Vegetarian dashi stock and konbu salad

I make and use this stock a lot. Especially when cooking Japanese or Korean soup/stew. It's easy, quick and delicious. 

I don't even follow measurements, just whack it all in depending on how much I'm making. 

These natural ingredients are also good sources for that umami taste/flavour...

Ingredients

Dried konbu sheet (cleaned)

Clean Shiitake mushroom (dry or fresh is fine)

Method

Soak in the pot beforehand if you have time. If not, just cook it straight up in the pot. 

Once it's boiled, I remove the seaweed and usually leave the mushrooms in to continue cooking in whatever I'm making (usually Korean jjigae/stew or udon noodles). 

Isaac and I love eating the kombu seaweed once we remove it. It's delicious and nutritious so why not right?

If I'm making a lot of stock, I usually use some of the seaweed to make my hubby a konbu salad which he loves. 

Just slice the cooked konbu into strips and add some vinegar, chilli, sugar, salt (or soysauce, but hubby prefers salt), minced garlic and coriander (optional). 

Vegetable pasta sauce

This is a sure fire way to get my toddler to finish his meal quickly. It's also a great way to get veggies into fussy eaters. Adult and children alike. This is so delicious and you won't even realise all the goodies you're eating!!

Best thing about it, is that this is a very versatile recipe. 

Just grill any veggies (pumpkins, capsicums, greens, mix of anything) and/or mushrooms you have in the fridge (I normally grill it with Sundried tomato oil). Then blitz iit all up into a paste. I do this in my Thermomix and also add Sundried tomatoes in. Then I throw in a can of tomatoes and cook it in the Thermomix :). I also like to add some Vegemite in there because I'm a Vegemite girl :p!

Season to taste (we normally do this once served since so our babies can eat this too) with salt, pepper, Parmesan, parsley, chilli flakes etc. 

Spicy skewered rice cake - DdeokGgochi (떡꼬치)

My sister and I love rice cakes. Especially in DdeokGgochi (떡꼬치) and DdeokBokki(떡볶이). Both are also very simple to make at home. 

Traditionally, Rice Cakes are eaten on New Year's Day. However, we like to have it more often than that :p. 

But in spirit of welcoming 2015, here's one I made tonight, in the last remaining hours of 2014. 

Happy New Year everyone!

(This can make quite a lot - a whole frozen packet)

Ingredients

Frozen Korean rice cakes (or you can make this yourself)

Skewers

Boiling water

Sesame oil and frying oil

2 tbs Gochujang 고추장 (red pepper paste) - or adjust amount to your spice pallet

2 tbs Corn syrup (or honey)

2 Tbs sugar

5 Tbs tomato sauce

1-2 tbs Mirin (optional)

Roasted sesame seeds (optional)

Method

1. If you are using frozen rice cakes, soak the rice cake for 30mins in boiled water. 

If it is dry or preserved, you'll need to cook it according to the packet. Even better if you can make it fresh... But I didn't have time for that today.  So frozen it is.

2. Over low-medium heat, add some oil to the pan. Add in Gochujang, tomato sauce, sugar, corn syrup and Mirin (and garlic) if using. Stir and mix well. Once cooked, set aside and let cool. 

3. Drain the rice cakes. Place 4-5 rice cakes onto skewers and shallow fry both sides on medium heat until golden. 

4. Brush the sauce paste onto rice cakes and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

These taste best (obviously) served hot. I love the crunch on the outside and chewy in the centre with a spicy sweet sauce. Can't wait to have these again. 

Enjoy!

Vegetarian kitsune udon noodle

This is a very very simple and tasty soup that I love preparing for my boys. 

Its quick to make and one I know they'll enjoy. 

I haven't put in measurements for any of the ingredients because this recipe is simple to adapt to cater for as many people as you want. I'll explain more in the method. 

Soup Ingredients

Dried kombu seaweed

Handful of Dried shiitake mushroom

Soysauce

Mirin

Extra ingredients

Frozen udon

Inariage, cut in halves

Optional: Wakame seaweed, Veggies/toppings of choice (I just use whatever is available at home) eg. Baby spinach, corn kernel, dried seaweed strips, frozen lotus roots/renkon, soybeans. Whatever tickles your fancy. 

