We’ll be posting miso recipes regularly for the next few months, I’m working with Marukome to develop recipes for their brand new Miso & Easy product with substitutions using regular miso paste. So, Miso & Easy is like instant miso in a squeezable bottle. You can make miso soup in seconds, there’s no need for kombu or bonito flakes or dashi – it’s all in the bottle!

This recipe can be made with Miso & Easy or regular Miso Paste (I love the all-natural low sodium miso paste from Marukome)

How to make Steak with Orange Miso Sauce

Rub both sides of the steak with cooking oil and season with salt.

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet, such as a cast iron pan, over high heat. When hot, add the steak to the pan. Sear both sides until browned, about 3-5 minutes on each side.

Transfer the steak to a clean plate then make the orange miso sauce. Turn the heat to medium-low and add about 3/4 of a cup of beef stock to the pan.

Next, add miso, mirin (a Japanese sweet rice wine) and Asian sesame oil to the pan. Cook the sauce for one minute.

Now, squeeze the juice from half an orange into the sauce.

Add the steak back into the pan and cook until your desired doneness.

…and, you’re done!

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2012. | Permalink | 5 comments

A reader asked me what miso paste tastes like, while she has enjoyed miso soup at Japanese restaurants, she couldn’t quite imagine what cooking with miso paste would be like.

So what flavor dimension does miso paste add to a dish? If I had to just choose one single word, I’d say “umami” which is just a fancy foodie term that writers and chefs use. This is a tough one…..but okay, if I couldn’t use that word, I’d say, “tasty.” Even just a teaspoon of miso paste added to a dish (whether it’s a sauce for the asparagus, salad dressing, mashed potatoes or casserole) makes the dish tastier.

Miso has a very deep, complex flavor – salty yet slightly sweet, a little nutty. Lately, instead of adding salt to a dish, I’ll stir in a small spoonful of miso paste.

I need a little help from you all – can you help me describe the taste of miso vs. salt? Maybe it’s easier to use an analogy:

Salt is to Miso…….as _____ is to _____.

And hey, the one who comes up with the best analogy gets a prize. How about a $25 gift certificate to the Steamy Kitchen Store?

***

*Why all these miso recipes? I’m developing recipes for Marukome, the makers of Miso & Easy and some of the very best miso paste. 

Miso Ginger Asparagus Recipe

This recipe couldn’t be simpler….

Basically, throw the asparagus on a baking sheet and roast. In the meantime, whisk together the remaining ingredients – pour on top when the asparagus is done!

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2012. | Permalink | 50 comments

It’s nearly mid-January and I’ve been working hard testing recipes, writing, photographing my next Steamy Kitchen book. Writing a cookbook is possibly one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done – even skydiving holds no candle to obsessing over creating perfect recipes and enticing photos for 12 months.

I’ve enlisted one of my best friends, Kelly, to help me once a week in the kitchen. Kelly was the very first friend I made when we moved to Florida and I don’t think I would have made it without her love and support – Scott and I had sold a house, bought a house, moved cross-country, started a business, got married, went on a honeymoon and got pregnant in 2 months flat. (Whew!)

Nathan, Andrew and Kelly’s son are best friends as well, all of them around the same age. The 3 Muskateers are often spotted dashing across the lawn with Nerf guns, hiding in a corner playing their Nintendo or out in the back pond luring a fish.

Kelly is a grad from Le Cordon Bleu, works as a personal chef and at the Viking Cooking School — so she knows her way around the kitchen. I couldn’t have found a better match!

How to make Grilled Tofu Salad with Miso Dressing

The ingredients:

Continue reading Grilled Tofu Salad with Miso Dressing...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2012. | Permalink | 12 comments

A few weeks ago, I bought a bottle of Asian Orange Ginger Salad Dressing and after only one use, it sat in the back of the refrigerator looking a little sad and rejected. I guess I was expecting so much more from the words, “orange” and “ginger” on the label – words that provoke an immediate emotional and sensory response in me: fresh, zingy, clean and tingly from the heat of the ginger.

