Switching things up

So after a long week away from the computer I have come to realize I don't know exactly who my audience is supposed to be for this blog.

My husband told me to write and thats what I've been doing. So FYI there is a change coming and it will be spectacular. I am rethinking my whole approach and I will have something new for you all in a few.

PS I missed you all while I was away. Talk to you soon.

What a Muddle...........P.S. there is not a word in Japanese that means Halibut

Have you ever tried to make a seasoned butter? Have you done it successfully? We'll I need practice.

I searched high and low from Hario to Main Base, Lala to Nakamura and I couldn't find it? I tried pictures, charades and then I had an idea, why not ask someone who is bilingual. So I did. I asked 3 and they didn't even know what I'm talking about. Finally when I thought all hope was gone and I would have to just skip this recipe, there it was in the freezer on main base Halibut. 

oregano leaves (check), scallion (check), 6 tablespoons of butter (check), neely's bbq seasoning (check), orange zest (check), kosher salt (check) I never knew this existed until I started this cookbook, cayenne pepper (check), EVOO (check), black pepper (check), asparagus (check) and finally Halibut (check).I had everything I needed for this trouble-free dish and the only thing that was holding me up was the asparagus of course not, this was easy I grilled this wonderfully in my fish grill ;-). I wish I would have just given up. But I had to find the stinkin Halibut and that is what I did. 

Now don't get me wrong, the recipe for the halibut was easy as pie, all I had to do was brush the Halibut with the EVOO then salt, pepper and grill for about16 minutes and your done. The Barbecue Butter is where it all went down hill.

They make it sound so effortless in the cookbook combine oregano, scallion, butter at room temperature, seasoning, salt and cayenne. Then transfer to a piece of plastic wrap. This task is not so easy, I tried it with a spatula, a spoon, wooden spoon and finally my mini chopper which in fact did the trick but clearly it is called mini for a reason. Gradually everything began to trickle, leak and finally splatter out. But all the while I finally had my barbecue butter. That had to sit for an hour, before I could use it. I still have some in my freezer, just in case I decide to do this again, I definitely don’t want to re-live the butter making experience.

Pre-Cut Salmon from Nakamura

After I decided to end my search for sake at the commissary I had to brave the big bad elephant store Nakamura and have someone tell me doco (where) sake (salmon) is?  I took my list of things I needed for my next few recipes and translated it to Japanese the best I could between my phrases book and my dictionary. Amazingly it wasn't that hard, I got niwatori  dashijiru  chicken broth, sake salmon,  hachimitsu honey,  komugiko flour,  gyuniku dashijiru beef broth, rikis onions, chizu cheese, kechappu ketchup, miruku milk,  tomagos eggs, budo abura grape oil, and wakegi shallots,   Once it was time to find the sake I couldn’t tell which fish was which. Simply because almost everything from the butcher is pre-cut for you into bite-size and sake was one of them. On the other hand it was easier to prepare.

Question: Do you know what capers are?   Answer: Un-ripened flower buds........

Well that’s what we had for dinner, flower buds and sake it was a whole lot better than I thought it would be. I suppose if you add sugar to anything it would taste pretty amazing but the combination of mustard, black pepper, capers, wine, sugar and butter made this salmon delightful. We will definetly have Spicy Salmon with Mustard and Brown Sugar Glaze again you should try it too?

Feta Cheese, Oh how I love thee...............Grilled Shrimp Pasta with Tomatoes, Black Olives and Feta

Feta Cheese- brined curd cheese, made from sheep's milk,   oh how delicious..............Feta Cheese should never be mistaken for Blue Cheese =( I really don't like Blue Cheese. But Feta Cheese really completed this meal; it brought out all of the seasonings and made my pasta salad pop.

Quick and Easy pasta is what this recipe should've been called. Why? because it is. All I had to do was add some olive oil, cherry tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes, vinegar and salt to a skillet. Let it cook through so the tomatoes get soft and then sit it to the side. In the between time I boiled 1lb of pasta shells before while I tried to figure out how I could grill my shrimp and zucchini (Again I think, why didn't I pack my George Foreman grill in my Unaccompanied Baggage). 

