Oven fried baby red potato オーブンフライドレッドポテト

This was a rare occasion for us to enjoy steaks. I got some that were labeled "tenderloin steak" from our regular grocery store. It had some marbling and could represent Chateaubriand (head of tenderloin) but certainly was not a regular filet mignon. It was not too expensive and (unexpectedly) excellent. When it comes to beef steak, my wife is strictly a  "meat-and-potato Gal". Since we had baby red potatoes*, she remembered often making crispy oven fried red potatoes in the past. I also  added sautéed green beans and red wine sauce.

*red potato: In the U.S. these red potatoes are called  Norland Red potato and are sold as "baby red potatoes". It has a dark red skin and white flesh. Flesh is not too starchy or waxy.

The cut surface of the potato became really crispy and inside was soft and creamy. My wife removed the skin before eating and I ate everything. (I thought the skin added to the flavor). (When cooked like this the skin comes off very easily.)

Although we have posted quite a few variations of oven fried potatoes, somehow this one escaped our attention. This is by far the easiest but the result is excellent.

Ingredients:
Baby red potatoes, cleaned and eyes removed if needed, cut in half
Kosher salt
Olive oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven at 375F.
Put olive oil in a small flat dish and dip the cut surface of the potato into the olive oil to coat.
Arrange the potatoes after dipping the cut surface in olive oil on a cookie sheet with the cut surface up (#1 picture below).
Season the cut surface with Kosher salt
and turn them over so the cut surface is on the pan(#2 and #3).
Bake it for 30 minutes (#4)

This potato was very satisfying. Nice crunchy exterior and soft creamy interior with a slightly sweet taste. As compared to other oven-fried potatoes, this is the simplest and very good. The steaks were cooked as usual; brought  to room temperature, seasoned with salt and pepper. Seared with melted butter 2-3 minutes on each side (for medium rare, I did not finish them in the oven this time).

For the red wine sauce, I simply blotted the excess oil from the pan the steak was cooked in. I poured in some red wine (I happened to have an open bottle of Tempranillo) and a small amount of balsamic vinegar. I mixed and removed the "fond" with a silicon spatula and reduced the wine mixture until it just coated the bottom of  the pan and finished it with pats of cold butter.

We decided to open a good wine for this occasion and had Caymus Special selection 2010. We bought this some years ago (it was much less expensive when we bought it than current market prices). We stored it for a number of years in our wine refrigerator. I decanted it carefully and served with the steak. The wine was excellent. There is no sign of excess oxidation. It still has lots of dark fruits, chocolate  and vanilla with silky tannin. Ultimate California cab!  So this was a quite a potato-and-meat feast with a good wine.

Rosemary scone (cookie) with macchiatos ローズマリースコーン

This is my wife's baking project of making savory cookies (it was dubbed as a scone but it is more like a fluffy cookie). It is based on a recipe in the "La Brea Bakery" cookbook. It has a fresh rosemary flavor which you would not expect from the appearance. One weekend afternoon, we had this with espresso macchiatos. I am not a big desert or cookie eater but this is really good and perfect with the macchiatos. Please note, in the picture below, the scone/cookie is very large and the coffee cup is a demitasse size. In truth we shared one cookie between the two of us. (We admit this was a staged photoshoot).

The cookie is soft but slightly crumbly with gentle sweetness with fresh rosemary flavor which are such a great combination of tastes and textures.

The picture below shows our usual macchiatos which we often have as a second cup of coffee after morning cappuccinos on the weekend. The bean was a blended bean called "Altiplano" from Sweet Maria. We home roasted to full-City+. I use foamed cream (just a small amount) on the top. I use my  Nespresso frother for this. This cup may look similar to one with cappuccinos but, as I mentioned, this is a much smaller cup.

This scone is made using the rosemary from our herb garden. Our current rosemary is the third or fourth iteration we planted. Our winters are generally too cold for rosemary to survive more than a year or two. Remarkably, we planted this rosemary more than 20 years ago. It has grown into a small gnarled bush with a beautifully thick twisted stem. This spring we were afraid that it may not have survived the winter. After removing several dead branches, however, at least two major branches are still alive and producing new growth. We were so glad and relieved; it was like welcoming back an old friend who had been seriously ill. We have been refraining from cutting sprigs of our rosemary, during the summer,  to give it a chance to fully recover.  Now, it has grown enough that we can safely use our rosemary again.

