I'm travelling in California at the moment, enjoying wine & food in Napa, and the beaches down the coast from San Francisco to L.A. - hence no new posts until mid July!
Some Random Cooking
23 June 2009
We were high up in the mountains deep in the Switzerland countyside last weekend, where we celebrated Simon’s brother’s wedding (who, by the way, very kindly hosts my website on his server!). Coming back home to Munich on Sunday afternoon I realized it had completely slipped my mind to provide for anything to eat that evening – still used to Tokyo business hours I had simply not thought about the fact that there’s no shopping on Sundays here…
With the exception of champagne (of which I think it is always a good idea to have reasonable supply…), the fridge was alarmingly empty; but luckily I could still scrape together a hand full of leftover ingredients from here and there, and as we are leaving for 2 weeks of California this week (can’t wait to go!!), we were indeed happy to use them up. The situation reminded me a bit of that TV show where the candidates bring a bag of random ingredients which the chefs consequently have to process into a meal…
I essentially found some leftover pepper salami, a few black olives and a glass of gherkins. We also had some basic ingredients like onions, garlic and canned tomatoes (I always keep a few of those at home – they make a fantastic basis for all kind of spontaneous dishes). Spiced up with a pinch of chili, some reserve balsamic vinegar and a dash of olive oil, the components very quickly ended up in an extremely tasty sauce for a yummy plate of penne!
Penne Salami
| serves 4 |
| 100g (pepper) salami in fine slices |
| 40g pitted black olives |
| 40g gherkins |
| 600g peeled and minced canned tomatoes |
| 3 small to medium onions |
| 3 dents of garlic |
| a pinch of chili powder (to taste) |
| 2 teaspoons of brown (demerara) sugar |
| a dash of (reserve) balsamic vinegar |
| a little dash of cold-pressed olive oil |
| some oil for frying |
to go with it: |
| penne (or other pasta) |
Finely chop the onions. Heat a bit of oil in a pan and brown them gently. Shift the onions to the side, and use the free spot in the centre to cautiously fry the dents of garlic, minced through a garlic press. Before the garlic gets brown (and bitter), stir with the onions, and shift everything to the sides again, making space for the salami. Cut the slices of salami into little squares and roast them until nice and crispy, then stir with onions and garlic.
Add the canned tomatoes, the gherkins (chopped into little pieces) as well as the pitted olives (cut in half), and bring to a light boil. Season to taste with salt a pinch of dried chili powder (or similar) to add a touch of spicyness.
Sprinkle 2 teaspoons or so of demarara sugar on top of the simmering sauce and wait for it to melt; then pour in a good dash of balsamic vinegar (particularly nice with reserve vinegar), and stir well while the sauce thickens. Let simmer for just a few minutes and finish with a dash of cold-pressed olive oil. Done!
Serve with penne (or other pasta).
My "Signature" Sherry Sauce
16 June 2009
Back in Munich, in our nice big kitchen! But having been away for so long, unfortunately there are some nasty surprises, too – the dishwasher is out of order; and as much as I love cooking, I totally detest washing up. Luckily Simon is not so bothered about our new of division of labour (me cooking, him doing the dishes) ;-)… Anyway, I really hope this will soon be fixed.
At least the (electric) cooker is working reasonably (it’s growing quite old and moody though, and is by far not reacting as quickly as the portable induction plates I was using in Tokyo…). It is still nice cooking here again. So Sunday evening Simon and I enjoyed a very casual and leisurely dinner - in fact the first one we actually got to spend together since moving back to our "old" flat. Our dining table seemed just huge (it’s actually rather average sized, but compared to the tiny one we had in Tokyo…).
Following Simon’s suggestion, I prepared a dish I’ve been making again and again ever since I started cooking as a teenager. In fact I would say this is probably one of my most "typical" dishes ever. We often had sherry sauces at home (my dad likes preparing them), and I always loved these kind of meals. Over the time I have developed my own version, but I then cooked this dish so frequently for a while (sometimes also using aubergines and/or courgettes instead of mushrooms), that at some point I thought it was getting really ordinary and boring, so I grew almost reluctant to make it. Very much to Simon’s regret, who cannot get enough of it.
