Yakisoba

Ingredients:

• 3 packages Maruchan® Ramen
• 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 lb boneless pork rib, thinly sliced
• 2 inches carrot, cut into thin rectangles
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cored and chopped
• 1/4 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 green head cabbage leaves, chopped
• Salt and Pepper
• 6 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

 

Instructions:

1. Cook the ramen noodles and drain.
   
2. Chop vegetables and slice pork.
   
3. Stir fry the pork until almost cooked.
   
4. Add the carrots and green pepper and onion and continue to stir fry.
   
5. Add chopped cabbages for the last minute of stir frying.
6. Add noodles, water, and 4 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce and cover for a couple minutes.
7. Add up to two additional tbsp of Worcestershire sauce for taste before serving. 
   
   Molly’s Response: I was really interested in trying “real” yakisoba, because the only type I had sampled prior to this class was the instant kind from the grocery store. This recipe was really fast! We had all of it made in about forty minutes, because the longest part was chopping the vegetables. Make the veggies pretty small. I cut the pork to about 1 inch in length. Worcestershire sauce as a substitute for yakisoba actually worked really well. We used six tablespoons of it, which I originally thought was a horrifying amount. In reality, it didn’t have that strong of a flavor. I would add something spicy, such as sriracha sauce. Also, I would use regular rice noodles if available, because the texture of the Ramen  was rather soft, and I would double the amount of vegetables. I thought this was really easy and yummy though, and I will make it again. 

   Charlie’s Response: In class today we made our own version of the Japanese dish yakisoba. As I have said before, I have tried instant, but I have never had actual yakisoba. I expected that it would take a lot longer to cook than it did, but it only cooked quickly because of the noodle substitution we made. By substituting ramen noodles for rice noodles we cut down a lot of cooking time. Cutting vegetables took the same time as it always does, but we did decrease the amount of pepper and cabbage. I wish we would not have because we had a lot more noodles than pork and veggies. To be honest, I liked it, but I was kind of dissapointed by the ramen and I think that if we use rice noodles next time it will be a lot better. We should also use more vegetables and perhaps more sauce. We substituted Worcestershire sauce for yakisoba sauce and I feel like that changed the flavor quite a bit as well. Next time I would definitely change the noodle, add more vegetables, and use more sauce. Overall good experience, and I look forward to speedily preparing it again on Friday.

   Wesley’s Response: One of the things I was aware of going into this was that we were going to be using substitutes: ramen for the chuka noodles and Worcestershire sauce instead of yakisoba sauce. This gave the cooking a lot of different variables, and so we kind of had to change up our recipe and improvise certain parts, which I think sort of worked out but could still use some improvement. The finished product was alright but was a little mushy in my opinion. Next time, I think we may be able to use rice noodles, which would make this dish a lot better. Although we won’t be able to apply anything that we learned cooking the ramen noodles, I think next time we make the dish it will be a lot better.

   Taeok’s Response: It was my first time making Yakisoba using a different sauce and a different kind of noodle, from what I usually use. We used Worcestershire sauce and ramen noodles, so this experience was unique and more interesting than I expected. The results actually turned out to be really nice. Our Yakisoba was tasty and had lots of green peppers to eat, which were really nice. However, it was true that the noodles were too sticky and there were huge gaps between the proportion of noodle and vegetables. I believe that if we have another chance of making Yakisoba, we should use different kind of noodle, either rice noodle or spaghetti, so our noodles can stay together and not become sticky as this time. Using another sauce like Yakisoba sauce and putting more vegetables in it would make it better, too.

Tiramisu Recipe

Here’s our version of a recipe for tiramisu that we found on the website for Food Network. The recipe for the lady fingers was found on allrecipes.com. This is an easy desert to make for any and all occasions. This recipe will make 6 servings.

