A little fish by the lake...

I like sushi. There, I said it. Those of you who know me are probably surprised by this. My wife brought me to Mt. Fuji in Maple Grove, MN several years ago for my first sushi experience. I did not want to try it, so I ordered the chicken tempura (a lightly battered and fried method)... I tried a few pieces of the sushi rolls my wife ordered and since then I have never ordered the chicken tempura again. For new sushi experiences, my wife and I like to buy Groupon deals to try out places we have not tried before. Some are good (Fuji Ya in downtown St. Paul) and some not so good (Tiger Sushi in the Uptown area of Minneapolis.) Besides sharing my cooking and smoking experiences, I am also going to share unique and/or new dining experiences, so here goes:



On Sunday 6/23, my wife and I used a Groupon for Sakana Sushi in Wayzata, MN.

I have a regular roll that I like to order everywhere, a Philadelphia Roll. Smoked salmon, cream cheese, avocado. It was ok here, a larger than average chunks of avocado and smaller than average pieces of cream cheese.

B.M.W Roll- Deep fried spicy tuna, avocado, topped with eel sauce, spicy mayo & tobiko

Sweet Heart- Shrimp tempura, avocado, spicy tuna, lettuce, tobika, wrapped in pink soy paper

Wayzata Roll- Seared tuna, asparagus, radish sprout inside. Topped with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, eel, avocado, caviar, scallion & wasabi mayo, eel sauce

My favorite of the day-

Dynamite Roll-Spicy tuna, salmon, topped with spicy crab. DELICIOUS. A nice little spicy kick, we really liked this roll.

Service- Great


Food- EXCELLENT

(p.s. I am working on a rating system I will use, but for now, this is all you get.)
Overall, I have found my new favorite sushi place. Only negative was an arts and crafts fair going on in the street in front of the restaurant. If not for that, we would have had a nice view of Lake Minnetonka across the street from the booth by the window we sat in. Their tents made better doors than windows. Next time we will have the view. :)

Smoking, my new Frontier....

I have had an interest in trying smoking meats for several years.  I had a small Little Chief smoker I tried, but wanted something bigger and more insulated.  I recently purchased a Masterbuilt 30inch Electric Smokehouse with window and RF controller.  I know purists would call this an outdoor oven that smokes, but it was just what I was looking for in a starter smoker.
For my first attempt, I bought 2 racks of St. Louis style ribs.  I also had a small boneless center cut pork roast that I sliced into 6 chops.  I left the chops plain, but created my own rub to use on the ribs.  My rub I made from some books and left some things out I don't like and added some I like.  The wood I purchased was apple wood chips from Weber.
Friday night I coated the ribs generously with the rub and put them in the refrigerator for the night.

My rub consisted of:
Brown Sugar
Paprika
Black Pepper
Kosher Salt
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Cumin

Before I could begin, I had to "season" the smoker.  I followed the instructions according to the owner's manual and started the smoker and heated to 275F (highest possible for the smoker).  After about 2 hours at that temperature, I added water soaked wood chips and let the smoker run for another hour or so.  The instructions told to let the smoker cool before using, but I was short on time and patience and only let the smoker cool to 150F before I started the smoker back up.  I set the temperature to 205F and once the temperature was attained, I put the meat in the smoker.  Then it was time to wait for 4 hours.

I mixed up a small batch of my usual bbq sauce, with assistance from my lovely wife.  During the final 30 minutes of cook time, I opened and slathered sauce on the ribs.

My sauce:
Ketchup
Brown Sugar
Onion Powder
Worcestershire Sauce
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper

The verdict came out better than I expected for my 1st attempt.  The ribs turned out tender and delicious.  The cayenne pepper left a nice little burn on the lips after eating.  I was a little disappointed with the chops, I thought they were a little dried out, but my guinea pigs liked them.

Things I learned:
1. Do not wear light colored and/or favorite shirt for smoking.  Good thing I have multiple identical MN Twins t-shirts.
2.  Gloves can get very slick with grease and difficult to get off by myself.  Need to plan better in the future.

Let's get this started

Tonight for supper I used a my wife's idea.  I had thawed boneless skinless chicken breasts in the fridge for a couple of days.  I pounded them flat, seasoned, layered with ham and provolone, rolled the breasts, and stuck 2 water soaked toothpicks to hold them together.  I baked them for about 45 minutes at 375F.  They turned out great.  For the seasoning, I chopped fresh rosemary and mixed with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.  
This is my first blog post, hopefully they will improve as I learn on the go.  Tomorrow I am going to try out my new smoker......
Stay tuned!