So here it is back - my chicken and mushroom stirfry in sherry cream sauce!
Chicken & Mushroom Sautée in Sherry Cream Sauce
| serves 4 |
| about 400g chicken or turkey breast filet |
| 600g mushrooms |
| 1 big onion |
| 2-3 dents of garlic |
| 1 vegetable or chicken stock cube (organic) |
| a generous dash of dry sherry |
| 1 teaspoon mild curry |
| some dried marjoram |
| some mild curry |
| some garlic powder |
| a hand full of (toasted) pine seeds |
| 3-4 tablespoons crème fraîche |
| some coarsely ground black pepper |
| some oil for frying |
to go with it: |
| rice (parboiled or basmati) |
Chop the chicken breast filet into bite-sized chunks or strips. Season with a good pinch of salt, some curry powder, some dried marjoram as well as a bit of garlic powder, and rub the spices thoroughly into the meat. Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan and briefly sear the chicken while constantly stirring until evenly browned, but remaining raw inside. Take out of the pan and set aside.
Clean and finely slice the mushrooms to have them ready. Finely chop the onions and brown them gently, using the same pan as before (and add some more oil if necessary). Shift the onions to the side, and use the free spot in the centre to cautiously fry the minced dents of garlic. Before the garlic gets brown (and bitter), stir with the onions. Add the sliced mushrooms, very briefly sauté them, and pour over about half a cup of water. Add the stock cube, let it dissolve and stir well. (Speaking of stock cubes, I always use organic ones – not only do they not contain dubious substances such as glutamate, but they also taste way better!)
Cover with a lid and let simmer gently for just about 5 minutes or so. Add the pre-fried chicken and continue simmering (again covered with a lid) for another 5 minutes. When the chicken is done, remove the lid and pour in a generous dash of dry sherry, and season to taste with some more dried marjoram and some coarsely ground pepper if you wish. Bring to a stronger boil for 2 minutes or so to let the alcohol evaporate and the sauce reduce. Finally stir in the crème fraîche, and finish with a hand full of toasted pine seeds (before adding them, I usually brown the pine seeds in a non-stick pan, without using any oil).
Leftovers from Tokyo
09 June 2009
I’ve kept you waiting for two weeks without any notice – sorry. I’ve simply been busy with all the moving stuff, and although our main luggage is still somewhere on its way from Tokyo, there’s been plenty to do getting re-settled in our apartment in Munich. It feels good to be back in our old place, furnished in our own style, and equipped with a nice spacious kitchen… I haven’t really had the chance for any big-time cooking yet, nor for a shopping trip to my regular vegetable and meat dealers at Viktualienmarkt. I certainly look forward to that! But with several weekend trips to re-visit family and friends across Europe this may still have to wait a bit.
So for the time being I can just offer you recipes remaining from our last days in Tokyo.
Although basically created from a number of more or less random leftover ingredients I wanted to use up, this cake is absolutely worth trying! I made it for our "farewell brunch" we organised for our dear friends just the weekend before we left, and it was definitely a success, judging from our guests’ apetite...
I love these cakes that never really get dry – containing apples, plenty of eggs, ground almonds, sugar, but hardly any flour there’s always a good chance it will come our really juicy. The special features about this particular one were of course the ground sesame, both black and white, as well as the pine seeds, all of which I had plenty left in my kitchen drawer. This certainly turned out to be a good use for them!
Sesame Apple Cake
| for a 26cm cake tin |
| 4 rather big, juicy apples |
| 6 eggs |
| 200g ground almonds |
| 50g toasted ground white sesame |
| 50g toasted ground black sesame |
| 50g cake flour |
| 140g sugar |
| a hand full of pine seeds |
| juice of 2 lemons |
| 2 packs vanilla sugar |
| 1/2 teaspoon baking powder |
| some cinnamon |
| 2 teaspoons of grated dried orange zest (alternatively lemon zest) |
| a dash of cointreau |
| a pinch of salt |
| some butter and extra flour to prepare the cake tin |
| a few almond plates and some icing sugar to garnish |
Pre-heat the oven at 180°C. Grease the cake tin and cover with flour.
