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I went to a new store the other day called H-Mart which specializes in Asian food. They had a great fresh fish selection and they just happened to have these tiny octopus. I had never had octopus before, but I am pretty adventureous when it comes to food, so I decided to buy some. They were very inexpensive here. I got two packages of them, each having about 8 or 9 little octopus for about $3.50 each pack. I also picked up some five spice powder, wanted to try this as well.

I had heard and seen on different food shows that octopus was tough, so I decided to stew in tomato sauce with a bunch of veggies.

So this is some of the stuff I used:

A little over a pound little octopus
1 yellow squash
1 green squash
1 29 oz can of puree tomato (no salt added)
2 ears of red corn cut of cob
1 yellow onion
Shanghi Bok choy
Salt
Five spice
BlackPepper
Rice cooked
olive oil
Shitake Mushrooms
Chinese Long beans
1/2 dried red pepper
2/3 cup of sugar

Okay so first the octopus were already cleaned so I just rinsed them off and sprinkled about 2 teaspoons of Five Spice on them and set to the side.

In a big pot add olive oil, about four tablespoons (might have to add more later) and heat over medium high heat.
Dice both squash and the onion and added to the pot. Dice the squash on the bigger side so they can stand up to the long cooking process.

Slice the corn off the cob

Once the squash and onion have been cooking for about 5 minutes and begin to soften, add in the corn and season with Kosher salt (or regular salt) and pepper. Let cook for another 4 minutes and stir regularly so that nothing sticks. Then added in the can of tomoatoes and about 1/3 cup of water (use the tomato can to get the remnants of tomato out the can.

Once that begins to bubble, add sugar (makes it sweet and cuts the acid in the tomoatoes, which I am sensitive to) and mix. Let cook for another 5 minutes, stir often. Add in octopus

Remove ends of the Shanghi Choy and rinse

When the octopus start to turn brown on the tenticles add about a cup and 1/2 of water and the Shanghi choy, turn heat down and let simmer.

Stir from the buttom to make sure nothing is sticking. As the stew simmers it will reduce and the octopus will become tender. The time will differ depending on the type of pot you use and the kind of stove (gas or electric). So continue to check the octopus to see how tender it is (I let my stew cook for almost 2 hours from start to finish).

About 20 minutes before my stew was done, I started on my long grain white rice. Just follow the instructions on the back of the pack. I also added Shitake mushrooms and then 10 minutes after the mushrooms, I added the long beans which I cut down.

Once the octopus is tender, your stew should have cooked down and thicken on its own. Time to plate. This was a complete experiment for me from start to finish, but it turned out to be sooooo good To me. I have enough to last me the week. Yeah!!!!

Enjoy!!!!! I sure did!

Although potato salad has been a staple during the holidays in my family growing up, I have never really been a fan. If I do eat it, I prefer it warm. Typically in my family, it is made with boiled potatoes, relish, mayo, boiled eggs, and some other stuff. Well I made this potato salad that is a bit healthier and has no mayo. With this I made Chicken fingers for my kids.

Let’s start with the potatoes. I guess you can use any potato that you like, but I used red and white fingerling potatoes as well as a purple potato (I won’t use the purple potato again, at least not from where I go got them. The weren’t very good). Put them in a nice size pot, cover with water, a bit of salt and boil until fork tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, I took boneless skinless chicken thighs and sliced them into long strips.

Place the chicken in a bowl, then add about 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 4 tablespoons of honey, then rough chop fresh Basil and add to bowl. Mix together and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

***Before you start battering on flouring your chicken, pour off the liquid from the marinade, then add a little bit more honey***

Now I used a deep fryer to cook my chicken, but you can use a frying pan just as well. Additionally, If you want a very thick puffy crust on your chicken, put chicken in flour (flour mixture: flour, salt, pepper) first, then egg (beat 2 eggs), then back to the flour. If you want a light crust, just one dusting of flour and then drop in oil (I like canola oil). Cook until done and brown. Drain chicken on paper towel or a brown paper bag.

Now to finish the Potato salad while the chicken in cooking.

I got some beautiful green beans from my garden and cut them and then boiled them until tender in a little salt water.