Unfortunately for the maker of the dressing, who shall remain unnamed in this little rant, the dressing was overly sweet with a fake candy-like orange flavor and there was no hint of ginger whatsoever.

I should have known better than to buy the bottle in the first place. Making my own salad dressing only takes 10 minutes and I always have the ingredients on hand in the kitchen.

To me, making dressing is all about balance of flavor: lively and tangy, slightly sweet, a little heat and just enough sea salt to bring out all of the flavor notes.

In Asian-style dressing, tangy comes from sweetened or seasoned rice vinegar (see photos above of Mitsukan rice vinegars)  – which is vinegar made from rice and seasoned with just a bit of sugar. You can also used unsweetened or unseasoned rice vinegar too. I always have both on in my pantry.

As for the slightly sweet, I love using a bit of honey to balance out the vinegar. The oil I use for Asian dressings is neutral flavored light vegetable oil – olive oil is too strong in flavor. I’ve also used grapeseed oil and rice oil.

Freshly grated ginger provides the heat, no need to even peel the ginger, unless the brown outer skin is dry and thick. Use a rasp or microplane grater and go at it until you have about 1 teaspoon.

The fruit in the dressing is flexible – use any citrus: orange, lemon, lime, tangerine, blood orange or go a little more exotic with passion fruit (cut in half spoon out fruit only).

In this photo, I’ve paired the Orange Ginger Vinaigrette with heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil – just to change up the normal caprese salad into something more lively.

*I’ve developed this recipe for a client, Mitsukan, the maker of rice vinegar shown above.

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2012. | Permalink | 20 comments

A few weeks ago, I got an email from a reader named Gabriela (love that name) asking for more recipes involving miso paste. Gabriela had made my 10 Minute Miso Soup recipe 4 months ago and still had this massive tub of miso paste in her refrigerator. By the way, did you know miso paste lasts for 6-8 months in your refrigerator? Just make sure after opening, cover well and store in the back of your refrigerator.

We’ll be posting miso recipes regularly for the next few months, I’m working with Marukome to develop recipes for their brand new Miso & Easy product with substitutions using regular miso paste. So, Miso & Easy is like instant miso in a squeezable bottle. You can make miso soup in seconds, there’s no need for kombu or bonito flakes or dashi – it’s all in the bottle!

This recipe can be made with Miso & Easy or regular Miso Paste (I love the all-natural low sodium miso paste from Marukome)

What is Miso?

Made from fermented soybeans, Miso is a thick paste-like substance. It is brown in color and tastes pleasantly salty and tangy on its own. Miso has a surprisingly low salt use of Miso is in Japanese-style Miso soup, Miso also adds a unique burst of flavor to salad dressings, sauces and marinades, baked tofu, vegetable dishes, and even dessert sorbets.

Often called “soybean paste” by Westerners, Miso has played a vital role in the culinary life of Japan for hundreds of years. More and more, however, the salty taste and buttery texture of Miso is becoming popular in the west, as a favorite ingredient in a range of recipes.

Miso is manufactured by adding a yeast mold known as koji to soybeans and other ingredients, and allowing them to ferment. The fermentation time, ranges from weeks to years, depending upon the specific type of Miso being produced. Once this process is complete, the fermented ingredients are ground into a paste similar in texture to that of butter.

The color, texture, and degree of saltiness of a particular Miso depends upon the ingredients used, and the duration of the fermentation process. Miso ranges in color from white to brown. The lighter varieties are less salty and more mellow in flavor, while the darker ones are saltier and have a more intense flavor.

How to make Creamy Miso Chicken Pasta

Here’s what you’re going to need:

…and for the sauce:

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, and then cook 1 pound of pasta according to package directions. About four minutes before the pasta is done, add some broccoli florets to the hot water. While the pasta cooks, you can cook the chicken and make the miso sauce.

Cut two boneless, skinless chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Then, add the chicken until cooked through and browned on all sides.

Remove the chicken from the pan and turn the heat to low. Add butter to the pan, once the butter melts add the miso. Stir the butter and miso until combined. Now, remove the pan from the heat completely.

