Hand roll Salmon Sushi & Zaru Udon

One of my favorite food to order at Sushi Ten (a local sushi restaurant here in Tucson) is Zaru Udon and salmon sushi. Sushi can be a incredibly easy and fun dish to make. Half of fun of having sushi at home is the process of making it. Hand roll is cost effective since you don't need to go out an buy a sushi mat.

1 (5 oz.) center cut salmon fillet, skin removed, cut in strips
4 teaspoons sesame oil
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 finely chopped green onion
Toasted nori shets, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
Asparagus spears, trimmed to 5-inches long, cut in half, lightly steamed
Thinnly cut carrots
2 cuts cooked Sushi Rice, recipe follows

1. In a bowl, mix together the chopped salmon, sesame oil, soy sauce, and green onions.

2. Arrange all the above on a serving platter and serve on the side with wasabi, sweet pickled ginger and soy sauce.

3. Place a sheet of nori, shiny side down on a work surface. Place rice on the left side of the nori sheet. Place salmon mixture, asparagus, and carrot on top of the rice, diagonally. Roll the nori over the filling.

Sushi Rice
2 cups of rice
vinegar
salt
sesame seed (optional)

1. In a bowl, cool the rice to room temperature by fanning. Add vinegar to moisten rice and a pinch of salt to the cooled rice. Top with sesame seeds.

Zaru Udon
Udon noodles
Chopped green onions
Soymen sauce

1. Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Add the udon noodles and boil for 2-3 minutes. Rinse with cool water and drain well.

2. Add the udon noodles to a bowl of soymen sauce. Add chopped green onion and wasabi to the sauce.

If available, white asian radish can be cut in thin strips and added to the sushi and/or grated to the soymen sauce.

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

The grocery store was crowded last night. I guess a lot of people this year decided to eat in for Valentine's Day. My friend, Katie, and I decided to cook dinner for ourselves and a few other people. My favorite was the chocolate strawberrry shortcake that she found on Epicurious.com. Lovely, right? Just for the sake of it being Valentine's day, we cut the biscuits in the shape of hearts.

Biscuit
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup chilled whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line baking sheet with parchment.
2. Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl.
3. Using electric mixer, beat cream and vanilla in medium bowl until firm peaks form.
4. Stir cream into flour mixture until moist clumps form. Transfer mixture to lightly floured surface and knead gently until dough forms ball, about 10 turns.
5. Pat dough out to 3/4 inch thickness. Using 3-inch cutter, cut out biscuits. Gather dough, pat out again, and cut out total of 6 biscuits.
6. Place biscuits on prepared baking sheet. Bake until toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool.

Strawberries
2 pounds small strawberries, hulled, quartered
6 tablespoons powdered sugar, divided
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
pinch of salt

1. Stir strawberries, powdered sugar, and next 4 ingredients in medium bowl.
2. Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours.

Whipped Cream
1/2 cup chilled whipping cream
1/2 cup chilled sour cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Using electric mixer, beat chilled whipping cream, sour cream, powdered sugar until soft peaks form.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day and got to spend it with someone special.