Ingredients:

3 3/4 cups All Purpose flour
1 3/4 cups corn flour (or corn meal)
1 Tbs. plus 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh rosemary (more or less to taste)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 sticks (12 oz.) butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes and frozen
2 large eggs
2 Tbs. plus 2 tsp. honey


(The original recipe called for, 1 large egg, 1 egg yolk and 1/2 cup plus 2 tsp heavy cream. I misread the recipe and as shown above I used 2 eggs. In addition, I left out the heavy cream...the scones were still really good.  I'll have to try the original recipe to compare with the one I made. Nonetheless, my variation is worth trying).

Directions:

In a food processor fitted with a blade, combine the flours, baking powder, rosemary and brown sugar and process until incorporated. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is pale yellow and the consistency of fine meal. (The amount was too big for my food processor so I processed it in batches) In another bowl add the eggs, honey and cream and whisk together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Turn the dough out only a floured work surface and gently knead a few times until it comes together. Roll the dough into a 3/4 inch thick square. Cut the scones (I cut them into squares to eliminate the scraps that would have to be reworked if I cut them into rounds). Place the pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until slightly browned and firm to the touch.

This one is in the same category of other savory cookies we have made such as "anchovy black pepper cookie", "rosemary pine nut cookie", "castagnoccio"  and "chili cheese shortbread". It uses a ridiculous amount of butter but it is well worth it. We like all the savory cookies but this one may be our new favorite.

Cold mackerel ball soup 冷製鯖のつみれ汁

We got a whole Spanish mackerel from the near-by Whole Foods and made our usual miso simmered mackerel 鯖の味噌煮. I also made mackerel fish ball soup 鯖のつみれ汁 from the meat scraped off the bone and tail tip portion of the fish. I just cooked the mackerel fish balls in dashi broth but did not season or finish the soup and placed it in the refrigerator. The next day, it was very hot and humid and my wife suggested we have this soup cold. Following her suggestion, I made this cold soup with mackerel balls, silken tofu and udon noodle as a light lunch.

I just seasoned the broth with concentrated noodle sauce from a bottle and garnished with sliced scallion and yuzu zest (frozen).

Ingredients: (this made 7 meat balls).

Scraped meat from one whole Spanish mackerel (scraped off the bone and also the thin tip of the tail portion)

Scallion, half stalk, finely chopped

Miso and potato starch 1 tbs each

Sake 1 tsp

Roasted sesame oil 1/2 tsp

Ginger root, finely chopped 1/2 tsp

Salt, scant pinch

Japanese broth, 300ml (I made this from a dashi pack with bonito and kelp).

Concentrated noodle sauce from the bottle to taste
Silken tofu and udon noodles (both cold, amount arbitrary)

For garnish

Scallion, 1/2, thinly sliced on bias
Yuzu zest

Directions:

Mince and mix the Spanish mackerel meat, scallion, miso, potato starch, sake, sesame oil, ginger root and salt.
Meanwhile heat-up the Japanese dashi broth and keep it simmering
Using two teaspoons, make a quenelle and drop it into the simmering broth
Cook it gently until all the fish balls float (4-5 minutes)
Let it cool to room temperature and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
In a small bowl, add the broth seasoned with the concentrated noodle sauce, add the fish balls, tofu and udon and garnish.

We liked the warm version but this cold one is also very good especially on a hot and humid summer day in August in Washington.

Sally Lunn bread サリーラン ブレッド

This is again my wife's baking. This is a very usual and good bread called "Sally Lunn" bread. The original "Sally Lunn bun" was reportedly served in the spa town of "Bath" in England in the 18th century. In the U.S., the same name appears to be attached to breads that are dissimilar from the ones served originally in Bath. This recipe came from "Beard on Bread" and probably represents the latter category.  While the leavening agent is yeast it is a batter bread. This means that the texture of the dough is very unusual and not like regular yeast dough. It is wet, sticky and has to be "poured". My wife never made a bread like this before and wasn't quite sure how to handle it but in the end everything worked out just fine.  Lightly toasted and buttered, this is wonderful.

