banshu-ako

This past weekend was a 3-day weekend, unfortunately, Satoshi had to work on Saturday.

On Sunday, the weather was sunny and clear, so we headed out to Banshu-Ako.

From Osaka it took us about 2 hours by train to get there.

The rice fields looked really pretty from the train.

Satoshi has been on a history kick as of late and has been checking out all sorts of historical places and watching all sorts of movies.

Anyway, Banshu-Ako is one of these historical places.

At Kagakuji, you can see this huge matsu (pine) it is actually the 2nd one, the first generation's trunk is displayed in the rest area of the temple and it was so huge, it was cut in half!

About a 5 minute walk from this temple, is the ruins of the Ako castle and Ako-Ooishi Shrine.

If I understood things correctly, the family of the leader of the 47-ronin, Ooishi, built this shrine.

From here we caught a shuttle called the Kurachan-go for 100 yen which took us to see the fishing village near Sakoshi Bay.

FYI: you will get carsick on the ride, the road goes through the mountains and is very winding...blah!

We explored the Sakoshi Bay area for an hour, until the next shuttle came. (Actually, we should've gotten off a couple stops earlier to check out the seafood market, there were apparently a lot of eateries there...)

There were many old homes and I was amazed at how narrow their alleyways were.

The local temple was also preparing for a festival to pray for a good fishing season.

Because we missed the seafood market, lunch was super late (like 4-ish?!).

And being that it was a Sunday (and a 3-day weekend), not much in town was open.

We were happy that Kinugasa was.

I ordered their Tako Tendon...850 yen.

This came with a generous amount of tako (octopus) tempura. The octopus was caught in the Ako area.

There was also some veggies--shishito (Japanese pepper), eggplant, renkon (lotus root).

The tako was really chewy but delicious.

Satoshi went with the Ako Shio Negi Soba...650 yen this was a soba with a shio (salt) broth and topped with negi (green onion).

Both the salt & negi were local items.

He really enjoyed this.

Satoshi also tried the yaki-anago (grilled conger eel)...680 yen. This was grilled right in front of us and he enjoyed this also.

The eel was also a local item too.

The other thing I liked about this shop was that they used 90% local and "made in Japan" items.

And then it was time to head back to Osaka.

It was kind of a long day, but I'm glad Satoshi got to see some areas that he had been interested in seeing.

Kinugasa
56-4 Kariya-ekimae
Ako, Hyogo
Phone: 0791.42.0194

foodie friday

Friday, Satoshi had the day off, so we checked out Hanshin Department store.

They were having a food fair of the top selling items from Rakuten, a popular online shop.

Lunch was this kaisendon from Takewaka a shop in Tsukiji...1450 yen.

Totally worth the wait.

As we walked around after lunch, this huge katsu sandwich caught my attention...1050 yen, luckily (or unfortunately) we were too full to try this one...

Needless to say, dinner was just a salad.

on the lanai

I think it was last week that I planted some cilantro and italian parsley and think they have started to sprout...whoo!

You just don't realize how hot it gets in the summer in Japan until you hear from Satoshi that your lavender and rosemary plants which were on your lanai for 10 years, dries up and are no more.

I bought some new lavender and rosemary plants and also added an oregano plant, hopefully these will last.

The sun also blazed my mint plants, so I got another spearmint & a lavender mint plant.

I think I will plant some swiss chard and a couple of beets too.

What is surprising me though, is my freesia has started to produce leaves...

What's happening in your garden?

foodie thursday

Thursday I went to get my teeth cleaned (no cavities, yeah!).

Afterwards, I had lunch at Elmer's Green Cafe.

It had been some time since I had been there and I think their menu had changed a bit.

I ordered their Keema Curry lunch...850 yen. This came with a choice of a salad or pickles or dessert and a drink.

I chose their pickles and a cup of earl grey tea.

Under all of that green onion there is a soft boiled egg.

The curry was filling but could've been spicier. The pickles were delicious and puckery.

