http://ongcore.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/all-in-the-family/

Is “uncle” better than ‘dude?” Being from Los Angeles, specifically from the Valley, I think we know where I will land on this one. And this will be short and sweet. Uncle. UNCLE? … Fine, I’ll give you your familial designation of choice. And if used in the British sense, as in “bob’s your uncle,” I will concede that if the cabbie got you to your destination in one piece, it may be appropriate.

But I will make the case that “dude” is way more versatile, and thus better than uncle. And I will do it in two:

1. dude can be used at the end of just about any sentence to add emphasis, this is not gender specific. Example: “Check out that rice cooker. Dude!” Now when would your cabbie be in the store with you when you’re in the market for rice cookers?

2. It can be used on its own to show expression. Example: “Duuuuude.” [imagine some tragic or awesome event, like a car getting stolen or a beautiful sunrise.]

q.e.d.

… but if you want some academic-y whatever about the phenomenon that is “dude” – & gendered – here ya go: http://americanspeech.dukejournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/79/3/281

Eeep! It’s been so long since my last post. Life without having to report to a job daily is sweet. Let me back up a bit during my last days in Japan. Since I had to consume as much of my stocked food (I hate wasting food!), my meals were repetitive, weird, and involved loads of bread. Salsa, soba, sesame seeds, and random vegetables? That combo made a quick meal when I needed a break from sorting and packing.

{Nope, not your usual oats-in-jar!}

I had no problem packing my clothes and other stuff since I don’t have loads. Ever since I read about getting more value with less, I’ve streamlined not only on clothes but also in other areas. It’s all about getting quality items over cheap things that one doesn’t end up using and just taking precious space. I couldn’t help buying these Japan-made plates, bowls, cups, and saucers. These will definitely be put to good use.

{All that for around $8! Crazy, I know.}

These were a steal from a school fund raising sale. Quality can be affordable. It’s all about making wise purchases and knowing where to get the good stuff.

What I didn’t pack though were the rice cooker and microwave/toaster oven. Rice cookers in Japan are more complicated than the usual types. There are settings for different kinds of rice, cooking methods (porridge, risotto, etc.), and timer functions. That small oven was what I used to bake my goodies. Since it isn’t a normal oven, it was simple enough for me as a way to start baking. Of course the results weren’t as great as those baked from real ovens. The rice cookers we have in the Philippines are the one-button type and I haven’t seen a microwave/toaster oven here yet.

{Only foodies would understand taking such pictures, no? }

It’s almost been two weeks since I got back to the Philippines. Aside from just hanging out at home, I’ve managed to keep myself busy. There’s a running track nearby where I run in the mornings. I also completed my first race last Sunday – a 10K run at my university. Recap and pictures to follow in my next post.

Going to the market used to be a chore. Now, it’s fun especially when I go with my friend Maria. We joke about being weekend moms whenever we go to the market after our weekend runs. We never went to the market before and our usual meet ups were at the mall, going to the movies, and eating out. Things have changed indeed.

{Watermelon, Durian, Kaki (from Korea), Jackfruit}

Philippines has tons of delicious fruits such as langka (jackfruit), mangoes, papaya, pineapples, and bananas. I’m not fond of the durian though. Vegetables were also aplenty at the market. They make pretty subjects, too.

{Various vegetables, dried fish at the weekend open market.}

Today, I’m going to my raja yoga class. It’s not the usual stretch/pose type of yoga. It’s more on meditation but I thought I’d finish the entire basic course. It would be a great complement to my running and I hope to develop more positive thinking with the exercises. Have a great day!

Warm Cinnamon Applesauce

4 large apples, peeled and grated (or peeled, cored and chopped)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup cider (or apple juice)

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Add all ingredients into the rice bowl (or crock pot or pot on a stove top). Place cover on unit and set on the cook mode. When cycle is compete, check to see if apples are tender (about 25 to 30 minutes). Add additional cook time if needed. Puree with hand blender or food processor if desired.

Here are the four apples before they are peeled. I’ve only used red apples for this recipe and I get the cheapest apples that are at the store. These were about $1 a pound.

An apple after some grating. I grate the apples because I don’t have a blender or food processor so this is the smallest I can get them. I use a hand grater that cost about $5. It’s easy because I grate the peeled apple until I reach the core – so no chopping or coring. But be careful to not grate your knuckles!

