Author Archives: Anne

JAPAN, Part 1- Baked Goods

Finally getting around to posting after a nice, long vacation to Japan. I have to say it was one of the best vacations of my life. We did everything possible in the 10 days that we had and ate our way around Tokyo, Osaka and a one-night stay at at ryokan in Fukui. I took no less than 400 photos (I am half-Japanese, after all, and you know how we love to take photos!) so I plan to break up Japan Eats report into several stages.

Stage 1 is my Ode to Pan. Pan is bread in Japanese (and Spanish, coincidentally) and Japan is filled to the brim with some of the best toast, pastries and sandwiches on the planet. There is a French bakery on almost every corner and no less than three in almost every depa-chika, which, literally translated, means department store basement. Most major department stores boast a basement filled with everything your foodie heart could ever desire. Counters piled high with designer cookies (that actually taste good), glass cases showing off fat Chinese dumplings and sticks of yakitori shiny with sweet soy glaze, salespeople waving numerous samples of the latest juice or wine in your face….it’s all so overwhelming….yet you feel like you’ve died and gone to Food Heaven. So many choices and not enough stomach space to even accommodate 1/100 of all that the store contains. My eyes would dart back and forth between the perfectly fried, panko-coated korokkes and the freshly baked blueberry loaves dripping with still-warm icing. What on earth is a girl to do?

Well, what my stomach couldn’t hold, my camera certainly could so I simply snapped away at anything that looked good, which was….well…..everything. I’m sure some of the salespeople thought it was strange that I was taking multiple photos of a single yakisoba roll, but I had to share with you, faithful readers (if there are any of you left after my long absence!) all of the beauties that lie within the Japanese depa-chika. Well, maybe not all of them in this single post but we will start with what I consider to be one of the stars, if not the star, of the whole depa-chika show….the gorgeous and plentiful bread.

Break me off a piece of that!

Of course, a bakery isn’t the only place you’d find fantastic bread in Japan. Just go to any kissaten (coffee shop) for breakfast and most offer several “morning sets,” each offering some variation on an egg, coffee and a nice, thick slice of buttered toast. Ah, the thick Japanese toast. For those of you who have been to Japan or have been a the Japanese grocery store, you know the wonder that is The Thick Japanese Toast. Crispy and buttery on the outside and mochi mochi (soft and chewy) on the inside, it’s one of my all-time favorite things to eat and the base of the namesake of this blog. I did order tuna toast once, but unfortunately it wasn’t the best version of my beloved dish since it had way too much cheese on it. Yes, sometimes there is such a thing as too much cheese.

An extra gooey version of tuna toast

Anyway, please enjoy the photos of the lovely pan and pastries. More Japan reports to come!

Department store baker, busy at work.

Mo-ning seto!

Sugar toast, salmon sandwich and fried egg (with perfectly medium-runny middle!) sandwich

Perfectly organized

Bread w/ cheese and ham inside…mmmmmmm

Sticky sweet goodness

Are you feeling full yet?

So much bread, so little time….

Japan, Japanese shopping

UPDATE!

I am just leaving Japan now but I promise to post soon- I took way too many photos and ate tons of great food. It may actually take me a year to blog about all of my experiences but I will try my best to get it all out. O tanoshimi!

See you on blog very soon!

-TAG

Vacation Mode

I haven’t blogged in the last few days because, although I don’t leave until Friday, my brain is already in complete vacation mode. I have two more days at work before taking off to Tokyo and Osaka for 10 days, and all I can think about is about seeing my Obaachan, hanging out with friends, eating loads of great food and consuming lots of beer and sake.

Needless to say, I haven’t really been cooking this week since we have to eat what we have in the refrigerator….which isn’t really a lot. The other night, this was dinner:

Chinois Chicken Salad

Chinois Chicken Salad is probably one of my all-time favorite salads on the planet. I first got a taste of it at the Wolfgang Puck Express on 3rd Street Promenade when the artist management company I used to work for had an office there. I probably ate it every other day for a month before finally trying the other stuff on the menu. For “fast food,” that place has truly good food- from the wood-fired pizzas to the delicate pastas and, of course, this perfect salad.