A couple of streets down from Elmer's is Tikal, a chocolate shop by Broadhurst.

Broadhurst is an English pastry chef, whom I visited about 5 years ago!

I tried 3 of his bon-bons...Elizabeth (crown) filled with lemon cream, Pistachio (rectangle) filled with pistachio cream & Guinness Cake (checker) filled with guinness cream...910 yen.

I enjoyed them all but my favorite has to be the Guinness one.

The skies were really grey but I'm glad I was able to get out and about.

Tikal by Cacao en Masse
3-3-3 Fushimi-machi, Shibakawa Building 1F
Chuo, Osaka
Phone: 06.6232.0144
Closed: Sundays

banana ginger chocolate muffins

Have you ever read a book that you could relate to?

That was what happened when I read Molly Wizenberg's "A Homemade Life".

Her book was not only a memoir, but also included some delicious sounding recipes.

One recipe in particular, "Banana Ginger Chocolate Muffins" popped out at me.

I didn't follow her recipe though, I used my go-to recipe for muffins and added crystallized ginger, chocolate chips and banana.

I really liked the addition of the ginger, I could've actually put more.

I'd definitely make this again.

kinoko tappuri curry

Tappuri means lots, full of.

This curry uses lots of kinoko (mushrooms).

Translated from "Hajimete no Spice Curry": 4 servings
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 nub ginger, minced

Spices:
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon coriander

2 teaspoons shoyu
300 mililiters hot water (about 1.5 cups)
2 packs shimeji (used only 1)
1 pack maitake
1 eringi
1 whole tomato, diced (used 6 cherry tomatoes, halved)
10 grams butter

Prep: Cut onion, garlic & ginger accordingly, set aside
remove mushrooms from their "stone" and separate by hand
Cut tomato and set aside

Method:
Heat sesame oil to medium in a pan and add onion, garlic & ginger.
Cook for about 7-8 minutes
Turn heat down and add spices & shoyu
Add hot water, mix well and cover for about 15 minutes
Add the tomato and cook for 2-3 minutes without the cover.
Add the butter and mix well.

NOTES: I ended up cooking this for more than 15 minutes, more like 1 hour!

There was just too much liquid plus covered and at a low heat, it hardly evaporated.

So, I upped the flame to about medium, took off the cover and cooked it down, which took about an hour.

This curry was served with paneer, or what the author calls cottage cheese.

I've never had paneer before, have you?

I didn't want to go out to get some cottage cheese nor did I want to follow his recipe to make some (it used 2 liters of milk!), so instead I used tofu.

I used tofu because the pictures I've seen of paneer certainly reminded me of tofu.

So, I put some tofu onto some cheesecloth and let it sit in the refridge for the whole day.

Then when I was ready to serve this I crumbled some on.

I also sauteed other veggies in a dry non-stick pan and added it to the curry.

Despite the cooking time, this was delicious, I would make this again.

Wow, it's Friday already, have a great weekend!

carrot and seed salad

I was first introduced to carrot salad by Bea and Orangette and then, I found other carrot salads to try like this one.

I really like carrot salad, it is easy to make and really delicious too.

Recently I bought a cookbook written by the owner of the Rose Bakery called "Breakfast Lunch Tea".

Inside there was a recipe for "Carrot and Seed Salad"

The recipe calls for chives but I didn't want to buy the large amount that the market was selling, so I didn't add it to the salad.

Still, I think it was quite tasty.

Here is what I did: makes about 6-1/4 cup servings

2 large carrots, shredded
2 handfuls of sunflower seeds, heated in 150C (300F) oven then cooled

Dressing:
zest of the lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice (about one small lemon)
several grinds of fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon oil

After shredding the carrots in a food processor, mix the dressing and toss to coat.
Add the cooled seeds and toss again.

NOTES: the original recipe suggests using either sunflower or pumpkin seeds, since I had sunflower seeds in my freezer that is what I used.

There are other recipes (like scones) that I can't wait to try.