My weekend at a glance.

Happy Monday everyone!
...okay maybe not happy, but hello. Monday's always seem to be the toughest days of the week to get out of bed. This weekend, I stayed up the latest I had in a long time... yes, I've actually been sleeping the past week and a bit. Last night I didn't get to sleep until about 10:30 pm, and the night before it was about 11:30 pm, gasp! This weekend was certainly very productive however. I did the groceries, laundry, hung out with people, bought a new yoga video, lounged in bed, and baked. When I say baked, I more or less mean... I had a one-person party with myself in the kitchen and it was some well-deserved therapy.

I started off my journey with homemade chocolate chips. Okay, okay, all us foodies were certainly at a loss for words when the Nutella chocolate chips hit the blogosphere (can't link since Tastespotting is currently down), then all of our jaws dropped and stomach's cried out when Une-Deux Senses showed us her matcha chocolate chips, well immediately my wheels started turning. That's one thing I absolutely love about being a foody, we always seem to have a huge abundance of supplies available, so if ever we get a craving, an idea, inspiration or anything we can immediately go into the kitchen.

Well, I began with the matcha chip cookies. Oh wow, look at me mom I'm making my own chocolate chips! Yes, I seriously may have shouted that out as she walked by in curiosity as to what I was swirling around onto tinfoil at seven o'clock Saturday morning. These were so fun to make, and the feeling of satisfaction you get from making your own chocolate chips, uh hellloooooo!

I changed the recipe, just by adding some coconut oil, to make the melting process a little quicker, and I have to say, you can never go wrong with anything coconut, so hey I went for it.

Matcha Chocolate Chips

Recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 tbsp matcha powder (I wanted it to be very in your face matcha!)
• 1 tsp coconut oil

Directions:

Carefully melt the white chocolate chips and coconut oil over a double boiler, make sure not to burn it. Once smooth, whisk in the matcha powder until a smooth consistency forms. Transfer to a piping bag (or Ziploc like I did) and pipe into "chips" onto a piece of foil/wax paper/parchment. Allow to harden completely, about 1 hour or you can speed this up in the freezer.

Chewy Banana Matcha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe thoroughly adapted from here

Before Jordan left for Korea I had wanted to make him Chocolate Chip Cookies since those are his all time favourite cookies, but instead I made him the Peanut Butter Pillows and the Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies. I had however put a recipe aside that I had wanted to make for vegan chocolate chip cookies, so the other day I had adapted it to fit what I had been craving, and I definitely have to say they were a winner. Yes, they quickly went. This batch made three dozen cookies, and I was left with six at the end of the day. After sitting for a bit the flavours definitely took their course and truly showcased their stuff!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 brown sugar
• 1/2 white sugar
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup vanilla soy milk
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup kamut flour
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cups matcha chips (see above)
• 1/2 cup plantain chips - coarsely chopped
  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease two large light metal baking sheets.

Mix together sugars, oil, and milk in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, for about 2 minutes, until it resembles smooth caramel. There is a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collide, so it’s important that you don’t get lazy about that step. Mix in the vanilla.

Add 1 cup of the flour, the baking soda and salt. Mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour. Fold in the plantain chips and chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stuff so use your hands to really work them in.

For 3 inch cookies, roll the dough into about ping pong ball size balls. Flatten them out in your hands to about 2 1/2 inches. They will spread just a bit. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes – no more than 9 – until they are just a little browned around the edges. I usually get 16 out of these so I do two rounds of eight cookies. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

For 2 dozen two inch cookies roll dough into walnut sized balls and flatten to about 1 1/2 inches and bake for only six minutes.

