Would you like to experience how to prepare real meals FAST, Kitchen Wizard Style step by step, by participating from beginning to end?  And learn how to do it night after night?

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Many of you asked me for fully hands-on, “how to do Kitchen Wizarding day after day” classes, so that you can duplicate it at home.

I’m happy to announce that now my fully hands-on, 3 day series encompassing the essence of the Kitchen Wizard Method is coming to Marin County’s ITK (In the Kitchen) Culinary in Sausalito.

In these classes, you’ll learn my unique yet easy secrets to batch prep and keep everything ready to go, so all you have to do is mix and match at a moment’s notice to put fresh meals on the table day after day without stress.
You will not only learn recipes, but my revolutionary cooking methods that save you tons of time, money and food; especially invaluable for those with smallish families including single people.

ITK is very spacious and has 12 stoves, so you will have the space to make most recipes on your own.
Each class builds on top of each other, so taking all 3 is recommended (and you get a great discount).
You will experience how easy it is to make many exciting dishes with little effort – it’ll blow your socks off!

Only able to attend one or two? No worries.
Each class can be stand-alone, and the key points will be reviewed and expanded upon, so that you can easily duplicate the processes you learn at home.

Cooking Optimization Hands-On Class
Date: September 1 – 3 (Wed, Thurs, Fri)
You can either sign up for the entire 3 day series, or separately for individual classes.
Details & Sign-up: http://ITKCulinary.com/classes/CookingOptimization.html
This is a very popular class, so sign up now!

(Click here to review ITK’s policies.)

If you know anyone who are interested in learning how to put real, healthy meals on the table faster & cheaper, please pass along the info.

Hope to see you there.

Mari

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Have you ever ended up with tofu leftovers?  What do you normally do with it?

Do you want to know my secret?  Crumble with a fork, cook in microwave, then you can add to practically anything. For example, soup — not only for miso soup, but also other Asian style soup, mix with ground meat and make a healthier burgers, scrambled tofu, stir fry, stuffing for gyoza, with rice. You can even add it to smoothie or make desserts, if you use the kinu-goshi (soft or medium-soft).  You can also do this to extend the life for a few more days, when you have a fresh tofu that’s about to expire. (Tofu can be frozen in the pack or with water, yet the texture changes compeletely.)

And yes, in case you are wondering, you can make this first, and make the tofu scramble I shared with you on my last post.

Scrambled Tofu Base

  1. Crumble a tofu with a folk and place it on the microwavable plate lined with a paper towel. Microwave high for 4-5 minutes.
  2. Leave until cool to handle,  transfer to a tupper ware lined with paper towel. Store in the fridge.

One recipe I want to share with you today is called Shiro-ae. Literally means mixed with whites.

Shira-ae

Ingredients:

  • Scrambled Tofu mix – 1 cup (about 1/2 block of tofu)
  • Nerigoma (sesame paste), ground sesame seeds, Tahini or peanut butter – 2 TBS
  • Sugar – to taste
  • Soy sauce – to taste
  • miso (optional) – to taste
  • Salt – pinch
  • Greens – 1 1/2 – 2 cups

Method:

  1. Mix tofu, sesame paste, sugar, soy sauce and salt.
  2. Steam or boil greens, shock in ice water, and squeeze water out well.  Chop in bite size pieces. Or just use leftover vegetables.
  3. Mix 1 and 2 right before eating.

Note: My favorites are broccoli or spinach, yet other vegetables such as carrots and sea vegetables especially hijiki can be used for this dish.
What’s your favorite way to eat tofu?  Please share as comment below.

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August 5, 2010

Recipe: Japanese Tofu Scramble (いり豆腐 Iri Dofu)

Diet

What dish speaks to you “HOME”?
For me, it’s iri-dofu, Japanese tofu scramble. It’s one of the most typical Japanese home-cooked dish, and you probably won’t see it served much at restaurants (unless it’s more casual “Izakaya” type place.)  With a chopsticks full (?) of this fluffy tofu and tuna mixture with steamed rice, I breathe [...]

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July 16, 2010

Pantry Tips to Eat Well with Minimum Time and Effort

Fast and Easy

Do you want to know the secret to our last-minute gourmet lunch in Seattle I covered in last two posts?

Pre-prep some versatile base, and keep it in fridge or freezer.
Build a efficient and versatile pantry that’s easy to mix and match to whip up different dishes.

I talked about Stuffed Tomatoes last time, so let’s talk [...]

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July 7, 2010

Recipe: Stuffed Tomatoes with Prosciutto

Fast and Easy

So you want the recipe for these delicious lunch, eh?
I highly recommend you first make Sauteed Mirepoix or Sauteed Mirepoix and Meat Mixture , so the rest is super fast. You can also make many different dishes from it, just like my student Mariko did and realized that it changed the way she thinks about [...]

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July 2, 2010

How to Eat Well with Minimum Time and Effort

Fast and Easy

Do you ever need to whip up a meal in a hurry?
Sometimes for your friend, who you have to impress?
That happened me recently.
Dreadful?  No.  Actually easy.  You can do it too once you find out my secret weapon I share on this post (and recipes on the next few posts.)
This happened when we visited Seattle, [...]

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June 16, 2010

Freezing Tips: How to Extend Life of Your Food & Save Time Later….

Uncategorized

Are you enjoying beautiful summer and longer days?
When I was living in Japan decades ago, warmer month, especially June till September or so meant everything gets moldy.  I mean EVERYTHING.  The most vivid memory is that even my water color paints got moldy.  And every year, I ruined a few pairs of leather [...]

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June 11, 2010

Turkish Style, Stretchy Icecream Made with… What?

Dessert

A while ago, I wrote I made something unique with natto leftover, and showed you this photo, and asked you to guess.
I haven’t given you the answer, have I?
The answer is…  Turkish Style, Stretchy Icecream!
I got this recipe from Cookpad, my favorite recipe site.  Unfortunately, it’s only in Japanese.  Anyway, handful of people posted this [...]

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May 28, 2010

Want To Know Secrets to Put Real Meals on the Table, FAST?

Uncategorized

Do you want to know the secret to put REAL meals on the table, FAST without stress?
If you know how to cook efficiently and resourcefully, you will put good, real meals on the table fast, and will enjoy your creations.  If you are inefficient in the kitchen, you won’t.  it’s [...]

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May 26, 2010

Event Report: Organic Megumi Natto Release Party at Ozumo in SF

Uncategorized

Have you ever had “NATTO” before?  Fermented soy beans from Japan?

Do you like it?
For many non-Japanese, its stickiness and pungent aroma (some call it offensive) are a bit too much.  Actually many Japanese from Western Japan do not care for it either.

Recently, I was invited to the Organic Megumi Natto Release Party at Ozumo in [...]

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