Japan #2…Traditional Fare, from restaurants to 7-11

Posted on June 6, 2013 by melsmosaic

When most people think Japan (myself included), sushi is the first thing that comes to mind. The great tour guide we had on our trip to Mt. Fuji and Hakone educated us on the fact that that is not the case. It’s a special meal for the locals. Maybe only a few times a year. It’s intricate to prepare, not quick and easy. Traditional fare can include the components of it — rice, sashimi — the raw fish, and the seaweed. We also learned about a KEY staple in Japanese cuisine, miso soup.

During our tour we were given a sample of the local fare at lunch with a bite of several varieties of food, a bit ‘westernized.’ It was very nice.

That night we did the true Japanese style hotel and meal. I did not feel comfortable taking pictures in the restaurant but it was about a 9 (small) course meal with a taste of everything. It was amazing. A couple soups, several unidentifiable objects that were pretty good, some good seaweed pieces (that were purple-ish), amazing fish and other assorted tastes. Overall, definitely a meal to remember. The size was perfect, since you get a small sample of everything. And I was able to conquer the food with chopsticks! I discovered that soy sauce is not used all that much in Japan — more a Chinese staple. They provided us with a small bit and that was all — maybe a teaspoon or two.

The next morning, breakfast called. It was at that point when we realized the Japanese diet/regimen is quite similar throughout the day. Most of the dishes the waitress brought to the table were very similar to dinner. One of the oddest was the cold (super super) over easy egg on angel hair- ish pasta, which was also cold. That threw me off because I was expecting both components to be hot. For that meal I think I only tried a tiny bit of everything and much of it was less than I was hoping for, very unfortunately. But as I was taught, you have to try it all. Coffee is also hard to find. Very fortunately we came by a coffee machine in the lobby of the hotel…caffeine!

The next cool, interesting thing in Japan is 7-11. What do we think of it as here…convenience store. Coffee, soda, snacks, gas station. There, OH NO! High quality food, no lie. They have awesome sandwiches that are pre-packed and last for awhile (loved the PB one) and sashimi that I wish I could have everyday. And so affordable — about $3 for a huge pack!

Next food subject…still can’t decide!

Japan #1

Posted on June 5, 2013 by melsmosaic

Last month, personal travel took me to Japan. What an experience; from culture to scenery to food. I learned so much about any and everything. I didn’t get to take nearly enough pictures of the food I enjoyed/didn’t enjoy, but wanted to share some of what I experienced. There will be a few parts to this over a few days.

The hardest thing about being in Japan is the language barrier. Every other place I’ve traveled I’ve been able to communicate with the locals. This time, not even close (note – the one extreme is when I was trying to ask something and I spoke to the waiter in French – in Japan! One time when I couldn’t remember the Spanish word for butter, while I Spain, and whipped out the French there, that was not extreme – but while in Japan – whoa!).

When a restaurant in Japan offers an “English Menu” that normally means you get to look at pictures or plastic samples. Not so bad, I guess, and quite entertaining. The night we arrived we saw a rough idea of the tuna ‘sashimi’ with some type of sauce. Another great example was when we were near the Sumo stadium and saw bowl upon bowl, plate upon plate of display. It couldn’t look more real. I just wonder — how did they make these?

There are amazing vegetables in the area, especially at markets, though prices were high. But let me tell you — if you buy a tomato, they wrap that thing for you like it’s the most precious thing on the face of this planet. They also have some great samples of seafood, and I’m going to use the word ‘local’ stuff. I tried some things, steered clear of others. If I could identify it for the most part, I would give it a try.

Some of the best seafood bites were near the renowned seafood market. I didn’t get there to see the hands-on action because it can be hit-or-miss to actually get in. You need to arrive by 4:30am. Sometimes they let 20 people in, sometimes 100, sometimes nobody at all. Depends on the day, the mood. So, we went down to the market around 9:30am and saw the shops that were selling the food they purchased from the market.

That’s the first rundown of the trip. More to come.

From Cake to Castle

Posted on May 7, 2013 by melsmosaic

Weekend=great wine. I met once again with my great friends who last time hosted the epitome of wine tasting. This time it was at my place so I had to work my wine rack magic to attempt to match what they offered.

Though none of us seek out whites, sometimes you just have to go off the beaten path. To attempt to match reds, I opted for the well-known name of Cakebread and the nice varietal of Sauvignon Blanc. A refreshing way to start the evening.

After the white, we moved onto the more important stuff (RED!) with Chateau St. Jean. The most important thing to remember is not to get fancy with the name. Yes, the first one is french for castle. But, for the last word, think of denim, don’t go french, make it simple! The red we enjoyed first was the 2010 Pinot Noir…nice and smooth!

I was initially going to serve another Pinot Noir but opted instead to stick with Chateau St. Jean and one of their blends. It’s Cinq Cepages. It brings together five of their varietals for an amazing taste. Can’t do it justice in writing!