White Chocolate Blueberry Lavender Oatmeal Cookies

With half a bag of white chocolate chips left my wheels were still turning. What kind did I end up making? Well it was between making Rolo or lavender chips, and I had decided on lavender. I remembered one of my favourite cookies from last summer: White Chocolate Blueberry Oatmeal Cookies and I also remembered how much lavender, white chocolate and blueberries go together, so I figured hey, white chocolate + lavender = good chocolate combination. So that is what I did. For this I used Angela's recipe for The Ultimate Oatmeal Raisin Cookie and adapted it quite thoroughly to meet my desires. I have to say considering one of my friends pretty much ate half the batch himself, that they were a success, even my mom's boyfriends eight year old grandson (holy tongue-twister) thoroughly enjoyed them... I have to say I was quite impressed that he liked the lavender. So here is what I did:

For the Lavender Chocolate Chips (same recipe as the matcha chips except...)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 tbsp lavender - pressed into a fine dust with your pestle and mortar
  
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• Purple food colouring - optional
  

For the White Chocolate Blueberry Lavender Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups regular oats, divided
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  
• 1/4 cup spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tbsp soy milk
• 3 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
  
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup lavender chips
  

Directions:

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, coconut flakes and oats. In a small bowl add the coconut oil and microwave for 20 seconds to soften (if necessary). In the same bowl, stir in the maple syrup, soy milk, and vanilla. Mix until the mixture is thoroughly combined. Fold in the lavender chocolate chips and blueberries. Take about 2 tbsp of dough, make a ball, and then flatten with fingers. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat. Bake for 10 minutes at 350F and no longer. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes before placing onto a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes. Makes about 16 large cookies.

Chinese Chews

Recipe taken/adapted from my aunt's church recipe book?

Next on my list was something that I had at my aunts house over the Christmas break and devoured many, many pieces in one sitting. I've made these a couple of times since but they never last long enough to take a picture, no I'm serious. These are so, so, so, soooooooooo good. Honestly, that doesn't even begin to describe just how tasty these actually are. I love them, and if I could without any consequences I would eat these all day everyday, but realistically I cannot... for the sake of my pants, and my health, but I really do wish I could.

I decided to try making them vegan, and I have to say I certainly succeeded. I will post the vegan version with the non-vegan ingredients in brackets. These are definitely something you should try, because trust me you will not regret it... unless, you decide to eat them all day and your pants... suddenly shrink, oops. If that does happen, don't come knocking on my door, blame my aunt!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup dates
• 1/2 cup walnuts (or any other nuts)
  
• 1/4 cup apple sauce + 1/4 Earth Balance butter (melted) - (1/2 cup non-vegan butter)
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp flax seed + 3 tbsp water - (1 egg)

Directions:

In a small bowl mix together your flax egg and let sit until it thickens a few minutes. When your flax egg is ready cream all ingredients together with your hands. Bake 20 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Let cool about 3/4 hour and cut into squares. May be sprinkled with icing sugar (these are already sweet enough for me from the dates/brown sugar that I omit this).

Vegan Blackstrap Molasses Cookies - do not have pictures uploaded yet

Recipe taken from here

Next was a batch of molasses cookies. Oh man, I've quickly realized that no matter what time of year it is, regardless if it's Christmas or not, it is always time for molasses cookies. The smell for one simply invites you in for a bite of a cookie with a big warm glass of tea. Secondly, the flavours wrap you up in their warmth. Third, well, their molasses cookies, they remind you of Christmas, therefore no matter how grumpy or sad you are you can't help but feel a bit better when you bite into one of these bad boys. Loved, loved, loved... although I really don't think you can go wrong with molasses cookies now can you?

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar - more for rolling
  
• 1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3 tbsp vanilla soy milk
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚F

In a bowl mix sugar, molasses, oil, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix in flours, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Place rounded tbsp of cookie dough in sugar until well coated then place 3 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Flatten slightly and bake for 12 minutes.

Blissful Berry Cereal Bowl

Of course I didn't spend my whole weekend in the kitchen only baking. No, no, of course not. For starters... I kept my breakfasts' incredibly simple. The past few days along with my smoothies I've been eating this delicious cereal... I seriously think I may have converted to the dark side of cereal eating (that is if gobbled down before ANY sign of soggy-ness comes into play). I am in absolute lust at the moment with this seriously quick and simple meal. This takes no time at all (... well other than letting your sugar sit on the fruit, but if you do this early right before starting to get ready in the morning by the time you go eat your breakfast it's ready!). What I like about this is that yes, your milk changes colours, but you know it's not from artificial sugars and dyes, no it's natural sugars and colours seeping from the fruits, so you can feel like a little kid in all glory staring at the milk change colours and feel good about it at the same time.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of frozen fruit (or fresh if you have an abundance on hand)
• 3/4 cup strawberry soy milk (or vanilla, chocolate, etc...)
• 1 cup of kamut puffs
  
• Handful of almonds
• 1 tsp sugar
• Agave or anything else to sweeten if you'd like (my bowl was sweet enough from the flavoured milk + sugar.

