Potato Porcini Soup with Shio Koji

Went to my husband's hometown, Oregon over the weekend.
It was my 3rd time there, but 1st time in summer!
It's very beautiful this time of the year.

We stayed at Wine Country Farm B&B in Dayton.
Such a beautiful place!!!!

breakfast room

We grabbed pizza and soup at a nearby market for dinner and ate at their yard.
This soup.....potato porcini soup....it was sooooooo yummy!!!!!!!
I had a package of dried porcini that I bought in Italy at home, so I looked for a recipe of this soup as soon as I got home!
I made it for dinner tonight and it was really good.
I used 4cup of water + 3tbs of shio koji ( see this post ) instead of chicken stock.

Recipe: Porcini Farro Soup from Italian Food Forever

旦那の実家、オレゴンへ行ってきましたー。パパとママがフロリダに引っ越すので、彼が家の片付けをするためです。今まで冬にしか行ったことなかったけど、夏のオレゴンはいい！！緑がいっぱいですがすがしい。ワイナリーにも行ってきましたよー。正直、ナパとかソノマよりも良かったです！観光客が少ないから♪
そしてこの写真見て下さい。。。なんとも素敵なホテル！！！今回泊まったWine Country Farm。料金も150ドルぐらいでバカ高くないし、とてもおススメです♪
夜は近くのマーケットでピザとスープを買って、お庭で頂きました。
このPotato Porciniスープがとても美味しかったので家に帰ってからすぐレシピを検索！！
なかなかこれぞ！というのが見つからなかったのですが、このレシピ↑はなかなかオレゴンで食べたスープに近かったです。
ちなみに朝食は目の前のブドウ畑で取れたブドウのジュースと、ワッフルに手作りホイップとブルーベリージャムが出ました。これまたとても美味しかった！！

Steamed Pork Buns

I should have put more effort to their beaks...
I just mixed curry powder to the extra dough and .....overcooked:(

These Donald and Daisy are made with steamed pork buns!
I tried the recipe that I found on a Japanese recipe site.
My husband liked the bread part, but not much the meat inside.....
Will try a different recipe next time!!!
Here is the recipe for the bun.

260g Flour
3tbs Sugar
Pinch, Salt
2tsp Baking powder
6tbs Milk ( I used soy milk)
4tbs Water
2tsp Oil

1. Mix the dry ingredients.
2. Add the wet ingredients and knead.
3. Make a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Let is sit for 30mins.
4. Divide into 2~4 and roll out each dough.
5. Put pork mix inside and shape.
6. Steam for about 10 mins over medium heat.

I like this buns better without meat. Great snacks:)


7月の毎週火曜日に近くの公園でライブコンサートがあるので、その日はピクニック弁当を作って近所の人と見にいっています。昨日は肉まんドナルドとデイジー！！日本にいる妹にこの写真を送ったら”口がテキトー”とか言われたけどｗ。
豚挽きなかったからニジヤのニクの日に買った豚こまをチョップして使いました。。。そのせいか、ちょっと肉がドライだと旦那に言われましたが。。。でもこの皮は美味しかった！！
ごぼうがいっぱい残ってたのでごぼうも混ぜてみた。

簡単手作り☆本格味の肉まん

ちなみに旦那がチキンをBBQグリルで焼いてスイートチリソースをかけて食べるのが好きなので、スイートチリソースを作り置きしてます。
そのソースでエビチリを作りました。これは冷めても美味しくてお弁当にいい！！！

Karaage Bento ~Mickey and Minnie Rice Balls~

There are concerts in a nearby park every Tuesday in July.
We went there last week with bear sliders bento.
This week, I made Mickey and Minnie karaage bento.

