My daughter loves miso soup. You know, the kind they give you at the Japanese restaurant that usually has cubes of tofu and slivers of seaweed? Well my daughter who swears to hate anything seafood loves miso soup. She tolerates the seaweed or just picks them out when she sees them. But I haven't told her that the stock base for miso soup is made of fish stock. Or rather, flavored with dried bonito flakes. Did you know that?
Did you also know that the main ingredient of the soup, MISO, is made of fermented soy beans? My daughter does not mind this so much. She loves edamame! Salt and koji fungus are also added to fascilitate the fermentation process along.
The final product that I buy is a tub like the one pictured below at the Asian market. It's usually in the refrigerated section.
It is a thick paste, golden in color, has a slightly sour, fermented smell and very salty. I have been buying it mainly to make my daughter's miso soup. Then a few weeks ago, I ran across this recipe for Miso Dip, and I just fell in love with it!
MISO DIP
It's so simple, I don't know why I never thought of doing it before. The dip, which is really more of a condiment that you can use to accompany a variety of dishes, is simply miso paste sauteed with garlic, onions and tomatoes. Nothing could be simpler! But oh the possibilities of using this condiment is endless!
So far, we've used it as a flavor enhancer for soups, a dip for fried fish and pork chops, added it to curried dishes, and my favorite, as a pasta sauce!
I'll post more photos and recipes of miso dip inspired dishes as I get to them.
Now if you would like to learn more specific and detailed information about Miso, check out this page about Hatcho Miso for some very interesting facts.
As my title says, this is an easy peasy recipe for Baba Ganoush, a Middle Eastern dish made from roasted eggplants. Just before posting this recipe, I found another website that covered how to make this dish in much more comprehensive detail. Click here to see how baba ganoush is really supposed to be done.
If, however you want my easy recipe, click here for Easy Baba Ganoush.
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I don't know why the word Tahini always makes me want to dance. LOL!
Anyway, if you didn't know, Tahini is a sesame seed paste that is used as a condiment in many middle eastern and Mediterranean cooking. Some Asian cuisines also use tahini or sesame seed paste in addition to sesame oil that imparts that distinctly Chinese food aroma we have all grown accustomed to.
There are many brands of bottled sesame paste on the markets but it is so easy to prepare and the homemade version is so much better than anything you can buy, that why bother? Try making your own and you won't regret it. You won't go back to buying the bottled stuff ever again. It's also a whole lot cheaper when you make it yourself.
One thing to remember is that the oil in homemade sesame paste can go rancid pretty quickly. The bottled stuff keeps longer because of all the preservatives they put in there. So if you're making your own, save your left overs in the refrigerator and try to use it up within the week if you can. The good thing about this is, you can make a little bit at a time so you won't have too much left over. Just buy a bag of sesame seeds so you always have them on hand, and keep them in the freezer to keep them fresh tasting.
Click here to see how we made our own Tahini or sesame seed paste.
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No matter how you say it, it's the same thing. Lavash, lavosh or lahvosh all refer to the Armenian flat bread also known as Armenian cracker bread. This was this month's Daring Baker's challenge so you know I was all over this one. It was a nice change to have something savory. The past few months has been all about rich, buttery and chocolaty cakes. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.
I also like this challenge because it wasn't much of a challenge. LOL! The recipe was short enough to follow without an assistant AND it is a vegan and gluten free recipe so I got to try out something totally alien in our meat eating kitchen. I must say that the girls and even their dad did not miss that the crackers and dip did not have one drip of animal in them. :)
If you'd like the try making your own, and I swear it's really easy, just click on this link for the Lavash Crackers recipe.
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Sauces spice up a meal and do we love our sauces! This is one of our favorites and it is also one of the most versatile. You can use it for any meats, especially those that are roasted or grilled; or over vegetables; or over seafood.
There really isn't a recipe for this dipping sauce, it's just a matter of finding the right proportions of Soy & Vinegar to suit your taste. From there, you can vary the recipe by adding other ingredients like onions, peppers or cilantro.
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This is a slight twist on a previous recipe for Shrimp in Garlic Butter. For this variation, a garlic aioli is served as an additional sauce or dip for the shrimps.
Here's how to make aioli:
We love cooking and eating Mexican food, and guacamole is one of our favorites either as a dip or as an accompaniment to any Mexican dish. However, we have also gotten into the habit of making it every time we cook out on the grill. It just pairs up well with grilled meats. This is a very simple version, and I find it works best with picky kid palates.
2-3 avocadoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 lime, juiced
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced fine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic, finely minced and mashed
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Mix all ingredients together, slightly mashing the avocado in the process. We like to leave some avocado chunks in our guacamole. Great to dip tortilla chips in or just a condiment for grilled meats.
