Kinako Mochi

Do you remember the days when your mom would make you mochi and you'd dip it in sugar and shoyu and then kinako?  I remember those days with a tender heart and lots of warmth!  What could be better than that?  Maybe this...Homemade sweet mochi with kinako on it.  Some of you may wonder...what the heck is "kinako"?  Well for those of you who may not have "kinako" memories, kinako is roasted soy beans that are ground into flour.  It's got an interesting, hard to describe flavor.  It doesn't really taste like soy beans or "edamame" to me.  There's almost a peanut buttery flavor to it.  And when you mix kinako with this homemade sweet mochi, it's magic!

Kinako Mochi

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C mochiko ( sweet rice flour)
1/2 C sugar
1 2/3 C water
1/4 C kinako

Directions:
1.  Mix together mochiko, sugar and water
2.  Pour the mixture into 9 by 9 pan sprayed with non-stick spray
3.  Cover it with plastic wrap
4.  Microwave on medium high (50 % power) for 10 minutes
5.  Pour onto a cutting board floured with more mochiko
6.  Flour the mochiko
7.  Let cool, then cut into pieces and shape into balls
8.  Roll each piece in kinako

Now it's time to enjoy my favorite type of sweet mochi!  Leave it to Chef Azuki to send me down memory lane and sweeten my day!

BeaNspiration:  The melding of two can become one wonderful wonder!

Strawberry Smoothie with Boba

Chef Azuki's family went to an Asian Market and her boys discovered Boba (tapioca pearls) in a bag.  They wanted to try and make their own version of a Boba Drink.  They looked in the refrigerator and found 6 fresh strawberries.  They brought out the blender and this is what they came up with.....

Strawberry Smoothie with Boba

Ingredients for Boba:

2 c water

1/4 c boba

Directions:

1.  Place water in a saucepan and boil water on high

2.  Add boba to boiling water

3.  Stir gently until boba is plump

4.  Lower heat to medium and cover the pot for 5 minutes

5.  Drain water and cool down boba with cold water

6.  Add to smoothie

Ingredients for Smoothie:

1 c almond milk

1 c ice

6 fresh strawberries

2 T sugar

Directions:

1.  Place all ingredients into the blender
2.  Blend together until frothy

2.  Pour into a glass, add boba and enjoy!

This is a great way to spend quality time with your family and enjoy a refreshing beverage at the same time.

BeaNspiration:   Special moments in the kitchen can create wonderful memories!

California Shiso Poke Bowl

Our fishing husbands brought back some tuna.  Chef Azuki created another delicious recipe with her shiso plant.  If you're lucky to get some fresh caught tuna, here's a great dish to make.

California Shiso Poki Bowl

Ingredients:

1 C blue fin tuna (cubed)
1 cucumber (cubed
1/2 avocado (diced)
4 shiso leaves ( thinly sliced)
2 T shoyu
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper


Directions:
1.  Cube, dice and slice ingredients
2.  Place in a bowl with shoyu, oil and sprinkle on red pepper
3.  Toss it together


What a delicious, refreshing way to use your fresh caught tuna!  Pour the poke over hot rice and enjoy the refreshing flavors.

BeaNspiration:  Enjoy California magic everyday!

Obon Dangos

Chef Azuki continues to be inspired by the obon carnivals.  Today she decided to try her hand at making Dangos.   They always remind me of the story of Momotaro, the peach boy.  In that story, his adopted mom makes him food when he goes off to fight the monsters.  I always imagined him eating these for dessert.  Like a donut hole, only better!

Obon Dangos

Ingredients:

3 C flour

1 C sugar

3 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 eggs

1/2 C milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Canola oil

*1T sugar

*1 T cinnamon

Directions:

1.  Combine all the dry ingredients except the * items

2.  Whisk milk and eggs together

3.  Combine dry and wet ingredients until a dough forms

4.  Form small balls with the dough

5.  Heat oil

6.  Deep fry until golden brown

7.  Mix together cinnamon and sugar

8. Roll the hot dangos in cinnamon/sugar

9.  Let cool if you can wait!  Don't burn your mouth.

Now you're ready for some delicious dangos.  Dang!  They're great!

BeaNspiration:  Enjoy a little sweet snack to start you on your journey

Shiso Chili

Chef Azuki went to an Obon festival and enjoyed eating chili over rice.  With her new shiso plant on her counter, Chef Azuki came home and decided to try her own version of chili with shiso.  Shiso is a Japanese plant where the leaf is used as a culinary herb.  The Shiso added to the chili cut some of the acidity making a really delicious chili.

Shiso Chili

Ingredients:
1/2 lb top sirloin cut into thin strips
1 onion diced
1 T canola oil
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 C butter
1/4 tsp pepper
2 large shiso leaves
1 can stewed tomatoes


Directions:
Brown the meat, onion garlic powder and seasoned salt in canola oil
Place the meat mixture and all the rest of the ingredients in a crock pot and set on low.
Cook for 6-8 hours.

So get your rice on and enjoy this delicious crock pot Shiso Chili with rice today!

BeaNspiration:  Inspiration is everywhere!

Peach Smoothie

It was so hot and humid today!  The Azuki BeaN Mamas were rushing to get some important mail out and tallying up proceeds from their book sale.  Little BeaN meanwhile created this delicious refreshing drink for us.  Love the taste of summer peaches and the sweetness of our Little BeaNs!

Peach Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 C ice
3 C orange Juice
2 ripe peaches
1/2 C almond milk
1/4 C half and half


Directions:
1.  Cut up peaches
2.  Add all the ingredients in a blender
3.  Blend it all together until frothy and delicious!


Thank you Little BeaN for thinking of us.  I guess we can't call you "Little" anymore since you're
way taller than Chef Azuki and I.  Love that you shared your recipe with us.  Thanks for the refreshing smoothie on a hot and hectic day.

BeaNspiration:  It nice to have our kids treat us to wonderful surprises!

Asian style spinach

Today the Little BeaNs were having pizza.  Chef Azuki and I didn't really feel like pizza so we looked in the refrigerator to see what we could quickly whip up.  Chef Azuki had some spinach and a lot of rice that she already had cooking for dinner.  We decided some tofu and spinach would be perfect with the rice.  As usual, Chef Azuki added her special touch and created a  dish with gluten-free tamari light soy sauce.  Hubby BeaN is trying to eat less gluten so we were testing the taste of the gluten-free soy sauce.  It was delicious!

Asian Style Spinach

Ingredients:

3 C  coarsely chopped spinach
1 Tbsp gluten free tamari light soy sauce
3 stalks of green onions, chopped
1/2 cloves garlic or a dash of garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
Shaved bonita flakes or sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

1.  Wash spinach and put it in a pot.  The leaves will be wet, don't dry it off.
2.  Cover the pot and heat on medium for 5-6 minutes.
3.  Put spinach in a colander and use tongs to squeeze out water,
     pressing it against the side of the colander.
4.  Add soy sauce, chopped green onions, garlic or garlic powder, and sesame oil
5.  Toss together
6.  Put a mound on a small dish and sprinkle with shaved bonita flakes
     or sesame seeds


This was just delicious with tofu cubes and rice.  The spinach was flavorful and delicious and a great compliment to the tofu and rice.  Shaved bonita flakes can be found in Japanese specialty markets.  If you can't find it, sesame seeds are a great substitute.  You can find sesame seeds in the spice area of the supermarket.

BeaNspiration:  Sometimes you can create a little magic with everyday items!