Crazy Englishwoman Cooks!

Since Nic works for a Japanese company, he occasionally receives some interesting, albeit unexpected, gifts. Case in point: boil in the bag eel.



And since we'd had the ice storm this week and I hadn't been out to the store, yesterday seemed like a good time to have eel for dinner. What to do with it?

I considered sushi but didn't want to mess around with rolling it (and couldn't find my nori sheets) so settled on unadon, which is basically eel on top of rice. It's very easy to make, should you find yourself with a box of eel in the kitchen cupboard.

Here's your eel:



For those who've never tried Japanese style eel before, it comes served in a wonderful sauce with a soy base but sweeter than plain old soy sauce. Our eel came presauced and in a bag that you put in a pan of boiling water for a few minutes to warm up.

For your rice, you want sushi rice if possible - it's shorter grain and starchier so it sticks in clumps, making it easier to eat with chopsticks.

Bowl, rice, eel, extra sauce if you want it, some shredded nori and a little shiso (a Japanese herb) and you have unadon:



Absolutely delicious and VERY nutritious.

#1. What’s the oddest thing you’ve ever made with bread?

I rarely buy bread but do occasionally make it. I can't think of too many strange things I've done with bread but I used to have a great South African recipes which involved ground beef, raisins, curry powder, and bread.

#2. What’s the oddest thing you’ve ever done with mac and cheese or pasta?

Can there be anything odd about pasta? It's fabulous whatever you do with it ... well ok the chocolate pasta wasn't good.

#3. Is there a food you eat other then it is intended?

Well my husband would say I have some odd likes but I disagree.

#4. What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever seen?

I lived in Japan and traveled a lot in Asia so I've seen (and eaten) some very strange things: horse meat, baby octopus, etc but the strangest would be a coin toss between:
1. trays of crickets in the grocery store (became a local delicacy during poorer times)
or 2. the time I was taken to a very posh and expensive dinner. I'd already choked my way through the sea urchin and put something in my mouth that was horribly crunchy - turned out to be a battered baby bird, head and all!

I know I'm not posting too much at the moment and I promise to get back to more regular posts once I've got a few writing deadlines out of the way. In the meantime, here are this week's questions...

#1. Do you prefer to eat Chinese food in the restaurant or to have it delivered?

I honestly prefer to make it myself. When I lived in Japan, I took a Szechuan cooking class and loved it. Dried chili, lots of garlic - good spicy Chinese food, and not overly greasy.

#2. Do you prefer wonton or egg drop soup?

I usually skip the soup but occasionally enjoy the hot and sour.

#3. What flavor fried rice is your favorite?

Not big on fried rice, partly for health reasons. Having said that, there's a Thai place in town that does amazing special fried rice - it has everything but the kitchen sink in it!

#4. Describe your favorite item on the Chinese food menu.

As I said before, I like good Szechuan food. So much of the so-called Chinese food available at restaurants is not authentic and is overly greasy.

#1. Waffles. Do you usually eat frozen or homemade?

Waffle iron was one of those things on our wedding list that we never got and looking back I think it would be one of those things that we use maybe once a year and then hate having to clean. I do have a book of waffle recipes that I've never been able to use but there are zillions of other expenses that take priority over a waffle iron. Until then, we buy frozen. I can have my healthy wholegrain and Nic can have his chocolate chip.

#2. Eggs. Do you buy brown, white, or it doesn’t matter?

White. There's no difference between the two - they just come from different chickens.

#3. Oatmeal. Do you usually make instant or cooked?

Instant. I don't have time to mess about cooking for 20 minutes in the morning.

#4. Bacon. Share instructions or a recipe that you use bacon in.

I LOVE bacon. It is one of the greatest foods on earth and goes with everything! I love to just cook some up and toss with a little pasta, garlic and cream or olive oil. Simple and delicious.

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2009. In case you were wondering,today is National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day here in the US (who thinks up these things?)so enjoy a few treats from Christmas while browsing the following pics of the Christmas feast my sister cooked, sent to me by my mother.

First, a chestnut soup:

Then, a pomegranate and vodka sorbet.

The main course:

Of course, there was Christmas pudding:

... and a cheese platter:

I'll also share a picture of the Christmas Cake made by my 8 year old niece:

So there you have it, a whole lot of good food and a whole lot of calories... but that's what New Year's Resolutions are for.