Author Archives: Anne

Healthy Japanese Dinner

I’ve really been inspired to cook more Japanese food lately. It’s healthy, nutritious and delicious. I recently bought a great cookbook called The Essentials of Japanese Cooking by Tokiko Suzuki. It not only contains all of the favorites of my youth, but very details explanations of techniques that really makes a big difference.

I’m excited to keep learning more about Japanese cooking in addition to honing the skills I learned from my mom. Hopefully I’ll be making intricate Japanese meals in a year or so……

Here is dinner from the other night:

Tohbyo (pea shoot) salad with sesame dressing
Just a simple salad of pea shoots, lettuce and tomatoes with a bottled Japanese “diet” sesame dressing that tastes amazing.

Hamachi no kama (broiled yellowtail collar)
Yellotail collar sprinkled with a bit of sake and a lot of salt, broiled and eaten with grated daikon and shoyu.

Tori dango to kabu no nimono (braised chicken balls and turnips) These are chicken meatballs made with lean ground chicken, grated onion, chopped reconsituted shiitake mushrooms, diced carrots and seasonings. They are first poached in hot water before being added to kabu (Japanese turnips, very similar in flavor and texture to daikon) and simmered in a light broth of bonito stock, soy sauce, mirin and sake.
Gobo no kimpira (Burdock Kimpira) Julienned burdock root and carrots are sauteed in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, sake and red chili flakes. I like to use a bit of sesame oil and sesame seeds for extra flavor. My husband and I could eat bowls of this, which would probably be ok since it is very healthy. I used pre-cut frozen burdock which works very well in this. Unfortunately after a long day at work, I hardly have the time to clean, soak and cut a whole burdock myself.

Tagged with Japanese food + Japanese cooking + Healthy cooking

Pizza Pizza!!

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t like pizza. I also think part of the reason that pizza is an internationally loved food is because everyone has a different definition of what exactly “pizza” is.

For me, pizza means an ultra thin yeasty crust that’s crispy on the edges and chewy in the center topped with a light layer of good tomato sauce, a sprinkling of fresh basil and some nice chunks of burrata cheese barely melted. For my friend E, it has to have a medium crust with loads of great pepperoni and chewy cheese- his favorite being the version at The Rainbow in Hollywood. He scoffs at the idea that smoked salmon on flatbread that’s been coated with cream cheese, a la Wolfgang Puck, is even called pizza at all. Some people love deep dish Chicago pizza which, to me, is more like a meat pie than anything else. How anyone can eat more than one or two hunks of that is beyond me. And part of the fun of eating pizza is to seriously chow down, isn’t it?

Speaking of being completely piggish (admit it, you love that segue), my husband and I ate both of the rather large (but THIN- we aren’t total gluttons!) pizzas that I made last Saturday. It was my first attempt at homemade pizza dough which probably puts me years behind most of you, dear readers and fellow cooks. I’ve always daydreamed about making the perfectly flavored, thin pizza crust but I never actually got off my butt to try…..until I caught an episode of “Tyler’s Ultimate” on the Food Network about the “ultimate” pizza. I was barely paying attention until I caught a glimpse of this stern-yet-cheerful chubby Italian woman pouring water into a bowl of flour. She kneaded the dough, put a bunch of gorgeous smoked tomatoes on it, ripped up nice chunks of mozzarella and some fresh basil on top and stuck it in the oven. The resulting pizza looked so utterly delicious, and Tyler, with gushing sincerely, exclaimed that it was “the best pizza I have EVER had in my ENTIRE life.” I believed him. I was hooked…..I was on a mission.

After fruitless pleas to my husband to build me a wood-burning oven in our backyard, I focused my efforts on finding the best ingredients to make my truly authentic Italian pizze. I came back from a trip to Claro’s armed with my Italian “00″ flour (SO excited!!!), a can of Italian tomatoes (I wouldn’t even know where to look for smoked ones), two bottles of flat Italian water and a bag of fresh burrata mozzarella. After picking up a huge batch of basil from TJ’s, I was set. The one thing I couldn’t find was fresh, cubed yeast. Honestly- I don’t even know where to look for it at the market- and I call myself a baker. I’m an embarrassment to the bakers of the world, I know. I had to settle for my little pack of dry yeast instead.