FYI do not try to grill anything in Hamilton Beach convectional oven , it doesn't do the trick. So far it has worked for everything else, cookies, lasagna, toasting bread….etc. but not to grill. I tried for about and hour and it didn't work instead it made my zucchini kind of flimsy. Then I remembered that we had this wonderful system kitchen here in Japan (meaning 3 burners and a place to bake fish sort of like a broiler under the stoves back in the states). I stuck the zucchini is there and we were grilling! I was so proud that once again I found a way to make this cookbook idea of DH’s work. What a learning experience this is starting to be, things I used to take for granted like an oven, countertop space, garbage disposal and my DISHWASHER!!!! (yes I am still hung up over this). On the other hand I am definitely finding new ways to do the same things. Somewhat stressful at times and might I add highly IRRITATING. Finally it was time to grill the shrimp and the DH came home with the skewers just in time (3 stores later the LaLa, Commissary and finally the NEX gas station). Just so that I could give myself a splinter, don't ask why? even though Ryan got to meet our neighbor to ask her if he could borrow some tweezers. So I suppose it all worked out well =).  

To finish the dinner I just added everything together and tossed in the scallions, olives, lemon zest and parsley and Feta Cheese.  Then you can add salt and pepper to taste. The family ate it up, the kids loved it and the Feta Cheese was the main attraction. DH said he liked this salad more than the Chinese Chicken Salad from Souplantation; and that is a lot for him considering he hates salad as much as I hate brussel sprouts. He liked it so much he took it to work and one of his coworkers said the Feta Cheese smelled like Shi* and DH said Kiss my A**. LOL he does love me doesn’t he =)

My pan won't fit.........Lorine's Lasagna

My Brillant idea! Hefty EZ Foil Pan? Why? Because I needed to make Lasagna tonight and I know what you’re thinking (the secret ingredient is not BBQ sauce). Weren't you getting worn-out by all of the barbecue?

I've made lasagna tons of times and to be evasive I like Emeril’s Lasagna better. All along I went ahead with my goal, to cook my way through the “Down Home with the Neelys, A Family Cookbook” and by George I'm going to. So that's what I did.

Commissary items: Less expensive than regular grocery chains in the states at times, but here in Japan I’m not so sure all the time. They charge you a surcharge fee, I suppose it’s to send American items to Japan and you tip the baggers because their not on payroll. (Oh how I miss my personal shopper from Vons.com) They would  pick up, bag and deliver to my countertop all for free if I spend $150 bucks, in which I did frequently back home.

• Ground Beef 
•  Minced Garlic
• Crushed Tomatoes (I had a coupon B6G1 Free, coupons at the commissary a re good up to 6 months after they expire. I've never been a coupon clipper before but they pre-clip & bag them for you at FFSC)
• Tomato Paste
• Oregano
• Kosher Salt (I had to drive to Hario Base)
• Ground Black Pepper
• Ricotta Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese 
• Cheddar Cheese 
• Lasagna Noodles (they didn't have "no boil" noodles)

LaLa aka Elephant Store: Depending on the yen conversion at the time, prices are reasonable and the vegetables are usually fresher. I just need to learn how to read Japanese :\. The cashier tells you what you’re buying and the price as its rung up item by item. Afterwards the cashier gives you a few bags to do it yourself. (They have no baggersL). Then everyone goes to a little counter and takes apart everything they just brought so they don’t bring home the cartons. Recycling is VERY BIG here.

• medium onion (very fresh veggies Sasebo is a farming city)
• eggs (less expensive off base and bright yellow it kind of makes you think we have fake eggs back in the states)

There really wasn’t anything to tricky to this recipe or you might say I wasn’t able to screw this one up. All you have to do is brown the meat onion and garlic. Then add the tomatoes, tomato paste and oregano. Walla the meat mixture is complete  (salt and pepper to taste). Then you mix together the rest of the ingredients and then you have the clumpy white mixture you see in lasagna. Layering time, meat, noodles white sauce, cheese, and meat now repeat. After all was said and done my pan was full and just as I was ready to insert this wonderful concoction into my conventional oven, My EZ Foil Pan wouldn’t fit (bad idea not picking up a smaller size). It was time to regroup and then I remember it’s made of foil all I had to doo was pinch in the sides a little. My lasagna was a little deformed but overall successful, I got the pan to fit. Yeah Me!

