Muncher's Big Day?

The 12th is the last of our October birthdays. And it's Mr. Muncher's 1st. As you can see, ever since he was a wee embryo we have been in conflict over his name. He spent the first 9 months as "Bob". Bob the baby/Bob the Ganster/Bob the builder & what have you.... and now his list of nicknames is endless & changing on a daily basis. To give you an idea:

Bunter-boy
Muncher
Munchmeister
Hunter Bunter
Handsome Bansome
Hanse Banse
Ranse Banse

I do hope you'll agree with me. He is a Handsome bandsome little Muncher!

I have to add, that he is officially a daddy's boy! Daddy takes him for his favorite times of day, to the park & outings & puts him to bed at night. It's great

It's true, I've gone & done it, bought a 200Y piece of (blankity-blank) cake & will let the 2 oldest girls decorate it. It's come to that! Well, it should be fun & I leave it in their fretting hands. They claimed they would stay up late tonight scheming about what colors to make the icing & what design to put on it. ha ha! This should be fun!

Well, brain fried tonight. Hope to have some good old fashion 1st birthday pics coming soon.

Oyasumi!

Apple Muffins

I do so very much like making breakfasts. I think I already said that before but I must say it again. Often on our "family day" I'll start off thinking to make one extra little goodie & end up with a 5 course meal. It's like I just can't stop pulling out stuff from the fridge. That's why I have visitors over for dinner not breakfast I guess.

And of course, no matter what, Little-Miss-Early-Bird always wants to stay & watch or help. I've found muffins is the easiest thing for little hands to help out with. No kneading or cookie-cutters, just mix & pour. I'm all about the muffins, baby! And as long as I have an oven muffins will be at the top of my list of breakfast goodies. (right after, hash browns, and waffles, and egg mcmuffins, and bacon, and hot dogs in my eggs, and strawberry jam.....)

Here are some apple muffins I made the other day that I revised the recipe to a bit (the original was on allrecipes) I kept the peel on the apple cuz' I could just tell by looking at them that the color of the red would really soak in & make it so much more "apple-like" and it did sure make them look purrty. Man, they were yummy. Here's the recipe:

2 cups flour (today I used one white & one whole wheat)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp lemon rind
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cardamom (not necc. but cardamom is my new kick, allspice or cloves would've worked fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 oil
2 c apples, chopped

The method is so very basic that you'd have to be a silly-nilly to mess it up. Whisk dry in one bowl, wet in another. Pour wet into dry, mix till JUST BARELY BLENDED, then fold in apples. Spoon into muffin tin (makes either 12 small or 6 large) bake at 200c for 15-20 min. Cool for 2-3 min, cool on wire rack & eat warm.

NOTE (possible rant): IT really tears me up inside to see people beat or whisk their muffin or sweet bread batter. This is NOT a cake. It's just NOT meant to be. Mix it with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. (No whisks, please -- good Lord!) You should be just going for-- making the dry ingredients disappear. It SHOULD be lumpy. Please, pretty please, be kind to your muffins & they'll be kind to you.

Well, that's enough on that. And here are the pics!

Chopped apples.
Best Job for tiny hands, grease the muffin tins.
It's hard to teach little kids to not mix with so much "vigor" and "joy" (thus causing huge 'flour explosions" all over the kitchen)....but we're working on it.
Just waiting for the oven to preheat
TA-DA! Though, Look at those poor muffins on the side of the tray that are suffering from the uneven heat in my oven, and have a case of 'lopsided-cone-head-syndrome'. I have a serious "hot-spot" on the side, so inevitably the things on the left side always get hotter quicker even if I move the food around during baking.

Oh dear...look at that? Mustn't look at that too long. That just makes me hungry! Everyone needs a pick me up in the morning. I shall embrace my chilly morning with a happy little espresso & a little butter on my muffin.

PS. Beware of a happy happy post about a certain shiny new red kitchen mixer coming soon to a mediocre blog near you.

Laner is 11!

My best birthday present....ever was a day late! Many birthday cakes later, I'm wishing her a happy 11th birthday. And as they always say....my how time flies!

10 hrs old1st Birthday
2nd Birthday3rd Birthday4th Birthday 5th Birthday6th Birthday
7th Birthday 8th Birthday9th Birthday
10th Birthday

11th Birthday!!!

............and then the door bell rang!

True to my word, I will cook dinner for this man, pretty much everyday!!

Baby, for once, I was surprised! (I almost kissed the Takubin man!)

--- There's gonna be some fun in the kitchen tonight!

A Friendship Galette of Science!