Add the Greek yogurt and stir to combine.

When done, drain the pasta and broccoli, reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking water. Then, add the pasta, broccoli and reserved water to the sauce.

Now, add some shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Add the chicken then use tongs or two large spoons to toss the pasta.

Serve the pasta with a handful of finely sliced green onions sprinkled on top.

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 36 comments

We have a habit of publishing recipes on Steamy Kitchen that involve a boozy pan sauce. The three of us, Adam, Joanne and I all cook with a spatula in one hand and a glass of somethin’ in the other, and it’s just so easy to pour a little of that magic into the pan (oh hello, Salmon with Blackberry Brandy Sauce!)

Most of the time, the booze goes into the pan by purpose (Steak with Creamy Whisky Mushroom Sauce). Other times, after a quick taste test, we notice, “hmmmm….it’s missing something….” and in goes a splash of brandy (Garlic Brandy Prawns) and all is right in the world.

A creamy, white wine sauce is perfect with either chicken or pork – the white meats are delicate enough to let the nuances of white wine shine through.

How to make Pork Chops with White Wine Sauce

Start by brushing each side of the pork chops with olive oil then season with salt.

Add the chops to a hot pan. Sear about 2 minutes on each side or until browned.

Remove the chops to a plate then add some butter, sliced mushrooms and onions to the pan. Cook 2-3 minutes or until soft.

Pour in the wine. When you choose the wine go for a dry white, something like a Chardonnay or Chablis.

Cook the wine, about 1 minute then add in some cream.

Add the pork chops back into the pan, turn heat to low and cover with aluminum foil.

Cook the pork chops until they reach somewhere between 145 and 150 degrees F.

More Pork Chop Recipes

Pork Chops with Apricot Brandy Sauce (Steamy Kitchen)

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 26 comments

I don’t know what I like better: the collard greens, the rich pot liquor or digging out the bits of smoky meat from the ham hock!

The Collard Greens recipe is from my good friend and fellow food blogger, Lisa Fain, who writes the blog, Homesick Texan. She’s a 7th generation Texan who moved to New York City for a job and one day found herself scouring the city in search of Ro-Tel tomatoes, the only brand of tomatoes fit for true Tex-Mex Chile Con Queso.

Of course, she couldn’t find any, and thus the Homesick Texan blog was born. Lisa has just come out with her very first cookbook, The Homesick Texan Cookbook.

It’s one of my favorite cookbooks this year – after no less than 4 trips to the Lone Star state this year alone – I’ve been craving Tex-Mex foods like crazy.

Even though Lisa lives 1,200 miles from me, I see her more often than friends down the street. Every trip to NYC is incomplete without sharing a meal with Lisa – we’ve done sushi, Jamaican, sushi and more sushi.

And those red cowboy boots she’s wearing? Only Lisa could be responsible for this.

Lisa’s Collard Greens are simple. Throw in a couple handfuls of hearty smoked meats, add the collard greens, pour in water and apple cider vinegar and let it simmer for an hour and half or until the greens are as soft as you like them. Collard Greens are just as much about the simmering sauce as it is about the greens.

The savory, smoky, vitamin-rich pot-liquor is so full of rich flavor that you’ll savor every last drop. In fact, spoon your collard greens onto your plate, right next to the roasted garlic mashed potatoes on your plate. Forget the gravy – the pot liquor will find its way over and bleed into the soft mashed potatoes. I guarantee my kids will be forming a mashed potato moat, just so the pot liquor doesn’t escape.

Vegetarian version of Collard Greens? You bet. Lisa’s got a secret ingredient, one that actually made me say outloud, “No. Way. Really????”

Continue reading Collard Greens with Ham and Smoked Hock...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 21 comments

It’s funny the difference in reactions I get between “we’re having squid tonight” and “we’re having calamari tonight” – one it utter disgust “EWWWW SQUID!???” And the other, “oh, we’re going fancy Italian tonight, aren’t we?”

