Carrot Juice

This year has been a very kitchen gadget filled year for me. I've found a few I don't know how I lived without before. I bought a juicer from aldi's right after the new year. It was a great price and is super powerful. They seemed to have the same gadgets come out every year around the same time. I recommend checked in January to see if they have one. My favorite thing to make is carrot juice. It's very filling and has even been my dinner a few times this year.

Ingredients:

-4 carrots

-1 sweet potato 

-1 inch of ginger

-1/2 of a lemon

Juice all items into the same glass and enjoy! It doesn't really matter what order you juice it in and in my juicer the above amount would only make one glass.

Clams with Sake

I had a housewarming several years ago and I had an Asian theme so everyone, and I mean everyone, brought me a bottle of sake. I am not actually a huge sake drinker (I prefer soju) so it's taken me a while to use these bottles up. I cook with wine often so I decided to cook with sake and I absolutely love it. I chose to steam clams with sake and the end result has a great flavor- it's even a bit sweet. The first time since I didn't know quite what I was doing a used frozen clams. Here are the ingredients:

-package of frozen clams

-sake (enough to fill bottom of pan and cover at least half of the clams)

-onions

-chopped scallions and togarashi spice for seasoning/topping 

I sautéed some chopped onions in butter until they were clear, added the frozen clams and sake and covered. I left them covered for about 15 minutes and my clams were defrosted and steamed. I usually like to mix the clams with the sauce one more and let simmer for another few minutes. There should still be plenty of "sauce" in the bottom of the pan.

This is a picture of what was left in the pan after taking a couple of bowls of clams out. The clams taste good enough to eat just like this but I like the clams with a little spicy to balance out the sweet so I too with sliced scallions and togarashi. And the finished product:

I'm sure this method would taste great with any kind of seafood. 

Free online cooking class from Harvard

This class looks amazing!  It explains the science behind food and teaches you fancy techniques.  It is an online class given by Harvard.  You can take it for fun or to earn a certificate.  To earn the certificate you need to do labs, homework and a final project.  This looks like so much fun and it's free - sign up!!!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/09/30/227918426/now-you-can-go-to-harvard-and-learn-cooking-science-from-top-chefs

It started October 8th, 2013 but the first lab/homework isn't due until mid November so its ok to sign up late!