Shrimp and Scallop Rice Krispies Bites エビとホタテのライスクリスピーボール

Some time ago, my wife got a great big box of rice Krispies cereal (and mini marshmallows). Her reason was that, as a kid, she used to like “rice Krispies treats”. Recently, she purchased some from the grocery store but thought they were not as good as she remembered. So, she wanted to make some herself from scratch thinking they should be better than the ones she just bought. (I could enjoy some homemade rice Krispie treats too, since I was “deprived” of the experience as a kid; they were not part of my Japanese childhood). 

We were not sure how much rice Krispies would be needed to make the treats so we got the “big” box…it was gigantic. Over some time, no Krispie treats were forthcoming.  I started teasing her about the huge box of Krispies in the pantry and would she need all of that for the treats? In response she went to the rice Krispies website  and found a few recipes she wanted to try and thought would reduce the volume of Krispies we had. This is one of those recipes. Of course there were a few modifications. The original recipe called for shrimp and crabmeat but we did not have crabmeat. We did, however, have frozen bay scallops which we had used to make salmon pate. So we substituted the scallops for the crab.  I made a sauce with Greek yogurt, mayonnaise yuzu juice (from the bottle) and Japanese not-so spicy spicy chili oil with garlic bits. The final dish is shown in (#1). It was quite a nice savory bite with a little crunch on the crust courtesy of the rice Krispies.

On the cut surface, you can see some scallop but the shrimp became a binder and disappeared (#2).

Ingredients:
For the fish bite:
30 mL (2 tbsp) grated Parmesan cheese
175 g (6 oz) bay scallops, thawed, finely chopped
125 g (4 oz) cleaned raw shrimp, finely chopped
 500 ML (2 cups) rice Krispies cereal crushed
2 egg whites, or 1 egg
50 ml (1/4 cup) finely chopped celery
30 ml (2 tbsp) low-fat mayonnaise
2 ml (1/2 tsp) dijon mustard
1 ml (1/4 tsp) cayenne

For the sauce
3 tbsp greek yogurt 
3 tbsp mayonnaise
30 ml (2 tbsp) Dijon mustard
yuzu juice to taste
Japanese  chili crunch oil (“taberu-ra-yu” 食べるラー油”)

Directions
In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup of the crushed cereal and Parmesan cheese and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the scallops, shrimp, remaining cereal, eggs, celery, mayonnaise, mustard and cayenne until thoroughly mixed. Scoop out part of the mixture using the second to smallest ice cream scoop and form into balls. Roll balls in the crushed cereal mixture. Place on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake at 350°F about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with sauce. 

Sauce: In small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, greek yogurt, mustard, yuzu juice and Japanese chili crunch oil.

The sauce really sets this fish bite apart from ordinary. The Krispies bite itself was really good. But my comment was “why do you need to use rice Krispies?” We could have made this using panko bread crumbs. Nonetheless this is certainly a nice appetizer. Also, after all this, the rice Krispies treats are still not forthcoming. Still waiting…patiently.

Roasted Carrot Soup にんじんスープ

We found a bag of carrots in the fridge which needed to be used soon. My wife came up with the idea of making a carrot soup.  My usual method of  making “vegetable potage/soup” is to sauté some onions with other aromatics. Then adding whatever vegetable I am using as the basis for the soup to the pan for a quick sauté. (I may also add potato if I think the soup will need to be thickened which is what I do for asparagus soup, for example.) I add chicken broth and some herbs and simmer until the vegetables become soft. I blend the cooked vegetables into soup using an immersion blender. I add cream before serving. My wife looked up recipes for carrot soup and came up with the idea of roasting the carrots in the toaster oven. In addition she suggested sautéing the onion in brown butter. The roasting enhanced the flavor of the carrots by intensifying their sweetness and the brown butter added some nuttiness.  We had the soup cold for lunch topped with a dollop of sour cream (#1).

This was a part of our lunch with beef tongue sandwich and potato salad (I added thinly slices mini-cucumber dressed in sushi vinegar to the potato salad just before serving.)

Ingredients:
1 lb fresh carrots peeled and cut as seen in #3, coated with olive oil and seasoned with salt
One large onion, diced finely
2 tbs butter
2 cups or more chicken broth (this time we used the simmering liquid from when we cooked the beef tongue)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp grated ginger
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Bake the carrots at 350F for 30 minutes until soft and surface starts caramelizing.
Melt the butter in a pan and let it brown for several minutes.
Sauté the onion for a few minutes. Add the roasted carrots and the broth.
Add the bay leaf and the ginger and simmer for 30 minutes.
remove the bay leaf and blend until smooth using an immersion blender.
Season to taste.

Before serving add milk or cream to the thickness you prefer 
Add a dollop of sour cream (optional)

This was a good way to use up our gett’en-old carrots.

Lemon Ricotta Cake レモン、リッコタチーズケーキ

This is another one of my wife’s baking projects. She saw this recipe on the King Arthur web site. She thought the use of “00” flour, (which I use to make pizza dough), was intriguing. Being the generous man I am, I gave her access my stash of  “00” flour. This was a good investiment on my part, the cake was very light and fluffy and the “Fiori di Sicillia” flavoring gave a nice lemony flavor. The cake was not too sweet and perfect for our dessert.