Another lets-clean-the-fridge-out meal was this:

Baguette with tuna salad and tomatoes + smoked turkey & pepper jack cheese. Sometimes I just love to eat like this, especially in warm weather.

So yes, I have been kind of lazy in the kitchen department but I’m just preparing myself for the okonomiyaki, doria, katsu donburi, sushi, tuna toast (ah yeah!), kari kari cheezu, kabocha korokke and other goodies (I know, that is A LOT of food!) that I will be consuming over the next 10 days.

I will try my best to post about my Japan eating adventures while I am there, but that probably depends on how much sake I have;). If anyone reading this lives in Tokyo or Osaka and has any “must eats” they’d like to share with me, I’d appreciate it!!

Matta ne! See you from Tokyo!

Chinese Long Beans

These hearty, long beans have been a favorite of mine at Chinese restaurants but I had never purchased them myself. On my maiden voyage to 99 Ranch Market in Monterey Park last weekend, I saw these among the many unfamiliar vegetables and quickly put one bunch into my basket. On a related note: I need to look into getting a very authentic Chinese and Thai cookbooks. The assortment of spices, fermented tofu, fish, vegetables, chilies, snacks and other items at 99 Ranch Market just completely, utterly boggled my mind. I wanted to buy everything but had no clue what 80% of the stuff was so I figure I’d better do more research before buying a bounty of products. Any cookbook recommendations would be appreciated.

Since I had never made the long beans before, I looked up several recipes and basically learned that they can be prepared like green beans. I combined a couple of the recipes that sounded good and ended up with steamed and then sautéed long beans with crushed peanuts and onion. It was seasoned with only a slight amount of soy sauce, garlic and a touch of rice vinegar. It was delicious and I just loved the meatiness of the long beans compared to regular green beans.

Long beans with peanuts

With that I served some teriyaki’d beef tenderloin (another purchase at the market- $5.00 a pound!), a simple salad with goma dressing and some sliced sourdough baguette. I know the last item doesn’t sound like it would fit into the bunch but it went quite well with the savory steaks since we didn’t serve rice.

Teriyaki tenderloin

If any of you have any great recipes for long beans, please share the wealth!

Cooking

Biscuits ‘N Eggs

The other day, J and I had a total hankering for something carby. We wanted anything in the bread family but alas- there was not one member left in our house. No tortillas, no bread of any sort….not even any crackers. When he jokingly suggested that I make some bread, I just looked at him like he was bonkers and snorted, “Er, yeah…just make some bread right now?” Maybe in an alternate universe where bread could be made in 10 minutes. We wanted bread and we wanted it now!

After another run-through of the pantry, I realized that I had some Trader Joe’s (no, I don’t work for them!) Buttermilk Pancake and Baking Mix. Score! I also had some buttermilk leftover in the fridge- score #2!! I quickly mixed the two and added a nice handful of green onions, a pat of butter and a generous scoop of grated parmesan. Ten minutes in the toaster oven at 400 degrees and presto- I had my carbs!

Piping hot green onion & parmesan drop-biscuits

The biscuits were extremely light and fluffy and the tang of the parmesan mixed with the freshness of the green onions was absolutely addictive. I cut the biscuits in half lengthwise and topped each with a medium poached egg and a dollop of salsa. Breakfast heaven!

Poached eggs make anything taste better

There is no greater motivator than a major craving!

Baking

Trust Your Instincts

More times than not, I find that when the little voice in my head starts talking, I should listen to it. For example, when I get in my car and I think to myself, Did I bring my sunglasses? but I don’t check immediately to see if I did, I didn’t bring them. By the time I finally look in my purse, I’m half way to work with the sun glaring in my eyes. Should’ve listened to The Voice.