As you can see lots of holes which make this bread so light.

This is how it looks before toasting. Since it was baked in a tube pan, you have to cut it into wedges which is a bit awkward.

Ingredients:

1 package active yeast
1/4 tsp. sugar (to bloom the yeast)
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1 stick butter melted in the milk
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 1/2 to 4 cups all purpose flour

Directions:

Bloom the yeast. Melt the butter in a sauce pan add the milk, sugar and salt. Stir until the sugar and salt melts. Let cool to lukewarm. Add the eggs and stir to combine. Add 3 cups of  flour to the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to incorporate. Slowly add more flour in small amounts at a time to make a "stiff but workable batter" (whatever that meant). (I ended up using a total of 3 1/2 cups flour until I declared the batter "workable".  It was very thick, wet, stretchy and somewhat stringy). According to the recipe: Pour it into a bowel. (Pouring was a bit of a euphemism. It was more like battling it into the bowl against its will.) Let rise until doubled.  Then, again according to directions, beat it down with a wooden spoon for about 1 minute. (Beating it down was the appropriate term here). Scrape it into a heavily buttered tube pan. (This took some doing, particularly to get it evenly distributed around the tube.) Cover and let rise until it reaches the top of the pan. (Initially I did not think that would be possible given the volume shown in the picture below, but to my surprise it not only reached the top but was trying to bust out of the cover by the time I captured it from going over the edge.)

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until the bread is dark, golden on top and sounds hollow when rapped. (I thought this may have been a bit too high done next time I may try a shorter time). Turn out onto a rack to cool. (I was amazed at the final result shown below and even more amazed when we cut it into wedges and tasted it...what a beaut!)

Slice into wedges as shown below.

This was a remarkable bread making experience. This bread is very light and airy as you can see in the picture. I has a nice mild slightly sweet flavor. The crust is nice and crunchy especially when toasted. Who would have thought yeast bread could be made like this?

Otoshi three kinds including octopus sashimi タコ刺身、酢味噌和えとおとうし三種

This was the starting lineup for dinner one weekend evening. I had just come back from our Japanese grocery store burdened with all kinds of "goodies"; "ikura" いくら salmon roe, boiled octopus leg, fish cake, steamed squid salad Chinese style, and other items. So this was a quick and easy starter to prepare.  I used a store-bought "sashimi" soy sauce  刺身醤油 (small bottle shown below). Regular soy sauce is made with a mixture of soybeans, Koji rice, salt and water. It is somewhat watery and clear in appearance. In contrast this "sashimi" soy sauce is made differently. It uses either Tamari たまり, which is made from 100% soybeans (instead of a mixture of soybeans and koji-rice)  or it uses "double prepared" soy sauce or "Saishikomi-shoyu" 再仕込み醤油.  This is double prepared because soy sauce is substituted for the water used in regular soy sauce and is brewed again to make the "double prepared" soy sauce. As a result of this double brewing, it is thicker and more viscous than regular soy sauce. Depending on the brands, it may also contain "dashi" or "mirin" or other additions. For us, the difference is subtle but we occasionally have this special soy sauce for sashimi.

I served octopus two ways; one was sliced thinly with a wave pattern, which is called "sazanami-giri" 漣切り meaning "ripple cut".  My version is more like "big wave cut". This is done so that when dipping in wasabi and the afore-mentioned sashimi soy sauce, the surface will hold the sauce. The other is a tip portion cut into small chunks and dressed in "karashi sumiso" 芥子酢味噌.

The dressing is a mixture of miso, sugar and  and rice vinegar in 2:1:1 ratio and added prepared Japanese hot mustard to taste. Recently, I have reduced the vinegar (as per my wife's request) and added a small amount of hot water (from our "instant" hot water dispenser using RO filtered water). This makes the dressing milder and also dissolves the sugar better. I also added small chunks ("rangiri" 乱切り) of American mini cucumber.

