My New Year’s Resolution

My mom asked me what my New Year’s Resolution was when it came to my cooking.  Well first she had to explain to me what a resolution was.  Then I really had to think about it.  First I thought about if there was anything new I wanted to learn how to cook… well I don’t know exactly but it will be fun trying to figure it out.  That doesn’t help for my resolution. 

Then I thought.. what do I want to learn about food this year.  Well I think I would like to learn  more about the foods in the different cultures are part of me.  Italian and Korean…  Learn why they make foods the way they do and more dishes and flavors from these places. 

 I would also like to cook more strange, different weird exotic (my mom helped with that word) food.  I would like to cook with wild bore and sea urchin.  I tried both when I was younger and in Italy.  I know I liked them but I don’t remember them since I was only 5 but I would like to try them again.  I want to cook with them and see how it is.

 My mom says I also need to say something about eating more fruits and vegetables.  I already eat a lot, but I will eat more.  I just want to make sure that I eat healthy too.  That is important.

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Day

On Christmas day, I learned how to make Bechamel sauce: Basic white sauce

Bechamel Sauce

5 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

 4 cups milk

5 pinches of salt

A couple grates of nutmeg

You have to melt the butter in a sauce pan.Once it is melted, add the flour and mix until all is blended. Add milk and stir until smooth.

Add 5 pinches of salt and nutmeg and you are done.

My Nonna and I made white lasagna out of the Bechamel sauce. It is call white lasagna because it doesn’t have any tomato sauce on it.

My mom and I made lasagna with red sauce. We made fresh ricotta cheese. The word ricotta in Italian means cooked again. For those people who don’t know what ricotta cheese is… it is that crumbly white cheese you find in lasagna.. Sort of like cottage cheese but a little drier.

For Christmas I got lots of presents. The two foodie presents I got were my own set of pots and pans and a FOODIEJR sweat shirt.

I love being Asian-European American.

I get to eat the best food.  Pasta, Rice, …  Pizza.. Seaweed.. just tons of stuff..

I say that sitting here eating chick peas with chopsticks.  Life is good.

I’m on vacation from school for three weeks and I’ve been cooking. Today I made Pasta Alfredo for lunch for everyone.  This week I made.. shark..  spaghetti squash with my fresh tomato sauce… zucchini balls with blue cheese…  steamed rice.. then the leftovers I made into fried rice for lunch the next day..  salads..  cole slaw.. pot roast.. tortellini in white sauce… scallop potatoes oh just tons and tons of yummy food.  

I still haven’t found an exciting recipe for all the citrus in my house..  My Dad bought boxes of mandarin oranges and my mom bought more grapefruits.  If anyone has a good recipe I should try let me know.

Kimbap and Spam

This weekend we (i bambini Johnson) went with our Dad to Phoenix for the Arizona v Arizona State football game.  It was tons of fun.  We met up with my Grandma and Taba (Grandpa).  They are my Dad’s mom and dad.  My Grandma is Korean and she brought the stuff to make one of my favorite foods.  Kimbap..  I usually eat it really plain.. Just steamed medium rice wrapped in Korean seaweed wrappers..  YUM!!

 This weekend she added a new twist… SPAM!  I’ve never had it before..  It was interesting… kinda salty..  and not too bad in my Kimbap.. My favorite will still be plain but I can handle the Spam every once in a while.

Here’s someone else’s picture of Kimbap just in case you’ve never seen it before. 

Korean seaweed wrappers are a bit different than Japanese wrappers.  The Korean one’s are crunchier and are slightly seasoned.  My mom cuts these into smaller squares and my brother, sister and I (I bambini Johnson) eat them like potato chips…  Now I’m hungry again!!

Deep Sea Fishing with my Dad and Great Uncle

My Great Uncle (Zio Gianni) and Great Aunt (Zia Vanna) are here visiting us from Sardegna.  They are really a lot of fun and I get to speak Italian with them because they don’t speak any English.  They are teaching me about different types of foods and I’m loving every minute of it.

I’ve been to Italy a few times and the first time I ever went fishing it was with Zio Gianni.  I caught a fish right away and they said I was a natural born fisherman.  I was so proud.

Yesterday I went deep sea fishing off of Dana Point with my Dad and Zio Gianni.  It was so much fun!   I caught a mackerel right away.  Then we caught scorpion fish and my Dad even caught a white fish.  The sea lions kept stealing our fish as we were reeling them up.  A few times I ended up with just the head on the hook but we did get to keep a few. They didn’t like the scorpion fish because of their spines.

We took our fish home and my Great Uncle taught me and my brother and sister how to clean them.  It was a little gross but still definitely cool.  My little sister wants to be a doctor when she grows up and kept asking my Great Uncle what each part of the guts were.. 

In Italy my Great Uncle has a big sail boat so he goes fishing there all the time.  As soon as we brought the fish home Zia Vanna decided we were going to make La Cassola, a Sardinian Fish Soup (Zuppa di Pesce alla Sarda).  She stayed with me in the kitchen and taught me how to make it.  It was delicious.  I added the recipe to the Recipe Log.

It was pretty amazing that I was eating the fish I just caught in the ocean.  I learned so many things.. Wow this isn’t a day I will ever forget!

 My mom is getting the pictures together and will help me post them soon.

 FoodieJr.