Rat thoughts

Rolling up sheets of nori or shaping lumps of rice in your bare hands a bit too messy or time-consuming?  But you still want some sushi?  Try chirashizushi, "scattered sushi".  This recipe tastes just as good, but can be made in a fraction of the time.  You can also use short-grain brown rice in this recipe, or any other variety of rice for that matter, though it won't taste as authentic.


Prepare 2 cups white sushi rice (also called glutenous rice or sticky rice) according to directions.  When it's finished, mix together 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons salt, then mix this into the rice.  Let the rice sit for a while to let the vinegar smell dissipate some.

Then mix into the rice toasted sesame seeds and crumbled up nori sheets, then add anything else you want in your sushi, such as sliced avocado, carrot and/or cucumber, tofu, fish (raw or cooked), roe, krab, shrimp, beef or chicken.

You can just mix everything together, or for presentation, artfully arrange the ingredients on top of the rice.  Serve with soy sauce, wasabi (optional) and gari (pickled ginger, optional)

As awful as it sounds, this stuff is fantastic!  Salty, sweet and meaty.


Slice Spam into sushi-sized squares.

In a bowl, mix together equal amounts of soy sauce and brown sugar, then add minced garlic.  Marinate the Spam for at least 30 minutes. 

Prepare 2 cups of white sushi rice (also called glutenous rice or sticky rice) according to directions.  When it's finished, mix together 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons salt, then mix this into the rice.  Stir the rice frequently until it is cool enough to handle.

Remove the Spam pieces from the marinade and pat dry.  Fry the Spam in olive oil until browned on both sides.  Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

Cut a sheet of nori into 1/2 inch (13 mm) wide strips.

Moisten your hands (they should be damp, not dripping wet), then mold the rice into blocks the same size as the Spam slices.

Place a Spam slice on a block of rice, then wrap a strip of nori around the middle (width-wise or length-wise).  Moisten one end slightly to make it stick to itself.

Serve with the remaining marinade for dipping.

2 cans Hormel Chili (with or without beans)
1 package spaghetti
water to prepare spaghetti
salt for spaghetti water
1/2 an onion, diced (optional)
grated cheddar cheese (optional)

Heat the chili.  Prepare spaghetti according to package directions.  Serve chili over spaghetti  Top with onion and/or cheese as desired.

Two-way:  Spaghetti and chili
Three-way:  Spaghetti, chili and cheese
Four-way:  Spaghetti, chili, cheese and onions
Five-way:  Spaghetti, chili, cheese, onions and beans.

You can use any brand of chili you like, but thin chilis (Hormel, Stagg or Wolf) work better than thick (Dennisons or Chili Man)

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Dinner will have both traditional items, like turkey and corn, and some items that are traditional, but presented in a non-traditional form, like sweet potato fries and cranberry sauce made with whole cranberries.

Not all my culinary efforts work out.

A few days ago I was digging through the freezer chest and came across a bag of little stuffed pasta-like things.  I assumed they were cheese ravioli, so I made a mental note.

I decided the prepare them today, so I started out making a sauce made from ground beef, onions, garlic, bell peppers, olive oil and tomatoes.

Then I started preparing the ravioli.  The first clue something was wrong was the shape of the pasta; they weren't perfectly round like most of the ravioli I buy.  They were slightly misshapen.  I just attributed it to the fact they'd been in the freezer for so long I'd forgotten what they originally looked like.

I boiled the ravioli, guestimating the amount of time required because the packaging was missing.  I pulled one out and cut it open to make sure it was done.  This was my second clue; the cheese filling was soft, orange and homogeneous.  But I just thought it was that peculiar brand of pasta.

Then I drained them, and the raviolis all stuck together.  They had a strange, sticky texture, clue number three.  I thought maybe I'd overcooked them or something.

I plated the ravioli and poured the sauce over the top.  Just as I sat the plate down in front of my roommate it suddenly clicked:  This is not ravioli!


I finally remembered that my SO had bought a package of cheese & potato pierogi from Costco a couple years ago.  I'd prepared one of the bags, but never got around to the second.  Eventually the box got thrown away and the bag migrated to the bottom of the freezer, where it lay forgotten until now.

The best steak in the universe isn't found at a fancy steakhouse, or at any restaurant, for that matter.  No, the best steak you've ever tasted comes from your very own backyard grill.

