Yankeegoulashziti Recipes

YANKEE GOULASH ZITI

Steps:

• Cook pasta in a large pot until"al-dente" (still slightly firm) and drain water. (Don't rinse).
• At the same time pasta is cooking, cook sausage until no longer pink.
• DO NOT DRAIN SAUSAGE.
• In the pot which pasta was cooked, pour spaghetti sauce, sausage with drippings, pepperoni, garlic powder, mushrooms & parmesan cheese. Then add still hot pasta & cheese.
• Stir until all pasta is coated w/sauce. Cheese will melt from the heat of the pasta. Serve...... OR:
• Pour this into casserole dish & cover with more mozzerella cheese.
• Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
• Serve with a fresh loaf of bread & salad!
• ** I also like to throw in either some canned black beans, peas, or chickpeas every now and then just to give it a kick.

YAKI ONIGIRI

Steps:

• Use 1 cup of hot (or warm) cooked Japanese short grain rice per serving. Add the rice to a small bowl (like a cereal bowl) just big enough to hold it. Jiggle the bowl, moving it in a flat, circular motion, like the motion of a hula hoop, until the rice forms into a ball on its own-a neat kitchen trick Tadashi's mom taught him. This motion packs the rice so it holds together when it grills.
• Wet your hands and place the ball of rice between your cupped palms. Now squeeze, flip, and turn the rice ball several times to form it into a triangular shape. This motion takes a little practice, but after a few yaki onigiri, you'll get the hang of it. Make sure not to compact the rice too tight; you want it to just stick together.
• Grill yaki onigiri over medium heat. If the fire's too hot, the rice will burn. We like to place the yaki onigiri along the cooler edges of a grill while other foods cook in the hotter center. Watch the rice carefully while it grills; perfect yaki onigiri need constant attention.
• How to Cook Japanese Rice
• There are two basic ways to prepare Japanese rice: rice cooker or stovetop. If you have an electronic rice cooker, wash and rest the rice as we describe below, then follow cooker instructions. To prepare rice on the stovetop, an enameled cast-iron or cast-iron pot works best because these heavy pots do such a great job distributing heat.
• Makes 4 cups of rice 2 cups Japanese short-grain white rice 2 cups water
• Wash the rice to remove surface starch by placing the rice in a bowl, filling it with water, and swirling the rice with your hand. Drain off the milky liquid. Repeat 3 or 4 times until the water becomes clear enough to see the rice. Wash quickly; the entire process should take no longer than 3 minutes (soaking the rice in the washing water too long can cloud its flavor). Strain the rice into a colander, cover it with a clean kitchen towel, and let it rest for 15 minutes, so the grains naturally rehydrate, which helps them cook evenly.
• Add the rice and 2 cups of water to a pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium and cook 10 minutes, until you smell a beautiful rice aroma in the steam escaping from the pot. Be careful not to overcook, or you'll burn the rice. Turn off the heat and let the covered pot sit for 10 minutes, a critical step that completes the cooking process. Uncover the pot, gently stir the rice with a large spoon to fluff it up, and it's ready.

YAKI ONIGIRI (GRILLED JAPANESE RICE BALLS) WITH PICKLED SHIITAKES

Steps:

