Yogurt Scones

It's similar to  buttermilk scones.
Use yogurt instead of the buttermilk.

http://yhj95sm.blogspot.com/2016/05/buttermilk-scones.html

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Lentil Soup - 1

One of my favorite programs is 'Take good care of the fridge'.
This cooking show teaches me how to cook delicious food with simple ingredients I can find in my fridge. 
For every episode, a celebrity is invited with their own fridge, and the chef cooks with the ingredients from the celebrity guests' fridges. Ordinary ingredients turn into a great dish  in just 15 minutes.  It's so amazing!
Sometimes I would like to say 'Please take good care of my fridge!'  Ha ha ha...
This week, one of the chefs cooked lentil soup with simple ingredients.  Just follow the chef's recipe. I made the lentil soup.

The lentil soup was comforting, healthy, simple, and easy to make.

Ingredients
1 C                  lentils
1/2                   carrot
2-3 strips         bacon
1                      bell pepper
1                      green onion
2 cloves           garlic
4                      tomatoes (tomatoes on the vine from Trader Joe's)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Boil soaked lentils. Save 1 C of water the lentils were boiled in.
Cut carrot, green onions and bell pepper into small pieces and set aside.
Fry bacon and chop into small pieces. 
Leave 1-2 T bacon grease in the pan then stir fry carrot, green onion and bell pepper.
Blanch the tomatoes and remove skin.
Add the saved cup of water from the lentils and minced garlic to the pan of stir fried vegetables and simmer for a few minutes.
Put everything in the blender and process mixture until smooth.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve lentil soup topped with chopped bacon.

http://tvcast.naver.com/v/904788

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Spaghetti with Clam

I like spaghetti with olive oil and sea food.
When I went to the grocery store fresh clams were available for a good price.  I bought some for dinner. I had white wine, garlic and peperoncini in my fridge. It was perfect together! I was happy just thinking about making spaghetti with clams!
Actually, I like to make spaghetti with olive oil and clams, but I don't like cleaning the clams. Before cooking the clams soak them in salted water for a few hours. The clams process the salted water and any sand or grit is removed.

Ingredients 
2/3 pound     uncooked spagetti such as dececco
6-7 cloves    garlic, sliced
1/2 C            olive oil
2                   peperoncini
1 T                dried Italian parsley
1/2 C             finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 C             cleaned clam
1 C                white wine
Italian parsley to taste
salt, black pepper to taste


Directions
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. 
Cook spaghetti in the boiling water about 12-13 minutes.
Combine garlic, peperoncini and olive oil in a skillet. Cook and stir until garlic is golden brown, about another 5 minutes. 
Add cleaned clam with white wine until cook slightly.
Add cooked spaghetti and sprinkle Italian parsley and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Stir until combined.
Serve pasta topped with fresh Italian parsley.

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Bowl of Rice with Tofu

I am trying to cut down my intake of carbohydrates - I increased the protein in my daily diet.
I may look to tofu, nuts, seeds, lentils, and soy foods to meet my daily protein intake.
A bowl of rice with tofu is a popular Chinese dish with tofu cubes that are braised in a special sauce. The special sauce is typically called doubanjiang. But I don't have it.
So I recreated it. I sometimes use a combination of doenjang (Korean soybean paste), gochugaru (Korean chili pepper powder), and gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste). It tastes delicious!
Don't be a piggy. 

Ingredients
1/2 package     Tofu
1 C                  ground beef
1/2                   zucchini
1/2                   onion
2 t                    minced jalapeno
1.5 T                Korean soybean paste
1/2 T                Korean chili pepper powder
1 t                    sugar
1-2 t                 minced garlic
3 T                   minced green onions
1 C                   anchovy broth
Korean chives (buchu), to taste

Directions
Cut tofu, zucchini and onions into 1 inch squares.
Stir fry Korean soybean paste, Korean chili pepper powder, minced garlic, minced green onions, minced jalapeno, onions and zucchini in a pan.
Add ground beef and anchovy broth and boil for 10 minutes until the liquid has reduced by half. 
If you like sprinkle with fresh Korean chives.
Serve with steamed rice.



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Buttermilk Scones

What is your favorite breakfast?  I would have to say that mine is a toss up between a pancake and a freshly baked scone. 
They were soft on the inside with a nice crust on the outside. Added buttermilk in these scones helps keep them nice and moist without the need for extra butter!
But, I always though that scones were dry and hard because my first scone was bad. When I went to Starbucks I ordered coffee and scone. It was very dry and rough. So I didn't eat a scone. 
But this buttermilk scone makes me happy even to think of it!  Also, I love the smell of this buttery scone.  

Ingredients
2 C          all purpose flour
2 t            baking powder
1/4 t         baking soda
3 T           sugar
1/4 t         salt
1 stick      unsalted butter
1/2 C        low fat buttermilk 
1/3  C       nuts
1               egg
1 T            milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 425.
Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt.
Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry cutter or rub it with your fingers, until mixture has the texture of coarse meal.
Whisk together buttermilk (you can substitute 1/2 cup plain yogurt whisked with 2 tablespoons milk) and egg.
Drizzle over flour mixture until mixture looks like coarse crumbs and add nuts.
On surface lightly sprinkled with flour, knead mixture 5 to 7 times to form dough.
On cookie sheet, pat dough into 10-inch round and cut round into 8 wedges, separate slightly.
Brush milk on each wedge and bake for 13-15 minutes.

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