Avocado Mashed Potatoes

Looks like Guacamole doesn't it?

Here is a recipe I just came up with today. Turned out pretty good! You just have to get over the mental block of green potatoes!

I think I will use the left overs to make Japanese style Croquettes tomorrow and will post that later.

Give it a try if you have some potatoes and an avocado needing to be eaten! It really is quite tasty!

Avocado Mashed Potatoes

About ¾ lb Potatoes
1 avocado
lemon juice
¼ cup soy or cow’s milk (I used soymilk, plain/unsweetened)
1 tablespoon butter
salt, white pepper to taste
garlic salt to taste, if desired

Peel and cut potatoes into large chunks. Cover in cool salted water in sauce pan and boil until pieces can be pierced with a fork (not too soft where they break when the fork goes in).

While the potatoes are cooking, peel and mash one avocado. Sprinkle with dash of fresh lemon juice (about 1 tsp is good). Sprinkle with some salt (about ½ teaspoon or as desired) and mix all well. Set aside.

Place the butter into the milk and melt in the microwave. Sprinkle the salt and pepper in and set aside.

When the potatoes are done, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon. Mash roughly in a bowl. Add the milk/butter mixture in about 3 portions to the potatoes, mixing thoroughly after each addition (use a hand beater or stand up mixer). Continue to mix to desired consistency (we like our mashed potatoes alittle lumpy in our home).

Lastly, add the avocado, folding in or mixing gently on low speed until evenly distributed into the potatoes.

Serve warm.

Mango, Coconut, Macadamia Nut Bread or Muffins - Sucanat

Finished muffins, with one split open so you can see what it looks like done. YUMMY!

Today I was going to make some Mango Bread, which has coconut and mac nuts in it, but ended up putting the batter into muffin papers. As usual, I am trying to make my recipe healthier, using whole wheat flour (partially), Sucanat sugar (no white sugar) and some applesauce to replace some of the oil.

You can use fresh mangoes or frozen. I prefer frozen because besides the fact it can be quite an ordeal to peel and then cut up a mango (for me anyway), they are really expensive here in Japan, when you can find them and it's hard to find them not over ripened in what I consider, a usable condition. I'm serious about them being expensive! I saw a mango at the supermarket here 2 days ago that was 980 yen, which is about $10.00 USD currently! There was also some cheaper mangoes (smaller and probably from the Philippines) that were about half that price, still pricey if you ask me. A bag of frozen and already nice chopped mango is only about $3.50 USD and there is nearly 2 cups in the bag! However, again, it's not easy to find it. I usually have to go to more than one supermarket before I am successful, so when I see them, I often buy some to keep in the freezer for later.

This recipe could be used in a bread pan as a loaf of fruit bread, but you would need to bake it longer, around 45-50 minutes or more, depending on your oven.

When making muffins, you can also use reusable Sili-cups (silicon muffin baking cups) instead of the muffin tin and papers, which is what I usually do, but since I was giving a good amount of these away to friends, I decided it'd be better to use papers this time, giving them a bit more stability in transit perhaps.

Enjoy!

Mango Bread or Muffins

1 cup cake flour (or pastry flour)
1 cup all purpose whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 eggs well beaten
1/2 teaspoon coconut flavor/extract (optional)
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened, plain
1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil, sunflower oil, etc.
1 1/4 cup Sucanat (cane sugar)
2 cups diced (peeled first) mango (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts or walnuts
1/2 cup grated coconut (unsweetened, if you are forced to use sweetened, cut down the sugar)
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates (optional, this will make the muffins much sweeter, I did not use any in this batch)

Batter mixed and ready to add the coconut, mac nuts and mango.

Preheat oven to 325 F (160 C) or a bit higher depending on your oven (I baked these at 160C).

For bread, grease and flour two 9 by 5 inch loaf pans.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the oil, applesauce, Sucanat and coconut extract/flavor.
Mix thoroughly.

Add the dry ingredients and blend well but don't over mix.

Fold in the mango, coconut, nuts and raisins.