Part I- Lady Fingers

Ingredients:
-4 eggs, separated
-2/3 cup white sugar
-7/8 cup flour
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line two large baking sheets with baking parchment.
2. Separate eggs and put egg whites into a bowl. Use a mixer to combine egg whites and 2 tablespoons of sugar.
3. Mix together the egg yolks and the remaining sugar.
4. Combine the flour and baking powder together in a bowl.
5. Fold half of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Fold in the flour, and then fold in the remaining egg white mixture.
6. Put this mix into a large pastry bag and use a 1/2 inch round tube to pipe out 3 inch lady fingers in rows. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Part II- Tiramisu

Ingredients:
-3/2 cup heavy cream
-9/8 cup sugar
-12 ounces of cream cheese
-3/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-lady fingers
-2 cup strong black coffee
-3/2 teaspoon cocoa powder

Instructions:
1. Combine 9/8 cup of heavy cream and 3/8 cup sugar. Use a mixer to whip, cover, and put in the fridge.

2. Combine the remaining heavy cream, the cream cheese, the vanilla, and the remaining sugar in a large bowl. Mix until smooth.

3. Gather 6 small cups. In each cup, put a layer of 2 lady fingers. Break each lady finger in half and dip in the black coffee.

4. Put a layer of the cream cheese mixture, then another layer of lady fingers, followed by one more layer of the cream cheese mixture, and a final layer of lady fingers.
5. Put in the fridge for at least an hour.
6. Take out your mini tiramisu, put a dollop of whipped cream on each one, and insert one lady finger into the top of each one. Sprinkle cocoa powder on top and enjoy!

Comments:

Hayley- I was really impressed with how the tiramisu turned out. Considering we were unable to use the traditional ingredients, such as rum and mascarpone cheese, it still tasted surprisingly similar to the tiramisu I have had in restaurants. Mrs. Bartlett pointed out that it might have been even more similar to traditional tiramisu had we prepared it as one cake, rather than putting it into separate cups, and I agree. However, this recipe was really convenient for individual servings and would be great and easy for a family to make. I think the best part of the dessert was the lady fingers. They came out really well and were nice and spongy, so they were able to effectively soak up the flavor of the coffee. In retrospect, we probably should have used a mixer for the cream cheese mixture because there were still some chunks of cream cheese that weren’t smoothed out. The substitute of cream cheese instead of mascarpone turned out better than I expected, and complemented the taste of coffee really well. Tiramisu is one of my all time favorite desserts and it was an interesting experience to make it myself.

Taeok- Making Tiramisu with my group members today was a great experience since it was my first time making Tiramisu, which is a dessert that I really love, but never made myself. The final product was really great. As soon as I had a spoon of Tiramisu, I felt all the sweetness inside my mouth, and it was so creamy that it kept me eating the entire cup. Overall, making Tiramisu was a great experience for me. I really enjoyed the entire procedure of making the food itself, and I also really loved eating the food. The only thing that I wanna change a bit if I have another chance of making Tiramisu, is that I would like to soak our lady fingers into the cream for longer. It was great even though we only soaked our lady fingers for about few hours, but I believe it would be much more soft and tasty if we soak it for an extra hour or even over night.

Heather- I cannot remember the last time I had tiramisu so making this dessert was very exciting. I really wanted to be in this group because I have never made tiramisu myself before, I have only tried it at restaurants. I was not sure how it would turn out, especially because I am not a fan of very strong coffee and I did not know how the coffee we put in it would affect it. When we finally got to eat it I loved it. The flavor and texture were both very good. The way we made it in small cups and then transferred some of it to other cups was a bit nonconventional. If I were to make this again I would put all of it in a bigger dish and then serve it.

Anna- I had never had Tiramisu. I used to work at an ice cream shop where they served tiramisu gelato, but I had never even seen a tiramisu dish in person. I was fairly impressed that such an uncommon and delicate dish was so easy to make! The lady fingers barely took any time at all and we made them the day before so they had plenty of time to harden up and become crispy. The only other thing that we actually had to prepare was the cream cheese mixture which was super easy except for the fact that we didn’t have a hand mixer and couldn’t get rid of all the lumps of cream cheese out, no matter how hard we tried. The first bite that I had was delicious. I really enjoyed the taste of the coffee-soaked lady fingers, and, though I was hesitant about the taste of the cream cheese, everything went together very well. After a while, the strong taste of the coffee started to wear on me, but I managed. I would DEFINITELY make this again!