"Better than CPK" is what the DH said......Barbecue Pizza with Onions and Peppers

When will I ever learn to read first cook later? Making pizza dough is hard work and I am so G-L-A-D I never had to work for Pizza Hut, Domino's or any other pizza restaurant chain. Just so you know if you plan to make pizza from scratch even if you buy all the ingredients and think your ready to go; the dough has to sit for 2 hours before you can even bake it. Why does something so good have to be so time consuming? I will never know.

So I did what any other mother in my situation would do at 5 o'clock and you have kids that need to eat dinner before 8 o'clock at night. I ran to the commissary and got some Chef Boyardee dough. Easy fix. Quick and easy, I even got my little boy to help we made 4 small pizzas out of the dough. Making the toppings for the pizza was a breeze I added onions, bell pepper and garlic to my mini food processor I got for Christmas (I am so thankful I thought to pack this in our express shipment) and chopped up all the veggies. I added them to the oil that was heating in the pan and presto; my kitchen smelt like a slice of heaven. When the hubs came down to check on the food he turned on the vent because he wanted to make the neighbors jealous. LOL I guess I did something right, I didn't tell him about the quick and easy dough ;).

As for the rest of the toppings I had leftover barbecue ground meat (from the Barbecue Spaghetti the night before), turkey pepperoni (my all time favorite) and the Hubs wanted some bacon. Robert helped me put everything on the pizzas and then they went into the conventional oven (this little machine works WONDERS!!!!; way better than a regular toaster oven). 

Meanwhile back on the ranch............I tried another go at making my own pizza dough. I had the yeast, water, honey, salt, olive oil and the bread flour. Question: Do I have an electric mixer? Answer : that’s a negative.  So I just used a spoon, how did people make pizza before electric mixers? I actually have know idea but I'm guessing they used a spoon too. I think it came out pretty good even though I didn't have a mixer, or a glass bowl to store it in. Instead I used my good ole' American hands and a plastic freezer bag. My dough was still firm and smooth when it was time to let it sit. These pizzas were definitely better than the ones we made with the Chef Boyardee dough. So good the Hubs said it was better than California Pizza Kitchen!!!! Mission accomplished =)

Barbecue Spaghetti.......who would've known

Smoked beef..........I had no idea how to make smoked beef. (A) without a smoker and (B) what is smoked beef? Obviously I will need to do some research if I want to be successful at completing this cookbook.
Instead I just browned some ground meat and completed the recipe as followed.

Oh..........I almost forgot the barbecue sauce was on point this time around and I have leftover barbecue for my next recipe.....yeah me.

What I learned......I need to brush up on some cooking terms.

By the way this meal was kid friendly and rather easy to prepare all you need is olive oil, yellow onion, green bell pepper, garlic cloves, Neely's Barbecue Sauce, spaghetti, any kind of smoked meat (or ground meat) and Hot sauce if you choose.

BBQ Uh-Oh Baked Potatoes

Someone might think that it isn't possible at all to screw up a baked potato recipe, although somehow I managed to do just that.  


It was time to make the Neely's Barbecue Sauce it needed to go for 1 hour on the stove so I started this first, since I didn't do it the day before. I still wonder why I didn't think to prepare myself I just dove right in with a wonderful hallucination that everything would run as smooth and effortless as on the cooking shows. 
Ingredients needed: Ketchup, water, light brown sugar, black pepper, onion powder, lemon juice, Worcestershire Sauce, apple cider vinegar, light corn syrup and Neely's Barbecue Seasoning. 
In our to make the Barbecue Sauce I needed the Barbecue Seasoning, to even start the potatoes baking I needed the seasoning and it was already 6:00 and I hadn't even begun.


