Easy Applesauce recipe: where there is a will….

Apologies for the not so pretty picture (^_^;)
If you didn’t know, it is difficult to find pre-made applesauce in my city, so silly me, I had just been going without! Then a friend, 3 huge Fuji apples, cinnamon and a blender came and showed me the joys of fresh homemade applesauce. I like it so much that I may never buy the premade kind again

Ingredients:

• 3 large apples, peeled, cored, and diced (i like Fujis)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• optional 1/4 cup brown sugar, if needed

——–
1. Combine apples, water, cinnamon, and sugar (if you like) in a medium pot. mix well, and then bring the water to a boil on high heat. Cover and simmer on low heat for 15-20 minutes until apples are tender, stirring every 5 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.
3. Blend in small batches in a blender (or immersion blender if you have one) until smooth. Be careful if the apples are still hot when blending!

Eat while warm, or refridgerate. makes 4-6 servings.

Uji Milk Kakigori : the first taste of summer!

Who knew a dessert with just three things could be so amazing? Shaved ice, uji syrup and condensed milk. Yes, folks, it is officially hot enough for kakigori かき氷! I was lucky enough to go to Taketomi Island, a teeny island that is a part of the Yaeyama group in Okinawa. Since the weather there is summery and beautiful, I couldn’t help but get my first shaved ice of 2009 ^_^.

“Uji” syrup is a simple syrup flavored with powdered matcha green tea.　A small mountain of freshly shaved ice is topped with the syrup and a generous drizzle of condensed milk. The slightly bitter sweet syrup, creamy condensed milk, and chilly shaved ice was perfect! Refreshing, and I’m already looking forward to my next kakigori (or pat bing su, ais kacang, raspado, cendol etc…. )

Snack Attack! :Kit Kats, Pocky and Oregon Chips!

So I have been trying to avoid the convenience store, because every time I go inside, I end up with a bunch of impulse snack purchases. I swear today, I only went in to pick up some bug spray! Somehow, I managed to leave the combini without bug spray, and with a selection of this month’s limited edition snacks.

First up,

From the top down,
Almond Pocky: An almond paste based chocolate coating, rather than chocolate with bits of almonds, like Almond Crush Pocky. According to the back of the package, Almond Pocky was the second Pocky product introduced by Glico after Chocolate Pocky. It is really creamy tasting, like almond butter. Really good, I actually like Almond Pocky better than normal Pocky, and am sad that it is an limited edition product.

Apple Vinegar Kit Kat: I was really curious how apple vinegar would come across in a Kit Kat. Instead of a milk chocolate it is a white chocolate coating, and the package says that it contains 1.4% powdered apple vinegar. When you open the package you get a light apple smell, but I was surprised that it wasn’t sour at all, even though the taste was definitely apple vinegar versus just apple.

Jasmine Tea Kit Kat: A milk chocolate coated Kit Kat, with 1% powdered jasmine tea. These are great! Everything from the jasmine fragrance to the slight bitterness from the tea leaves is in the Kit Kat. It is really strange, the tea flavor is so strong, that I couldn’t taste any chocolate at all.

Lemon Love Kit Kat:  I bought this solely for the cute packaging! You can refold the box to hold just one pack (each box has 2 wrapped twin bars) and write a message on the flap, and give it to someone special . Cute!

These are also white chocolate, with 0.8% powdered lemon. It tastes creamy, with a lemony sour taste at the end. I didn’t really like this one, i found the white chocolate too sweet and too creamy to match the citrus from the lemon.

and
Sour Cream and Onion flavored Ame Pote, which I am guessing is short for “American Potato Chips”. I normally don”t buy potato chips unless they are a flavor I haven’t eaten before, but this bag of chips called to me for some reason. Then I took a look at the back of the bag…

Made with Oregon White Round Potatoes! Aww, I have to show my love for the Beaver State…so in the basket they went. They aren’t amazing, a little drier than I like, but still tasty.

