Japanese style spaghetti pasta prepared with tuna and 3 different kinds of Japanese mushrooms. Garnished with sliced Nori and Shiso. From the original site: What is Japanese pasta?? You might ask. Yes, not Ramen, no Udon, not Soba, but pasta. Japanese pasta is simply Italian pasta prepared with Japanese ingredients and flavors.   

Classic Japanese home cooking dish, pan fried thinly sliced pork marinated in ginger soy seasoning. Goes great on top of rice for a quick meal. From the original site: Today I want share Ginger Pork, one of the most common pork dishes we make at home and commonly offered in Japanese restaurants in the US. […]

I absolutely love baba ghanoush, that lovely middle eastern cousin of hummus, featuring eggplant as the star. So I bought an eggplant the other day intending to make some. As I pulled the roasted eggplant out of the fridge I remembered that last time I made baba ganouch with just one eggplant, it really didn’t […]

Octopus sashimi slices marinated in a soy vinaigrette. Garnished with white sesame and seaweed. From the original site: As you know Japan is an island nation surrounded by bodies of water. With this abundance of water, the Japanese have learned to enjoy many seafood that are not typically served in other cultures. One of those […]

This time Daring Baker’s are challenged to make Baklava with their own home made phyllo sheets, that’s quite challenging isn’t. As we know Baklava is purely a Mediterranean delight made with layers of phyllo pastry and assortment of nuts, soaked in cinnamon honey syrup. I tweaked the recipe a bit and made an Indianized filling […]

Agedashi tofu literally translates to fried tofu in dashi broth. The tofu is gently fried and served in a soy based sauce. Classic Japanese appetizer, great vegetarian recipe. From the original site: A couple months ago I shared my non-traditional Agedashi Tofu. Instead of deep fried tofu served in the traditional dashi broth, it was […]

Sooo… It started when I asked my son “What do you want for dinner tonight?”.  Immediate answer: “Macaroni & Cheese”  Translation: Bright orange and from a box of course. Confession: I do have a weakness for the boxed Mac & Cheese, and I do make it better than anyone*, but…. it’s not exactly a healthy […]

Try this perfect appetizer for your Cinco de Mayo party…these mini tostadas are spicy and full of flavor, plus they’re simple to make! From the original site: I’m getting ready to celebrate the big 3-0, which happens to fall on Cinco de Mayo. I like to think that all the hoopla, celebration, margaritas, tequila shots, […]

There’s been a lot of talk lately about cutting  our meat consumption, (either for your health, or money savings, or for the planet) but if your family is anything like mine, they tend to expect meat for most dinners.   Rather than doing vegetarian meals, another way to reduce the amount of meat you eat is […]

Sometimes you just want to be on vacation but real life gets in the way. I love this dish because it makes me feel like I’m on a Caribbean vacation! From the original site: Unfortunately, with two kids in university, this is about as close as we are going to get to a Caribbean vacation […]

These cute little khatais are an absolute delight with tea or coffee. These eggless biscuits are quite lite and crispy. The classic khatai is conventionally made with all purpose flour and aromatic cardamom flavor, topped with either pistachios, cashews or almonds. Here in my version I have added some chickpea flour and semolina and garnished […]

Mediterranean sandwich filled with chicken, salad and tahini paste. From the original site: If you haven’t come across this word Shawarma in your life, here is the explanation for that. Shawarma is a type of sandwich made with meat and salad. The special element in this sandwich is the meat, the way how it is […]

Welcome to the month of April. It is one of my favorite months. Spring is finally here and in Northern California the rain is on its way out. April also the month of the Burmese New year, which used to mean there was lots of food in our house. Some of the food we will […]

Pao de Queijo is a type of Brazilian cheese bread made using tapioca flour. They’re chewy and puffy, and perfect finger food. This Brazil recipe is really simple and will not take long at all to whip up. Once made, the batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week so if you […]

This recipe had me a eggrolls. I mean at Reubens. I’m not sure which , because I adore them both. And this combo, sounds like a lovely idea!  (It’s a little late for St. Pat’s, but this would be tasty any time…) (via The Kitchn) From the original site: If you have been following me […]

Last year, Niki posted her entire process for making homemade corned beef – corning it herself rather than buying that pink stuff in the store.  So if you’re up for doing it for this St. Paddy’s day, it’s time to start thinking about it! Here are the three posts from last year, with all the […]

Sydney at Drinkwater Kitchen sends us this cool idea!  Cheese Ice Cream?  There’s no cheese involved, but what a fun way to experience other cultures! Here is just a fun recipe for Sweet Treats.  It’s authentically Peruvian, easy to make, and I have yet to find a person who doesn’t love it. Just thought I’d […]

I love bread, it’s true, I really really do! Lets face the fact that I’m always looking for ways to incorporate whole grain bread into my dinner plans. I recently discovered I love making naan at home, and it really is SUPER easy! You CAN do it!!! I’ve used naan like a flatbread for sandwiches, […]

Yummy lunch idea from Janelle @ Talk of Tomatoes.. Why haven’t I done this all along? Made a big batch of chicken salad or chicken curry salad ahead of time, for a quick-and-easy insert into tortillas/pita pockets for ‘lunch this week’? I sometimes buy the little raisin and nut packets to put in my sons’ […]

Foodwhirl fave La Fuji Mama has a how-to on making temarizushi (ball-shaped sushi). I’ve never tried this, but it looks like a great appetizer idea! I made temakizushi (cone-shaped hand rolls) to order and salmon temarizushi (ball-shaped sushi). I love temarizushi. Not only are they fun and easy to make (especially with my handy-dandy little […]

Check out this gorgeous dinner from the lovely Janelle at Talk of Tomatoes!  This truly looks like something you’d pay a fortune for at the fancy foodie restaurant of your choice.  So how about treating yourself and making it at home?  A romantic dinner, perhaps? Janelle writes… “I started thumbing through some of those cookbooks […]

Tacos are a great go-to dinner idea, that can either be fancy and exotic, or simple and homey.  Here are a few unusual taco ideas that I thought might give you some inspiration!  We’ve done some fun taco ideas here on Foodwhirl too.. like Corn Beef and Cabbage Tacos and Shrimp and Fish Fajita Tacos..  […]

This was one of those happy accident recipes, that I wasn’t expecting much from, but was happily surprised with the result.  I had roasted vegetables planned for dinner, and I figured that the men in my life (picky husband and the child with strange tastes) would rebel if there wasn’t also some meat on the […]

I love Indian food, but I must admit I’ve rarely attempted to make it.  This Chicken Tikka Masala from Jane Deere looks fabulous, and might be a good first foray for me into the world of Indian cuisine! I was a little stumped to begin with because there are so many ethnic cuisines out there […]

MMMM… Gnocchi…  Comfort food at it’s finest.  And one of those things that I never had growing up, but am a huge fan of now. I will say that like Allison, I’ve generally been intimidated by making my own pasta (although Niki totally makes it look easy, here!).  But these instructions for making homemade ricotta […]