Apples, sugar, butter, cider and cinnamon in the rice cooker. Just cover and let boil and it should be ready in about 30 minutes.

The finished product. Feel free to blend it for a smoother applesauce or leave as is.

There you have it folks, warm cinnamon applesauce in a rice cooker. The great thing about homemade applesauce is that it’s so versatile. You can add other spices like nutmeg or allspice or swap the apple cider for pineapple juice or peach juice to get a fruity variation.

The original recipe can be used to make apple crisp or an easy bottomless apple pie. This is a great recipe that can be a base for many wonderful dishes, just be creative!

How about you – do you make homemade applesauce? Do you have a tried and true recipe? Share your thoughts below.

Melissa

It all started with a food processor purchased in Tesco.  A food processor had been on my wish list for a while and one Saturday afternoon during our weekly shop we passed by it. There it was, calling out to be, begging me to buy it.  So I did. Or we did, boyfriend and I. A few weeks passed and the food processor lay unused in the store. How could I? I know, all the hype and nada…

The following weekend we ventured into town, into one of the many Asian food stores sprinkled all over the city. We choose the store on Clarendon St.

WOW. I cannot believe I have never been to this store before. It was amazing! Seriously, I was blown away.  I found this Jamie Oliver recipe for easy homemade curry pastes and decided to try my hand at a Rogan Josh paste. I found all the ingredients in the Asian store for a fraction of the prices in the local supermarket.

So I gave the Rogan Josh a go and it was surprisingly easy to make. I know the recipe does stress ‘easy’ in the title, but in my experience they never are. But with this, put all the ingredients onto the food processor, blitz for about thirty seconds and thats it. I know, easy right?

Boyfriend picked up a rice cooker in Lidl  few weeks earlier which was a super purchase. I’m dubious of Lidl/Aldi gadgets at the best of times but the rice cooker is truly amazing! The output is to die for – delicious fluffy rice every time cooked to perfection.

While on the subject of food, I made a delicious banana bread on Saturday using the following recipe. I’m a big fan of banana bread and the above recipe was definitely the best.  Boyfriend, Mother and Brother agree. Give it a go and let me know how you get on.

2 cups Japanese white rice

1 carrot

1 pack Shimeji-mushrooms

1 pack Enoki-mushrooms

1 fried bean cake

3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

cut carrot

crumble shimeji-mushrooms

wash rice and put water in it and add Japanese soy sauce

cut fried bean cake, enoki-mushrooms

put everything into rice cooker

cook it

serve it into the rice bowl

I hope you enjoy healthy Japanese Kinoko-Gohan!

click please

Rice cooking has always been considered as tough job. Sometimes it gets overcooked and some times over melted. This makes the ladies irritated. Replacing old pressure cooker, here comes rice cooker.

Rice cooker has Teflon and thermostat powder coated body and has stainless body. We adjust the setting of heat according to the type of rice.

Fabiano appliances manufactures quality rice cooker that is replacing coking rice in pressure cooker.

I own rice cooker so when I want to  make rice I pour 1/2 cup of rice (I’m only feeding two!) and 1 and 1/2 cups water (I have finally learned that it is one part rice and three parts water; originally I thought it was 1:2). But my rice usually comes out still a little hard and swimming in white goop. And rice my way just does not taste as right as I’ve had before. Some tips I will try in the future:

1. Rinse the rice – I need to be diligent with this step for it can be easily overlooked. I always rinse pasta after it is cooked and drained so this is how I will approach rice but the other way around. Rinse first, cook later.

2. Let the rice rest – I guess rice needs a few moments of relaxation before you eat it so you should let it rest for about 5 minutes. If I do this in my rice cooker the rice will burn. I will have to transfer cooked rice to a bowl.

3. Sugar! – I add a little sugar to the pot to sweeten up the rice. I think it’s delicious. But there is a balance. Sigh, another thing to perfect.

So my question to you is what other ways do prepare rice? What rice do you use, what seasonings do you throw in, do you make the best damn rice in town? And if so leave a comment. I wants to hear about it.

Melissa

…you know how some days there’s nothing really in the fridge, freezer or cupboards from which to concoct dinner?  Well that’s where this came from and thankfully was jolly tasty as well.

