Cream of Potato Soup

Here in Okinawa we've had a pretty crazy typhoon season. There have been three pretty large typhoons that swept across our small island in the past couple months and we are very thankful that no one we know sustained any damage from them. For some reason typhoons make me want to cook! I guess it's because we are stuck inside for a couple days while we wait out the storm. During Typhoon Bolaven I woke up wanting comfort food so set about making cream of potato soup. I browsed a couple different recipes before settling on this one from allrecipes.com. It was an excellent recipe that I tweaked a little and made even better by adding in bacon crumbles! It's a filling, belly warming one pot meal that is perfect for any dreary day!

Cream of Potato Soup
Modified from Allrecipes.com 
Printable Version 
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups whole milk or half and half (I used fat free half and half)
3 large potatoes, peeled and chopped (I used six small potatoes)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard powder
3/4 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon chicken bouillon
4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions 
In a large stock pot or Dutch oven saute onion, carrots and garlic in the butter until soft but not browned. Sprinkle in flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Add broth slowly, stirring as you add. Add milk, potatoes, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, celery seed, seasoning salt, pepper, parsley, and chicken bouillon.

Allow to simmer and thicken, stirring frequently until the potatoes are cooked through, approximately 25 minutes. Serve warm with bacon crumbles and shredded cheese. 

Corn with Bacon and Green Onions

I haven't been blogging lately because on June 20th I gave birth to our beautiful daughter. She is the light of my life and I have been busy learning the ropes of Mommyhood. For my first recipe after baby I chose something ultra quick and easy because that's the kind of cooking I've been doing lately. This Corn dish is a great side to any meal and can be made in a matter of minutes. I made it for a group dinner and it was so popular that by the time I got up to the food it was gone! I guess that's a good sign when you don't even get to try your own dish, right? 

Corn with Bacon and Green Onions

Printable Version

Ingredients

1 can corn, drained

3 strips of bacon, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

*I also used Julio's seasoning to kick it up a notch

Directions

Fry bacon in a pan until crispy. Take the bacon out of the pan and allow to cool on a paper towel. Pour drained corn into a serving bowl and add a tablespoon of the bacon grease. Add in chopped bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped green onions and serve immediately. 

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Wreath

While my family was visiting us in March I made this incredibly yummy and easy breakfast wreath. Everyone loved it! It takes about 40 minutes because you fully cook the bacon first, so plan ahead when you're making it. This breakfast is just begging for variations - you could add in veggies, switch it up with sausage instead of bacon, or even top it with salsa and sour cream for a southwest flare. 

Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Wreath 
From Bacon Time
Printable Version
Ingredients
1 can crescents, 8 count
5 large eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8 slices fully cooked bacon
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Cook your bacon. (I bake my bacon using a method I found from Men's Health. The bacon comes out crispy but not too greasy!) 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Scramble eggs on the stovetop and season to taste with salt and pepper. Lay out crescents on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet as shown below. 

Add your cooked bacon. Layer on about 1/3 of the cheese. Add the scrambled eggs, then the remainder of the cheese. 

Fold crescents over (you may have to fold the bacon again to make sure it fits).

Bake for 17 minutes, or until crescents are golden brown. 

Texas Baked Eggs

During the Holidays when we had family visiting I wanted to make something a little more special for breakfast. These Texas Baked Eggs are super easy but look way more impressive than they are to make. Texas Sized biscuits topped with an egg and sprinkled with shredded cheese, bacon bits, and scallions (I was out of these) are a yummy and filling way to start the day!

Texas Baked Eggs
From The Family Kitchen
Makes 8 servings
Printable Version
Ingredients
1 tube Texas-style refrigerated biscuit dough (the biggest ones)
8 eggs
1/2 cup bacon bits
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 diced scallions
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray a standard sized muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray (I realized my muffin tins were too small so I went with individual ramekins instead). Open the tube of biscuit dough and and press one biscuit into eight tins. Make room for the egg by pressing the biscuit all the way up the side of each cup. 

Crack an egg into each biscuit then top with bacon bits, cheddar, and scallions. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. 

Bake for 13-15 minutes. Remove the biscuits from the oven as soon as the edged turn golden brown. 

BLT Pasta Salad

This crowd friendly pasta salad puts a spin the traditional BLT by turning it into a pasta salad. It can be made ahead and served cold or served warm right after you make it. It makes a huge batch and even tastes great the next day as leftovers. I added chopped avocado the next day we ate it and it made this yummy salad even more delicious, so if you like avocado I would recommend putting it in your salad from the beginning. 

BLT Pasta Salad
From a bird and a bean
Printable Version
Makes 12 servings
Ingredients
12 ounces corkscrew shaped pasta
1/2 cup milk
12 ounces lean bacon
3 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup mayo (for a lighter version use 1/4 cup mayo and 1/4 cup greek yogurt)
1/4 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons chopped chives (I used green onions)
5 cups lettuce (Bibb or romaine) chopped
1 avocado, chopped (optional)


Directions
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water, as the package directs. Drain and toss with the milk in a large bowl and set aside. Meanwhile cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. 