And to pair with the wine, cheese it always nice. The other day at Trader Joe’s I found a lactose intolerant’s dream — a package of 3 cheeses that we can eat — the Tapas Sampler! Non-cow milk delights. One of them did have a part of cow milk (with two others — so it had to be minimal), and at least for me, I didn’t have a problem.

So, come the end of the night, had another great time of friends, wine and food.

Manchego Madness!

Posted on May 3, 2013 by melsmosaic

I was debating what to do for dinner last night and had a craving for the one cheese I can eat — Manchego! Then, what to do with it? My creativity got going on my way to the store, yes Trader Joe’s, I came up with two ideas:

-Manchego Nachos, aka Manche-chos

-Manchego Popcorn

When discussing these options with the as-eager-food-lovers at TJ’s, all of decided both had to be tested.

For the ‘chos, I wanted to start out simple – nothing but cheese! I used the blue corn tortilla chips as they nicely contrast the color of the Manchego and used the microplane grater/zester to finely grate the cheese to adorn the chips with the lactose-free treasure. Since I was making a small bit, I just threw the chips in the toaster oven — perfect for small bits of nachos!

For the popcorn, I used my microwave popper and when done, tossed the popcorn with more finely grated cheese, S&P.

To complement these, I served them with some prosciutto and grape tomatoes.

Ok, a picture doesn’t do it that much justice. They were pretty good. The cheese doesn’t look as pretty as expected, but it was a unique taste. The prosciutto would taste very nice under the melted cheese!!

For the popcorn, the cheese melted just a bit and it was a nice addition.

I would give this 7.5 out of 10 stars, especially for a first try. With 2.5 to go until perfection, that definitely means more testing is in order! Darn.

From Green Peas to Red Wine

Posted on May 2, 2013 by melsmosaic

I am the type of kitchen person who does not like to waste anything/throw it away. I won’t keep and keep, then keep and keep things forever in an attempt to use them, past their pull dates or until they’ve grown various levels of fuzz, etc. just to attempt to use them — that would qualify me for Hoarders (SO not going there) — but aim to make the most of my money.

So, from Supper Club on Sunday, I had leftover fresh mint. As I’m typing this, I realize I could have saved cooking and just made Mojitos, darn…next time. Anyway, one of my favorite quick, and beyond simple, recipes that I found years ago to use mint in is Mint Bruschetta. What do you need?

-Food Processor
-Frozen Peas (thawed — I defrost them quickly in the microwave)
-Fresh Mint leaves
-A bit of olive oil — maybe 1-3 tsp
-Sometimes, to taste, I add garlic and lemon juice

Just throw all of it in the food processor and blend to desired consistency. Season to taste. How much easier could it get???

End result? Green mush, right? But GOOD green mush.

Then, after making this delicious mush, had to enjoy some wine. Went to my wine rack and found a bottle. I saw my scribble of $8 on the back of the bottle. That works. OH MY GOD, what am I drinking? Smokey, deep, heavenly bliss. Do peas merit this, does this merit peas? Well, the only thing that matters is that I deserve both. What am I enjoying? Calina Carménère. For only eight bucks, AMAZING. Check it out!

April Supper Club

Posted on April 29, 2013 by melsmosaic

A long time ago I was looking to join a supper club/cooking club and was very fortunate to have someone reply to my post on Cooking Light and she said ‘we have dinner on Sunday, this is the theme, feel free to come.’ Almost a decade has passed since then. It’s been amazing!

In the club I am part of, we try to meet about once a month. The host picks the theme, obviously provides the venue, the drinks (wine, beer, soda, etc), and everyone brings a dish. We try to use Cooking Light recipes but it can vary a bit. I tend to use others because Cooking Light isn’t always the lightest. And since I’m lactose intolerant, I can’t find the best ones there. What I laugh at a lot is our ‘cooking light’ idea — yeah, everybody eats what everybody brings — we eat so light by the time we consider portions. It’s awesome! It’s homemade, it has no calories. Just like birthday cake, right?

I was the host for this month and the theme I chose was April Observances — it is crazy how many things are observed. From the ‘normal’ ones like major holidays, to significant ones like Breast Cancer Awareness Month (yes I know it’s not in April). But, did you know that April is Tomatillo and Asian Pear Month, and it also has International Macaroni Day in the calendar on the 23rd. Where do these come from?

Well, I opted for that tomatillo and pear observance that I mentioned. I found a Charred Tomatillo Guacamole recipe to try, as well as a Crunchy Pear Salsa.

To the kitchen I go…

In the guacamole, I had some decent size tomatillos so roasted them for about 20 minutes, vs. about 12-15. Then when mixing everything together, carefully picked out the tomatillo skin because it just sort of sat in the bowl.

