Yakiudon

Yakiudon is a fried udon noodle with sauce and various ingredients. It's similar to yakisoba, and boiled udon noodles are used. Yakiudon is a quick dish to make with something you have in the fridge. Dried udon noodles or packages of boiled udon noodles are available at Asian grocery stores.

Yield:

Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients

1. 5 dried shiitake mushrooms
2. 1 clove garlic, crushed
3. 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
4. 125ml Japanese soy sauce
5. 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
6. 2 tbsp sugar
7. 1 tbsp lemon juice
8. 500g fresh Udon noodles
9. 2 tbsp oil
10. 500g chicken thigh fillets, thinly sliced
11. 1 clove garlic, extra, finely chopped
12. 1 small red capsicum, thinly sliced
13. 150g shredded cabbage
14. 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
15. 1 tbsp sesame oil white pepper, to taste
16. 2 tbsp drained shredded pickled ginger

Directions

1. Place the mushrooms in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water for 10 minutes, or until tender.
2. Drain, reserving 60ml soaking liquid.
3. Discard the stems, squeeze dry the caps and thinly slice.
4. Combine the crushed garlic, ginger, Japanese soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, lemon juice and reserved mushroom soaking liquid in a jug.
5. Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and leave for 2 minutes, or until soft and tender.
6. Drain.
7. Heat a wok over high heat, add half the oil and swirl to coat.
8. Add the chicken in batches and stir fry for 5 minutes, or until browned.
9. Remove from the wok.
10. Add the remaining oil and swirl to coat.
11. Add the extra garlic, mushrooms, capsicum and cabbage, and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, or until softened.
12. Add the noodles and stir fry for a further 1 minute.
13. Return the chicken to the wok and add the spring onion, sesame oil and soy sauce mixture, stirring, until well combined and heated through.
14. Season with white pepper and scatter with the pickled ginger.

Notes

French Chocolate Brownies

One can never have too many recipes for a good brownie. And this is no ordinary brownie. It’s contains 6 ounces of gorgeous chocolate and is chock full of boozed up raisins. Yes, raisins, boozed up, with rum. Tell me, how can this not be good?

Yield:

Makes about 16 brownies

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2. 1/8 teaspoon salt
3. 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
4. 1/3 cup raisins, dark or golden
5. 1 1/2 tablespoons water
6. 1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
7. 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
8. 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces
9. 3 large eggs, at room temperature
10. 1 cup sugar

Directions

1. Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.
2. Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.
3. Put the raisins in a small saucepan with the water, bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until the water almost evaporates. Add the rum, let it warm for about 30 seconds, turn off the heat, stand back and ignite the rum. Allow the flames to die down, and set the raisins aside until needed.
4. Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment.
5. Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.
6. Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature.
7. Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.

Notes

Serving: The brownies are good just warm or at room temperature; they're even fine cold. I like these with a little something on top or alongside—good go-alongs are whipped crème fraîche or whipped cream, ice cream or chocolate sauce or even all three!Storing: Wrapped well, these can be kept at room temperature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a lovely traditional French stewed vegetable dish which can be served on rice, herbal couscous or potatoes.

Yield:

Serving Size: 2

Ingredients

1. 2 small onions, cut in quarters
2. 4 cloves garlic, sliced
3. 1 eggplant, cut in bite sized pieces
4. 2 bell peppers, de-seeded and cut in bite sized pieces
5. 4 tomatoes, cut in large pieces
6. 1 zucchini, cut in bite sized pieces
7. 1-3 tbs. olive oil
8. 2-3 teaspoons herbs de Provence
9. salt to taste
10. dash of cayenne pepper
11. 3-4 tbs. liquid (it can be tomato paste with water, or often, if a jarred bell pepper is used, it can be the liquid from the jar).

