Friday, August 19, 2011

肉団子スープ。。。

大学の近くのアパートに引っ越してから5日たちました。毎日のんびりたのしんでいますwww
月曜日からは授業が始まります。。。それまでに冷凍庫に作り置きのおかずをためなければ!
今日は野菜いっぱいのパスタソースを大量に作りました。しばらくは野菜不足は避けられるはず。
昨日は冷凍用の餃子を作っていたら皮が足りなくなってしまい、タネだけ残ってしまいどうしようかと悩んで片栗粉を入れて肉団子と白菜のスープをまた大量に作ってしまいました。
具だくさんのスープにごはん、手作りキュウリの漬物、そしてこの前つくった肉じゃがときんぴらごぼうをおいしくいただきました。こんなに手作り料理ばかり食べている大学生はこのへんにはいないかも。。。(ちなみにきんぴらのレシピはこちらを参考にしました。http://www.sirogohan.com/ 私のお気に入りのレシピのサイトです!)
さぁ、明日の朝は大好きなファーマーズ・マーケット!おいしい果物と野菜を友達と一緒に探しに行ってきます!明日は何を作ろうかな。。。

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Mealy Peaches Quick-fix

数日前に母が買ってきた桃(ホワイトピーチ)がちょうど食べごろと思い切ってみたら中身はずいぶん残念な感じでした。所々ガリガリ、他はパサパサ、色は白とピンクではなくてちょっと茶色。。。
ちょっとがっかり。
でもこれはアメリカのスーパーで買い物をしていたらけっこうよくあることです。木でちゃんと熟す前に収穫される果物が多いせいでこんな事もあたりまえ。
なんとかこのパサパサな桃を使おうと思い作ってみたのはラズベリーと桃のスパイスジャム。
Some days ago my mom bought a few white peaches that smelled delicious, but when I sliced one open last night there was a not-so-nice surprise.
痣になっているところは切り落として種の周りの果肉も少しとってしまいます。後は皮を剥いて適当に薄くスライスします。
The infamous brown center and mealy bits of un-flavorful fruit. Ugh! I was very upset and ended up leaving it in the fridge because I didn't know what to do with it. I tasted a tiny slice and it was crunchy in certain places and some of it still had a decent flavor while other part were very mealy and dry. Unfortunately the other peaches were the same way. This morning I decided there has to be something these can be used for, and decided to make a quick peach jam. I sliced all of the peaches thinly as shown below to save the crunchy bits for texture:
切ったらこんな感じ。小さめな桃二個分で280gくらい。
冷凍庫に庭でとれたラズベリーを90gほど残してあったのでそれも一緒に鍋に入れちゃいます。桃とラズベリーと一緒に鍋に次の材料を入れます:
砂糖 200g
レモン汁 少々
オレンジ 二切れほどを手でちぎったもの
シナモン 少々
すべて鍋で直接混ぜ合わせてふたをしたら一時間ほどおいておきます。
I finished slicing 2 medium peaches (weighed about 280 g) and I realized I still had about 90 g of raspberries from my garden that I saved in the freezer. I decided I'll go with a spiced peach-raspberry jam. Here's what I used:
- 2 medium peaches sliced (280 g)
- 90 g frozen raspberries
- 200 g granulated sugar
- lemon juice (not measured)
- tart orange segments (pith removed, not measured. Probably 1 or 2 slices worth)
- ground cinnamon (not measured, yet again lol)
- 1/2 pack of unflavored gelatin (a little more than 7 g I think?) or pectin. I used gelatin because I was out of pectin and didn't want to go shopping.

