Homemade Sushi Rolls

I've got a surprise for you guys!

What, you ask?!  Our engagement pictures are done!  And I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE them!  Our photographer Adam did such an amazing job!  If you want to check them out, head on over to his site and let me know what you think!

Andy and I love going out for sushi.  It's probably one of our go-to things for dinner when we're in one of those indecisive modes.  It's always a winner.  But it can get a little pricy sometimes, so every now and then, we'll make it at home!

Ingredients:


2 cups cooked rice
1-2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
cooked shrimp
smoked salmon
cream cheese
Sriracha
avocado
cucumber
nori sheets

The great thing about sushi is that you can practically put anything you want it there!  Just don't over pack!

The only real work you have to do is make the sushi rice.  And that's just basically mixing cooled cooked rice with some seasoned rice vinegar (we don't really have a ratio, just add as much as you see fit!).  

We made two different rolls here:

The first being shrimp, avocado, cucumber inside out roll with Sriracha dots on top.

And the second being a traditional roll of smoked salmon, cucumber, and cream cheese.

Both were equally delicious!  I made a sushi post last year with a great how-to on how to roll sushi, so just check that out here!

Have you ever made your own sushi?  What do you like to put in it?

Sushi in the City

My sister is pretty cool.  Don't let her know that I said that because we don't want her getting a big head or anything. 

Source

She sent me a text this afternoon asking me if I'd heard about 'Sushi in the City'.  Of course, I had not.  And because she interns for a local philanthropic magazine, she knows of all the fund raising events in the area.  And she definitely fills me in on the food-related ones (remember Desserts First?)

So of course, the minute I got home tonight from class, I had to look into it.  It's pretty much all of the local sushi restaurants competing for "Best of..." this and that.  And I love me some sushi, so I'm pretty sure Andy and I are gonna head on out there March 16th.  For only $50 a person, proceeds going to the Family Scholar House, and all the sushi one can manage to eat in a few hours... what's not to like? 

In other exciting news, my first 5k in 2 years (maybe even 3?) is on Saturday.  Guess how many days I went running since I signed up last month?  Yep... only 1.  Am I gonna suck or what?  Oh well, at least I'm still going through with the race, whether I keel over from exhaustion or not.  It's my own fault, but hopefully I'll be okay.  After all, I did used to run cross country, so it can't be that bad.  I'm sure I'll inform you on Monday!

Check back tomorrow for the Nutella cupcakes that won the last poll (I know, I held out for too long!).  And there's also going to be a new poll tomorrow too with lots of goodies!

Hook-ups and Lights off!

We're just your normal, laid back, kinda folks =)  Not to mention, we're cute.

Looks like the cheesecake is going over pretty well with you guys!  Definitely wouldn't be surprised if this one makes it to the top of the Top 5 posts on the right!

What an eventful weekend we had!

Saturday we went out for sushi with a few people from work (like 20!).  We went out to a place down the road from us, Wild Ginger.  Andy and I had been there 2 times before and have always loved the sushi.  It probably ranks as our number one sushi place.  Everybody else that came, it was their first time.  With a big group of people, you're bound to have some disappointment.  Service was a little slow, and a couple drinks were incorrect, and some people didn't quite like their food.  I felt kind of bad, because I was the one that recommended the place, but hey, you can't please everyone ALL the time.  We liked our food, and we're kind of "slow-paced" folks anyway, so we didn't quite mind the wait, but I understand not everyone is like Andy and I so I can see both sides here.  But oh well, we all had fun, despite the food debacle!

Red Dragon Roll (top) - WAY awesome!  Spicy Rainbow Roll (bottom)

Highlander Roll

Sunday, Andy and I headed up to Edinburgh, IN to go to the outlet malls.  We definitely snagged some great deals... saving over $300 at Banana Republic alone (or that's what the girl at the check-out said, anyway).  But got myself a cute pair of jeans, some dress pants, and a foxy dress.  Then went to Under Armour and bought some work-out clothes... can never use too much of those!  There were also 2 kitchen stores at the outlets, but I was quite disappointed.  Both places were really "gimicky" and didn't really sell anything substantial.  Kind of a bummer in that aspect, but oh well.

