10-16-2012

When I was growing up, little to no emphasis was put on seasonal foods. When I moved to Japan, the lack of apple cider, caramel apples, elephant ears and even candy canes stood out in my mind against the Japanese seasonal advertising.  Now that I'm in Canada, the lack of readily-available Japanese seasonal foods is saddening, but not a huge problem.

Different from the orange jack-o-lantern pumpkins we're all familiar with, kabocha (かぼちゃ - Japanese pumpkin) are small, have dark green skin and taste mildly sweet when ripe. Kabocha soup is an autumn staple in Japan, served alongside everything from salads to fried rice.

To make your own, find a kabocha at the market.  They're becoming more common in everyday grocery stores and are usually fresh with the squash in the produce section.  Try to find a good-sized one, about 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter.  You'll only need half for the recipe, so if you can only find smaller ones, that's fine too.

かぼちゃスープ Kabocha Soup
1/2 kabocha, seeds removed (save the seeds for toasting!)
1/2 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 chicken bullion cubes
2 cups water
1 cup milk
salt & pepper to taste (optional)

Wrap the cut end of the kabocha with plastic wrap and heat it in the microwave for four minutes, wrap-side down. Carefully (it's hot!!!) remove the green skin and slice the kabocha thinly.  Discard the skins or reserve for composting.  Heat the butter or margarine in a pan and sauté the onions on medium-high heat until they begin to soften.  Before the onions begin to brown, add the kabocha and sauté just until kabocha begins browning, being careful to avoid burning the onions.  Add the chicken bullion and water and simmer until kabocha is softened (it looks darker when it's cooked).  Use an immersion blender or food processor to purée the soup, then return to the pan.  Stir in the milk and add pepper and/or salt to taste.

Personally, I don't add any salt or pepper, but your tastes may differ.  Sometimes I also put a spring of parsley on top for color.  The swirl on top in the photo is milk drizzled from a spoon.

7-24-2012

Moo Cow loves lemon meringue pie, so today's experiment was in making mini versions that look like cupcakes.  The lemon curd and meringue turned out super tasty, but the chocolate biscuit base was a bit bitter for our tastes.  The meringue was also a little overwhipped and it cracked, but it still tasted divine.

08-09-2011

I have always loved biscotti.  They're the adult version of cookies and milk (don't tell anyone, I still eat cookies and milk too!).  Like cookies, they can be made in almost any flavor and can be dipped in a variety of things or left plain.  These are chocolate-orange and cranberry biscotti.

08-01-2011

One of the things I hate in this world is coffee.  It smells great and tastes like plumbing.  Bitter plumbing.  Anyway, for those who do like coffee, these buns are pretty little mocha twists with almonds on top.  I'm going to try substituting green tea powder or even black tea for the mocha next time.

07-30-2011

After making the Limone, it got me thinking how I could vary the recipe to make similar filled breads.  I thought about making curry bread and other things, but just wasn't feeling it.  Sweet bread it is.  Here's a cute, little strawberry milk bun, with creamy insides and fresh strawberry slices on top.

07-25-2011

For some reason Japan thinks of Italy when it's summer.  The summer-themed breads at my school are all Italian-inspired this time around.  These lemon cream-filled buns aren't Italian in my opinion, but they are good. The #1 producer of lemons is currently India, where they are thought to have originated.  Italy is #10, but they were first introduced to Europe through southern Italy.  Maybe they were thinking lemon granita!  Anyway, this recipe was exceptionally interesting because it's my first truly filled bun.  This has so many possibilities!

See a variation inspired by this recipe here.

07-19-2011

Pumpkins are fantastic.  You can make art from them, eat the flesh, eat the seeds and so much more.  There are varieties of pumpkins from all over the place, it's great.  The Japanese version, also known as a kabocha, have dark green skin and are smaller than the orange jack-o-lantern varieties.  They're also sweeter, making them perfect for these ultra-sweet pumpkin braids.

07-11-2011

Fish paste weirds me out.  It doesn't matter if it's the shrimp paste Moo Cow uses in his seafood pasta or the anchovy paste in these, it's weird.  But I'll concede it tasted good in these sunny rings.  Part of the summer series at my cooking school, they were named Il Sol, the Italian word for their sunny influence.

