cocoa berry mochi (part 2)

The weather was nice on Saturday.

I had ingredients to make another batch of Cocoa Berry Mochi, which is actually 1/2 of the recipe that is linked.

The first time around I made it in a 8 inch x 8 inch pan, so this time around I tried making this in muffin papers.

It turned out that there was enough batter for 8. My muffin pan makes only 6 so I made the remaining 2 in ramekins.

Because I was too lazy to grease the ramekin, I placed the muffin paper in the ramekin and baked them on my turntable.

I think this way came out better than the first time. The mochi really rose. I didn't add chocolate chips this time and was happy with the chocolatiness of this version.

odds & ends

It is the end of the month, so let's clean out the photos that weren't posted about.

Baked some scones using a new recipe. These definitely have to be eaten with jam--not sweet at all, still delicious though.

New version of stuffed bell peppers, added some renkon (lotus root) to the beef and onions and left out the egg.

Made some 3-bean salad (only with 2 beans--canned garbanzo & cooked daizu(soy bean)). Added corn, bell pepper and onion.

Curry fried chicken. Added some curry powder, salt and pepper to panko (bread crumbs). Dipped the chicken pieces in egg then dredged it in the panko mixture. Ate it with some tonkatsu (pork cutlet) sauce--delicious.

New version of Meiji's almond--this one has salted caramel wrapped around the nut. Japan's latest fad is salty sweets. Delicious, but gets quite salty after awhile.

Used one pod of the Lifou vanilla to make strawberry jam.

Have been enjoying the jam on yogurt in the mornings.

Cut some basil tops so that it wouldn't flower, put them in water---hydroponics?? (maybe) Planted them in the soil, hopefully they will grow.

Found these cute bananas, called "monkey bananas" in Japan and are also called Senorita. Thought they would taste like apple bananas, these were really sweet, not tart like the bananas we get in Hawaii.

Tried the Green & Black's Organic Cocoa. Followed the instructions on the can. Not much flavor. Kind of disappointing.

Got this Japanese confection from one of the memorial services. It is called Hakata no hito (lady from Hakata). A tiny baum kuchen with a sweet bean paste filling--delicious.

Our neighborhood 7-eleven closed on Friday. Satoshi and I are particularly sad to see it go because it came into the neighborhood the same year we moved into the neighborhood.

Another store which closed on Friday is the bakery in our shopping arcade a.k.a. my almost everyday lunch pick-up place. Since I have to find somewhere new, looked into buying bento (boxed lunch) from a sozaiya (pre-made foods store)--420 yen (about US$4.20)--rice with crunchy ume (pickled plum), hijiki (edible brown seaweed), tsukemono (pickled veggies), iwashi hamburger (sardine patty), tamagoyaki (omlette), pumpkin & kusamochi (rice cake mixed with yomogi (mugwort)).

keeping warm 2

It has gotten quite cool these days. How are you keeping warm?

We've been drinking Hawaiian Vanilla Company's coffee and tea. Vanilla flavored A dark roast coffee flavored with Hawaiian Vanilla extract.

The tea is made by Harney & Sons and flavored with their Hawaiian vanilla extract. Both are very comforting.

Venchi dark cocoa. Starts off a little sweet and ends with a bitter taste.

Lupicia's Jardin Sauvage. A green rooibos tea flavored with mango and citrus. Very nice in the afternoon.

Alaska's Wild Teas. Non-caffeinated and delicious.

Betjeman & Barton's Eden Rose...blah! too perfumy for my liking.

Ibarra's mexican chocolate. Not too chocolatey and way too sweet for me.

There was tea au lait. I've had this in cafes around here, they brew tea and put steamed milk with the crema on top. You can add your own sugar or drink it as is.

Poulain's Grand Arome, I received this from Bourgogne a while back but finally got around to making it, though I didn't know how to make it, from what I could get translated I somehow made a cup. This really reminded me of Ovaltine, a drink I loved as a kid.

But there haven't only been beverages, there has also been warm, spicy kimchee ramen from one of our favorite places, Hanamichi.

Peck's is a famous grocer in Milano. They have a counter at different department stores around Japan. We received this Pannetone flavored tea. Citrus bits and spices, delicious.