Oh, and I forgot to mention.  Friday, Andy's friend that works for a food distributor in town hooked us up with 13.5 lbs. of fresh Atlantic salmon... for $80!  What a bargain, eh?  We've got salmon for days now!  So definitely don't be surprised if you see a lot more salmon recipes in the near future!

And Saturday, I ran into a slight problem with my car.  The map lights (you know, those lights on the inside of the car by the rear view mirror that let you look at... well... maps.)  They wouldn't turn off.  I pressed them, they didn't turn off.  I turned my car on and off multiple times, they didn't turn off.  I even went as far as banging and screaming at them... still didn't turn off.  My car automatically shuts them off after 15 minutes of the engine being turned off, but that doesn't help me when I'm driving early in the morning and those lights are glaring right in my face (not to mention how stupid I look with those lights on in my car the whole time I'm driving.)  So anyway, I finally had time to take my car down to the Ford dealership this morning, and the lady just went into my car, fiddled around for a minute or two and was like "all fixed."  My mouth just dropped.  Seriously... I felt stupid.  She told me what she did, but honestly, I didn't pay too much attention (I know, I'm horrible).  All I know is that the lights are off and my stress level is now at a reasonable level!  Hehe.

Wow... guess I was a mouthful today.  I've got the day off work, but have to head to class around 4, so I better get a little studying done (I'm actually ahead!!).  Have a great Tuesday guys!

Sushi Extravaganza

I'm baaaaaaack! Vacation was pretty awesome. It was exactly what I needed. Until I got back to work again. It's funny how having to come back to the real world really bites. I wish I could just live one of those glorious lives where I could travel the globe and not lift a finger. But I guess maybe even that would become habitual and boring in time. Nonetheless... I'm back and ready to cook! I thought this sushi was pretty excellent, and if it wasn't so convenient to have others make this for me, I think I would do this myself all the time. I definitely recommend sushi-making at home, at least once, just for the experience... because it's definitely not as hard as you think!

Ingredients:

Basmati or some other kind of "sticky" rice
Seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 lb. lobster meat (or imitation)
1 package nori
1/2 cucumber, julienned
1 carrot, peeled and julienned
soy sauce
tempura batter
oil for frying

Alright, first cook your rice. I had two different types so that I could compare the two. First, I bought a prepackaged "steam for 1 minute in the microwave" kind of rice. Then I cooked about 1 cup of basmati rice, adding a little bit more water than recommended to kind of get the rice at that "sticky" texture. Separate each rice and add your desired amount of rice vinegar to each pile. Mix well.

Go ahead and heat up your frying oil. Kind of cut the lobster meat into chunks and dip them into the tempura batter. Let sit for 3 minutes and then coat a second time with the batter and allow to sit for a few more minutes.

Fry the batter lobster chunks until you get a nice golden brown color, maybe about 5-7 minutes.

Lay out your bamboo sushi mat and place a piece of plastic wrap over it to cover. For a normal roll (nori on the outside, rice on the inside), place nori sheet on top of sushi mat. Cover nori with rice and add desired fillings. I added in lobster, carrots, and cucumber... but that's what's great about sushi, it's versatile... you can practically put anything you want in there!


For an alternative roll, an inside out roll (where the rice is on the outside and nori on the inside), just place the rice on the plastic wrap to cover top with nori. Then add fillings.


Ok, once you've got your filling and roll planned out, gently pick up mat from end closest to you and roll. Tighten mat to tighten roll. Sometimes explaining this isn't as good as a visual aid. So check out this site for a more detailed description... How To Roll Sushi.

You can decorate the rolls as you please, I just chose to drizzle some Sriracha and top with tempura flakes and black sesame seeds. Serve with soy sauce and eat with chop sticks!

This was just great! Not only was it visually stunning, it was just as delicious as it looked! Two large rolls and we were both full and happy. I definitely think the "sticky" packaged rice was easier to roll with. The basmati kind of fell apart a little (I used that one for the inside out roll, you can kind of tell it was coming apart there in the picture, but delicious nonetheless!) Enjoy!