yuzu white

On the website of Minoh Beer, they had a seasonal beer made with local yuzu (citron).

A couple of months ago, I had asked a local liquor shop, if they were selling this beer and at that time, the owner said, "nope the season is over"...boo!

To my surprise though, I found it at Yamaya...woot!

At first, I was kinda leery about trying this beer because the list of ingredients is malt, hops, yuzu peel and coriander.

But when I tasted it, I liked it. Refreshing and because they use real yuzu the flavor isn't fake.

I only wish that this beer wasn't seasonal because it would be nice during the summer, matching with a salad or something light, like a fish dish.

Still, I'm glad I got to try it.

curry dog

The other day on Twitter, I was chatting with one of my friends and we got on the topic of hot dogs with curried cabbage.

It seems that curried cabbage on hot dogs is a Kansai (Western Japan) thing.

Since I had that on my mind when I went to the market, I picked up some weiners and cabbage and made my own curried cabbage.

With a handful of cabbage, slice it thinly.

Then in a non-stick pan, throw in your cabbage and let it wilt.

While it is wilting, add a teaspoon or so of curry powder.

When the cabbage is cooked to your liking, take it off the heat. I like it a little "crunchy" so I didn't cook it too long.

To assemble the dog...I used baguette, but you can use a hot dog bun.

Instead of slicing the bun on the side, I sliced it from top to bottom.

Open up the bun and add a layer of curried cabbage, then add your hot dog.

On the sides, slip in your cheese and top with more cabbage.

Toast for about 5 minutes.

Add some chips to your plate and you're ready for lunch.

So easy and delicious.

easy

One of my Twitter friends tweeted this recipe that was on Pinterest.

Coincidentally, I was planning to make a salmon dish for dinner that night.

So, I decided to try out the new recipe instead and it was totally easy.

Pecan crusted Salmon adapted from The Girl who ate Everything : serves 2

1 piece of salmon (161 grams), sashimi grade, cut in half

1 tablespoon agave nectar
1/2 shoyu (soy sauce)
1 handful pecan, chopped
several grinds of pepper

Bake in 425F (220C) oven for 15 minutes

NOTES: First off, according to the author this recipe is from Weight-Watchers, which surprised me.

I used sashimi grade salmon because I'm lazy and didn't want to run into any bones while eating.

The original recipe used honey, but I wanted to try using agave nectar. From what I read on the internet, to substitute honey with agave nectar is an even exchange, so you don't need to re-calculate anything...woot!

Also, the original recipe was for 4 salmon filets, but since my pieces were smaller, I cut back the amount of "sauce"/marinade.

The author notes that she marinates the fish overnight, I think I'll do this the next time (without the nuts). Then just before baking, I'll sprinkle the nuts.

My topping got a bit burnt because my oven element was kind of low (it moves).

I served this with some rice and also some sauteed spinach and brown mushrooms. The salmon gets a little sweet-salty, with a nice crunch from the pecans.

I'd definitely make this one again.

It's Friday the 13th (eep!) hope you have a great weekend.

whoa?!

In the past week, most leafy veggie prices have skyrocketed.

After seeing Kirk's tacos, I was thinking of making taco rice for dinner, but as I looked for lettuce at the market, I stopped and had to look again...390 yen (about US$5-something) for a head?! and it wasn't even a "nutritious" head of lettuce, it was iceberg lettuce.

So...I subbed lettuce with cabbage.

And even cabbage, I bought a 1/4 of a head for 108 yen (about US$1.40) which is still high, if you convert it, but at least it camouflages the blow of 390 yen, because a whole head of cabbage would be close or higher than the lettuce...sigh.

I stir-fried everything (zucchini, brown mushrooms, carrots, onion & cabbage) then added a tablespoon of taco mix.

Over the hot rice, I placed a slice of red cheddar then, topped it with the stir-fry and a tablespoon of salsa.

I liked this version because everything was pretty much hot (temperature wise), if I had used lettuce like I intended, it would have been a bit more summery.

Guess I have my taco cravings under control, for now...

pizza

The media has been running pizza delivery ads left and right, so of course, it gave me a hankering for some pizza.

I wasn't willing to shell out the money for delivery, so I bought some ingredients and pre-made crusts and dinner was on...

Take a look at these huge brown mushrooms, they were selling these in bulk because they weren't "normal" sized...whatever, I was happy that they were selling so many for so cheap!

We also added some black olives, salami and edam cheese.

The pre-made crusts were 22 centimeters (about 8 inches) and there were 2 in the package.

My first attempt, the pizza got a little darker than I expected, but it was delicious.

My second attempt, I had a lot of sliced mushrooms leftover, so I put it all on the pizza...yummy!

I loved the crust, almost cracker like and very crisp.

I think my hankering for pizza has subsided for now...maybe.

on a walk

Yesterday was a sunny day. The temps were forecasted to reach double digits, which meant 10C (50F) for us, perfect for a walk.

Satoshi and I went to check out a relatively new cafe in the neighborhood called Cafe de Mercerie.

I looked up mercerie and it means haberdasher in French. Not knowing what haberdasher was I looked that up too. It means someone who sells knick-knacks for sewing like buttons, ribbons.

The interior was nice and I liked their pendant lighting. I also liked how they had vintage sewing machine pedals as part of their decor (the seating facing the street).

Satoshi ordered their morning set: a hard boiled egg, toast and salad with coffee...450 yen.

I ordered their cappuccino...500 yen.

A great place (except that they allow smoking), I want to go back and try their lunch menu.

After our little break, we continued our walk and came upon a tiny wagashi (Japanese sweets) shop called Fukusuke-do.

We purchased their wafers, each one is stamped with a picture of Ikeda-jo (Ikeda castle)...so crisp and delicious! 7 wafers for 500 yen.

Upon looking them up on the internet, I found out that this tiny shop has been in business since 1841! wow!

And just before reaching the end of our walk to Kawanishi, we came upon this vending machine...selling macaron.

The cake shop, which the vending machine is in front of, sells their macaron from it along with bottled drinks.

For 400 yen, you get two macaron, the flavors are chosen at random...after putting your money in, out pops a glass jar.

Dunno if the plopping of the jar in the machine or trying to pry them out crushed them, but they got a little beaten up.

The two flavors that came out were strawberry and sesame. The strawberry one had a whipped strawberry cream and the sesame had a black sesame buttercream. I liked the sesame one while Satoshi preferred the strawberry one.

Total sweet foodie day and all while on a walk.

Cafe de Mercerie
1-11-1 Asahigaoka
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.761.1023
Closed Saturdays, hours: 9:00-20:00

Fukusuke-do
3-2 Tateishi-cho
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.751.4251
Open everyday 11:00-15:00

Sweets Club BeBee
2-6-2 Oobe
Kawanishi, Hyogo
Phone: 072.744.2554
Closed Mondays, hours: 10:00-19:00

yum

I mentioned that the first meal I made for 2012, was grilled wagyu with a miso dip, well, I remembered another blogger used the dip for shrimp and had to try it too.

With the leftover dip, I added some water until it had the consistency of a marinade then put in 10 cleaned, butterflied shrimp in and left it in the marinade for about 2 hours.

I cooked them on a non-stick pan, just watch how hot your pan is, with the sugar in the marinade, you may burn your shrimp if you aren't careful.

I served this with some kinpira and leftover kamameshi.

Love the versatility of this dip, we've had it with grilled steak, with pork, veggie sticks and now shrimp...yum!