Great steak starts with great meat.  Forget about T-bones, sirloin, strip steak or even filet mignon, no, the real king of beef is the rib eye (Scotch fillet for those readers Down Under).  Rib eye is heavily marbled so it's extremely juicy and flavorful.  It's also rather more expensive than most other cuts, but the money you save by cooking it yourself more than offsets the extra cost.  There are several grades of beef available: USDA Prime is the highest quality and has the greatest amount of marbling (which means the best flavor).  USDA Choice is second best, USDA Select is third.  (There are 5 lower grades, USDA Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner, but they are rarely seen at the grocery store).  Most of what you'll see in the grocery store is Choice or Select.  If you can find it, buy USDA Prime rib eyes; they are more expensive but they are much juicier and more flavorful.

I've had a lot of steaks from a lot of different steakhouses, and some of them have used some really exotic spice blends, but I've found the one spice that really brings out the flavor of rib eye steak is Lawry's Seasoned Salt.  It's very mild and doesn't overwhelm the meat.  The hard part is figuring out how much to use, too much will make the steak too salty, but too little and it will be bland.

Cooking the steaks on a grill really adds to the flavor of the meat, a boiler or frying pan just won't cut it.  A charcoal grill will probably taste better, but a gas grill is much easier to control.  You don't want the grill to be too hot because then you'll end up burning the outside while the inside is still raw.  A lower temperature will allow for better heat penetration.  You also don't want to crowd the grill.  Because these steaks have such high fat content, they will drip fat onto the coals/burners which will cause flareups.  If this happens, just move the affected steaks to another part of the grill.

Ideally, you'll want to aim for medium rare; you can check for doneness by sticking an instant read thermometer into one of the steaks.  When it reaches about 150°F, it's ready.  If you prefer your steak drier more well done, 160° will get you medium, 170° gets you medium well and 180° gets you charcoal well done.  Remove the steaks from the grill (to a CLEAN plate, don't use the plate the raw steaks were on!), cover loosely with foil and let them rest for about 5 minutes.  This lets them finish cooking and helps seal in the juices.


Costco has USDA Choice rib eye steaks for $6.99 a pound, in packages of about 4 pounds.  That sounds like a lot of money, but when you consider a similar steak from Sizzler (nowhere near as good) runs about $20 a pound, up to $50-100 or more a pound from higher end steakhouses like Outback, it's a real bargain.  1 pound of steak is about 5 servings (or 2 if you eat real-life-sized portions), so that's just $1.40 ($3.50) per person.  You can freeze steak pretty much indefinitely without any loss of flavor.  Just repackage the steaks into freezer bags and squeeze out the air (I use one bag for each meal-sized chunk).  Defrost the steak by placing the bag in the refrigerator the night before; do not use the microwave.

1 pound ground beef
1 box Rice-A-Roni Spanish Rice
2 Tblsp butter, margarine or olive oil
2 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes, not drained, 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes or 1 16oz jar salsa
1 can corn, drained or 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 can pinto beans

Brown the ground beef and set aside.

Saute the rice and vermicelli in the butter or oil over high heat until golden, then pour in the water, the seasoning packet, and the tomatoes, corn, beans and ground beef.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender.

Serve as is, or try topping with grated cheddar or jack cheese, sour cream and/or sliced olives.

Serves a bazillion people.

I was making a package of Cashew Chicken for dinner tonight.  Inside the package was a small packet made of clear plastic, so you can clearly see the contents, cashews.  Printed in half-inch high letters all over the packet is the warning:  "Contains Cashews".

Duh?

(Sorry there isn't much in the way of measurements, when I'm experimenting I don't stop to measure, I just toss stuff in.)

I started out sauteeing a mirepoix (two parts onions, one part each celery and carrots) in olive oil until the onions turned translucent.  Then I added 3 large baking potatoes, diced, about the same quantity of broccoli, several handsful of real bacon bits, three 14oz cans of chicken stock and 3 cups of milk.  I brought the soup to a boil then simmered for 20 minutes.  Then I melted in several handsful of grated cheddar and jack cheese.

Let the soup cool a bit, then in several batches, puree in a blender until smooth.  Taste the first batch and add salt and pepper to adjust it to your liking, blending again for a few seconds to mix in the seasonings.  Set each batch aside until the original pot is empty (or just use a second pot), then put the soup back on the stove to reheat it.

Serve with toasted sourdough bread.