"Raw" Caramels from Hokkaido

Imagine combining the texture of real butter and the flavors of rich homemade caramel. An instant melting sensation that flows outward from an epicenter of pure velvety awesomeness that is not too sweet and infused with plenty of that subtle burnt sugar flavors. Before you even realize it you're smiling because you just had a orgasm in your mouth and your eyes are threatening to roll back into your cerebrum doing reverse summersaults of joy. The euphoria makes your knees buckle and when you regain coherence you realize you've already unwrapped another and are about to repeat the process.

That's exactly what the Hanabatake Farms in Tokachi, Hokkaido have accomplished with these "raw", or nama caramels. They were so popular earlier in 2009, they would sell out in a flash and be impossible to find at any retailer. But I guess the boom has died down a little, allowing me to partake in this heavenly experience.

Because the Hanabatake Farms produce their own milk, I'm sure this experience can be credited to the freshness and the simplicity of the ingredients. Ingredients include: fresh heavy cream, fresh whole milk, liquid sugar (水飴), granular sugar, honey, butter and vanilla beans.





Hanabatake Farms - http://www.hanabatakebokujo.com/

EGG DECAPITATOR/HOLDER (from NOTCOT.com)

Just saw this on NOTCOT as I was doing some jetlagged browsing. A pretty ingenius German device to open eggs in a stylish way, seems especially great for soft boiled eggs for in-the-shell consumption.



image from NOTCOT

see full review and more pics here:
http://www.notcot.com/archives/2010/01/cregg_-_egg_dec.php

official website:
http://www.brainstream.de/cregg.html

New Year's Resolution??

OK, so being in Japan and gaining a good 20lbs in 1.5 weeks has inspired me to fire up this blog again. So for my 2010 NYResolution, I will regularly update this blog! We'll see how long this lasts... haha. Now what do I write about...

French Breakfast Radishes

Or also called summer radishes. Nice and spicy! Saw these at the farmers market and just thought they looked cool. Like albino alien fingers! Didn't really know what to do with them, so the farmer gave me an old french home comfort recipe. Something like a snack to whip up at home, kind of like an equivalent of a grilled cheese maybe? Sounds really boring... but it was actually quite yummy.

What you need:

Handful of radishes (sliced thinly)
French baguette
Unsalted butter
Crushed salt and pepper

Slather butter on both sides of the bread, pile the radish up high, and crush some pepper and sprinkle some salt on top and enjoy! The really thin radishes give a really good texture as you chew.





*I might want to try it with cream cheese instead of butter next time, and maybe adding some capers and some smoked lox. Or maybe brie and prosciutto...

Fennel and Halibut

Almost everyone at the farmers market had fennel this week, so I decided to try this ingredient out. I've never cooked with fennel before, although I've seen it numerous times on TV and such. I nibbled on the leaves to figure out the flavor, and I instantly thought of soup. So here's what I came up with.



Ingredients (serves about 4):

1 bulb large fennel
½ bulb large white onion (thinly sliced)
5-6 large shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
6-8 white mushrooms (sliced)

2 cups chicken stock
3 cups some other stock (I made a scallop/mushroom stock)

also: sea salt, fresh ground pepper, parsley, oregano, olive oil, garlic powder

Prepare the fennel:

Cut the fennel lengthwise, drizzle heavily with olive oil. Season sparingly with sea salt, black pepper and oregano. Bake at about 350º for about 30 minutes, keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn completely. Bake it enough so its soft and tender, but not overcooked so it still has a little bit of firmness on the outside. Remove it from heat and let it cool so you can cut it.

Cooking:

In a medium sized pot, sautee onions and mushrooms with the olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper. After cooking these for a little bit, slice up the fennel like an onion and add to the mix. After a few more minutes, the salt should have pulled out a lot of the water, add the soup stocks. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, letting all the flavors mix and become harmonious. Take off heat, put the mix into a blender and pulse it briefly just to chop it up a little more and you can pour the soup directly into bowls from here. Finely chop up some parsley and sprinkle on top, and you're done.





To go with the soup, I decided to make one of my favorites, a halibut bake. This one is really easy.

Ingredients (1 serving):

fresh halibut
2-3 white mushrooms (sliced)
2-3 shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
1/4 pack of enoki mushrooms (sperated)
1/8 bulb white onion (thinly sliced)
fennel leaves

also: sea salt, black pepper, lemon slice, white wine, mayonnaise

Cooking:

On sizable sheet of foil, place the halibut in the middle. Season with salt and pepper, and turn up the sides of the foil to make something that will resemble a boat (think water tight, after baking there will be a lot of liquid). Throw the onions and mushrooms all around and on top the fish, season a little more with salt and pepper. Add about ½ tablespoon of mayo on top, splash with about a tablespoon of white wine, throw a small stalk of fennel leaf and the lemon slice on top. Close off the top of the foil boat, and bake at 350º for about 20 minutes. When you remove from the oven, if you hear the liquid sizzling/boiling, thats confirmation that it's done. Be careful because the liquid will be hot. Carefully open the foil (steam will be hot too), and you can eat directly. Bon appetit!



* A little fresh ground black pepper on top of the soup adds a nice finishing touch.
* For people who like acid, squeeze some extra lemon on top of the halibut right before eating.
* Complements to Jon who made a nice bruschetta as an appetizer.

Pretzel Roll

One of my absolute favorite things at the Santa Monica Farmers Market: The famous Pretzel Roll by the Röckenwagner Bakery. All of their baked goods are amazing, but these delectable soft mounds of goodness (oh yea) are simply amazing. With a traditional tough outer skin that has just the right chewiness sprinkled, and a super soft and moist interior, this is definitely a must have for all you pretzel lovers out there.

Röckenwagner Bakery
12835 Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90066

They also have a cool cafe in Venice:

3 Square Café + Bakery
1121 Abbot Kinney
Venice, CA 90291

http://www.rockenwagner.com/

Clean out the frig omelette

Had to make room in my frig for the farmers market tomorrow, so I made an omlette with leftover ingredients.

Nothing special this time, so I won't list a step by step recipe, but inside the eggs are spinach, artichokes and cheese. Pretty basic. Wish I had some mushrooms. Gotta love omelettes for dinner.