It’s getting warmer and warmer every day here in Yamanashi! I am excited that is is almost kakigori and ice cream season. (^^)

Ciappuchino Cupcakes: fluffy and full of surprises

So after a day spent running around Miyajima, I had this craving for cupcakes, piled high with icing. So we checked out a gourmet magazine and scoped out some cupcake shops in Hiroshima. We ended up at Ciappucino, staring at their display case full of interesting cupcakes.

The thick sugar and butter icing was replaced with flavored whipped cream, and the dense cake was substituted with a fluffy angel’s food cake. While not exactly the kind of dessert I had been imagining, the cupcakes were still amazing!

(No, mom, we didn’t eat them all! We definitely tried them all though )

Buddha’s Hand: Alien….or fruit?!?

I kept passing stalls in China stocked with this slightly creepy looking fruit, trying to work up the courage to try it. It looked like a yellow baby Cthulhu about to leap up and start chewing on my face. It wasn’t until we were about to leave the Kunming airport that I finally bought one. The clerk described it as having the skin of a lemon, but the inner texture of a pear.

The fuusho, or Buddha’s hand citron is actually a kind of citrus, completely pulp and juice less. So the inner flesh of the fruit that the clerk was referring to is actually pith, not unlike the thick white skin of a pomelo, only without the juicy fruit segments within. The outer skin is very fragrant, and gives off a lemony smelling oil, and the white pith is slightly sweet and chewy. I think I would not eat this again in raw form, but I’m thinking it would be pretty tasty candied in strips or grated into a marinade.

While the Buddha’s hand citron isn’t on my list of favorite fruits, it does top my list of fruits most likely to appear in a horror movie, or scare small children.

Arabiki Sausage and Broccoli Ragu Recipe

Arabiki sausages are a mild pork sausage with a casing that has a slight crunch or pop when you bite them after being boiled or fried. I had some left over crushed tomatoes from a soup I had made, and decided to toss them together to make a fake ragù.

Ingredients:

• 5-6 arabiki sausages, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 large bunch of broccoli, trimmed and cut into pieces (about 1.5 cups chopped)
• 6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup each minced : onion, carrot, celery
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• dash of garlic powder
• dash of oregano
• dash of salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsbp olive oil

—————-
1. Lightly fry onions, carrots and celery with the olive oil in a medium pot.
2. When the onions are soft, add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, garlic powder, oregano and broccoli. Stir occasionally on medium heat and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add arabiki sausage, and stir well.
4. Add cherry tomatoes, and cover, turning down the heat to low, and simmering for 5-7 minutes or until the broccoli is tender and the sausage is cooked through.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy! Goes great with pasta or cous cous. Serves 2-4

Kyuushoku: Poached Mackerel with Kinpira

Clockwise from the top:
Saba Miso Nimono: a fillet of mackerel poached in a miso ginger sauce
Komatsuna soup: komatsuna in a light broth with fishcake
rice
Kinpira: Gobo root, carrots and fish cake stir fried with soy and mirin.

Easy Absorption Pasta with Vegetables recipe: Cheese and tomato sitting in a tree…

When I was still a college student, one of my favorite dining hall dishes was baked ziti. Something about the mild tomato sauce and dense pasta, topped with cheese was just fantastic in the middle of the finals rush. Carbohydrates are good for the brain, and good for the soul too. However the thought of so many pots and pans to wash, and lengthy oven time makes me disinclined to make my own baked ziti.
This recipe for absorption pasta is just as tomato-y, cheese-y, takes requires only one pan and no oven time. I also love fresh vegetables in my pasta, but feel free to add your favorites, or remove the veggies you don’t like.

