eG Foodblog: torakris/snowangel - When Pocky meets pad thai....

[Marlene]

You could make a sauce out of them I guess. I dunno, I've never roasted tomatoes before.

brush it on some sliced crusty bread, and then toast the bread under the oven. I think you said the tomatoes had garlic when you roasted them, so voila, instant garlic bread.

Use the oil to toss asparagus in before roasting.

[purplewiz]

I came home with no parsley.

I also started my next list the minute I started putting things away.

Please tell me I'm not the only person who does this.

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You are not the only person who does this.

I forget items that are written on the list sitting Right In Front Of Me in the cart, and that I've read over three times right before I get in the checkout line to make sure I've bought everything on the list.

I actually have several lists running at any given time - the "general grocery" list, and then separate specific lists for specific stores where I like to get certain things. So lists never end, they only....mutate.

The tomatoes look wonderful!

Marcia.

[Tepee]

Susan: The tomatoes look so good, inspiring me to go roast some too!

Kristin: Yup, sounds like you had lotus paste mooncakes. Interesting that you haven't tried lotus paste before. Don't they have it as a filling in japanese pastries, considering it's made just like red bean paste?

[torakris]

Kristin: Yup, sounds like you had lotus paste mooncakes. Interesting that you haven't tried lotus paste before. Don't they have it as a filling in japanese pastries, considering it's made just like red bean paste?

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I have heard of lotus paste but only in connection with Chinese style sweets. I don't recall ever seeing it in Japan, though I am sure there are many things I have never seen..

Is it actually made with lotus root?

[torakris]

I just devoured an apple (a very delicious apple) while sitting on the couch watching Desperate Housewives. They just started airing it last week and I missed the first one but I taped the second episode last night, that is a pretty funny show.

[snowangel]

Dinner tonight. Dinner on the run. It's Paul's birthday, but as most parents know, our birthdays take second stage to the kid stuff. We will celebrate on Saturday instead.

Evening Garlic Soup in the Manner of the Correze from Paula Wolfert's brand new The Cooking of Southweat France: Recipes from France's Magnificent Rustic Cuisine , baguette with Hope Butter, and a wedged Brandywine. Note that I got the heel. My kids know better than to take the crusties parts of the bread!

The soup was spectacular. For something so simple (onions, garlic, chicken broth, a bit of butter or duck fat, two eggs and a bit of red wine vinegar), is was very rich. I wondered if that amount of soup would feed all of us, and it did. Especially good was baguette crusts dipped in the soup! Best of all, once we got home from Diana's parent/teacher conferences, it was only 15 minutes to finish the soup while I got everything else ready. Note that Paula will be participating in an eGullet Spotlight Conversation November 14-18, 2005.

The accompaniments were perfect.

[Tepee]

I have heard of lotus paste but only in connection with Chinese style sweets. I don't recall ever seeing it in Japan, though I am sure there are many things I have never seen..

Is it actually made with lotus root?

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No...it's made with lotus seeds.

[torakris]

Well I am off to lunch with some friends I will be back with lots of pictures!

Susan,

That soup looks great!

That book has been sitting in my cart at amazon for some time now, I guess it is time to make an order...

[Dejah]

Guilty as charged -- but it's usually cilantro, not parsley.

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Oh. I always remember the cilantro, even if I have not intended purpose for it. But, I always forget the parsley. So, tonight's soup will NOT have a garnish. Did you check out the photos above of the cilantro roots at the farmer's market?

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Those cilantro roots look wonderful! I love the more intense flavour of the roots. This herb is believed to lower blood pressure. I often make soup with the whole plant in a simple pork broth.

If you are wanting parsley only as a garnish, wouldn't cilantro work? I would prefer them myself.

Wonderful tag team!

Kris, is there a chance of seeing your cooking class in the blog?

[snowangel]

I've had a "slight" homeowner disaster in the form of a basement flood.

So, my roasted tomatoes. I did the Scarlett O'Hara thing, put them in a tupperware in the fridge and said "I'll think about that tomorrow." Dramatically wiping back of hand across brow.

[Daddy-A]

Are my tomatoes pooped enough?

And, if so, what do I do with them now?  They are not in the plans for the next few days...

And, what about all of that oil that is on the parchment paper?

Lookin' good! We had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year and roasted the majority of them. They then went into freezer bags and are sitting in the deep freeze until our next craving for

• pasta sauce - I like them as is on pasta, but you can add sausage or your favourite protein.
  
• pizza sauce
  
• bruschetta - the tomato oil would work well with this too.
  

We also smoked a bunch of the tomatoes as well. Same result, just smokey I think they'll be used for some sort of salsa ...

Great blog you two! With the difference in the time zones, it's Blog-o-rama 24-7 around here!

A.

[snowangel]

We also smoked a bunch of the tomatoes as well.  Same result, just smokey   I think they'll be used for some sort of salsa ...

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Dang. To bad I had no ripe tomatoes last time I smoked, but, if there are still tomatoes at the farmer's market tomorrow, I'm smoking on Friday or Saturday (a nice 16 pound brisket), so do tell you how did them. Whole? Halved? And, how did you consume them? As is? As adornment/accompaniment for something else?

[Mooshmouse]

snack #2

bamboo root shaped chocolates, my son's friend brought these over and I stole 3 when no one was looking..