The dough-kneading went quite well and it turned into a nice smooth ball after only a few minutes. I covered it with a towel, put it in a warm place and tried not to peek every five minutes. After about 90, it had risen but not quite as much as I had hoped. So I waited. I combined the canned tomatoes, chopped garlic, a few squeezes of both tomato and anchovy paste (btw, whoever invented the whole food-paste-in-a-tube thing is a genius! Now where’s the chipotle paste in a tube? Where?) and some good olive oil to make the sauce. Checked my precious doughball again to see that it had only grown about another inch. So be it- I took it and rolled it out anyway- and it was very soft and pliable so I remained hopeful. I slathered it with my tomato sauce and put the basil and burrato on and carefully slid it onto my scorching hot pizza stone in the oven. I was giddy with anticipation.

I checked on it after about 15 minutes and saw that it still needed a few more. When it felt right, I pulled out my pizza. It looked nice and thin, the edges looked crisp and it smelled fantastic. Now the negatives- the crust didn’t really brown at all and my poor burrata was melted beyond recognition into yellow/brown discs. Why? Because I didn’t listen to the stern-yet-cheerful chubby Italian woman who made the best pizza Tyler had ever tasted!! She patiently waited to put the basil and cheese on her pizza until after she had baked it for an initial 10 minutes. She then pulled out the almost done pizza, put her toppings on and then slid it back into the oven for just enough time to let the cheese melt into smooth pools of white, not harden into lava rock like mine. I was guilty. I knew I should have listened to Italian Lady- and I learned my lesson.

Ok- so obviously the pizza was still completely edible. My husband poured the wine, I cut the pie and we dug in. Verdict? We LOVED the sauce to which of course I did not write down the exactly recipe but am fairly confident I could replicate again. The crust’s texture was good- crunchy edge and slightly chewy middle. The main problem was a lack of flavor on the crust. There was no great bready flavor. You know how you could have two beautiful baguettes, and one will taste ok and the other just tastes like beautiful, fabulous bread? Well, my crust was the former. It looked like crust, chewed like crust but it just didn’t taste like….well, much of anything.

So again, I implore you, dear readers and fellow pizza makers, to please give me some insight into what makes a crust delicious, golden and bubbly. What makes it taste wonderful? What makes a crust brown (besides heat)? Because I know that my urge to brush the edges with eggwash would have every single Italian grandmother turn over in her grave and converge onto my house. It would be Night of the Living Dead Italian Grandmas. And you know I hate zombie movies. And zombies.

Pizza, Cooking,
Italian Food

Sweet tooth? What sweet tooth?
Caramel Apple Pie

I’ve mentioned several times on this blog that I have a much stronger “salt tooth” than a sweet one. I love salty crunchy things and can usually resist the never-ending flood of office snacks which are almost always chocolate-based. Why doesn’t anyone ever bring tuna sandwiches to share with coworkers? Where’s the baguettes with French butter? I’d be all over it if they did (this also serves as a hint to any of my coworkers who read this blog!).

As much as I love cooking savory food, I find that my pastry endeavors are almost always more visually pleasing. They taste pretty great as well, and the whole process of rolling out dough, cutting cold butter into flour, melting chocolate, cutting out shapes and decorating cakes is so relaxing. I know some pretty fantastic cooks out there who panic at the thought of baking, but to me, it brings out a creativity that is lacking in my regular cooking. Although I would desperately love to have the aesthetic brilliance (and technical cooking skills!) of Chubby Hubby or J of Kuiadore, my savory food usually has more of a rustic vibe to it.

Since I’ve been forgetting to take photos over the last couple of weeks, I’ve decided to post some “greatest hits” so to speak.