Ingredients:
Cake
1 1/2 cups (174g) “00” flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon table salt
8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (198g) granulated sugar
zest of 1 lemon
3 large eggs, separated
1 cup (227g) ricotta cheese, whole preferred
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon “Fiori di Sicilia”, optional

Glaze (We did not use)
2 tablespoons (28g) lemon juice
3 tablespoons (43g) coarse sparkling sugar or 3 tablespoons (34g) turbinado sugar
1/2 cup (57g) confectioners' sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the center. Line the bottom of an 8" cake pan with parchment and grease the bottom and sides.

To make the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add the egg yolks, and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Add the ricotta, extracts, and dry ingredients and beat on low until no dry streaks remain.

In a medium bowl, whisk the whites until very frothy, 1 to 2 minutes (no need to reach soft peaks).

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with the batter and pour in the egg whites. Mix on medium speed, scraping down the sides as needed, until the batter becomes smooth (it will be quite gloppy at first). Finish mixing by hand if necessary to make sure everything is incorporated.

Transfer the thick batter to the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. (A small offset spatula is a helpful tool here.)

Bake the lemon ricotta cake for 20 to 25 minutes, until deeply golden, then tent with foil and bake for 8 to 10 minutes. The cake is done when it’s set, has pulled away from the sides of the pan slightly, and springs back when lightly pressed. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. (#2)

If using the glaze: In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice and sugars until no dry confectioners’ sugar remains.

Turn out the lemon ricotta cake onto a wire rack and set the rack atop a plate or parchment-lined baking sheet. Pour the glaze evenly over the top of the cake, encouraging it to reach all the way to the edges.

Let the lemon ricotta cake cool until the glaze is set, about 30 minutes. Serve it slightly warm or at room temperature, with macerated fruit if desired.

This is one of the most elegant cakes we’ve made. It is extremely light, slightly sweet with a rich lemon flavor. The method of using the mixer to stir the egg whites into the batter was a first. My wife was surprised at how well it worked and that the egg whites did not deflate. She said she will keep this method in mind for other recipes using whipped egg whites.

Pan-fried Grits Cake フライパンで焼いたグリッツケーキ

This is an off-shoot of the “Cheese grits casserole” my wife made. Realizing these grits cakes were basically the same texture as traditional cheese grits just shaped differently she got the idea they could be removed from the ramekins they were cooked in, cut into pieces and pan fried. Initially I had doubts the  process she suggested would be possible but as shown in picture #1 we managed it. They were firm enough for her to remove them from the ramekins. Then she asked me to slice the cakes into rounds. Using a thin long fillet knife coated with oil, I was able to slice them (picture #2). To pan fry the rounds, I first dusted both sides with flour and then fried them. This added a nice crunchy crust and they were better than the original form. We had this as a light lunch with a salad made of baby arugula, green beans (pre-steamed), skinned Campari tomato topped with home made cheese curd my wife made, dressed with honey-mustard dressing.

Next time, we’ll probably prepare them this way by cooking them in a baking dish or a small sheet pan so that it is easier to cut into squares for pan-frying.

Beautiful spring season. The iris are in full bloom. What a joy!

Mini Cheese Grits Casserole ミニグリッツキャセロール

Recently we purchased a box of grits to make a dish of shrimp and grits. But the quantity of grits we used to make that dish didn’t make a dent in the large amount of dried grits remaining in the box. So my wife took it upon herself to find a way to use up some of it.  She found this recipe at Southern Living web site. The original recipe was for a make-ahead breakfast dish for a large crowd. The idea was to basically put the dish together the day before so the next morning all that had to be done was to cook it in the oven. After looking at the quantity of ingredients called for in the recipe we decided that we were definitely not feeding a crowd that big so we significantly reduced the the size of the recipe. Also, since we were not going to be eating it for breakfast we saw no need to make it up a day ahead and store it in the fridge overnight.  We had it as a lunch with salad which included my wife’s home-made mango chutney seasoned cheese curd. This turned out to be a variation of standard cheese grits but in a more elegant individual presentation. It was quite good although next time we thought we could reduced the amount of cheese a bit.

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups broth 

3/4 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits
1 teaspoons salt, (divided, 1/2 in the grits, 1/2 in the egg mixture) 
1/2 cup half-and-half (or buttermilk)
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne 
1 large egg
4-6 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
several teaspoons of sauteed shallots and mushrooms.  

Directions
Bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over high. Add grits and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until grits are thickened and tender, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together half-and-half, mustard, pepper, eggs, egg yolk, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in grits and cheese until cheese is melted. Divide mixture evenly among the ramekins. (We used 4 small and 3 medium sized ramekins as shown in pic #2). Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake in preheated oven until puffed and edges are set, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

These were quite good. Lots of rich flavor with the cheese and shallot mushroom mixture adding a lot of depth. The cayenne pepper added a nice bright note. My wife noted that next time she would just make it in a baking dish and then cut it into square pieces for serving. What ever the presentation this makes a mighty fine “side” for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.