Directions

1. In a large skillet or frying pan, place the olive oil and begin to saute the onion.
2. Add the bell pepper pieces, and the zucchini pieces.
3. When they begin to soften, add the eggplant, garlic and tomatoes.
4. Add the seasonings and lightly saute all the vegetables until al dente.
5. Add a bit of liquid so the vegetables don?t stick to the pan, but not so much that they are swimming in liquid.

Notes

Beignets - French Market Doughnuts

Pronounced "ben-YAYS", these are the rectangular doughnuts served fresh and hot around the clock at Cafe du Monde in the French Market.These aren't terribly difficult to prepare at home. The yeast dough must be prepared in advance and refrigerated overnight. It seems that for home preparation the dough works better in the large quantity given here, enough for about 5 dozen beignets. Don't worry, though ... the dough keeps well under refrigeration for about a week. Just cut off some dough when you want to make beignets -- roll it out, cut it up, and fry for about 3 minutes per batch. Don't forget the powdered sugar, lots of it. Or, just invite enough people over to eat all 5 dozen.Serve, of course, with piping hot cafe au lait made with Community Coffee.

Yield:

Makes about 5 dozen

Ingredients

1. 1 package active dry yeast
2. 1-1/2 cups warm water (100-115 degrees F)
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 1 teaspoon salt
5. 2 large eggs
6. 1 cup evaporated milk
7. 7 cups flour
8. 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
9. .
10. oil for deep frying
11. confectioner's sugar for dusting

Directions

1. Put the warm water into a large bowl, then sprinkle in the yeast and a couple teaspoons of the sugar and stir until thoroughly dissolved. Let proof for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the sugar, salt, eggs, and evaporated milk. Gradually stir in 4 cups of the flour and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and thoroughly blended. Beat in the shortening, then add the remaining flour, about 1/3 cup at a time, beating it in with a spoon until it becomes too stiff to stir, then working in the rest with your hands. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight in a greased bowl.
2. Roll the dough out onto a floured board or marble pastry surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch, then cut it into rectangles 2-1/2 inches by 3-1/2 inches with a sharp knife. Heat the oil in a deep fryer to 360 degrees F. Fry the beignets about 3 or 4 at a time until they are puffed out and golden brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per batch. Turn them over in the oil with tongs once or twice to get them evenly brown, since they rise to the surface of the oil as soon as they begin to puff out. Drain each batch, place on a platter lined with several layers of paper towels, and keep warm in a 200 degree F oven until they're all done.
3. Serve 3 beignets per person, sprinkling heavily with powdered sugar, and serve hot with cafe au lait.

Notes

Sweet Cherry Pie

Whoever said you can’t make a good cherry pie with sweet cherries was lying as this recipe will prove.

Yield:

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

1. Dough for a double-crust pie
2. .
3. For the filling:
4. ============
5. 4 cups pitted fresh cherries (about 2 1/2 pounds unpitted)
6. 4 tablespoons cornstarch
7. 2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar (adjust this according to the sweetness of your cherries)
8. 1/8 teaspoon salt
9. Juice of half a lemon
10. 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
11. 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits
12. 1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water
13. Coarse sugar, for decoration

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Stir together the cherries, cornstarch, sugar, salt, lemon and almond extract gently together in a large bowl.
3. Roll out half of chilled dough (use larger piece, if you’ve divided them unevenly) on a floured work surface to 13-inch round. Gently place it in 9-inch pie pan, either by rolling it around the rolling pin and unrolling it over the pan or by folding it into quarters and unfolding it in the pan. Trim edges to a half-inch overhang.
4. Spoon filling into pie crust, discarding the majority of the liquid that has pooled in the bowl. Dot the filling with the bits of cold butter.
5. Roll out the remaining dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface, drape it over the filling, and trim it, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal it, and crimp the edge decoratively. Brush the egg wash over over pie crust, then sprinkle with coarse sugar.
6. Cut slits in the crust with a sharp knife, forming steam vents, and bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F. and bake the pie for 25 to 30 minutes more, or until the crust is golden. Let the pie cool on a rack.

Notes