As you would expect, and know by now, there was the typical abundance of rice to be found in the cupboards.   It wasn’t to difficult to find an onion, couple of beans and lentils, eggs and the random element in the dish, a frozen “chip shop” battered cod piece from the dark recesses of the freezer.  As for seasoning, curry powder, cumin and some of the usual suspects from the spice rack were roped in for the task as well.

So the idea was something like a Japanese dry curry (basically a kind of curry-flavoured fried rice) and a bit like kedgeree. 

Onions were fried, battered cod went in the oven and then was chopped up, and while all this was going on the trusty Cook Japan rice cooker was busy cooking up some rice with beans and lentils.  Once the rice was cooked, in went the onions, fish pieces and some seasoning and the whole thing mixed up and left on “keep warm” until it was time for dinner…

…so as you can see its a bit like a dry curry and kind of like kedgeree, in fact a pretty good random combination that worked out really tasty, full of flavour and a great way to use up a bunch of bits and bods to make dinner…

…ooh, then I thought “i know”, and cooked up a nice hard boiled egg to give it a bit more of a kedgeree feel (well kind of, if you don’t look to closely)…

I love rice but I hate cooking. Using pots ang pans to cook rice is challenging for me. It’s either too soft, too dry or sometimes burnt! I don’t really know how I survived without a rice cooker.

I’m glad that I now own an Aroma Rice Cooker. I now cook rice just like in the Chinese restaurants but less the fuss. I really love it!

It’s really affordable too. I bought the stainless one which only cost $58 online. I’m not sure if this will last but from the looks of it, I made a smart move.

I’ll write more about my new rice cooker. Now I have to measure 4 cups of rice to cook. =)

When you sit down and think about it…

“No great improvements in the lot of mankind are possible until a great change takes place in the fundamental constitution of their modes of thought.”

John Stuart Mill
English economist & philosopher (1806 – 1873)

…which is why I took the bold move of altering my “modes of thought” for the production of takoyaki (octopus balls) and my rather yummy sausage with puy lentils dish.

I will leave you to debate whether this will lead to any improvements in “the lot of mankind” (I am too humble and modest to judge such things), but feast your eyes on these bad-boys and tell me they’re not tasty…

Toulouse Sausages with Puy Lentils

Stuck to a more French feel with the sausages this time going with some lovely smoked Toulouse sausages from the butchers and a monstrous glug of red wine, but also chucked in some finely chopped chestnut mushrooms and sweet romano peppers…

Takoyaki (octopus balls)

Last weeks balls were very tasty, but this weeks balls were balls that would be hard to beat!

Nothing much different in the recipe, perhaps the pan was now a bit more used to be using, or it could have been to do with the gas for the camping stove running out and having to make them on the stove rather than in the middle of table, but either way, tell me these are some of the tastiest balls you’ve ever seen…

Sometimes just throwing together some bits and pieces in the kitchen is all you need to.  At a loss as to what to make and without the ambition or desire to try and remedy this mindless state, grabbing a few things from the kitchen and fridge actually turned into a perfectly good lunch…

…of course there was some rice in the rice cooker, so that had to feature, but then I also remembered we have some yukari (dried red shiso/perilla leaves) which makes a great accompaniment to a simple bowl of rice with a lovely plum flavour…

…you can’t beat a bowl of miso soup with your rice, so out came the miso paste to which I added some shungiku (garland chrysanthemum) which is a beautiful leaf and full of flavour…

and my wife has recently been making pickles so it seemed rude not to have a plate of that as well. 

what a great combination…

…so nearly a perfect lunch, but I kinda fancied some meat as well and as luck would have we’ve got a big joint of cha siu pork in the fridge so I chopped off a few pieces, gave them a quick heat-up in a pan and used a sauce made from soy sauce and honey to give it a bit more vavavoom…

…simple and yet tasty, just what you want for a simple lunch without much thought.

It’s been at least a week since I’ve crafted anything remotely resembling a meal (because PB&J sandwiches don’t count!).  On Tuesday, however, I took my chances and tried to make dinner using only what I had unpacked so far.  So I went into battle with only a wooden spoon, a paring knife, a rice cooker and a small sauce pan.  I had frozen meatballs from Sams Club in the freezer and half of a bag of egg noodles in the pantry.

Well, first of all, I needed (or wanted, rather) some sort of vegetable.  Since I had been planning this out while I was still at work, I had enough forethought to stop at the store on my way home and pick up some Roma tomatoes and a head of garlic.  Luckily I had unpacked my pantry and spice rack items the night before, so I had everything I needed to get started!

