whiz...brr

We had a mini snow storm the other afternoon. Nothing that stayed on the ground for too long, but it was fun to see (from my seat on the sofa).

It is still a bit too cold for smoothies, but since Satoshi was off on business, I made this one for my breakfast the other morning.

I've been seeing blueberries from Chile in the markets lately, and the local strawberries are in the markets too.

Here's what I put in it...10 blueberries, 5 strawberries, 1 small banana, 1/2 teaspoon ground flax seed, 4 tablespoons plain yogurt and 1/4 cup skim milk...whizzed together, even though it looks like only a cup worth, it was a little over, a very simple and delicious breakfast.

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!

foodie friday

Today I met Kazumi for a lesson and she brought many goodies.

First, a fruit sandwich. Have you ever had one? I had seen these in sandwich shops in and around Japan before, but never had one (I think I wasn't brave enough). It is sliced fruits with whipped cream sandwiched between bread. I must say though, it was good, not too sweet and a nice dessert after lunch.

Another item was spring cabbage. This was grown by her sister. It kind of has a purple tinge to it. I'm thinking of using it in a veggie stir-fry for dinner tonight.

Lastly, homemade marmalade. She said that she and her friends get together every year to make marmalade. And although she couldn't go this year, they still gave her a portion of the marmalade that they made and she gave me some too!

After our lesson, I went home and eagerly started to make flaxseed rolls. The batch came out just in time for tea. I've made this recipe several times, but this time the whole batch stuck to the parchment paper. I have a feeling it was because I didn't use any type of oil/butter. Still, the texture of the rolls were good and tasted great with the homemade marmalade. (Thank you Kazumi!)

Have a great weekend!

never....

Note to self: NEVER, do more than two kitchen related tasks at the same time, especially in the teeny kitchen that you have...

I was baking bread while making dinner tonight...talk about praying to the kitchen remodeling gods to give me a bigger kitchen or at least a larger counter!

Anyway, here is the bread I made, flax seed rolls--hot out of the oven they were light and fluffy!

And dinner, my revenge attempt at okara hamburger patties. These came out really well this time. I realized the last time, that I had forgot to put in milk and put in too much okara.

So, here is the revised recipe: Okara Hamburger Patties Serves 2

150g minced pork or beef
100g okara (soy bean curd lees)
1/2 onion, minced
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 tablespoon salad oil
1.5 tablespoons margarine
50 ml kombu dashi (kelp stock)

Sauce:
50 ml chuno sauce (a mixture of tonkatsu & worcestershire sauces)
3 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 tablespoon shoyu (soy sauce)
1 teaspoon sugar

1. Mince onion and put into bowl with meat and okara.
2. Add egg and milk, mix with hands.
3. Add salt and pepper.
4. Then add mirin and oil and mix well with hands.
5. Form into patties
6. Add margarine to heated pan and cook patties until golden brown.
7. Flip over and add stock to steam patties.
8. Add in sauce mixture and heat sauce with patties.
9. Enjoy!

NOTES: I don't buy margarine, so I used olive oil instead. Also, I used ground beef. I also used tonkatsu sauce (pork cutlet sauce) instead of chuno sauce (mixture of tonkatsu and worcestershire), if you can't find chuno or tonkatsu, use worcestershire. To top the patties I put some daikon oroshi (grated radish) with some chopped green onions.

I served them with some namasu (thinly sliced vegetables soaked in vinegar). The recipe is here.

NOTES: This time, I also added sliced cucumber and chopped wakame (a thin seaweed)

Hope your week is going well.

bagels (part 3) and grains, grains, grains

I tried making bagels again today. This time with a little more success. I increased the amount of flour, yeast, sugar and water and also increased the amount of time to let the dough rise. The dough got bigger, though it was hard to roll to form the bagel, which resulted in all of them falling apart as I "kettled" the bagels in hot water. Still, it was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside (I had one, fresh out of the oven with dinner--a veggie soup).

On another note--I don't know about you, but I love grains, in breads and in my rice. I wanted to show you what I add to my rice before cooking it. In Japan, there are all sorts of grains called zakkoku to add to your rice like corn, amaranth, quinoa, sesame seeds, barley, adzuki beans, black soy beans and assorted millet.

This is the 16-grain mixture by a company called HakuBaku. By adding grains to your rice, you can add more fiber and minerals to it. They also have a 5-grain mixture which I've also tried.

I put about a tablespoon or two of the grains into a fine sieve and run water over it, to rinse it. Caution: If you wash the grains with your regular rice, you will lose most of the millet, since they are VERY tiny. Then I add the grains to the rice, add the water and cook.