Peel and coarsely grate the apples. Immediately pour over the juice of the 2 lemons, and add dash of cointreau if you wish.
Separate the egg yolks from the whites and whisk the yolks together with the sugar, the vanilla sugar and the orange zest until foamy (you will get the best result if you hold the bowl over some steaming water while you whisk). If lots of juice has come out of the apples, drain them slightly, then stir them into the egg batter.
In a different bowl, thoroughly combine the ground almonds, the black and white ground sesame, the flour, the baking powder, the cinnamon, the pine seeds and the pinch of salt. Add the mixture to the batter and stir until smooth.
Finally whisk the egg whites until stiff and carefully fold them into the batter. Fill into the prepared cake tin and bake for about 50-55 minutes. Check by briefly inserting a toothpick – when it comes out clean, the cake should be done. Let it cool down before removing it from the cake tin, and garnish with some toasted almond plates and icing sugar if you wish.
Goodbye, Tokyo (...but we'll be back...)
26 May 2009
After a year and three months our Japanese episode is coming to an end, and I am getting all sentimental as I take another glimpse at Tokyo Tower from our window… Can’t believe that tomorrow I’ll be on a plane back to Munich (Simon is already en route). As much as I look forward to "coming home", there are just so many things I know I will miss about Japan. Though it was all so exotic and unfamiliar at the beginning, I’ve meanwhile become so attached to my life in this fantastic city…
Whereas it was not so difficult to get to know other expats, I found it was not quite as straight-forward to make friends with the Japanese. But as time went by I found out that once you do become closer, you can feel that people really care about their friendship with you. And words like "let’s meet up" are never just an empty phrase – they're a promise. I've really had a fantastic time thanks to this bunch of great people I've met here - I'll miss you all, and I'm convinced we'll stay in touch!
I really hope we’ll have the opportunity to come over every now and again. But even so, it feels extremely weird to leave right now…
On the other hand, I can’t wait to get back to our flat in Munich, which seems sooo spacious in comparison to our Tokyo apartment. And a slice of Austrian sour dough bread with a thick layer of butter and tasty ham sounds pretty appealing, too (little hint to my parents… :-) ).
As you see, my feelings are extremely mixed… I find it hard to wrap up all my thoughts on Tokyo and Japan and all the experiences we’ve had. But the following list may give the right idea. By no means exhaustive, just a compilation of little cases in point (in no particular order) of what I will miss – and what I can well do without (because as much as I like it here, there are also a few things I’ll never get used to…).
What I will miss when I leave Tokyo...
- The gorgeous fish section at Tokyu department store
- First-rate sushi and sashimi always and everywhere (I guess we’ll become very picky about sushi back home…)
- The simple and tasty Izakaya food, as well as the more refined and extremely varied Kaiseki cuisine (both of which will be rather difficult to get in Europe)
- Wagashi, or Japanese-style sweets. Although I am usually not all that much of a sweets person, I have fallen in love with everything made out of mochi (the yummy soft rice dough), and I also adore the red bean paste it is often filled with. But all above I am completely hooked on my beloved yatsuhashi! Unfortunately these little treats perish within few days, so there’s no way I can take home any reasonable supply … :-(
- The general obsession with food. When talking about a travel destination, the conversation will inevitably focus on local specialties or famous restaurants (as you may guess, I feel totally in my element here…). And people are just so not fussy, always eager to try new things – it is such a joy to cook for them!
- Inviting people over to a party, however casual, and being able to count on them really making every effort to come
- The oh-so-pleasant moist towels you get in each and every restaurant
- The ever-so-friendly, super quick and incredibly well-spirited staff at the supermarket (I feel almost reluctant to ask them for something, as they will immediately literally run and get it…)
- Having the supermarket shopping delivered to our doorstep, or the travel luggage sent to our holiday destination – just all those handy delivery services right at your fingertips
- The extremely effective as well as entertaining lessons with my absolutely fantastic Japanese teacher
- Being able to wear fancy high heels at any occasion without ever being overdressed (but never having to, because I’m usually way taller most people anyway ;-) )
- Shoe shopping at Matsuya department store - it feels like browsing through shoe wonderland… (whereas trying to find clothes for my height can be rather frustrating here, Japanese shoes appear to fit me really well, even better than many a model in Europe)
- Lazy Sunday shopping strolls and people watching along the Ginza pedestrian area (shopping on Sundays - my God, will I miss that in Gemany!)