A “greatest misses” collection is always in the works and will undoubtedly be posted soon!

hazelnut orange chocolate torte

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

…with sprinkles

Gâteau Basque

Gâteau Basque inside- pastry cream and jam

French Apricot Jam Tart

another angle

Pastry, Baking,
Dessert

An update…….

Just a short entry to apologize for not updating the site this week. There has been so much going on with birthdays (mine, my sister’s and my best friend’s!), out of town guests and the Grammy Awards (I work in TV) that I just haven’t really had the time.

In the meantime, I wanted to post some photos from our dinner at The Water Grill in downtown LA that we had a few weeks back. It is widely touted as being the best seafood restaurant in Los Angeles, and we had enjoyed our previous visit a couple of years ago. However, the head chef left to open his own restaurant, Providence, which has probably taken over the title of Best Seafood in LA. Don’t get me wrong- there was nothing bad about the food but I guess it just didn’t make a huge impression. My husband had the chilled seafood platter and I had the butter poached lobster (sounds luscious, doesn’t it?!) but neither were life changing. Also- what is with foam on everything? Although I appreciate the flavor that sauces give dishes, there is something quite unappealing about the way foam looks. I’m sure I will piss off gourmands the world over when I say that foam reminds me of spit, baby drool and the stuff that drips out of a bulldog’s (let’s call him Cujo) mouth when he barks too much. Why put a big pile of it on something as lovely as lobster? I’d like to stick with reductions, beurre blancs and jus that have not been pumped out of a canister please.

On that note, please enjoy the poor photographs of said foam and other Water Grill delights!
Aforementioned foamy dish….

Life without carbs?

…would be just horrible. If I can’t have bread, I don’t want nobody, baby. But I must admit, I’m quite surprised to learn that a couple of weeks without my yeasty friends aren’t so awful. Planning meals that contain no “bad” carbs is not only easy, but thoroughly enjoyable as it stirred up some creative juices in me. The food has been healthy and frankly, extremely satisfying. Although I am looking forward to a slice of crusty French baguette topped with some pâté in my near future, the last two weeks or so of low- carb eating has enlightened (and hopefully lightened!) me.

Example of a low carb meal from this past week: Bruschetta Halibut, Oyster and Crimini Mushrooms Sautéed with Garlic and White Wine and a green salad.

Bread who?

Low Carb, Cooking

Happy Anniversary

No, not Tuna Toast (since a few months isn’t much to celebrate!).

To my husband, even though I’m posting this a day late, Happy Fourth Anniversary!

I took some photos of the flowers he sent. Not only are they gorgeous but check it out- there are a couple of food elements! The whole thing rests on a beautiful red glass cake platter and there are baby artichokes in the actual bouquet. Very foodcentric!

Flowers

“Macaroni and Cheese Please!”

When my husband made this request for dinner, I was pretty floored. He generally prefers “clean” foods like fish, tofu and vegetables, especially for home cooked meals. I knew what the culprit was- we had spent a lazy afternoon loafing on the sofa, watching the Food Network on which Giada or Dave Lieberman (I can’t remember who) whipped up a luscious version of the dish favored by children all over the U.S. Another reason for craving the cheesy stuff was that he hadn’t been feeling well all weekend and wanted a big dose of comfort food. What could be more comforting than mac ‘n cheese? I jumped at the opportunity and headed out to Trader Joe’s.

I returned with all the fixin’s- half & half, parmesan, fontina, cheddar and gruyere. I was crushed to see that TJ’s doesn’t sell macaroni so I had to get penne instead since I was low on time. I preceded to make the béchamel and added some mustard powder and a pinch of grated nutmeg to the mix. I combined that in a huge bowl with the al dente penne and four grated cheeses, topped it with buttered panko and popped it in the oven.

