Showing posts with label carrot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carrot. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Fruits Enzyme Cooking

Betting on Fruits’ Gold

DSC_4323When did you last hear that lots of sugar is good for you? Never? Me either, until I started making fruits enzyme extract. The sugar used in the process to make this magical enzyme actually has great benefits to your health…OK don’t quote me on it,  I’m just summarizing what it said in the cookbook. It's saying that the enzyme is a type of protein that breaks down food we take in and also boosts metabolism. It is not a snake-oil sales pitch… I hope.

Making fruits enzyme is not very hard. I found many recipes online. It seems that you could use any fruits or vegetable except ginger. The most difficult part is timing I guess. So if you don’t mind me sayin’ I’m not quite sure when to hold ‘em. Anytime you see mold or smell something funny that’s when you walk away. Like I said, the secret to survivin’ is knowin’ what to throw away…just singing (kidding).

Ingredients and Instruction for Fruits Enzyme Extract (Print recipe here)

Necessary equipment: Large wide mouth glass jar 3 liter or larger

  • 1000g of your choice of fruits and vegetable – avoid ginger or strong aroma food such as garlic, garlic chives, bitter melon. Cut in chunks.
  • 1000g of sugar (although I used tensai sugar, you could use regular sugar but not brown sugar)
  1. Put 1/4 of fruits/vegetables in the glass jar. Add 1/4 of sugar on top. Stir with your clean and dry hand (harmless bacteria in your hand promote fermentation process faster…sounds gross doesn’t it?). Repeat three times more and mix well each time.
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  2. Cover with paper towel or cloth and secure with rubber band or twine. Do not put an air tight lid on it. Avoid direct sun, leave it at room temperature of 68 to 77 degree. If it’s lower than that, fermentation is slow. In ideal atmosphere, it will be ready in about 10 days. Make sure to stir the contents 1-2 times a day.DSC_4322
  3. When lots of tiny bubbles are evident then it’s ready. Strain the fruits/vegetable from juice through a sieve without pressing. Keep refrigerated (if you leave the juice at room temperature, fermentation continues and may turn into alcohol) Note: fruits part should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator and consumed within 5 days.DSC_4566

Ingredients and Instruction for meat wrapped broccoliDSC_4678

  • 2 Tablespoons tonkatsu or Worcester sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons of fruits enzyme extract
  • 1 teaspoon of stone ground mustard
  • 1 pound each of ground beef and ground pork, combine well
  • 1/2 of medium onion finely minced
  • 2 cloves of garlic finely minced
  • 1 Tablespoon of finely minced ginger
  • 2 Tablespoons sake
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Pepper
  • 1 head of broccoli divided in small florets Note: broccoli must be dry other wise it will cause spattering in the frying processDSC_4665
  • Cornstarch or flour for dusting
  • Oil for frying
  1. Make sauce – combine tonkatsu sauce, enzyme juice and mustard in a small bowl. Set aside. Option: Go spicy by adding hot pepper sauce.
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  2. Heat oil in thick deep pan to 338 F.
  3. Mix well meats, onion, garlic, ginger, sake, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Divide into however many broccoli florets you have.
  4. Flatten the divided meat and wrap floret top tight. Dust lightly with cornstarch.
  5. DSC_4667DSC_4668
    Fry for 3-4 minutes. Receive in 2-3 layers of paper towel to remove excess oil. Serve with prepared dipping sauce.IMG_1406

Oatmeal cookie with minced enzyme fruits Yield approximately 2 dozenDSC_4705

  • 140g butter room temperature
  • 40ml fruits enzyme extract
  • 140g low viscosity flour 
  • 60g oatmeal, chopped small
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 140g fruits enzyme fruits/vegetable, minced
  • 50g corn flakes (optional)
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional) I used mini chocolate chips
  1. Heat oven to 356F
  2. Whisk butter in a large bowl until creamy. pour fruits enzyme extract and continue to whisk for an additional minute.DSC_4685
  3. Add flour, oatmeal and baking powder. Combine with wooden spoon or spatula.
  4. Fold minced fruits/vegetable in, then fold in corn flakes and chocolate chips if you are using.
  5. Drop 1-2 Tablespoons of the dough onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten the dough with back of spoon if you like the uniform look
    .DSC_4693
  6. Bake for 20 minutes.DSC_4701
    Without additional sugar, cookie has gentle sweetness and scone like texture. Care for tea? Why yes!