Menu

Rice balls
Chicken karaage
Roasted brussel sprouts
Steamed pumpkin
Pickled daikon radish

Chicken Karaage (Japanese Fried Chicken)
Adapted from Japanese Recipe Website

2 Chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
4tbs Soy sauce
4tsp Sugar
1tbs Grated garlic
1tbs Grated ginger
Potato starch, enough to coat the chicken
Oil for frying

1. Mix soy sauce, sugar, garlic and ginger. Marinate chicken and the mixture in a plastic bag. At least 1 hour.
2. Add 1tbs of potato starch and massage the chicken over plastic bag.
3. Put more (a lot enough to coat chicken) potato starch and shake the plastic bag.
4. Fry.




~How to make Mickey and Minnie Rice Balls~

1. Shape warm rice as shown in plastic wrap. (I forgot to include their noses in this picture....)

2. Draw the line with sharpie.

3. Unwrap the plastic wrap and use as a guideline to cut nori seaweed.

**Cut the seaweed big enough to wrap their face. (See the picture on the right) It's easier to wrap seaweed if you cut slits as shown.









4. Wrap seaweed around ears and noses too.
5. Make the face parts with sliced cheese and nori seaweed.

4th and 7th of July Bento

Happy late 4th of July :p !!!
Celebrated with this fireworks bento:)
It's fried rice and fireworks are made with ham, egg, and colorful peppers.

Picnic Sliders

Happy 4th of July!
There is a concert at a park near our place tonight!!!
Made this slider bears to eat while watching the show:)
This would be great for parties!

I recommend avoiding beef patties for picnic.( if you can't heat them up before you eat)
Beef fat is hard to be melt in our mouth and not that tasty when you eat them cold.
I made tofu chicken patties this time. It was really good even when it's cold! :)


I made 2 big patties and a couple of small ones.
I used the big ones for this sliders and froze the small ones for bento!
*Wait for patties to cool before freeze:)

Bear
Eyes and Nose : Sliced cheese, Nori seaweed

Tofu Chciken Hamburger 

250g Ground chiken
250g Silken Tofu
125g Onion
1 Egg
40g Panko bread crumbs
1/2tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black pepper
*2tbs Soy sauce
*2tbs Sake
*1tbs Sugar
*1/2tbs Vinegar

1. Mince onion and saute until transparent.
2. Mix the onion, tofu, egg, panko, salt and pepper in a bowl by hands.
3. Divide into 6-8 egg shapes.
4. Heat oil in a pan and cook the patties for 1~2 minutes over medium heat. (with a lid on)
5. Turn down to low heat and cook for 3~4 minutes.
6. Flip the patties and cook for another 3 minutes. ( no lid)
7. Mix * ingredients and pour over the patties.

Omelet Rice Bento

Beer for lunch? Your husband would love this bento!
It's Japanese omurice (omelet rice).
This would be a good edible gift for Father's Day!

If you have any leftover ingredients that you want to use up, this is a great dish.
Just fry rice with them and season with ketchup, salt and pepper!
I will write a basic recipe below.

150g Rice, cooked
1/4  Onion, diced
1/4 Red or Green pepper, diced
Chiken, Corn or anything you like
1tbs Ketchup
1/2tsp Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Brown onion and peppers ( if you use meat, cook together with onion)
2. When cooked, add ketchup and mix well.
3. Add rice and mix.
4. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.

How to make beet shape

When it's cooled, wrap with a thin egg sheet.

To make a thin egg sheet, please see the "facebook bento"

Gently place it in a bento box, trying to shape a square.
Put white rice to create bubble!

I made an arm by cutting daikon radish.

Mashed Potato Soccer Balls

Enjoyed watching FIFA world cup with this mashed potato soccer balls!
It's very easy to make and fun!

I cooked potatoes in boiled water and mashed with butter and salt.
I had some leftover grilled corn sot put inside the balls.

Create 5 sided shapes with a piece of nori seaweed.
Please see the older post " Soccer Rice Balls" too:)

Crystal Casters Bento

I collaborated with a mobile online game, Crystal Casters and made this bento!
Check out their website↓↓ to find out how to make this:):)

https://www.klab.com/us/cc-bento/