And lastly, a lot of Kusmi teas--Kashmir Chai, Prince Vladimir and St Petersberg--all have different spices in them and are very comforting on a cold day.

They are predicting some flurries in the next couple of days...I can't wait!

making my own sunshine

I had several unfinished drafts, so I put them together for this post.

The weather has been sunny then turning cloudy or just plain cloudy and cold. I was feeling blue with the dreary weather, I guess people from Hawaii do need sun...so I made some sunshine.

Last week, I tried the recipe for Creme de Chocolat on the side of the Spicy Mariebelle cocoa can. It was really easy to make, just measure the cocoa and add the amount of water and follow the rest of the instructions on the side of the can. After the two hours, I made some whipped cream using what little cream that I had in the fridge. The creme de chocolat was quite stiff and reminded me of ganache. It was just enough to soothe my sweet tooth. Plus, the chili in the chocolate gave it a kick--coffee went nicely with this.

Yesterday, I made my own bark with some chocolate and trail mix. I tempered the chocolate then stirred in the trail mix. The chocolate was dark but not a very high percentage, so it was a little sweet. And the trail mix was a little salty, so it matched nicely with the chocolate.

Take a bite and you get powdered sugar all around your mouth.

Put the whole thing in your mouth and a little powdered sugar goes down the wrong pipe. You let out a little cough and powdered sugar goes everywhere.

Flaky, buttery with the crunch from the nuts paired with a glass of ice-cold milk...the ultimate treat.

These are my memories of this cookie. My mom uses toasted macadamia nuts in her version.

Melting moments, Russian tea cookies, Snowballs...whatever you call these cookies, I call them delicious.

I cut up some yomogi (mugwort) bread and added some dried figs to make a warm and fuzzy treat. (We actually had this for breakfast.)

Whew, that was a lot of sunshine...I'm feeling better, how about you?

keeping warm

What are you drinking on those cold, nippy mornings, afternoons and evenings?

I find that I am drinking all kinds of warm beverages during the day. I say warm because I cannot drink them when they are hot. In Japanese, they call this nekojita (cat's tongue). I'm not sure why but maybe it is because a cat cannot gulp down milk and can only lap at the milk?

Tea has become something of an obsession with me. Before moving to Japan, I had never drank so much tea. Now, I think I drink it 3 times a day!

Tea Palace's Organic Lavender Grey is a nice blend of Earl Grey with lavender and some citrus bits. Brewed it is very aromatic. I love it with some sugar and some milk.

Kusmi Tea is delicious. I tried their Caramel and Chocolate Spice. Both are good straight and mellows with a splash of milk in it.

Hediard's Melange is a mixture of bergamot, citrus and black tea. When you open the can a sweet aroma wafts from the can. Although this was a nice tea, I was a bit disappointed that the sweet aroma doesn't stay with the tea after it is brewed.

I also brew some herbal teas and green teas too depending on what mood I'm in.

Cocoa has become a great evening cup with me, a warm mixture of milk and chocolate. Some are too sweet though, like the Les Confitures a l'ancienne and Monbana cocoas.

Bittersweet's cocoa is really delicious, they actually grind up chocolate for their cocoa, it has a nice balance and isn't too sweet.

Mariebelle's Spicy Aztec cocoa has a kick, it is good, but I still have a hard time getting everything to melt.

And then there is always coffee. Cafe Lola's arabica is delicious and dark roasted. It makes a nice foundation for a cappucino.

Ooh and there are times we have chai too.

I hope to explore more warm drinks with the winter months coming up. What are you drinking to keep warm?

p.s. Zorra has uploaded the Round-up for World Bread Day. Last year there were 113 entries, this year it went up to 183! There are lots of delicious entries from around the world, if you have some time, check them out!

hey, don't smoke that here!

That's what I wish I could tell all the people who smoke in Japan.

Anyway, Satoshi plopped this box onto my computer the other morning and said, "Please smoke this". (Aside from the one time my dad let us take a puff on his nasty cigar when we were little, I tried cigarettes another time in college just to have the alcohol run through my body faster...but that is a bit too much information and another story.)

The box says Orion's Cocoa Cigarette and is made by Orion Star Candy Company. I was intrigued because growing up we had something similar--a cigarette-like gum wrapped with paper and when you put it to your mouth and pushed air into the "cigarette", a little puff of sugary "smoke" floated out, giving you the feeling like you were really smoking, or that was what I thought when I was little anyway.

