fig season

It's fig season...we have been enjoying them with our yogurt in the morning.

The one on the left is called Masui Dauphine and was grown in Aichi prefecture.

The one on the right is called Toyomitsuhime and was grown in Fukuoka prefecture.

I loved the red color of the Toyomitsuhime.

Both were delicious and I'm glad we got to try these.o 

copy cat fig salad

I love RF1 salads. You can buy them from the food halls in most department stores.

They are sold by weight, so sometimes we buy several different salads for dinner.

They also sell fried items as well as bentos too.

When I was passing by their counter the other day, I noticed they had a fig salad.

I was interested in trying it but it was a bit on the pricey side, so instead I copied it.

Prosciutto, fresh figs, greens, red onion and a raspberry vinaigrette.

I think their version also had a sprinkling of cheese but I left that out.

I don't know what their salad actually tastes like, but I enjoyed my version and will make this again.

For the raspberry vinaigrette (serves 2), put 1 tablespoon of raspberry vinegar and mix in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Also grind in some fresh black pepper...drizzle 1 tablespoon of dressing for 1 serving.

What are you enjoying this Autumn?

things I'm liking

Some things I'm liking...

These fruit juices by Shine & Shine, a Hong Kong company.

I'd been noticing people on Instagram posting pics about this juice and found some at Family Mart (convenience store).

The grapefruit was 100% fruit juice, very pulpy. And the berry is a mixture of strawberry & blueberry, but only 65% because I'm guessing that they dilute it with water.

A bit pricey at 398 yen a bottle, but nice to know they sell these types of juices at the convenience store.

Figs.

It's fig season, and we've been enjoying them at breakfast.

On toast with cream cheese and a little honey.

In yogurt.

We've also had some with bleu cheese and coppa (ham).

Leftovers...

Growing up I didn't appreciate leftovers.

Probably because we ate them for more than one or two meals.

Now that I need to do the cooking though, I get it!

We had pork togan (wintermelon) the other night.

More togan than pork, but enough for two meals.

It isn't that cool to be cooking or eating soupy things though, but I am appreciating leftovers.

The other week I made ratatouille and topped them with some spicy sardines.

The first time we ate this with whole wheat couscous.

The second night just as is.

Do you like leftovers?

What are you enjoying these days?

It's the start of September already, too fast!

autumn is coming...

Yesterday, I had my bags delivered because Satoshi wouldn't be able to meet me at the airport. It was actually a good idea because when I arrived in Osaka there was a light rain.

On top of that, our apartment doesn't have an elevator so carrying two suitcases up by myself would be tough.

The delivery service said that if I didn't want it delivered at a specific time, they would be able to deliver my bags between 14:00 and 21:00. If I wanted it to come at a specific time, they could give me a window of 18:00-21:00 (not too specific if you ask me). I decided to take my chances and wait between 14:00 and 21:00.

It was a good call because my bags arrived at 15:00-ish.

After opening up my bags, the only thing that spilt was my conditioner (thank goodness for ziploc bags!). Other than that, everything was untouched by TSA...whew!

Earlier in the day, I went to the market to get groceries to re-stock our refridge...

One thing I picked up were fresh figs.

These were really reasonably priced.

For breakfast this morning, I had wanted to make avocado toast, but the avocado I had picked up seemed firm and not quite ready, so instead I toasted some cheese on walnut bread and added some sliced figs and a drizzle of honey.

We also had some yogurt with Anahola Granola that I received from Val. (Thank you!)

Since lunchtime it has been rainy. Looks like this weather will continue to the weekend.

Gloomy but at least a bit cooler.

How is your week going?

ichijiku

The Japanese word for fig is "ichijiku".

There was a nice container of figs that was just picked that morning (asadori) at a little fruit stand...500 yen.

Bargain!

Only problem was that they were really ripe.

The weather has been so humid that I had to cut off the mold that began to form on them later that day.

I also put them in the fridge.

We've been enjoying this on yogurt, with granola and almond milk, on french toast and also with bleu cheese.

What are you enjoying these days?

grand marble

When I'm on the computer, I often also listen to the radio.

This particular station often advertises Grand Marble's danish breads, which sounded really delicious.

The main store is in Kyoto, but they also have a little shop in Osaka.

I picked up their fig and chocolate...1260 yen.

I sliced the bread into 8 slices and froze 4.

We had a toasted slice for breakfast with tea yesterday.

Lots of chocolate and figs in there.

This is definitely not for everyday though it would really make a great gift.

Grand Marble Dojima store
1-1-13 Dojima
Kita, Osaka
Phone: 06.6345.5166
Open weekdays 11:00-24:00

p.s. It's Friday! Hope you have a great weekend.

fig chutney

While I was in Hawaii, I had some time to look through different cookbooks.