- The vast, flawlessly running and impeccably clean public transport system, that gets you anywhere across the huge city of Tokyo in no time (in over a year of taking the metro almost every day, I’ve only twice experienced any mentionable delay). I can’t stop being amazed at how they manage to make this work so smoothly in a city this big and crowded…
- Finding a cab everywhere at any time (never seen so many taxis in one place!), and never ever having to worry that the cab driver might fool you (however, it is highly advisable to know how to find your destination in the complicated road system of Tokyo, as there's a good chance the driver will not know…)
- Never having to worry about safety (not that Munich is an unsafe city by any means, but Tokyo just tops it! Just figure a headline on the evening news about 7(!) handbags having been pickpocketed during the Tokyo cherry blossom festival, attended by millions…). I’ll really have to be more careful watching my belongings after I leave Japan - I’ve become very complacent…
- Nobody ever even thinking of staring, let alone whistling at you (rather than that, road workers will step aside and bow to you as you walk by)
- The Champagne Jingle. Well, I guess that’s not actually its official name… Every day at 5 pm a little tune sounds in public places throughout the city. Initially Simon and I associated the music with an ice cream van passing by, until we noticed it actually came out of a nearby loudspeaker. As we later learned, it was originally put in place to call children home from playing, and/or workers from the fields in the evening. We, however, have attached our own meaning to it - "time for an aperitif" on lazy weekend afternoons…
- Our divine shower (shower and bath tub have their own room within the bathroom, separated by a proper door – so neither can the rest of the bathroom get wet, nor is the joy of my lovely hot shower ever tarnished by an evil cold draft from outside. I could stay in there forever…)
- Heated toilet seats
- The view on Tokyo Tower from our bedroom window, and generally being surrounded by skyscrapers (to some people this may seem weird, but being in the middle of a big city gives me a wonderful feeling of comfort and safety…)
- …
...and what I am happy to do without...
- The voices out of the loudspeaker at any escalator, constantly ordering you to "watch your step and stand inside the yellow line, in order not harm yourself, or others"
- The millions of "workers" standing in place just to guide you around an infallibly secured building site, or any other non-existent "danger" (although it is truly admirable with what dedication these people go about their obviously redundant tasks, I can’t help the sad thought of how this country could possibly flourish, were all these highly motivated people only engaged in something that actually creates value…)
- The ever so cumbersome personal banking system (highlights including ATMs that have opening hours, and online transfers for which you first need to register the recipient via a hard-copy letter…)
- Waiters, cab drivers, or bank clerks for that matter, who are struggling to autonomously take any pragmatic decision to respond to a request that is slightly outside their predefined process (you can tell the anxiety from their faces as they brood over their dilemma of really wanting to please the customer, but being too scared to deviate from their standards…)
- The completely messed-up time zone, i.e. the sun rising and setting far too early (so no nice long summer evenings…)
- The horrible cicadas in summer, which, due to the extremely early dawn, wake you up with their ear-piercing noise as early as 4:30am (thank god they’re only there during the hottest summer months, but even that is nerve-rendering enough)
- Smoking still being allowed in many restaurants (kind of improving, though) – the weirdest thing being that if there are tables outside (where I really wouldn’t mind), they are usually non-smoking (the concern being rather one of keeping the streets tidy than of health issues)
- Shopping items being wrapped in ridiculous layers of packaging (some cookies or crackers really remind me of Russian dolls…), which is not only obviously a tremendous waste, but also really annoying to unpack…
Wow, this has become very long – sorry for the massive amount of text! I really got carried away… I also realize that my "plus" list is significantly longer than the "minus" side. And indeed there is nothing else to say than that we've had a fantastic time in Japan, and we'll certainly be back here many times!
Here are a few of my favourite snapshot thoughout our stay in Japan...