Swiss Cuisine

Hayley:
Our group has decided to make food that represents the cuisine of Switzerland. Originally, we were having difficulty deciding which country to choose because there were many that interested us. We picked Switzerland because it is made up of 26 cantons, all of which contain their own subculture. There is a French, Italian, and German part of Switzerland, along with many other areas of different cultures, which allowed us to look at the many of the cultures that originally interested us.
I’m going to be writing about our appetizer. We decided to make rösti, which is like a Swiss hash brown. This dish was once a common breakfast in Switzerland, especially in the canton of Bern. It is now popular not just in Switzerland, but all over the world, and is often considered a national dish of the Swiss. It is thought to represent the German aspects of Swiss culture. It often includes bacon, rosemary, caraway seeds, eggs, pasta, cheese, and sometimes even coffee. However, there are many variations of the dish and many different ingredients can be used. We plan on making a simpler and more traditional version, using only potatoes, butter, canola oil, and salt.
I have high hopes for the next week and I’m interested to see how all of our dishes turn out. I’m particularly interested in our appetizer because I am from German descent.

Heather:
I am very excited for this coming week and the new recipes I’ll get to make with the group. It will be very neat to learn about the culture and food of Switzerland since I have a very good friend, Sina, who lives in Zürich. Sina loves cooking and through email she has already given our group some great recipe suggestions. From these suggestions our group has decided to make the following Swiss foods: homemade applesauce, Rösti, Zürcher Geschnetzeltes, and Bündner Nusstorte.
The entrée of our meal is Zürcher Geschnetzeltes which translates to “sliced meat Zürich style”. Many Swiss dishes are typically made with potatoes and apples since that is what Swiss farmers had available to them; this dish is considered to be a classier dish because the main ingredient is veal, something pricier than potatoes that the more well-to-do city dwellers of Zürich could buy. Why exactly this dish was created in Zurich no one is quite sure and some skeptics who are not from the city think that such a nice dish could not have been created there. If you go to a restaurant in Switzerland and it is listed as Zürcher Geschnetzeltes on the menu it will be made with veal, however when cooking at home a cheaper meat such as pork can be substituted. The exact recipe can differ by restaurant or family, but the sauce traditionally is made with cream and white wine. The first time a recipe for Zürcher Geschnetzeltes was published in a cookbook was 1947 but some people say that people in Zürich were already eating the dish during the 18th century. There is also a story that says mushrooms and kidneys were added to the recipe during the 50’s when a restaurant almost ran out of veal during a sport event that brought a lot of business.
Zürcher Geschnetzeltes ingredients can include veal or pork, butter, chopped onion, white wine, cream, demiglace, mushrooms, kidneys, pepper, salt, paprika powder, and lemon juice. It is typically served with something else we will be cooking, Rösti, which are Swiss hash browns.

Anna:
I’m really interested in learning the meal traditions in Switzerland and how the tastes and spices that are used in their meals are different than the ones that we typically experience in America. We decided on Switzerland the base for our meal because I was interested in German food and Scandinavian food. Switzerland, having many cantons with different backgrounds and traditions, provided us with a few different types of meals within the country.
I’ll be writing about the Swiss dessert that we chose: a Bündner Nusstorte (a Swiss walnut pie). Go ahead, have Google verbalize it for you; we did! The pie has a butter crust and a rich filling made from sugar, heavy cream, honey, eggs and walnuts. The pie, in pictures, seems to consistently form a thick disk-like shape, which we hope to also achieve.
Bündner Nusstorte is a dessert commonly made in the canton Graubünden in Switzerland (a more German region of Switzerland). When the pastry originated, it wasn’t filled, but rather simply contained nuts within the dough. Bündner Nusstorte is that it typically has walnuts incorporated into the filling, yet nuts are imported to the canton Graubünden because the region does not provide a usable climate for nut trees. There are several ideas about where the idea for nut pastries originated, including bakers bringing back the idea from more forgiving climates such as Italy or France.
In Graubünden, there are many independent bakers who have many different varieties of the original recipes. The Bündner Nusstorte, by itself, is one of the largest exports of the region and represents approximately 20 – 40% of sales for independent Graubünden bakers.

Simple Meringue Cookies

These cookies are bright white and shiny, easy to make, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

Ingredients:

6 egg whites

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Sprinkles (optional)

Directions:

1. Separate the egg whites from the yolks.

2. Beat the egg whites in a kitchen aid mixer until frothy.

3. Add cream of tartar and mix until soft peaks form. (Soft peaks quickly fall over after forming)

4. Add sugar one tablespoon at a time while mixing until stiff peaks form. (Stiff peaks retain their shape after forming)

5. Mix vanilla extract into bowl.

6. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a pastry bag, drop the batter in half-dollar sized drops.

