Furikake Chex Mix in Smaller Batches

We had this for the first time when we went to Hawaii a few years ago. We found it when we stopped by the local Costco and they were selling the Cookies in Paradise Furikake Party Mix. Since then discovered that this is a common party mix in Hawaii. After reviewing a few recipes out there we are a fan of the one by Onolicious Hawaii and this is adapted from her recipe. Mostly adapted to make a much smaller batch, sometimes you want to enjoy a snack without making a huge batch for a crowd. :)

A lot of these ratios are based on evenly dividing up the packages the ingredients are sold in. I would consider this roughly a quarter batch? It ends up fitting in our roasting pan which is about the size of a half-sheet pan with higher edges. It can be hard finding a container large enough to fit everything and mix it which is the main reason we like to make smaller batches so we don't have to buy separate trays. We have 2 roasting pans so we have often made 2 quarter batches at a time and measure out one quarter set of ingredients at a time for each tray.

We do like more coating on ours so we end up using a higher ratio of syrup to mix. Also, I don't love pretzels so I end up using less, feel free to adjust to your taste. After making this a few times I would also recommend making your syrup in separate batches to match however many trays you're making as it tends to separate and it's difficult to split one large mix between trays evenly. While this requires a little more effort we've found it results in more even distribution of syrup on larger batches.

PARTY MIX INGREDIENTS:

• 127.5g Rice Chex (1/4 box)
• 127.5g Corn Chex (1/4 box)
• 106g Honeycomb Cereal (We used the Malt-O-Meal Honey Buzzers, 1/4 of the bag)
  
• 71g Pretzels
• 65g Fritos (1/4 bag)
• 53g Bugles (1/4 bag)

SYRUP INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce

SEASONING INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 bottle of Nori Komi Furikake

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 250° F
2. Measure out all Party Mix Ingredients together on tray lined with parchment paper and mix to incorporate
3. Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Once melted, lower heat and add remaining syrup ingredients. Stir to mix and continue stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly.
4. Pour warm syrup over party mix and using spatulas or gloved hands, toss chex mix until everything is evenly coated.     
5. Sprinkle Furikake evenly over tray and toss to incorporate
6. Bake for 1 hour, taking out pan and stirring/tossing mix every 15 minutes. If making multiple batches rotate trays in oven after stirring
7. Let cool and enjoy! Store in airtight bags/containers.

Brazilian Cheese Rolls

Ok, so this is officially my new favorite recipe. So I'd have to say one of my favorite foods is cheese, I LOVE it. Melted cheese in particular. So we end up eating pizza quite a bit around here, but sometimes it's a hassle either going out to get it or finding room to store it in our fridge/freezer. This recipe is perfect for cheesy cravings! I've been wanting to try it ever since I found it and even bought all the ingredients for it. But I didn't have a mini-muffin tin. So everything's been waiting patiently in the fridge for me to get one. We finally got one and made 2 batches in 2 days and I pretty much downed the 2nd batch all on my own. Yikes, right?

If you've ever been to a Tucanos (Brazilian style)  restaurant I'm pretty sure you've had them. They're the little cheesy bites they have over by the fried banana. Last time we went I was totally considering finding out how much it would be to get a side of them to take home. Anyways, this recipe is super super quick and easy to make. Original recipe is here. And I guess depending on your pan and oven you'll have different baking times. I found that for us to get the look she had on hers we baked at 375 for about 11 minutes. Our muffin pan is shallower than hers and I think a little darker. And I think our oven may run about 25 degrees hotter, so it's kind of a trial and error type thing. Seriously though, even when we overcooked our first batch it was still delicious! The only thing different was texture wasn't quite as chewy as our next batch. Anyways, here it is! Oh, and the only harder ingredient to find is the tapioca flour, which we got at our Winco over in the bulk foods from a bin. Over on the original Our Best Bites blog she goes into a little more detail about maybe where to find some. And sorry, once again no pictures, we finished them too quickly, ha! Would definitely recommend heading over there and looking at the pictures for it just to get an idea of what your final product should look like...

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup *fine* grated cheddar cheese (preferably medium or sharp - we did this with sharp cheese and you can use a little more if you want. Also on the original recipe she says you can try different types of cheeses instead of the cheddar here)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (I would say not to use the powdered kind, we got a small container of the parmesan shards, for some reason I couldn't find the whole stuff, but definitely if you can get the stuff you can grate fresh)
• OPTIONAL: Extra cheese to sprinkle on top and or any extra herbs or flavorings you'd like to add. On our 2nd run we added about an 1/8 of a tsp. of garlic powder while blending and it was quite good. Blog recommends rosemary, which it turned out we didn't have, so haven't tired it that way yet....  