Drain on paper towels. Discard all but 3 tablespoons of drippings from the pan. Add the tomatoes, thyme and garlic to the pan and toss until warmed through. Season with salt and pepper. 

Crumble the bacon into bite sized pieces, setting aside 1/4 cup for garnish. Toss the remaining bacon and the tomato mixture with the pasta. 

Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, and three tablespoons of chives with the pasta until evenly combined. Season with salt and pepper. Add the lettuce and toss again to coat. 

Garnish with the reserved bacon, remaining 1 tablespoon chives, and avocado. Serve at room temperature. Note: if going to refrigerate and serve later make sure to reserve the lettuce, along with the avocado, 1/4 cup of bacon garnish and 1 tablespoon chives to add in right before serving!

Okonomiyaki (Japanese "As-You-Like-It" Pancake)

For our latest dining out in Okinawa experience, hubby and I went to an Okonomiyaki Restaurant. We happened upon it while out shopping and sight-seeing. We had heard of this type of restaurant, where you choose ingredients for a cabbage batter pancake and cook it on a griddle at your table. It sounds strange, but they are really very tasty! The ingredients all compliment one another and the result is a savory, filling meal. At the restaurant my husband ordered a pork Okonomiyaki very similar to the one I recreated at home. Here is hubby's dinner at the restaurant:

I got a "Mexican" flavored Okonomiyaki. Bad choice. It wasn't terrible, but the spices were strange and I really preferred hubby's over mine. The next day my neighbor and friend Louise asked me if I knew what my next Japanese recipe was going to be and I said I wasn't sure. She gave me a recipe for Okonomiyaki without her even knowing we had just tried it the night before! It was cooking fate, I tell you! I "Americanized" the recipe because I realize you won't be able to find hakurikko flour, pickled ginger or dried fish flakes and I didn't use them in my recipe anyway. The next time you are feeling adventurous or want to try something exotic, I hope you will consider making your own Okonomiyaki. Just the name is cool, don't you think!? :) I listed variations after the recipe, as the sky is the limit with these!

Okonomiyaki (Japanese "As-You-Like-It" Pancake)
Serves 2
Printable Version

Ingredients
2 2/3 ounces flour
1 ounce yam (sweet potato)
3 1/3 ounce fish stock or water
2 think slices of bacon
3 1/2 ounces cabbage
Green onion
1 egg
1 ounce Worcestershire Sauce
1 ounce Mayonnaise
1 ounce Vegetable Oil

Directions
Rinse the cabbage and green onion in cold water. Cut the cabbage into julienne strips and the chop the green onions. Peel the yam and grate. Chop one slice of bacon thinly and leave the other.

Place the flour, stock (or water), and grated yam into a bowl and whisk throughly to create the batter.

Add the cabbage, green onion, bacon and egg to the bowl and mix well. 

Heat a griddle to 400 degrees and add some vegetable oil. Pour the batter onto the griddle and place the other slice of bacon on top. 

Heat for three minutes. Turn the pancake over and allow the other side to cook for five minutes. Flip again and cook for five minutes. Flip again and cook for three minutes. Flip on more time and cook another three minutes. 

Whisk the Worcestershire Sauce and Mayonnaise together and spread on the top layer. Serve immediately!

Variations: Shrimp, cheese, squid, corn, etc. in addition to or instead of the bacon. 

First Post from Japan: Goya Champuru

Konnichiwa! Hubby and I have been in Japan for 6 days now, 3 of which we have had to spend inside, sequestered to our hotel room riding out Typhoon Muifa! What a welcome to Japan! We are awaiting base housing which has been delayed due to the typhoon, so I haven't been able to do much cooking yet. Thankfully our good friends took us shopping and invited us into their home (and kitchen) where I helped make goya chapuru. Shopping in an authentic Japanese market was an adventure in itself! Of course everything is in Japanese, so we relied on packaging and our friends pointing things out to understand what most items were. 

After we found the items we needed, we checked out and headed home to start cooking. That night we made homemade sushi, miso soup, and goya champuru. I decided to share the goya champuru with you first, since it's not very different from scrambled eggs! Goya is a bitter melon and is a staple in the diet of Okinawans. 

Champuru is an Okinawan term that means "mixture". After doing a little a research, I discovered there are many variations to goya champuru. Some call for garlic and onions, some use tofu, and all are probably very similar tasting. The similarity in all of the recipes are the incorporation of goya, eggs, soy sauce, and salt and pepper. 

I am going to share with you the recipe that we created. Although I realize most of you will not be able to find goya, if you have an Asian market near you it is possible!

As for my blog, I would love your input on where to go from here. Are you interested in seeing more Japanese recipes even if that means you may not have access to the ingredients?  Would you like to see a blending of both American and Japanese cuisines? Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! 

Goya Champuru
Printable Version
Ingredients
1 large goya
2 tablespoons cooking oil
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
6 eggs
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Salt and pepper 


Directions
Wash goya carefully, do not peel. Slice lengthwise and discard seeds and inside with a spoon.

Slice very thinly. Heat oil in a wok or saute pan and add goya, cooking until soft.

In a separate bowl, crack and whisk eggs. 

Add into the wok along with the crumbled bacon. 

Pour in the soy sauce. Scramble everything together, making sure not to overcook. 

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.