Needless to say- it came out all brown/buttery/crunch on top and oozing with cheese in the middle. A nice scoop of that plus a green salad and wine made the perfect Saturday night comfort meal. I can’t make a habit of cooking like this (calling Paula Deen!), but it was well worth the calories and the smile on my husband’s face! And don’t even get me started on the crispy brown edges. That might be my last meal request if I ever get one- “Crispy brown edges of baked macaroni and cheese.”

Somtimes, ya just gotta treat yourself!

Cooking
Comfort food

“BURI NAI!”

When I lived in Japan, especially during the first two years or so when I couldn’t really speak the language, I’d have the occasional run-in with a rude person. I think some Japanese people treated me badly because they figured if I was living in their country, maybe I should learn how to communicate more clearly. Some people were just…..scared. I mean, I don’t want to assume something negative about anyone, and I can only make observations based on my personal experience. On more than one occasion, a customer at Tower Records (where I used to work) would come up behind me and say “sumimasen” (excuse me) and then scurry off when I’d turn around and show my gaijin face- my black hair probably tricked them into thinking I was Japanese. I am half-Japanese but I guess my caucasian side is a bit stronger in my facial features. Now I’m not saying that anyone would ever mistake me for Phoebe Cates, but I’m hardly Jabba The Hut’s twin sister. I could only assume that my gaijinness was the culprit that made the customer turn away and run for the hills.

After I became fluent in spoken Japanese, life got much easier. My tolerance for such behavior also declined as the years wore on and I became more comfortable in my surroundings.

Now that I’m back in the US, in Los Angeles no less, that feeling of shame/embarrasment/frustration is a distant and faded memory….or so I thought.

Last Saturday, I decided that I wanted to make a Japanese feast for dinner and invited my good friends M and R who I met in Tokyo and now live here. I went to Mistuwa Market in downtown LA and gleefully pushed my mini cart (just like in Japan!) around the vast supermarket. I knew I wanted some sashimi, a salad or some sort and then check out what looked good that was on sale. But the one thing I was dead set on making was Buri Daikon. Buri is an older yellowtail, and buri daikon is buri no ara (head, tail, various leftover pieces/bones from the fish) stewed with daikon in a lightly sweetened soy broth.

I went to the fish section and looked through the rather large pile of packaged ara from various types of fish. Since the type of fish isn’t written on the label, and each package contains different parts, I had to ask which was which. The fish monger was standing right near me so I asked politely what this type was, and he chirped “Sake!” (salmon). I chose another pack and asked again, to which he replied “HIRAME!” (Halibut). So finally I just asked him “Buri no ara arimasuka?” (do you have buri no ara?) to which he practically barked “BURI NAI!” (NO BURI!) and then turned and walked off. I decided to just skip the fish section for now and get my ground chicken over on the other side of the store. After about 10 minutes, I returned to the fish section and the same fish monger had brought out a cart full of new fish to put in the display. He walked away from the cart momentarily so I darted over to check it out- and sure enough, there was the hamachi no ara. Ok- so hamachi is not exactly buri but they are both yellowtail. Hamachi is simply younger. I grabbed the package and went halfway down the next aisle, from where I could see the grumpy fish monger being as polite and mild mannered as friggin Julie Andrews to a Japanese customer. I thought about going up to him and yelling something about customer service but I wasn’t sure how large my Japanese Curse Word Vocabulary was (plus, I go there all the time and I wouldn’t want to be 86′d) so I didn’t.

By the time I was eating the Buri Daikon (or Hamachi Daikon if we want to get all techincal!) the anger had left me and my belly was stuffed with lots of Japanese goodies. I went a little overboard but I think it was my way of making up for my lack of Japanese cooking lately. In addition to the buri we had salmon and toro sashimi, shimesaba which my mom made for New Year’s, toriniku no isobe-ni (chicken rolled in nori) which I got from this site, sunamono (wakame,cucumber & fake crab salad), ingen no goma-ae (green beans with sesame paste), mugi gohan (rice w/ barley), astuyaki tamago (egg block) and pickled zai-sai.