Directions:

In a bowl allow mix together your fruit and sugar, allow to sit for 15-3o minutes. In your cereal bowl, add your kamut puffs, top with cold milk. Add your berries on top, then sprinkle your almonds or other desired nuts. Munch away!

Fieldberry Yoghurt Parfait

I'm really on a berry thing lately... so for my snacks I've been eating this delicious concoction:
1 cup of frozen berries + 3/4 cup Greek yoghurt + 1/8 tsp cardamom + 1/2 tsp cinnamon + 1 tsp good quality maple syrup ... allow to sit for a while in your fridge for the berries to defrost and allow their juices to release... once done, mix until you have a gorgeous purple colour and enjoy. Also nice, to top it with Bran Bar's, yummy!

Coconut Lime Rice

Recipe taken from here

Yesterday for lunch I decided to treat myself to something... that was simply full of empty, empty carbs but full of crazy, delicious, satisfying goodness. I had planned on making this last week, then had sushi, or salads or other things. I figured, being a weekend and all ... I can treat myself to something full of... nothing, so that is what I did. I loved this. It was seriously sinful. The flavours of the coconut, lime and cinnamon are definitely a match made in heaven and lead me to want to make cookies with those ingredients! This would be perfect with some steamed veggies, or even a pina colada ;) especially on a warm summer day, deeeee-lish.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp Earth Balance butter
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups Basmati rice, washed and drained well
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 limes, juice from 1 lime and grated zest of the other lime
• 1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Directions:

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add brown sugar and salt, stirring until dissolved. Increase heat to high, add rice and stir until rice is evenly coated. Add coconut milk and water, stirring until combined. Squeeze one of the limes into the mixture then throw the squeezed lime into the rice. Add cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil and cover pot. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Remove pot from heat but do not open lid. Let sit for 10 minutes.

While rice is cooking, toast the coconut by spreading onto a rimmed sheet pan. Toast in a 350°F oven, stirring frequently, until the coconut is an even brown color, about 10 minutes.

Remove lime and cinnamon stick before serving. To serve, sprinkle rice with lime zest and toasted coconut.

*Note: all of this was done in my rice cooker, but I figured I would put the real directions down.

Holy moly, what did you whip up this weekend?

An Italian Comfort Food Enjoyed By All

Risotto Milanese

Recipe taken from here

"Forget the stove risotto". What is that hogwash? The fun thing about making risotto is having to constantly watch over it to see if the stock and wine have reduced, to see your hard work get turned into a masterpiece. Often I see comments like the above for in the stove risotto. I have to admit the first time I made risotto I did it in the stove, the only reason was because I wanted it to actually turn out since it was for a holiday meal where I was actually having people over... however, that didn't turn out so great (the meal did), but I ended up burning an oven mitt, err...

Nonetheless, I love making stove-top risotto, it reminds me of my grandmother and makes me nostalgic. I think the results are better too because it has one special ingredient that in the stove risotto doesn't have; love.

Now, I never mentioned, but last year my mom took a European cruise. One of the places that she went to visit was Turkey. With that she brought both my brother and I (my brother is going to school to become a chef, funny how food runs in our family) tonnnnns of spices home, including saffron. Now, this is incredibly good saffron and it tastes' wonderful too. When she brought that home, I kind of went on a saffron binge and bookmarked tons of recipes containing saffron, one of my favourite being the Saffron Ice Cream and a recipe I later made Spaghetti Squash with Spicy Marinara and Saffron. However, one recipe that I had saved over the summer was for Risotto Milanese. It wasn't until this week that I finally made it, feels like I had the recipe forever, but seeing as I started scheduling my meals again I had to make room for this dish and am I ever glad I did.