Pour batter into loaf pans or spoon into muffin tin/papers or Sili-cups. Do not fill muffin papers or cups all the way , but rather just below the edge (see photo below).

Bake bread for 45-60 minutes (depending on your oven) and muffins for approximately 30 minutes, until golden brown. Test for doneness by inserting a clean knife or a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean it's done.

Let loaves cool for 10-15 minutes before taking them out of the pan. Do not slice until completely cooled.

Muffins can be removed carefully and set out to cool.

This recipe makes 2 loaves or approximately 18 muffins.

This is about the level you should fill the papers or Sili-cups with batter.

BullFrogs and Japanese Toads in the garden

Well today, as Daisy sat on her new little summer cot enjoying the fresh air in her garden, a huge BullFrog (called Ushi Gaeru in Japanese) jumped into the Dichondra lawn directly in front of her. Although this picture was taken before that 'event' this is exactly where it was (where she is looking towards in this photo above). At first I didn't know what it was in the lawn, then when I opened the door and stepped onto the lanai, that thing JUMPED! He lept at least 3 feet (about a meter) in one hop! He hit a potted plant and knocked it over and then hid in some dried leaves alongside the edge of the garden. Well this was quite interesting! I wanted to get a picture of him so I approached and then he took off. That thing can RUN and I also discovered it could climb a small fence! Finally he hid under a shed I have. I could barely get a look at him.

Daisy was so excited to try and chase him. I had to spend time taking her mind off of it with some juicy bones and treats for a while.

Here is a picture of what we saw and about the same size. This photo comes courtesy of a website on how to control Bullfrogs, I was unable to get a photo of 'our' visitor today. It was much too fast!

An American Bullfrog, they are not native to Japan but were introduced in the 1920's, originally to help farmers earn extra income by exporting frog legs. But they are great jumpers and runners, as we discovered today, and as some would escape the farms, they became established in the wild. Now they can be found all over Japan in the countryside as well as city parks, substantial ponds, rivers and larger irrigation ditches, and our humble urban garden!

click here to listen to a Bullfrog's call

UPDATE-Sept 1
We found the Bullfrog today hiding in the darkest wettest corner of the garden. After carefully holding back some leaves of the large plant he was sitting under, I was able to get this picture without upsetting him.

Funny thing is, it must have disturbed our regular Japanese Toads that live in our garden, under the sheds. They are called Azuma Hiki Gaeru in Japanese. Less than 10 minutes later, I saw one of our usual toads walking towards a shed we have on the opposite side of the garden looking dejected, like he just got kicked out of his house. He is lucky that BullFrog didn't eat him! Here is a picture of our regular Japanese Toad in the lawn. He doesn't move as fast as the BullFrog. The toads tend to freeze when you get too close, as if that would make you no longer interested in them. Silly toads, however the 'freeze' technique does make them very photogenic!

Japanese Toad as he is walking thru the Dichondra lawn. They seem to prefer walking like this and jump as a last resort. It looks funny as they walk across the lawn.

Azuma Hiki Gaeru, Japanese Toad acting like he isn't there, in a frozen position.

Hopefully our BullFrog will hang around, though he might have been traumatized by my trying to take his picture. I'm sure he is awesome pest control. He was so big and looked very well fed. I think he may have come from a nearby taro patch that someone is filling in partially to build some houses on. I used to hear the BullFrogs singing from there (at first I thought someone had cows or oxen!) but it's been pretty quiet over there now. I did however think I heard something outside along the dark damp side of our apartment for the last week or so. Guess it wasn't my imagination!

The next night, Daisy found this Japanese Toad in the garden. His markings are a little more pronounced than the one we saw during the day, maybe not the same toad. The poor thing was 'frozen' stiff in terror. Daisy was really not so interested in him after he stopped moving (she is actually quite gentle with things usually). I brought him in the apartment for a photo shoot, then put him back out in a bushy area so Daisy would give him some peace. Here are a couple really good close up photos for those of you that are interested and not squeamish about froggies.