The Alaskans Make Nishime...

....and disaster hits my kitchen!!
Let's start this post by saying that I was so nervous about this past weekend. A few friends from a macrobiotic community all the way in Alaska came to stay with me (in my tiny Manhattan apartment). This community is called Ionia and you can read more about then at http://www.ionia.org/. They were all born there and raised on a macrobiotic diet. I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to live at the community for 18 days while attending their annual Summer Conference. It was an Amazing experience.

So, I wanted to make sure my kitchen was in order as much as possible. If you're putting that much energy into something, it WILL happen....

First disaster was the BUG in my KITCHEN! I swear, for as long as I've lived on my own I have not once EVER had a bug crawling on my counter in my kitchen. It must have came in with one of the grocery bags. So of course I freak out. I get the only male in the house to kill it before I can even go back into the room. This messes up my entire momentum.

The Menu for tonight was going to be:
Christina Pirello's Pesto sauce with Fettuccini Noodles

Nishime Dish made with Diakon, Carrots, Onion, and Cabbage

Fried Tempeh with Soy Sauce

Sauteed Broccolirabe with Garlic

I started with boiling the water for the Pasta. This step takes the longest! While waiting I made the Pesto Sauce. I accidentally forgot to heat the oil before adding it to the food processor. Whoops. Luckily it came out really good anyway.

I had my good friend Lauden start chopping the vegetables for the Nishime. I figured he'd be a pro at that by now.

For those of you not familiar with Nishime dish, it's basically good vegetable on a LOW flame with very little water. It's quite a healing dish, particularly for the stomach, spleen, and pancreas.

So he works on cutting the veggies, and placing them into the pot, and adding the water. Quite possibly it could have been my fault that the flame was set too high. The water evaporated way too quickly and next thing you know it's burning... quickly removing it from the flame and placing it on top of my wooden cutting board, (my ONLY wooden cutting board) I now have a circular burnt spot to remember this night forever. see photo on top...

Here is where I would have posted the video of me screaming in the kitchen and Lauden trying to put out the smoke behind me....unfortunately that video got deleted from my camera. Soooo upset because I really think you all would have found it very humorous. So, you'll just have to imagine.

At this point, I manage to finish the meal. I make the tempeh which came out very good. Secret is to steam the tempeh before frying which makes it easier for digestion. I can't take credit on the broccolirabe either, that was all Chef Lauden. And finally about 30 minutes later, we have a dinner that's mostly qualified to serve.

Overall, we all agreed it was one of the best meals ever. I guess things work themselves out. The Nishime was not completely edible but we made due.

Thanks to my Alaska friends for a great weekend and a funny blog!!

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