Category: Main Dish

What You Want

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The literal translation of Okonomiyaki, a Japanese savory pancake is, “what you want” for Okono, and “grilled” or “cooked” for yaki. I wanted to title the post with a play on the Spice Girls song, but Mike’s not a fan. I don’t think I was ever a fan, but I have to admit I know all the words to that song – rightly or wrongly.

As we mentioned last week, the prize winner of Miss A’s giveaway was A_Boleyn with her selection of Japan.  Last week we made a variation of one of A_Boleyn’s recipes for a tonkatsu and donburi. This week, we’re taking a suggestion from Charles over at Five Euro Food. While he wasn’t the winner, he too suggested Japan and offered up his recipe forOkonomiyaki. Thank you Charles! I know many of you know Charles, but for those of you that don’t – make sure to check out his site. His humor, common sense/down-to-earthness (if that’s a word) and clever recipes make him one of my favorites.

We also mentioned last week that outside of sushi, we’d never eaten Japanese cuisine. So when we saw that the Okonomiyaki was a cabbage-based pancake, we weren’t sure what to expect. I have to admit, not being a fan of cabbage, I wasn’t hopeful. We started by slicing a quarter of a red cabbage and one whole onion horizontally and finely. Continue reading →

Grill Some Goodness This Weekend

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Now that summer is winding down, we have but a short time to get outside and enjoy the pleasant (albeit buggy) evenings before it begins to get too cold, too dark and filled with homework. So before these golden days are past, we thought we’d share a great grilling recipe from our adventures in the good ol’ state of Maine – Grilled Lobsters with Herbed Butter.

We again adapted this recipe from Lobster Rolls & Blueberry Pie by Rebecca Charles and Deborah DiClementi. Can you tell that I couldn’t get enough of this book while we were at the cabin? I think it’s actually the first cookbook that I read cover to cover. It’s full of wonderful family stories about summers spent vacationing on the coast of Maine.

Cooking from this book with my family on vacation somehow made me feel part of something bigger – part of a tradition; and traditions from around the world are, after all, what this whole cooking adventure with the kids is all about. I hope that it’s a way for them to experience old traditions, enjoy new traditions and to learn about the many cultures around the world. After all, food is such a large part of many traditions, making cooking a wonderful way to teach them, learn with them and most importantly spend time with them. Continue reading →

The Kats’ Meow (Couldn’t Resist)

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You may remember a few weeks ago, Miss A held her giveaway in which the winner got to pick our next international destination. Well, now that we’re back home and in the swing of things (until school starting next week throws us out of swing again), we began our Japanese cooking adventure.

I have to admit, outside of sushi, none of us knew much about Japanese cuisine. The only thing Mike remembered was tonkatsu which he used to order when he ate at sushi restaurants with his parents. Fortunately our prize winner, A_Boleyn,  sent us several suggestions. Thanks A_Boleyn! So for tonight’s menu we have Tonkatsu, EggplantKatsu and Katsudon.

But first, a few weeks ago we featured our go-to weeknight sandwich. When we did, the Food Doctor from Chef in Disguise aptly quipped about my super hero cape. Well, Mike’s mom didn’t miss a beat and when we returned home from vacation I was presented with this awesome cape!  Continue reading →

Celebrating a Milestone Maine-Style

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On Friday we gave you a sneak peek of the lobster next to our slice of cornbread. We would have kicked off our Maine recipes with lobster, but then we realized how close we were to our 100th post. So we saved the good stuff for this special milestone – Boiled Maine Lobster with Butter Sauce.

When we were driving to our cabin in Maine we passed a fish shop that advertised fresh, live Maine lobsters for $4.99/lb. That was enough motivation for us – our first meal in Maine was going to be lobster! We picked up four Maine lobsters that afternoon and brought them back to the cabin.

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Most Definitely Edible Mushrooms

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On a recent hike, Mr. N and I stumbled across a very interesting looking yellow mushroom. The always curious Mr. N decided to pick up a book on mushrooms so we could learn more about it. I think knowing that some mushrooms are poisonous was interesting to him. Unfortunately, we didn’t take a very good picture of it, but the closest we could find based on our memory was the Hygrophorus vitellinus. However, it looked a bit like the image of the Death Cap we found on this page. As long as we’re not sure, we’re going to stick with mushrooms we know are edible–Portabellos!

These portabello wraps are easy and healthy and used to be a staple in our dinner routine for those nights we didn’t want to waste many calories, but one time I put too much black pepper on them and Kristy swore them off for a while.  After a long hiatus, though, she let me make them again. They’re good, healthy, and really filling.

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Dishin’ Up a Little Honesty

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In order to dispel any myths that we’re a super family that eats, plays and loves in some idyllic Rockwellian world, we thought we’d share some of our reality. While we love to cook and are having a blast with this worldly cooking adventure, we’re not gourmands every night. After busy days spent juggling work schedules, play dates, play time with the kids, homework, working out, paying bills, keeping up the house and lawn, and finding time to fit in friends and family, there are plenty of nights where our kitchen is anything but exciting. We’re talkin’ about dinners involving chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas, easy pastas and Subway. And dad and I are on a first name basis with the local sushi restaurant owners who we visit at least once every couple of weeks.

That’s why I love this next sandwich. It’s easy, healthy, wonderfully flavorful and a great option for a fast dinner on a crazy weeknight spent trying to juggle a three-year old throwing a tantrum because you helped her put a shoe on, a seven-year old who’s plugging his ears and screaming to drown out his sister, all the while trying to put something together because they’ve let you know in no uncertain terms that they’re hungry. So here is one of my favorite, honestly easy fall-backs inspired by a sandwich I ate at Greens N Grains on a girls’ weekend to Door County, Wisconsin – The Apple Cheddar Sandwich. Continue reading →