Helen Roberts & the Kikkoman Test Kitchen

Chef Helen Roberts is the manager of culinary development and public relations at Kikkoman. She works on consumer recipes using the whole range of Kikkoman products from soy sauce to panko bread crumbs to soy milk and beyond. She used to work in product development and was hired because of her amazing ability to taste subtle differences in 16 different soy sauces! At the time she was hired, she had never even tried Japanese food.


I recently got to visit Helen and her test kitchen in downtown San Francisco. What a treat! Helen is friendly, enthusiastic and has a great sense of humor, and so it was no surprise to see that her recently renovated test kitchen in San Francisco is cheerful and lively as can be. The kitchen has a big island, two stoves and a large refrigerator. It also has a big flat screen television with cooking shows on all the time and the radio set to "old school." By the way, is there anything better than cooking with Prince playing in the background?


I had a great time cooking with Helen, whipping up some recipes for Valentine's Day. She was working on a version of a recipe she swears convinced her husband to propose to her. She fills puff pastry shells with a cajun spiced cream sauce (made with soy milk) and shrimp sauteed in butter. Helen made us a snack to nibble on while we cooked and shared tips with me such as use a splash of soy sauce in the water when you blanch vegetables instead of salt.

I made one of Helen's recipes for crab stuffed mushrooms which came out beautifully which is a testament to her skills, because I was so distracted chatting that I did not follow the directions as well as I should have.


The other recipe I made was from 1984, and it was not created by Helen. It shows how much tastes change. The original recipe for Artichokes with Zesty Blue Cheese Dip called for only one tablespoon of blue cheese! Needless to say, it needed a little more. Ok, a lot more. I've adapted it here if you'd like to try it. Helen's office mates liked it a lot. I think it's a great choice for Valentine's Day, after all, it has plenty of heart.

Note: since this recipe calls for boiling rather than steaming, and I found the artichokes I used cooked very quickly. If you prefer, you can cook the artichokes any way you like.

Artichokes with Zesty Blue Cheese Dip(adapted from the Kikkoman Kitchen)
4 servings

Ingredients

4 medium (about 8 oz. each) artichokes 

Water
1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mushrooms 

2 Tablespoons minced green onions
6 Tablespoons crumbled blue cheese 

2 teaspoons Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce 

Grated peel and juice of 1/2 fresh lemon

Instructions

To prepare artichokes, slice 1 inch off tops; discard. Cut off stems even with base; remove small outer leaves. Trim off sharp leaf tips (about 1/2 inch) with kitchen shears or paring knife or scissors. Rinse artichokes under cold water. (To prevent darkening, rub lemon half on cut edges of artichokes.) Arrange artichokes upright in saucepan. Add water to depth of 2 inches. Bring water to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, 20 minutes, or until leaves pull out easily.

Meanwhile, combine mayonnaise, mushrooms, green onions, blue cheese, less sodium soy sauce, lemon juice and peel.

Drain artichokes; cool enough to handle. To serve, spoon the blue cheese mixture into a bowl, and serve with the artichokes.

Enjoy!

Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip

I LOVE the holidays!! I love the gatherings, the parties, the music, the lights, even the chill in the air and the occasional snow storm. It is, without a doubt, my favorite time of year. And of course, having the love for food that I do doesn't hurt either. The holidays basically hand you a license to go hog-wild in the kitchen, and it's okay! It's the holidays! It would practically be wrong not to.


This is a dip I served for Thanksgiving, which in our house isn't so much an event, as it is a kick-off, to all of the gorging that will happen for the next month. And now that I've made this dip, I can guarantee that it's going to be making a gooey, cheesy appearance often in our household. This is an Alton Brown recipe, which not only has five stars from a million reviews, but it also takes literally two minutes to make. There is no baking, sauteing, or cooking of any kind. Just a quick mix, and into the warmer (crockpot) it goes, providing giddy flavorful love for all in attendance. Make this dip, use carrots, cracker, bread, a spoon, legos, whatever your heart fancies to dip it in. It will all be delicious!


Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients

1 cup thawed, chopped frozen spinach
1 1/2 cups canned or jarred artichoke hearts
6 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

Heat cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute or until hot and soft. Stir in rest of ingredients and serve hot. Keep in crockpot if you plan to party all night long.

Hot Artichoke Dip

You know, I'm just going to say it, trying to eat healthy just plain sucks sometimes. It's not that I don't like healthy food, it's that I really like the stuff that's not so healthy. And I'm not much of a sweets girl, I'm talking big bacon cheeseburgers, greasy cheesy pizza, and salty snack food, oh how I love it! But, I made a goal this year by golly, and even though it's February and I'm supposed to have forgotten about it, I really want to accomplish my goal of getting healthy. Come hell or a high mountain of potato chips!

That's why I'm always grateful for recipes like this. They make the whole healthy process suck just a bit less. I love artichoke dip, it's cheesy and has that fantastic sharp artichoke flavor. But, unlike a lot of dips, this one is not full of fat and calories. In fact, the bulk of this dip is white beans, which gives the dip the creamy illusion that you are indulging and being naughty. It's wonderful for parties, and tastes just as good cold or room temp as it does hot.

Hot Artichoke Dip
Cooking Light

Ingredients

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (14-ounce) cans artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained, divided
1 (15.5-ounce)can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided (I really like Pecorino Romano, I almost always sub it for Parm)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a food processor; add 1 can of artichokes and beans. Process until smooth. Add remaining can of artichokes, 3/4 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 1 tablespoon parsley, and garlic. Pulse 20 times or until artichokes are coarsely chopped.

3. Spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray; sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and remaining 1 tablespoon parsley. Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.


4. I think this is best served with tortilla chips, sliced baguette, carrots, celery or cauliflower.

Serves 12: Serving size is 1/3 cups

Per Serving: 98cal, 4g fat, 2g fiber, 5g prot, 488mg sod

Points per Serving: 2!!


With the leftover dip, I made an awesome roasted zucchini and mushroom panini (what else!) Roast whatever veggies you have (asparagus would have also been excellent), spread dip on one slice of bread, top with veggies and any cheese if desired and press. Delicious lunch!

So here's my question...what helps you when you're having a particularly hard day staying on that straight and narrow path to healthy eating?