Shown below is store-bought fish cake which we like. I grilled it in the toaster oven and dressed with ginger soy sauce (mixture of grated ginger and soy sauce). Since I had chives, I also added chopped chives.

This is another store bought drinking snack made of steamed squid with a "Chinese" style dressing called  "Ika-chuka-sansai" イカ中華山菜. Depending on the brand, the taste and ingredients vary  a little but this is not bad at all (except some of  the large chunks of squid was too chewy for my wife and she graciously transferred them to me).

This is the only one I really made. Cucumber suno-mono with small dried shirasu (whitebait/dried sardine hatchlings) garnished with ikura  しらす入りきゅうりの酢の物. Thinly sliced cucumber (American mini-cucumber), salted with moisture wrung out, mixed with "shirasu" (frozen in a package), dressed in sweet vinegar and garnished with ikura.

For a change, we started the evening with  tokubetsu junmai "Suigei" 特別純米酒　酔鯨 sake from Kochi in Shikoku 高知、四国. This is a  dry sake with acidity but not yeasty at all and went well with these snacks.

Cheese muffin チーズマフィン

This is another one of my wife's baking. The original recipe is from the "Beard on Bread" cookbook. This is a very cheesy muffin and we really like it.

Since this is very cheesy, it is best suited as a dinner roll rather than a breakfast roll. But it works for us either way.

Ingredients:
 1 package yeast
1/4 cup warm water + 1/2 tsp sugar to bloom the yeast
4-6 cups bread flour
1 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup (one half stick) butter softened
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (more or less depending on taste)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or slightly more to taste)
3/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese.

Directions:
Bloom the yeast in the 1/4 cup water and 1/2 tsp sugar. Add 4 cups of the bread flour (to start) to stand mixer with dough hook. Add the sugar, salt, 1 1/2 cup water. While mixing on speed 2 add the butter cut into smaller pieces, the pepper, the cheeses and amalgamate after each addition, . Keep adding flour until a soft smooth dough is formed around the hook. Then knead for 7 to 10 minutes.

Place the dough in a warm bowl and coat it with a small film of vegetable oil. Let rise until doubled. Punch down the dough.  If making loaves form dough into two loaves of equal weight and put into heavily greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise until dough is slightly higher than the edges of the loaf pan. Bake in 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.

 If making rolls use a heavily greased medium sized Pyrex baking pan. Make rolls weighing 2 1/2 oz. each. Bake at 400 for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. For both the loaves and rolls immediately remove from the pans and cool on a rack.

These rolls are full of savory flavor. First the cheesy, parmesan flavor steps forward followed by the pleasant zing of the cayenne pepper. They have a lovely tender texture.  This is a great accompaniment for brunch or lunch

Steamed nagaimo with bonito flakes 蒸し長芋のおかかがけ

This is a very simple recipe I saw on the E-recipe site. Nagaimo 長芋 is usually "slimy" which makes it difficult for some to like. Once nagaimo is cooked, however, it looses the "sliminess" but the texture also changes from "shaki-shaki" シャキシャキ or crunchiness to "hoku-hoku" ホクホク. I am not sure how to translate "hoku-hoku" but it is a texture of cooked potato such as "Yaki-imo" 焼き芋.

Just before serving, I added a good amount of bonito flakes which are called "okaka" おかか or  "kezuri-bushi" 削り節 i.e. thinly shaven "katsui-bushi" 鰹節. I just used the pre-shaven kind that comes in one serving sized packages. We added some soy sauce just before eating.

Ingredients and directions:
Nagaimo, skin removed, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into 1/4 inch slices (below).

Place the nagaimo in a steaming basket after a strong steam started. Cook it for 8-10 minutes.

Just before serving, add bonito flakes and soy sauce.

This is an interesting and simple dish. My wife, has no trouble getting past the nagaimo "sliminess" and thought the crunchiness of raw nagaimo is nicer. She liked another nagaimo dish I recently made with daikon and dressed in "Yukari" red perilla salt and sweet vinegar.