I mentioned in passing that this past weekend Jeff and I finally got to bottle the beer we made several weeks ago. You know I documented the whole thing!

We started by siphoning the beer into another bucket to separate it from any crud such as dead yeast film or hop sludge. Sounds delicious, right?

Jeff read online that it can be helpful to fill the bottles over the dishwasher to catch any drips or spills. We immediately saw the wisdom in this when we proceded to spray it all over the place.

We had been collecting used beer bottles for the past 6 weeks to use for bottling and I think we were able to acquire around 75. Don’t worry, we didn’t drink all of that ourselves, many were donated from friends who knew we would need them.

They got soaked in OxyClean to remove the labels, were sanitized, and then covered with some foil to keep the dust out.

After each bottle is filled, you clamp on a cap with this scary capping device. I let Jeff do this since it requires some muscle.

Our first 6 pack!

We ended up with 47 bottles total. Way more than we will be able to drink by ourselves, especially because we’re starting another batch this Saturday! Not only that, but we’re brewing another batch in a month. Jeff is definitely addicted and I think this is going to turn into a monthly thing for us.

There is no way we’ll ever be able to drink as much beer as we want to make, so I’m sure we’ll be pawning it off on anyone that enters our home.

The beer we’re making this weekend is a replica of one of my very favorite beers ever, the Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar. I tried it for the first time in Seattle when I was still getting over some stomach poisoning. I was feeling terrible at dinner and couldn’t finish my food, but I could not let myself stop drinking that beer because it was the most delicious beer I had ever tasted. I won’t be sad to have a huge stash of it at home!

What is your favorite beer? Or, what is your favorite “special” beverage that you just can’t get enough of?

February 9, 2012 Alayna Discussion 16 comments

So, I may have promised to share my recipe for the Japanese sweet potato casserole I brought to the blogger potluck over the weekend. It was intended as a recipe for my cookbook and it will still appear in the finished version, but I suppose I could give this one away early as kind of a teaser. 😉

It really couldn’t be simpler, but yields an impressive result. If you can make mashed potatoes, you can definitely put together this delicious Japanese take on the traditional Thanksgiving classic.

Japanese sweet potato casserole

A Japanese interpretation of the classic Thanksgiving side dish featuring the subtle sweetness of Japanese sweet potatoes.

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 very large Japanese sweet potatoes
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 egg yolks
• sesame seeds for garnish

Cooking Directions

1. Peel potatoes and chop into small pieces of roughly the same size.
2. Boil potatoes until tender (approximately 15 to 20 minutes.) Drain and pour into a large mixing bowl.
3. Mash with butter, sugar, cinnamon, and milk while still warm. Allow to cool, then mix in one of the egg yolks.
4. Pour into a 9 inch round or square baking dish and use the back of a spoon to make a design of your choosing on the surface.
5. Break apart the remaining egg yolk with a fork and brush the entire yolk over the surface of the casserole being careful not to flatten the design. Sprinkle on sesame seeds if desired.
6. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees to heat it through then put under the broiler for up to 10 minutes to brown the top.

This recipe was actually inspired by a type of Japanese candy known as a “wagashi.” Wagashi are small individual-sized desserts that are traditionally served with tea. Typical flavors include mashed chestnuts, green tea, several varieties of sweetened beans, dried fruits, steamed squashes, and also sweet potatoes.

One common wagashi is the suito poteto, which of course refers to the fact that it is made from sweet potatoes. The potatoes are steamed, mashed, lightly sweetened with sugar, formed into a ball, glazed with egg yolk, and then baked. I’ve used a similar process and ingredient list to make this Japanese sweet potato casserole reflect the suito poteto wagashi, but added cinnamon to tie it together with the Thanksgiving dish of sweet potato casserole.

I’m starting to see Japanese sweet potatoes, also known as satsuma-imo, popping up in regular grocery stores everywhere. They have reddish purple skin and pale white flesh and come in varying shapes and sizes. They’re a bit starchier and harder to cut than regular sweet potatoes and are a little less sweet, but they can be used in any way that you would normally use a regular sweet potato. I’ve had success mashing them, roasting them, even making thick-cut fries. They’re not too bad baked whole and slathered in butter either. 😉

If you see them in your local grocery or market give them a try, whether you use my recipe for Japanese sweet potato casserole or one of your own!

Update! This recipe can be found in my cookbook, The Japanese Pantry, along with other fun Japanese fusion foods such as crispy “popcorn” edamame .

February 8, 2012 Alayna Discussion, Recipes 16 comments

I haven’t blogged in forever! For the last week or so I’ve been really busy cooking and photographing for the book since we’ve had a few more days of sunshine lately. Every time the sun is out I immediately think “Quick! While the light is good, take photos!”

This past weekend though, I didn’t do any of that. Jeff and I spent Saturday morning bottling our first batch of beer and then that evening I attended an Atlanta blogger potluck hosted at Lee’s house (Who also took this photo of us below, so she’s not in it. Thanks Lee!)

From left to right we have Emily, Tina, Stacy, Carol, Traci, Laura, myself, and Laura.

As you can imagine, food bloggers make for a really good potluck! We had:

• Brie and apples on crakers
• Olive tapenade toasts
• Sweet potato tot casserole

As well as:

• a huge greek salad
• Nutella sandwiched between vanilla cookies
• chocolate pretzel cookies
• chocolate zucchini muffins
• broccoli salad

And:

• a carrot cake
• spinach artichoke dip with crackers and carrots
• Japanese sweet potato casserole
• WINE

My contributions were the carrot cake and the Japanese sweet potato casserole. This is the same carrot cake that I made for Christmas, however this time it came out much drier than last time. Someone even commented that it kind of tasted “healthy.” Not my best work, but hey, even less than stellar cake is still CAKE!

The casserole was a hit though. This is a recipe I’ve been working on for my cookbook so I knew it was pretty good, but I did not expect the rave response it got! Glad to know I’m on the right track!

We all loaded our plates up to overflowing then went back and did the same with the desserts.

It was 4 hours of crazy girl chat about everything from our favorite (and least favorite) blogs, to horror movies! This is a really fun group of girls, and I’m so glad we get to catch up with each other like this every so often. The potluck format was perfect for a bunch of foodies that like to talk!

Thanks again to Lee for hosting such a fun get-together!

February 6, 2012 Alayna Discussion 9 comments