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So that's what these things are: bamboo roots. A friend of ours gave some of these to Noah a couple of weeks back... here I was thinking that they're pine cones.

Great stuff so far you two. As Daddy_A has already pointed out regarding the time difference, it's fantastic having 24/7 blog posts, especially for those of us who are insomniacs.

Blog on!

[snowangel]

Time for bed. I have had a martini and the other end of that baguette, with an obscene amount of butter. Most of all, I will go to bed with a house that still smells divine after making that soup.

[jackal10]

Roast tomatoes and oil: store them under oilive oil, together with the roasting oil in the fridge. A squeeze of lemon if you are paranoid...

[Hiroyuki]

I must say I prefer Kinoko no Yama to Takenoko no Sato. So does my wife.

I found a review of Kinoko no Yama, if anyone is interested.

http://141.214.84.74/~jeannie/archives/000667.html

Both Kinoko no Yama and Takenoko no Sato are products of Meiji.

[torakris]

Today I had lunch with 4 friends at a buffet in the Prince Hotel at Shin Yokohama, it was ok, bit nothing that I would recommend...

My first three dishes

the fourth dish

dishes 5 and 6

I also had a couple glasses of water and some tea

[torakris]

After the restaurant I was parched so I drank two larges glasses of ice water when I came home.

I then took the girls to ballet practice, they have a recital next month and today was a dress rehearsal.

Julia

(middle)

Mia (on the right)

this is just one of three costumes they wear and they are all handmade by their teacher.

[torakris]

Thursday dinner: RecipeGullet

We got home from ballet at 6:30 and I had prepared some of dinner ahead of time.

I made simmered kabocha

ok this is actually a recipe I posted.... but I didn't have the time to do the other thing I had planned. It is a wonderful recipe!

Then I made pork chops with honey and garlic from a thread in the China Forum, the recipe is from hzrt8w

my picture doesn't look as good as his though...

I served it on some shredded cabbage and the sauce tasted so good with the cabbage that I think I am going to make a coleslaw with it!

This was a wonderful recipe, the whole family loved and it really couldn't have been easier to prepare.

Finally I had a samgyetang, this a Korean dish of chicken stuffed with rice, ginseng, jujubes and garlic. I didn't actually make this.

My Korean friend brought the stuffed chicken over last night, she had made a bunch of them and couldn't eat them all. So all I had to do was cook it....

I went to put it in the dish and it landed like this

It looks like it is saying "help me! that crazy woman has scissors!!"

After cutting (with the scissors)

The meal was eaten with plain Japanese white rice and some nori seaweed.

[torakris]

Again it is past my bedtime...

Good morning Susan!

[snowangel]

Good morning, Kris and all!

It is a nippy morning here (38 degrees f). Once again, coffee and chestnut crabs for breakfast. In about an hour and a half, I will leave for my writing class, followed by another trip to the farmer's market and a stop at the Asian market. If the timing is right, I'll have lunch with Peter at his school.

One of the dishes from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet I'm contemplating calls for "Asian eggplant." They are long and skinny, right? On Tuesday, I saw some skinny eggplants that were purple and white striped. Would this be them?

[Chris Amirault]

Great stuff, Kristin! What's in the chicken stuffing?

One of the dishes from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet I'm contemplating calls for "Asian eggplant."  They are long and skinny, right?  On Tuesday, I saw some skinny eggplants that were purple and white striped.  Would this be them?

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That'd be them -- long and skinny is the key. Click for an image.

[Daddy-A]

We also smoked a bunch of the tomatoes as well.  Same result, just smokey    I think they'll be used for some sort of salsa ...

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Dang. To bad I had no ripe tomatoes last time I smoked, but, if there are still tomatoes at the farmer's market tomorrow, I'm smoking on Friday or Saturday (a nice 16 pound brisket), so do tell you how did them. Whole? Halved? And, how did you consume them? As is? As adornment/accompaniment for something else?

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Susan - Just halve the tomatoes, drizzle a litlle olive oil, s&p. I smoked them at the end of a long smoking session so the temperature was down around 150F. I'm sure they could handle the 225F or so you'll be using for your brisket. Left them on for about 2 hours.

We ate them as a side dish. A little parm on top and they were good to go.

A.

[Abra]

I puree the roasted tomatoes with their oil, and sometimes a few leaves of basil, and use it as sauce, or as the base for a more complex sauce. Yum!

I'm having blog withdrawal pangs. I'm leaving today for 6 days with no computer access, and will be missing the rest of your blog. I'm sure it will continue to be super!

[Milagai]

Hi Kristin,   I, too, prefer iced coffee. Even in winter I'm looking for my tall glass of iced coffee.   Maybe you've already mentioned it but do you add milk and sugar?

LISTS! Yes! Iced coffee and lists galore comprise a big part of my day. But, hey, it works. 

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Yes iced coffee for me 365 days a year! first thing in the morning.

I drink it with both milk and sugar, when I do drink hot coffee I only add milk.

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loving this blog and the lovely food and kid pictures.

thank you so much for sharing.

another iced coffee (or in indian-speak - cold coffee)

fan here! with milk and sugar, and best of all

thai style, with cinnamon (and what else? )

in it....

milagai