Savory Breakfast Mini Cheesecakes ミニチーズケーキ

This is another one of my wife’s baking projects. This time it was small cheesy bites called “Savory Breakfast Mini Cheesecakes” which she found on-line. She made quite a few modifications using her CCK (Common Culinary Knowledge). For example just looking at the list of ingredients for the crusts  listed in the recipe on the web she knew there was no way they would be enough to form crusts on 24 full sized muffin tins. She doubled the amount of ingredients and it was still not enough to fill all the mini muffin tin. Also the three 8 ounce packages of cream cheese (a total of 24 oz.) seemed a bit excessive so she significantly reduced the amount she used. (She wonders if sometimes the people who publish some of the recipes on the web have actually made them). The list of ingredients listed below includes all the specific alterations my wife made. Despite the numerous alterations in ingredients the cheese bites certainly turned out pretty well. They had a nice crunchy crust and cheesy center which cannot go wrong. But with the amount of eggs, cheese and butter that went in, this has to be more spectacular to be repeated.

Ingredients:
1 cup dry bread crumbs (I used Panko)
2/3 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese (I used parmesan)
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 package (8 oz.) cream cheese (or 1/2 package cream cheese plus1/4 chive and onion cream cheese)
2 large eggs
1 cup shredded cheese (gruyere, cheddar, smoked gouda)
2 pieces cooked bacon crumbled
1/4 teaspoon salt
other items could include cooked shallots, green onions, red peppers).

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 mini muffin tin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners.

Mix bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, and melted butter together in a small bowl. Spoon about 1 teaspoon mixture into each of the prepared muffin cups. Using your fingers press down the bread crumbs to form a crust for the cheese filling. (This procedure is the very definition of tedious). 

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time until combined. Stir in the cheeses, bacon and any other additions you might be using. Scoop the cheese mixture into the bread crumb crusts. (I used the smallest ice cream scoop). 

Bake in the preheated oven until cheesecakes are firm to the touch and lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in muffin tins for 10 minutes.

These were not bad. The crust was crispy because it was essentially oven fried. The cheesy filling was smooth and very pleasant. The bacon somehow didn’t stand out as much as we would have liked. It also made a nice cheese bite to go with wine. Subsequent note: These actually got better with time. Somehow the flavors stood out more and the crust actually was a good addition. 

Izakaya in Sapporo Part 4 札幌の居酒屋パート4

5. Abuyi-ya Sou-Honten 炙りや総本店

札幌市中央区南5条西3 ANAホリディ・イン札幌すすきのB1

ANA Holiday Inn Sapporo Susukino BF1
Minami 5, Nishi 3, Chuo-ku
Sapporo

For reservation 011-530-6666*, Credit card accepted, Smoking not allowed

*When I called an “AI” answered. It appeared to work but I was not sure if I had actually made our reservation and at the correct time. So, I called again. A human answered and confirmed the AI had got it right.

After the very nosy izakaya we had been to the previous evening, this was (thankfully) an up-scale and quiet place. I learned that this was run by a large company related to or owning Sapporo Beer 札幌ビール called Hokkaido Sapporo Lion 北海道サッポロライオン. Aburiya is one of many restaurant brands they run. We also knew ahead of time that we would need to take our shoes off in this place so we made sure we had socks on  This was a very spacious, clean space with a wide and long white wood counter wrapping around the large open kitchen with comfortable chairs. “Aburu 炙る” means to “cook over fire or grill” so the “Aburi-ya” name implies they specialize in grilled items. But they had a whole gamut of Japanese dishes including sushi and sashimi (of course) with emphasis on Hokkaido products. 

The counter where we were seated happened to be in front of the sushi/sashimi station with two sushi chefs at work. Since “hirame ヒラメ flat fish” sashimi was on the menu, I asked one of the sushi chefs if they had “engawa* えんがわ” which they did.  This is a part of flat fish just beneath the dorsal fin which has a nice firm texture and one of my favorites. I tried but I have not been able to get this either in US or Japan for some time. So, we asked for assorted sashimi plus “engawa”. I forgot to take pictures when it arrived, so the picture below is after we ate most of the items. The sashimi was excellent.

