Spinach with Sesame Dressing

I have a similar experience to this recipe's author in that this is one of the first vegetable dishes I discovered in Japan that I went wild over. I always got excited when I saw this on the dinner table. It took me several different recipes for it and attempts to make it at home before I got it to taste good, but this particular recipe has worked well for me. I strongly recommend this for children or people who might be unsure whether they like spinach -- I refused to eat spinach any way my mom prepared it, but I loved this immediately.

Notes:

• Please please please do not skip toasting the sesame seeds. It makes a big difference.
  
• The biggest key to this recipe working correctly is making sure that you thoroughly squeeze out the water from the spinach after it is cooked. Any excess water will dilute the dressing and it will not taste as good.
• I saw my host mother make the dressing entirely in the mortar bowl (adding the soy sauce and sake to the ground sesame and sugar, mixing it, and then pouring over the spinach) but I have a feeling that the soy sauce could stain the inside of the mortar and it can be harder to scoop out of the grooves when it's wet because it's fairly thick.
  

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RECIPE: Horenso no goma-ae (from Let's Eat Japanese Food, by Amy Kaneko)

Plum and Apple Oatmeal Crisp

I had a lot of prune plums but wanted to try something other than stewing them, and landed on this.

Notes:

• I replaced some of the 2 1/2 pounds of plums with Cortland apples.

Verdict: It was pretty good. I wish it had ended up a little less soupy, but I did enjoy how tart and brightly colored the plums made the filling. I don't know that I'd go out of my way to make it again but I did enjoy it.

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RECIPE: Plum Oatmeal Crisp (Martha Stewart)

Lychee-Rose Shochu Highball

I wanted to make a chuhai (shochu highball) drink and got attracted to this recipe by the beautiful pink and green color palette in the original recipe's photo. It is inspired by a drink at a bar in Sydney, Australia called the Miss Wednesday.

I originally tried the recipe a couple of months ago with sweet cherries instead of lychee because it was what I had on hand, rose and cherry go well together, and I wanted a pretty pink and green drink, but it was just OK. I went and got the ingredients to make it properly. I made it exactly as written.

notice the pretty rose shaped ice cubes

Verdict: I really enjoyed this drink! I was a fan of the taste (especially the combination of lychee and rose). I am still getting used to the look and texture of lychee fruit. It just doesn't look appetizing to me. But I would definitely have this again.

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RECIPE: Shochu Highball (The Gourmet Traveller)

Emeril's Braised Chicken Thighs

I had chicken thighs in the fridge and needed to cook them, and decided to try this.

Notes:

• Used Penzey's Cajun seasoning instead of the Essence/Essence Creole seasoning because I had it already, it seemed similar, and was less work than mixing my own.
  
• Didn't use the third tablespoon of butter and I didn't miss it.
• Served with basmati rice.
  

Verdict: It's pretty good (smells AMAZING after the chicken first browns) but I think I'd change a few things next time. Maybe less liquid (2 cups instead of 3) because it seemed like a lot and didn't taste like much. Especially when you brown the chicken right at the beginning and immediately dilute all that beautiful browning and sog up the whole thing with tons of liquid. I realize the browning is probably more for flavor than crisping, but I think soggy chicken skin just doesn't appeal to me. Maybe if I roasted the chicken afterward instead of braising it, or removed the skin before serving.

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RECIPE: Braised Chicken Thighs (Emeril Lagasse)