Just when you didn’t think there was any other way to make a meat and potato stew, look here at the Japanese Kikujaga.

Meat
1 lb. beef (marinade 1 hour in 4 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp brown sugar)

Mirepoix
1 onion – chopped
3 carrots – chopped 1 inch by ¼ inch
3 cloves garlic minced
½ Lb Gemstone Potatoes cut like the carrots (or other potatoes cut like the carrots)

Vegetables
½ cup snow peas
5 chopped green onions (scallions)
1 cup mushrooms (shitake or oyster)
5 scallions chopped

Sauce
1 dash white wine
2 cups water (or stock)

Seasoning/Herbs/Oil
Salt and Pepper
Chu Chow Chili Oil
Cooking instructions:

1. Cook snow peas in boiling water for a minute. Let them cool and cut diagonally into 2-3 pieces.
2. Cut thin beef into 2″ width pieces.
3. In a large pot, heat oil at medium high temperature and cook beef until the color changes.
4. Add potatoes, onions, and carrot, potatoes.
5. Add water, cover, and cook it at low medium heat about 20 minutes or until potatoes get tender.
6. Season with sugar, soy sauce, white wine, scallions, mushrooms and salt. Cook 15 minutes longer.
7. Remove from heat and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then add snow peas.
8. Serve as is or reheat.
9. I like to add a dollop of Chu Chow Chili Oil on my dish

The object of this sauce is reduction. When the red wine and beef stock have reduced, then you will strain all the rosemary, peppercorns and shallots/onions. Return the sauce, and seasoning, thicken with corn starch and let cool. When you are ready to serve you can warm it a little. This sauce is ideal from preparing it in advance of plating.

2 TBSP Butter
3 Shallot, or ½ onion, chopped
1 sprig Fresh Rosemary
1 TBSP Peppercorns
1 ½ cup Cabernet Sauvignon or other dry red wine
1 ½ cup Beef Stock
2 TBSP Corn Starch
1 TBSP Worcestershire

1. In a small sauce pan sauté shallots in butter, medium heat
2. Add Rosemary and peppercorns and red wine, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes
3. Add beef stock, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes
4. Remove from heat, strain, clean sauce pan, and place wine sauce back in the small sauce pan.  It should yield 1 1/2 cups of reduction.
5. Heat sauce just a little; add salt and pepper, Worcestershire, add corn starch and whisk, set aside when you are ready to use.
6. When you have ready to serve, lightly heat sauce, spoon over meat

Meat
½ lb. or more wild caught salmon

Mirepoix
1 onion – chopped

Vegetables
1 small bunch (2 cups) Napa cabbage – chopped
1 clove garlic – minced
1 bunch mushrooms (any kind) sliced

Sauce
½ cup dry white wine
1 cups chicken stock
1 TBSP corn starch – mix first in two TBSP of cold water then add to the pot

Seasoning and Herbs, Oil
Salt and Pepper
3 TBSP olive oil
3 or 4 lemon slices
3 or 4 fresh basil leaves
1 tsp. cappers w/juice

Serve over rice

Sauté onions in olive oil. Add the cabbage and mushrooms. Cook for about five minutes. Add the corn starch and cook another five minutes. Add the wine and chicken stock. Place the salmon on top and add the rest of the ingredients. Cover and cook on a low flame for 40 minutes. Serve over rice.

This is the Little Woman’s dish.  She makes this once a week we love it so much.

There is this very big process in making mole sauce and in making pipian sauce. The sad part is no one will make this dish if they had to go through that process each time. So we made it easy on our self and bought Dona Maria mole and pipian sauce from the store.  It is really, really good.

As you know mole is made with dried guajillo, ancho and chipotle peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, peanuts, raisins, cinnamon, garlic, cumin, allspice, thyme, sugar, dark chocolate, salt and chicken broth – oh my lambs, I’m worn out thinking about it.

Pipián Rojo sauce has the same ingredients but leaves out the chocolates and adds ground pumpkin seeds. Like I said, this is way too much work for the average person cooker.

Brown chicken and remove.

Add one TBSP olive oil, sauté onions and sliced mushrooms.

Add
4 TBSP Dona Maria Mole sauce
2 TBSP Dona Maria Pipian Rojo

Add chicken stock and cook slow 15 minutes.

Return chicken and add carrots and cook covered 30 minutes

Serve in a bowl with cilantro topping over a bed of couscous.

(click on pics to enlarge)

This is my own formula. I’ve been working on the exact right flavors and found it. It is kind of a Thai assortment and has a little heat with the chili sauce and then sweetness with the sherry, turmeric and brown sugar.

Marinade:
3 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP corn starch

Sauce:
1/3 cup water
1 chicken bouillon cube smashed
1 ½ TBSP soy sauce
1 tsp. chili sauce
1 TBSP cornstarch (added to the cold chicken broth and whisked, the cornstarch thickens the sauce)
½ tsp. Turmeric
1 ½ TBSP sherry

Veggies:
Select and prepare vegetables.
The basic veggies are Napa cabbage (Chinese cabbage), carrot sticks, mushrooms; scallions and broccoli (chop broccoli heads and slice the stalk into matchsticks)
½ TBSP garlic – minced
½ TBSP fresh ginger – minced
½ small yellow onion chopped into half moon pieces
½ green bell pepper, thinly sliced
½ orange bell pepper, thinly sliced

Meat:
½ Lb. beef chuck, sliced into small pieces

Oil
3 TBSP canola oil
1 TBSP sesame oil

Prepare the veggies, ginger, garlic and meat

Marinade: Place the beef in a bowl and mix with the marinade listed above and leave on the counter several hours.

Sauce: Mix all ingredients in the 1/3 cup of cold water and let stand.

In a wok:

Sauté the ginger and garlic in a TBSP of oil for a minute or so on a low heat and remove. This avoids burning the ginger/garlic.

Brown the meat in the oil in batches. Add more oil as you need. Remove and set aside.

Sauté the onions for a minute or so and then add the veggies. Add more oil as needed. Cook those about 4 to 5 minutes – stir often.

Return everything to the wok and then add the sauce. Get the sauce hot until it thickens, mix everything together and then cover and cook on low for several minutes.

Serve over rice.