I also had some time to borrow a couple of books from the library.

One called "Paradise Preserves" by Yvonne Neely Armitage had all sorts of interesting recipes.

A particular recipe that stood out was her recipe for "Fig Chutney".

This past week, the weather was crazy humid and hot, but I still managed to make a batch of this chutney.

I had to ad-lib here and there, I've put what I did in parentheses:

Fig Chutney adapted from "Paradise Preserves"

2.5 cups diced ripe figs (8 ripe figs, chopped (about 3.5 cups))
1/2 cup raisins (used dried cherries)
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup brown sugar (used 1/2 cup brown sugar + 1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar)
1 cup cider vinegar (about a tablespoon of rice vinegar and the rest to make a cup using cider vinegar)
1/2 lemon, peeled, seeded, chopped fine (1 lemon, zested and juiced)
1 clove garlic, minced
pinch cayenne
spice bundle in cheesecloth: 1 cinnamon stick, pinch nutmeg, 6 allspice berries, 6 cloves (in tea bag: 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon allspice, 6 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick)
1 tablespoon chili powder (7/8 teaspoon chili powder)

Bring sugar & vinegar to a boil
Add all ingredients
Return to a boil
Reduce heat and stir often
Continue cooking until mixture becomes very thick (about 1.25 to 2 hours)
Discard spice bundle
Pour into sterilized jars
Let cool
Refrigerate and let mellow several days before serving

NOTES: I wasn't too sure what to do with the lemon, so instead I zested it and juiced it.

I shouldn't have added the 1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar because my cider vinegar actually had some honey added to it.

The chutney came out a little sweeter than I expected, but it was still quite delicious with a steak.

I would make this again.

'tis the season

As Rowena said in her comment, "Sounds like beer season is still trying to hang on".

Well, it is still indeed beer season and I recently picked up some brews from Minoh Brewery.

Their pale ale...very fruity and easy to drink.

Their weizen is cloudy, starts off fruity and has a slight bitter after taste.

Their pilsner is nice too. All three are perfect for this heat.

While walking around Umeda, I found honey wheat pretzels at Seijo Ishii (in really small bags)....When I got home, I melted some butter, added a sprinkling of dill, garlic powder and some powdered ranch dressing and baked it for 10 minutes.

Not the same as my mom's seasoned pretzels, but close.

I also found some fresh figs at the market, so I got some bleu cheese, drizzled some honey, nuked it for 20 seconds and then sprinkled some chopped walnuts.

The weather is still humid and hot but I think I'm doing a good job at keeping my tummy happy.

jammin'

I recently saw containers of figs at the supermarket.

Last year when I ran into them at the market, it was the middle of September...the figs seem to be a bit early this year, so I bought a container at 398 yen (about US$3.98) for about a pound of figs and made a batch of fig jam.

After making the first batch, I remembered how great this recipe turned out and wanted to make more, so the next day, I went back to the market and bought 2 more containers for the same price.

Luckily I had enough bottles....I made a total of 10 from the 2 batches.

I hope my family and friends will enjoy them.

trying fresh figs

After 2 years of blogging and seeing lots of posts on people enjoying fresh figs. I finally got enough courage to buy some.

Last Sunday, I found a basket of them for 350 yen at Carrefour. In some places, the price can range from 350 yen to 550 yen (or higher), so I felt that 350 was a good buy, plus there were about 8 figs in the basket.

We had 2 of the figs for dessert on Sunday night. I rinsed and sliced them in half then popped them under the grill for about 5 minutes. Then drizzled some Big Island honey on them. We didn't know if we could eat the skins, so we sucked out the insides which were delicious.

With the remaining 6, I decided to look around for an easy recipe. The book by Christine Ferber, master of jams and jellies in France popped into my head. I looked through for recipes using figs and found one using only 4 ingredients--figs, sugar, vanilla bean and lemon.

(I've seen her jams in Shinjuku's Istean but never bought any because they are pricey, but I have tried chocolate she made for Salon du Chocolat, under the name Maison Ferber, which was delicious.)

I didn't have lemon on hand but did have some shiquasa, so I used the juice of 2 of them.

The recipe does take some planning ahead. After rinsing and slicing the figs, the ingredients need to macerate for an hour.

After the hour, I brought the mixture to a simmer then chilled it overnight.

The next day, I prepared my jars by washing and sterilizing them. I put them into a 180 C(350 F) oven for 5 minutes (actually the book says 108 C (225 F) but I read it wrong...sigh), and left them in the oven until I was ready to fill them.

