For the chicken:
4 chicken legs (or breasts)
1-2 eggs
Flour to cover the chicken

For the western vinegar sauce:
4 Tbsp soy sauce
6 Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsp vinegar
Pepper to taste (for adults)
1 tsp ketchup (for children)

For the tartar sauce:
1-2 hard-boiled eggs (if you like)
1/4 onion (if you like)
1/3 cucumber or pickle (if you like)
5 Tbsp mayonnaise (if you like)
1 Tbsp ketchup (if you like)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp mustard grains

1. Chicken
   1. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces
   2. Salt and pepper to taste
   3. Roll chicken in the flour and dust off
   4. Dip the chicken in a beaten egg(s)
   5. Fry the chicken until cooked
2. Western Vinegar Sauce
   1. put sugar, soy sauce and vinegar into pan and put any piece of ginger, onions and carrots and boil
   2. if you want, you can add red pepper for adults and ketchup for kids
3. Marinade fried chicken in the western vinegar sauce to give it moisture and flavor
4. Make a Tartar Sauce
   1. Chop Boiled eggs and onions and cucumber (if it is good pickles), and add salt and pepper and ketchup and mayonnaise
   2. If you have the chopped parsley and lemon juice, whipped cream and mustard, whisked together and added to the above mixture, that makes it taste much better.
5. Put the tartar sauce over the chicken
6. Eat it

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: ˜15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Yield: serves 2

1 bunch garlic chives
3 eggs
3 Tbsp Chinese soup stock
Salt, pepper, & soy sauce to taste

1. Chop the garlic chives into ˜3-inch pieces
2. Crack the eggs and combine with the garlic chives and Chinese soup stock
3. Transfer all ingredients to a medium-sized frying pan and cook over medium-high heat until finished (like an omelet)
4. Add salt, pepper, & soy sauce to taste

Note: If you prefer, you can add sliced pork belly (looks like bacon). Just cook the pork first, then add it with the rest of the ingredients in step 2 above.

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: ˜15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Yield: serves 3

400 g pumpkin (seeded, peeled, boiled)
250 cc milk
200 cc heavy whipping cream
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Take the seeds out from the pumpkin and cut into large, bite-sized pieces
2. Boil the pumpkin pieces until all the water has evaporated
3. Remove the pumpkin peel (if not already done)
4. Put the pot with the pumpkin pieces back on the stove and cook over medium-high heat (make sure there is no water left in the pot)
5. Put the pumpkin pieces and milk & cream into the food processor and blend until smooth
6. Transfer from the food processor back to the pot and heat until it begins to boil
7. Salt and pepper to taste
8. Gently pour cream a little cream into the bowl for finishing touches

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: ˜15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Yield: serves 3

300 g pork belly (Bara)
2 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 onion
* 2 Tbsp okonomiyaki sauce
* 2 Tbsp soy sauce
* 2 Tbsp sake
* 2 Tbsp mirin
* 2 Tbsp ketchup
* 1 tsp sugar
* 2 pieces of ginger (ground)
* 1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

1. Cut the pork into 2-inch pieces and mix with the sake and soy sauce for the base taste
2. Cut the onion into 1/4-inch slivers and sauté over medium / medium-high heat
3. Mix all * and boil
4. Put oil into the pan and stir in pork and onion
5. Cook until pork and onion are done

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: ˜15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Yield: serves 4

3 medium-sized potatoes
2 carrots
2 onions
1/2 head of broccoli
200 g leftover vegetables (cabbage, radish, green onion, celery, etc.)
1 bag of sausage
2 cubes chicken consommé
1 laurier leaf (a.k.a. bay leaf)
salt & pepper to taste

1. Peel all vegetable and cut in bite-sized pieces
2. Make several puncture marks in the skin of the sausage so it doesn’t burst while cooking
3. Put the vegetables, sausage, and laurier in the pressure cooker
4. Dissolve the chicken consomme in a little hot water and put in the pressure cooker
5. Fill the pressure cooker with enough hot water to cover all of the ingredients
6. Begin to cook over high heat
7. After steam starts to come out from the pressure cooker, cook for an additional 10 minutes (low pressure=10 minutes, high pressure=8 minutes)
8. Remove from heat and release the pressure
9. Add salt & pepper to taste

Note: You can substitute sausage for bacon block or chicken wings. You can also use thyme & parsley to enhance the aroma of the dish.

I’ve thought about taking some cooking classes, but haven’t found anything in the immediate area yet. I think some knife & prep skills would especially help me in being faster and more organized when in the kitchen. A few months ago I got a Japanese cookbook. I haven’t made anything from it yet, but I keep planning to. When paging through the cookbook, it looked like there were a lot of dishes that I would like to eat.

About half the things I’ve made recently have been my mother’s recipes. There’s nothing like Midwest home cookin’. If you’re not really familiar with casseroles and “salads”, I’d highly recommend reading (or listening to) How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor’s Guide for a ridiculously hilarious explanation of the common food dishes in Minnesota.

In the next week or two, I should be able to start eating all the vegetables I’ve been growing (minus the arugula, which unfortunately died due to excessive heat). The baby bok choy and the lettuce and Mesclun mix look amazing. They’re getting sooooo big! I can safely say that I’m really excited to start eating my beautiful vegetables.