Made taiyaki for breakfast.

while it was raining pitter patter outside, we had fresh taiyaki made at home for breakfast.

just like how the stall does it, a very very thin layer of batter over the filling before the 2 side of the mould is pressed together.

chocolate was hard to handle cos the chocolate past just melted so quickly and it seeps through the batter

red bean was much easier.

just like how i like it, crispy, and lots of hot red bean paste filled inside.

i just love this chocolate praline paste i got from Carl Marletti’s patisserie in Paris.

So far the only chocolate paste i’ve tasted and have been loving since my childhood days is nutella.

This is one rank up and thicker than nutella which is a bit runny.

Had quite a bit of time on hand today for dinner prep, so i sliced all the seasons vegetables available in my fridge, grilled them, then made miso meat sauce and had them poured over all the vegetables.

a plate full of vegetables.

and since the meat sauce was also full of minced onions, i only neede 100g of minced beef for the 2 of us.

=)

rainy rainy rainy.

my laundry is taking a long time to dry out.

Sakuras have long fallen off the trees, but lots of different coloured hydrangeas (ajisai) are blooming everywhere, and each time we pass someones garden with these flowers, we always stop to admire the pretty hues... of purple, pink and blue. each time is a different shade of colour, depending on the weather around that area.

Today, we found some pretty blue ones...

and some other pretty flowers which we are not sure what they are called

and this is a typical vegetable garden which are very common at the place we stay at.

These mini plots of land are divided into sections and anyone is free to rent and plant what they like. most of the time it is vegetables...

can you spot those giant green sprouts of the japanese leek?

Those who are really serious and plant a lot, sell them through JA, which is where i get all my fresh lovely vegetables.

Tonight for dinner,

curry oyakodon (chicken and egg don), grilled potatoes and lettuce soup

Added some curry powder and miso to the usual oyakodon to make this.

we went to this burger place at kichijoji called GONO burger, which reminds me very much of Botak Jones in Singapore. but a very very classy version of botak jones since the cafe space is run by a team of young lads with nice interior sense. will definitely go back for more!

I was so excited when i saw fresh rosemary at JA today!

So we had rosemary & garlic roast chicken and fingerling potatoes for dinner this evening.

Roughly chopped the rosemary leaves, and together with some chopped garlic, marinated the chicken and fingerling potatoes in the fridge for half a day before roasting in the oven. I love how those potatoes came out with super crispy skins, they practically burst in the mouth!

and i found another heart shaped tomato in the bag of tomatoes again!

tossed it with the yellow & flat green french beans.

oh, and we had some okinawan sea grapes by the side
they are not really grapes though. a kind of seaweed that look like tiny grapes, and is usually eaten dipped in shoyu. Risa brought these back for us when she went on a short trip to Okinawa.

Oh, and speaking of okinawa, saw Okinawan mangoes at the supermart Okinawan fair some time ago and they cost like USD$15 a piece!!!

they look very very good thought. orangey with a nice bit of warm red hue...

Settled for Okinawan purple sweet potato ice cream, which i simply fell in love with.

it was such a nostalgic flavour. tasted like yam ice cream from Swensens that i used to love as a child. i wonder if they still have that flavour.

Was craving taiyaki today...

So i whipped out my taiyaki maker!!!

and tada~

5minutes on each side, and lots of patience when spreading the batter onto the mould

Just how i like it, very crispy on the outside, and filled with lots of anko (red bean paste)

Since i had red bean buns at home, decided to try and squeeze 2 of those onto the mould. hehe looks funny.

Thanks to the vegetables of the season, our lunch boxes have been really bright too!

aonori tamogoyaki, capsicum kinpira, wakame salad, and ginger shoyu roast pork slices topped on white rice

Tried a new recipe for my lunchtime at home.

Aonori carrot noodles

I just cannot resist the smell of aonori. this seaweed is used in the animal biscuits that i used to eat as a child, and even now, when i open a pack of the biscuits, i cannot help but finish the whole box.

Aonori carrot noodles is not really noodles, but long carrot strips made with the vegetable peeler.

With a whole carrot,

1/2 tbs olive oil

1 tbs white wine

1 tsp vinegar

1 tbs shoyu

salt & aonori

Quickly stir fry the carrot strips, add the white wine and the condiments.

Fry for half a minute and dish out when done to prevent the strips from becoming too limp.

I added some pork bits into this dish. but they are optional.

