sanrensho

This was a first-time experiment so I sort of winged it. I don't really have the proportions as I just went by taste. Method is below: 1. Cut notches in chestnuts (350 grams), place in cold water. Bring water to boil and boil for a few minutes. 2. Drain, then peel and skin chestnuts (I just trimmed with a knife). Place skinned chestnuts in pan with milk to cover and a few tbs sugar. Simmer until tender (about an hour). 3. Puree drained chestnuts in food processor with enough of the milk to form a paste. I didn't puree very finely and was pretty happy with the chunky texture after folding into the Chantilly cream. 4. Fold puree into sweetened Chantilly cream, to taste. I would make the Chantilly cream with 1.5-2 times the normal amount of sugar, depending on how sweet the puree is. My puree wasn't very sweet at all so I added a fair amount of sugar to the Chantilly cream. 5. Fill in your favorite roll cake (or cake layers).

Coincidentally, I made a chestnut puree for the first time 2 days ago. Despite the work involved, we had a lot of fun with my 4- and 7-year old daughters pitching in to help peel the boiled chestnuts. The chestnut puree ended up mixed with Chantilly cream and rolled in a almond biscuit roulade for a simplified version of a mont blanc. It was great.

Considering the ethnic and cultural diversity in North America, I just don't see how you can make any useful generalizations about the state of raw/cooked veggies and fruits on our side of the pond.

Here's a link to the Zojirushi electric pots that azlee is referring to. They are used for the exact application you describe and are ubiquitious in Japanese offices and households. http://www.zojirushi.com/elepots.html

In addition to the above suggestion, you can often use the tab on the lid to turn the slot, although it takes some practice. I also use a butter knife for this purpose. I was playing around with my coffee filters and realized that I didn't get the description right. Instead of the tab, you use the lip on any other part of the lid. The curvature of the lid is just enough that you can reach the slot to turn it.

Poor choice of words, IMO. Ling isn't selling anything or pushing these coupons on anyone. From the Oxford English Dictionary: hawk /h<revc>:k/ v.2L15. [back-form. f. HAWKER n.2]1 v.t. Carry about from place to place and offer for sale. L15. 2 v.i. Travel around touting or selling one's wares. M16.

I look forward to the next report. More pictures, please, the bigger the better. Also, did you find the European cakes/pastries to be generally sweeter or less sweet than what you had in Paris?

Jay, if you do end up trying the PC burr grinder, could you let us know your impressions? We just received a flyer this week with the PC burr grinder prominently featured, so my interest is piqued as well. I would like to use the press pot on occasion, but I don't have the grinder to do the job well, nor do I use the press pot often enough to justify even having 1/4 lb ground for French press.

Can some of the Korean members recommend a few good Web sites with English recipes? There are quite a few out there, but I would love to find out which ones come recommended for authenticity. Torakris, do you have any favorites in Japanese? TIA

I take back the above comment. This recipe actually tastes a bit too sweet for a layer cake, which is surprising as RLB's recipes tend not to be overly sweet. One of these days, I'll retry the recipe with 200g sugar instead of the recommended 250g.

Just to make things more confusing, are you refering to Japanese cups (200 ml) or Western cups (250 ml)? Anna, I don't think your question is silly at all. I say "to taste" because there probably isn't a home cook anywhere in Japan who actually measures the granules for their dashi. But it also means that everybody makes their dashi slightly differently and to different strengths, again based on personal preference. It isn't unusual for members of a household to disagree on how miso soup should taste. It happens at our house all the time. In short, I think you should make it the way you like it. If in doubt, try the dashi at several different strengths and see how you like it in the finished product.

The Shimaya site recommends about a gram of granules for each serving of miso soup. (One serving=Enough to fill a typical Japanese miso bowl.) However, the real answer is to mix to taste, by trying the dashi before mixing in the miso. http://www.shimaya.co.jp/lineup/dasinomoto.html

More importantly, does your office employee preschoolers and toddlers? If not, then I think it's a moot issue.

On RLB's mousseline buttercream: I always pour the syrup straight into the meringue once it reaches the desired temp. Never had a problem this way, and never had a problem with the butter melting. This is using room temp butter (in our cool PNW climate). Works perfectly for me every time. I gave up on the extra pyrex step after the first time I made the recipe.

I don't see how the alcohol would evaporate if it's suspended in butter and meringue. (I sure wouldn't be going anywhere if I were encased in butter, sugar and meringue...mmm.) Even assuming that the little ones aren't going to be turning tipsy and bumping into each other like bowling pins, it's not a decision for me to make if other kids will be eating the cake.

That was my reaction too after picking up this book. So far, I've made most of the butter cake recipes in the first part of the book and am now working my way through the genoise recipes. Tried the Fudgy Genoise Jeffrey recipe today...this might be my new favorite recipe for choc. layer cakes. I'll have to frost it and see how it turns out.

I always leave out the alcohol in the mousseline buttercream, with no other adjustments to the recipe. (Most of my cakes are eaten by kids and adults alike.) IMO, the recipe works fine just by omitting the alcohol.

You're right to wonder. Japanese toddlers eat fish products from a very young age and miso (in the form of thin miso soup) from when they are infants. They do not appear to be dying off due to the fish in their diet. As mentioned above, thin miso soup is a great way to introduce infants to new foods like tofu, spinach and other leafy greens, daikon, and softened niboshi (dried fish).

I would make a very thin miso soup that is more dashi flavor than miso flavor. Japanese infants are introduced to (thin) miso soup at a very young age.

I beg to differ. The gel sheets are way cooler and more fun to squeeze than boring old powdered gelatin.

I think you'll be fine. When in doubt, make two batches (one coffee cake and one batch of muffins)! Just make sure to cut down the baking time for the mini-muffins.

I have to say, coconut buns used to be my stand-by but I'm kind of burnt out on them. They're either too salty or have too much or too little filling. If they made a coconut bun with the filling worked into the dough, sort of like a cinammon bun, I'd buy that. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've had something similar from T&T. On the "plain old bread" front, I really like the T&T Pullman sandwich bread made with purple glutinous rice. Excellent mouthfeel and flavor. I usually frequent Pine House and another bakery a few blocks west on Hastings (never can remember the name), just because they're relatively close. The filling in the rolls from Pine House are too salty, though.

The batter also makes a great cupcake. Made a bunch for a potluck party with which choc/mocha/lemon/choc mousseline buttercream. The cupcakes were engulfed in mere minutes.

My favorite use for the traditional kinjo no (neighbourhood) kissaten is the Morning Set. A nice thick slab of white toast, boiled egg, maybe a side of salad and an aromatic cup of coffee is the perfect way to start the morning. In my mind, a kissaten is distinct from either a Dotour chain coffee shop or Western-style Starbucks.

Safeway has them, Knox brand. About $5 a box. I was checking them out a few days ago. I buy my gel sheets from Japan so I've never used the Knox ones.