Japanese Pickles fresh from our garden!

Fresh picked cucumbers and tomatoes from my garden today. Pickling vinegars and kimchee base in the background, used for making Japanese style pickles.

Today I harvested some veggies from our little garden. We are getting lots of cucumbers, so I am attempting some REAL Japanese pickle creations. Today I tried Shiba-Zuke, translates to "Natural Red Pickles" in English.

This recipe calls for Eggplant and Cucumbers with red and white plum vinegar as well as the regular Japanese rice vinegar . The plum vinegars were a bit harder to find than I thought it would be, but I am handicapped a bit due to not being able to read Japanese. My husband's co-worked kindly helped find the red plum vinegar for me!

I used:
3 Japanese Eggplants, slightly peeled
1 huge Japanese Cucumber (from my garden, about equal amount to the eggplant)

Japanese Eggplant slightly peeled.

Both the Eggplant and the cucumber needs to be sliced up into 1/4 inch (5mm) thick diagonal slices (after cutting the whole thing in half first). The both need to be soaked in brine (2 cups water with 2 teaspoons salt), eggplant separate from the cucumbers (2 bowls) for 2 minutes. Use a small saucer to lightly press down so all pieces can completely soak for 20 minutes.

I used some sliced pickled Miyoga (a kind of ginger) and some red shiso leaves from a jar of Umeboshi (pickled plums). You could probably use some Ume and Shiso furikake if you can't find the former. 1 tablespoon of this.

Thinly sliced the Myoga and squeeze lightly, place in large bowl.

After the 20 minutes soaking is up, squeeze out the water firmly from the eggplant. Lightly squeeze the water from the cucumbers. Place them also into the same large bowl with the Myoga. Add the Shiso (or the Ume and Shiso furikake if you are using that).

Sprinkle everything with the mixed vinegars (2 tablespoons of each of the plum vinegars and 1 1/2 tablespoon of rice vinegar) and 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of castor sugar (fine not coarse). Mix well and place in a wide bowl (preferably glass but plastic is ok too, NEVER use aluminum for either the container or covering!). Place a lid or saucer on top and weigh it down so that everything is compressed and completely covered in the vinegar juices. I used a large jar of peanut butter with a round lid underneath it.

Compressing the pickles with a lid and a heavy jar of peanut butter.

Mix once or twice to blend the flavors and it will be ready to serve in one day. I placed mine in the refrigerator for this process.

Side view of the pickles being compressed by the peanut butter jar and resting in the refrigerator.

And here are the finished pickles one day later...they are sour, not sweet...pretty good!

Slow Cooker Peanut Butter & Chocolate Pudding Cake - Low Calories

Looks good doesn't it?

Ok, I am REALLY getting into my old crock pot (and I mean old, I have had it since 1983!). It's just too easy to make things in, especially these days when I have about zero energy for meals that take lots of prep work and cooking.

Now I have discovered that I can make some low-calorie desserts for my husband and I in the crock pot. We are, as most always, trying to lose weight but still crave some sweet goodie after dinner, so I am working on new creations in the crock pot.

Here is one I came up with this week. Can be enjoyed hot from the crock pot with some low-calorie ice cream, ice milk or Rice Dream non-dairy frozen dessert etc if you want, or you can pour some fudge sauce on top, sugar free if you are trying to cut out the sugar and some calories.

Slow Cooker Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pudding Cake- low calories

For the Peanut Butter Cake portion:

3/4 c. Cake Flour
3 teaspoons Somersweet
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 c. non-fat milk
1 tablespoon plain, natural unsweetened Applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 c. Peanut Butter (natural, unsweetened, creamy or chunky as desired)

For the Chocolate topping "pudding":

3 tablespoons unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I used Dutch processed)
5 teaspoons Somersweet
1 c. boiling water

Butter/grease the bottom, corners and up the sides about 1 inch of the crock pot before turning it on or placing any ingredients into it.

Combine the flour, 3 tsp. Somersweet and baking powder. Add milk, applesauce and vanilla. Stir with whisk until smooth. Add peanut butter and stir with spoon until mixed completely. Put into the crock pot and level out evenly if necessary.

How it looks with the Peanut Butter batter leveled out.

In a small/medium bowl, stir together the Cocoa, 5 teaspoons Somersweet and the boiling water. Whisk till completely blended. Gently pour over the peanut butter cake batter in the cooker. DO NOT STIR IT. Just let the cocoa mixture rest on top.

How it looks once you have placed the Cocoa mixture on top of the Peanut Butter batter.

Cover the cooker and cook on HIGH for about 2 hours. Be careful any time you remove the cover (which you should not do while it's cooking) that you do not let any water collecting on the lid run down into your dessert.

How it looks in the crock pot when it is done (in this photo, I had already removed one serving).

Crock Pot Kalua Pork with Cabbage

Slow Cooker Kalua Pork with Cabbage, with some cracked pepper on top

One thing I really miss when I'm away from Hawaii is Kalua Pork. You may have eaten it if you have ever been to a Luau dinner. That is the 'real' thing where the pig is slow cooked in an "Imu" or earthen oven. The word 'kalua' in Hawaiian comes from 'ka', meaning 'the' and 'lua' meaning 'hole'. The Hawaiians used the Imu which was a pit in the ground, to steam whole pigs, breadfruit, bananas, sweet potatoes, taro, chicken, and fish.

The Imu acts like an underground pressure cooker. It takes alot of time and labor to prepare an Imu, so it was (and still is) mostly used for group meals, festivities, or religious ceremonies.

An Imu, a lua or round pit, is about 2 feet to 4 feet deep with sloping sides. The diameter and depth matches the amount of food to be cooked. The pit also contains not only the food, but rocks and vegetation. The excavated dirt or sand is kept next to the pit so that it can be used to cover the Imu later. Kindling material and wood is put in the bottom center of the pit, then stones, about the size of a closed fist, are then positioned on top of the wood. The kindling wood is lighted and the fire heats the pit and the stones. As the wood turns to charcoal, the Imu stones drop inward on the hot coals. After a few hours the stones are at their maximum heat and are then leveled out.

To steam the food in the Imu, green plant materials are needed. The Hawaiians used some of the traditional plants such as banana stumps, ti leaves, honohono grass, banana leaves, and coconut palm leaf.

The wood used usually is 'Kiawe' which is a cousin of Mesquite. This gives the pork the awesome smoked flavor. You can duplicate this at home in your slow cooker (crock pot) by using liquid smoke. I use Wright's Mesquite Liquid Smoke as it is easiest to find in most supermarkets. The Hickory type is also good.

A picture of the liquid smoke I usually use, from B&G Foods' website.

Here is my recipe...me ke aloha....

Slow Cooker/Crock Pot Kalua Pork

Pork Shoulder Roast or alittle fatty Loin Roast cuts, 1 lb or amount as desired
Water (to cover meat, one cup at a time)
Liquid Smoke (1 tablespoon to each 1 cup of water used)
Hawaiian Salt (about 2 tablespoons for each 1 cup of water used)

Place raw pork into the slow cooker pot. Cover with water (about 2 cups for each 1 lb. of meat). Add liquid smoke. Add Hawaiian salt. Cook on low for 5 hours.

This photo is just after adding everything to the slow cooker pot. See how the water is covering the pork quite a bit.

After 5 hours has past and around 2 hours before you want to serve, add roughly chopped cabbage as much as you like. I add alot (about 1/2 to 3/4 of a head of cabbage) and then mix around until it is almost covered by the water/juice. It will steam a bit as it is cooking so there is no need to cover the cabbage entirely by the water as you have done with the pork. Cover the crock pot with the lid.

I usually then turn the cooker up to high until serving (about 2 hours after having added the cabbage).

Enjoy hot from the crock pot with side of corn on the cob, potato or macaroni salad and/or steamed white sticky rice. The Kalua Pork can stay warmed and served for several hours (say at a party for example) by keeping the crock pot on low.

Here is some of the Hawaiian Salts I use. It comes in ground or course. Click here to read about Hawaiian Salt.

Orange Chicken, Panda Express style

I have been trying to make Orange Chicken like the kind at Panda Express. My husband LOVES their Orange Chicken and will eat it every day when we are near Panda Express locations (because there are no chances for him to eat it in Japan). So I tried to make it at home. It is not easy but after the 5th try, I think I have got it as close to the real thing as can be done at home, and without a big Wok. I don't own a Wok...no space!

Anyway, we tried it tonight and it was delicious! I also have a recipe for Orange Lilikoi Guava chicken in a crock pot that I will post soon. It's similar to this Orange Chicken except it's all done in a crock pot. You lose alittle of the crunch of the fried chicken pieces but also it's healthier since there is nothing fried!

And now.......

Terri's Homemade Orange Chicken, Panda Style

For the sauce, mix together in a bowl:

1 cup Orange Marmalade (for lower calories use a sugarless variety)
4 tablespoons Shoyu/Soy Sauce (low sodium Shoyu is ok too)
1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce (any type you like, I used a Honey Mustard type)
dash of salt (about 1/4 tsp.)
1 teaspoon of thin sliced red chili peppers, fresh or dried
2 teaspoons of Organic Turbanado Sugar (optional)
1 tablespoon Lilikoi Juice concentrate (optional, I used Aunty Lilikoi's)

After thoroughly mixing these ingredients together, place them all in a crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. You may check on it and stir once or twice.

For the Chicken:

1 1/2 - 2 lbs Chicken, thighs or breast as desired (I used both in equal amounts)
1 Egg beaten
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp ground White Pepper
1/2 cup Cornstarch
1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

After the 5-6 hours are past, cut into large bite sized pieces the chicken meat. Beat egg in a medium/large sized bowl. Add chicken, salt and white pepper. Mix together thoroughly and set aside.

Put oil in a pan or deep fryer and heat to frying temperature.

In another bowl, mix the cornstarch and flour. Add the chicken mixture, and mix until well and evenly coated. Add the chicken pieces in small batches. Removed from oil when browned on both sides (if using a pan to fry, you may need to manually turn over the pieces one by one to assure even cooking.

Place on paper or rack to drain.

After all the chicken is fried, put into a large bowl, or a smaller bowl in batches, and pour some of the Orange sauce from the crock pot over the fried chicken. Mix around until the chicken pieces are coated with the Orange sauce and serve.

**note, next time I am going to try adding some sauteed/stir fried crushed garlic to the Orange Sauce to see if that will spiff up the flavor a bit. Also my husband said he would prefer it alittle spicier so I will add more red chilies next time too.

ENJOY....

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.

Tofu Lettuce and Tomato Egg Drop Soup

TLT Chicken Soup (Tofu, Lettuce and Tomato)

Here is a new soup I've been making that has turned out to be a hit in our home. I call it TLT Soup. It is a chicken broth based soup. In the photos here, I used cherry tomatoes. I usually use just a regular tomato or a Roma tomato which my husband and I decided today are much better in this soup than cherry tomatoes, which turned out to be a bit 'sour'. But it's all up to you which tomatoes you like best!

Also, I used Romaine lettuce but Iceberg or any other kind of lettuce would work fine as well.

Enjoy!

TLT Chicken Soup

1 block of firm or extra firm Tofu (Momen in Japanese)
1 Egg
1 Tomato, sliced into small wedges
4-5 Lettuce leaves, torn into bite size pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
4 cups of Chicken Broth
1/2 tsp. Salt (or to taste)
2 tsp. cooking Sake
Dash of white pepper (or to taste)

Put chicken broth into large saucepan. Turn heat on medium. Cut tofu block into small/medium pieces and put into the saucepan with broth. Bring to a boil.

When it starts to boil, reduce heat to simmer and add tomato, salt, sake and pepper.

In a small bowl, beat the egg until completely mixed.

Add the lettuce to the saucepan. Stir briefly.

Slowly add the egg to the soup. The best way is by spoonful, drizzling a little bit at a time around in the soup. This will cause the egg to cook in a 'stringy' manner instead of ending up with one lump of egg in the soup (which will happen if you pour the egg too much, too quickly).

Once all the egg has been added and has 'cooked' (it will be cooked less than a minute after it has been added to the soup), it's ready to serve!

I used cherry tomatoes on this day, and squeezed them a bit before adding them to the saucepan to get some of the seeds out (after this photo was taken). However, I don't recommend cherry tomatoes unless you like a little sour taste.

The finished soup in the saucepan ready to serve.

Baked Rosemary Lemon Turkey Meatballs

In the oven, ready to start baking.

Here's a recipe for some meatballs I have been making lately and really enjoying. They are very versatile and can be frozen for a quick meal later!

Serve plain or with a sauce such as hollandaise or a cream sauce like Ikea’s Graddsas sauce (which I used today). You may also use these meatballs in pasta dishes such as spaghetti.

Rosemary Lemon Turkey Meatballs

16 oz. (450 grams) ground turkey meat
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp. dried rosemary)
1 tbs. lemon zest, plus
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
Coarsely ground salt and pepper
Olive oil spray

In a large bowl mix turkey meat, panko, egg, garlic, rosemary, lemon zest & juice, salt and pepper (add salt and pepper according to your taste, I use about 1/2 tsp or so of each, maybe alittle more of the salt).

Mix just until combined (do not over-mix). Using your hands works best.

Roll into balls (sized about 1 ½ inches/3.5cm around). Place, slightly apart, on baking sheet (use one with edges so juices don’t mess up your oven while cooking). You can line the baking sheet/dish/pan with aluminum foil or a Silpat mat if you like.

Spray very lightly with olive oil (I use a refillable oil sprayer from Williams-Sonoma, click here to buy online) and bake in the oven at 180 C/ 350 F for about 20- 25 minutes.

All the ingredients, ready to mix together.

I have a handy spout that screws into a fresh lemon, just squeeze the lemon and pour the fresh juice out, keeps the seeds out of the juice too!

Mango Coconut Tapioca dessert

Have you ever tried those stands/kiosks in the mall or somewhere else that are selling the fruity, tea or coffee drinks with huge tapioca balls in the bottom of the cup and a big fat straw to suck them up with? Usually called Bubble Tea or Boba Drink, here is a picture:

There is a little shop selling these drinks now at the mall near us (LaLa Port at Minami Funabashi), and we got some a couple weeks ago. That got me thinking about tapioca, even though, as a kid, tapioca repulsed me, or perhaps it was just tapioca rice pudding I didn't care for.

So, as usual, missing tropical flavors while in Japan has lead me to come up with another recipe. This one is a dessert using mango and coconut with small tapioca pearls. If I could have found the huge tapioca balls like in the photo above at the supermarket here in Japan, I would have made this dessert with those, but just finding regular small tapioca pearls here was a bit of a hunt, finally found some at the 3rd supermarket I tried. If I ever do find the huge ones, I will try this again with them, I think it would turn out to be even more 'fun'.

So, here is my recipe. Hope you enjoy if you try it.

Mango Coconut Tapioca Pearl dessert

1/2 c Tapioca, dry
2 cups Water
2 1/2 teaspoons Somersweet (or to taste) or other sweetener which equals approx. 1/4 c. sugar
4 oz/150 grams canned Evaporated Milk (or if using Sweetened Condensed Milk, reduce sweetener above to taste)
1.5 lb fresh Mango (or frozen chunks)
1/8 teaspoon Coconut extract/flavor
1/4 c Shredded Coconut (optional)
Mint leaf (optional)

Soak the tapioca pearls in 1/2 cup of the water for 30 minutes. Cut the Mango into large cubes/chunks or if using frozen Mango, defrost completely. Place into a blender or food processor and process VERY LIGHTLY to a chunky sauce consistency.

Boil the remaining 1 1/2 cups of water. When it begins to boil, add the tapioca pearls, including the water they were soaking in. Stir and cook for 10 minutes or until the tapioca becomes translucent. Turn off the heat and add the sweetener and milk. Cool to room temperature. Add the mango, coconut extract and shredded coconut. Pour into an attractive serving dish or into individual serving dishes, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Top with fresh mint leaf when serving if desired.

Yummy!

Soy Lilikoi Lassi - healthy and no added sugar

We enjoy Indian Lassi drinks when we go out for Indian food. Recently, I discovered a very delicious soy yogurt at the Japanese supermarkets and started making soy yogurt Lassi with no white sugar at home. One of our favorites is Lilikoi flavor (Passion Fruit). Yet another yummy way to use lilikoi juice concentrate from Aunty Lilikoi's! Here's the receipe!

Soy Yogurt Lilikoi Lassi

*Makes approximately two 10 ounce glasses

Handful of ice cubes (as desired)
1 cup cold water
½ cup soy yogurt, plain
¼ cup lilikoi juice concentrate
1 ½ tbs Somersweet (or other sweetener, to taste)

Put the water and ice cubes into a blender, then other ingredients in the above order. Blend for at least 30 seconds.

Pour into glasses and enjoy!

Sucanat Banana Bread with dates and walnuts recipe

When life gives you old bananas, make banana bread!

Don't toss out your brown bananas! I never seem to be able to eat bananas fast enough after I buy them before they start getting a little too old, but that is a great time to make some banana bread. The older they are ('riper' might be a nicer word), the better flavor for the bread. Just make sure that no fruit flies have started enjoying them, in which case, they'd have to be disposed of.

The 'ripe' bananas I used today.

I have loved making banana bread since I first learned how to bake (we won't go into how many years ago that was). My husband says my banana bread is one of the things that reminds him fondly about when we were first getting to know each other (awwww, guess it's true what they say about the way to a man's heart).

These days, I use Sucanat (or Rapadura), which is organic cane sugar, instead of using white sugar. Not only does this impart a wonderful rich flavor, but also has many vitamins and minerals that white refined sugar is void of. However, in this recipe, it is possible to use regular white sugar if you wish.

So why don't you try my recipe next time you have let your bananas go!

Banana bread tips:

*Greasing only the bottom of the pan helps the loaf have a slightly rounded top.

*Beat eggs, chop fruits and/or nuts before you begin making the batter. If you stop to do something after you have mixed the batter, it can get too stiff.

*Never use an electric beater, always mix by hand and just until the ingredients are well mixed.

*Don't worry if cracks form on top the loaf while it's baking. It's normal.

*Cool loaves completely (about 2 hours) before slicing otherwise it will crumble as you try to slice it.

Banana Bread with Dates and Walnuts

1 1/4 c Sucanat or Rapadura (organic cane sugar)
1/2 cup butter softened
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup buttermilk* (can use soy milk or cow's milk if necessary)
1 tbs. vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all purpose whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
*optional:
1/2 tsp apple pie spice (I buy from Penzeys Spices, www.penzeys.com)
*optional:
up to 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I break them into pieces by hand)
*optional:
up to 1/2 cup of chopped dates (or raisins or craisins/cranberry raisins are also good too)

Move the racks in your oven so that the bread pan will be in the center of the oven. Heat oven to 325-350 F (180-190 C) depending on your oven.

Grease the bottom only of a 9x5 inch loaf pan. I use one made by Airbake. You can make muffins instead of a loaf/bread with this recipe. Use Sili-cups or a paper lined muffin tin for muffins. You will need to reduce the baking time a bit for muffins.

In a large bowl, stir together the sugar and butter, mixing well. Stir in the eggs, mixing well. Stir in the bananas, buttermilk and vanilla, beat with a spoon until smooth.

Stir in the flours, baking soda, salt and apple pie spice. Stir just until all is moistened.

Fold in nuts and dates gently just until distributed throughout the batter.

Pour into loaf/bread pan and bake for about 1 hour (may take more than 1 hour). Check for doneness when a toothpick or butter knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Loosen the sides of the bread from the bread pan. After about 10-15 mins or so, carefully turn the loaf out of the pan and cool on a wire rack (about 2 hours).

Slice and enjoy!

Storage:
Wrapped tightly or placed in an airtight container, the bread will keep up to 4 days at room temperature. It can be refrigerated for up to 10 days (though it never lasts that long in our house!). You may also freeze it for up to 3 months.

*About "buttermilk".....
The emulsifiers in real buttermilk makes baked good have better volume, a lighter and more uniform texture, fine crumb, golden brown crust, extended freshness and a fragrant aroma of churned buttermilk.

Most of you in USA or Europe know what buttermilk is and will be able to find it in your local supermarket. It is not sold in Japan for the average consumer. I'm told only large bakers or food producers can get it/use it in Japan. Even when fluid buttermilk is available to me, I have read that what is sold in today's dairy case, is merely cultured skim milk and contains no real buttermilk. Instead I always use a dry/powdered buttermilk that is made by Saco foods (click here to go to their website). This can be mixed with water whenever you are ready to use some and in just the amount you need at that particular time. Once opened, the container of powdered buttermilk will keep in the refrigerator for quite a long time. I've kept it for over a year before without any loss of flavor or spoilage. Saco claims on their website the shelf life can be several years when stored properly.

Here is a photo of the container it comes in below. It can be found at most supermarkets in USA. In Japan, to my knowledge and after some research, it is only available at Kinokuniya foods/supermarkets.

Soy Yogurt Sweet Cornbread Muffins

Today I was craving some home made biscuits or cornbread. But, not having any shortening and wanting to make something as healthy as possible, I came up with the following recipe for a sweet cornbread using soy yogurt and soy milk.

These are sweet and moist! Good served hot, sliced open (as in the photo above) with a little butter inside. Drizzle with some honey if you like!

Soy Cornbread Muffins

1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 soy milk (plain)
1/2 soy yogurt (plain)
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
5 tsp. Somersweet*(to buy, click here www.suzannesomers.com)
1 tbs. Rumford baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup frozen fresh corn

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200-190 C).

In a large bowl, beat the soy yogurt, soy milk, melted butter and egg with a hand beater or whisk. Stir in the remaining ingredients until all the flour has been moistened. The batter will be lumpy.

Fill Silicone muffin cups (or paper muffin cups lining a muffin tin) about 3/4 full. These are low rising muffins. Bake for about 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Done when a knife or toothpick comes out clean.

If you want to make bread instead of muffins, grease bottom and sides of an 8 inch square pan prior to mixing the ingredients and then pour the batter into the pan and bake as directed above.

These go well with Anasazi beans with bacon (recipe in the posting prior to this)!

*If you can't get Somersweet (I believe they don't ship outside of USA) you can use 1/2 cup of sugar or any dry/non-liquid sweetner which equals the sweetness of a 1/2 cup of sugar.

Anasazi Beans with bacon and garlic

Aren't these beans beautiful? These are Anasazi beans. Anasazi beans were one of the few crops cultivated by the Anasazi Indians, who lived in U.S.A. in the four corners area (now Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico) dating back to 130 A.D. The beans were found in the ruins by settlers to the four corners area in the early 1900's. Presently the beans are grown at 7,000 ft. elevation on the same land the Anasazi inhabited. This information is courtesy the Adobe Milling website which is where you can get more information and also buy the beans, as well as other delicious products (click here www.anasazibeans.com)!

I found these beans at a market in a small town (Quartzite) in Arizona when we were there earlier this year. Finally, today I decided on a way to use them. Here is my recipe.

Garlic Anasazi beans with slab bacon and onions

1 cup Anasazi beans
3 cups water (distilled is best)
1/3 of a slab/block of smoked bacon (sliced, then cut into small pieces)
1 small onion
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/2 cup water, if desired (for last portion of cooking)

Place the beans in a dutch oven and add the water. Simmer on a very low heat for an hour (until beans have become firm but not hard).

One cup of dried beans with 3 cups of water.

While the beans are simmering, slice up the bacon and place it on paper towels (which are on a large microwave safe plate). I used an apple smoked bacon. Cover the paper towels with bacon pieces then add one paper towel to cover the bacon. Microwave for 2 minutes on 500 W power. I like my bacon alittle well done so I microwaved it for an addition 1 minute and 20 seconds.

Bacon on paper towels, after microwaving.

Cut the onion into cubes. Cut the bacon pieces into smaller bite sized pieces.

After the beans have simmered for approximately one hour, check the firmness by taking one out and biting it in half. If the beans still seem alittle too tough, simmer for a little while longer, paying attention to check again soon. When it is ready, crush the garlic directly in to the pot with the beans. Then add the bacon, onions, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer on lowest heat for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After about 40 minutes of simmering, there is still a good amount of water left to cook down.

After alittle over one hour of simmering, the water has nearly gone. This is just before adding the bacon and other ingredients.

Check occasionally for doneness. You may want or need to add an additional 1/2 cup of water during this last 30 minutes of cooking (I did). When the beans have reached the level of doneness (become soft) that you like, they're done!

Maybe next time I make this I will mix in some canned diced Ortega (mild green) chilies for a little color variation and light flavor. Or maybe a bit of Tabasco mild green sauce would taste good. What ideas will you have?

Finished beans, served up and ready to eat!

Daisy was passed out on the sofa all the while I was cooking tonight! She has been so lazy today! Looks pretty cozy doesn't she?

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Muffins (or Bread)

Last week I got a big box of Zucchini from Costco, so I decided to make some Zucchini Bread. However, for a change, I wanted to find a recipe alittle more interesting than the usual basic Zucchini bread I make (although it is very good). I checked the internet and found a Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bread recipe on the Epicurious website. I made a few changes to make it alittle healthier, so here is my verison below.

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Muffins or Bread

1 c. Unbleached White Flour
1 c. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 tsp. ground Cinnamon (I used Cassia cinnamon from Vietnam)
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Rumford Baking powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 c. Sucanat, or Rapadura (organic cane sugar)
1/2 c. applesauce (natural, no sugar added)
1/4 c. vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. grated Zucchini (about 1 and 1/2 medium sized zucchini)
1 1/2 c. grated Sweet Potato (I used a Japanese variety, as shown in the photo below)
1 c. lightly toasted, chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C. If using a bread pan, butter and flour it (about 9x5x3 size). For muffins, line muffin tin with muffin papers or use reusable silicon baking cups as I did. Place the "Sili-Cups" on a cookie sheet.

Sift dry ingredients (the first 5 ingredients listed, do not mix in the sugar (Sucanat/Rapadura) yet). I split into two basically equal parts when measuring and then sifted each half together into one large bowl. It is important to sift the dry ingredients well so that you do not end up with unbaked lumps of flour in the finished product.

Beat eggs in a small bowl. Measure sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla and put into a large bowl. Stir in the eggs into the large bowl and mix thouroughly with the sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Add in the zucchini and sweet potato until mixed completely. Lastly, add in dry ingredients mixture about half at a time, mixing until wet the first addition, then just mixing until wet the addition of the second half. DO NOT OVER MIX. Fold in the walnuts just until evenly mixed.

Fill the muffin cups or papers to no more than 3/4 full. During baking, these rise abit but not alot. If making bread instead of muffins, put the batter into the prepared bread pan. I like to use an AirBake bread pan so that I never get burnt edges.

This recipe filled 12 Sili-Cups and then I had batter left over to also fill about 1/3 to 1/2 of a bread pan as well. I baked everything at the same time, by placing the Sili-Cups around the bread pan that was centered on the cookie sheet.

Bake for about 25 minutes for muffins. Full bread pan will take about double the baking time. My partially filled bread pan finished baking at the same time as the muffins. You can check muffins or the bread for doneness by inserting a clean knife or bamboo skewer. If it comes out clean, it's done!

Japanese Sweet Potato

Top left to right: Beaten eggs, shredded zucchini and sweet potato, mixed dry ingredients, toasted chopped walnuts and lg. bowl with sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Shown here just before the final mixing together.

"Sili-Cups" (re-usable silicon baking cups)
ready for filling. I bought mine at Williams-Sonoma.

Close up of finished muffins...they're really good!

Make Easy Sushi Rolls - Forget the bamboo mat! - 簡単に出来る巻き寿司（

Have you ever tried to make sushi rolls? It can be a daunting task, getting the rice spread out in a layer on the Nori (seaweed), then rolling it up with the bamboo mat roller. Unless you are quite skilled or a professional, its hard to get it tight and keep all the ingredients inside. The end result can be quite pathetic and something you will not be proud to serve a guest, let alone be together enough to hold up between the plate and your mouth (in my experiences anyway, I've never been able to get it right that way).

I have found what I call a 'magic' sushi roller here in Japan. It's a 3 part mold that makes anyone an instant sushi roll expert. It could probably be found at a better gourmet cooking store or at an Asian shop or market in US, especially in Hawaii. If you have a hard time finding it in your area, let me know and maybe I can help you get one! I could put some up for purchase by auction on Ebay though I have seen them on Ebay from time to time offered by other sellers.

Now I can make sushi rolls that I wouldn't be embarrassed to serve to my Mother-in-Law even (she is Japanese)! It's really fun too!

Here is what it looks like and the package it came in. This is the large size one, there is a smaller one that make narrower rolls. There are 3 parts, a bottom, an inner mold that fits in the bottom and an upper rounded mold that is used to press down and form the roll when you are finished adding all the ingredients.

Today I made a roll with real crab meat and a roll with avocado and that imitation crab meat you can get these days. You can add what ever you want to the insides of your sushi rolls. One suggestion I have is don't be shy about putting alot (amount wise) for your center ingredients. The first one I made I was afraid I was putting too much in but when the roll was finished, it seems like hardly anything was in there. Like a big rice roll! It could have something to do with the amount of rice I used as well, I filled the molds to the maximum, which was not a problem as far as using this sushi roll maker is concerned but in relation to the amount of goodies in the center..it wasn't balanced well. Don't be afraid to add lots of fun stuff for the inside!

Don't forget also that sushi rice is flavored with sushi vinegar.

You may notice in these photos that I used a Japanese brown rice but I think it might stick alittle better with a mixture of regular white Japanese rice and the Japanese brown rice or of course, just the white Japanese rice is always ok.

Here are some pictures of the whole process.

First, add some (sushi) rice to the bottom inner mold

Make a little indentation or trough to put some ingredients into.

Ingredients are then added, crab meat seen here, pushed down into 'trough' in the rice. Then veggies, in this case, cucumbers and yellow bell peppers (piman in Japanese) are laid on top. Don't add the ingredients right to the edges of the mold since you want the finished roll to have rice all the way around and not have the inner ingredients touching the side or poking out.

Alittle mayonnaise on top which will end up in the center of the sushi roll, it's not necessary to add this but that's how we like it in our house.

Place the filled inner bottom mold into the bottom container of the sushi roll maker.

Add more rice to cover everything.

I added to rice to the top edge of the bottom container of the sushi roll maker.

Place the top mold on and press down to form the sushi roll.

You may notice that there is a gap between the top and the inner bottom mold (even though I exerted a fair amout of pressure when pushing the top mold). It's not a problem if the pieces don't touch, however they may touch if you used alittle less rice than I did.

Next you need a sheet of Nori, which is the Japanese word for dried seaweed. Here is the type I used. Any brand will do, as long as it's a fairly large sheet like you see here.
Lay it out onto a flat surface such as a cutting board.

Remove the top of the sushi maker to expose the formed rice roll, then turn it upside down so that the rice is on the Nori. Place on the edge and so that it fits well onto the sheet of Nori. Remove the outer bottom container, if it is sticking a bit, you can put your finger in the little holes at the bottom to ease it off.

Now you are left with the roll and the inner bottom mold sitting on the sheet of Nori. When removing this inner bottom mold, it is very likely to stick so there are some thoughtfully placed, very handy tabs that you can push gently down on to help ease the sushi roll out.

Now roll it up in the Nori, so that the Nori covers all the rice.
After that, I let the roll sit with the 'seam' down for a while. The Nori will start to soften up a bit from the moisture of the rice and it will stick and form a good seal after a few minutes. At first the Nori is pretty dry and if you left the roll sitting with the seam side up, then it might curl up a bit and not lay nice and flat on the rice.

Here is the rolled sushi 'resting' for a bit on the cutting board, seam side down.

Slice and serve. Use a very sharp knife or a bread knife might work good. The Nori can be tough to cut and the rice very sticky. You don't want your nicely formed roll to get misshapen from a dull knife dragging across and sticking it! It may help to wash off the knife half way thru the slicing of the roll and continue with a clean knife for the other half (a clean knife that is even damp alittle, will slide thru the rice easier).