Udon Soup and Blog Update!

Okay…time to come clean…The recipes that have been posting are not my creations…they are actually from the young men who work in our marketing dept. who are  “A” really hungry when they are searching for a recipe to post or “B” haven’t had  a home cooked meal in a while… As you know or may not know, I am a busy mother of two active kids and wife a truly great guy.

I have two main things that contribute to my ease in the kitchen when it comes to putting out a healthy, tasty, quick meal… growing up in the appliance industry exposed me to various cooking appliances at an early age  (our family had one of the first microwave ovens in the country, the Amana RadarRange) and most importantly the fact  my mother, Tomi, is a master of cooking with fresh, simple ingredients. Did I mention she is from the little island of Okinawa?

My daughter Kacy , who at times is overscheduled when her sports overlap, loves udon or any noodle soup. This has to be the easiest and quickest dinner to prepare for your family. The broth and noodles are always accompanied with any vegetable in the fridge…steamed soy beans, cabbage or broccolis are always on hand. She knows at her young age the importance of protein so some tofu or left- over sliced chicken, beef, shrimp or pork is added as a condiment. Since its winter time we usually have sliced oranges or pears as a sweet finish.

Recipe:

6 cups of water
1 piece of Konbu (a kind of seaweed) 10 x 10 cm (below is a photo of konbu)
½ cup dried katsuo bushi (bonito flakes)
1/2 cup Mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)
1/2 cup light soy sauce
1/2 to 1/3 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

1) Boil water with Konbo over medium heat, when it is about to boil, add katsuo bushi, soy sauce and mirin into the pot, bring to boil. Turn off heat, strain stock and discard the konbo and katsuo bushi

2) Add your cooked udon  noodles and garnish with the suggested items above adding a spoonful of green onions to finish it off.

Note:

 I usually omit the sugar and Mirin when I add meat as a garnish. The broth keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days for an even quicker meal next time!

Cream of Tomato Soup

 

Ingredients:

-1 can (14 1/2 ounces) stewed tomatoes

-4 ounces cream cheese, cubed

-1medium onion, chopped

-2 garlic cloves, minced

-3 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed tomato soup, diluted

-4 cans (5 1/2 ounces each) V8 juice

-3 tablespoons tomato paste

-1 cup half-and-half

-1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions:

In a food processor or blender, combine stewed tomatoes and cream cheese; cover and process until smooth.  Set aside. In a large saucepan, sauté onion and garlic in butter.  Whisk in tomato soup, V8 and tomato paste until blended.  Gradually stir in cream cheese mixture, half-and-half and basil.  Cook and stir until heated through (do not boil).  Ladle soup into bowls; sprinkle with crackers and mozzarella cheese.