I can't believe we've never made sushi before

With only one of us having ever rolled sushi, we set off on the adventure early this evening.

We decided to make salmon and yellowfin tuna rolls - but learned a few things on the way. First thing's first - FISH IS EXPENSIVE. And finding sushi-grade fish is even worse, and probably more expensive - so lesson number 1, don't complain about how expensive sushi is at your favorite sushi joint. Lesson number 2, however, is that you can make delicious sushi with cooked fish at home - which is just what we did (instead of hunting for sushi-grade fish). Thanks for not being as cool as we thought you were, Whole Foods.

Ingredients:
Bamboo sushi rolling mats
1 cup Sushi rice, prepared (see below)
2 ounces each of salmon and tuna (or your choice of fish), seared 
1 package nori (seaweed) made for sushi rolling
Whatever you want in your sushi roll

We chose:
Mango (1/2 champagne mango, julienned)
Cucumber (1/2 small cucumber, julienned)
Avocado (1/2 avocado, julienned)... yes, there's a pattern here
Scallions (1 onion, julienned)

Sushi rice:
1 cup sushi rice
1.5 cup water
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (we used apple cider vinegar and recommend using less if you use a stronger vinegar)
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/8 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt

This will all make you 6 rolls, 6 pcs each

Directions:
Make the rice first. Rinse the rice in a strainer or colander until the water runs clear. Combine with water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Rice should be tender and water should be absorbed. Cool until cool enough to handle.

In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, oil, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves (about a minute or two). Stir into the cooked rice. Keep stirring and the rice will dry as it cools. Set rice aside to cool. Don't roll your sushi until your rice is room temperature.

(Rice directions from allrecipes.com/recipe/perfect-sushi-rice/)

If you're fancy and have raw, sushi-grade fish, you can slice it into the thickness of about your index finger and start rollin.

If not, however, sear your fish for just about 2 or 3 minutes on high heat, until it's cooked through and then slice it (or let it fall apart and use the small pieces to roll).

Now you're ready to roll your maki.

Set sushi rolling mat in front of you on a flat surface. Put a sheet of seaweed, shiny side down, on the mat. Take about 2 tablespoons of your sticky rice and with fingers dipped in water and vinegar solution, spread it out over the bottom half of your seaweed (the half closer to you). Make sure it's not too thick and as evenly distributed as possible.

Put a row of fish and filling on top of the rice, a little bit away from the edge (so you have some seaweed to grab onto when you start rolling). You can double or triple layer ingredients, but too much won't roll as easily.

Take your thumb and index finger and grab onto the mat that's closest to your body, while with the rest of your fingers, holding onto the filling (stuff in your roll). Holding the filling, curl your fingers over and start rolling the mat until the seaweed at the edge closest to you touches seaweed on the mat. Remove fingers from seaweed and tuck one hand over the mat to "tuck your seaweed in" while holding on to the far end of the mat so it doesn't move. Release your grip, roll the mat some more, and repeat motion, tucking it in as you go until you reach the end and your seaweed is all rolled up!

Take a serrated knife and cut into pieces - dip in soy sauce and ENJOY!

We also added sesame seeds and panko (tiny bread crumbs) for crunch for the inside of our rolls.

Rolling takes a lot of practice but if you make your rice correctly it will be super-sticky and none will end up in your soy sauce bowl (our accomplishment for the evening). 

Zucchini, Portabella, Chickpeas and Feta

Apologies for the somewhat blurry photos, which hardly do justice to the symphony of flavors that came together in our stomachs this evening.

Instead of picking and choosing, we decided to favor ambition and make three dishes - stuffed portabella mushrooms, zucchini patty sandwiches, and Grandma's blintzes with cherry pie filling.

The result was, well, you can't go wrong with portabella, zucchini, chickpeas and feta.

Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms (with our modifications)

Ingredients:
2 large Portobello mushrooms
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup cubed feta (note: the original recipe called for goat cheese, but we used feta)
1 recipe of oven roasted tomatoes*
Note: the original recipes called for 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley and 1 tablespoons fresh chopped chives but we went without either and didn't miss it.

*For oven roasted tomatoes:
Half a pint of cherry tomatoes. Mix with a tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with either fresh or - like we did - dried thyme and basil. Slice 3 garlic cloves and them to tomatoes. Salt and pepper (just a sprinkle of each). Bake at 375, preferably in a dish that will collect all the juices and roast the tomatoes in their own juices, for 20-25 minutes or until they start wrinkling a little bit.

Directions:
1. Take out the mushroom stems and scrape out each mushroom's "gills" with a teaspoon, carefully, so you don't crack the portabella itself.
2. Mix olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic and cover portabellas with it on all sides (use up the whole thing)
3. Broil the mushrooms on a baking sheet for 3-5 minutes (in an oven) until they start releasing juices
4. Take em out, and fill to the top with roasted tomatoes and chunks of feta
5. Stick in the oven on 375 for about 10 minutes (or less, if mushrooms start looking ready)

Voila! You have stuffed portabellas that are ridiculously delicious.
Original recipe at http://afoodcentriclife.com/stuffed-portobello-mushrooms-with-roast-tomatoes-and-goat-cheese/

Zucchini and Chickpea Patty Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 15.5-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 zucchini, grated
1 small red onion, grated
1 egg, lightly whisked
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 whole-wheat pitas, toasted
1 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
Some lettuce or mixed greens

Directions:
1. Mash chickpeas in a bowl until smooth. Stir in breadcrumbs, zucchini, onion, egg, and salt. Form into 4-by-1/2-inch patties.
2. Saute patties in oil until golden and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes per side. USE A NONSTICK PAN - it makes all the difference!
3. Halve pitas and stuff with patties, yogurt, lettuce, and anything else that fancies you.

Note: we had to practically broil these in oil and many fell apart. Next time, we're going to try adding a second egg and a tablespoon or so of flour, in the hopes of reducing the amount of oil and keeping the patties together better.

 And last but  not least...

Someone's Grandma's Russian Blintzes

While Sonya has attempted to make HER Grandma's blintzes for ages, they never quite presented the nostalgia and similarity to her Grandma's kitchen that this recipe yielded.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons oil

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together. Leave the flower for last, as you will need to fold it in and then mix the batter until it is completely, read, completely! clump free. The measure of an excellent blintze is the smoothness and lightness of its batter.

2. Heat non-stick skillet and using one standard soup ladle per blintze, pour out each blintze onto the skillet as evenly as possible, cooking just long enough on each side for it to turn golden.

3. Eat with any filling your heart desires - we experimented with cherry pie filling out of a can (also heated in the microwave) and some left-over yogurt but recommend any sort of fruit jam/preserves, cheese, mashed potatoes, and the list can go on.

All in all, some serious grating, chopping, frying, and baking went down.