In the pear salsa, I was going to substitute Asian pears for the Bosc, because of the observance, but had no luck finding them. Had to stick to the darn recipe!! I didn’t use too much of the (hot) pepper because it can get supper spicy.

I served both of them with lime tortilla chips and baked tortilla chips.

Come of the end of the night, there was none of either of these left.

As for the rest of dinner, some of the other dishes that made an appearance included:

-a Chicken & Brussel Sprout dish with some type of grain mustard accent (Brussel Sprouts and Cabbage Month)

-Grilled Cheese (National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month)

-Pecan Pie with Whiskey Whipped Cream! (National Pecan Month)

Didn’t have a chance to take a picture of the Pecan Pie because we ate it so fast!!

Overall, great dinner once again. Can’t wait for the next time we get together to see what the meal brings.

Testing…7,8,9…Fail

Posted on April 21, 2013 by melsmosaic

I was at a horse race yesterday that required tailgating which means bringing/cooking great food. I wanted to make something creative, so during the week starting thinking about some new dish I could make. Out of nowhere I thought of combining these ingredients:

-cauliflower
-prosciutto
-caraway seeds
-shallots
-garlic

I opted to blanch the cauliflower then toast the caraway seeds. Next step was making a mouth-watering aroma spread around my apartment by sauteing the shallots and garlic. After that I added the caraway seeds and the prosciutto that I’d cut into 1/2″ pieces to the pan. Sauteed everything for a few minutes then added the cauliflower and some S&P.

End result, hmmm, not what I was hoping for or expecting. It wasn’t bad, but absolutely nothing to write home about. After tasting and tasting it more, I kept trying to figure out what I was truly hoping for.

I still took it to the tailgate and nobody complained about it, but did not rave about it. And there was more than enough left. There was a large amount of other better stuff to eat (that I also leaned towards).

I was hoping it would taste better today. Not so much. I’m just picking the prosciutto out and enjoying that. If anybody has suggestions, would love them. But, I think this was just a good attempt and trial and error.

Cooking…4,5,6…Lobster Tail

Posted on April 20, 2013 by melsmosaic

After making biscotti last night I wanted to treat myself to a nice dinner. A grocery store had lobster tails on sale so I couldn’t resist that! Decided to just steam one, saute some spinach with garlic, get some tomatoes and a nice baguette to dip in olive oil & balsamic with Artisan Salt and pepper. Served all that with a very nice Pinot Blanc from Chateau St. Jean. Perfect dinner for a Friday night.

Baking…1,2,3…Biscotti

Posted on April 20, 2013 by melsmosaic

It’s Friday, it’s pouring rain, what better a thing to do before dinner than bake? You have to have dessert, right? And it helps to prep for a party tomorrow.

One of my favorite things to bake is biscotti because it has (or truly doesn’t have to have) butter, which means those who are lactose intolerant can totally enjoy it! And, it keeps for awhile. The crispier, the better!! With the recipe I use, I take the basics and alter the flavors. Tonight, I was looking around my kitchen and opted to include dark chocolate (duh!), whiskey and walnuts. There is a health benefit in all of those, in some way, shape or form.

The aforementioned recipe I use is from a cookbook I received years ago. You just combine:
-2+ c flour
-3/4 c sugar
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 tsp cinnamon
-most times I also use 1 tsp nutmeg

Blend. Then add:
-1 egg
-1 tsp vanilla

Those are the basics. Then you just need more liquid that is flavor and other dry ingredients for flavor, from nuts to chocolates to dry fruit to more spices You might also need some water sometimes just for that extra bit of liquid.

So for this recipe I used:
-‘some’ whiskey
-about 1/2 cup chocolate chips
-about 3/4 cup – 1 cup walnuts

Once the dough is mixed, you make it into flat ‘logs’ — I can’t think of a better word — and bake it for 30 minutes at 375.

After half an hour, take it out and cut it into ‘biscotti’ shape. And you know, these crumbs fall off– MUST sample. They have no calories, come on. Then, contrary to what the recipe said, I just turn the oven off, put the cookie sheet back in there, with the cut biscotti on it and let it sit in there, be it 1 hour or overnight. Again, the crispier the better.

Final product, perfect!

Beauty is in the Eyes of the Beerholder

Posted on April 18, 2013 by melsmosaic

Source: craftbeer.com

You learn something new everyday! Yesterday I learned about Malbec World Day. Today it’s about a beer observance. As such, so many country songs are going through my head right now:

Zac Brown’s Toes with the great lyrics of “…cold beer in my hand, life is good today…”

Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar “I love this bar, it’s my kind of place… ”

Garth Brooks’ Beer Run “B-double E-double R-U-N…”

Back on topic, did you know that May 13-19 is American Craft Beer Week? WHOA! Mark your calendars, set a reminder, start planning. Bars, taps, pints, bottles, here we come.