*”engawa 縁側” is a part of traditional Japanese houses. It is a corridor/veranda facing or open to the outside. They are generally made out of wide boards set perpendicular to its length. The portion of flat fish fresh just underneath the dorsal fin has similar short vertical lines hence it is called “engawa”.

We had more food and sake; some fried some grilled, all were good. The bill was on the higher side as expected but worth it. The serene, spacious, and  quiet atmosphere of this place was such a contrast from last evening izakaya “Aiyo”. The shoes we took off miraculously re-apperaed at the entrance as we were leaving.

Cold Udon with Sesame Sauce 胡麻ソース和え冷製うどん

Cold noodles especially cold ramen noodles or “Hiyashi ramen 冷やしラーメン” and “Somen 素麺” are very popular summer lunches. Surprisingly I have not posted about cold somen noodles. I am sure I made them before but it could have been before we started the blog. Recently I made “cold pasta with tomatoes”トマトの冷製パスタusing thin udon noodles which we like a lot. Whenever we cook udon noodles, we make enough intentionally to have left-overs which we can use to make other dishes.  I decided to make a cold udon noodle dish. I have posted cold udon noodles with home-made ponzu and myoga  and cold udon with dipping sauce. This time, I made cold udon with sesame sauce. We happened to have simmered pork or “nibuta 煮豚” and marinated soft boiled eggs (from home-pasteurized eggs) or “ajitama 味玉”. So these became the toppings. The sesame sauce was made using roasted sesame seeds. (I re-roast store-bought “roasted” white sesame seeds) which adds a nice strong sesame flavor. I added a dab of Japanese mustard from a tube to my dish which gave the it a nice zing which I liked but my wife passed on the mustard (#1). 

Ingredients: (two small servings seen in #1)
1 servings of thin dried udon noodles, cooked as per the package instruction. Wash in cold running water after cooking (divided into two servings)

Toppings (anything you like but some protein, egg, and veggies such as cucumber. The ingredients listed below are what I used. Amounts are all arbitrary)
Simmered “nibuta 煮豚” pork, julienne
Cucumber, seeds removed,  julienned (I used American mini-cucumber)
“Gari ガリ” ginger slices in sweet vinegar, excess marinade squeezed out, julienned
Fresh “kikurage 木耳 wood ear mushroom (previously blanched, washed, and patted dry), julienned (I dressed it with home-made sweet vinegar)
Scallions, finely chopped
Ajitama 味玉, marinated soft boiled egg
Roasted white sesame seeds

Sesame sauce:
1 tbs white sesame, re-roasted in a dry pan (I used a special sesame roasting pan),
1 tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce
1 tbs ponzu
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbs mirin
1 or more tbs water

Directions:
Grind the sesame seeds in a Japanese “suri-bachi 摺鉢” mortar until oil comes out but stop before it becomes paste.
Add the ponzu, noodle sauce, mirin and vinegar. Taste and add the water to adjust the strength of the seasoning
Add the noodles to the sauce and mix so that the sauce will coat the surface of the noodles evenly (#2).

Add the toppings and garnish with sesame (#1). 

The sesame flavor really worked. I did not add any additional oil. I could have added Japanese hot mustard to the sauce but since my wife is not keen on really spicy food, I only added it to my serving. This turned out to be a very nice lunch on a hot and muggy day such as what we have been having  recently. 

Sapporo Lunch places part2 札幌の昼ごはん パート2

2. Dekitate-ya JR tower Stella place  一夜干しと海鮮丼できたて屋　JRタワーステラプライス店

One day, we went to the JR tower observatory. It is located on the 38 floor of JR tower attached to the Sapporo train station. This is a really excellent observatory. When we stepped out of the elevator on the 38th floor we were advised by the attendant ticket vender that about 60 school kids were in the observatory and they could be a bit unruly so we might consider waiting until they left. When we asked how long that would be the answer was “about an hour”. We decided that was too long to wait so we would chance it. It turns out the kids were very well-behaved and not a problem in the least. Eventually, they left and the observatory was quiet. Along the windows, there were nice chairs and small tables to sit and admire the beautiful panoramic view of the city of Sapporo spread out below. The observatory had a small cafe in the middle. You could order drinks and a snack and sit at one of the tables to enjoy the view. All the views were spectacular but I particularly liked the north view which included Hokkaido University campus, my alma mater, at a glance. When we came down from the observatory on the 38th floor we arrived on the 6 floor of the Stella place, a connecting building. It was noon (lunch time) and we saw many restaurants; some of which had a long lines in front (always an indicator of how good the place is). Although we already had a lunch engagement that day, I made note of it.