The great thing about rice cookers (even greater than the fact that I snagged mine at a garage sale for $1) is that they can do SO much more than just rice!  I had been using mine, with close supervision of course, to cook pasta and vegetables so it was a good tool to have unpacked for cooking the egg noodles.  The sauce pan handled the rest.  Here is the result!

That’s how it came out after I mixed everything together in the rice cooker pot.  Appetizing, isn’t it (I hope!)?  I really wish I had my basil plant at that time.  Some bright green basil leaves would’ve completed  the red, white, and green Italian Trifecta of Perfection!  Instead, I had to settle for some pesto mixed in with the tomatoes.  Oh well!

Here are your do-it-yourself instructions:

INGREDIENTS (measurements are approximate)

• 7-8 beef meatballs (frozen or freshly made)
• 1/2 bag egg noodles (not the huge bag, the smaller one) cooked to your liking
• 3 Roma tomatoes (chopped/cubed)
• 2-3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 tbs chicken broth
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp black pepper (freshly ground)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pesto (or several basil leaves)

I heated the meatballs first in the saucepan to defrost them and brown them on the outsides on medium heat.  Once they had thawed and browned, I used a small knife to cut each meatball in half to cook the still-frozen insides.  Once the meatballs were cooked through, I set them aside in a small bowl.  Using the chicken broth, I de-glazed the saucepan and added the chopped garlic.  However, if I had some white wine, I would have preferred to use that instead.  I let the garlic simmer until the broth had almost completely disappeared from the pan.  I then added the olive oil and the chopped tomatoes.  After a good stir to coat each piece of tomato with oil and garlic, I sprinkled in the salt and pepper, added the pesto, and stirred again to fully incorporate.  Once the tomatoes started to soften (their skin was starting to peel off at that point), I turned the heat off under the tomatoes and added the meatballs back into the saucepan and mixed them in.  I then added the mixture to the cooked egg noodles in my rice cooker pot and tossed them together thoroughly.

It was quick and pretty delicious.  The leftovers were good enough to take for lunch the next day!

See you next dish!

The Head Spoon

• The Cross and Christian Ministry by D.A. Carson
• Future Grace by John Piper
• The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
• Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami (世界の終りとハードボイルド・ワンダーランド)

Just a side note: D.A. Carson and Anne Carson are not related. (I think.)

-

My housemate is listening to classical music in her room (quite loudly, I might add, but I think that is obvious).

-

Have y’all seen the newest issue of Inheritance Magazine? This issue is on dating.

I had forgotten about it until Dan’s roommate, Andrew threw an issue at us. “Have you seen this?” he asked. “It’s pretty interesting.”

I haven’t read through the whole thing yet, but yes, so far, it is pretty interesting.

-

Mr. Yan, you may be able to cook, but your rice cooker causes me a lot of grief. I waste so much rice because it sticks and burns to your rice cooker! It breaks my heart.

…or the a truck drove over my upper part of the body-look.

My three readers might notice a few things were blogged before. I don’t do that very often, especially not for clothes. In this case I wanted to create (hoo!) a certain look (hoo!)….and you can’t deny that the chunky bracelet from TOSL matches the skirt (yes, it’s not a belt!)…at least colour wise. I had to take the close-up for it without my arm…I gained a few pixels and no-mod jewellery sucks. [insert deep sigh here]

I first saw a skirt from Luck Inc. in a picture of Amerie’s flickr stream. She was wearing a black one with cleverly placed skulls on it. You’ll find a huge selection of patterns for that little skirty thingy…to no one’s surprise I also bagged the Checkers Rainbow version.
With all those colours going on some appliance love had to be added. What’s better than a kettle and a rice-cooker rubbing each other in love on your chest? They’re doing it on your back as well, which really keeps you warm at all times. The T-shirt’s from Toastface, made by the lovely Uma Ceawlin. I could also recommend the I ♥ Pocky and the Kawaii desu ne shirt.

