Captain Crunch Chicken

This recipe just sounds dirty...and it is. Dirty sweet...

Ingredients

Chicken

1 cup flour

1 tsp. garlic powder

pepper

1 egg

1 cup milk

2 cups Captain Crunch cereal

1 1/2 cup Corn Flakes

I used a rolling pin to crush the Captain Crunch and Corn Flakes cereal between two paper towels.

Mix flour with garlic powder and pepper. Mix egg with milk. Mix crushed cereal.

Dip chicken into flour. Shake of excess. Then dunk into milk and egg. Then put chicken in tupperware and shake with crushed cereal until coated.

Place on foil lined baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for around 15 minutes.

I served it with potatoes and broccoli!

Nozomi's Chirashi Salad

Nozomi is located on Convoy Street in Kearny Mesa.  Many a time have I eaten here, but this was the first time I tried their specialty, the Chirashi Salad!

Definitely don't attempt this alone!  This massive salad can easily feed 2-3 people!  It has sushi rice on the bottom, then lettuce, spouts and cucumber, topped with an assortment of chopped raw fresh fish and fish eggs!  You mix it all together, then serve it in individual bowls.  And it's served with a delicious spicy sesame dressing.

So, that was an amazing experience.  Definitely would do that again.

Also had the "mushroom special" hot appetizer.  Another large portion, it was 6 large tempura coated mushrooms topped with spicy crab meat.

Don't let me forget the turtles! 

The turtles have a pond at the entrance of Nozomi to help greet the customers as they come in.

These two are practicing their circus act!

Turtles love teamwork! ;)

2012 Year of the Pickle

I have been obsessed with Japanese food lately.  I mean it's always been one of my favorites, but recently I have come to the conclusion that it is my all time favorite!

Part of what helped me reach that decision was a birthday lunch at my favorite restaurant Okan.

I have only eaten there four times, but each time I do I am amazed, and I vow to go back more often! It is always an opportunity to try lots of new, unique, and traditional Japanese dishes.

Here is a glimpse of their "lunch set." ($6.50) Pictured are three different types of Japanese tapas and some Japanese pickles.  Also included is rice and soup.  This particular lunch I also had a chance to try the seared beef tongue which was very flavorful and melt in your mouth delicious!

Okan is small and charming, has great food, and don't even get my started on their bathroom! (Toilet seat is warmed, and toilet performs various spray functions at the touch of a button!)

So anyways, this year I want to start cooking more traditional Japanese dishes, I want to eat more Japanese food, and I want to make all kinds of pickles!  I found a couple of amazing looking books in English on Japanese pickle making but they are too expensive ($60 and $250!) so I am going to stick with online resources for the time being.  Those are my food related goals for the new year inspired by Okan!

Apple Pie- Two ways

A day trip to Julian...aka apple country!

View from Volcan Mountain.

Is that an apple tree I see..? :)

I couldn't leave Julian without something apple related.  I bought 1/2 a peck of apples (2 bags)!  There was an assorted variety of sizes and colors in each bag.

I ended up making 2 pies.  The first one was a traditional apple pie.  I used pretty much the same recipe as the apple pear pie I made for Thanksgiving, minus the pears this time.

With the second apple pie I decided to make a crumble topping.  The streusel topping was very easy- just flour, brown sugar and butter.

In other exciting news- In Julian I found a lobster cookie cutter! and a tooth cookie cutter! Can't wait to make some exciting sugar cookie cutouts soon!

Sloppy Joes

Is Joe as sloppy as Susan is lazy?

The not so secret ingredient is ground turkey (or beef).

Cook onion for 1 minute, then add meat and cooked till browned.

My favorite recipe for sloppy joes is simple.  The sauce has only 3 ingredients: 

A can of tomato soup..

2 Tbsp of mustard and 4 Tbsp of ketchup.

Just mix that all together and cook until heated through.

Another easy thing to make is fries.

Cut up one potato into pieces and then cook in hot oil until lightly browned.

Drain on paper towels and then serve!

Sloppy joe and fries! Couldn't be much easier

Arugula Pesto Pasta

I got the idea for this recipe while browsing on foodgawker:

http://www.lawfullyweddedwife.com/2011/11/15/arugula-pesto-pasta-with-cremini-mushrooms/

Apparently you can find a similar recipe on the back of bagged arugula at Trader Joe's

Well, excuse me!....

Here are some of the key ingredients:

I stuffed my little food processor with arugula, walnuts, a couple cloves of garlic, and oil from the jar of sundried tomatoes.

I had to keep gradually adding in more of the arugula until it blended down.

I tossed the pesto with just cooked pasta, sundried tomatoes and some parmesan cheese.

Mmmm Mmmmm

It was good and fresh tasting, but not quite as good as regular basil pesto.  It was good for a change of pace though.

Apple Pear Pie

Nothing says Thanksgiving like a homemade apple pie!

I took my best squirrel out on the town to celebrate..

I was in charge of Thanksgiving pies this year.  I made a pumpkin pie and an apple pear pie!  I made homemade crusts for both pies, but I cheated on the pumpkin pie and went with canned pumpkin.

This is the list of ingredients I used for the apple pear pie filling:

4 apples

3 pears

1/3 cup brown sugar

1Tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp freshly grated ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg and cardamom

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

This is my recipe for pie crust:

2 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4-1/2 cup ice water

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and sugar  in a bowl.  Add butter and quickly cut in with a pastry blender or your fingers until mixture resembles coarse meal with some larger pieces remaining.  Drizzle 1/4 cup water over mixture.  Mix with a fork until mixture just begins to hold together.  If dough is too dry, add 1/4 cup more water, 1 tbsp at a time, and mix with a fork.

2. Divide dough in half onto two pieces of plastic wrap.  Gather into two balls, wrap loosely in plastic, and press each into a disk using a rolling pin.  Refrigerate until firm, well wrapped in plastic, 1 hour or up to 1 day. 

from:
http://www.joanne-eatswellwithothers.com/2011/06/martha-stewarts-lattice-top-blueberry.html

I baked this pie at 425 for 15 minutes and then at 350 for another 45 minutes.

My pie was loved by one and all and was rivaled only by my sister's turkey cake pops..