Curryosity

Keema Curry

 

To say that curry (curry rice) is a national Japanese food is not an over statement. The British Empire once colonized India, and developed Indian curry stew into their own flavor. England’s C&B curry powder landed in Japan in early Meiji Era but some elitists already knew of ‘curry’ existence as early as the Edo Shogunate Era. Japanese curryosity (just kidding) transformed curry to appeal to the Japanese taste..  

Since House Foods Inc. developed home friendly curry roux in 1926,  made ‘Rice Curry’ a household name. Many other solid curry roux are available now days yet I still favor the revolutionized, not spicy - until then we had mind set of curry equal spicy - House Vermont Curry (1963) and remember the old commercial song – apple and honey, House Vermont Curry! Appearing in a curry commercial is a barometer of a star’s popularity. In1997 baseball phenomenon Ichiro did his gig here. 

Keema is Indian word for minced meat and keema curry is happening in Japan! I once served this dish at a luncheon and it was well received. This recipe also adapted and Japan-nized . I highly recommend of adding diced fresh tomatoes. They add terrific zing to the dish…I wish tomatoes in our garden are ripe already. Anyhow, I believe Japanese curryousity going strong?

Ingredients and how to for 5-6 servings

• 1 large onion minced
• 3-5 cloves of garlic minced
• Ginger roots minced about 3 Tablespoons
• 3-4 fresh shiitake mushrooms caps only minced
• Olive oil 2 Tablespoons
• Ground beef 1 pound
• Ground pork 1 pound
• Curry powder 4-5 Tablespoons
• Red wine 50cc
• Tomato Juice 2 cups
• Chicken broth 150cc
  
• Curry roux (solid type) 1-2 square
• Soy sauce 1-2 teaspoons
• Salt to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan, sauté onion, garlic, ginger until the onion is transparent, about 10 minutes.
   
2. Add shiitake and sauté for additional 5 minutes.
3. Add both ground meats and sauté for 3-4 minutes.
4. Sprinkle in curry powder, add the red wine, tomato juice and chicken broth. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes on low heat – most of liquid is gone at this stage
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5. Turn off heat and add soy sauce and  curry roux then stir to dissolve.
6. Put the pan on the burner again to cook for 3-4 minutes on low heat. Add 1 teaspoon of salt if desired. Serve over rice or have it as dip.The left over keema curry was made into fried curry rolls. What was I thinking? That was clearly a stupid move on my part, now I must run an extra 5 miles…Not!

In our back yard…

Figs are ripe at last!And roses are releasing its fragrance.Chelsea is frequent visitor in our back yard too. My heart stops sometimes; she resembles our late cat.

Happy birthday to our grandson who had his 3rd birthday yesterday.This painting was done in 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rosematic

Rosemary Focaccia

OK, the word ‘Rosematic’ is currently not in the dictionary. Of course not, I made it up. My neighbor friend has a rosemary plant and I sent my husband to collect some for focaccia. You see the dramatic aroma and flavor enhancing power that rosemary plants add?  I don’t want to brag but I am hardly able to do multitasking yet I desired to have bread for last week’s watermelon soup at the same time. I saw hundreds of focaccia recipes on other food blogger sites, but simultaneously taking the process pictures of two dishes creates chaos. Easing the confusion by making in the bread maker is way to go..

Focaccia

Equipment: bread maker, rimmed cooking sheet 12-1/4 in by 8-3/4 in, or two 9 inch round cake pans, parchment paper to fit bottom of pan(s), pastry brush

• Bread flour or all-purpose flour 4 and 1/4 cup
• Yeast 1 Tablespoon
• Sugar 2 Tablespoons
• Salt 2 teaspoons
• Olive oil 1/4 cup plus more for brushing later, 2-3Tablespoons 
• Cold water 350ml (approx. 1-1/2 cup)
• Fresh rosemary 2-3 stems, snip, roughly chopped leaf parts only
• Coarse sea salt (sea salt flakes if you have it) about 1 teaspoon

1. Put flour in the bread maker pan. Make well in the center of flour and bury the yeast there.
2. Add rest of ingredients except coarse sea salt. Select ‘dough’(raise once) menu then start
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3. Place dough on the prepared cooking sheet. Punch down the dough then cover with plastic paper and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
4. Stretch the dough to fit in the pan. Make depressions with your finger. Brush all over the top with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt. Scatter some rosemary leaves on top if desired.
   