Most of the calamari we order from restaurants is the traditional battered ‘n deep fried (LOVE!) but somehow I lost my deep fryer during the move. It’s a mystery — where is my electric deep fryer full of slightly used canola oil? Where could i have put it? Did the moving people lose it? Did it get accidentally mixed in with another family’s stuff? Did Swiper swipe it?

Well, whoever has it, I’m sure is making beautiful battered and deep fried calamari.

In the meantime, our calamari is grilled on a stick, which in my opinion, is just as good as fried (so THERE!)

Buying squid…errrrr…..calamari can be a little scary – what do you do with the slippery tubes and funny fingers? For this recipe, I buy already cleaned squid, which you can get frozen in a bag or your nice fishmonger might have some already defrosted in the glass case for ya.

Now…I know some of you can’t get already-cleaned squid…so I ventured out to the interwebs to find you some videos. But I gotta say, since handling slimy squid with a giant eyeball staring at you and long tentacles waiting to (eeeeks STOP IT!! I watch too many horror flicks) isn’t the most easy thing to do, I was hoping that I could find a happyhappyjoyjoy video about cleaning squid.

Continue reading Simple Grilled Calamari...

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 20 comments

My parents will be visiting for a week, they arrive a little later this afternoon. This morning, I headed over to the supermarket to stock up on breakfast items, snacks and stuff for dinner tonight. As I was walking up and down the aisles, I thought, “hmmm, wouldn’t it be a fun idea to buy all the stuff that Mom and Dad *wouldn’t* let us buy when we were kids!???”

Ho-Ho’s!
Ding Dongs!
Spongy white bread!
Doritos NOT on sale!
Brand-name cereals!
4 different kinds of ice cream, NOT on sale!
Choco-Tacos!

My shopping cart was like the mecca of junk food and the hottie bag-boy was like, “You having a party?! Who’s comin’ over!?”

“Uh, my parents.”

Yeah, that’s hot.

I didn’t realize until I got home that my parents aren’t going to touch this junk food (I did end up buying Grape Nuts and nonfat plain yogurt for their breakfast); and I certainly won’t be able to eat all this junk food by myself.

Which means, my BOYS will be eating all that nasty sugar.

But wait….that goes against my house rules and all the hard work training the boys not to buy things not on sale or brand-name cereal because the generic ones in the bag are just the same.

Oh.

***

Those of you here just for the recipe, I’m sorry you had to read through my self-therapy just now

If you’ve visited Midtown Manhattan, you must have seen the food carts featuring Halal-style chicken and rice. Moist, savory chicken pieces are cooked right on the cart griddle, deftly chopped with the side edge of the long, wide metal spatula. The edges of the chicken near that crunchy-crispy-fried stage and then tossed with a white, tangy sauce. This is served over golden-colored and cumin-spiced rice with a side of salad and wedge of flatbread.

The lines at lunch can be excrutiatingly long, as the delicious smell of the chicken being grilled can travel far and wide.

A recipe for Halal Chicken and Rice with White Sauce comes from Serious Eats’ brand new book, Serious Eats A Comprehensive Guide to Making & Eating Delicious Food Wherever You Are. (whew…that was a long title)

But I’m not going to give you *that* recipe just yet – today is about hacking this recipe to use your leftover Thanksgiving turkey – because we all know that next week you’ll quickly tire of turkey sandwiches.

Ground Turmeric may be an ingredient you’re not familiar with -

About Serious Eats book:

(from back cover)

“Ed Levine and the editors of food blog SeriousEats.com bring you the first Serious Eats book, a celebration of America’s favorite foods, from pizza to barbecue, tacos to sliders, doughnuts to egg sandwiches, and much more. Serious Eats crackles with the energy and conviction that has made the website the passionate, discerning authority on all things delicious since its inception in 2006.

Are you a Serious Eater?

1. Do you plan your day around what you might eat?
2. When you are heading somewhere, anywhere, will you go out of your way to eat something delicious?
3. When you daydream, do you often find yourself thinking about food?
4. Do you live to eat, rather than eat to live?
5. Have you strained relationships with friends or family by dictating the food itinerary—changing everyone’s plans to try a potentially special burger or piece of pie?