Yesterday, I made a impromptu rustic handy-dandy galette for a friendly friend named Flo-jo. From start to finish in 30 min. flat. That's not to take away from the vast amounts of love I put into it. Of course the fact that I had a pre-made ball of pie dough in the fridge was a help. (The other half was used for a pumpkin pie episode w/ the kids)

See, DH was getting ready to do some shopping & swing by her place. So upon remembering you, dear Flo, I dashed to the kitchen to think of the best way to make you something yummola. I hope you liked it & I hope it won’t put you off to know that I followed absolutely NO recipe to make it. It was a total random act of cooking spontaneity, but it was loving spontaneity. (that makes it better doesn’t it?) For anyone who would dare to try it, it went like this:

Grab the dough from the fridge roll it out nice & round like with a handy-dandy rolling pin, on some wax paper. (Because we always have pie dough just sitting in our fridges don't we?)

Poke a couple holes in w/ a fork. Ransack the cupboard for canned fruit, since anything fresh was devoured 2 days ago..…..ok, only one can of pears & a can of peaches, well, that'll have to do. Slice them, throw in 2 tbsp of granulated sugar & 2 tbsp flour, a few shakes of salt, 1 tsp cinn, ½ tsp cardamom, ¼ tsp cloves (no nutmeg in the spice shelf today), grate up about 1 tsp orange peel & 1 tsp lemon juice, & approx 2 tbsp reserved pear juice from the can. Ward off nosey children that are desperate to know what the cooking project is for. Explain to them about "Friendship Pies". Console them that they are still your "friend", but just aren't going to get any pie!

Throw it all on the pie crust, feel good about yourself for a moment....you are on the verge of either something great or something really retarded. fold over the sides nice & “rustic” like! Try not to despair if it looks like your last play dough project. Throw it in the oven at 200c for 20 min. And……try not to panic as you imagine it flattening out completely & looking like some large misshapen fruit filled cookie. Well...........what do you know. Lookie there, not half bad! Brush one egg yolk mixed w/ one tbsp of water over the crust to give it a shine!

I’m sorry, I could barely contain myself I thought maybe I could get away with breaking off a huge chunk of it & hope you'd think that was just part of the whole "rustic" style . I’m a sucker for pie crust. Really, it's an addiction....(I'm ashamed)....at times I'm tempted to do away with the filling all together & just make a pie full of, well, crust.

I was curious of how it tasted, I have a feeling it was pretty good cuz’ some of the filling came out the side & it was great. Cardamom sorta sneaks up on you & has a great spice that kicks in as an aftertaste.

Well, I guess, that’s all I have to say about that! G'night Friend!

Knife Sharpening

This morning DH was making lunch & I asked him if he noticed that I sharpened the knife & he answered:

“Oh, did you? I thought that I was just extra POWERFUL or something!”

The mind of a man!

If you’re not feeling "extra powerful" when you’re cutting, it’s probably cuz’ your knives need to be sharpened. A dull knife is the bane of a cooks existence. I’ve been to some lovely houses with lovely kitchens with knives that were no better for cooking than they were for bludgeoning with. I always bring my own knife if I know I’m going to be cooking at someone’s house, I've been caught in not so pleasant kitchen experiences all because of a dull knife & no sharpening stone.

Here’s a little test, get off your butt & go to the kitchen, pull out your favorite knife, and a tomato…..ok, no tomato..... so get a piece of paper, hold up the paper & see how easily it cuts. Yeeeeeah…see.......thats bad? There are a few kitchen chores that I just loooove to do & knife sharpening is one of them. It's therapeutic I think! Until pretty recently I always either got it done professionally or when I lived with Mr. McNair, he would do the honors. I was always thought that it was a job that took years of training to do.

Well….I took a little time to research it & learn a few of the basics & it really isn’t that hard. Well, I still like to review it every now & then cuz’ I don’t always get the angles & degrees right. There are a lot of ways & methods but there are a few simple basics that I try to keep in mind.

1. Get a good whetstone (not like my 100Y store one, though it doesn’t do a terrible job)

2. Keep your stone whet (I mean “wet”) when sharpening.

3. Count out the number of strokes you do on each side so you get an even edge.

4. Feel for a burr (the rough little bit of metal hanging off the opposite end you sharpened) before you go on to the next side

5. Keep your knife at 45 degrees & push firmly forward

6. Hold the knife up for the first edge (on the more rough stone) with about enough space for a 10Y coin to fit under. (20 degrees)

7. And your final edge (on the smoother stone) should be at a slightly higher angle with space for 2 10Y coins. (25 to 30 degrees)

8. Apply enough pressure.

Here’s a site that explains it pretty well. I searched youtube for a video of how to hold your blade as there are a few schools of thinking & I had a hard time getting down the strokes evenly on both sides. Whatever works for you.
There is REALLY nothing like chopping away on a good clean blade….I would reeeeeeally suggest you either find a reasonable place or person to do it for you, or learn how yourself.