このままだとあまりおいしそうには見えないですねwww なんかグチャグチャ。。。
Mix everything other than the gelatin (which I let sit in a little water off to the side) in a pot and let sit with a lid on it for a while. I baked a pizza for lunch while I waited. The jam doesn't look very appetizing at first...
しばらくおいておくとこんな感じに水分がでてきます。きれいなワイン色になるはずです。
ここで中火から弱火でコトコト煮ます。様子を見ながら丁寧に灰汁を取るのが大事。
桃が透明になって柔らかくなるまで煮てください。このまま冷やせばアイスなどに合うソースができあがり。ジャムを作る場合はペクチンかゼラチンを袋の半分(3〜4gくらい?)水でふやかしたものを入れてください。今度は手元にペクチンが無かったのでゼラチンで作りました。
After about an hour it looks like this. Then I put it on low to medium heat until it comes to a boil and the peaches are tender. Also remember to remove the froth as much as possible. Then I add the gelatin and mix well to make it consistent.
後は消毒したガラス瓶につめるだけ。ホワイトピーチで作るとまろやかでちょっと大人の味なスパイシーなジャムの出来上がり。イエローピーチで作ったら多分もうちょっと酸味が強いはず?
明日大学に戻るので新しいアパートに引っ越すときに一瓶もっていきます!ルームメイトと一緒に朝ご飯にたべたいと思います。
Last but not least, pour into sterilized jars and you're done! If you don't add gelatin or pectin, this stuff makes a great sauce for ice-cream. I'll be taking a jar with me to my new apartment tomorrow.




Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Orange Ginger and Raspberries

なっ、なんと!私のベイクドチージケーキのレシピがSozai Banzaiのメニューに載ることになりました〜!可愛いカップケーキ型にしてブルーベリーのジャムを少し上にのせて。。。
もうちょっとスフレのようにふっくら焼けたら完璧。
大きいケーキだと気にしないのに、カップケーキだとどうにもふくらみ方が足りない。。。
Good news, my cheesecake recipe will officially be on the menu at Sozai Banzai! They will be in forms of little cupcakes with a blueberry filling sitting in the middle. I'm actually trying to think of a good way to keep them from sinking as they cool, which works fine with bigger cakes. Does anyone have any suggestions? I plan to try adding baking powder or whipping the egg whites before adding them...

今日はオレンジ・ジンジャーマフィンを焼きました。少しオレンジのつぶつぶが多かったみたいでオーブンから出したらグツグツ音を立ててました。あれ。。。ちょっと失敗したかもwww
でもしっとりしててスパイスの効いたおいしいプチマフィンができあがり。
ついでに庭のラズベリーを少し摘んできました。今日食べる分を少し分けておいて、あとは冷凍庫に。ある程度たまったら大学に持って行くジャムを作るつもりです。
Anyways, I tried baking some orange ginger muffins. I think I used too much fresh orange since I could here it bubbling as I took it out of the oven. I don't think muffins are supposed to do that... lol. They still tasted pretty good though. That and I went out to pick some raspberries in my yard that are finally beginning to ripen. I'll save some of them at each harvest and freeze them. Once I have a lot saved up I'll make some jam to take with me to the university.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Cheesecake is a success!

So this morning the first thing I did was to try a taste of my homemade cheesecake with my dad lol. It turned out better than I expected! Although I think I might want to add a bit more lemon zest next time.

The juneberries in my yard are nice and ripe, but it seems the birds got to get a taste of them before me. I haven't been noticing these little changes in my yard. Working all day has its drawbacks I guess... but what's left of the berries are still good. :) I guess I wont be making jam until the raspberries are ripe in about a week or so.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Baked Lemon Cheesecake

Hmm, seems to be a pattern that I update only every now and then. I really need to fix this, so much has been happening in my life to not blog about! I recently found a new part-time job at a Japanese restaurant and take-out called Sozai Banzai that offers homestyle Japanese cooking; the kind of stuff that reminds you of mom's cooking back home. The people there are great and it's fun working with them. They are also giving me a chance to help think up of dessert menus which is literally non-existent at the moment, so I am trying out a bunch of recipes I have on hand to see if they are worthy of being a good afternoon treat or dessert after a meal. This Friday we will serve shiratama anmitsu for a limited time only!

Today I tried baking a simple lemon cheesecake. I haven't made this in forever! It's best to leave this cake in the fridge overnight rather than eating it fresh baked. (which many people find it hard to believe but trust me! )
Like macarons and many other desserts, this cheesecake is best eaten the day after it is baked. Freshness does not always mean the best! So technically I wont know how this baby turned out till tomorrow. Although I have to admit it looks perfectly good to me at the moment. I can't wait to see the creamy white cake on the inside once I slice it. Maybe I will make juneberry jam and whipped cream to go with it while I wait. My raspberry bush isn't quite ready for harvest yet to make raspberry jam.