I took the mixture and brought it to a boil, skimming off the foam that formed. I cooked it for about 10 minutes--the foam will stop forming when the jam reaches the jelling point.

I carefully removed the vanilla bean and cut it to put some into each jar. I filled the jars up to the top then covered them. Then while the jars were still hot, I turned them upside down and let them cool in that position (the book said to do this, I think it creates a vaccuum).

This was my first time making jam (well, I made strawberry jam before but I didn't put it into jars, so that didn't really count as making jam to me.)

I must say, even though it took some work, it was worth it. This jam was delicious on plain yogurt, maybe a bit too sweet for ice cream. It was great with a smidge of cream cheese on toast.

I think it will also be nice with pork. The vanilla adds a nice warmth to the flavor and I like the deep reddish color.

If you haven't tried fresh figs, you better hurry, from what I've read on the net, the season for figs is rather short.

p.s. it is Keiro no hi (Grandparent's Day or be kind to elders day) = holiday, so we were visiting Satoshi's mom...hope you have a great week.

fig scones

Last week, I had a little cream leftover, so I made a really small batch of fig scones, using the easy recipe I have and two dried mission figs.

I forgot to add the sugar to the mixture, so I sprinkled some vanilla sugar on top instead.

It was delicious for breakfast!

With all the trauma from the week before, it was nice to see the mountains looking so autumn-y. With all the warm weather we've been having, the leaves took a l-o-n-g time to change color this year.

day after christmas

It is the day after Christmas, are you at the malls? It is just another day here in Japan, in fact, a lot of people are trying to get ready to welcome the New Year--I'll post about that as we get closer to the day.

A while back, I bought a chocolate cookbook, which I posted about here. Remember I also received some dried figs? Well, since I had a bottle of red wine open, I was finally able to try this recipe.

Ganache Figue makes about 16 pieces
5 dried figs
3/4 cup red wine
1/2 cinnamon stick
3 whole black peppers
1 whole clove
125g sweet chocolate
100ml cream
cocoa powder

1. In a pot, put the wine, cinnamon, pepper & clove and bring to a boil. When it comes to a boil, turn down to simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Add the dried figs and let come to a light boil. Turn off heat and put lid on, leave contents in pot overnight.
3. The next day, take the figs out and cut into 1 cm pieces. Save the mulled wine.
4. Cut the chocolate into small pieces and put into a bowl.
5. In a pot, heat the cream on medium heat, before it comes to a boil, turn off the heat. Add the cream to the chocolate and mix with a whisk.
6. When the chocolate and cream is combined, add the figs and 3 tablespoons of the mulled wine. Let cool.
7. After cool, spoon out into 16 balls and place onto a parchment sheet.
8. Cool in refrig for 20 to 30 minutes. Using your hands re-mold it to look like a fig and cover in cocoa powder. From the mulled wine, take the cinnamon stick and cut slivers to be used as the stem of the fig.

NOTES: I ended up with about 20 pieces--I cut the figs into 4 pieces. I didn't add the 3 tablespoons of the wine, I only added 1 because I don't care too much for liquor chocolates. I also didn't read the recipe well and I cooled the chocolate in the refrig and ended up with quite a hard mess. I also didn't use the cinnamon stick slivers at the end. The figs were well soaked and it didn't taste too winey. And because I used dark chocolate, instead of sweet chocolate, it matched well with the wine taste.

The other day, I also received daikon (long white turnip) from a friend, so I tried a recipe for Japanese pickles called takuan. I got the recipe from my mom's church's cookbook. This was really easy to make.

Here's the recipe from "Wisteria Delights"
Takuwan
3 T. salt
3/4 c. Japanese vinegar (rice vinegar)
1-1/2 c. sugar
1/4 tsp yellow food coloring
3 or 4 medium white turnips

Boil the salt, vinegar and sugar until sugar is melted.
Turn off heat, then add food coloring.
Set aside until cool.
Slice turnips, place in a bowl and pour sauce over them.
Leave in bowl, turning often with a wooden spoon.
Next day, put into jars with sauce then refrigerate.
If you like it a little hot, you may add chili peppers to your taste.

NOTES: I didn't add the food coloring.

Hope you are having a great week!

kyongdong herbal market

One of my students, Kazumi, just came back from Seoul. She stopped at the Kyongdong Herbal Market, which is known for their Chinese and Korean medicinal herbs. (The Koreans apparently call this market GYEONGDONG.)

She was kind enough to bring back some star anise and dried figs for me. (Thank you!) The star anise will come in handy when making chai or roast pork or chicken. The figs are quite sweet, but I wonder what I can make using them....any ideas?