But if all else fails……Just...........Be extra POWERFUL….grrrrr!!

Quick Fix #4 Age-dofu

As much as I love to cook & talk about it, I’m a little disheartened to think that cooking has really become soooo “daily” ever since the new school year started. I really just end up scrambling to make the simplest meals possible to keep up with the school time/potty time/laundry time etc…
Somehow making a double batch of coconut curry or chicken adobo (excess for lunch the next day), or the ultra simple meals like tofu/moyashi itame or parmasean chicken seem less cool then trying out new & daring recipes. I can’t even remember the last time I baked a pie.

Till then, I thought I’d give you an ultra simple tofu recipe, which all you Jap-japs will roll your eyes at me over. “Who doesn’t know how to make Age-DOFU?”. Well, shush & move along then!

I don’t know if you know this about me but I DO NOT CARE FOR DEEP FRYING. So this age-dofu is a real display of my undying love for my children, they just love it. Though every time I make it I remember how easy & deliciouly simple it is.

So here goes, You’re gonna need some tofu. If you’re brave enough to try kinugoshi-dofu (silk) tofu, (left) instead of momen-dofu (cotton) type (on the right) then be prepared for a royal mess, esp if it’s cheap tofu. (Though the taste is much more soft & subtle.) I prefer momen for age-dofu as it’s much easier to handle. Leave it to drain on a cake rack or something for at least ½ an hr. This is a step you don’t want to forget unless you like getting “oil splatted”.
So here’s your tofu chopped up into thirds or fourths. (this tofu pack was longer than the “standard” type)
Next you’ll need katakuriko (potato starch). The result is a much more crunchy crust, less fine of a covering than cornstarch & a really nice texture even when softened by tsuyu. But in a fix I’m sure cornstarch will do OK. And of course behind that is........our VAT of oil! (God, have Mercy! I just wanna dive in! Grrr!!) Now coat the tofu with the katakuriko. Not rocket science, eh? My only tip is, have your oil ready. Don’t leave the tofu too long on any surface after coating or the starch will absorb the liquid in the tofu & stick to whatever you put it on.
Don’t expect it to be a tidy process, but using hands is always fun. Tongs or hashi are out of the question.
Yes, I’m aware potatoes & tofu don’t go together. So, I was multi tasking! Like I said I don’t deep fry often so I was trying to make the most of it. I even made donuts the next day. Heat should be medium. And be patient cuz’ it’ll take about 10 min per side. Turn it over when it’s golden brown & crispy. Well, I don’t have a great picture of the end result, it was a "Chaos-lunch" day...but regardless, take it from me….Great eating & MUST BE EATEN HOT!! The steam from the inside can turn the crust into a rather unpleasant “gummy” texture on the bottom if you leave it too long.

Now lets talk toppings.

I personally think, daikon oroshi (grated daikon) & tsuyu on top are best for deep fried tofu. Please, don't just dump shoyu on it if you can help it. But there are so many toppings that you can put on age-dofu, or fresh tofu for that matter. (saving for another post)

If I had to choose my top 3 it would be: shiso, daikon & ko-negi (beefsteak/giant radish/chives).

............And that'll be the last deep frying for a long time God willing. Though there is a bit of an itch to make beer battered onion rings somewhere back there.

Till all the cows come home from the pasture, Later!

And it's that time of year!

That's right I will be Birthday-ing soon & since I've been asked by teeming masses of concerned readers (approx 1 person) to give them an idea of what to get me, I figure....let's go all out. Some of my best birthday gifts have been foodie items. Odd or rare spices & ingr. etc...I hold them all close to my heart.

PS. Don't get me the Kitchenaid mixer or I might feel indebted to cook for you for life! Let me keep the commentary to a minimum as we sigh longingly & gaze upon these heart-warming pictures!

Cast iron skillet
Reggino Parmigano
Kitchenaid stand mixer

Fresh or frozen cranberries

Hey, don't mock my Gorgonzola
Iron Dutch oven. Le creuset rocks!
Microplane grater!

Good qual whetstone for sharpening
Whole nutmeg seeds

....or just an E-card would be fine!!