Dinner was a recipe from Harumi Kurihara that i picked up from tv this morning

Prawn cutlets with grilled pumkin slices with...

heart shaped tomatoes! the whole pack of tomatoes were round except for this one =P

Pretty~

And with a whole lot of vegetables in the fridge, made salt style rataouille again.

Tossed in chopped carrot leaves too this time

Cant wait to make more taiyakis@@

I managed to do my laundry today with peace of mind =)
The clouds have been playing hide and seek for the past few days, and Mr. SUN seems to be giving way to Mr. RAIN more often than not.
But today was perfect!
sunny sunny sunny!

decided to just chill out at home & make my own cafe space...

Suateed spinach with mushrooms & chicken.

I just love the purple rice! makes me want to eat more cos of the pretty hue.

With just a tablespoonful of black rice mixed into with white rice in the rice cooker, u get the mild fragrance of black glutinous rice and the appetite wheting colour.

Dinner tonight was colourful too.

with freshly picked eggplants and corn...

Eggplants wrapped with ginger shoyu marinated pork slices, grilled in the oven

butter shoyu grilled corn on the cob

traffic light kinpira
Capsicums stir fried in sweet shoyu with sesame, tiny anchovies and crushed peanuts

I dont know why japanese capsicums are so tiny, their skins are thin, and the flesh is thinner too, which makes it a lot easier to chew and digest.

I dont mind eating a whole lot of these!

I am now getting worried about the herbs in the garden.

Who will care for them when we go for summer school?

Pink potatoes & yellow french beans!

Each time i drop by JA (thats the mart that carries the produce from local farmers and sells them in the neighbourhoods), i get very excited at the amazingly pretty vegetables that these farmers pick everyday.
Today...


Purplish red potatoes, yellow french beans and flat and long green french beans, all by the same farmer. As i was picking up the pack of yellow french beans, the lady farmer happened to drop by, and she was telling me this is the first year she is growing these. This recipe is from her...

Simmered beans in shoyu stock, ume (sour plums) and soya beans.

And since there were freshly picked rasberries too,
mixed them with my dark cherry sauce, and drizzled over yogurt mousse. topped with toasted hazelnuts....

Bento was very colourful too~

Besides the pink rice that we had last night, there was tamagoyaki, wakame salad with that homemade celery and tomato dressing, minced pork cutlet (the last of the whole lot that i bought from kichijoji, phew~).

Dinner was full of lovely spring vegetables again~

On the sides were, egg soup, simmered french beans,

And potato salad.

I had thought the flesh would be pink too, but it was a deep yellow. still pretty =)

Main was, Wok fried chicken with japanese leeks

Rainy season has officially started i guess >.<

After curry last night,
it just had to be curry buns this morning for breakfast.

Dinner was...

Ume rice topped with shiso

Aburaage (fried tofu skins) stuffed with natto & nira

and toasted in the oven to make the skins crispy
Made pickled cucumbers to go with it. First time making these, and i realised they taste like achar! am suddenly craving achar.

Having a headache =(

We celebrate our first year together today! =)
And am glad to say, still going good~
Went out to have really really good sushi last night somewhere near Tokyo station, and dropped by the newly rennovated and spankingly stylish Daimaru. Again, bedazzled by all the beautiful cakes at the food level, wanted to buy a piece home, but by the time we finished dinner, they were closed.
Today, deciding to just chill out at home, didnt get to buy any cake to celebrate. But i am more than contented to just spend the sunday relaxing at home in each others company.

Made yoghurt mousse this morning...

topped with dark cherry sauce (that i made again =P)

Yoghurt mousse tastes like cheesecake, but unilke cheese is very light on the stomach.

great for a hot day sweet treat.

300g yoghurt (strained through a coffee filter for at least 30min)

50g sugar

2 egg whites

milk 3/4cup

1 tbs honey

gelatine powder 5g

Using a hand mixer, make meringue with the sugar and egg whites,

and after combining the milk, honey and gelatine powder in a bain de marie (hot water bath), pour this mixture into the bowl of meringue and mix in big scooping motions.

pour into little cups and chill for 3 to 4 hours.

makes 6 cups.

Dinner was curry to warm us up a little on this rainy evening.

Egg plant curry with lots of vege!

Am craving millefeuille!!!

Went to a Russian and Ukranian cafe few weeks back and tried the Borsch vegetable soup.
It was so tasty, i decided to look up the recipes online.
Came up with my own version, replacing the sour cream with yoghurt.

and made pizzas to got with it =)

Genovese seafood pizza

Tomato basil parma

Rainy season seems to be starting soon.

Good because the air will be so cool.

Not so good for my laundry.