Diet Recipe Contest

Today Eriko(who retired and opened a cafe) visited our office, so we went out to eat lunch again.
Yesterday I visited her cafe, so this is why she came :)
Her cafe is very intimate and her way of making coffee is great!
I want all coffee lovers to try out her coffee.
http://www.katecoffee.jp/
Of course her food menu (especially her curry) is great, too!
I am sorry that this is located in Japan :(

Different story.
As I mentioned on Friday, I attended the awards ceremony on Sunday.
My boyfriend came with me :)
The contest was held by Bureau of Sewerage Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
They put out a call for diet recipes using less oil, that are good for our health and "the sewage system". They want to prevent people from dumping cooking oil waste into the drain of a sink.
(The candidates were limited to Tokyo residents.)

1 grand prize and 2 second prizes were awarded.
Mine was the second prize :)

The grand prize recipe was created by a high school student. She made potato croquettes using deep-fried been curd. Instead of frying, she pan-broiled them to reduce the oil usage. (pictured second from the left)

The second prize was mine and a housewife's.

My recipe was "Microwave Stir-fried Pork and Vegetables". I didn't use oil but I used pork loin and some bacon to make it tasty. (pictured third from the left)

The housewife's recipe was "Daigaku Imo (Japanese Candied Sweet Potatoes) Cooked in a Rice Cooker". We usually fry to make this, but she steamed! (pictured right)

All recipes were sampled by those people who attended this awards ceremony.

I had a TV interview :) -->

It was a busy morning, but in the afternoon, I didn't have that much to do.
I hung out with my boyfriend, went to Eriko's cafe and shopped around the town.
Compared to my usual artwork (cooking) day, it was a verrrrry relaxing day.

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My Stew Recipes

Time flies!!!
It's already Friday!

This coming Sunday, I am going to attend an awards ceremony for one of the contests I entered.
I will write about this on Monday if I can.
So for that reason, my usual artwork (cooking) on Sunday is gonna be off.

Anyway, today I posted 5 new stew recipes (which I said I lost the prize) on Japanese cooking site.
They were all good.
One I thought was creative is "Aurora Stew with Ham and Turnip".
I used canned tomato to create this color :)
The stew is creamy but it's aftertaste is light.
Turnips are juicy and well-seasoned with the tastes of consomme, vegetables and ham!

Recipe in Japanese is here.
I will write in English if anyone wants.

See you next week!!!

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Takikomi Gohan

It was chilly this morning.
I can't believe the warm weather we had yesterday!

Today, I went out to eat lunch with my co-workers.
I ate Wild Vegetable Soba :)
Usually, I eat at my desk using Internet, so it's fun sometimes.

Back to my cooking.
Yesterday, I cooked Takikomi(boiled) Gohan(rice) using 5 black-colored ingredients.
Takikomi Gohan is flavored rice with vegetables and(or) meat cooked in a rice cooker.
We usually cook this in consideration of color balance.
However, yesterday I unified the color :)

- Black Pork (which is a local specialty in Kagoshima prefecture)
- Sliced Tangle (kind of seaweed)
- Forbidden Rice (please see Wikipedia)
- Black Sesame
- Dried Shitake Mushroom

For the seasoning, I used Sake, Black Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce and Sea Salt.
I didn't use that much to season since the Dashi Broth of Sliced Tangle is enough to flavor the rice!

My boyfriend loves Takikomi Gohan, so he ate more than usual :)
Also many kids love this!

Takikomi Gohan is very healthy with a lot of different kinds of vegetables and(or) meat.
This time I used Black Sesame Oil to enrich the taste, but you can cook without it to lower the fat.
Also, you can try this in many different styles, using garlic to taste like Italian or whatever!!!
But just be careful when you adjust seasoning.
You don't want strong-tasting.

Recipe in Japanese is here.
I will write in English if anyone wants.

Please click below and vote for me.