The last post on the theme of easy Japanese dishes features a Japanese version of the classic Western hamburger, hambagu, or hamburger steak patty. I'm including a couple of miso soups, a vegetable side dish and some pudding (or purin, in Japanese) to finish things off.

The recipe for the hamburger comes from TabiEats and it was meant to be used ( Read more... )

My surviving green shiso plant (the red leaf plant died seedless) flowered and I made the mistake of NOT saving any of the seeds for the spring but shook them all into one pot. Long story short, I ended up with four crowded pots of shiso plants. The plants are leggy with huge leaves that I couldn't figure out what to do with. So I went net surfing ( Read more... )

Miso soup is my 'go to' quick soup when I want a light, clean tasting soup with a flavourful broth. Although I COULD make a dashi stock with a sheet of kombu (dried salted seaweed) and katsuobushi (thinly shaved bonito flakes), I use hon-dashi powder for the convenience. MSG is a component so if that's an issue, you may want to avoid it. I usually ( Read more... )

Noodles are ubiquitous in many cuisines and udon, a soft, thick and chewy wheat noodle, is one of the many Asian forms I hadn't tried until I found them fresh at my local, cut-rate, grocery store ( Read more... )

After a late start to my day, I made a batch of refried beans. Three cups will go into my freezer while the last one will be used up this week.


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Making and eating soup is one of my favourite things to do in the kitchen. And you don't really need a recipe to make a great tasting pot of soup ... just some idea of proportions of broth/stock, starch (pasta or noodles, potatoes, beans, rice), proteins (meat, egg, tofu) and veggies. And then there are the herbs and spices. The combinations are ( Read more... )

The pantry clearance goes well and this is the latest entry in my food diary ( Read more... )

Garbanzo beans, more commonly known as chickpeas and used to make the dip 'hummus', are a tasty legume featured in the cuisine of a number of areas, including the Middle East (Greece, Israel and Turkey), Italy and India. These falafel may be eaten alone as a snack with the yogurt-tahini dip below or as the filling in a pita with a combination of ( Read more... )

... ok, I was hungry and too broke to pick up anything for supper at a fast food place, so while I was having my snow shovelled, I made a pot of white miso soup with tofu, bok choy, carrots, and wakame seaweed ( Read more... )

Although it's only half the size of the 12 pound turkey I cooked last year, this duck is going to be another bird that's going to ... keep on giving ( Read more... )