But upon opening these I was a bit disappointed.

It was hard candy in the shape of sticks...No puff of "smoke". This cocoa candy is also flavored with hakka (peppermint). This candy has been around in Japan since the 1950's. It reminded me of those chocolate Velamints (gosh, those are a blast from the past! I had to ask around because I couldn't remember the name of those candies! Thanks S & BFF!).

Anyway, if everyone that smokes in Japan or the world decides to "smoke" these instead, I think I could live with it.

mariebelle & scones

If you read this blog frequently, you'll know that I LOVE scones! I've tried many different recipes and I have 14 posts about scones too. But, anyway, my flax rolls were about to run out, since we've been enjoying them for breakfast, so I decided to whip up some scones yesterday afternoon.

I use this recipe when I feel the need to "whip" some scones up, but don't have much time and don't want to go through any type of frills to make them. It is fast and doesn't take many ingredients to make.

I sometimes add different things like fruit, nuts or herbs like lavender to this recipe and have been pleased with the results.

This batch of scones came out of the oven just in time for tea. In Japan, you often find "milk tea", this is tea with cream or milk in it. They also have a drink called "royal milk tea", the ceylon tea is steeped with milk then strained into a cup, there is a bit of a "skin" that forms on top of the drink, but it is rich and creamy. I thought that maybe this drink was influenced by the English, but found out that it is a Japanese creation.

With a nip in the air, I decided to try a cocoa that I bought on my visit home. I first heard about Mariebelle's cocoa on Chocolate Obsession and also heard about Mariebelle's chocolates on the Chocolate Nerd.

But, unable to get to NYC anytime soon, I decided to check out their site. They didn't give any info as to where to buy them outside of NYC, so I picked my brain and came up with Neiman Marcus. This is where I usually pick up Vosges, so I checked NM's site and sure enough they also sold Mariebelle. I made a note of this so that when I went home (to Hawaii), I would check it out.

I was pleased to find the cocoa, but a bit disappointed that they only carried it in the larger 20 oz. size because I wanted to sample it before making such a large purchase. Still, I wanted to try it, so I bought the "spicy" one--63% cacao with chipotle, cinnamon and nutmeg.

I warmed up a half cup of milk with a fourth of a cup of the cocoa and whisked it into a thick, rich drink! Talk about zing! The spices kick in as it goes down your throat, there is a little burn in your mouth that lingers, but it is still delicious! Plus, I am a sucker for the packaging and love the dark chocolate colored can with the turquoise blue design.

Hope you are keeping warm where you are!

chocolatey kind of christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Did Santa bring you everything you wished for? I hope so!

I recently found this cocoa made by Monbana, a French chocolatier, whose dark chocolate I tried awhile back. There were two types of cocoa at the shop where I found these--a caramel and a cinnamon. On Monbana's website, they also note a gingerbread cocoa which sounded interesting along with other flavors.

On Saturday for breakfast, I mixed two packets of the caramel one with 2 cups of milk and also added one cup of brewed coffee. It is a 33% cacao with sugar, vanillin. With the coffee added to it, it is a nice balance. I think without the coffee it would be a little too sweet.

It also went well with our stollen.

Recently, I tried a chocolate by Perugina. It is made in Italy from their Nero line--a 48% cacao with chili peppers in it. The chocolate starts off sweet and creamy and then the chilies give you "a wake-up call" as the chocolate disappears on your tongue...delicious!

Our breakfast this morning was lavender scones, yogurt with yuzu (citron) jam and the cinnamon cocoa. The lavender scones were easy to make. I used the simple scone recipe (here) and added a pinch of culinary lavender which I ran a knife through. The cinnamon cocoa didn't dissolve as nicely as the caramel one, but it still tasted great. These lavender scones reminded me of the mix that I bought from Ali'i Kula Lavender earlier this year--this is also where I bought the culinary lavender from.

In Japan, often when you cut open an apple it will look like this. Don't worry it isn't rotten, in fact it will probably be the sweetest apple you will ever taste. These transparent areas are the natural sugars. I once heard that farmers inject their fruit with the sugars, but I now think that they are cultivated this way.

Hope you are enjoying the day!