Method

1. Clean and soak a generous handful of shiitake mushrooms in a bowl of water. Reserve the water and don't pour it out. Meanwhile, wipe clean a sheet of dried kombu seaweed. Don't wash or soak it as it'll remove all the precious natural umami flavour. Cut slits in the kombu 

2. In a large pot, add the soaked and softened shiitake mushrooms and kombu. For each person you cook for, add a large bowl of water in the pot. Eg. If you're cooking for 2 people, add 2 big (eating) bowls of water. I also add the mushroom water as that is full of natural umami goodness too. Let it sit while you prepare the other ingredients. 

3. Cut the inariage in halves and set aside. I use 1 inariage per person. If you wish, you can add extra veggies/toppings to the soup. You don't need to as kitsune udon normally doesn't have this, but I like to, so I do. Should you wish to as well, now is the time to prepare your veggies/toppings of choice. 

4. Time to get cooking! Add soysauce and Mirin to the soup pot. 1 tbs of each per person. Eg, if you're cooking for 2, then add 2 tbs of soysauce and 2 tbs Mirin.  Bring the soup to a boil. Remove the kombu pieces and add your wakame seaweed along with any other extras you've decided to add.

5. Add frozen udon to the soup. 1 per person. Serve udon, soup and veggies in a bowl and top with inariage (although I like to add the inariage to the soup just before I scoop it out). 

6. Enjoy

Banana, white choc chip and pecan cupcakes

This is a rough guesstimate as I didn't really pay attention to how much of what I was using. I'll make it again next time with more accurate measurements

Ingredients

120g butter

100g raw sugar 

3 ripe bananas 

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence 

60g milk

1 tsp baking powder

200g plain flour

Handful white choc chips

Handful pecans (or walnuts)

Method 

1. Melt butter and sugar in TM bowl 100d/2 min/sp2

2. Add bananas and blend sp4/20 sec

3. Add egg, vanilla essence, milk, flour and baking powder and mix sp2/20-30sec

4. Scrape down bowl and add choc chips and nuts. Mix on reverse for 15 sec/sp4

5. Spoon mixture into lined/greased cupcake (I used mini cupcake tins in the picture) tins and bake in preheated oven at 180degrees for approximately 20mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy!!

Thermomix pizza dough

You can also hand knead this recipe using the same ingredients (make sure the water is lukewarm). 

But I have a thernomix so it only takes me a few minutes :)

Ingredients

280g water

25g olive oil

1 sachet (1 tbs) of yeast

500g bakers or plain flour

2 tsp salt

Rosemary (optional)

Method

1. Weigh in water and oil and mix for 1min/37d/sp2. Add yeast around 40sec mark

2. Add flour and salt. Mix for 6 sec/sp 8

3. Knead for 2 min

4. Pour dough onto Thermomix mat (or greased bowl) and lightly hand knead forming into a ball. Let it rise until double the size. 

5. Roll dough out into desired pizza sizes. Top with your favourite pizza sauce and toppings. 

6. Bake in preheated 200deg oven for about 20 minutes 

Spinach & cheese lasagna

A very easy and quick comfort food. 

This recipe makes a small batch as I made it for my small family. Can easily double to make a large tray. 

Spinach & cheese ingredients:

1 tub of Aldi Ricotta cheese

1 box of Aldi frozen spinach (squeeze all the liquid out)

1 egg

1-2 handful shredded cheese

Salt and black powdered pepper to taste

Mix in a bowl. Set aside

Lasagna sheet ingredients:

4 eggs

400g flour

15g olive oil

Mix, knead and roll out using pasta machine. 

(Or alternatively, buy a fresh supermarket lasagna sheets... I think they're about $2 for a 250g pack)?

Red sauce:

Just use your favourite pasta sauce!

Or you can buy pasta sauces in jars if you are really cutting time 

Easy to adapt to what you have available in your fridge or pantry. 

To assemble:

Layer red sauce, lasgna sheets, red sauce, spinach & cheese mix in an oven proof tray. 

Repeat until last layer is pasta sheet and a some red sauce on top. 

Sprinkle with more shredded cheese (I also add Parmesan cheese too) as the final layer. 

Bake in preheated oven until the cheese is nice and golden. Serve hot with a side salad.