As we gather with family and friends, we often need to think about a dish to bring with us. It is such a local tradition not to go to someone’s home without taking a little something with us.
If we know they like wine, a nice bottle is always a welcome gift. Or the hostess may ask you to bring a dish. It is always nice when the hostess asks you to bring something; it takes the guessing of what to bring easier. If it is an appetizer, how does a dip with toasted bread rounds or crackers sound? Something easy that will be enjoyed by all.
Ahi Poke Dip
Makes 3-1/2 cups
Combine in a food processor:
1-3/4 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup minced pickled ginger (gari shoga)
1/2 cup minced green onions
1/2 cup minced Chinese parsley
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup soy sauce
Mix until blended. Refrigerate. When ready to serve, add
2/3 cup finely minced ahi
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Serve with toasted bread rounds or crackers.
Instead of rolling sushi, this pan sushi is great for feeding a crowd.
California Pan Sushi
Makes 24 pieces
Mix and set aside:
1 pound imitation crab sticks, chopped
1-1/2 cups mayonnaise
Generously sprinkle into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking pan:
1 jar (2.0 ounce) furikake (dried seaweed and sesame seed)
Top with:
4 cups sushi rice (recipe below)
Spread crab mixture over rice (the rice should be cooled)
Arrange over crab mixture:
1 Japanese cucumber, washed and thinly sliced
1/3 avocado, chopped into small cubes
Sprinkle with additional furikake on top
Sushi rice
Awase-zu (Sushi Rice Vinegar)
3-1/4 cups rice vinegar
1/4 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
4-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups uncooked rice
Wash rice thoroughly until the water runs clear. Cook it the rice cooker. Soon after the rice is cooked, place in a large bowl or large baking pan.
Combine Awase-zu ingredients in a nonreactive saucepan. Heat over how heat until the sugar and salt is dissolved. Cool. Pour Awase-zu over hot rice, toss gently to mix while cooling rice. Do not mix in circular motion. Cool quickly to retain vinegar flavor and to give the rice a glossy sheen.
The rice must be hot when you add the flavored vinegar so it will absorb the vinegar best. My mother used to be so strict about that. Season the rice when it is hot, fan it to cool it down and then roll the sushi with cooled rice, never hot rice. (When you are rolling sushi, the nori will break if the rice is hot.)
Note: 1 cup uncooked regular white rice yields 3 cups cooked rice. Therefore, 2 cups uncooked rice makes 6 cups cooked rice. Here is a candy recipe that you can make at least two weeks ahead and bring over, wrapped in a pretty box:
Butter Nut Caramels
Makes 112 pieces
2 tablespoons unflavored vegetable oil, such as safflower oil
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup light corn syrup
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup toasted roughly chopped almonds
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then place a 4-1/2×14-inch flan form in the center of the foil. With a paper towel, coat the foil and the inside of the flan form with 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil. Set aside. In a 3-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine the whole milk, cream, condensed milk, corn syrup, sugar and butter. Stir with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula until the mixture comes to a boil (3 to 8 minutes). Wash down the side of the pan two times with a pastry brush dipped in warm water to prevent the sugar from crystallizing.
Increase the heat to medium-high, place a candy thermometer in the pan, and cook the mixture until it registers 240 degrees (15 to 20 minutes), stirring constantly.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the vanilla, then blend in the almonds. Pour the mixture into a prepared flan form and spread it out rapidly with a wooden spoon. Let the caramel cool completely at room temperature, 2 to 3 hours.
With the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil, coat a cutting board and the blade of a chef’s knife. With the knife, loosen and remove the flan form; invert the caramel onto the cutting board, and peel the foil off the caramel. Cut the caramel into twenty-eight 1/2 inch wide strips, then cut each strip into four pieces. In a tightly covered container, between sheets of waxed paper, or wrapped in individual waxed paper rectangles, the caramels will keep for 2 weeks at room temperature.