I know this sounds immature, but there was a part of me that wished the fish monger could see the meal- only to prove that I’m not some ugly gaijin- which is a weird thought considering we are in Los Angeles, NOT Japan! I guess I’ll just take comfort in knowing that he was actually the one being an ugly gaijin.

ingen no goma-ae

astuyaki tamago

shimesaba

toriniku no isobe-ni
toro and sake sashimi

sunamono

Buri Daikon

Tagged with Japanese food + Japanese cooking

Sugar Free Friday #15

When Sam from the venerable Becks & Posh announced that this month’s Sugar High Friday would be a challenge in making sweets without the calories/fat, I was thrilled. Do you remember the TV commercial for Nutrigrain bars where a woman’s butt consisted of two giant cinnamon rolls? Well, that is how I felt after the holidays and I vowed to lose a few pounds…which isn’t easy when you’re in the food blog universe. However, I knew it had to be done and challenged myself to the South Beach Diet, which I’ve been on for exactly 4 1/2 days. The first two weeks are the most difficult – no carbs which means no flour, sugar and grains. And let me tell you- I am a bread girl. I went shopping last Sunday and stocked up on various lite cheeses, lean meats, veggies and a few backups like some sugar free Jello cups and South Beach Diet frozen meals in case I got lazy.

The last 4 1/2 days have actually been pretty easy- the key is to make everything yourself. I had one of the frozen meals for lunch but realized that homemade low-carb is SO much better, and you can eat more volume for the same amount of calories as a boxed meal. Mashed cauliflower is a favorite I’ve been making for awhile now- it honestly fills that need for carbs! I made a big batch of it over the weekend and ate it throughout the week along with some chicken marsala and green beans, baked chicken coated in almond meal/parmesan (instead of bread crumbs) or baked salmon with peppers and onions. All of it was delicious. But a girl can’t live without dessert right? Now for the results of the Sugar (not) Free Friday challenge…

Normally, I wouldn’t just substitute Splenda or Equal to make a light dessert, but since I am on the low-carb diet I have to stay away from all sources of sugar- including honey, maple syrup, agave nectar, etc. I didn’t want my creation to simply taste like an overly-fake-sweet version of the real deal so I was cautious with the amount of Splenda that I used. Using any sort of flour at this stage of the diet is also a no-no so any baked goods were out of the question. I decided to make panna cotta and used low-carb vanilla yogurt, fat free half & half, a few packets (not cups, packets!) of Splenda and half of a vanilla bean. I wasn’t sure if the lack of fat content would make it watery. I dissolved the gelatin, combined the ingredients, poured the mixture into ramekins and waited.

The next day I eagerly took one of the ramekins out, unmolded it and topped it with a fruit compote (frozen berries + 1 packet of Splenda) for the photo’s sake (I can’t have fruit either but hey- what’s the harm of one bite?). Took the photos, and then tasted. Wow. I have to say- it was delicious! Creamy and smooth with an undeniable vanilla taste. It was not overly sweet and had a pleasant yogurt undertone. The main thing was the texture- it was so satisfyingly creamy. It reminded me of eating melted ice cream, and at under 80 calories per serving, it was a treat I could live with! The aftertaste of Splenda was faint at best, although I am probably used to it from having in my coffee every morning.

I have to thank Sam for the challenge- it resulted in a light dessert that I actually look forward to making again. I suppose you could use any flavored low-carb yogurt but the vanilla flavor mixed with both vanilla extract and vanilla bean is one of the high points of this dessert.

Note: I was in a bit of a hurry so I didn’t cool the fruit compote before putting it on the panna cotta, which resulted in the panna cotta cracking a bit under the heat!

Vanila Bean Yogurt Panna Cotta
(makes 6 servings)

2 TBS water
1 1/2 teaspoons unfavored gelatin
2 cups fat free half & half
1 1/4 cups low-carb or sugar free lite vanilla yogurt (I used Dannon’s Lite & Fit)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean
4 packets of Splenda

Pour the water over the gelatin to dissolve (about 12 minutes). In a large bowl mix one cup of the half & half, all of the yogurt and vanilla extract. Scrape the vanilla beans out of the pod and add them to the remaining half & half along with the Splenda and heat mixture in a small saucepan. Pour mixture over the yogurt mixture and stir to combine. Pour into 6, 4 ounce ramekins and refrigirate until set (overnight is best).