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Blend all ingredients minus cheese in blender until smooth
3. Add cheeses and pulse a couple of times
4. Immediately pour batter into mini muffin tins (spray pan if it isn't non-stick) filling each cup 3/4 of the way full. Can make anywhere between 16-24 rolls. (We made 24 each time, but once again that could be because our muffin pan is a little wider and shallower...she got 16-18 on hers. Also, pouring takes some practice, on the first try we had to go back with a spoon to even out how much was in each cup). 
5. Sprinkle any additional toppings, such as more cheese on top
6. Bake for 11-15 minutes until puffed and golden. Cool for a few minutes and serve warm!

Lola's Kopanisti Spread

So during the summer we spent in Portland we took a few days (due to a wonderful gift from some great friends) and spent sometime in downtown Seattle. One of the things we enjoyed the most was lunch we had at this Greek restaurant, Lola. It was sooooo great! Everything was wonderful, and we had a really great appetizer. Of course, I scoured the internet and hunted down a recipe similar to the Kopanisti dip we had. I tweaked it a little for our taste (the original recipe calls for wine, which I don't tend to use when I cook). Apparently this isn't a traditional Kopanisti style dip but this, at least ingredient wise is the closest to what we had! Can't wait to make it! Wonderful memories, and if you ever find yourself in the area-check Lola's out. It's fantastic! You'll probably need to make reservations... ;)

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz feta cheese
• 2 oz bleu cheese
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 Tbsp fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• Blackberry/Marionberry Syrup
• chopped pistachios
• fresh mint infused oil (optional)

PREPARATION:

• Blend first 5 ingredients in a food processor.
• Slowly add olive oil until you've reached desired consistency - you want it to be creamy and smooth.
• Top with as much or as little syrup, chopped pistachio nuts, and fresh mint infused oil as you'd like
• Serve with the breadstuff of your choice - warm crostini, chunks of french bread, or our favorite, wedges of pita.

SERVES/MAKES: 1 1/2 cups approx.

Clam Dip

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
• 2 TB mayonnaise
• 1 pint = 16 oz cottage cheese--small curd
• 1 tsp grated onion
• 1 6-1/2 oz can clams--minced, drained, reserve juice

PREPARATION:

• Use an electric mixer or blender,combine cheeses, blending until light & creamy.
• Add freshly grated onion & mayonnaisewith wooden spoon, blend in drained clams.
• Add clam juice for desired consistency.
• Add garlic powder if desired--just a sprinkle

Aurelia's Note: Recipe is usually doubled using 3 cans of clams, instead of just 2. Add more if you like really clammy! Also beware of using fat-free cottage cheese/cream cheese-they tried it and it's not good. Best to go with regular or low fat.

Potstickers aka Gyoza

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small chopped cabbage
• 3 Tbsp chopped green onion (if you like onion flavor use white/yellow onion as well)
  
• 1/2 lb ground pork/chicken/turkey
• sesame oil-generous amount (enough to make it stick)
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil (for frying)
  
• 50 gyoza skin wrappers
• 1 bottle gyoza dipping sauce

PREPARATION:

Chop green onion (and whatever other onion you're using), cabbage very fine. A food processor works quite well. Mix green onion and cabbage mixture with ground meat. Add other ingredients and mix well. Add sesame oil until mixture starts sticking together.

Wrap meat mixture up in wrappers using water to seal the edges (see photo for wrapping ideas). About 1 tsp per wrapper works quite well. Heat up vegetable oil in frying pan. When pan is hot lay down potstickers in single layer along bottom of pan and let fry until bottoms brown. After add water and steam until done-approx 5-10 min. Serve with dipping sauce onside-tastes great!

Squash in Sour Cream

This is one of the best recipes for squash I've ever had! Out of season right now, but come fall you're really going to like this!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 lbs Hubbard or Acorn squash
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp instant onion (blend dried minced onion in blender until the size of sesame seeds)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp dill 
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• Pepper, 1/4 tsp Mrs. Dash seasoning, and 1/8 tsp dill to sprinkle on top (optional)
  

PREPARATION:
Cooking the squash:

1. Scrub the squash, cut half and remove the seeds.
2. Cut in smaller sections to fit in the pan.
3. Cook covered in a small amount of boiling, salted water. Cook about 15 minutes, or until tender. OR, place squash pieces in a glass 9x13 pan, add about 1” of water and cover with plastic wrap. Vent plastic wrap. Microwave for 3 minutes. Check for doneness. Continue to microwave, checking every minute, until tender.
4. Drain the squash, remove the skin, and cut into cubes.
5. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a saucepan or in the saucepan that was used to cook the squash.
6. Add the squash to the saucepan with the butter, cover with a lid and toss the squash to coat with butter. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. sugar.

Sauce to squeeze over the cooked squash at serving time:

1. Melt remaining 1 Tbsp butter, add onion; remove from heat.
2. Add sour cream, salt and 1/4 tsp dill weed. Stir well.
3. Place hot squash on platter, sprinkle with pepper.
4. Place dill sauce in zip lock bag. Snip a small part of a corner and pipe the sour cream mixture over the squash.
5. Sprinkle with 1/8 tsp dill weed and Mrs. Dash Seasoning, if desired