Scallops in miso butter glaze

I normally wouldn't do a miso glaze, but today, I was inspired. Scallops, pan fried in butter with miso and deglazed with equal portions of a nice Cotes du Rhone and sake.  Too lazy to plate separately, I served it donburi style (over rice).

Artisanal L.A.

I stopped by at Artisanal L.A.'s spring show last weekend.
(A happy accident in finding a re-tweet from McCall's Meat & Fish.)

Not so subliminal messaging?

Chicken Pot Pie! The reason I came!!

  

Homemade Graham Crackers!

Shortbreads!

the most AAHSOME FUDGE I've had!
(and I normally hate fudge)

Caramel from Le Bon Garcon! Tres tres bon!

Laura Ann's Jams! About as local as it can get!

Dinner 4/17

Scottish Salmon

Le Bon Garcon Caramels

YUM!

Don't expect me to share! 

Strawberry Season

If only we had strawberries that didn't disappoint us!

As with most strawberries I find here in Southern California, my last purchase was far too hard, with barely any fragrance or sweetness one expects from fresh strawberries.  I guess the farmers pick these varieties to be hardy enough for transport across the country.

Well, one can always make strawberry sauce!

I know David Tanis wrote in his cookbook that strawberries go nicely with roses as they are botanically related.  Let's put that to the test!  I happened to have some Rose Tea on hand.....

I've picked out just the dried rose petals, and added it to my strawberries simmering in a saucepan.

The results?  YUM! Excellent on vanilla ice cream!

A month of cooking

For about 2 weeks from the day the earthquake/tsunami hit Japan, I had been anxiously watching the Japanese news via television and internet. There was 24/7 coverage and live feeds from NHK and TBS.

In a bizarre and absurd way to cope, I started to cook. It was to pass the time and feel useful and to appreciate what we have.

My chocolate sauce endeavors started just before all the chaos, but it continued with me throughout the month, if only to drop it off to taste tester friends and have chance to chat.

another batch infused with red wine

a test batch of wine infused truffles

vegetarian sushi

Pasta with Rapini and Guanciale

I also indulged in frequent cups of tea - as my friend's mum used to say, "Put the kettle on and we'll have a nice cuppa and a chat."

And so a month has passed, and Japan is only beginning to cope. The country still shakes with aftershocks, but life must resume and we must not be swayed by gloom and doom sensationalist news.

Resilience - Sakura Project-Last day for Japan Earthquake Relief Give-away

Chika's fundraising give-away closes today West Coast Time around midnight.

Please consider donating/signing up for the Japan Earthquake Relief. 

In keeping with the theme of Sakura (cherry blossoms),  I made a Sakura panna cotta. I did spy panna cotta on Chika's blog, but I've decided to change it up a bit. (Partially because the strawberries in California are....mediocre at best, and more like, I just don't do rhubarb)

I also have to admit that cherry blossom flavoring and cherry leaf flavoring is really really powerful, and a bit overwhelming at times. However, used sparingly, the fragrance can be just as subtle and sweet as an orchard full of blooming trees.  

In my panna cotta, I've infused a cherry tea from Lupicia Tea called Cerisier to the milk/cream mixture.

This tea is quite sweet and fragrant, more of cherries than of cherry blossom. Just the way I like it!

I contemplated what type of sugar to use to flavor the cream. 
Brown sugar would be too overwhelming, granulated sugar would be too straight forward in the sweetness, and honey would be just too cloying.

I decided to use wasanbon in keeping with the Japanese theme of this no-longer just Italian dessert. 

For the sakura component, I made a sauce from salt-cured cherry blossoms (Sakura no shio zuke) and a little bit of raspberry champagne jelly from Robert Lambert. 

The hint of raspberry really brings out the cherry and cherry blossom notes!