Those shoes….I have no idea why I bought them, really. They were collecting inventory dust for months and I already put them from my New!!!-folder (what’s not been used yet, stays “new”) into my normal clothes folder, because I wasn’t able to wear them in a satisfactory manner (aha?). Yaaaay! At last they’re matching the outfit in my sick little brain cell! With the white jacket (recycled from my La Roux inspired *coughs* outfit), the blue and the white and the blah…Tadaha! (Yes, that’s what’s going on in my brain cell!)
I blogged the bruised skin from fashionably dead already, but it’s not really recycled, because I bought it in another skin tone! Yay! XD Again combined with my favourite bruised shirt from Drowsy, which adds some more pain to your arms….and hopefully to some people’s eyes as well!

jacket: BomberJacket(White) from COCO

shirt: love doodles blue tshirt from Toastface

undershirt (for bruises and bandages on arms): tomboy T-shirts from Drowsy

skirt: Low Rise Mini Jeans Skirt Checkers Rainbow from Luck Inc.

socks: puji’s kneehighs (white) from Corduroy

shoes: Wonder Bird – White from Sweetest Good-bye

bracelet: *Lickin’ Good* Bracelet v1.2 Rainbow Creamsicle from TOSL

hair: .+*Sely*+.Pearl from Mirai Style

eyes: - summer – dry soil – (m) from Poetic Color

skin: Bird Skin – Trouble Lady rom Fashionably Dead

pose: from Olive Juice (Sorry, can’t remember which one, but you gotta buy them all anyway, so who cares?)

date: 11/10/09

SL, Second Life, Windlight, Linden and SLurl are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc.

Yes, I’ve cracked it!

If you read the blog on Paris you will have seen the lovely dish of lentils and sausage we had in a tiny little bistro tucked away in a corner of Le Marais – half way through that meal I thought it might be worth experimenting with this in the rice cooker when we got home…

…having bought some puy lentils and Lincolnshire sausages (for an English twist) the experiment worked a trip and the meal was lovely.

This is so simple and easy to cook in the trusty Cook Japan rice cooker…first brown the sausages on the “braise” function, put them to one side and lightly fry an onion and 2 cloves of garlic.  Then add the lentils, a pint of stock and a dash of Worcestershire sauce, put the sausages back on top and switch to the “Cook” function…

Keep an eye on the level of liquid and add more water if it looks to be going to dry and after an hour or so you have a fabulous lentil and sausage casserole…

Serve with a little side salad and some wonderful rustic bread and you have a great meal to sit back and enjoy on a cold evening as the nights draw in…

2 cups sweet rice(sticky rice)

10 Kuri (chest nuts)

1/2 Satsumaimo (sweet potato)

3 inch Konbu (konbu seaweed)

1 tsp salt

water

remove shell from Chest nuts and cut Satsumaimo

wash rice and put it and water in the rice cooker

put Konbu on the rice

put chest nuts and satsumaimo on it

turn rice cooker on

serve it into the rice bowl and add black sesame and salt

This is very famous rice in Japan.

We love to have this in Autumn.

I hope you enjoy Kuri-gohan!

click please

3 cups Japanese rice

8 Shrimps

1/2 cup corn

1 cup ham

1/2 cup cut green pepper

salt

pepper

3 tbsp Butter

water

1 soup stock

wash rice and drain water

fry rice with butter

while you are frying rice, cut ham very finely

add those into the pan and fry with rice for a while(not get burnt)

when rice came out clear colour, put it into rice cooker

put water into it (follow with your rice cooker instruction) and add vegetable soup stock and salt, pepper

cook!

done!!

heat the small skillet and fry shrimps

serve cooks rice into the dish and put shrimp onto that

I hope you enjoy it!

click please

In Japan, rice cookers are no joke. Some people spend upwards of $500 for their ultra high-tech electric cooker, obsessing over the moisture, texture and taste of what is endearingly called “gohan.”

I’ve had dreams of the perfect bowl of rice. The best I’ve come across was one made in an iron pot over a hot flame. That’s how they used to cook it in the olden days and it doesn’t get better than that. A decent pot of rice can last days without developing a lingering odor, which I suppose means that even bacteria respect it enough to stay away!

But in 2009, we don’t have time to kindle a fire and spend three hours to cook rice. Instead we have our trusty rice cooker to do all the work. Just wash, place it in the cooker, set your timer and you’ll have your hot bowl on the table for tomorrow’s breakfast.

So what would drive someone to buy a $500 cooker? Here are some thoughts:

• They chime a Disney song when you start cooking.
• They come with a fancy hi-tech LCD panel that makes any
kitchen look cool.
• “Superior induction heating evenly distributes heat for excellent
results,” according to Amazon.
• Spatula holder and retractable cord!
• Open/close lid sensor.
• The option to cook rice porridge, sushi rice, cakes, curry, and more.

