6 tablespoons shoyu

2 eggs

1 clove garlic, minced

4 tablespoons flour

6 tablespoons cornstarch

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons furikake

2 pounds chicken drumettes

1 cup flour

1 cup cornstarch

2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons furikake

oil for deep frying

Combine shoyu, eggs, garlic, 4 tablespoons flour, 6 tablespoons cornstarch, sugar, and 2 tablespoons furikake in a large bowl and mix well.  Add chicken, toss well, and marinate overnight.  When ready to cook, combine flour, cornstarch, and furikake in a large bowl and mix well.  Drain marinade from the chicken, and dredge chicken in flour mixture.  Fry in hot oil until golden and cooked through.

I do not have a family big enough to cook 2 pounds of chicken so I did cut down the recipe.  I did not cut down the marinade but when it came time to dredge the chicken I did only use 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cornstarch.  I also put it in a ziplock bag to cut down on the mess and clean up.  When I was finished I just threw the ziplock bags away.

I really suggest you try this recipe.  Do not let the amount of ingrediants scare you.  I bet you have all of this stuff in your cabinet anyway.  If you do try it let me know what you think.

Maybe when we move out to California and I am looking for a career change I can try my hand at culinary arts school. I really like to cook and I love to try new recipes so think I would be great to broaden my knowledge. I don’t know if I would want to work in a restaurant or not but I think I would be awesome to be able to have the chance to. I always tell Matt that if we get rich one day and I do not have to worry about money I would like to work in a soup kitchen or something just volunteering. I guess I should just do what I want with what I have and not wait for the perfect conditions to come along because we all know if you wait for the perfect moment you will be waiting forever. Sometimes you just have to jump in and do it.

As most of my family knows I love Campbell’s crème of mushroom soup, in fact I buy it by the case at Costco because I use it in everything.  So here is my recipe for Cottage Pie using Campbell’s crème of mushroom soup.

Ingredients  

1 pound ground beef 

1 can Campbell’s crème of mushroom soup

3 large russet potatoes 1 cups mix vegetables or 2 handfuls ( I used a frozen medley that had peas, carrots, green beans, lima beans and corn)ButterMilk

Peel and cut your potatoes into cubes, add a little salt and put to boil.  Cook ground beef and drain away excess fat.  While the beef is draining add can of soup and ½ cup water to the pot.  Constantly stir until all of the soup is dissolved.  Add your beef and vegetables into your soup mixture.  Turn to simmer and leave uncovered.  Because of the soup you do not need to add any seasoning to the beef mixture. 

Pre heat your oven to 350. 

Drain your potatoes, add butter, milk, and whip until you reach the desired consistency.  After your beef mixture has reduced down to the amount of gravy you would like pour into a casserole dish.  Place your potatoes on the top and add cheese.   

Bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Everything is hot when you put it into the dish so you only need to worry about the cheese melting.   

I hope you like the recipe, my family loved it, and Michaela even ate all of the vegetables without picking any out.

Ingredients

• 2-3 sheets nori
• 2 cups rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 can spam
• 1/4 cup shoyu
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Cooking Directions

1. Cook the rice, using equal parts rice and water. I use a rice cooker, but you can also cook it on the stove if you don’t have a rice cooker.
2. Mix the shoyu, oyster sauce, and sugar in a bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Cut the spam into about 10 pieces, horizontally (like you are slicing the top off each time). Keep the can!
4. Place the span in the shoyu mix, marinate for about 5 minutes.
5. Put the oil in a frying pan, heat over medium heat.
6. Fry the marinated spam until brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
7. Cut the nori into strips about 2.5 inches wide.
8. Wash the can that the spam was in very well.
9. Fill the can loosely with rice, then pack the rice into the can very tightly. It should end up about an inch or so thick. Update: To get the rice out of the can, I slammed the can upside down on the cutting board until the rice came out. You might also try to line the can with plastic wrap before you pack the rice, so it’s easy to pull it out.
10. Place the rice on one end of the nori, so that they are perpendicular.
11. Place a slice of spam on the rice.
12. Wrap the nori around the spam/rice stack. Hold closed for a few seconds, it should stick. If it doesn’t stay closed, use a drop of water to close it.

I have included the recipe if you want to give it a shot and add a little bit of Hawaiian into your Christmas holiday. 

  Upside-down Mango Cake                       

1/2 stick unsalted butter                                   3/4 C. light-brown sugar

1 ripe mango, halved, pitted and peeled

(slice each half lengthwise into 8 slices)

1 1/4 C. unsifted cake flour                              1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. each cinnamon & nutmeg                   pinch of salt1 stick unsalted butter (softened)                  

 1/2 C. sugar                                                       2 large eggs at room temperature                 

1/3 C. milk                                                         1 tsp. vanilla 

TOPPING: Preheat oven to 350°, with oven rack in lowest position. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar and cook over medium heat until mixture bubbles and is creamy and smooth, 2 or 3 minutes. Pour onto bottom of greased 9×1 1/2″cake pan. Arrange mango slices in concentric circles on top of mixture, beginning in the center of the pan and working outward. Set aside. 

CAKE: In medium-sized bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Set aside. In large bowl, with mixer set on medium speed, beat butter until light and creamy. Add sugar a little at a time, beating until pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes). On low speed, beat eggs in one at a time; increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, then increase speed to medium and add half the flour mixture and the milk and vanilla. When this is well blended, add the other half of the flour and mix until blended. Using a spatula, gently spoon the batter over the mango slices in the cake pan, carefully spreading it in an even layer and sealing it against the sides of the pan so the sugar mixture won’t bubble up over the batter as it cooks. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake until it is still warm: run a knife around the edge to loosen cake, then place platter over the top of the pan and carefully turn the whole thing upside-down, tapping lightly on the bottom of the pan to loosen any topping that may be sticking to it. Serve warm or at room temperature with a big dollop of whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.