easy to prepare

Beef Udon (Niku Udon) 肉うどん

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Very few beautiful, heart and belly-warming dishes are as easy to prepare as these beef-noodles. At times I have eaten the noodles just with broth, at other times I have eaten the meat just by itself or over steamed rice. Any way I choose, I enjoy each one of them, but of course, the whole schamuckas as shown on this page is the very best of them. 🙂
I especially love the simplicity of the preparation. Hot broth, udon noodles and caramelized beef and caramelized scallions and voilà – culinary heaven has been reached ! 🙂
(In Japan, one usually adds a few slices of fish cake ( Narutomaki ), but I can do without that……..
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Click here for more Udon on ChefsOpinion
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Click here for more Beef on ChefsOpinion
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Beef Udon (Niku Udon) 肉うどん

Caramelized Beef only

Udon in Broth only

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures

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: lightly freeze (to be able to easily cut into very thin slices) 1 lb of well-trimmed tender beef (strip or flap works great)

: good stuff……….

: marinade the beef for 4 hours with 2 tblsp mirin, 1 tbls soy sauce and 2 tblsp sugar

: meanwhile, heat 4 cups of dashi with 1 tblsp soy sauce, 1 tblsp sugar and 2 tblsp mirin, bring to a simmer, remove from heat

: saute 2 stalks of on the bias cut scallions in 1 tblsp peanut oil until starting to caramelize

: add the beef

: saute over very high heat until the liquid has evaporated

: when the meat is nicely browned, remove from heat

: add the fresh-cooked udon noodles to the broth, check / adjust seasoning, – if neccessary, add Shichimi tougarashi for some extra heat

: add the udon with the broth to a deep serving dish, top with the beef, sprinkle with finely sliced scallions ; makes two main courses or six appetizers

: Beef Udon (Niku Udon) 肉うどん

: Beef Udon (Niku Udon) 肉うどん

: Beef Udon (Niku Udon) 肉うどん

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Soufflé Chocolate Cheese Cake

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Way back when I was a chef and young cooks asked me for suggestions and advise what to cook during competitions or job-interviews, the most difficult suggestion was usually the dessert course.
Most young cooks (and many old chefs) are not very skilled in pastry, so a quick, easy, foolproof, yet impressing and delicious dessert is usually a problem.
(When I was judging applicants both for sous chef positions and for chef instructor positions, 99 out of 100 desserts presented was crème brûlée) 😦
As for myself, although during my 3.5 year apprentice ship I was schooled for 6 months in classic french pastry, preparing the stuff was never something I enjoyed a lot.
(On the other hand, eating it is a whole different story) 🙂
The following little gem – Soufflé Chocolate Cheese Cake is a wonderful solution to the dilemma and it helped many of the cooks I mentored to be able to serve a dessert that could stand up to the rest of their presentation. It is so simple and quick to prepare that to this day I prepare it often for myself at home. Besides being easy to prepare, it also lends itself to variations, such as adding fruit, dark chocolate instead of white, or eliminating the chocolate altogether and replacing it with condensed milk. You can also use a spring mold instead of muffin cups to make it into a super-light, regular-sized cake. Because I had a bit of leftover chocolate pudding in the fridge from yesterday, I added it to 3 of the 6 mini-cakes.
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Bon Appétit ! Life is Good !
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Souffle Chocolate Cheese Cake

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Preparation :
To read instructions, hover over pictures
To enlarge pictures and read instructions, click on pictures
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: melt 8oz chocolate in double boiler

: melted chocolate

: to 8 oz cream cheese add the chocolate

: divide 6 eggs into yolks and whites (make sure the bowls are absolutely clean and free of fat)

: completely incorporate the chocolate into the cream cheese

: add the egg yolks, incorporate

: stir until smooth

: whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks

: add 1/4 of the egg-whites to the cream cheese /chocolate/egg yolk mixture, stir until smooth

: fold-in the rest of the egg-whites

: ready to fill into molds

: lightly spray molds with cooking spray (or brush with butter if preferred)

: fill molds to the rim, add filling if desired

: bake at 350F for 45 minutes (or until a inserted toothpick comes out clean); – pls note that cakes will rise like souffles, then, while cooling, deflate back to their original size

: cooling down………..

: plain cakes on the left, chocolate filled on the right; whipped cream (pls don’t mess this up by using ready-whip) 😦

: Souffle Chocolate Cheese Cake

: Souffle Chocolate Cheese Cake

: Souffle Chocolate Cheese Cake

: Souffle Chocolate Cheese Cake

: Souffle Chocolate Cheese Cake

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EASY DOES IT # 30 – Cinnamon Roll And Fruit-Pudding

Dear Friend’s,
Although most of the followers of ChefsOpinion are culinary professionals, there is also a large segment of followers who are just starting to enjoy cooking on a slightly higher than basic level. I have therefore decided to publish, under the moniker “Easy Does It“, from time to time some very basic recipe variations of dishes (and even pre-cooked dishes) which otherwise might seem too complicated to some folks. I will break them down to the easiest, most simple instructions, so that those of you who are intimidated by elaborate recipes will be able to prepare these dishes properly, adjusted to your taste and liking, right from the get-go.

After all, just because you are not (yet ?) a professional chef should not prevent you from enjoying great food at home. 🙂
Enjoy !
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If you are still looking for a great, delicious, good-looking and easy to prepare dessert for your upcoming x-mas feast (or any other feast 🙂 ), give this beauty a shot.
It will take all of about 15 minutes of actual prep time, yet the result is extraordinarily delicious.
I have served mine with just a bit of whipped cream, but a fruit coulis or chocolate sauce will add an extra layer of taste, texture and color.
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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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! Please find an update to this post at the bottom of this page !
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