Though I think the most compelling reason to invest in an expensive cooker is the idea that a single machine can miraculously take you back the best meal of your life. But does it ever really? Probably not. But it looks pretty neat at least, right?

Himawari

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How do you like your rice?  Wet?  Soggy?  Pasty?  Like a glob?   How many times has your rice turned out as such?

Every cook can look back and laugh at mistakes made in the kitchen.  (We have found it is better to laugh than cry.)  Our family grew up eating potatoes as a main staple more frequently than rice.  My mother never taught me how to cook rice.  So for me it was a trial and error method for too many years.

My Mother was born in North Dakota where the temperatures fell to forty below zero in their extremely cold winters.  My grandfather was “sweet talked” by a land agent, as they were called back then, and moved first to Kansas and then to Colorado to homestead.  The land agent didn’t tell them that farmers usually had a good crop every five years.  However, growing potatoes was one crop that did quite well, hence our family ate potatoes instead of rice, which they could not raise.

In the north where we grew up rice was consumed more as a dessert than as a staple.  My mother used to make a delicious rice pudding, and we served it in our Pennsylvania Dutch style cooking restaurant in Michigan as well.  It went over big!

How would you like to own an electric rice cooker where the rice comes out dry and flaky every time?  The electric rice cooker is a wonderful addition to the kitchen and prevents so many flops!  Our rice cooker was a Christmas present to us from the family that I have been cooking for here in SC for over 24 years.  We liked it so well we gave one to our daughter and two daughters-in-law for Christmas the following year.

You can cook plain rice or you can add celery, onions, or other seasonings along with the rice when you first start it. You can serve the rice right out of the cooker, or you can use it in casserole dishes, etc.  We have a rice casserole that we enjoy very much, and it is even better made with the nice, dry, flaky rice that results when using the cooker.

Please visit our web site:  http://www.kitchencookwarepro.com

It’s the end of the month and I’ll push this one over the finish line. I like to get at least one post per month. This is healthy whole grains, high in protein, tasty, and way easy. And everyone should have a rice cooker.

Curry quinoa lentils and brown rice pilaf(?)

• 2/3 cup quinoa
• 2/3 cup brown rice
• 1/3 cup lentils (any type that is whole with skin)
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 dried chili
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 cup water

Wash and strain the grains, if you aren’t washing it then you’ll need more water (1/2 cup), but quinoa requires washing. Put everything in a rice cooker, and let it cook on regular.

If using the stove top, put everything into a small heavy bottom and bring to a boil with the lid on, then turn it down to a low simmer and cook covered for 35-40mins. Remove bay leaf and chili, give it a mix in the pot before serving.

You can use vegetable or chicken stock if you like, just watch the salt. This goes great with almost anything.

-L

For those of us who love to bake, Japan’s lack of full-size ovens for domestic use is somewhat of a downer.  But never fear, readers!  You can make cakes, bread, pastries and all manner of delicious things in your rice cooker!

I have a wonderful cook book called Make Delicious Sweets and Fluffy Bread in Your Rice Cooker (『炊飯器でおいしいお菓子とふっくらパン』), which you may have seen at orientation. It’s available for only 890 yen on amazon.co.jp. All the recipes are in Japanese, and the only English in the book is the translations of the names of the cakes. “But I don’t read Japanese well enough to cook!” you may fret.  Well, today, it is my pleasure to share with you my translation (and notes!) for “Apple Nuts Cake” (pp. 6-7).

Fall is in the air! Try an apple-nut cake!

Click the link for the recipe!

EBATA Kumiko (江端久美子). “Apple Nuts Cake.” 『炊飯器でおいしいお菓子とふっくらパン』:  pp. 6-7.

An apple is delicious when fresh, but when the atmosphere changes with the onset of colder days, you start to want something more substantial, like warm, tender baked apples.  When you eat one whole baked apple that’s been cooked well and has the sweet scent of apple pie, it’s as if even your feelings have become warm.  I wanted to eat this kind of cake during that kind of cold winter. Don’t forget the nuts! Try them together with the flavor of the apple.

