Strawberry Milk Jelly

Milk Jelly is dessert with interesting origins. While Milk Jelly is a traditional Japanese dessert; variations of it can be found around the world. The most famous is, Blancmange, from France & The UK. Dating back from the middle ages; this milk jelly dish contains an addition of corn/arrowroot starch, cream, almond flavoring, and sometimes wine. This jelly is delicious whether it's plain or made with fruit. We'd thought we'd kick things up a notch and add some sliced strawberries.

Strawberry Milk Jelly:

Ingredients:

1.5 TBSP's of agar or 1 packet of Knox's unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup of water

2 TBSP of honey or 1/4 cup of sugar

1 cup of milk

4 TBSP of maple syrup (optional)

1/4 cup of sliced strawberries

Directions:

1) For Agar: soak agar on cold water for 20 min then bring to a boil.

For Gelatin: Bring water to a boil and add gelatin and stir until dissolved.

2)Add honey and milk and stir.

3)Line the bowl with the sliced strawberries.

4)Pour the liquid mixture in the bowl. Then cool in the fridge for a few hours, until the jelly becomes firm.

5)Slice the Milk Jelly.

6)Place the jelly into bowls/plates. [If desired, pour about 1 TBSP of maple syrup.]

Serve Cold.

Want to kick things up a notch? Add Coco powder, or Green Tea (Matcha) or fresh fruit; to create: Milk-chocolate Jelly, Green tea Jelly or Strawberry/Mango Jelly.

5 6 7 8 : GO J-Curry! It's Friday Night!

Japanese Curry is a favorite comfort food. Unlike it's Indian cousin it has a mild sweet/spicy taste. We added a Gluten-Free twist, plus a few surprises to this favorite home-cooked dish.

Traditionally Japanese Curry uses a roux. Since this is a vegetarian dish, we decided to make this optional.

Roux:
1/4 grape-seed oil
1/4 white or brown rice flour

To learn more about how to prepare a roux, check out our previous recipe: Bottom Swamp Gumbo
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Want meat? In another pan saute your favorite meat until brown, and add to step 5 of curry.
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Ingredients:

2-3 Rutabaga( Rutabaga's are a great alternative if your allergic to potatoes)
1-2 medium Turnips
1/2 red onion
2 green onions
1 Asian Pear or Honey Crisp Apple
3-4 large carrots
a dash of lemon juice
2-3 cups of water
2 cans of tomato paste
1 TBSP S&B curry powder*
1 cup of cooked brown or white rice

Directions:

Part 1:

1) Chop and prep vegetables.

2) Steam Rutabaga and Turnips until soft. This can be done either conventionally for 25 mins or in the microwave for 10 mins give or take. [These vegetables are normally tough, it's best to soften them ahead of time before making your curry.]

Part 2:

In a large pot on low medium heat:

3) Warm up 2 TBSP of grape-seed oil. Then add red& green onions and sweat them. Add tomato paste + lemon juice, and cook until warm.

4) Add one cup of water, then add rutabaga, and stir.

5) Add the rest of the vegetables and 2 cups of water until veggies are covered.

6) Add 1 TSBP of S&B curry powder, and let the mixture simmer, and switch to low-heat.

7) Let the curry simmer for 35 minutes. Curry should be done when the vegetables are nice and soft.

8) In a plate add rice and cover with curry ^^



*Feeling Adventurous and want to make your own curry powder, then take a look at Just Hungry formula

Easy Anko (Red Bean Paste)

Anko (Red Bean Paste) is the staple of Asian sweets. It's used in bread, pastry fillings, sweet soups, pancakes, and ice cream. Made from azuki beans, a type of red sweet beans; Anko comes in either a chunky style (tsubushi-an) or smooth (koshi-an). Traditionally when preparing Anko, one would have to buy dried azuki beans and soak them for 24 hours. We've discovered an interesting short cut. We took a can of Red Beans and boiled them in lemon water this drastically reduce cooking time making our Anko paste easily within reach ^^


Ingredients:

1-15 oz can of Organic Red Beans ( we recommend Westbrae Natural. Organic Red Beans. Don't buy red kidney beans!)

1/3 cup of sugar

1/2 of lemon water ( this trick will get rid of the salty can taste)

1/4 of water


Chunky (tsubushi-an) Anko

1) Open the can of red bean and rise thoroughly.

2) Put in in a small sauce pot on a medium flame, and 1/2 of cup of lemon water (water + some lemon juice or chopped lemons)

3) Cook for 15 minutes. Then drain bean from water.

4) Put bean in pot, add 1/4 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar, cook on high medium heat.

5) The mixture will start to bubble, let it boil for about 15 minutes. Make sure to stir so the bottom doesn't burn.

6) Switch to a low medium flame, the sugar and the beans should start to thicken looking like chunky cranberry sauce.

7) Turn off heat and let the paste cool.


Smooth (koshi-an) Anko

1) Open the can of red bean and rise thoroughly.

2) Put in in a small sauce pot on a medium flame, and 1/2 of cup of lemon water (water + some lemon juice or chopped lemons)

3) Cook for 15 minutes. Then drain bean from water.

4) Place beans in either an blender or food processor. Puree beans.

