The Boy and the Bridge

The Boy and the Bridge, a photo by js_hale on Flickr.

Jacob has a full-on fascination with the "gon-gon ju-ju" (Golden Gate Bridge). With Teddy leading the way, we hiked from Cavallo Point to the Visitor's Center on the northeast side of the bridge. A little harrowing with all the construction going on, but for Jacob, the 18-wheelers, tractors and heavy duty pickups were icing on the cake. It looks like it could be 80 degrees out, but it's always good to have extra layers when you're anywhere near the bridge. And action hero sunglasses.

Learning to love my vegetables

Learning to love my vegetables, a photo by js_hale on Flickr.

Obviously, I haven't abandoned healthful eating. In fact, for breakfast this morning, I had a lettuce and tomato salad alongside my eggs, toast and coffee. Either it means that I'm craving veggies or I just miss Japan. When in doubt, it is pretty much always the latter.

Inspired - still!

From left - angel hair cabbage and grape tomato salad, oven-broiled teriyaki chicken, grilled vegetables (red pepper, button mushrooms and snap peas), rice, and miso soup with scallops, wakame seaweed and chives. 


Today, I got some news that was not so great - to the point where I went on a long, much-needed walk and, after promising myself a big, fat slice of Triple Chocolate Mousse cake, I happily settled for chocolate frozen yogurt, which was conveniently located to where I was at the end of my walk. 


As I tore into my tower of creamy goodness, I thought of what friend's daughter, who's 27 (still young in my mind) likes to say: "There's nothing so bad in life that ice cream can't fix." Such a sweet sentiment. In my case, she was half-right. While it didn't "fix" the issue, the fro-yo lifted my spirits and gave me some much-needed perspective. When things happen to me that are out of my control, I have a hard time not finding fault in myself. It's true enough that I could have made different decisions - I have to remember that even still, it might not have made a difference. 


There are some things that we are not meant to control. I'm trying to accept that, to be thankful for what I do have (not the least of which is good health) and focus on the next steps. Several good decisions I made today have me feeling much better - the long walk, the frozen yogurt, and dinner, which was pizza from Lococo's, a genius local family place. I don't know how they do it, but Lococo's makes the crust exactly how I like it - this thick, chubby, chewy crust, all bubbled up and crispy around the edges. You can't not eat the crust. It is a crime - punishable in at least 3 counties. 


I should have taken pictures of our glorious pizza - but it is gone. In my belly. Still providing the feeling of fullness and satisfaction that only good pizza can provide. To those of you reading this and wondering about my super-healthy meal post a few weeks back, all I can say is that balance and moderation is key. And when you're feeling low, food can do a lot to soothe the spirit and comfort the soul. 


I am forever toggling between Italian and Japanese cuisine in my house - these two cuisines comprise at least 90% of what we eat in our house. So since I do not have the pizza picture or recipe available, I will tell you about the chicken teriyaki I made the night before last. I could have easily charred it into oblivion, using my unpredictable broiler that sporadically blasts out enough heat to melt a glacier. Today, my broiler was feeling abundantly generous - breast and thigh pieces alike were all juicy, tender and mouthwateringly sweet from the teriyaki marinade. The veggies were easy - I felt like a super-genius, remembering to soak my snap peas to slow the cooking - they were slightly charred and cooked to perfection. Didn't add a thing to them except canola oil spray which went direction on the pan; they were soft, succulent and delicious just like that. Cabbage and grape tomato salad comes out of the bag, gets rinsed and put on a plate. 
But this yuzu sesame dressing that I got in Japan town transforms them into YUM! 


I am especially proud of the teriyaki chicken because it's another recipe that I believe I improved on after playing with it. It's from Harumi Kurihara's book, "Harumi's Japanese Cooking." It's an odd book, and I bet that if you wanted to be a smart-ass, you could make the argument that the title is false advertising. There is no WAY that this book represents what Kurihara considers to be "Japanese cooking." There are recipes like "Tofu salad with basil and gorgonzola..." huh?? I know that about half of the non-Japanese readers throughout the world scratch their heads and say, "I didn't know that was considered Japanese food..." I promise you, it's NOT!!!! It just adds to the insurmountable confusion and misinformation about Japan. The title of the book is misleading, mindless crap, but the book itself is a collection of pretty good Japanese and Western recipes from a culinary celebrity in Japan. End of story/rant. And now, the recipe! 


Teriyaki Chicken


Here's Kurihara san's version of teriyaki sauce - doesn't get any simpler. I think I'm getting this right - it's late, and I'm too lazy to check, so here it is:


1.25 Cups soy sauce
1 T Mirin
1.5 T superfine sugar


I did not use superfine sugar, and the soy sauce I used was a mixture of regular and reduced-salt. Even still, I could only taste soy sauce when I made it as directed. Once I added another tablespoon of sugar, and another tablespoon of mirin, I started to get some sweeter notes and dimension to the flavor. Other recipes call for fresh ginger juice. I love ginger juice in anything, but it can be overpowering. Moreover, I was going for something that Jacob would like, so I stuck to these 3 ingredients. 


I think I would start with these proportions, taste the mixture once the sugar is fully dissolved, and go from there: 


4 T soy sauce
2 T mirin
2 T sugar


Double the recipe or triple it as needed to cover however much chicken you have. Chicken thigh or breast works beautifully for teriyaki. Be careful not to overcook chicken breast, it's easy to do. 


Put chicken and marinade into a Ziploc bag, squeeze out all the air and fold it in such a way that the chicken pieces are submerged in marinade as much as possible. Marinate for 2 hours. Flip the bag over a few times while marinating to ensure that all chicken pieces are covered. 


Preheat broiler. Spray a wire rack with canola or other neutral oil and place over a drip pan to catch drippings. Ideally, you're using a grid rack so that you don't lose any pieces. Remove chicken from bag with tongs onto a cutting board. Reserve marinade in the bag. Cut chicken into pieces about a quarter-inch thick and arrange on the wire rack. Place under the broiler. Check after 5 minutes or so. Turn chicken pieces over with tongs, ladle some more marinade on top of chicken pieces and place under broiler again. Check after another 5 minutes and remove once thoroughly cooked. Serve immediately or at room temperature.