Why don’t I learn from my mistakes? The other day I was looking for a recipe to use the shrimp and Chinese noodles that I bought and came upon one for which I had every single ingredient- YES! Spicy Chinese Noodles With Shrimp sounded fresh, healthy and delicious. I could also add the nira chives that I had to it as well as some leftover cilantro. I was excited to try it and got to work.

Did I say I had everything in my pantry? Well, the recipe called for hot paprika and all I had was regular, Hungarian smoked sweet and Hungarian smoked hot. The hot one sounded good, but then The Voice started murmuring, “You know how strong Hungarian Smoked HOT paprika is….” but then the Other Voice said “Oh, just use it- it’s the closest thing you have to regular hot.”

After spending 25 minutes beheading and shelling the shrimp, I mixed all of the spices together, chopped the nira chives and onions and got my wok blazing hot. It smelled good and looked fantastic- visually it looked just like Pad Thai, even though it was a completely different dish. I piled up two nice portions on my new, square white plates (you’ll be seeing more of them!) and proudly took them out to the table.

Looks good……tastes bad…..

One bite in, I could feel the burn of the paprika but couldn’t detect any of the other flavors. What happened to my best friend, Garlic? Where was the freshly grated ginger? They were all sucked up by the Hungarian, that’s where. It wasn’t Chinese at all- even the usually powerful fish sauce was only faint in its presence. I knew I should have listened to The Voice.

Two isn’t better than one….

We picked out the shrimp and left most of the noodles. Sure- it looks great but mentally, you almost want it to taste like Pad Thai since it looks so much like it. The blast of spicy, smokey paprika is not what you expect from a dish like this.

Must listen to The Voice!!!

The Godfather, Guacamole and Margaritas

Sometimes, after a particularly draining week, I just don’t feel like cooking or even going out to eat (stop the presses!). I love to just come home on Friday, slip on my sweats, pour a glass of wine and relax. I could tell that last Friday was going to be one of those nights when I was clock-watching from about 3:00 pm onward. I had a date with my sofa and didn’t really feel like making dinner at all.

Just as I was about to leave work, my husband pops up on the instant messenger with “I feel like a margarita.” Not such an unusual request for most of you, faithful readers, but it was for me since we drink wine about 99.9% of the time. Sure, I have some hard liquor in my pantry but it’s usually reserved for cooking or baking. J then chimed in with “ooooh, guacamole sounds good too.” I could do that, I thought. In fact, that sounded like the perfect end-of-the-week-stay-at-home idea. I just hoped that there were ripe avocados at the market.

On my way to the store, I phoned J’s friend Kid T who is rumored to have the best margarita recipe this side of….well, just the best around, I guess. He gave me the list of ingredients and I picked everything up in one stop. Lucky me- there was a sale on avocados- $10 for 10! And there were plenty of ultra ripe ones which I quickly picked out of the pile.

I arrived home and whipped up the guacamole with the avocados, lime juice, chopped onion, chopped tomato, dried cilantro (drat! the store was out of fresh!), garlic, diced jalapeno peppers and salt/pepper. I followed Kid T’s margarita recipe to a T and wow- it was simple, refreshing and packed quite the punch.

In another stroke of luck, the American Movie Classics channel was showing The Godfather and The Godfather II back to back! Although we’ve both seen them a dozen times, we just couldn’t resist the Power of Pachino. We hunkered down with our vat of guacamole, made a toast to Fridays, and had a blast.

Dinner is served……..

Who says dinner has to contain the four food groups?

Kid T’s Famous Margaritas

1.5 ounces GOOD tequila (I personally love Cazadores- of course Patron Silver is great but expensive).
1 ounces Cointreau or Grand Marnier (I use Cointreau)
2.5 ounces of freshly squeezed lime juice
2 TBS simple syrup
ice

Put all ingredients in a shaker with ice, pour over ice in glasses.

Note: if it is too tart for your taste, add more simple syrup as necessary.