Ingredients

3 eggs

80 g granulated sugar

150 g cake flour  [薄力粉 hakurikiko]*

5 g (1 teaspoon) of baking powder [ベーキングパウダー behkingu paudaa]**

1 tsp. cinnamon

40 g unsalted butter***

1 small apple (about 100 g)

60 g (net weight) of walnuts (about 1/2 cup)

Glaze: 2 tablespoons of sugar

3 tablespoons of water

Instructions

1. Mix the eggs and sugar. In a bowl, beat the eggs. Add the sugar and mix well with a whisk until the sugar is mixed in.
2. Add the dry ingredients and butter. Mix flour, baking powder, and cinnamon together in a separate bowl, then sift the mixture into the egg and flour mixture. With a plastic bowl scraper, mix the batter from the bottom of the bowl.  When the flour is mixed in, add the softened butter.
3. Prepare the apple and the nuts. Wash the apple and cut into 8 pieces, remove the stem and seeds and cut into 5 mm slices.  Roast the walnuts in a frying pan over low heat until brown(er) and fragrant, then chop small pieces.  Add the apple slices and chopped walnuts to the batter.
4. Set the rice cooker. Remove the bowl of the rice cooker and grease the inside of the bowl with butter. Pour in the batter and set the bowl back into the rice cooker.  Make sure it’s flat and level.  Close the lid and press the 炊飯 (cook rice) button.
5. It’s done! When the switch goes off, hit stop and open the lid.  Check the cake by inserting a toothpick or knife into the center.  If it comes out clean, it’s done.  If it’s not done, close the lid and press the cook rice button again. (Note: my cakes usually need two rounds of cooking to get done.)  Flip the cake out of the bowl onto a cooking rack (use oven mitts!) and, while it’s still hot, paint the syrup on with a baking brush.  Let cool.

Baking time: 15-30 min.

Enjoy!

-Leah

Cooking notes:

*On a multi-purpose measuring cup, look for the measurements for 薄力粉 when measuring.  This is a “weak” flour, or wheat flour of low viscosity.

**You can find this in stores (even in the Noto), but if you want a good deal, get it on Foreign Buyer’s Club.

*** I recommend Hokkaido Brand butter.  It comes in a yellow and red package and has fine lines to mark every 10 g of butter.  So much easier!

I arrived home shortly before 8 PM after a full day of column chromatography, mini plasmid preps, and bioinformatics software installation (The installation took more than 5 hours and it’s still not done!). I get home famished from the 11 hour work day.  Annoyed that I would have to wait until the frozen meat I took from the refrigerator would thaw. Ehh no.

I don’t have the patience nor the physical strength to slave in front of the stove. My solution? The Rice Cooker.

MATERIALS and METHODS

Rice and Vegetables

• 120 g rice (~3/4 cup)
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots
• pinch of salt
• water

1 Put rice and salt in rice cooker

2 Touch the top of the rice with your index finger and add enough water until the water level reaches the first line on your finger.

3 Add frozen vegetables

4 Turn on the rice cooker. After you hear the switch click to Warm, let the rice cooker run for an extra 5 to 10 minutes to reduce the moisture.

RESULTS and DISCUSSION

As it is, rice and vegetables is a meal for me. Sometimes I would add a few drops of Maggi seasoning (Saarland woot!) to add more flavor.

What’s brilliant about the rice cooker is I really can forget about it until I hear the switch click. In the mean time, I could read and respond to emails, browse through my favorite blogs, or when it’s really urgent, start the methodology section of my progress report.

OUTLOOK and RECOMMENDATIONS

Because the final product is relatively bland, the rice and vegetables can be mixed with stronger flavors.  For example, once I took out a portion and prepared fried rice with Spanish sardines. I used the oil from the Spanish sardines as the base of the fried rice.

Rice and vegetables make a perfect side dish to grilled and broiled meat and seafood. Here I matched one serving of rice and vegetables with broiled chicken wings.

One trick to skip the effort of finding something savory to match the rice with, simply use broth instead of water when preparing the rice.

The only other type of frozen vegetables I’ve used is the Kaisergemüse, made up of broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. Similar to the frozen peas and carrots, Kaisergemüse has a neutral taste that I can mix and match with other flavors after preparation.

Now my tummy is filled. Stress level has gone down. Time to dump the dishes in the sink, lie down on the bed, and enjoy whatever’s left of this long day.

(This post was originally written last Thursday when  the chromatography, plasmid preps, and software installation actually happened.)