Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Behold the Wonder of Myoga!


Isn't it beautiful? This little gem of a bud is harvested as it peeks up from the soil in the summer/fall season. Typically sliced thin, myoga is used in Japanese Cuisine as a garnish. Personally, I enjoy it best as a delightfully refreshing summertime addition to Miso Soup.






Simply wash, slice thin and sprinkle over hot soup. The Myoga bud is from the ginger family. Compared to the ginger root that we are more accustomed to tasting, myoga is much milder in flavor.

Friday, August 21, 2009

A Buttery Revelation

Today I discovered that there is such a thing as, "too much butter." Don't get me wrong, I LOVE BUTTER. I love it half melted on a freshly hand-torn dinner roll, still steaming. I love it cascading down the juicy kernels of corn on the cob. I love it sizzling in a pan of fawn as it begins to collect the juices of what will be the most deliciously rich and flavorful gravy.

What I discovered this morning as I bit into my grilled cheese sandwich is that the addition of butter alone cannot reinvent the stature of inferior ingredients. The bread, though crispy and golden, tasted floury and had a strange texture - not unlike the flavor and texture of undercooked roux. I accept full responsibility for substituting artisan with plain sliced white bread. What on earth possessed me to think that more butter simply meant bigger payoff? Butter - as amazing as its golden, creamy character is - cannot make bad food better. Butter, I realized, is not merely a tool in making foods richer, shinier, and tastier. It is to be honored, revered, respected.

What's your favorite way to appreciate butter?