Pickled Plum and Seaweed Rice

It's getting hot weather and I feel summer has just arrived. Summer is not my favorite season... I feel no energy and melted all the time. When I start feeling that, I usually eat my grandma's handmade Umeboshi (pickled plum). It increases my appetite.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 rice cooker cups of rice (about 270cc)
210cc water
2 umeboshi (pickled plum), pitted and minced
2 table spoons wakame seaweed, chopped
1/2 aburaage (deep fried tofu), sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 table spoons sake

METHOD:

Wash the rice and drain well. Add 210cc water the allow the rice to sit for half an hour. Then add chopped seaweed, sliced aburaage, soy sauce and sake. Mix well. place pitted and minced umeboshi on top and turn the rice cooker on.

When the rice is done, mix the umeboshi with rice and let it steam at least 10 minutes.

Coconut Meringues Recipe

I love light and airy meringue. This is it!

(31 meringues)

INGREDIENTS:

Dash of salt
3 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 flaked sweetened coconut, toasted

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 250ºF.

Combine salt and egg whites in a large bowl; beat with mixer at medium speed until soft peaks form.

Add sugar, i tablespoon at a time, beating at high speed until stiff peaks form. Add extract; beat just until blended (do not over beat).

Gently fold in coconut. Drop by rounded table spoons, 2 inches apart, onto 2 baking sheets covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 250ºF for 1 hour until very lightly browned and almost crisp, switching baking sheets and rotating front to back halfway through baking time. Remove from oven.

Cool for 25 minutes (meringues will crisp as they cool). Sprinkle evenly with 1 table spoon cocoa.



Recipe Adapted from Cooking Light, December 2007 (some ingredients are omitted)

Mama Tanya's Blinchiki (Russian Crepe) Recipe

Last year when my parents-in-law came to the United States to visit us, my mother-in-law was cooking almost every day and fed us with great Russian cuisine.

She showed me how to make Blinchiki which is my husband's favorite Russian crepe. I thought it called Blini, but she said that Blini is thicker than Blinchiki, and made by different dough. There are many pancakes and crapes in Russia, I find they are also called differently depending on the regions.

We ate Blinchiki with sour cream and sugar, or honey or jam.

It is also great with stuffing, there are plenty of variations such as boiled egg with onion, meat, sour cream with sugar, caramel for holidays etc.

(18 blinchikis, 8-9 inches diameter)

INGREDIENTS:

2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup hot water (use room temperature water if milk and eggs are room temperature)
1 1/2 ~ 2 cups flour (2 handfuls )
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

METHOD:

Whisk together eggs, milk and sugar, then add hot water and whisk.

Add flour and baking soda and whisk until blend well. Add salt to taste.

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If you have time, cover the mixture and keep it in the refrigerator for an hour. It gives your tender crepe. Most of the time, I don't have time for doing it, so I skip this method but it still get good result.
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Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium high heat. Pour the batter onto the heated frying pan, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Quickly move pan around, so that batter spreads evenly, covering the whole surface with a thin layer.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is nice brown color. Then flip with spatula, and cook the other side for about 5-10 seconds.

Repeat these steps until out of batter, stacking cooked crepes on a plate.



STUFFING VARIATIONS:

#1
boiled eggs chopped in small pieces
caramelized onions
salt and sugar to taste

#2
chicken (any meat) cooked and cut in small pieces
caramelized onions
salt to taste

#3
sour cream
sugar

#4
cottage cheese
chopped nuts
sugar

#5
caramel (for holidays)>> Recipe

Meal Diary:May Review