A few days later we had to come to the station to make an adjustment to our train tickets. When we finished, it was a noon time. So, we went up to the 6th floor of the Stella Place. After looking around, we decided on this place called “Dekitate-ya できたて屋“. “Dekitate” means “just made or prepared”. The restaurant touted “ichiya-boshi 一夜干し*” over-night dried fish and “kaisen-din 海鮮丼” a rice bowl with fresh seafood on top. That was the deciding factor for me. The line was short but it was fairly late so we decided the size of the line, in this case, was no indicator of the quality of the restaurant. We took a number, waited for about 5 minutes and we were seated.

My wife likes uni or uni-ikura donburi うにイクラ丼 ; a specialty of Hokkaido which my mother introduced her to many years ago. She tried ordering one on this visit in Otaru 小樽 when we went to Kitaichi Glass 北一グラス,  but the restaurant we chose was one of the tourist traps and the uni-ikura donburi was a bit disappointing. So seeing ikura-donburi on the menu of this restaurant, she ordered it. (Japanese call this type of ordering “リベンジ” or “revenge” since the item was not available or disappointing last time). I chose the three grilled fish “teishoku 定食” lunch set called “Feast with 3 kinds of grilled fishご馳走3種類”.

This is a large chain restaurant. The company based in Hokkaido also runs reasonably priced sushi bar chains. There appear to be many stores of  “dekitate-ya” including some in Tokyo. They also do take out. We were very impressed by the quality of the food and service. Although we forgot to take a picture when the food arrived, it was very good and we finished everything. We did not think we could finish the rice but both of us finished even that. My wife’s uni donburi was very good. The uni was small but fresh and good tasting. My dish was spectacular; three grilled fish, the selection of which changes depending on what they have on a given day. Each piece was relatively small but still a good enough size that three of them made a feast and they tasted great. They were yellow tail jaw “hamachi kama ハマチのカマ”,  overnight-dried* “Hokke” (a type of mackerel famous in Hokkaido) 一夜干しほっけand pacific saury “sanma さんま”. The sanma さんま could have been a bit more fatty/oily but was still very good. They offered a choice of brown, white or seasoned rice. I chose the seasoned rice which had ginger and baby scallops in it and it was excellent. We noticed a rice husking machine tucked in the corner of the store near our table. So this restaurant appears to polish rice on-site. We also both got miso soup with baby clams “ko-hamaguri miso-shiru 子はまぐりの味噌汁”**. This was very tasty.  My wife also got warm broth which could be used to finish the rice in the form of “Ochazuke お茶漬け”. I borrowed some of the broth and finished up my seasoned rice. The picture shows the aftermath of my enjoyment of the excellent meal.

*”Ichiya-boshi” or over-night drying is a very common Japanese technique to enhance the flavor and texture of certain fish by reducing the moisture in the fish before grilling.

** A classic miso soup especially for breakfast is “Shijimi miso-shiru しじみの味噌汁’. Shijimi is a small brackish water Japanese clam. Miso soup made from shijimi has a very characteristic umami-packed flavor. The soup they served was a tamed/down-scale  version but somewhat lacking the strong umami flavor shijimi soup may have. I am not sure when was the last time I had a shijimi soup, probably when I was a kid but this was a close facsimile.

Looking around I saw there were counter seats for solo diners. Many solo diners must be office workers. Most of the diners sitting there appeared to be having Kaisen-don, bowl of rice with fresh sashimi on the top. This was certainly one of the best lunches we had on our Japan visit. Despite this being a large chain restaurant, the quality of the grilled fish was reminiscent of our previously favorite grilled fish lunch place in Ginza called “まる 圓”.