I only made half of the recipe for many reasons #1 I still didn't have a lot of Tupperware and #2 I still didn't have a lot of storage space. When I was done making the seasoning I thought it looked a little off from the picture but I went on a long because I was rushing. I hurriedly moved on to getting the potatoes going I prepared the potatoes stuck them in the oven and I felt like I was almost there.
I felt like this was finely going smoothly as I was mixing all of the ingredients for the barbecue sauce into the largest pan that I had at the time. Mind you we were still living out of our Unaccompanied Baggage which didn't contain a lot of pots or pans. Until the rest of of Household Goods arrived which should have been here by now but that's a completely different blog I would have to start. I would call it "PCSing Out, your worst nightmare".....=).
 And then it happened I realized I didn't have any Worcestershire sauce. Instead I used soy sauce, after all I live in a country that has rows upon rows of soy sauce in any local elephant store and the commissary was to far away (Fumble #1).
The barbecue sauce began to boil and it started to smell spectacular I wanted to stick my finger in it right then an there (but I didn't).  Which is also when I noticed that it smelled .........a lot like onion. But of course........the cause of the extra whiteness from the Neely's Barbecue Seasoning can you guess? It wasn't from the sugar but from too much onion powder. While I was busily trying to divide measurements in my head I read cups instead and tablespoons (Fumble #2).


Otherwise all I had to do was brown my ground meat and add the barbecue sauce. It sort of looked like a bunch of taco meat but with barbecue sauce. From there everyone added had there own split baked potato with the barbecue meat and they all added their own toppings cheese, green onions and sour cream. The meal was a hit, kid friendly and very filling for the hubby who had been patiently waiting for his dinner the time well after 8:00.


What did I learn from this experience? Stock up on groceries needed to cook from the cookbook and make sure I don't half the ingredients to make the Neely Knowledge items (I.E Barbecue Seasoning, Barbecue Sauce, Chicken Stock). Which means I need more Tupperware...........

New Country, New Cookbook, New Commissary, New Home

A few days before Christmas of 2009 I was at home waiting for my future husband to come home from work. I just got off the phone with my my decorator for the wedding to confirm that I would be putting down the deposit for our cake that week. I was so excited almost 2 1/2 months left until our big day and I finally agreed on a price for my Tequila Rose wedding cake. And then the garage door opened, and everything came crashing down.

There wasn't a large extravagant wedding at the Museum of Photographic Arts and my Tequila Rose cake was no more, instead we went to the courthouse and happily said our vows so I too could join my husband in JAPAN with our kids by February 2010.

That same Christmas a very good friend of mine and I exchanged gifts the day before Christmas and to my surprise it was the "Down Home with the Neelys" a southern cookbook. At that moment I was ready for our move to Japan, all with the help of a few simple words from my husband. "Why don't you start the cookbook when we get to Japan and Blog about it" he said.

Everything didn't go as smoothly as I thought it would have, in my mind I imagined moving to a new country staying in a hotel a few days and spending my days trying to find a new job watch the kids and learning new recipes from my cookbook.

Needless to say I didn't begin to cook as soon as I arrived and my days began to blur and slug and then finally we moved into our new home, with only two frying pans, one 4 quart pot, a silverware set for two, two measuring cups, one spatula, one large cooking spoon and just a few microwavable dishes and Tupperware. Clearly I did not have a gourmet cooking set up, but I pushed along as I set out to the NEX on the main base.

How could I possibly cook out of the Neelys cookbook without a oven? You see, something I didn't know before I got my hopes up back home is ; if you live out in town in a Cho you most likely won't have the same type of kitchen that I was used to in California. We were lucky to have two toilets and two showers, and fortunately we had a system kitchen meaning our new home has all but three burners and a fish broiler. Oh where art thou island to help prepare my food on, my garbage disposal so desperately needed when feeding children under 10, cabinets to store all my spices and groceries; can somebody say dishwasher!!!!!

I was at a loss, so I did what any other person would in my situation and I headed out to try to make my Japanese Cho a Home.

Of course I didn't process all of this at one time in which it may have made my life a little easier instead I went about this the hard way, I went to the other base commissary in town first and loaded up on basic groceries got home and realized we didn't have anywhere to put it. We then made a trip to the main base NEX and got a Hamilton Beach Conventional Oven. Next stop 100 yen shop for a chopping board and a large knife. The OK furniture store for a three shelf temporary counter-top for prepping the food and finally the JUSCO for a industrial shelf to put all of the groceries; this took all about two weeks because only one of us had a car at the time.

Now I was finally ready to start my cookbook, I wouldn't be able to blog about it because we still had to wait for the internet guy to come but I knew I would soon be on my way, or so I thought.