• Prepare the filling, if using: Add the shiitakes to a medium saucepan and top with cold water by a couple of inches. Stir to combine. Heat over medium-low just until bubbles start to break the surface. Cover and set aside to rehydrate for about 30 minutes. Once the mushrooms are tender, transfer them to a cutting board and thinly slice. (Save the mushroom stock for another use.) Toss sliced mushrooms with chile flakes, then transfer to a jar or lidded container. Top with soy sauce, mirin and rice vinegar. Cover and refrigerate. Let pickle at least 2 hours to develop flavor. They're even better after a few days and will keep refrigerated for up to 6 months.
• After the mushrooms have pickled (if using), prepare the rice: Add the rice to a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Rinse the grains to remove any excess starch, and cover rice with cold water by 1 or 2 inches. Swish them around with outstretched fingers, then drain the rice, repeating the process three or four times until the water goes from milky to just slightly cloudy.
• Pour 1 3/4 cups/420 milliliters water into the rinsed, drained rice, and give the rice a stir to distribute evenly. If time permits, let the rice soak for 15 to 30 minutes, which will help the grains cook even more evenly.
• Heat the rice over high and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Once the mixture comes to a boil, cover it with the lid and reduce the heat to low or medium-low. You want a low heat that is still high enough to hear the rice bubbling. You should be able to see some steam escaping from the lid; turn the heat up slightly if necessary. Set a timer for 15 minutes and let it cook, undisturbed. (No peeking, or you'll lose precious moisture!)
• After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and gently fluff the rice using chopsticks or a fork. Put the lid back on and let sit for another 5 to 10 minutes to finish cooking in the residual heat. Tip the rice onto a baking sheet to cool slightly.
• While the rice cooks, prepare the miso sauce, if making hot, glazed yaki onigiri: In a small bowl, whisk together the miso, sesame oil, mirin, sugar, sake and rice vinegar until smooth and sugar has dissolved.
• Once the rice has cooled enough to be handled comfortably, brush a baking sheet lightly with neutral oil, so the onigiri don't stick, and prepare a bowl of water for rinsing your hand to prevent the rice from sticking. Form your onigiri. If using Japanese onigiri mold, press about 1/3 cup cooked rice in the bottom, press an indentation in the center to stuff with about 2 teaspoons of finely chopped filling, then top with another 1/3 cup layer of rice, pressing down with the top piece of your rice mold. Transfer onigiri to the greased baking sheet.
• If working by hand, you'll want to grab a large handful of rice, compress the rice into a ball in the palm of your hand, then press the sides to form a triangular shape, flattening it into a triangular patty. (This shaping process requires some finesse, but you can also form rounded balls and simply compress them into pucks.) Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, rinsing your hands as needed.
• If stuffing with mushrooms or other fillings, you'll need only a few finely chopped tablespoons: 1 to 3 teaspoons per onigiri, depending on the size of your rice rolls. Compress the first handful of rice in your palm. Add the filling to the center and fold the rice up the sides. (You want to make sure the filling is just in the center portion. If the rice doesn't create a seal, the onigiri will fall apart.) Top with another layer of rice and compress on all sides to form onigiri in the desired shape.
• Garnish with sesame seeds and wrap with a small rectangle of nori, if using, and serve immediately. (Onigiri can be prepared 1 day in advance, wrapped in plastic and refrigerated, but should come to room temperature before being consumed.)
• If making yaki onigiri, brush the top of the onigiri with miso sauce. Transfer to the oven and broil until the glaze forms a crust that is golden and lightly browned in spots, rotating if necessary, about 5 minutes. Carefully slip a flat spatula underneath to flip yaki onigiri; brush on the other side and broil until glazed on the second side, another 5 minutes. Garnish as you would onigiri.

AUTHENTIC YAKISOBA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook soba in boiling water, stirring occasionally, until noodles are tender yet firm to the bite, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a wok over medium heat. Add pork and stir-fry with a pinch of salt and pepper, about 5 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate, reserving oil in wok. Add carrots, onion, ginger, and garlic to the wok and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add cabbage to the wok and stir-fry briefly, about 1 minute. Add drained soba noodles. Pour in 1/2 the yakisoba sauce and stir-fry until noodles and vegetables are covered with sauce, about 3 minutes. Return pork to the wok. Add additional sauce as desired. Remove from heat.
• Garnish yakisoba with kizami nori and a small pile of beni shoga just before serving.

YAKISOBA

Steps:

• Shredded pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga; see Cook's Note)
• For the yakisoba sauce: Whisk together the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, sugar and soy sauce in a small bowl and reserve.
• For the yakisoba: Place the noodles in a bowl, add about 1 teaspoon of the oil and stir to separate.
• Heat the remaining oil in a skillet over high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the pork belly and sear on all sides, about 3 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, onion and carrot and cook until tender but not cooked all the way, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook until almost tender, about 1 minute. Stir in the scallions and cook until slightly softened, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle in some pepper.
• Add the noodles to the skillet and lower the heat to medium. Stir to warm and combine the noodles with the vegetables in the skillet for about 30 seconds. Stir in the yakisoba sauce and cook until the sauce is absorbed and distributed, about 1 minute. Plate up and top with the dried green seaweed and pickled red ginger if using.

EASY GREEK POTATOES YACHNI

Steps:

• Chop the onion finely and sauté in the olive oil.
• Cut the potatoes into slices, add them and the lemon juice to the onions and sauté for a few minutes.
• Add half of the water and all the rest of the ingredients and simmer until the potatoes are done (adding the rest of the water if necessary) and until the sauce has reduced.
• *Note* I notice that it depends on the brand of canned tomatoes, but if I use certain brands there is a lot of "juice" and so I omit the water from the recipe because otherwise the sauce becomes too thin.
• Another *note* the original recipe calls for 1 1/12 cups of olive oil, but I cut it down to just half a cup to make things healthier.
• Also, cooking time varies with variety of potato and size of your slices, I've given an estimate.
• Enjoy!