Impromptu Eggplant Mushroom Stir-fry 茄子と椎茸のオイスターソース炒め

This is an eggplant dish I came up using what I had on hand (#1). I got some ideas from other recipes I saw but I did not base this dish on any one particular recipe. I made simmered pork or “Nibuta 煮豚” the other day. So instead of ground pork, I used finely chopped nibuta. Since we got groceries from Weee this week, I processed fresh shiitake mushrooms by removing the stems. Then I chopped up the stems into small pieces and sauted them with olive oil and finely chopped scallion. I seasoned them with salt and pepper. (This can be used to make other dishes). I placed the shiitake caps in a Ziploc bag with a paper towel to absorb any moisture which comes out of the mushrooms while they are in the fridge. I also washed and blanched fresh wood ear mushrooms and placed them in a Ziploc bag with paper towel too. I have found that processing the mushrooms this way makes them last much longer. Unfortunately, I have not come up with a way to make fresh eggplants last longer, so I have to use them up fairly quickly. So this is my impromptu eggplant stir-fly with shiitake and wood ear mushroom, finely chopped nibuta pork, ginger, scallion and seasoned with Chinese “Shoko-shu 紹興酒” cooking wine, mirin, concentrated noodle sauce and oyster sauce. This was not particularly special but certainly more than edible. All the ingredients I used gave it a lot of flavor

Ingredients:
One large Asian eggplant, stem end removed, and cut into long “ran-giri 乱切り” (#2).
3-4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, cut in half or quarters
4-6 fresh wood ear mushrooms (previously branched and washed), cut into strips
2 scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped
4-5 slices simmered pork “Nibuta 煮豚”, finely diced
1 tbs of finely chopped shiitake mushroom stems and shallot sautéed in olive oil (optional)
1 tbs finely chopped ginger
2 tbs + 1/2 tbs oil
1 tbs potato starch slurries for thickening the sauce

Seasonings (mix all seasonings in a small bowl)
6 tbs water
2 tbs Chinese “shoko 紹興料理酒” cooking wine
1 tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce or soy sauce
1 tbs oyster sauce

Directions:
Add the oil into the frying pan on medium flame, add the eggplant, toss for a few minutes to coat with the oil. 
Turn the skins side down (#2) and cook until skin side browns, turn over and brown the fresh sides and set aside

Add 1/2 tbs oil in the same pan, add the shiitake stem mixture, ginger and stir for 30 seconds, add the mushrooms and sauté for a few minutes
Add back the eggplants and sauté for one minute.
Add the seasonings and cook for a few minutes
Taste and adjust the seasoning
Add the potato starch slurries and mix until thickened (#3)
Add the scallions and serve (#1)

Notes to self:  it was a bit too sweet for me. Next time I should consider reducing the mirin. The chopped simmered pork has almost disappeared. Probably, I should have added more. But overall, this is not too bad.

Izakaya in Sapporo Part3 札幌の居酒屋パート3

4. Izakaya Aiyo Tanuki-koji 4 chome 粋な居酒屋あいよ狸小路4丁目店

札幌市中央区南2条西4丁目清水ビルBF1

Shimizu Bldg BF1
Minami 2 Nishi 4, Chuo-Ku
Sapporo

For reservation 011-206-4239, Creadit card accepted, Smoking allowed
Order by QR code (need smart phone with internet access)

This is a chain izakaya. It appears that there are 7 company owned and 2 franchised stores in Sapporo. They emphasize the fresh seafood of Hokkaido. The name “Aiyo” is a bit of slang used mostly by trade people and means “OK” or “Got it”. It has an uncanny similarity to the English word “Aye” used as Irish slang.

This was also by far the noisiest izakaya we visited. It was noisy not because of the customers but because loud shouting between the servers was an established part of the ambiance of the place. The young servers appear to have been encouraged to shout as loud as possible to each other and in unison rather than talk. For example, when serving the Kaisen-don 海鮮丼 they serve a large amount of sashimi piled on top of the rice. Then topped that by spooning ikura on the top of the piled sashimi all right at the table while loudly shouting “Aiyo” in unison. This reminded us of another izakaya we went to some years ago (might have been another branch of the same chain). Another interesting thing was their way of cerebrating a customer’s birthday. (Quite a few customers seemed to have birthdays the day we were there) They turned off all the lights and brought out a  birthday dessert plate with sparklers on it accompanied by some loud shouts, of course. The entire experience was auditory chaos. 

