torakris

I just noticed that Nakazawa has put out a yogurt made with a 14% heavy cream. creamy yogurt

Well the results are the Pizza Hut topping contest are in! I wasn't even aware they had a topping contest until I received the flyer that announced the winners. Apparently they asked 7000 pizza lovers and from the more than 200 suggestions they received chose the following 2 winners. #1 Spicy Meat Sauce Pizza with special meat sauce green chile sauce onions peppers mushrooms red bell peppers tomato slices #2 Gratin Pizza with creamy gratin sauce shrimp bacon mushrooms onions corn black pepper parsley parmesan cheese If you can't decide between the two, don't worry they are also available as a half and half pizza!

I was trying to do something similar with the meibutsu (regional specialities) thread Some of the threads (well mostly Niigata ) have done well because we have someone living there to post various things. I would really love if these threads could become something like the ones in the Italy forum...

I love meatballsin any form/flavor but since I normally cook them in a fry pan I find it hard to keep the really round shape so I tend to make them in a very small patty shape instead or if they are going into a soup, i use two spoons and then they look like the balls of meat Hiroyuki pictured above, sort of an oval shape. I also tend to bulk my meatballs up with some kind of vegetable. Some of the ones I have prepared in the past include these were probably pork and renkon (lotus root) it is hard to tell, topped with grated daikon and ponzu this was a simple nabe with purchased chicken meatballs, I probably ate this with a dollop of yuzu-koshou I thought I had a lot more pictures out there, I have gotten more than halfway through my albums and have only found these 2. My son wants to use the computer so I will need to finish my search (and post) later.

Friday's kindergarten bento

This year will be my 12th Thanksgiving in Japan. I have to admit I have always had an oven, albeit one that could never fit a turkey. I am pretty sure the first two years I did some kind of chicken with some kind of stuffing and probably mashed potatoes, but since it isn't a holiday in Japan and I didn't have anyone to invite over I stopped doing anything. 6 years ago a group of friends and I decided to make Thanksgiving dinner at a our friend's house, she and her husbnad were expats here and thus had the American sized expat kitchen. my son however picked that day to be born and I ate Thanksgiving leftovers the next day at the hospital. We didn't do anything again until last year when another friend with a large oven offered to cook the chickens if everyone else brought the sides. What to do without an oven though? more than half the meal calls for one... You could probably do some type of stove top casserole (in a fry pan) with sauteed chicken pieces and stuffing. Mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce don't need an oven. Last year I made this incredible wild rice salad that I found in recipegullet. Desserts are a little trickier, maybe a pumpkin mousse instead of a pie? I think I may have decided my meal this year. that is if my friend doesn't offer her house again.. like nakji said it is more about the getting together of family/friends than the actual food itself. This is why I stopped doing it for so many years I just didn't have anyone I really wanted to share the meal with.

Did I never report back about that?? It was quite good, my kids really liked it and my oldest keeps asking me to buy it again. I will wait until it comes down in price a bit though...

Are they bitter? I haven't eaten the yellow kiku ones in a while but I recall them being quite bitter.

Little round balls of Kit Kat??? But you MUST post a picture of that!

I'm too lazy to search back through this thread but have we ever talked about dry curry (ドライカレー)? This is just what it sounds like, a curry with no sauce. I have seen it served so it has a slight sauce like a meat sauce for pasta, or almost completely dry. I have also sometimes seen a curry flavored fried rice/pilaf style rice called dry curry. I made a dry curry a couple night ago. I have never seen chickpeas in a Japanese curry but I needed to bulk it up and they go well with the flavor. Most recipes are very similar, you saute the veggies (usually some of the following: onions, carrots, celery, green peppers, etc) add the ground meat and then season with curry powder or curry roux, ketchup or canned tomatoes and maybe some other seaonings like Worcestershire sauce. Cook until it is the consistancy you want. I added shishito at the end with the chickpeas to make it feel like I had more vegetables in my meal. here is an example and another one. this is an example of the rice version.

I have a quiche with a perfect crust in the oven as I type. I follow the cook's Illustrated method of after rolling out the dough and placing it in the pan, you refrigerate it for 40 minutes and then freeze it for 20 minutes. Bake (with weights, no pricking necessary) at 190C (375F) for 17 minutes, remove the weights and bake an additional 9 minutes for partially baked and 15 minutes for a fully baked. I use this method with 100% butter shells and with butter/shortening mix shells and it comes out perfect every time.

Kit Kat's new Halloween flavor, Pumpkin! (but it is made with kabocha..) It was only 288 yen($2.50), normally these bags of mini cost 398yen ($3.50). I really enjoyed it, in fact I enjoyed it so much I am hiding the bag from my kids.

I just heard about this new burger shop that has just opened: R Burger Their burgers are a Chinese/Japanese style with steamed white buns. No beef but you will see the patties made with pork, chicken and tuna. click on shop menu to see their 3 pages of menu. I wonder how it will do...

Not all of us Americans, the entire group of us at that meal were American and Canadian... Raw chicken tastes so good that you will want to undercook chicken for the rest of your life. In Japan the chicken tenderloin is often served just dipped in boiling water so that the outside turns white, this is a nice contrast to pink inside. I have prepared this kind of chicken at home but only with chicken that has been marked that is is safe for eating raw. In Japan any meat or fish that is ok for eating raw will have a a label stating so.

Yikes! Aren't you concerned with trichinosis or salmonella? Or E. coli? ← Not really, many years ago I decided to stop worrying about everything and just enjoy life. Here are some pictures from eGullet Tokyo get together The chicken sashimi platter, top left is chicken tenderloin, moving clockwise there is chicken gizzards, down in the right hand corner is chicken breast and finally the chicken liver raw chicken brains with in 4 flavors

Is this in Tokyo? ← Yes it is.

I would happily eat raw pork if I could find it. I have eaten raw chicken on numerous occasions including the liver, gizzards and brain (all raw).

My husband was on the winning team for the tug-of-war and received the exact same thing as a prize, it even came in a Loft bag!

My last undokai bento for yochien (pre-school) after 7 years straight (with 3 kids) my son will be starting elementary school in the spring.... Hide (left) played keyboard in the band

anything raw

The closest staion is Shin-okachimachi on the Oedo line, exit at A3 and it is on your left.

We missed it here, we spent all last night being whipped by a typhoon... I had actually forgotten about it until I saw the tsukimi dango in the grocery store yesterday.

Wow! great responses and quickly too! I am really embarassed to admit this but I never added salt.... I think this may have been part of the problem. I think the one with dried garlic is probably the taste I am craving when eating dishes like spaghetti and meatballs. So do most of you do it like toast? With a family of 5 and often cooking for double that I sometimes prefer to do a whole loaf of bread. I am asuming wrapping in foil is a must but at what temp and for how long?

Mine are organized by subject (either cuisine, type of cooking, all purpose cookbooks, famous chefs/restaurants, etc) and within those subjects they are organized by size. I can't stand having big books next to little books.... No one is allowed to replace books, I let friends look at them but they all know to leave them on the coffee table when they are done. I could pull any one of my 300+ cookbooks off the shelf blind folded, just tell me which one you want.

help.... It has been cold and rainy lately and I have been craving soups, stews, braised dishes, etc and what better to accompany these than a nice hunk of warm garlic bread. Just how hard can garlic bread be?? but when I just try and toss it together it just doesn't turn out right. I think part of the problem is I am not really sure what I am looking for, I'll just know it when I find it. How does everyone make theirs??