Cheesy Spinach and Bacon Quiche

• 1 pie sheet
• 1.5 tbs olive oil
• 3/4 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 red pepper or 1/4 cup diced zucchini
• 2 - 3 strips of bacon
• 3 large garlic cloves
• Full 1/2 cup spinach
• 4 large eggs
• 2/3 cups and  1/4 cup heavy cream and milk (half and half)
• 3/4 cup Havarti cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• *1/4 & 1/8 tsp salt
• *a pinch of pepper  and some ground pepper
• *1.5 1/8 tsp thyme
• *1.5 1/8 tsp rosemary

*Can be adjusted for flavor preference

1. To bake pie sheet, put aluminum foil all around and cut the center in circle and put pie weights in the center. Bake for 5 minutes at 375°F and remove pie weights to bake it for another 10 minutes.
2. Heat olive oil and cook all the vegetables with garlic, except for spinach.
3. Beat eggs in a bowl and add in heavy milk & milk, cheese and toss in spinach.
4. Add the cooked vegetables in the egg mixture.
5. Flavor with salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary and pour in the pie crust.
6. Bake with aluminum foil for 27 - 35 minutes at 375°F and remove the foil and brush egg on the edge of the crust to bake it for another 3 - 5 minutes.

My Russian Mother's Borscht

• 2.5 - 3 large beets
• 2 medium onions or 1 large onion
• 2 small carrots
• 2 celery
• 1 medium potato
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 big cloves of garlic
• 120 grams sliced cabbage
• 1/2 full cup of parsley
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 1 cup tomato puree or 2/3 cup tomato sauce (80%) + water (20%)
• 6 cups of beef or chicken stock (2 packages of Oofuu dashi + 2 packages of vegetable dashi) or just a couple of chicken wings
• 1.5/4 to 1/2 lemon
• some sugar
• 1 tbs dill weed
• Sour cream or Greek yogurt

1. Add shredded beets in beef or chicken stock in a pot (or some chicken wings or oofuu dashi like consomme). Cook about 15 minutes.
2. Shred carrots, celery and potato together and cook them in a pan with oil for 3- 4 minutes. Transfer them into the stock.
3. Shred cabbage and parsley in food processor, dice tomatoes and mash garlic. Add all of them into the stock and put some tomato puree to cook for another 10 minutes.
4. Finish with adding some lemon juice, sugar and dill weed. (take out chicken wings if you use them instead of packaged stock or consomme)
5. Enjoy with sour cream!

Mocha Latte Cake with Chocolate Drops

Ingredients:
7 inch cake pan, 355 degrees

Coffee cake:

• 3 eggs, separate
• 90 grams sugar
• A pinch of salt
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 90 grams flour
• 30 grams butter
• 1 tbs instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tbs water

Coffee whipped cream:

• 2 tsp instant coffee melted in 1.5 tsp water
• 150 ml heavy cream
• 2 tbs powder sugar

Chocolate drop decoration:

• 1.5 - 2 squares of 60 - 70% chocolate (about 10 - 15 gram), melted

Preparation:
*Preheat the oven to 355ºF.
**Grease and flour a 7 inch pan

How to make chocolate drop decoration:

1. Microwave and melt chocolate for about 45- 50 seconds or longer.
2. Use a spoon and baking paper on a flat plate.
3. Scoop and drop a little amount of the melted chocolate onto the paper to make a drop shape and make 8 drops.
4. Put them in a freezer till you use them (by peeling them off the paper) to decorate the cake.

How to make coffee sponge cake:

1. Sift flour in a bowl.
2. Separate eggs and beat egg white to make meringue by adding a little salt first and sugar gradually (salt helps to form peaks). (Keep eggs chilled till right before making meringue to make it easier to form peaks)
3. Add egg yolk one by one well and vanilla extract. Beat at the lowest speed for about 3- 5 minutes to make a smooth sponge cake.
4. Add half the flour and coffee and mix well.
5. Add the rest of the flour and mix quickly with a spatula.
6. Pour batter evenly into the pan and bake at 355ºF for 23 - 25 minutes. When the edge of the cake and the center seem to be equally firm, it's ready. 
7. When the cake is cool, decorate it with the below coffee whipped cream and chocolate decorations.

Arigato - Thank you very much for your love and encouragement, Kuri-chan!

How to make coffee whipped cream:

• Dissolve coffee in water.
• Beat heavy cream until it starts to thicken a little bit.
• Add coffee into the cream and beat a little bit more before it forms soft peaks (careful not to beat too much).

