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!