Ed Levine, whom Ruth Reichl calls the “missionary of the delicious,” and his SeriousEats.com editors present their unique take on iconic foods made and served around the country. From house-cured, hand-cut corned beef sandwiches at Jake’s in Milwaukee to fried-to-order doughnuts at Shipley’s Do-Nuts in Houston; from fresh clam pizza at Zuppardi’s Pizzeria in West Haven, Connecticut, to Green Eggs and Ham at Huckleberry Bakery and Café in Los Angeles, Serious Eats is a veritable map of some of the best food they have eaten nationwide.

Covering fast food, family-run restaurants, food trucks, and four-star dining establishments, all with zero snobbery, there is plenty here for every food lover, from coast to coast and everywhere in between. Featuring 400 of the Serious Eats team’s greatest food finds and 50 all-new recipes, this is your must-read manual for the pursuit of a tasty life.

You’ll learn not only where to go for the best grub, but also how to make the food you crave right in your own kitchen, with original recipes including Neapolitan Pizza (and dough), the Ultimate Sliders (which were invented in Kansas), Caramel Sticky Buns, Southern Fried Chicken, the classic Reuben, and Triple-Chocolate Adult Brownies. You’ll also hone your Serious Eater skills with tips that include signs of deliciousness, regional style guides (think pizza or barbecue), and Ed’s hypotheses—ranging from the Cuban sandwich theory to the Pizza Cognition Theory—on what makes a perfect bite.”

Buy Serious Eats book on Amazon for $18.15

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 12 comments

Update 11/17/11 I’m re-posting this recipe from 2009 – it’s perfect for Thanksgiving dinner – 3-ingredient recipe with impressive results. Add cheese to make Cheese Puffs – gougeres!

Update 12/8/09 I’m thrilled to share that I’m a featured blogger for Oprah’s Holiday 2009 where this recipe is being featured!

Pâte à Choux

paht-ah-shoo!

Sounds like sneeze, those fancy French words that I can’t ever get right!

But so easy that it can be summed up with this ratio 1:1:1:1:1

1 cup water: 1 stick butter: 1 cup flour: 1 cup eggs: 1 pinch salt

And so easy that even *I* an oven-fearing, non-baker could master it on the very first try.

So easy that I’ve made these cute little babies 6 times in the past 6 days.

Now that’s easy.

Or obsessive.

Either way, you MUST make these — like TONIGHT! Or perhaps your holiday meal? I’ll be making Pâte à Choux for our Thanksgiving dinner! Actually, I’ll add gruyere cheese and make gougeres.

And if you try to make me pronounce gougeres, I can’t.

So we’re calling them “Fancy Cheesy Puffy Poofs” at dinner.

The person responsible for my little poofy puffy pastry addiction is none other than Michael Ruhlman and his very useful ratios. Who knew 1:1:1:1:1 could do this? Well, Ruhlman did, and I know there are Pâte à Choux recipes out there that is way more complicated than 1:1:1:1:1….remember…

Rule #1: Simplest is best.
Rule #2: It’s RUHLMAN.

Oh but wait. I know what some of you smarty pants are going to say – this isn’t a TRUE Ruhlman ratio. A true Ruhlman ratio is by weight. And my 1:1:1:1:1 isn’t by weight — it’s just my way of remembering this recipe.

This choux dough is so versatile, that you can make the puffs sweet or savory. In fact, you can fill ‘em with cream to get Cream Puffs, fry them to get farts of nuns, make easy donuts, stuff them, boil them, dip them in chocolate, drizzle them with chocolate, serve ‘em with sauteed cherries, make cute little ice cream sandwiches with them, dip in peppermint fudge sauce, boil/saute for parisian gnocchi <- watch those 2 videos of Thomas Keller.

Easy Mushroom Pate

If you’d like to try the Easy Mushroom Pate shown in the photo below, you’ll have to head over to Tasty Kitchen.

Add a bit of truffle oil to that mushroom pate? Now that’s luxurious!

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2011. | Permalink | 61 comments