To unmold, set each ramekin in a shallow bowl of warm water for a few seconds, place plate over the ramekin and flip over. Top with any fruit compote or preserves you like.

Nutritional info per serving (without fruit):
Calories: 78.8
Fat: 1.25 g
Carbs: 9.2 g

Weight Watchers Points per serving: 1.5

Enjoy!

Tagged with: SHF # 15 + Low Sugar

Too Much Information Meme

Obachan, from Obachan’s Kitchen & Balcony Garden tagged me for Too Much Information Meme. The idea is simply to make a list of 10 facts (funny, quirky, whatever) about yourself. I doubt this will interest anyone, but here goes! I am supposed to tag five people, so I will email some fellow bloggers- The Wednesday Chef, Cynthia/Food Migration, Joe/Culinary in the Desert, Santos/Taste of Green Bananas and Michèle/Oswego Tea (hope you all don’t mind!). We’ll see if this carries on into the food blog universe.

1) I could eat French Onion Sun Chips all the live long day (but I won’t……I do have some dignity).

2) I brought my cat, Cory, back from Japan with me when I moved back to the USA in 2000. She has a short little tail that people always accuse me of cutting off (could you imagine??!?!) but a lot of Japanese cats have short, stubby tails and I have no interest in cutting off animal tails.

3) I love Elliott Smith, Elvis Costello (back when he was angry), The Like, The Pixies, Jesus and Mary Chain and many others. My love of music started with my parents’ Abba records (who’s didn’t?!) and a Wham! Make It Big cassette I got for 11th birthday.

4) I’ve been to France, Italy, Canada, Mexico and Japan and feel that Vancouver BC and Nice, France are two of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I’d love to go to Croatia one day.

5) Although I could never narrow any one food to being my “favorite,” I have a penchant for well-made sandwiches (tuna being a favorite), kohada sushi, gyoza with a crunchy bottom crust, bi bim bap (but it MUST be in the hot stone bowl or it’s not bi bim bap to me!!), pappardelle w/ boar or lamb ragu, DORIA (a dish I miss so much- basically a rice casserole served at many cafes in Japan), thin crust margherita pizza, foie gras torchon w/ toast points, green beans, kumamoto oysters and criossants.

6) Liquids I love: Rochioli Pinot Noir (for special occassions), Lavazza coffee, Billecart Salmon brut champagne, mugicha (barley tea), green tea w/ jasmine, water and Vitamin Water in Revive (the purple one).

7) I have a sort of “missed the boat” mentality- I overthink things so much that I am still trying to decide whether to do something while an opportunity presents itself…..and then that opportunity is gone while I am still……thinking about it. A habit I’d like to break in 2006!!!

8) I’m completely addicted to cooking magazines (Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Cooking Light, Food & Wine) and cooking shows- Everyday Italian, Barefoot Contessa, Dave Lieberman, Michael Chirarello and Iron Chef. However, Giada’s “crunchy, chewy, gooey and sweet!” adjective overdrive makes me batty and Michael will be off my list if he keeps calling cilantro “cilanTHRO.” Ugh! The BEST cooking/food show on television is Dotchi No Ryori Show (translates into Which One Cooking Show). Japanese celebs have to sit in a kitchen studio while 2 MCs with 2 cooking teams make 2 different dishes- it’s a battle of which dish wins. For example, last week was bi bim bap versus crab fried rice. Hungry celebs watch both chefs make the ULTIMATE version of both dishes, then must pick one dish by pushing a button while their eyes are closed. Majority wins and gets to eat. The losers just get to watch.

9) My husband is a musician.

10) I am an identical twin.