5. Cover with plastic paper or moist towel. Raise for 40 minutes.
6. Heat oven to 380F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.Serve with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Buon Appetito!

I took some focaccia to neighbor as a way to say “thank you”. She liked it but told me that she prefers more robust Rosematic, I mean rosemary flavor.

Around the neighborhood… Our neighborhood gets high ‘walkability’ scores. A stroll through the neighborhood on a pleasant evening is a blessing.Here birdy, here birdy!. Here kitty, here kitty…This cat is not overly friendly but stayed put until we took the picture – this is the cat’s good side.In our old house we had this mysterious plant. It grew taller than this. Aren’t the leaves huge?Molly, Molly? She was pre-occupied with other dog.Simply gorgeous dahlia in bloom!

Fellow food bloggers are often inspiring and far- reaching too because of their greatness. I tried this recipe from uTry it, her photos are way better…so awestruck.Watermelon Raspberry Lemonade from Gourmand in the Kitchen.

It was so nice of my friend to stop by with the berry- jello-mousse she made. I dressed it up for a photo shoot. Abundance of fruits in season, one of many reasons I like Summer.

We helped with our 16 year-old neighbor’s Eagle Scout project –making three picnic tables - last Saturday. Nice looking finished projects if only I hadn’t forgot to take pictures.

My husband is still playing with new camera feature- minatureing (this is not a word either. I’m so not good with the game of Scrabble). Hey those cars look like toys!

 

 

Succulent

Cold Thai Style Watermelon Soup

What…ever! My reaction after reading the newspaper article that the city of Portland didn’t make the top 10 snobby cities in US. We’re just outside of it, in the 11th spot as measured by Travel and Leisure. So lame. Where did we go wrong? We worked hard for this..sob. Darn you San Francisco! That kidding aside, not-snobbish-enough Portland will keep the prize of being weird for now.

The price of watermelon in Japan is anywhere from $20 –$30 each. Toward the end of Summer prices come down quite a bit to like $10 or less and that’s a bargain. Amazon Japan also sells watermelon on line, how about that ?Kumamoto is the number one watermelon producing prefecture and their watermelon is cultivated in green houses. Sapporo's Densuke watermelon is famous for tense sweetness. In 2007 someone bid and bought 1 Densuke watermelon for nearly $7,000 at auction. Whoever it was must be a snob and not from Portland! 

The coconut cream changes the red soup into pumpkin color. It’s a bit defeating but coconut cream make the flavor – wholesome and a tad sweet. Perfect for a hot Summer day.   

Thai Style Cold Watermelon soup – yields about 4 cups

• 5 cups seedless watermelon. Remove rind, cut in chunks
• 1 stalk of fresh lemongrass. Peel the outer layer of stalk and trim the bottom end then mince about 5 inches of lower part
• 1 good size shallot  finely minced (roughly 4 Tablespoons)
• Young fresh ginger roots finely minced (about 2 Tablespoons)
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 small hot Thai chili – seeds removed and chopped small
• 1-1/2 Tablespoons peanuts oil
• 1 cup coconut cream (not coconut milk)
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• Salt
• Pepper

1. Heat oil in large sauce pan and sauté lemongrass, shallot, ginger, garlic and Thai chili until garlic develops a pale brown color at low heat.
2. Add watermelon and simmer at medium heat until watermelon has mostly broken down - 20 to 30 minutes.
   
3. Remove from heat then puree the watermelon mixture with a hand held blender.
   
4. Add coconut cream, lime juice and combine well. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Strain the soup through sieve, press to extract all the flavors. Chill in the refrigerator for about 3 hours. Add more lime juice, salt or pepper if necessary.
   

Variation – Put 1/2 cup of crab in a bowl. Mix with 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or lime juice and add some lemon or lime rind. Combine well. Top the soup with the crab. Garnish with cilantro leaves or basil leaves for color.We had the soup with homemade rosemary focaccia bread.

My husband made panna cotta from the left over coconut cream. Good move!

 

I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day. We enjoyed neighborhood fireworks at night. And on television.

Precious purple flowers blooming in neighbor’s garden. My husband went over and took photos. What it’s name? I dunno…George?

Lovely garden reception and a picture perfect couple! We have known the bride since she was a baby. I was impressed by the stylish decorations throughout the property. This wooden frame was hung from a tree like a window. I wish I brought the camera…Honey, give me your iPhone…tell me again, is this the button to take photo?