Spicy Hot chocolate – a single serving

  • 1 Tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons fruits enzyme extract
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  1. Put cocoa powder and fruits enzyme extract in a small sauce pan. Combine well to make pasty mixture.DSC_4695
  2. Gradually add milk to thin it out. Grind pepper in then heat up to desired temperature at low heat.DSC_4707

Cul de sac tale…We share what we make with neighbors sometimes, then neighbors return the favor. One of our neighbors tried this Marshmallow Gelato recipe from my blog. With her blueberry compote. Life is really cool!DSC_4683

Weekend warrior –  the store that specializes in orchids was moving to another location. This table was used as a display table and sold to me at a huge discount. I gave my husband a project to refinish it. I think this will be a great piece of furniture some weekends later.IMG_1412

Mahalo for reading this post thus far….we’re going to take a few weeks off from blogging and projects, plan to do mainly nothin on the sandy beach.

 

Monday, April 1, 2013

Goodies

Meatball  Miso soup

_DSC8743We are having warm days lately – last Saturday it reached 80 degrees – and not a good time to find out the air-conditioning in your car is not working properly. I was on a last minute shopping spree before going to Japan. Frantic and rushed, I don’t think I was enjoying the sunshine as much as I should be grateful to feel. 

I must use up all the left over goodies like drying up burdock roots, green onion that was wilting, limp carrots, new-shooting potatoes before the trip and it had to be quick to prepare. Warm soup on a hot day is not ideal but this gives me some breather. Goody! I can cross out something from my travel check list…only 8 more to go.

The recipe I loosely followed was found in a old Japanese magazine and I like the ginger flavor in meatball and no need for dashi stock. The butter is optional yet adds depth and fat of course to it.

Ingredients and instruction Serves 4

  • Ground beef 1/2 pound
  • Ground pork 1/2 pound
  • Grated ginger 1-1/2 Tablespoon
  • Green onion 2 stalks finely chopped
  • Potato starch or corn starch 2 Tablespoons
  • Sake 2 Tablespoons
  • Soy sauce or Tamari sauce 1 Tablespoon
  • Burdock about 6 inches length peeled and thinly sliced diagonally. Soak in cold water for 5-8 minutes.
    _DSC8722
  • 1 small carrot slice into half rounds
  • 2 small potato peeled and chopped then soak in cold water for 3-4 minutes.
    _DSC8727
  • Miso paste 4-6 Tablespoons
  • Broccoli 1 adult-sized fist worth; divide into individual florets 
  • Butter 1 teaspoon
  1. Put meats, ginger, green onion, starch, sake and soy sauce in large bowl and knead well then make1-1/2 inch balls. Set aside ._DSC8718
  2. Boil 5 cups of water in pan. Gently slide the meat balls in and simmer for 1-2 minutes.
    _DSC8730
  3. Put burdock, carrots and potatoes into the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes at medium heat. Scoop off white scum that appears on top._DSC8733
  4. Dissolve miso paste in the ladle with little bit of cooking liquid from #3 before adding to the pan. Do the taste test. Add more miso paste if necessary. If it’s too salty, pour some water in._DSC8736
  5. Add broccoli florets and cook for about 1 minute._DSC8738
  6. Add butter (optional) and serve hot.
    _DSC8746

We must consume cucumber also. Made quick pickled cucumber._DSC8735Cut cucumber in chunks and put in the Ziploc bag. Add vinegar, salt and chili pepper to taste. Push air out, close tight and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. 

We had a wonderful Easter service at our church. What a blessing!_DSC8747The Easter basket/nest plus blue chocolate eggs are from William Sonoma. Very pretty but the chocolate is overly sweet. I hope I could re-use next year, not the eggs._DSC8803_DSC8790A friend brought me this candle holder filled with Easter candies. So nice of her!_DSC8811Easter dinner made easy by purchasing the honey baked ham. _DSC8809

My son’s friends were here for last games over pizza. My son is concentrating on his own game. DSCN1744Do-over birthday cake- Strawberry short cake for real._DSC8787I started to make some kind of design yet I couldn’t finish it. I figured that those guys don’t care how the cake looks so I stopped caring like whatever._DSC8780Thumbs-up’ taste for sure!DSCN1747And we had some left over for Easter. _DSC8798Spring came in full force.DSCN1732The weeping cherry tree. We didn’t know it’s pink when we planted it.DSCN1739_DSC8756Asian pear tree
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Neighbor's cherry blossom. Can you say gorgeous?P1030062Hey, you on the right, your days are Round-Up!DSCN1731_DSC8752

Neighbor’s lawn ornament – This is so cute, right?P1030069P1030059

I’m  hoping to see cherry blossoms in Japan too. My blog will resume sometime in April. Y’all comeback and see me now, ya hear?P1030057