Recipes from Teen Council and 4-H Members

Sakura Mochi by Kat

A traditional Japanese dish that people eat on Girl's Day.
This version is the Kansai style

INGREDIENTS

  • 3/4 cup glutinous rice flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 3/4 cup anko (adzuki bean paste, red colored)
  • Optional: pickled sakura leaves (to wrap around the mochi)
  • red food color

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash leaves and dry them with a paper towel. Boil the water in a pot and mix the rice flour into the boiling water. Cover the pot and leave to sit for five minutes. Put paper towels into a steamer, and put the dough on top of them. Steam the dough for approximately twenty minutes over a medium heat, and then place in a bowl. Mash the dough slightly and mix sugar in. Dissolve a small amount of red food coloring into water and add to the dough, mixing it well. Divide the dough into balls and flatten them by hand. Place anko in the center of each, and roll the dough by hand before wrapping it in a sakura leaf. To help prevent dough from sticking to your hand, try powdering your hands with confectioner's sugar, which will also further sweeten the dough.

Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya by Ivan Wei

Best dish award of the 2008 Food Festival

INGREDIENTS

  • Olive oil
  • 3 pounds uncooked rice
  • 3 pound chicken cut into manageable chunks
  • 2 pounds kielbasa sausage, cut in half and then bite-size chunks
  • 3 medium white onions, chopped roughly
  • 8 scallions, chopped roughly [about 1 cup]
  • 3/4 c celery, cut in half and chopped roughly
  • 1 green pepper and 2 italian peppers, chopped roughly
  • 7 cloves garlic, minced
  • 7 cups chicken stock
  • 2 T Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/3 bunch cilantro, chopped
  • 3 big pinches of Sea salt [about 3 T]
  • Freshly ground pepper, plenty
  • Red pepper to taste - start with 1/8 t
  • 3 bay leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat large, heavy bottomed pan and cover bottom generously with oil. When hot, brown chicken chunks on high heat and remove to bowl. Add sausage and brown over medium flame, then remove to bowl. Add a little more oil and cook onions, garlic, celery and pepper as follows: first the garlic and onions and when onions began to turn translucent add the celery and pepper, stirring often over high heat until the vegetables are warm.

Cover pot and reduce flame to medium for 5 minutes until vegetables have expelled a little of their own juice. Then add scallions and cook on med-high flame, uncovered, stirring often, until vegetables turn golden brown. Add chicken stock, cilantro, Worcestershire sauce, plenty of salt [as the rice absorbs a lot of salt], ground black pepper and red pepper.

Bring the mixture to boil, and when boiling skim off all visible grease, then add rice and boil again. Put heat diffuser under pot and continue to boil vigorously until rice puffs up and becomes fat. Don't reduce the temperature too soon, because the rice will remain hard and a take a long time to cook! Then add the meats back in. Stir with a spatula once or twice while the dish is cooking - lifting rice from bottom to top. Be careful not to break the rice by stirring in a circular motion. When mixture is fragrant and visible liquid has been absorbed let pot sit for 20 minutes. Serve steaming hot!