Secret Spaghetti

You will never guess the secret ingredient in this sauce.

The Help put in his 2 cents and said this would go well with andouille sausage.  I wouldn't know because I don't particularly care for sausage.

Miso Spaghetti

     2 tbsp olive oil

     2 c chopped celery

     2 c chopped bell pepper

     1 clove garlic, minced

     3 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped (about 4 cups)

     2 tbsp honey

     2 tsp fresh oregano leaves

     2 tsp pesto or basil

     1/4 c white miso

     1/2 c chopped nuts

     1 lb strand-type pasta

     shredded parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large skillet or medium saucepan.  Saute celery, bell pepper, and garlic for 10 minutes.  Add tomatoes, honey, oregano and pesto or basil.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Add miso and nuts.  Serve over pasta and top with shredded parmesan cheese.

Cabbage Seafood Salad

I'm exhausted from my weekend.  Yes, from my weekend.  I spent Saturday morning at a volleyball game, and I was quite impressed with the Kohala Cowboys.  Country teams cannot be taken for granted.  They must dedicate lots of time to practicing and honing their skills.  No more volleyball until after spring break.  Spring break, what took you so long?

Just two more days to keep it together at work.  Yay!  I can't believe I made it this far (and I know there is still a long road ahead of me to finish the year).  Prom is coming up soon and graduation will be here in two months.  Ugh.  I feel so unprepared, although I'm more than ready to relax.  I even have my liquid refreshments on deck, and in case Kraken falls short, I brought in reinforcements-wine from a recent Costco trip. 

On the cab ride back to her dorm (bags not even at ambient temperature), D1 laid it on me about the Pure Aloha Festival in Las Vegas coming up in mid April.  No, wait.  I got my story wrong.  She didn't tell me about the festival; she asked me to book her air travel (book=pay for).  Her friend's family will be selling 808 logo items at the festival so she claims she is going there to work.  If she had a car, she could drive to Vegas, but I don't dare suggest it, especially since I know what her driving is like.  I don't think she has ever been to Vegas and likely has no idea how crazy it is to drive there. 

In a few days, D2 will be off on another adventure.  This time the adventure will take her across the continent.  Glad she will be with Uncle Edz (happy 5-0 to you!).  Once again, I'm amazed at all the travel opportunity kids have now.  Times certainly have changed.

With D2 gone this past week, it was only The Help and me.  I figured this was a good time to use up the imitation crab sticks I bought in the jumbo pack from Costco.  D2 said they did not taste like kanikama and wanted nothing to do with them. 

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Cabbage Seafood Salad

     3 tbsp butter, melted
     1/2 small onion, sliced thin
     1/4 c celery, sliced thin (optional)
     2-3 c shredded cabbage
     2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
     1/2 tsp salt
     1/2 c cornflake crumbs
     1 c imitation crab, shredded
     1 c mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 1 1/2 quart ceramic dish.  Pour 1 tbsp butter into a skillet.  Saute onion, celery and cabbage.  Add Worcestershire sauce and salt.  Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.  Combine remaining 2 tbsp butter with cornflake crumbs.  Set aside.  Add imitation crab and mayonnaise to sauteed vegetables.  Spread mixture in prepared dish.  Top with cornflake crumbs.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Food Processor Food: Kamaboko Dip

kamaboko=Japanese pink and white steamed fishcake on a wooden board which is normally sold in plastic shrinkwrap

This past week of work went a lot better than the previous week.  Perhaps my body clock got used to waking up early.  Or perhaps my brain knew it would be a short week for the kids.

We had a student-free day on Friday.  While that might sound dandy, I'll take a day with students any day over a "planning & collaboration day" with adults.  Kids rock.

In spite of my reluctance to even try to enjoy Friday, it actually turned out well.  We got a lot done and I was pleasantly surprised at how well everyone present was so task-oriented.

Since there was hardly any traffic that morning (several other teachers were being tortured the same way), I made a small detour and picked up lunch from Asamis Kitchen.  I nonchalantly asked the counter person to add a wonton to my order.  When I bit into the wonton, I was shocked to find it was filled with some type of kamaboko dip.  I've eaten wonton with imitation crabmeat filling before, but the kamaboko dip in the wonton was a novel taste.  Kamaboko dip wonton is something I need to try on my own someday, maybe when D1 returns, since she says she likes kamaboko dip.  I have never seen D1 eat kamaboko dip.  Ever.  But she says she likes it.  Whatevers.

Anyway, while D1 was home for the holidays, she attended a party at a friend's house.  She took a container of kamaboko dip for sharing.  I had made a triple recipe of kamaboko dip since I knew my cousins would be over so there was more than enough for D1 to take to her party.  When I asked her if she liked the dip, she said she didn't have any.  She said she left the container on the patio with some intoxicated boys, and by the time she made her way back to the patio, the dip was gone.

So while I cannot verify that this dip recipe will work well as a wonton filling, I can attest that it is enjoyed as an accompaniment for chips, crackers, and/or vegetables.  I normally just serve it in a dish, but The Help thought it would be cute to pack it onto a clean kamaboko board in the shape of a kamaboko.  If you decide his idea is worth replicating, shape the kamaboko on the board, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill until ready to serve.  Remove plastic wrap just before serving.