Ingredients:
Pasta:

• 200g (little less than 1/2 lb) ground beef (pork or turkey would also be good, as would soy crumbles)
• 2 cups uncooked pasta (I like macaroni elbows or shells, but any pasta is fine)
• 1  fresh tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 cup tomato sauce or canned crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 medium eggplant, diced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, roasted sweet in the broiler or oven, and then chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1 bunch of fresh spinach (about 1 cup’s worth cooked)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp each garlic powder, black pepper, parsley, basil and oregano
• dash of salt
• 1 cup water

Topping

• 1/2 cup smooth dry curd cottage cheese(or ricotta)
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan or Peccorino hard cheese

——————
1. Saute ground beef, garlic, and onions in a large sauce pan with olive oil until the meat is cooked, and slightly browned.
2. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, eggplant, mushrooms, bell pepper, spinach, water, all the spices and salt. Stir well and bring to a slow boil on medium heat.
3. Add pasta, stir well. Cover pan with a lid and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the pasta is just tender (al dente).
4. Combine cottage cheese and shredded Parmesan together until smooth.
5. Uncover, and stir the pasta to make sure it isn’t sticking, then stir in the cheese mixture until well combined.
6. Cover, and cook for an additional 5 minutes on low heat until cheese is melted.
Serves 6-8, topped with a little (or a lot ) of shredded cheese.

Mashed Satsumaimo with Kuromitsu Recipe

Baked potatoes and other tubers just sing out winter comfort food to me. Living in Japan has it’s perks since there are usually 4-5 different varieties of sweet potatoes at the grocery at any given time. My favorite is the purple skinned, golden yellow centered satsumaimo which has a very smooth texture and mellow sweet taste. I like them baked, just as they are, or turned into sweet potato fries, but I love them mashed.

Ingredients:

• 1 large satsumaimo
• 2 tbsp kuromitsu (brown sugar syrup) or molasses
• 2 tbsp heavy cream or 20g butter melted and 1tbsp milk
• pinch of salt

————–
1. Cook satsumaimo. You can:

• 1. Peel and boil the satsumaimo in water until you can easily run a chopstick through it. Drain and set aside

or

• 2.Peel and cut into 1-2 inch pieces, place in a microwavable bowl with a cup of water, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 8-12 minutes, or until the satsumaimo is tender and cooked. Drain water.

2. In a medium bowl, combine kuromitsu, heavy cream and salt together.
3. Add cooked satsumaimo, and mash with a fork or potato masher until fluffy.

Serves 2-4, depending on the size of the satsumaimo. You may need to add more heavy cream or kuromitsu depending on the size of your satsumaimo.

Apple Persimmon Crumble recipe: the lazy girl’s pie

It is a bumper year for persimmons here in Yamanashi, and I have been gifted them everywhere I turn. Now that the weather is turning chilly, I am craving warm desserts at the end of the day. Pies and tarts are all well and good, but sometimes I either don’t have the time, or the energy to make and chill pie crusts. Fruit crumbles are the answer to my laziness. No rolling, trimming or pre-baking needed. Just chop up some fruit, mix up the crumble topping, and pop it into the oven for 20 minutes or so.
—
20cm x 20cm pan
Crumble Topping:

• 100g flour
• 80g brown sugar
• 60g butter or margarine
• dash of cinnamon
• dash of nut meg
• dash of almond essence
• * pinch of salt if you are using unsalted butter or margarine

Fruit filling:

• 2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped (I like Fuji or Red Delicious)
• 2 persimmons, peeled, de-seeded and chopped (Fuyu or other non astringent persimmon)
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• dash of cinnamon

———–
1. Combine apples, persimmons, water, cinnamon and 2 tbsp brown sugar in a saucepan or pot. Heat on high until the liquid is boiling. Cover, and turn down heat to low, stir occasionally and simmer until apples and persimmons are easily pierced by a knife tip (about 10-15 minutes).
2. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt (if needed) in a large mixing bowl.
3. Melt butter in the microwave on low, or in a saucepan. Mix in a dash of almond essence.
4. Add melted butter to dry ingredients, and fold in gently with a fork until the mixture forms pea and marble sized lumps. The lumps are good, so don’t over mix!.
5. Pour the apple and persimmon mixture into a baking pan, and spoon the crumble topping evenly on top.
6. Bake in the oven at 170 degrees Celcius for 15-20 minutes, or until the topping is a golden brown color.

serves 4-6, and goes great with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.