Margaritas

Review: Mike & Anne’s Restaurant, South Pasadena

While perusing the internet a couple months back, my husband stumbled upon news of a new restaurant opening in South Pasadena. He told me that it was scheduled to open in April and we were both excited at the prospect of a new, “nice” dining place so close to our house.

Grilled asparagus

Mike & Anne’s Restaurant opened this past Monday, so we decided to give it a try after strolling around the Thursday Farmer’s Market and buying waaaay too many grapefruit. We walked in at around 7:00 pm and a few tables were occupied in the airy, modern and well-lit place. We were seated promptly and given the menu. We had checked the menu online and were disappointed to see that the current menu is about 50% smaller although I’m sure they plan to increase the number of items soon.

Fritters

We decided to start with the Zucchini Parmesan Fritters. My husband ordered the Vegetable Cassoulet with Grilled Ciabatta as his main while I chose to have two starters- the Grilled Asparagus w/ Manchego, Black Pepper, Sherry Honey Vinaigrette and the Grilled Bratwurst w/ Mustard & Red Cabbage. Our very nice waitress opened the Cotes-Du-Ventoux which we purchased at Nicole’s earlier. The restaurant does have a small wine list and charges $10 corkage, although they have a Monday-Tuesday special of free corkage on any wine purchased at Mission Wines, right down the street.

Bratwurst

We sat back and awaited our appetizer while trying to see what other people were eating. The portions looked generous and we were excited for our meal. We were given a small bread plate with three slices of nice French bread and creamy unsalted butter. Shortly thereafter, a different waitress came up with three plates saying “vegetable cassoulet?” I told her that we had ordered the fritters to start and she just looked confused. I told her again so she took everything back into the kitchen and started talking to the chef. After a minute or so, she came back with the same three dishes (our mains) so I once again asked about the appetizers. Finally, our waitress came over and apologized about forgetting to put the order in for the fritters but that they would be brought out soon.

Vegetable cassoulet

Our dishes looked very nice, and we dug in. The cassoulet was well-flavored although the portion seemed small for a main dish- we looked around to see other customers noshing on very large portions of the pork chops and John Dory. Anyway, my bratwurst came cut into 4 pieces and resting on a long, narrow and thick piece of grilled ciabatta which was topped with the braised red cabbage. It looked nice, but it just didn’t really work. The bread was rock solid and difficult to cut and chew. The bratwurst was fine and the accompanying mustard and apple puree were nice but I guess when someone orders a bratwurst, you expect a nice hulking link of sausage (stop laughing) -not an unstable, arty presentation of one. My grilled asparagus was again, fine, although there was only a fine sprinkling of grated manchego and the vinaigrette was overly sweet. We got the fritters which were deceivingly golden brown since they provided no crunch at all and had the texture of clouds, which usually wouldn’t be a bad thing but aren’t fritters supposed to be crispy on the outside? We finished off the meal with their cheese plate which I thought was excellent- the St, Augur Bleu, Garlic Black Pepper, Aged Gouda served with Fig Jam , Micro Arrugula and Chestnut Honey were all delicious.

Cheese plate

Although it wasn’t the best dining experience, I have to say that I can’t be too hard on a place that just opened a few days ago. The service was sincere and they even comp’d the fritters since they came at the end of the meal. I think we will give it a month and try again- hopefully it will turn into a great neighborhood restaurant.

1040 mission street, suite 102
South Pasadena, CA
626.799.7199

Crispy Baked Chicken

I will be the first to admit that I scowl at recipes which include ingredients like Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup or other packaged, processed foods. There’s a series of commercials called “Food Bites” that annoys me to no end- “Want an easy dinner? Take a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, mix it in with your favorite mayonnaise, spread it on some salmon filets and bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Serve with a side of green beans. A quick and easy dinner your family will love!” ‘Scuse me? What family are you talking about coz my family would probably toss that salmon out of the window. I’m all for quick and easy but I’m not about to open a packet of powder, dump it on some meat and call it dinner.