In the summer my brother had made it, and both him and my dad went on about how it tasted sooooo good. Well, they were certainly right. When I first looked at the bowl, I felt odd since it was just a big bowl of starch and carbohydrates. No protein, no vegetables, dairy if you want to include the Parmesan and butter, but y'know what I'm saying. However, once I took my first bite all those thoughts disappeared. I didn't care how much fat was in this dish, or how many calories were in each bite, or the fact that my plate was simply yellow with no green or red, no, this was a masterpiece. It was so delicious. I didn't even want to stop to inhale each bite because it was so good, (obviously I did because I needed to savour it as well), but it was incredibly delicious.

I love when using saffron, and you infuse it with your liquid and it turns your dish a beautiful bright yellow, it just makes the dish so much warmer, and this was no different this time. I loved it, and will certainly be making it again!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 tsp saffron threads
• 3 1/2 cups chicken stock, hot
• 2 cups arborio rice
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for sprinkling

Directions:
In a large dutch oven or another deep pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile add the saffron to the stock, stirring to infuse. Once the onions are translucent add the rice and stir with a wooden spoon until toasted and opaque, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the wine to the toasting rice, and then add a 4 to 6-ounce ladle of the saffron-infused stock and cook, stirring, until it is absorbed. Continue adding the stock a ladle at a time, waiting until the liquid is absorbed before adding more. Cook until the rice is tender and creamy and yet still a little al dente, about 15 minutes. Stir in the butter and cheese until well mixed.

Quick Fish Stew

Recipe from me

Over the Christmas break my dad, brother and I went to my aunt and uncle's place for lunch. One of the items I ate since they were eating pizza with meat on it was this beautiful fish stew. The sauce had the flavour of a beautiful Italian tomato sauce you'd put on your spaghetti but the consistency was more of a broth. The flavour was so rich and was further enhanced by the fish. Unfortunately I never got the recipe from her, hopefully next time I see her however I will be able to pick her brain for it.

With that being said, I tried to come up with a simple fish stew. It did not replicate the one my aunt made, however, this one was just as tasty. I quite thoroughly enjoyed it, as did my mom and her boyfriend. It was indeed very scrumptious. I had one bowl, then went up for seconds. Not only did it taste fantastic it was incredibly simple, everything went into the Dutch oven and simply let it simmer for a little while, and the results, incredible.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tbsp EVOO
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, mined
• 2 large carrots, cut into chunks
• 1 celery stalk, cut into chunks
  
• Small can of Unico diced tomatoes (the can with the herbs in it)
• 4 cups of vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
• 2 cups of fresh spinach
  
• A large pinch of saffron threads
• 1 medium sized Ziploc bag of shrimp
• 10-14 medium scallops
• 2 tilapia fillets, cut into chunks
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat; add onions, carrots and celery and cook until translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one more minute. Add diced tomatoes, vegetable broth, parsley, white wine and saffron and bring to a light boil. Cover, reduce to simmer, and cook for 5 minutes to allow flavors to come together. Salt and pepper the fish liberally, then remove cover and add scallops, tilapia, shrimp and spinach. Make sure to mix the fish into the sauce. Cover and simmer until fish is cooked through, about 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.

I had made this by itself more as a soup/stew, however, rice would be a nice touch to it as well!

Get your stretchy pants on!

Rice with Mixed Vegetables - Made in Your Rice Cooker

A couple of weeks ago as I was watching The Food Network I came across a trick with rice. I don't know why I never thought of doing this before but I'm glad I found out about it because it makes making dinner so much easier. With my rice cooker I usually keep it simple, I make my rice, quinoa, barley, etc... but I never thought of making ALL of your dish in the rice cooker! I've even found out since I started this job that you could make oatmeal in your rice cooker, genial huh? No, not really, but wow.