07-05-2011

Summer in Japan is defined by fireworks, street food and summer festival games.  This dessert is supposed to resemble the water balloon yo-yos kids get at summer festivals.  It's also made using gelatin and plastic wrap, hmmm.

06-27-2011

Why these cookies were being offered as a class in June I will never know, because I'm certain they're almond Christmas cookies.  They sure taste heavy like Christmas.  Anyway, Christmas in July then.  Although I don't think they know what that is in Japan...

06-26-2011

In an attempt to eat healthier, as well as preventing spoilage, I'm trying to combine as many fresh ingredients as possible.  Seems like a no-brainer, right?  Not in Japan, not always.

06-21-2011

Japan loves to cook with liqueur.  I think they believe alcohol is luxurious, which would explain the drinking culture here in Tokyo.  Anyway, this orange custard is flavored with Cointreau and can curl your toes while you're making it if you get too close after heating.

It was also a test of my knife skills.  Have you ever cut a half an orange into twelve slices?  I have and nearly got myself a few times, even with safe knife precautions.  A task for a mandolin?  Are they sharp enough to cut oranges?

6-13-2011

The summer seasonal bread classes are truly exceptional. Some of the rotating menus they choose are awful, but I'm very impressed with the Italian-influenced offerings this time around.

This bread is based on semolina flour and olive oil and has olives and chopped bacon inside, making a very pasta-like feeling. It's also a very soft bread, but still has the crust of a real bread. I will definitely make this again.

6-7-2011

This bread really should be called Spicy Bacon Tomato, because Spicy Tomato doesn't really cover the flavors.  The centers are filled with bacon pieces and ground black pepper for a punch.  Ketchup is mixed into the dough to add the tomato flavor and some color.  They were lovely but I wish the bacon hadn't browned so much.

6-1-2011

Does anyone else love blueberries? The blueberry cream filling these is simply divine.  The mint wilts pretty quickly, but the rest is nice.  Frozen blueberries are mixed into the bread dough also.

Fun fact: Mirtillo is Italian for blueberry.

5-30-2011

After re-evaluating my goals with this blog, I've opted to make these posts whenever I have something worthwhile to share, not necessarily every day.  This should bring up the overall quality of the photos here.  I hope you enjoy!

Today I decided to make something for myself. The odd thing is, once the truffles were done, I didn't like the richness of the chocolate. Oh well, white chocolate next time. This jacket with the wings is also one of my favorite jackets.

05-24-2011

Today's cooking school project was berry cheese tartlets. They're filled with mixed berry jam and lemon cream cheese.  The dough was very brioche-like, sweet and buttery.

05-22-2011

On this lovely Sunday kitchen experimentation was on the docket.  This is similar to hummus, but uses white beans and soft tofu instead of chick peas and tahini.  It's easier to find those in Japan, so I figured it was worth a try.  Whip them up in the blender with some lemon juice, olive/sesame oil and cumin or whatever spices you like and it's delicious.  I like eating it with some homemade carrot sticks. Fun fact: baby carrots aren't really sold in Japan.

What kinds of dips do you like to make?

05-20-2011

Today I decided to try out a macrobiotic place in Isetan in Shinjuku, called Chaya.  This little plate cost almost ￥2000 ($20), so it wasn't cheap, and it tasted oilier than I would have liked.  The service wasn't particularly fast and it also fell victim to the classic Japanese problem of not being able to cater to true vegetarians very well because most dishes contained fish.  It did taste okay though, but I wouldn't go again unless I was going on a day with unlimited lunch time.  It's certainly not a place to go during a limited lunch hour.

5-16-2011

My cooking school has seasonal bread and cake classes you can take (no cake in spring or summer this year, owing to heat), and this is the final of the three spring bread classes I decided to take. It's like a cinnamon roll made with Earl Grey Tea instead of cinnamon. Interesting, to say the least. They're quite delicious, although I suspect they will get dry pretty quickly. That just means I'll have to eat them quickly or give them away!