper and stir fry for 30 seconds.

2. Dump in the cold rice and using 2 spatulas, break up and separate the clumps of rice in the pan while mixing with the sauteed ingredients. This will take a while.

3. Sprinkle the fish sauce over the rice and continue mixing well. Add the scrambled eggs, shrimp (and whatever veggies and meats you want) and green onions and continue mixing until all the rice is heated through.

4. Optional: garnish with extra chopped onion

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OYSTER SAUCE CHICKEN

This is the quickest one pot meal I know how to make. It takes about 25 minutes to make in total (including prep) and is a favourite with kids. I have even made it with frozen chicken (threw the whole chunk into the pot) and it works too! You just add about 5 minutes to the cooking time! You can vary the proportions of chicken to veggies any way you want and it still turns out. If you turn on the rice cooker while the chicken's cooking on the stove, it'll be ready when the chicken's done.

OYSTER SAUCE CHICKEN
12 chicken wings
3-4 carrots, sliced
1 large yellow onion, cut into eighths (huge chunks)
2 T Oyster Sauce (Lee Kum Kee Brand--with the picture of the little boy and his mom on a boat--no substitutions or this recipe won't taste right!)
1/2 t sesame oil
1 T shaoxing wine
1/4 cup water

Dump everything into a pot in any order you want. Cover with a lid. Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes.

If you want a thicker sauce, you can add a cornstarch slurry (1T cornstarch & 2T cold water, mixed well) to the pot near the end when the chicken is done and bring to a boil to thicken the sauce.

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SPAGHETTI PIE

1 lb ground beef
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup (2 oz) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
4 cups hot cooked spaghetti (about 8 oz uncooked pasta)
1 1/3 cups (5 oz) shredded reduced extra-sharp cheddar cheese
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cook meat in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well, and return meat to pan. Stir in salt, pepper, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Combine sour cream, green onions, and cream cheese in a small bowl, and set aside
4. Place the spaghetti noodles in a 2 quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray. Spread the sour cream mixture over spaghetti noodles. Top with meat mixture. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.
5. Cover and bake at 350F for 25 minutes.
6. Uncover; bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly

Yield: 6 servings

Calories: 408/serving

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