Ox Tail Soup

This is a no fail, crock pot ox tail soup recipe from my dad. It's so delicious I haven't changed a thing (except downsizing the recipe because my crock pot is only 4 quarts or so). For those who don't like the sound of ox tail soup don't worry, it's basically a beef and rice soup that you won't regret trying.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb ox tails
6 cups water (or enough to cover meat plus a couple cups extra)
4 beef bouillon cubes (if you don't have beef bouillon cubes just use beef stock and omit water)
3 slivers crushed ginger
3 star anise
1 stalk green onion
1 pkg (1/2 cup to 1 cup) blanched peanuts

garnish to taste:
mustard cabbage, chopped width ways (long strips)
green onions, chopped
chinese parsley (cilantro), chopped
grated ginger and shoyu (soy sauce)
rice

DIRECTIONS
In the morning, place ox tails, water, bouillon cubes, ginger, star anise, and green onion in crock pot and set on low to cook for 12 hours. In the last hour of cooking, skim oil off the top of broth (this is very important because the broth will be very oily on top), add the blanched peanuts, and recover pot to finish cooking.

Ladle soup over rice (or some prefer the rice on the side), and garnish with mustard cabbage, green onions, chinese parsley, and the ginger and shoyu sauce to taste.

Note:
-Ox tails are basically beef tails so go ask the person behind the meat counter at your local supermarket (they probably won't have them ready in the case). Or if you can't find it then go to your local Asian or Latin food store and ask around there.
-The soup needs a long time to cook but if you only have 7 hours or so set crock pot to cook on high, and/or if you have even less time cook ox tails in a pan until brown and then place in crock pot with other ingredients (drain fat first).
-This recipe could be made the night before, refrigerated, and reheated before consuming (make sure to scrape off the white gelatin that congeals because that's the fat and oil).
-The ginger and shoyu sauce can be put directly into the soup or left on the side to dip the meat in.

-Enjoy!

Pink Velvet Cupcakes

The original recipe is from Paula Deen. I only changed a few things:
-made them pink instead of red because the red food coloring or beet juice are only aesthetic additions therefore why not save on coloring and just make them a cute pink?
-I normally don't specially go out and buy buttermilk when a recipe calls for it so instead I use milk and add a little lemon juice to "sour" it up
-the first time I used this recipe it came out too dry and hard (possibly a product of over mixing) so now instead of 1 egg I use 1/2 cup yogurt (vanilla or plain)
-lastly I really prefer chocolate over vanilla desserts so I increased the amount of cocoa powder (which changes the color a bit) and as an option put chocolate chips in

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup milk combined w/ 2 tsp lemon juice, room temp
1/2 tsp red food coloring
1/2 tsp white distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup yogurt
chocolate chips as desired, optional

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together in a small bowl flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder; set aside. In a large bowl combine veggie oil, milk, red food coloring, vinegar, vanilla, and yogurt. Add dry to wet a little at a time and only until just combined; don't over mix! Add chocolate chips and mix lightly.

Put cupcake paper in cupcake tins or spray cupcake tins so cupcakes don't stick to the pan. Fill the cupcake tins about 2/3 full. Bake at 350* for 22-25 min or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 20 mins and then frost (recipe as follows).

FROSTING INGREDIENTS
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) , softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS
Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Then add powdered sugar a little at a time until light and fluffy (this part will take the longest especially if mixing by hand). Frost cupcakes.

-Enjoy!

To start off...

I'm calling this blog "tabemasyoo ka?" because it means "shall we eat?" in Japanese. Therefore this blog will mainly be about food, specifically making food - not only Japanese food but all different types of food. I'm no professional chef (or writer for that matter) but I love to experiment and LOVE to bake and cook, so this blog will partially serve as my unofficial cookbook. One thing to note, however, is that I don't write my own recipes, I find them online and then doctor them as I see fit to match my tastes. As much as possible I will cite who/where I found the original recipe, and I will admit now that most of the recipes will be from Paula Deen because I love her recipes butter and all. Also, as much as possible my photos will be my own personal photos of the food I make so they won't be as pretty looking as professional photos, but this is real cooking so even though it might not be the prettiest food, it'll be delicious.

That's all, enjoy!