Overindulging

The washing is on the line. The house is clean. M is asleep. I've got dinner in the bag. What's the catch? I'm never this organised, and it's only Tuesday! I'm sitting here in the freezing cold living room (although the sun is shining outside), having just watched huge flakes of snow fall thickly from the sky. Two days ago, spring was here! Am I actually awake?

Anyway, the Valentine's dinner was a massive hit. M polished off the wagyu burger, mmmmming throughout, and K was massively impressed. Mine looked nothing like NQN's creation, but as there was not even a smudge left on any of the plates, I think is is safe to say that they tasted better than the usual fare:



Very, very cute friend Hiroko called round with some delish choccies she'd made, which rounded off the dinner nicely. I was reminded of a scene from Monty Python's 'The Meaning of Life', when Mr Creosote dines in a restaurant - 'But Sir, it is only wafer thin!'. Fortunately, no-one exploded.



Consumed copious amounts of chocolate over the weekend. There's still a lot left in the house, which as we know is fatal when dieting, but it's time to try and get back to healthy eating!



This meal consists of my usual marinaded tofu, with stir-fried shimeiji mushrooms, spinach and kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) simmered in milk and topped with some grated cheese. See, I am trying!

Something fishy

It's been a pretty uneventful day here. K went back to work, so there was certainly less fighting and crying than usual (and therefor less shouting, too), so it was actually somewhat peaceful! I made a start on getting the house back in order, but have sooo much to do before Wednesday morning, when our 'Mama & Me' group will play host to a gospel singer/musician giving us a mini concert! There'll be loads of kids (they don't go back to school until Thursday), so I'm looking forward to a good baking session tomorrow to be able to feed the ever-hungry hoards.

I decided to just cook something light for dinner tonight - my body is groaning from all the junk I've been eating over the past week. So I marinated some tofu, which got pan-fried and served with o-chazuke:

Marinade

3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar (any kind, but brown is best)
1 tablespoon cooking sake
1 clove garlic, crushed.

Mix together and marinade your tofu (or chicken, pork chop, salmon, it works well with pretty much anything!) for as long as you fancy. You can boil up any remaining marinade and reduce it to a sauce, if you like.

O-chazuke (serves 4)

1 salted salmon steak (about 100g, a little goes a long way!), cooked and flaked
steamed rice
some nori (toasted seaweed), shredded
a pot of freshly-made green tea
wasabi

Divide the rice into serving bowls and top with the salmon. Pour over some tea and sprinkle nori on the top. Squeeze a dab of wasabi onto the inside of the bowl. Dekiagari (done)! There's no reason why you couldn't substitute the salted salmon for ordinary, or a different fish altogether.



I made myself a veggie version using umeboshi (pickled plum) in place
of the salmon. I also had some of my persimmon chutney with the tofu, ooh it was tasty! This was so easy, this'll probably make it onto the weekday breakfast menu.

While rooting through the fridge I stumbled upon a pack of taiyaki!



That's what happens when a man goes shopping - he buys all sorts of things and doesn't tell you. But it was a very nice find - I stuck them under the grill for a few minutes to warm up and toast, and they got wolfed down for pudding. For those not in the know, taiyaki are a bit like waffles stuffed with sweet azuki bean-paste (anko) and shaped like fish. And now that I've grown accustomed to anko, I quite like them. When I first came to Japan I couldn't stand anko, mainly because it kind of looks like chocolate and I was left disappointed on many an occasion. They put anko in everything - are you sure it's a jam doughnut?