Additionally I got about a cup or so of frozen fresh corn and microwaved it for 3 minutes until defrosted and tender (season with a bit of salt).
Check your potatoes, if they are tender, pour the hot water off. Slice your hot potatoes on the bigger side and add to a bowl. Add the green beans and the corn. I also cut up some curly leaf parsley and added to the bowl.

Now for the sauce. In a small bowl, a few teaspoons of apple cider vinegar, honey (add the honey according to how sweet you want your sauce) and whisk in some olive oil, about 4 tablespoons. Then add some yellow mustard and a little black pepper and mix again. Simple!

Mix the sauce with your potatoes and veggies. Put some foil over it to keep it warm until you are ready to serve.

Enjoy!!!

The lighter colored chicken is the one with the flour, egg, flour batter.

I like spring rolls, but alot of the time, the ratio is unbalanced. You get all veggie and no shrimp, or they are just greasy. So I made these yummy Spinach, mushroom and shrimp spring rolls.

So first lets start with what is needed. Fresh baby Spinach about 2 handful, 3 large Crimini mushrooms or white mushrooms, 1 carrot, 3 extra large (very big) prawns, 1 clove of elepant garlic or 2 cloves of regular garlic, spring roll pastry (found at a Asian Grocer), and a pan and oil for frying (I use Canola oil), a pan to cook the veggies and a small bowl of water.

Okay, first take a cheese grater and grate the carrots (use the bigger side) and grate the carrot length way, so you have long strips

Slice the mushrooms thinly and dice garlic

Clean and remove vein from shrimp and then cut them into nice chucks

In a frying pan, add olive oil and heat

Add mushrooms and cook for about 2 minutes

Add in garlic and shrimp

When the Shrimp begin to turn pink add in the carrots

cook for a minute then add spinach, salt and pepper to taste

When the spinach cooks down, remove veggies from pan and place in a bowl and set to the side

Now it’s time to fill the spring rolls. Lay one sheet of spring roll pastry out.

Place some of the veggies toward the lower left corner of the pastry in a line.

Fold the left corner over the veggies and roll, bring the corner in so that the filling doesn’t fall out the sides

Add a little water to the tab so that it closes and let it rest for a few minutes while heating up a pan with some oil.

Once the oil is hot drop your rolls in They brown really fast so don’t walk away from them. Brown on both sides and then drain them on a piece of paper towel or brown paper bag.

I served this with sweet chilli sauce for dipping. My oldest daughter loved these. They are great served right out of the pan. Enjoy

It has been a while since I have last posted, but I have been cooking. Summer with kids home is always a busy time. But I am attempting to get back on track.

Okay, so Korean Style Sweet Potato Noodles are a clear Vermicelle noodle. Just a heads up, if you cook these noodles al dente, they will have a very slipper quality to them, so beware if you are feeding them to kids. Anyway, you can purchase these noodle at an Asain grocer. Prepare per direction on the back of package. It takes about 10 minutes. (I made enough for 2 people so about 1 handful)

While the noodle are cooking, lets make the sauce and prep the veggies.

Slice 1 half onion, dice 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger root, and dice 1 elepant garlic clove. 1 dried red chili.

For veggies, I sliced 1 half green bell pepper, about 10 florets of brocoili and 1 handful of sugar snap peas.

For sauce, in a small bowl, add about a teaspoon of the ginger and garlic and either a half or the whole dried chili, just crush it up with your hand.

To that add 2 to 3 tablespoons of honey,
and about 1/4 cup of soy sauce. Whisk together until honey is mixed. Set to the side.

If it has been 10 minutes, drain you Sweet Potato noodles and rinse in cold water and set to the side.

Now I like to cook in a Wok, because it is faster, but if you don’t have a Wok, you can use a big frying pan. Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil and heat on medium high to high (every stove is different).

Add in the brocoili, bell peppers and peas. Keep the veggies move so the don’t burn (us a wooden or metal spoon). About 2 minutes, some of the veggies may start to brown and that is okay, just keep them moving.

After 2 minutes add the onions, and the rest of the garlic and ginger. Season with a little Kosher salt. Keep those veggies moving. With these times, your veggies will still have a crunch to them, if you want them softer, cook them a minute or 2 longer, just keep moving them around in the wok.