So follow me to see just how simple your one bowl dinner is going to be!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of rice
• 1/2 cup of edamame - unshelled
• 1 cup mixed Asian vegetables (I got mine in a bag which included peppers, more edamame, and baby corn)
• 2 green onion stalks - white and green parts divided
• 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
• Salt/Pepper to taste

Directions:

Add 2 1/2 cups of water and your rice to the water. Throw in the white parts of your green onion. Add your ginger, salt and pepper. Let the machine do it's thing. When there is about five minutes left, throw in your uncooked vegetables and let them steam. When complete, mix well, remove white stalks. Place in a bowl and top with your chopped green onion, add more pepper and soya sauce if desired.

See how simple it is??? Enjoy!

Mint Leaves Omelet + Green Tea Risotto

Growing up I absolutely detested the taste of mint. I hated all it's brothers and sisters too that often-time's found themselves in after dinner mints and gums; spearmint, peppermint, double mint, fresh mint, exotic mint, etc... over the years however, I started to develop a taste for it.

This summer I thought I would even be brave and do some cooking with fresh mint. This opened up such a new wave of flavours to me that I was really content, although sad that I was so ignorant of the taste before. The first recipe I made with mint was the canteloupe with mint, lime and sea salt. This to me was such a treat and made me realize that mint really is such a unique flavour and really can enhance the attatched flavours it's being blended with. I mean... over the years my palette has become in-love with mint chocolate... i.e. mint chocolate chip ice cream (oh my gooosshh... I ALWAYS loved this, childhood favourite but it's because it wasn't an in your face mint-overpowering shower), mint chocolate chip Oreo cookies (probably one of my favourite cookies), but really anything now.

Mint Leaves Omelet

Recipe taken from here

When I found a recipe for an omelet with mint I knew I had to try it. I mean, I love eggs. Their packed with lots of vitamins, omega 3/6's, they're fluffy and fatty and just a great comfort food. Then there is the mint. Together these flavours came together really well, especially with the soy sauce. My only complaint about this breakfast is that there was too much soy sauce even with the reduced sodium I still felt there was too much, but I really am not a salt-lover.

This was such a great breakfast. I remember when I made this the night before I couldn't wait to go to bed because I knew when I awoke the next morning a beautiful breakfast awaited me. This is a really nice way to spruce up your regular breakfast eggs. I wouldn't do this every day but it's definitely a nice treat here and there, as well it's so simple and takes barely time at all!

Follow me...

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• a handful of mint leaves
• 1 tbsp of cooking oil

Seasoning:

• 1 1/2 tbsp of light soy sauce

Directions:

Crack the eggs into a bowl. Add soy sauce and get the egg beaten.

Heat oil in a wok. Pour the egg mixture to fry. When it's almost cook at the bottom, toss the mint leaves on top of egg. Turn the egg to fry the other side for about 30 seconds. Fold the omelet into half and dish out.

Green Tea Risotto

Recipe taken from here

Now this is an awesome recipe. It's original, definitely thinking out of the box, and incorporates some of my favourite flavours in a rice dish, and it's in my favourite rice too, Arborio. I was uber excited to try this recipe out when I found it. I knew that when I bought the mint for the mint leaves omelet I would have some left over for green tea risotto so I prepped myself for a very minty day indeed.

I love making risotto and I was up for an adventure in the kitchen. I've never feared risotto, not sure why people fear it. I find the process really relaxing to be honest. This is a really nice dish, it's not too rich but it still has really great flavour. If you don't eat it like a maniac you get the subtle hints of green tea but the quicker you eat it you notice more of the lemon juice and the mint with bites of the peas in between. If you let the tea steep for longer you may get a really overpowering taste in your rice, and if that does happen you can simply add some butter or white wine as you typically find in most risotto's or even add some Parmesan cheese (which is what my friend and I did and it was delicious... sounds weird considering the flavours that were in the risotto but it tasted great).

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts water
• 8 bags green tea
• oil for the pan
• 10 oz package frozen peas, thawed
• 1 cup mint (1 smallish bunch), minced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cups arborrio rice
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for passing at the table
  

Directions:

Bring 2 quarts of water to a near boil, then pour it over 8 bags of green tea in a pot. Allow to steep for 5 minutes, but be careful not to over-steep, as you don't want it to get bitter. Place the pot over a medium to medium-low flame to keep it warm.