The food order was done by QR code. Our young servers appeared a bit worried that we (old folks) could handle this. “No worry, Aiyo (I got it).” The servers were all young, loud,  and very friendly wearing name tags. I started ordering using my smart phone. I ordered sake and sashimi first but for some reason, the fried potato appeared first and we had to wait some time for the sashimi.

This was sort of steak fries and it was really good. The sake selection was not extensive but it sufficed. Another interesting thing about this place was the entrance to the bathrooms. They were entered through a secret door in a wall of shelves with large sake bottles on them (#2) The shelves parted in the middle opening to a hallway leading to the bathrooms. (I assume the bottles were empty).

Although the food and sake were quite decent, we were a bit tired of the loud noise and decided to retreat. When we were leaving we saw quite few people waiting outside. 

After we got back to our hotel, we stopped at the lounge which was (thankfully) very quiet. We had a flute of Moët Chandon and a chocolate parfait  (#3) which became my wife’s favorite way to end the evening. After a lovely dinner at an izakaya we would stop at the lounge for our champaign and chocolate parfait desert night cap. The parfait was basically a lovely chocolate mouse with a scoop of chocolate ice cream, and some chocolate and cookie wafers on top. The lower layers of the parfait were different kinds of chocolate mouse with nice little crunchies. The last layer was crunchy chocolate cake. We really enjoyed sharing this with the flute of champaign as a quiet end to the evening .

Pork Vindaloo with Baby Corn and Edamame ポーク “ビンダルー“ カレー, ベイビィコーンと枝豆入り

We occasionally get a large (about 10 lb) portion of bone-in skin-on pork (either fore- or hind-quarter). I am not sure how other people deal with this type of pork but I essentially do the secondary butchering by removing the bones and skin and making one large and one small roast (the large one barbecued in the Weber grill and the smaller one used for “ni-buta 煮豚” cooked in the Instant Pot).  I cut the remaining pork into good size chunks. I usually cook them in the Instant Pot with chicken broth just covering the meat and pressure cook for 30 minutes which produces a very tender meat. Using this cooked pork, my wife makes some kind of curry but our favorite is called “Pork Vindaloo”. My wife adds canned beans which was not part of the original recipe. She used to use canned  “Navy beans” which are creamy and almost dissolved into the curry making it thick. But for some reason, these beans  (canned) are not available, so she used “Great Northern Beans”. They are similar to the navy beans and add a nice texture and flavor but are not creamy and do not dissolve to make the curry thick. So this curry somewhat resembles “スープカレー Soup curry” which is invented and famous in Hokkaido. The Hokkaido soup curry usually has grilled or fried vegetables. My version of the veggies included baby corn and shelled edamame sautéed in butter and seasoned with a bit of soy sauce and Japanese curry powder. This worked very well. The curry flavor in the baby corns makes it a part of the vindaloo. We had this as lunch one day but we did not add any rice.

Just for ourselves, we repeat the recipe for Vindaloo pork since there are some modifications.

Ingredients:
3 Tbs. grainy (grey poupon) mustard
2 Tsp. mustard seeds
1 1/2 Tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 Tsp. salt
3 Tsp. sushi vinegar 
3 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 or 3 onions roughly cut
1 1/2 lb. pork shoulder cut into large cubes
1 can of navy or great Northern Beans

Directions:
Put the mustard seeds into a dry frying pan and roast until they turn a slight grey color and start popping.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Mix the mustard, cumin, turmeric, pepper, salt, and sushi vinegar together in a little dish and set aside.
Put peanut oil in a pan and sauté the onions until they are translucent and continue for a few more minutes.
Add the mustard mixture letting the spices bloom in the hot pan. (they will start to stick to the bottom but don’t panic).
Add the mustard seeds.
Once everything is incorporated add the meat and the broth is was cooked in (add chicken broth if more liquid is needed).
Simmer for about 20 minutes.

This made a very satisfying curry. It is not spicy hot but has plenty of flavor. The sautéd corn and edamame are a nice touch.