7. (Optional) Add sprinkles.

 

8. Preheat oven to 225 degrees and bake for 45 minutes.

9. Leave the meringues in the oven for an hour before serving.

Molly’s Response: Making meringue was exciting. The things that eggs do are amazing! The meringues turned out white and shiny, and they melt in your mouth. I like the way it looks to pipe the meringue with a star tip rather than dropping by teaspoonful. The pearl sprinkles added a flair. Delicious!

Charlie’s Response: For class today we made meringue cookies. The only meringue I have ever seen is lemon meringue at a Christmas party and I always found it very intimidating. I was not sure what to expect today because I knew nothing about meringue, but it was a lot simpler to make than I could have guessed. I expected preparation to be long, extensive or complicated in some way but I was wrong, it was fun, and the batter was delicious. With the cookies out of the oven and a few in my mouth I can say that meringue cookies are delicious. I did not think that they would taste this could, and the texture of the cookie as it melted in my mouth was delightful. Honestly, I did not expect much, but I am truly surprised at how good these cookies are. I do not think I would change anything about this recipe, because I have nothing to compare it to and nothing to complain about.

Wesley’s Response: The meringues were easier to make than I expected. It only took about 20 prepare everything before baking. I think that overall the recipe was pretty simple and called for relatively basic ingredients. A lot of people could probably make this readily. The only thing that I found kind of strange was the kitchen aid mixer, which I guess is not a very uncommon kitchen device, although I personally don’t have one at my house and have never used one until now. The finished meringues turned out differently than I had expected, but in a very good way. They had an unexpected soft-chewy texture and a sweet taste. The recipe also has a very high yield and so we ended up with a lot of meringues, which is always nice. I am very satisfied with the recipe overall and I don’t think that I would change anything if I make meringues again. 

Molly’s Post – Japan Group

I am going to be studying Japanese food next week, along with Taeok, Wesley, and Charlie. We chose Japan as our country of study because we all share a love for sushi and are curious about how awesome other Japanese food is. I have eaten miso soup and different grilled vegetables and meats from Japanese restaurants, and I have been to a lot of sushi bars. However, I have never tried anything “creative” or special, so I am excited for next week’s opportunity.

Charlie and Taeok are introducing the new recipes we are going to try on the first four days of the week. On Friday, we will create the entire meal as well as fresh sushi and green tea. We will serve in small portions with chopsticks, and are trying to adapt our dorm furniture in order to eat in a more traditional Japanese manner. We will eat all of the dishes in one course, as the Japanese do. We are having a dessert, which is not common in Japanese culture as a conclusion to a meal, but the format is still rather similar.

Green tea originated in China, but it is ubiquitous in Japan as well. Therefore, the Japanese simply refer to it as tea or even Japanese tea. The first book about Japanese tea was written in 1211, and tea was an important piece of Japanese culture by then. It later became a large part in Japanese trade. There is a Japanese tea ceremony, known as the Way of Tea. Hot tea is served after meals. Matcha, the type of tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony, is made by putting the weighed tea leaves in a pot and pouring hot water over them, then by stirring briskly with a tea whisk.

Sushi is something that we tried to make this week, but I’m going to introduce its significance anyway. In addition to being delicious, sushi is an important piece of the Japanese meal, and it has very little fat and a lot of health benefits. An important differentiation is between sushi and sashimi. Sashimi is raw fish served independently. Sushi is cooked rice with vinegar served usually with raw seafood, seaweed, and other vegetables. The oldest form of Japanese sushi is called narezushi (translation: “sour-tasting”), and it was made by fermenting fish by wrapping it in soured, fermented rice. The type of sushi we eat today was developed by Hanaya Yohei, and he created it to be made fast by skipping the fermenting step. The type of sushi we will be making is Western sushi. This was created because, as sushi increased in popularity and spread around the world, the western palate did not quite mesh with that of the Japanese. The invention of the California roll began the trend of “Westernized sushi”. While sushi in the U.S. still contains raw fish, we will be making ours with canned crab meat in order to avoid the risks associated with raw fish. Sushi is served with ginger and wasabi, as well as soy sauce, and we will have all three.

