Overboard Curry Beef with Rice

Tonight was beef curry with Japanese rice. Ever wanted the super sticky rice? Just follow the instructions on the rice bag. 1.5 cups of rice to 2 cups water....sticky. Don't want it so sticky, do the 2:2 ratio. I picked up some cut up beef made for cooking with curry. I coated the beef in flour. The pan was preheated then the oil. The beef was added and cooked ~3 minutes per side. The beef was removed with lots of sucs left. 2 diced cloves of garlic tossed in. I deglazed with a little red wine. As it reduced to just a little left, some chicken broth was added in. As it reduced the beef was thrown back in and mixed together. Reduce into there's not much sauce left, the remaining will be thick and coat the beef nicely. The curry was boiling in it's package for 3-5 minutes. Sesame seeds sprinkled on top of everything.

viola!

Panko Chicken

Another yummy round of panko chicken. The miso sauce goes very well with the chicken and rice. A zesty lemony salty miso tang that goes POW into the taste buds :) The original recipe is here.

1 chicken breast
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup panko
thyme
japanese rice
carrots
grapeseed oil
2 spoons miso paste
1/2 lemon

I cut the breast into two pieces and pounded with a sauce pan to flatten. The chicken goes thru the flour, egg, panko and onto a plate as I warmed up the pan. The chicken is cooked 3 mins per side and removed onto paper towels to soak up the oil. The chicken is tented with aluminum foil and is rested as I boil the carrots and make the sauce.

2 heaping spoonful scoops of miso paste was added a saucepan over low heat. As it heated up, I squeezed in 1/2 lemon. Stir and heat until mixed together.
Thyme was sprinkled over everything.

Akasaka take-out

Akasaka is a hole in the wall Japanese restaurant near another hole in the wall place called Foo Foo Tei. Akasaka specializes in sushi and Foo Foo Tei is famous for ramen dishes. You'd never find either just driving around because it's tucked amongst warehouses and regular homes.

The yelp review can be read here.

Here's what Eva ordered:

The spicy tuna roll


Chirashi bowl

Pork Chops with Marsala and Fennel

Pork Chops with Marsala and Fennel was tonight's meal. The recipe can be found here.
It would probably be even better using pork tenderloin or chicken. I didn't have any marsala and used red wine. The sauce with the onions and fennel came out so good.

The onions & fennel cooking


The final dish


A closer view of the onions/fennel



And a side of baked sweet potato fries

Chicken Pesto Linguini

Very similar to the previous pesto dish I made before. This time I pureed items to make the pesto sauce. I still need pine nuts, would've made the dish better! Serves 2-3.

1 package of Boutoni whole wheat linguini
1 chicken breast
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
oil
salt
pepper

Pesto sauce
2 cups of fresh basil leaves
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Puree in a blender or food processor
If you prefer a less garlicky sauce, use less garlic



Boil water and add salt
Add in the linguini, boil for ~3 minutes
Drain and set aside

Cut up chicken into small pieces, add salt & pepper.
Preheat the pan, add oil after it's warmed up. Add garlic when oil is warmed up. Cook until brown and remove. Add in the chicken.
Flip chicken over when one side is brown.
Before the chicken is done, add in the pasta, garlic, and pesto sauce. If you have pine nuts, add them in too :)

Coconut-Braised Beef

Coconut-Braised Beef with rice and carrots.

The recipe can be found here. I'd suggest using lime juice rather then vinegar, else the whole house will stink.

1lb of lean stew meat
3 cloves garlic minced
1 inch of ginger minced
2TB lime juice or rice vinegar
2TB grapeseed oil
1 can of coconut milk and water to make 2 cups
Salt
Rosemary to garnish

A dutch oven was used and I simmered for about 2hours. After 2hrs remove lid and start reducing the sauce to a syrupy state.

Japanese rice made in rice cooker. Carrots boiled for a few minutes in water.

Steak and potatoes

Tonight's meal was steak with red wine sauce. The sides were roasted red potatoes and steamed Chinese broccoli. The steak and sauce were prepared a similiar way as my previous post here. Just shallots were used along with red wine, chicken broth, and butter.



The red potatoes were cut up into smaller pieces and mixed in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. 2 whole cloves were added to the pan. Bake @ 425F for 20mins then rotate the potatoes. Bake for a little while longer or until you think they're brown enough.



The results: