It’s all about VARIETY !! I love to play with a recipe and made this variation of the Ranch Pretzels in an earlier post. Keeping with the same taste of that addicting ‘Hurricane Popcorn’, which uses butter and furikake on the popcorn, I decided to do this:

1 container UTZ honey wheat pretzels (or 3-4 pkgs of the Rold Gold)
1 cup popcorn oil
1/2 pkg Hidden Valley Dressing dry mix
1 T garlic powder
5 T furikake

Use the same instructions for the Ranch Pretzels. I used half of the dressing mix and garlic powder so not overpower the taste of the furikake. Dill is a lot stronger in the original recipe, which complements more garlic powder and the ranch flavoring. I also ground up the furikake in a food processor to make the furikake a finer texture, making it a bit easier to stick to the pretzel. My first batch (yes, I made it several times) used less oil, and the pretzel soaked the oil so fast, that it didn’t give enough ’sticking’ power for the furikake. After it dried, the furikake would fall off so easily. So the proportions that I use now works out better.

The flavor is really ono ! Gee, I wonder how it would be with barbecue flavoring, like the barbecue potato chips…nah, I think I will stick to the two !

I enjoy eating Yakisoba (Japanese Fried Noodles) and have made it in the past (not too often) with the frozen saimin noodles, which often made a mushy Yakisoba. Now, with the ‘oodles’ of ramen varieties, this dish is so delicious, even with heating up the leftovers in the microwave the next day. I LOVE the Sun Noodle brand of ramen noodles! They have a variety of flavors of which my favorites are the Shoyu Ramen and the Yakisoba noodles. What is nice and easy about the Yakisoba package is that you do not need to boil the noodles before frying!

Here are some of the main ingredients that I use for making Yakisoba.

3 pkgs Sun Noodle Yakisoba
1 pkg chop suey mix
1 sm round onion, sliced
1/2 can spam, sliced in sticks (or use any meat of your choice: char siu, ham etc)
3-4 T Yakisoba or Okonomiyaki sauce (can use oyster sauce, but its stronger flavor)
1/2 kamaboko, slivered
green onions, cut into 1/2″ slices

In a skillet or wok, heat about 1 - 2 T. oil (I also add a squirt of sesame oil). Fry about 1 tsp chopped garlic for a few seconds, then add the sliced onions and meat. Stir fry till onions are tender and meat is cooked through. Add the noodles, chop suey mix and sauce and fry till the noodles are evenly coated with the sauce and the vegetables are cooked. Just before finishing, add the green onions. I also like to add some togarashi powder (Japanese chili pepper) and about 1 T. sesame seeds.

Serve with a little pickled ginger and top with some Aonori (seaweed flakes …not salty like the seasoned nori, but adds a great flavor).

As you can see, you can vary this to your own liking using a variety of meats or anything that is leftover in your refrig and adding your desired vegetables ..even the sauces. I have even used the SOM Good Seasoning shoyu sauces too! So, go and make your own creation and have Yakisoba Your Way !

Our friend Gwen shared this very yummy Tea Pork recipe with me … I actually begged her to share it with me after eating it at a potluck ! I was soooo lucky that she did and even happier when she said I could make a laminated recipe card for my collection. It uses pork loin that is boiled with Lipton tea bags …yes, tea bags. I must confess that I have never bought Lipton orange pekoe tea …green tea, maybe, but never the other. Well, since getting this recipe I have definitely raised the stocks for the Lipton company ..haha! After boiling in the tea bags, you just need to soak the pork in a heated shoyu, sake, mirin sauce for a few hours…no more cooking. It becomes so tender and makes a great pupu and really great in ramen.

I didn’t want to throw away the shoyu sauce so I thought about how I could be ‘resourceful’. Then it occurred to me that I could use this sauce to make those ono shoyu hard boiled eggs that you eat in the Japanese restaurants. It was perfect !! So I got to use this Tea recipe for 2 pupus ! My niece Mari LOVES these eggs and can eat a whole lot of them …watch out ! heehee!

If you’re interested in this recipe card, you may visit me at my upcoming craft fairs ! I’ll have a sample of the Tea Pork for you to try!

Thanks Gwen for a great recipe !!!

Can you believe that it is nearing the end of 2007 ??!! That means Craft Fair time and lots of shopping! I will be in 2 craft fairs this year. Here is my mini (actually micro) schedule:

Sat & Sun Nov 24-25, 2007 Okinawan Center 9:00 am - 2 pm
Sat Dec 8, 2007 Moanalua High School 9:00 am - 3 pm

Here are my new recipes for 2007:

Pupu:
Tea Pork
Ajitsuke Clam Dip

Salad:
Tofu Salad

Main Dishes:
Portuguese Bean Soup
Bacon Topped Meatloaf
“Clammy” Clam Chowder

Japanese:
Yatsume Zuke
Somen Tsuyu

Dis n Dat:
Mango Chutney
Chili Pepper Water

Measurement Equivalents (Conversion Chart)

I hope that you will be able to visit us and try some of my samples ! I’m looking forward to see all of you again !

I just recently got this recipe from my cousin Carol, who got it from a friend, who probably got it from a friend. Does that sound like a recipe chain?? Well, this is how great recipes get shared! Once I found out how easy this was, I have made it several times over. I would now like to share it with all of you!

I don’t know what the name of this was, but I guess for now I would call them Ranch Pretzels.

3 - 4 pkgs Rold Gold Honey Wheat Pretzels (I preferred 3 packages)
1/3 c olive oil
1/3 c popcorn oil (Orville Redinbacher butter flavored oil)
2 T dill weed
2 T garlic powder
1 pkg Ranch dressing dry mix (not the dip one)

Place pretzels in a 2 gallon Ziploc bag. Add oils and close the bag. Shake or toss the bag until the pretzels seem like they are evenly coated.

I mix the dill weed, garlic powder and ranch dressing mix in a bowl, so that when I add it to the bag, it will be evenly distributed. Add the dry ingredients and again shake or ‘massage’ the pretzels. When they again seem evenly coated, place them on a cookie sheet pan or any big pan to let air dry for about an hour. These pretzels hold up their crispiness even in our humidity, so don’t worry, they won’t get stale while they are being air dried. Store in airtight containers.

Didn’t I say that this was easy? The sweetness of the honey wheat pretzel and the saltiness from the ranch dressing and that touch of dill weed make this a very tasty pretzel. This would make a great munchie while watching your weekend football game…oh and with your favorite beer too .. haha!

Note: I had a hard time finding the popcorn oil. Foodland didn’t carry it, Safeway had them but I must have bought their last bottle since the shelf has been empty for awhile … but I did find it at Walmart, which also had the pretzels for a cheaper price than the markets.

Whenever we have family potlucks, I’m usually asked to be the ‘Pupu Lady’ and bring some ono appetizers to enjoy before we partake in the big spread that is a norm for our local potlucks. You probably had some indication by some of my prior entries that featured some of my favorite pupus.

The above photo is a super easy pupu that all will enjoy. Just buy a package of those Cocktail Sausage Links by Hillshire or your favorite brand and stir fry it with some sweet jelly. Serve hot with some toothpicks! How easy was that??!!!

I usually use Guava Jelly but you can use Grape, Marmalade or just about any flavor. Jelly versus jam makes a shinier glaze on the sausages. You can even use a Hot Pepper Jelly which I show in the next pupu below.

My friend and fellow cook Clay (he’s actually a chef) taught me this easy pupu. Mix half a jar of hot pepper jelly with one 8oz cream cheese which is at room temperature. I stir the cream cheese till pretty smooth and add in the jelly. (A trick that I use to get out those lumps toward the end of mixing is to use a pair of chopsticks to stir it. This trick also works with making that famous local dressing of shoyu and mayonnaise… use the chopsticks to stir and no lumps!)

Now back to the dip. (Sorry, I can surely get carried away with any food topic ..haha). Clay told me that this dip tastes the best with Chicken in a Biskit crackers. He is absolutely right! I did try it with other crackers, but this one tastes the best. It combines the opposite taste and textures of sweet + salty and creamy + crunchy ….soooo yummy! The spicy jelly gives that extra kick after you’ve eaten that first bite! Thanks Clay !!

I usually have most of these ingredients in my pantry or refrigerator so that I can whip them up in a jiffy if I need to! These are 2 easy recipes for quick pupus that everyone enjoys !

Note: The Hot Pepper Jelly shown above can be found in specialty food stores, but it is the cheapest at the Made in Hawaii Store or at the KCC Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.

There are so many variations of the delicious bruschetta. I improvised with my version of a simple one using the same ingredients as my Basil Tomatoes. Here is my recipe:

3 c chopped tomatoes (I used Grape tomatoes… bright red, firm and tasty)
1 bunch basil leaves, chiffonade and chopped
3 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic (I used the bottled ones … it’s doesn’t add that bitter taste)
1 tsp basalmic vinegar (or less to your taste)
salt and pepper to taste

After chopping the tomatoes, I let them sit for a few minutes, then I drained the excess liquid before adding the rest of the ingredients. Spoon some on the Roasted Garlic Bagel Crisps that are found at Costco. Top with mozzarella cheese. This is enjoyed just as is …no need to broil or heat.

If you’re ambitious, you can thinly slice some crusty bread, place on a baking sheet and drizzle some olive oil, salt and pepper then bake at 350 degrees for a few minutes till slightly brown and crispy.

Delizioso !!

Chef Grant Sato called this New Wave Benedict. It was the best of many worlds for me, since I LOVE hash browns, salmon and eggs!! This was such a great variation on the traditional Eggs Benedict.

We did the hash browns from scratch, adding a dash of flour, an egg and salt and pepper to taste. Fry them in a pan with some oil till crisp.

After we layered our dish with hashbrowns, sour cream, salmon and poached egg, we topped it with luscious hollandaise sauce. Chef Sato made it from scratch, but I used the Knorr’s packaged mix when I did it at home …it was just as delicious.

I love breakfast and usually enjoy it only on Sundays when I have the time to cook. This was a wonderful class of breakfast dishes that were all really delicious and would satisfy anyone’s Sunday morning!

Long time no see/hear? I going to try to catch up on some entries that are long overdue!

I went to another KCC cooking class with Chef Grant Sato. He taught us breakfast dishes. It was all so yummy! I especially liked this Apple Pancake. If I didn’t watch Chef Sato do it, I would think it would have been just too complicated. But guess what? It’s really not so hard and gosh it is soooo yummy, it is well worth the effort !

Chef Sato recommended this brand of pancake mix, but any will be okay. Pancake mix was made as directed on the package and as it sat to rise, we prepared the yummy buttery apples.

We melted the butter and sugar in the pan and added a touch of juice from an orange and a lemon. Then we place the sliced apples in a spiral design.

Here is a side by side view of the assembling the Apple Pancake. After placing all the apples, we gently dolloped pancake batter on the apples. Then in the oven it went.

We all watched intently and challenged Chef to do the perfect flip.

Successful flipping of the pancake! Oh the aroma of the butter, apples & pancake was just incredible !

Here is the finished product ! Isn’t it gorgeous?! It was so light, buttery and soooo delicious! It would certainly start anyone’s morning with a contented smile on their face!

I love eating and making ‘tsukemono’ (Japanese pickled vegetables) and side dishes like this. Hasu Kinpira (Lotus Root) is like the ‘gobo’ (burdock root) kinpira, without all the work of slicing really thin strips. I like the added crunch that the hasu gives. It’s a great side dish at room temperature or cold.

Note: Laminated recipe card available