Japanese food preview- Oyakodon and Sukiyaki

My name is Taeok Kim, and I’m in a group with three other members that is doing cultural exploration of Japanese food. We are going to make four different Japanese foods. Out of these four, two are ‘Oyakodon’, and ‘Sukiyaki’.

Oyakodon is a Japanese rice bowl dish(aka Donburi), in which chicken, egg, and scallion and many other ingredients are simmered together with sauce on top of a bowl of rice. In Japanese, the word ‘Oyako’ means parent-and-child, and the reason why the food is called this is because it has chicken(parent) and egg(child) combined in a single dish. Not only Oyakodon, but general Donburi types of food, are liked by a large group of Japan, people usually eat them for lunch or dinner. The food’s simmering sauce which varies in ingredients, season, region, and taste is loved by many. The sauce consists of dashi flavors with soy sauce and mirin (Japanese’s rice wine or vinegar).

Sukiyaki is another food that we are going to make for Japanese cuisine of stew type, which is served in Japanese hot pot style (aka Nabemono). It consists of thinly sliced beef, vegetables, and other ingredients which are slowly cooked in a shallow pot in a mixture of mirin, sugar, and soy sauce. Sukiyaki is usually served as dinner during the winter, especially during the Japanese end of the year parties. This food existed before the Meiji Restoration (Meiji Ishin) after the 1860s, which is a serious event that led to enormous changes in Japan’s political and social structure, and also helped Japan to be a more modernized nation in the early twentieth century by starting trade with countries in Europe. After new cooking styles were introduced to Japan, sukiyaki became one of the most popular ways to serve them due to the new varieties of ingredients that they were able to use. According to the records, the first type of modern restaurant in Japan that served Japanese food was opened in Yokohama in 1862, and it was a Sukiyaki restaurant.

Japanese food next week

My name is Charlie and I am a part of the group who chose to study the culinary customs of Japan for a week of our J-term. I want to be a part of this group because I have just recently tried sushi for the first time in life and loved it. This pleasant experience has made me want to learn even more about this culture that produces such wonderful food. My biggest concern for this next week is our budget, but by making some substitutions I hope it will be possible. We have selected four parts of a meal to prepare throughout the week.

One of these parts is Yakisoba which means fried noodles in sauce. It is essentially ramen noodles with a meat and some vegetables. This dish started being served after World War II when supplies were short and people needed to sell noodles. They began adding vegetables and meat in their noodles and selling it easier. It is usually served as a main or side dish. I have had instant Yakisoba once or twice in the past, it is a bit more substantial than plain ramen noodles and I enjoyed it. I expect that real Yakisoba, or as close as we can get to it, will taste a lot better and I look forward to preparing the dish.

Another part of the meal we will build is Dango, our dessert. It is a rice flour dumpling which is often served with green tea. We are making Mitarashi Kushi Dango, which is one of the many types of Dango. This Dango is believed to be the original dango and mitarashi refers to the water basin outside of the Shinto temples where faithful people would wash their hands. The dango is almost like an offering to the gods. This particular type is covered with a syrup, which we will probably improvise, sugar and starch. I have been told that this desert is similar to mochi, which I have tried. If it is anything like mochi I am sure I will like it. Total prepping time is around 30 minutes and I believe that any desert that takes that long to make is well worth the wait.

Sushi Recipe

This is a sushi recipe that we slightly modified from one we found at http://www.japanesesushirecipes.info

Ingredients for preparing the rice:
-4 cups of sushi rice
-8 tablespoons rice vinegar
-4 cups water
-4 teaspoons salt

Instructions:
1. Pour all of the rice into a pot. Fill the pot with water, stir in with the rice, and rinse in a colander. Repeat this step until the water becomes clear.
2. Put the rice back into the pot and add water. Bring to a boil, uncovered.
3. Once it boils, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes uncovered.
4. After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and keep covered for 10 minutes.
5. Then put the rice into a nonmetal bowl to cool.
6. Combine the vinegar and salt in a nonmetal bowl.
7. Combine the salt and vinegar mixture with the rice and stir.