After about 2 to 3 minutes
add the sauce and let cook for 60 seconds then remove from heat.

Add in noodle.

mix together and serve hot.

Enjoy

It is so hard to find a good Asian restaurant, and sometimes, I am just not brave enough to try some of the things that I see in the restaurants. So I decided I would try some new Asian dishes at home. First up is the easy one, Soba with Spicy Dipping Suace.

First the dipping sauce. Dice very fine 1 clove of garlic and place in a small container.

Chop 1 green onion and 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger and add to container

Add 1 tablespoon of honey

Add about 6 to 8 tablespoons of soy sauce

Depending on how spicy you want the sauce, add some dried red pepper. I used half of one and it was very spicy.

Mix the sauce together. I let mine sit in the fridge for an hours so all the flavors could develop, but it can be used immediately.

Now, for the Soba, You can used dried soba noddles and follow the direction on the back, or use what I used. Fully Cooked Organic Buckwheat Soba, and follow the easy directions on the back.

Now since this is a cold dish, be sure to rinse the soba in cold water, Although this dish can be eaten hot.

Add some sauce to a small indivdual bowl and place the cold, drained Soba on a plate, grab some chopsticks and enjoy

I found myself without my usual dry pancake mix this morning and my kids have been going through this pancake fixation for the past 2 weeks. So I got up this morning and made them from scratch, which is best anyway.

Fluffy Apple cinnamon pancakes sounded like a plan, however, I have never made them before, so it was a test for me, but very good.

First I peeled and diced one medium Pink Lady Apple.

In a small cast-iron pan, I added 1 tablespoon of butter and melted.

Add apples to pan and let them cook. Stir so they don’t burn, but you do want them to brown.

While the apples are browning and softening, In a bowl, add: 1 and 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix together briefly.

Add two eggs and mix either with a spoon or an electric mixer.

Check you apples.
Once they begin to brown add 2 tablespoons of sugar and mix.

Now that the sugar has been added, the apples will brown faster so keep a close eye on it.
Once the apples have brown a little more and are soft, add a few shakes of Allspice. Mix and take off heat.

Back to the batter. Add 1 and 1/4 cups of milk (I used Lactose-free milk) and mix.

Add apples from the pan and stir in with a spoon.

Now it is time to make them. Which every method you use to make your pancakes is entirely up to you. I used a pan, but griddles are also an option. Make them as big or as small as you want, but remember to smooth the batter out a bit after you put it in your pan or griddle because they will be fluffy.

Serve them hot with maple syrup and we had bacon and eggs (My husband had the scrambled eggs in the pic, but I had a fried egg white. A bit healthier).

So who really needs store bought pancake mix when making any flavored pancakes at home is so easy. Just replace the apple mixture and the cinnamon and replace with your favorite flavors. It is after all, healthier than the box. You know what your adding. 🙂

Enjoy.

So yesterday I celebrated my 30th Birthday. Had a great day hanging out with my family and a great dinner to follow. I was going to go to Red Lobster, but I figured I could do Red Lobster at home for cheaper and so we did.

So, got snow crab from the store. Rinse them and put them in a baking pan and cover with foil and let them steam in the oven at about 365 F.

While those are steaming, slice 6 baby bella mushrooms and chop 2 vine tomatoes and bring a pot of salt water to boil. Also rough chop some fresh cilantro and have about 14 raw shrimp shelled and cleaned.

In a frying pan, add 4 or 5 tablespoons of olive oil, then add tomatoes and about 2 teaspoon of mince garlic. Let them cook down.

Add Mushrooms salt and pepper

Once the mushrooms have cooked a bit, add about 1/4 cup or so of cooking sherry.

Once the alcohol has cooked off add shrimp

Cook your angel hair pasta. This should only take about 2 minutes. Drain pasta and once shrimp have turned pink, add about 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Add pasta to the shrimp and sauce.

Turn off heat and mix pasta into sauce. Add Cilantro and salt and pepper to taste then mix again.

By this time, the crab should be heated through. Remove them from oven. Melt some butter and put melted butter in a small bowl. Plate up and enjoy. Because it was my 30th Birthday, I had a shot of Tequila with this… 😉 That’s is what is in the small glass to the right of the plate.