5) Place purred beans in pot. Add 1/3 cup of sugar, and stir of low-medium heat

6) The mixture will start to become a dark red. Stir for about 5- 10 mins until sugar dissolves.

7) When sugar is dissolves, turn off heat and let the paste cool.

Refrigerate paste- It last for 2-4 days.


To Learn How to prepare Traditional Anko.

Check out this video from, What the Food!

Good Stuff Special: Foy Sauce- Our Original Soy Sauce Substitute

In Asian cuisine Soy-Sauce is King. For those who have a soy allergy, it's a nightmare. We searched high and low, and worked long and hard to create a good soy substitute. The first recipe to kick off, our segment in Anime & Cooking, is, our original recipe, Foy Sauce.
[ The F stands for fake `.^]

Foy Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 of apple cider vinegar

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

2.5 TBSP of molasses

1/2 tsp of agave syrup

a dash of mace

Directions:

1) Chop 3 cloves of garlic and set aside.

2) In a small pot, heat 1/2 cups of apple cider vinegar. (If your not allergic to corn you may us distilled vinegar)

3) Let cool for 2-3 mins and pour vinegar in a glass jar. The add the chopped garlic to vinegar.

4) Place the jar in the fridge and leave over night.

5) The next day you might notice that the garlic has turned blue/green. The garlic is still safe to eat. It's just chemistry at work, the blue/green color is caused by sulfur & copper compound reacting to one another.

6) Remove the garlic.

7) Then add the molasses, agave syrup and mace. Stir content until they're mixed well.

8) Taste the Foy Sauce! This sauce is bit sharper than Soy Sauce. To soften the taste add more agave syrup till it's to your liking.

Refrigerate Foy Sauce- lasts for 2 weeks; after the taste will become stronger.

Enjoy ^^

Rockin' Vegan Coconut Whip Cream

Looking for an alternative to whipped-cream? Look no further! Vegan Coconut Whipped Cream is easy to make and it's simple delicious. This recipe is so good that it rocks \m/

Ingredients:
1) Can of coconut milk (full fat) [If you use 1/3 fat cans you'll need two]
2) 2 TBSP of corn-free confectioner's sugar
3) 1/4 tsp of Vanilla

Rockin' Vegan Coconut Whip Cream:

1) Place can on coconut milk in the fridge and leave it over night. [This is used to separate the fat from the liquid]

2) Open can, scope out fat, it should be solid and place in a mixing bowl.

3) Add 2TBSP of corn -free confectioners sugar + 1/4 tsp of vanilla

4) Blend with either a hand mixer or in a Cuisine Art until the mixture becomes fluffy.


photo: LunchBoxBunch

How to make Home-made Red Food Coloring

Ever wondered how to make your own food coloring? It's a lot easier than one might think.

Home-made Red Food Coloring

Conventional Method-

1/2 cup of raspberries frozen or fresh

2/3 of a cup of water

Directions:

1) Add 2/3 of a cup of water in a pot and boil on medium heat.

2) When water is boiling, add raspberries.

3) Boil for about 20 minutes or until water is a deep red colored.

4) Turn off and cool.

5) Then separate water from raspberries.

Microwave Method-

A handful of frozen raspberries & water

Directions:

1) Place raspberries in a deep bowl, then water and make sure the raspberries are slightly covered.

2) Place in microwave, and heat for 60 seconds to 1 min depending on your microwave wattage.

3) Then separate water for raspberries.

(Only Use this method for small amounts of food coloring)

Remember to refrigerate food coloring, and use ASAP!


Here are some other foods that you can use to create your own food coloring:

Brown:coca or coffee powder

Green:kale, parsley, spinach, romaine, cucumber, bell pepper, watercress.

Pink or Red: (depending how much of the fruits of vegetables you use):beets, berries, cranberries, tomatoes, rhubarb, strawberries, pomegranate.

Purple and Blue: (depending how much of the fruits of vegetables you use):cabbage (can be juiced or boiled), blueberries, blackberries, grapes (black or purple ones)

Yellow/Orange: curry and/or turmeric powder, or yellow beets.

Anime & Cooking

Welcome to Anime and Cooking! For the next few weeks we'll be preparing some delicious Gluten/Allergy-free versions of your favorite Japanese dishes. We got a great line-up including: Traditional Onigiri, Anko, Japanese Curry, Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pizza); and that's just the beginning! Stay tuned, at the end, we'll be serving up a special surprise just in time for the holidays ^^







top photo courtesy of:Cutest Food

bottom photo is from the manga Mixed Vegetables

Hot Habanero Oil

All good things must come to end, but wondering what to do with those extra habanero's? We have one final recipe up our sleeve.......

Hot Habanero Oil!

Ingredients:

1-3 habanero's

2/3 cup of olive oil or grape-seed oil

1 glass jar

Directions:

1) Clean and chop habanero's

[Remember to wear gloves and goggles ^^]

2) Heat oil in pan on medium heat until hot.

3) When oil is nice and hot pour in a clean glass jar. [Be careful when pouring to avoid burns]

4) Then add habanero's and pour the rest of the oil.

5) Let it cool for 5 minutes, then seal jar. (Don't worry if the habanero piece start to fry in the oil.)

6) Store the oil in a cool dry place and away from light. (Light and heat will destroy the volatile compounds that provide the habanero oil's flavor and heat)

The oil will last for 2 months.