Once you have your sushi rice prepared, you can start rolling your sushi. To do this you will need nori and whatever ingredients you would like to fill your sushi with. We made an assortment of rolls using cream cheese, imitation crab, cucumber, avocado, and carrot. An easy way to do this is to use a clean dish towel covered in plastic wrap. Place the nori in the center of the towel and put a thing layer of rice on top f it. Leave a 1 inch space on one side of the nori to make it easier to roll. Place the filing ingredients in the center of the rice, not the center of the nori. Use the dish towel to roll the sushi, cut the roll into pieces, and enjoy!

Comments:

Hayley- Japanese is my favorite kind of food so I was very excited to try making sushi. I eat out for sushi often so I had some pretty high hopes for how our dish would turn out. Although, living in Northern Maine, I realized we would be unable to obtain many of the ingredients I usually eat in my sushi. My biggest disappointment was that it is basically impossible to get sushi-grade raw fish. However, given this set back, I was very happy with how our dish turned out. All of the rolls tasted excellent, and a few of them even looked as nice as the ones I see in restaurants. I would highly recommend attempting homemade sushi for anyone who is interested in cultural foods.

Heather- I love sushi but I’ve only made it with my family a few times before. I have never had sushi with cream cheese or imitation crab so I’m excited I got to try it with different ingredients. Both of these ingredients worked very nicely and tasted great. Something that was difficult that I need to work on is rolling the sushi. If I were to make this dish again, and had the resources available, I would love to make veggie or seafood tempura to put in the rolls.

Taoek- Making sushi today was an interesting experience for me, since this was the first time making sushi rice with a pot instead of a rice cooker. To me, it was a challenge to manage all the different qualities of rice and ways of making sushi, which was significantly different from South Korea. However, when our sushi was completed, I felt accomplished. After I tasted our sushi, which were California roll style, I felt that we should have put less water while we cooking our rice, since I felt it was too watery and almost felt that it was like oatmeal. The flavoring on rice was also seemed bit weird, probably because maybe we used too much vinegar without adding any salt. Other than these two factors, I thought that it was pretty good for our first trial. If I have another chance to make sushi next time, I would probably use less water to cook the rice, and also completely mix the salt and vinegar before combining it with our rice.

Wesley- I think the sushi came out alright but there were definitely things that I would change the next time that I make it. I have some experience of making sushi but it was slightly different this time because we cooked the rice in a pot instead of a rice cooker, and we used a dishcloth instead of a bamboo roller. I think that the rice could have turned out a little bit better and was a more moist than I expected. For my personal taste preference I think we should have used a less rice in each roll of sushi. I think the dish turned out decently overall though.

Curried Lentils and Rice

This dish is substantial and flavorful. It blends curry with other spices to flavor pork and lentils, and it is served over brown rice. Serve it warm with flat bread, a light side, and fruit for dessert.  Yields enough for six.

Ingredients:

– 1/2 cup olive oil

– 1 lb. cubed pork

– 2 teaspoons curry powder

– 2 teaspoons salt

– 1/2 teaspoon pepper

– a few dashes of tobasco

– 2 medium onions, finely chopped

– 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

– 1 cup lentils

– 4 cups water

– 3 Yukon Gold potatoes

Process:

– In a large pot, warm the olive oil and add curry, salt, pepper, tobasco, and cloves to it. Heat and stir for 1 minute.

– Add the onions and garlic and sautee. (The onions should be soft and translucent.)

– Remove onions and garlic to separate dish and brown the meat in the pot.

– Return onion and garlic to the pot; add lentils and water. Bring to a boil, cover loosely, reduce the heat, and simmer for 25 minutes.

– Meanwhile, cook brown rice according to directions on bag.

– Add the cubed potatoes and simmer for 20-25 minutes. The potatoes and lentils should be tender.

– Finally, thicken with a mix of flour and water if necessary (bring to a boil for one minute if you do so).

– Serve over brown rice with flat bread on the side.

– “Reminiscent of my time in Japan” – Mr. Grillo (MSSM Dean of Students)

Molly’s Response: I think that this turned out just like it does at home. My mom made up this recipe. We usually use about one-and-a-half times the spice, because my family likes spicy, full-flavored food. The way this recipe turns out is warm and perfect for a rainy or snowy day. It’s also really substantial, and everything in it is good for you.  I would emphasize the use of Yukon Gold potatoes, because they are really smooth when cooked well. I would have used a good rice brand, because cheap rice  can have a different texture than the good stuff. I think this recipe is delicious.