Now you might today might be a good time to try making some kamaboko dip wonton, today being a holiday and all, but I'm a little busy today.  I'm spending the day at work, prepping for tomorrow.  I thought I would be able to get some prep done on Friday, but my time was consumed with other things.  When I thought I might have a moment of breathing room, I had to call the help desk to ask them to fix a mistake created by a colleague.  Apparently the help desk could use some help too.  The person who answered the phone was incompetent and sent me over to the wrong side for help.  When I said, "next time, make it a policy to ask which side I'm calling about before handing me off," the person who took my call said, "please be understanding because we are short staffed."  Dumbass.  My call had nothing to do with staffing!  It took over 30 minutes to get my issue resolves, 25 minutes of which were spent holding for the wrong person. 

 click on recipe title for printable recipe

Kamaboko Dip

     1 block kamaboko, cut into chunks
     2 tbsp celery, minced
     1 tbsp onion, minced
     3/4 c mayonnaise
     1/2 tsp garlic salt

Place kamaboko, celery, and onion, into work bowl of food processor.  Process until kamaboko is chopped fine.  Empty into small mixing bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Chill at least 2 hours before serving.

Kay's Ono Spaghetti

birthday girl

Before I start bitching about my weekend, I'd like to wish D1 a happy birthday.  Somehow, she manages to do well for the 7-hours of each  weekday known as "school", but ask her what animals you'd expect to see in Alaska and your head will start spinning with the answer.  She drives me mental, but I love her dearly.  The full day of labor and years of recovery (still recovering!) she put me through was worth it.  I'd also like to wish happy birthday to Aunty Betty (of corned beef hash fame), who shares the same birthday as D1.  They are indeed two of a kind.

I worked hard this weekend trying to avoid the Christmas crowds.  While some people know me as a "shopper", the truth is, I find crowds daunting.  I'd rather spend a few more $ to shop on the internet (in the privacy of my own home, sitting in a comfy chair, sipping a Coco Rico) than brave the awful crowds at PKP, WalMart & Target; unlike me, D1 went shopping on Black Friday and came home with an armload of gifts.  Unlike D1 and sadly for those on my gift list, most of the internet shopping I accomplished was for myself. . .pffftttthh.  Maybe I'll be up to braving the crowds next week.

I've also been doing some intense research on a dish called "Hainanese Chicken Rice", which is supposed to be THE unofficial national dish of Singapore (introduced by, who else, the Chinese).  But I'm trying to avoid going to the market now.  The KTA Puainako parking lot is nuts, especially with the cordoned-off area for Christmas trees.  For the moment, meals need to be planned around what we have on hand.  Spaghetti happens to be one of those meals.

This is one of those recipes where you begin to wonder why I'd post a recipe for spaghetti.  And you would not be alone.  For most of my life, spaghetti was something you made at 5:00 pm, when you ran out of other ideas.  It was as simple as browning a tray of ground beef and adding a jar or can of spaghetti sauce.  I'm not sure why I decided to change things up a bit, but I did.  I came across a recipe for spaghetti sauce and thought I'd give it a shot.  It seemed simple enough and it was made with ingredients I usually have on hand.  I wasn't prepared for what I started.

The first time I made the recipe, I loved it from the first bite.  The kids said it was "okay", but ate at least 2 bowls of noodles with just the sauce.  No meat.  Just sauce and noodles.  Then came the grumbling about how there wasn't enough sauce.  So with a bunch of adjustments, I fixed the recipe to the point where the taste was pretty much the same as the original recipe, but there was more of the savory sauce for the sauce-only eaters. 

That was years ago.  Since then, I've made this recipe for occasions from large family dinners to birthday parties.  Cousin LA (a fantastic baker who can make all the cookies in the Martha Stewart cookie cookbook look better than the pictures in the book), requested the recipe.  Wow!  In fact, the grumbler of grumblers, Dad, actually asked Mom to call me to get the recipe for "Kay's Ono Spaghetti" so she could make it for him instead of the jar sauce du jour she had planned to use.  This request did not go over well, and he ended up eating spaghetti made with jar sauce.  Poor Dad.
Oh, crap!  Garlic bread is a MUST when eating spaghetti.  I guess someone will be going to the market after all!

click on recipe title for printable recipe
Kay's Ono Spaghetti

     1 lb ground beef

     4 slices bacon, chopped*

     1 c Portuguese sausage, diced

     16 oz tomato sauce

     1 can (4 oz) mushroom pieces, drained

     2 c catsup

     1/2 c chopped celery

     1/8 tsp black pepper

     1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

     1 1/2 tsp garlic salt

     2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

     a dash of chili powder

Brown all meats.  Drain fat.  Add rest of ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes.  Makes enough sauce for 1 lb of pasta.

*You may also used 4 tbsp of pre-cooked bacon bits.  If you do this, give it a few good pulses in the food processor to break up large chunks.