Creamy Egg-custard Flan

Ingredients:
 *Caramel Sauce*
3 tbs granulated sugar
1 tbs water
1 tbs boiling water

*Flan*
120 ml milk
90 ml heavy milk
45 grams egg
3 egg yolks
38 grams sugar
2 & 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Serves about 6 small ramekis

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (reduced to 350 degrees later to bake)
2. Make caramel sauce by heating sugar and water in a small pan over medium heat.
3. When the color starts to darken and thicken (it'll darken very quickly once it turns brown so be careful!), keep an eye and pour boiling water when you see the color you like (I like darker = little bitter).
4. Pour about quarter-coin size caramel sauce in each ramekin and set aside.
5. Simmer milk and heavy cream in a small pot.
6. Stir egg well and mix in sugar in a bowl.
7. Pour simmering milk "very slowly" into the egg mixture (egg custard).
8. Add vanilla extract and strain the egg custard into each ramekin.
9. Place all the ramekins in a big baking pan or ceramic pan and fill with about 2 inches of boiling water.
10. Bake them for about 24 - 30 minutes (depends on how deep the custard is).

Demi-glace Omlet with Rice

I first made demi-glace (brown sauce made of beef stock and vegetables) in a quicker way and it wasn't that easy! This recipe needs to improve but will write down the best I could...Maybe if I used a pressure cooker, that may be a solution...

Demi-glace (brown sauce)
50 - 60 grams thinly sliced beef
1 tbs olive oil
1/8 cup flour
1 tbs tomato paste or tomato sauce
1/4 cup red wine (or white)
3/4 - 1 cup beef broth (I substituted with oofu-dashi and real beef)
1.5 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
Some thyme
Some nutmeg
*1 tbs & 2 tsp usuta sauce (Japanese version of Worcestershire sauce)
*1 tbs ketchup or tomato paste
*2 tsp sugar

Without the last three ingredients, the sauce may be too thin. By adjusting the last three ingredients, you can make the sauce richer or less rich.

1. Sear beef in a saute pan with oil and take out beef to put it aside.
2. Cook flour in the saute pan until it turns brown and add tomato paste and cook until it thickens.
3. Pour wine over the saute pan and let it evaporate.
4. Stir in beef broth (I put back my seared beef) and add onions (and mushrooms, if you have), Worcestershire sauce, bay leave, thyme and nutmeg.
5. Simmer them over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens.
6. Add the last three ingredients to your preference.

Will update this recipe later including the omlet & rice part. Hoping I can try other quicker way to make this sauce!

2013 Oshogatsu ni O-inari san (Sweet Sushi - Inarizushi)

Ingredients:
Makes 10 Inarizushi

*Sushi rice*

• 2 rice-cups rice (about 100 grams/cup)
• Water for rice equivalent to the number of the rice-cup (when using California-or US-produced rice) - the amount more than enough
• 100 ml sushi vinegar + 3 tbs granulated sugar (add 140 cc first and adjust)
• A pinch of salt
• 2/3 small thin carrot (about 30 grams), thinly sliced
• 1/8 regular-sized burdock (about 30 grams), thinly sliced
• Some lotus root and shiitake (optional), thinly sliced

*Sweet soy-sauce and dashi water*
  (Needed to simmer the sushi vegetables)

• About 150 - 200 ml water
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• Some dashi powder
• 1/2 tbs sugar

*Prepared Inari-age (sweet fried tofu, the wrapping part)* - Easy and recommended!
  Non-prepared frozen Inari-age needs to be simmered in the below sauce.
  For 5 big square Inari-age:

• 200 ml water
• 5 tbs sugar
• 4 tbs soy sauce

1. Set the rice in the rice cooker.
2. Microwave sushi vinegar for about 20 -30 seconds and melt in sugar.
3. If you have prepared inari-age, just drain it by gently squeezing them and that's it! (recommended). If you have frozen inari-age (not prepared), simmer them in water in a saucepan at medium to low heat, say sauce and sugar and take them out when they absorb the sauce that should be half-way gone by the time they're ready. Drain lightly squeezing them (I know it's hot so wait for a while until you can touch them!) and cut the square shaped inari-age in half triangularly and open the pocket by hand where the rice will be put into later.
4. Slice thinly all the vegetables and simmer them in *Sweet soy-sauce and dashi wate* for about 2 minutes.
5. When the rice is cooked, immediately move the rice into a big bowl and add the vegetables and the sushi vinegar to mix them well while the rice is hot. This way, the rice absorbs the vinegar the best. Cover the rice in a bowl with a wet towel while it cools down to keep it moist.
6. Take some sushi in one hand and put it into a triangle inariage pocket and wrap it nicely.

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Ingredients:
2 packages of strawberries (1lb = 450 gram x 2)
1 & 1/4 cups of granulated sugar
1 large lemon zest & juice

1. Use a medium-sized pot (bigger than 3-quart pot) and melt lemon zest & juice and sugar well over low heat (about 5 minutes). (If the pot is too small, it's hard to release the strawberries' juice and thicken well.) 
2. Cut strawberries in haf and cook over low-medium heat for about 20 -25 minutes.
3. It's ready when a drop of the juice isn't runny on a cold plate. (You may think it's too liquidy when jam is heated but remember it thickens more when chilled in the fridge later. So, it is ready when you think not. Don't over cook!)

We liked this jam because it's not too sweet like store-sold jam and taste the fresh strawberries on bread. They are tasty on crackers or in yogurt.

Adapted from my favorite Ina Garden's recipe "Fresh Strawberry Jam"