By Bill Melver
This week, I thought I’d reflect back on one of my earlier columns about cooking and eating. It’s interesting to note, several celebrities have come out, talking about taking up cooking in this time of many idle moments. Since we all have time on our hands, it’s the perfect opportunity to explore new recipes and even go out on a limb to try something totally new and different. If you do, maybe you should have a Plan B, in case the new adventure turns out totally not to your liking – hate to see you go hungry.
So, let me start by sharing that, for the past year or so, I’ve taken up the ritual of posting a weekly menu on our fridge, every Sunday. I came to realize that we were throwing out lots of food – they were going bad before we could eat them or totally forget, we had frozen some left overs, then totally forgetting about them. So my weekly routine starts with an inventory of what’s in the fridge – both the frozen section and the regular fresh food section. The inventory helps me plan the menu for the week, taking advantage of creating a dish around the oldest inventory stuff. For example, couple of weeks ago, we decided to make the Viet Namese PHO, which required some Asian veggies. I decided on Baby Bok Choy and bean sprouts. Obviously, I ended up buying way too much for our PHO dinner so the following week, I made Chinese stir fried noodles, just in time before the bean sprouts went bad.
Also, in my planning, I usually rely on a routine of Italian, Mexican, Chinese and Japanese, then overlay with beef, pork, chicken and seafood, alternating fish with shellfish. Also, recall my story about the Cabbage Rolls from the Cabbage Connection. Well, some of my neighbors were thrilled, getting those cabbage rolls that they had to return the favor. We ended up with a plate of Kibbee, two huge stuffed green peppers and a quarter of chocolate cake. We plan to start the week with those stuffed peppers on Monday.
Tuesday, we’ve decided to designate as “Take out Tuesday” in support of local restaurants. I’ve gotten on the list with LocalFlavors and try to support one of the restaurants that are participating in this effort. Currently, I’m leaning toward Larry’s Main Entrance.
Wednesday is mystery leftover night. Sometimes, we forget to label a leftover before putting it in the freezer, then we don’t know what it is, after it becomes a frozen brick. All I can say is, its red in color and has a faint smell of cilantro – should be interesting.
Thursday is usually our Italian night. Last week, we finished the last of the Italian meatballs that Ginny made about six weeks ago – she usually makes about fifteen meatballs and we freeze them in batches of three. So, this Thursday, we’ll probably do Pasta Vongole, which some call it Zuppa de Clam. Acme usually carries fresh clams and I get a half dozen and augment with can of minced clams. If Acme doesn’t have them, I make a trip to Kleins Seafood on S. Grant Street, in which case, I also get fresh clam strips. I alternate between a tomatoey red sauce and a white wine and olive oil sauce. They are both yummy, served on pasta of your choice.
This Friday, we plan to have sushi. Most people think sushi is raw fish but it’s a lot more than that. There’s cooked shrimp, Japanese style Bar-B-Q eel called Unagi and many vegetables. One variety is called Maki or roll and probably the most popular is the California roll, which consists of crabmeat and avocado, layer on sushi rice and rolled, then sliced into bite size morsels. A plain cucumber roll is called Kappa Maki and Oshinko Maki is a roll with pickled daikon, which is my favorite at the end of my sushi meal with a cup of hot tea. One point of clarification – sushi actually means vinegar flavored rice and there are many different variety of sushi, originating from different regions of Japan. For example, maze sushi is a form of sushi with many vegetables, cooked in flavored broth and mixed into the sushi rice – no raw fish or any meats and oshi sushi is a variation that came form the south and is a pressed form, then cut into squares before serving, again with many variations of local vegetables, egg, avocado and local fish as its flavoring.
Saturday, we will most like grill a steak, outside but lots depend on the weather. If it’s crummy, we may end up cooking tempura at the table. Last year, we purchased an electric wok, about 14 inches in diameter and quite deep in the middle. It’s perfect for tempura, served cook-as-you-go, sort of like a beef fondue. Secret is in the batter, using a little Japanese rice starch but regular corn starch works almost as well. I’ve seen recipes with beer but we stick, strictly to ice cold water. Trust me, this is the best way to get your children to eat fresh vegetables – our favorite is onions, then green peppers, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, plus of course shrimp. Lightly dip each piece in the batter, them drop them into the hot oil and cook for just a few minutes Trust me, the kids will love every piece.
So, there you have it – My COVID-19 adventure of the week. Hope this will provide some inspirations and help to make the week go a little faster.
Late breaking news – I just learned, as I am writing this column that New York City just announced, they seemed to have turned the corner on new cases of coronavirus victims. This is indeed great news and my heart goes out to all the doctors, nurses, EMS workers that are on the frontlines fighting this pandemic. Please join me in praying for them and hoping that this will soon be brought under control. We Ohioans are indeed fortunate for our great leadership and their foresight to minimize its effects on our communities.
Stay safe, following the guidelines for social distancing and washing your hands as the officials are advising, and be sure to try the LocalFlavors website in supporting our local restaurants!! Happy eating.
Bill Melver
Akron, Ohio
“Bill Melver is an interesting local personality, having founded the Akron Life & Leisure Magazine in 2002, ran for mayor of Akron in 2015 and now an aspiring author with his first book “An American Samurai: Born to Righteousness”, will be released soon. You can also learn more about Bill on his website www.BillMelver.com
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