Oishii!

“Oishii!” celebrates a milestone of 10,000 views today. The food blog, which is a collection of my favorite recipes, has evolved somewhat since I started over a year ago. My biggest challenge has been and remains to be food photography. Yesterday I invested in some professional lighting equipment, which I hope will improve the quality of the photos.

I thought I’d pause and share my top 5 posts to date.

1. Pasta With Shrimp and Cilantro-Lime Pesto

2. Grandma’s Slab Apple Cake

3. Thai Style Wide Noodles in Gravy (Lard Nar)

4. Michael’s Stuffed Bell Peppers with Chicken Parmesan Filling

5. Rigatoni with Braised Chicken and Saffron Cream

What’s oishii? “Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious. I love sharing great recipes I discover from popular restaurants, cookbooks, food magazines (Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, etc.), tv shows, friends, family, and other blogs. I also develop my own. Please contact me if there is a recipe you would like the test kitchen to consider: michaelwbeyer@hotmail.com

If you enjoyed this post, we would love to hear from you! Your feedback in the comments section below is essential to the success of this blog. -Michael

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TGIF! Guilty pleasure–Two new cookbooks arrived today. The Berghoff Cafe Cookbook and Moosewood Restaurant Cooking For Health. I’m Ready to dive in already.

Mardis Gras come late to our house: Chicken and Smoked-Sausage Gumbo
The leftovers are great; the flavor develops in the refrigerator.

Rating: 000 (= very oishii)

“Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious, and I rate recipes on a four o(ishii) system:
oooo (= favorite)
ooo (= very oishii)
oo (= oishii)
o (= not so oishii)
zero o’s (= why bother)

Soba noodles seem to be all the rage now. I first encountered soba, which are buckwheat noodles, when I lived in Japan. Beyond the ubiquitous ramen shops, there are also soba and udon shops everywhere you turn. I long for a bowl of my favorite tempura shrimp soba.

This imaginative soba noodle dish surprised me: Egg-topped Soba Noodles With Asparagus and Prosciutto. Even though I substituted bacon for the prosciutto, this new taste combination is light, and doesn’t taste unusual at all. And in the middle of winter, the asparagus has me thinking of spring. So that’s a good thing.

rating: oo (= oishii)

“Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious, and I rate recipes on a four o(ishii) system:
oooo (= favorite)
ooo (= very oishii)
oo (= oishii)
o (= not so oishii)
zero o’s (= why bother)

 ”Oishii” (pronounced “oy she”) is the Japanese word for delicious.

I love eating and cooking! About six years ago, I started a journal in the front of my planner of new recipes I tried out, and there are already hundreds of entries. It’s kind of unreal to thumb through it. I was trying to devise a system to keep track of what I had made. I was hoping over time I would develop a repertoire of dishes that I would come back to over and over. I do have a few, but I cook mostly new dishes on a regular basis. So the list grows.

With this blog I will continue to journal my trials and tribulations in the kitchen. I currently subscribe to Food & Wine Magazine and Bon Appetit. Given the ability to easily share recipes from those cooking magazines on social media, I’m guessing at least for the near future most of my posts will be inspired from recipes I try out of them. I’m hoping to share some insights and make some new friends too.

I will rate recipes on a four o(ishii) system:
oooo (= favorite)
ooo (= very oishii)
oo (= oishii)
o (= not so oishii)
zero o’s (= why bother)

Best regards,

Michael