Here's what the cake looks right out of the oven. Notice that the center is still plump and the crust fills the entire pan. As the cake cools, the still-liquid center will deflate and sink. Don't worry, it is supposed to do that! :) Unfortunately I wont be uploading the recipe even if I find out tomorrow that it's good or not since it will possibly be in the restaurant if it's approved by the staff. Hopefully I will have good news about the taste to report tomorrow!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

making strawberry mochi


Hi guys! Long time no blogging. Being a junior catching up with painting studio in college is a lot more difficult than I thought, I'm working on my final project now and getting ready for a second gallery showing next month as well. But while the weather is getting a little better, I decided to have a little picnic with some friends for a mock-Hanami. Since we didn't have some nice cherry blossom trees to gaze at, we picked some nice magnolia trees nearby instead. We all made lunch and I made ichigo daifuku and dango. They may seem like hard desserts to make but rest assured it's easier and cheaper to makethan buying expensive pre-made ones. Here's a recipe for the ichigo daifuku translated to U.S.measurements for those without Japanese measuring cups (they are different from U.S. cups so watch out if you're using a Japanese recipe)

3/4 cups sweet rice flour (also called mochiko or sticky rice flour) <- make sure you don't use regular rice flour or else it wont turn out right!!
!
2.5 tbsp sugar
180 ml water
sweet red bean paste (usually comes in bags or small cans)
potato starch or corn starch to keep your cutting
board and hands clean
12-15 small strawberries

1. Wash and cut stem off of small strawberries
2. use a sheet of plastic wrap or a spoon/knife to spread a thin layer of red bean paste around the strawberries. It's easy to dab some red bean onto plastic wrap, put a strawberry on top, and wrap the plastic like a candy wrapper to cleanly cover the strawberry.
3. mix sweet rice flour, sugar and water in a microwavable container with a lid and microwave for 2 minutes
4. mix contents well, a portion of it should start turning transparent
5. microwave again for 2 minutes and the entire batter should turn semi-transparent. Mix well again. It should be very sticky and stretchy. Mine is slightly tan because I used half brown sugar, half granulated.
6. cover a large cutting board with potato starch like you're baking cookies and empty the sticky rice mixture onto the cutting board. Cut into 12-15 pieces.
7. Knead each piece of rice mixture into a thin sheet using starch to keep it from sticking to yourself.
8. Put the covered strawberry in the middle with the point of the berry at the center of the sticky rice and gather the edged at the bottom of the strawberry. Pinch the edges together to make them stick and hold together. Be careful not to tear any holes into the sticky rice!

Hint: the rice will start to stiffen when cooled so do all the wrapping while it is still hot! This can be kept overnight in the fridge and still taste good, but will only last a few days total.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine cookies


I made some simple chocolate, strawberry and vanilla wafers yesterday with some friends for Valentine's Day (which is quite the excuse, I just wanted to use up the extra unsalted butter and flour sitting in my room at the dorm lol).
My friend suggested making "naruto" cookies shaped like naruto fish cakes (the little white slices with a pink swirl, it's used as a topping for hot noodles a lot in Japan) but sadly I did not roll out the dough thin enough to make a proper swirl. They aren't as elegant as we'd like but they were delicious nonetheless. Tonight I'll be handing them out to some friends who missed the baking yesterday.

A hint for the strawberry wafers: All I did was replace cocoa powder with strawberry jam in a normal chocolate wafer recipe, and added a drop of red food coloring. Oh, and I also doubled the amount of cocoa and strawberry for the dough by accident but they turned out MUCH better that way!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Felt Brooches/Pins



Here's some pins/brooches that I mentioned before! The embroidery is a pattern that is sewn onto kid's kimono collars as a protective charm. Maybe these pins will keep the wearer safe from harm. :)
They are made with felt, embroidery floss, and czech seed beads. The green one also uses recycled canvas from myself and fellow students at my university from making our own stretched canvases for painting. You never know when stuff like that will come in handy!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Japanese Embroidery

I've been going back to the embroidery I learned from my mom lately, thanks to a recent school project. I tried making a simple video for that project of me stitching a sample card of a semamori charm. A real semamori is stitched to your clothes though, this one was just made as a reference, and the video made an interesting intro for my presentation. :)


Untitled from Mikako Takai on Vimeo.

I've tried making some brooches/pins with this method too. I'll be uploading them soon!