Blanch the peas in boiling water for one minute, then drain and run them under cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.

Warm the olive oil in a large pan or heavy-bottomed pot and sauté the onion for about 4 minutes until it softens. Add the garlic, and continue to cook for 1 minute more. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 7 minutes, then begin adding the tea, one cup at a time. Stir constantly until all of the tea has been absorbed by the rice and add another cup. Continue this process, adding tea and stirring to incorporate. As the rice gets thicker, it will take more time for it to absorb the liquid. The rice will be done in around 20 minutes, so begin tasting at about minute 17. The rice should be creamy, but still firm.

Stir in the grated cheese and peas until the cheese is melted and incorporated and the peas are warmed through. Remove the risotto from the heat, and begin adding the lemon juice, tasting, until it has a bright flavor. Then stir in the mint as well as the salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with a few shavings of Parmesan cheese over the top.

Yaki Onigiri

"Onigiri or rice ball, is a Japanese food made from white rice formed into triangular or oval shape and often wrapped in nori (seaweed). Traditionally, an onigiri is filled with pickled ume, salted salmon, katsuobushi, kombu, tarako, or any other salty or sour ingredient as a preservative. Because of the popularity of onigiri in Japan, most convenience storeshere stock onigiri with various fillings and flavors. There are even specialized shops whose only products are onigiri for take out." - Wikipedia

This dish gives the exterior of the rice a crispy almost burnt crust with a very fluffy interior, what an absolutely amazing creation.

Ingredients:

• Prepared Japanese rice Nishiki is what I used
• Rice vinegar you don't have to use this, however, it makes rice handling much much simpler
• sSoy sauce
• Oil I used olive oil, if I were to make these again I would use Grape seed or Peanut oil, something less harsh
  

To make the shapes of the onigiri you can use your hands or cookie cutters there are tools specifically made for onigri, however the ones I found online are $18.00 and considering I would only make them here and there the heart cookie cutters I used worked well. Traditionally, you are to make them while the rice is hot, but considering I want to keep my hands looking young I put the rice in the freezer for about five minutes, you can even leave it in longer since you will be frying them. You want to pack in the rice as much as you can, you don't want the rice to be fluffy when you put it in the pans because they will break apart. The heart on the left is very packed in, to do this a spoon was used and pressed in really hard, you can also pack more rice in with this technique. If you look at the heart on the right you can see that the heart is much fluffier and bigger, onigiri is something where time is of the essence. You need to work very fast with this dish, having an extra set of hands also does wonders :).

Since the rice is super sticky, you are going to want to keep a bowl of water on hand so that between each molding you can get the rice off. Also, if between each "rice cake" you put water on the mold you are using and the spoon it makes dealing with the rice a lot easier as well.

After you’ve shaped your onigiri it’s time to fry them. I would say a non-stick pan is probably the best way but since I don't have that I used a stainless steel pan, and it still worked great. Heat your skillet or pan on medium heat with a little bit of oil in it I had about four hearts in the pan at a time and would have to add some extra oil from time to time Fry each side of the onigri until the rice turns brown and forms a nice crisp exterior. If your onigri is getting brown or burnt turn the heat down. I used metal tongs, since the rice is so delicate if you have rubber tongs I would highly advise using those :)

When all the sides are grilled, brush on the soy sauce. Since I don't have a pastry brush I put soy sauce into a bowl and just dunked all sides, worked like a charm. Coat the sides evenly. When the onigiri is coated you need to fry all the sides again, the onigiri will be done after you've grilled them with the soy sauce.

At the beginning I ate them just with the soy sauce, but my boyfriend and I found them to be a bit bland so we decided to cut some cucumbers and put them on top of them. This made for a cool and refreshing contrast against the crunch. If you want to add a little kick, start stuffing your onigri in the mould and halfway through add a little touch of wasabi then add the rest of the rice. There are so many options to be had with this, you just have to creative.

Enjoy!