Charlie’s response: In class today we cooked Curried lentils with brown rice. I chose to be in this group because I was so curious as to how to make curry and what it was like. I had never had it before today and I would definitely have it again. I expected everything to be a lot more complicated than it actually was. The majority of the cooking, once all of the chopping was done, was letting things sit and boil/cook. I was not sure what to expect of the taste, I only figured that it would be a bit thicker than it normally would be without curry. I did enjoy it though, quite a bit, I even had seconds. Since some people in our group are a bit sensitive to spice, we only used half of what the recipe called for and I believe I would have enjoyed it more with more spice. Maybe some more tobasco sauce, or some crushed red pepper would have been good. Other than that, I have nothing bad to say about this recipe. Two thumbs up.

Anna’s Response: The curry was really good! I knew I liked curry, but this time we made it a little different. I noticed that this time we used yellow potatoes instead of the usual white ones. Although they are different, I think I actually prefer the yellow potatoes because the soften up really well and become almost creamy. I would have preferred to make it a little more spicy, (we left out some of the spice so that everyone would be able to eat it) but there was just enough spice to make the curry taste warm without being spicy hot. All in all, I’d definitely make this again!

Carrot Ginger Soup

Ingredients:

2 Medium Onions

1 lb Carrots

4 tbl Butter

2 tsp Curry Powder

1½ qt Chicken Stock

½ tsp Freshly Grated Ginger

Sea Salt and Pepper (Optional)

Sour Cream (Optional)

 

Preparation:

1. Peel and cut off the ends of the carrots and onions and chop both into small pieces.

2. Sauté veggies in a skillet or frying pan with the butter until very tender (about 45 minutes).

3. Stir the curry powder into the vegetables and add chicken stock and bring to a boil. At boiling, the soup will have a fibrous layer floating at the top. Take this off with a large spoon.

4. Add grated ginger and simmer, covered, for roughly 15 minutes.

5. Puree the sautéed vegetables and chicken stock mixture in a food processor or blender.

6. Serve! Makes about 6 servings.

 

Reviews:

Heather said…

I recently tried this carrot soup for the first time and I enjoyed it so much that it was very exciting to make it in class.  I had not experienced the full process of making it before and what was most surprising to me was how long the carrots and onions are sautéed for.  The time it takes is worth it though; I think this is a nice soup to eat on a cold winter day because it is both filling and delicious. In the end we decided to just serve the soup with option of sour cream on top and we did not add salt or pepper.  If I were to cook this soup again I would add salt and make sure to serve it with a crunchy bread.

 

Wesley said…

I think alot of my experiences with soup are usually really brothy-based with ingredients and solids and such on the bottom. Mostly chowder and random Chinese soups that I don’t know the (English) name of I guess. And so when this recipe called for puree, I was slightly caught off because I wasn’t really expecting this in the soup. The texture reminded me alot of baby food though. Other than that it was a pretty interesting recipe I think. There were alot of onions in the ingredients but it is hard to taste them in the finished soup.

 

Hayley said…

I had never tried carrot ginger soup, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I figured it would have a thicker texture than most soups I’ve tried. It turned out really well. I was surprised that the ginger could still be easily tasted even though we only used half a teaspoon. It wasn’t overpowering though, it was the perfect amount. If we were to do it again, I’d try seasoning the soup afterwards with some salt and pepper. I didn’t eat it with the sour cream because I personally don’t like it, but I’d be interested to try the soup paired with something else. Maybe nuts or flat bread. I also think it might taste good with some peas in it. Overall, the process for making the soup was kind of lengthy and filled with a lot of idle time, but it was worth it. I would definitely make this soup again.

 

Anna said…

Mom has made a variation of this soup at home from a book full of vegetarian recipes. Though I have always been a little hesitant when it comes to soup, I LOVE carrot ginger soup. I had never made the soup myself, so I was fairly excited. We didn’t use any salt and pepper and it came out fairly well, I think. The curry powder added a nice touch that blended really well with the carrots, onions, and ginger and did a good job covering for the salt and pepper. I really liked the soup before, and now I can make it anytime I want, even though I’m on a budget!