Buckwheat - it's all good

Hello,

I have been using buckwheat groats a lot lately.

For me, I am making a soup, and for my husband, it's oatmeal.

These are the photos for the soup I made the other day, first one is curry flavored vegetable ( onion, cabbage, carrots ) soup with buckwheat groats.

Secand one is chichen, lentils, buckwheat groats and vegetable ( napa cabbage, carrots, pumpkin, potatos ) soup.

This is my husband's favorite oatmeal bowl lately. Cook buckwheat and rolled oats in the water first, and then add some milk, fruits, and brown suger. This is great easy breakfast.

But! I love to eat oatmeal little Japanese style :) I cooked rolled oats and buckwheat in Japanese "DASHI" broth, and add cooked salmon, little salt, bonito flakes, and sesame seeds. Here you go! "Japanese style oatmeal"

Scalloped Potato Gratin

Hello,

When I was talking with my husband about my cooking and various recipes and so on..., he said, "Why don't you try to make other people's recipe and add a little twist and write about it in your blog?"

"Hum... That's interesting, sounds like the movie "Julie & Julia" huh?"

So, I decided to take my husband's idea, by making some dishes using any recipe from whatever magazine, TV, supermarket recipe card, or book. Then add my little healthy twist to it and make it healthy, so my husband will eat it and like it.

Then, I cooked this scalloped potato from Food Network's chef Mr. Tylor Florence's "Scalloped Potato Gratin".

I changed two things from the original recipe, the amount of heavy cream, and cheese. The amount of heavy cream was too much for both of us, so I substituted a less fat milk and half the amount of the heavy cream for a lighter dish. Also, I used 1/2 Gruyere cheese and 1/2 Parmesan cheese. 　

Still, it finished very creamy, and rich in taste. And we both loved it! I especially liked the fresh thyme flavor, it was great with the cheese and gave it a nice accent.

It was so easy, and a great side dish. You should try it, too :)

Brown Rice with Buckwheat

Hello,

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that I can come up with a few great recipes and cook some delicious and healthy food this year. Oh, I also would love to try a lot of new recipes.

When I cooked brown rice the other day, I remembered that I had some buckwheat and added it to the brown rice. Cooking brown rice needs more soaking time than white rice does, so I usually soak in over night, or soak in warm to hot water before I cook it.

This time I soaked the buckwheat in hot water about one hour and added two(2) table spoons of buckwheat per 1 GO ( Japanese measurement unit = about 180cc = 6 ounces) and started cooking.

It comes out really nice, I even thought that I can add more Buckwheat. Both, the brown rice and Buckwheat texture mixed very good and the colors blended nicely together. When I cooked white rice with Buckwheat Tea (SOBA-CHA) before, there was that typical SOBA-CYA flavor I could smell, but this time the aroma was very subtle and mild. I believe that it is because SOBA-CHA was roasted and that made the rice have a more strong flavor.

This rice would be perfect for OCHA-ZUKE Rice!

Buckwheat Here I Go Again...

Hello,

How are you doing?
Did you finish your Christmas shopping?


I found some Buckwheat Groats ( Whole Buckwheat Grain ) the other day at the store where I usually go. I was so happy and grabed right away :)

I still have Buckwheat Tea ( SOBA-CHA ), and using it to mix with some rice. Now I can use this whole one in some soup, salads, hot cereal, etc... for a more grain intake in our diet.

This is Eden Food brand. ( By the way, they have a lot of various type of seaweed products, plum paste, dried daikon, ponzu...etc.)

---

And I boiled some of the Buckwheat Groat and mixed with tomato sauce which I made the other day.

The grain got tender and absorbed the flavor of the tomato sauce, and the good thing is that the grain doesn't have a strong Buckwheat taste that I thought.
So, I can use with various types of dishes, replacing pasta or rice.

My husband wants to try mixing it with oatmeal, so let's see how it comes out.

It is getting chilly here in California, but a lot of places are in heavy snow I guess. Please keep warm, and I hope you have a Happy Holiday!

Home Made Pizza

Hello,

I am taking a little break from MISO project now :)

Still, I'm making miso soup often though.

Well, I make a pizza at home often. The reasons I like to make at home are...

1) I can use any ingredients I want. My husband and I sometimes can't agree about what we put on our pizza, so I can make 2 small different ones :)

2) I can adjust the amount of cheese and sauce, so I can make much lower calorie and sodium pizza than delivery or store bought ones.

3) I can try and make different types of dough each time, like; Thin crust dough, Dough with yeast or baking powder, Dough made with wheat flour, Dough with flaxseed or corn meal...

I sometimes use a ready to bake dough too, my husband's and my favorite is BOBOLI's, that is crispy, good size for two, and affordable.

Here's few pics of pizza I lately made...

MISO Project - Failure or what?

Hello,

Lately I have been trying to create a few new MISO dishes, but sometimes things don't turn out the way you want them to...

The other day, I made a turkey meatloaf, and I thought that it might be a good chance to create a new sauce with MISO paste.

I know there's some juice from the meat that I can use, so I started to think what else I can add to these mixture to make a delicious sauce.

...And, the ingredient I decided was...

Worcestershire sauce.

The consistency was pretty good, the color wasn't exactly what I was looking for, and the taste didn't quit go along with the turkey the way I thought :'-(

Maybe I should add some soy sauce or some kind of fruits (that's what I thought later.)

Oh well, s--t happens...I will keep trying to find a better flavor which matches with turkey.

However, my husband kind of liked the sauce, but still he agreed that the color didn't match with the meatloaf. He said that the sauce blended with the flavor of the turkey. Hmm, interesting.

Here's the picture of the meatloaf. Does anyone have a idea?

MISO Project Part 2

Hello,

Hmm.. Just curious if I am the only one who does this, but when I buy MISO Paste I usually get a different type of MISO paste than what I already have on hand. I like to keep 2 different types of MISO in our fridge at all times. Making MISO soup with 2 different types of MISO paste gives your MISO soup a more UMAMI flavor.

Currently, I have sweet White Miso and a mixed MISO.

Sweet white MISO is also called "SAIKYO-MISO" in Japanese, it's the preferred flavor in the KYOTO area. This type of MISO is a much sweeter taste than most other types of MISO ( Various types of MISO contain about 12-14% of sodium. However, this WHITE MISO contains only about 5-6% sodium ).

So, this type of MISO is very easy to use for dressing or dipping sauce.

Below is a photo of a dish I made, which is a "Japanese Style Ceaser Salad Dressing"

With the dressing I mixed sweet WHITE MISO, White Sesame paste, and soup stock, grated fresh garlic, and grated Parmesan Cheese together. And I tossed with some fresh Lomain Lettuce, Arugula, and grilled Cornish Hen from last nights dinner.

A fresh simple salad ready in just a few minutes!