CheapCooking - Now in Japanese

So many bloggers in the news lately... I'm now in a textbook! Last year Rami Musha emailed me from Japan to ask if she could use some of my blog entries in an English language course she was developing. I said sure. Since then, she's periodically emailed me to ask for clarification about some terms--and also to share some delicious recipes! A few days ago she sent me the final course textbook. Of course, I cannot understand much of it but it's still fun.

I asked Rami for a blurb about her course and she wrote "Now you can learn translation while learning new recipes around the world. All the sample articles are related with cooking; no literature, no economics, no politics, no sports! You just don't have to worry about what you do not know. Just concentrate on translation technique (and cooking, of course!)."

If you read Japanese, you can see her company here. Or you can read about some of their works in English here.

Garbage Bowl and Tips for Fresh Asparagus

Boy, work has intruded! Too much work, too many clients, and an out of town trip to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday combined to cause a long lag in posts. I fixed my new favorite salmon recipe, having swung by Trader Joe's to get the chopped hazelnuts the day before we left. It was a big hit. My mom had a delicious pork tenderloin for the non fish eaters, which I'll have to post as well.

. Okay, I don't watch much tv so obviously I'm a bit out of it. Apparently Rachael Ray's idea of having a bowl in the sink to catch scraps and such is news! A friend stopped by Friday evening with a big box of fresh just-cut asparagus for me. His family farmed so he wanted to show me how to keep the asparagus fresh. I have a bowl that always sits on the counter or in the sink when I'm cooking. As I pulled it towards toward me, he said "Oh, you've been watching Rachel Ray!" I confessed ignorance and he explained the garbage bowl concept. I keep the bowl for compostable scraps only and empty it into the compost pile when the garbage is taken out after dinner. My parents are on a septic system. They don't compost but don't want to use the disposal either, so my mom always has a plastic bag in the sink for "wet garbage". I just made mine a bowl so it could be emptied more easily into the compost pile.

Anyway, according to my friend Sam, the best way to keep asparagus fresh is to treat it like cut flowers. When you get it home, trim off 1/4 to 1/2" of the stalks to get a fresh base. The amount to trim depends on how dried out the ends are. Then stand them up in water. I used a glass baking dish to hold the 'gras (the proper slang term apparently, despite my cautioning that in certain circles that could have a different meaning) in the water.

Then, Sam says to forget the whole "snapping myth". You waste way too much asparagus that way. He said when you're ready to cook it, take it out of the water and slice another bit off the root end, then peel from the root end towards the tip, pulling up slightly. When the outer layer is soft, the peeler will lift up, having only removed the tough part of the stem.

My asparagus is finally coming up in my own garden and we've been enjoying it. But the stuff he brought from the truck stop where $20 of 'gras was considered a minimum purchase is wonderful. All I generally do is simmer it in water a few minutes until softened, then saute in a bit of olive oil with maybe a sprinkling of lemon pepper. If I'm barbecuing, I like to coat it lightly with oil and then grill it, laying the pieces crosswise (so they don't slip down!) and rolling them back and forth with some tongs for a few minutes.

Steak with Soy-Balsamic Marinade

A few weeks ago London Broils were on sale so I bought two and threw one in the freezer. A few days ago I defrosted it. I was going to do a teriyaki marinade I love, but it makes a ton of marinade, way more than I needed for this one steak. So I looked around and found this in The Taste of Summer. I marinated the steak about 6 hours and it was delicious!

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs dried onion (or use fresh shallots or chopped white onion)
2 Tbs soy sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs olive oil
black pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and marinade your steak. Grill until done to your desired pinkness--or lack thereof!

I served it with chimichurri sauce since I still have some parsley surviving the wet winter.

The asparagus, alas not yet from the garden, was steamed until soft and then cooked in just a bit of olive oil, served with my old childhood standby of mayonnaise and lemon juice.

Same with the Yukon gold potatoes, which were actually left over from the night before. I had steamed them in the microwave but had lots of leftovers. I just heated them in a bit of olive oil to brown them and I think they were even better than the first night.

Thanks to Jane for the new plates! I now have four colored plates just for food photographs!

A short break from cooking

I haven't done this before but I'd like to take a short break from cooking and post a link to my friend Jane's Team in Training site. I got to know Jane a few years ago when she came to work for one of my clients. The mutual admiration of border collies led to our friendship. Then she started doing really really long bike rides to raise money for Leukemia research. She does "little 35 miles rides" just to warm up to give you an idea. If you've got a generous heart and feel like contributing to help her reach her fundraising goal, let her know I sent you. She's been a big supporter of CheapCooking since I started. In fact, you can find her Microwave Plum Pudding recipe on the site and read how lunch with her one day inspired my Polenta with Sausage dinner.

Expendable Edibles Home

Expendable Edibles Home Fun site here with lots of ideas on using up those bits and pieces of things. Definitely bookmarked!

Smart Shopping

Let's Play Restaurant has rounded up a few good articles from Bankrate.com on smart food shopping. I liked the quiz you can take on supermarket shopping. I quibble with one of their answers about coupons but the rest of it is interesting. I saw some other areas that may be worth exploring over there, including their Frugal U section.