That said, I do use one ingredient from time to time that might sort of be related to the concept of using a canned soup as a sauce. Corn flakes. Yup- regular ‘ol Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. Although it is pre-made, I can’t say that it’s exactly the same as the aforementioned Food Bites type of cooking. Where did I first get the idea to use corn flakes as breading? RICK BAYLESS! That’s right- he of the Topolobampo Restaurant, multiple cookbooks and James Beard Award Winning fame. Just call him Mr. Gourmet Mexican Cooking. Now don’t get the wrong idea- Rick didn’t actually give me the idea like, talking to me on the phone or anything (hello?! Do you think I actually know him?). I was flipping through his Mexico: One Plate At A Time when I came across a grouper recipe that sounded scrumptious. And yes- it was coated with crushed CORN FLAKES. I made it for a family dinner and it turned out to be one of my biggest hits ever.

Keeping that recipe in mind, I once again purchased some corn flakes when I got a sudden hankering for some fried chicken. Since I’m on a pseudo-diet until my trip to Japan in two weeks (trust me- being in a sea of little people makes you feel like a behemoth!) I figured that deep fried meat probably shouldn’t be on my menu. After all, I have to save the deep-fried-meat-eating for all of the katsu that I plan to consume once I actually get to Japan!! Anyway, I bought some boneless, skinless chicken breasts, marinated them in buttermilk mixed with garlic, and then dredged them in a mixture of corn flakes, salt, pepper, dried basil, cayenne, garlic powder and dried thyme. After placing the chicken on a baking sheet and spraying them with a bit of cooking spray, I baked them for about 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Mmmmmmmm…….crunchy!

The results? Crunchier than regular fried chicken, it really filled that need for something deep fried. The coating tends to break off a bit if you don’t cut your chicken carefully, but the flavor and crunch were really extraordinary and I’d definitely make it again.

Serve with broccolli for a complete meal!

I’m still allowed to turn my nose up at things like the Creamy Mushroom Soup Chicken Bake right?

Chicken dishes, Cooking

Second life: Risotto Cakes

As much as I love vegetables, whole grains and water, I have to admit that I’m a sucker for anything creamy, cheesy, crispy and rich. Luckily my parents raised my sister and I to pretty much eat anything that was put in front of us (although I still can’t eat natto) so I love a wide variety of foods. Sure, nothing beats a freshly picked tomato with just a sprinkle of good sea salt and drizzle of olive oil on a hot summer day, but I could eat onions rings any day of the year. Ditto for pizza, tuna toast, croissants or foie gras. Who needs a good excuse to eat fat? This girl needs none, although fear of obesity is a pretty good motivator to keep the fat intake at a reasonable level.

Fry them up in a pan…….

To fulfill my need for creamy, I made risotto for Easter a couple of weeks back. Since there was quite a bit leftover, I simply tossed it in a tupperware and put it in the freezer, knowing exactly what I’d do with it. I think, subconsciously, I made the risotto for Easter knowing that I could reincarnate the leftovers into the one thing I’d been craving for a long time: risotto cakes. I mean, what’s to dislike about cheesy risotto, breaded and fried and swimming in a pool of warm marinara?? Nothing, I tell you. Although I’ve had risotto cakes in various restaurants, I had never made them myself. Now was my chance!!!

I only ate two……..for the first serving…

I took the defrosted risotto, diced some of the larger pieces of shrimp in it and added some grated pecorino romano. I also added one small, beaten egg and then patted the mixture into 1/4 cup-sized cakes, which proved a bit messy but I got the hang of it after the 4th one. After dredging first in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, I shallow fried them in some canola oil and then plated them with the marinara. The end result was everything I had ever dreamed of- a crunchy, crispy shell which broke open to release the hot, creamy risotto. I can’t even tell you how good it was! I think I will have to make risotto more often simply to have the chance to make these cakes again.

As Robyn would say, “INNARDS!”

Now excuse me while I hit the treadmill;)

Risotto cakes, Cooking