Green Olive Tree Musings of a permanent tourist on food and life. Postings feature eating finds, recipes, and world flavors adorned with original photography. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 1 0 4 4623

Articles from Green Olive Tree

Herbed Risotto 2008-02-11 04:32:00 [herbed risotto] Ever since the move to Singapore in October last year, things have been extremely eventful for us. Friends and family visiting, vacations abroad, the holidays… Even though the kitchen has been quite seasoned for day-to-day meals, I haven’t seen myself having extra time for baking cakes and whipping up a special meal from a cookbook, let alone styling and photographing food! Though there was an occasion when I had the inspiration to improvise an herbed risotto recipe I have.The result is the picture above, which I’ve taken the effort to photograph a blog entry. The only misgiving was that I have procrastinated this post for two months, do forgive me. I’ve had an anonymous reader asking me where I have been and an aunt from London who inquired me of my whereabouts as she has not received any blog updates from me. So I thought I’d better pull my act together and get this post out. Here's the recipe...Herbed risotto1 1/2 tablespoons butter1 small onion, diced1 c ...

Meal Muji 2007-12-07 07:49:00 [Eating at Muji]I must say as a big Muji fan myself, the highlight of my recent trip to Tokyo was a pilgrimage to the Japanese design retailer's flagship store at Yurakucho. Despite being housed in a warehouse-style building, the minimalist designs of Muji permeates each space, making all the 5000 well-designed and simple products stand out in its own "less is more" way.[Healthy set at Y650]The huge non-smoking deli-style cafeteria is a great spot to have a bite break from all the shopping one would have done. The food is a fusion of Western and Japanese, with entrees such as pumpkin quiche, broccoli with scallops and tofu, fried chicken, lotus root salad, and five grain rice. A set meal starts at Y650, which is a bargain, and the menu changes depending on the time of the day.[Muji Yurakucho's flagship store in Tokyo]For those not in the know, the name Muji is short for Mujirushi Ryohin, which means "no brand, good product". This alludes to their design philosophy of not having the c ...

Food as an art form in Japan 2007-12-02 21:30:00 [Artful Japanese kaiseki service on board ANA]Most visitors to Japan will take notice of a uniformed monoculture society with a high level of politeness and civil awareness. On the contrast, there is also the high level of creativity and attention to aesthetic details that I marvel every time I'm there. Apart from the gift packaging tradition that promises a beautifully wrapped item that the assistant will bring to the store exit and handing to you with a full bow, a visit to the restaurants will ensure that all your senses are stimulated with the intricately presented culinary offerings.A kaiseki restaurant offering haute Japanese cuisine is a case in point. Visitors are promised an odyssey of flavors, textures and colors. Originating from the Zen monks, the characters for kaiseki means "stone in the bosom", referring to the monks' practice of warding off hunger by tucking hot stones in their kimono sashes. My friend Michiko in Kyoto was telling us over lunch that this zen tradition ...

Green Beans with Sesame Miso Dressing 2007-12-02 20:37:00 The following recipe is a sample course of a kaiseki meal. It is adapted from Kyo-ya Restaurant of San Francisco.2 cups green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch piecesSesame Miso Dressing:2 tablespoons shiro miso (white miso)3 tablespoons white roasted sesame seeds + more for garnish1 tablespoon sugar2 tablespoons soy sauceParboil green beans in a large pot of rapidly boiling water for 45 seconds. Drain and immediately plunge into a bowl of ice water.Using a mortar and pestle, blend together shiro miso, sesame seeds, sugar and soy sauce. Smash and mix until the sesame seeds are not visible when stirred.Drain green beans and blot dry. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the dressing until the beans are evenly coated.Serve in small bowls and lightly sprinkle with sesame seeds. ...

Osaka's Okonomiyaki 2007-11-27 21:54:00 [okonomiyaki + yakisoba]Delay no more... I'm starting to get emails from readers checking my whereabouts. My wanderlust has gotten me to Japan and back. This time besides shopping and more shopping in Tokyo, I got around taking the Shinkansen bullet train to Osaka and Kyoto for a bit of outside-of-Tokyo reality. Though I must say, I'd rather spend the entire 10 days in Tokyo alone. There's just too much to see and too little time to fit all in.With a food-themed blog like this, a snapshot of the food I savored is a must. First off, let's check out this Japanese pizza-like delicacy from the Osaka area. Okonomiyaki restaurants are so much fun. They're more like street food than anything else fancy. You get a server turning the gooey dough into a irresistible crispy pancake filled with seafood or meat right in front of you on a grill. Top it up with bulldog sauce, mustard and Kewpie mayonnaise, you've got just the right flavors oozing through the thick yet light pancake. I'd say ...

Autumn notes in my pumpkin soup 2007-11-01 20:43:00 [La calabaza - Fresh pumpkin]I love the seasons. They somehow serve as a time marker for me and I love the change of wardrobe and the different holidays and foods that comes with each change of season. With no signs of falling leaves and a drop of temperature, a bowl of warm pumpkin soup serves to remind me of November, the only month left before fairy lights are lit up and year-end reigns in.Living in a metropolitan city means as long as you have the resources, you can get just about any ingredient you need for the enterprising cook. My first attempt with pumpkins here were quite a bit stressful as I realized right before serving my guests that the local variety made the taste completely off. So last minute measures to save the tureen of soup included throwing in some curry spice and that somehow helped.While food-shopping in a Japanese grocer the other day, I discovered a completely different species -- Japanese pumpkins -- with its beautiful dark green hue on the outside and radian ...

adventure with vongole clams 2007-10-30 10:18:00 [one bag of vongole clams; two ways of serving]My foray into Fishes one evening after work led me walking away with a bag of vongole clams flown in that very morning from Italy. I must say I was definitely in the mood for trying something new. With the enthusiastic assistant giving me a classic Italian recipe off the top of his head, I couldn't resist paying premium price for these tasty morsels from the sea.I was busy thinking about how I should go about with this project -- well, following a recipe IS a project for me since I hardly ever cook with a recipe -- when T went, "don't you have to like soak those clams in salt water for a couple of hours?"This coming from someone doesn't cook and who has yet to make me the risotto that apparently was the one star dish honed during college days. I was skeptical but dished out my collection of cookbooks right away in search for the proper way to deal with my clams. Voila, sure enough, there it was, instructions to soak clams in salt water ...

Edible Lego building blocks 2007-10-24 05:41:00 [Lego cake]Running out of ideas for your next birthday cake or potluck party? With color frosting and marshmallows on hand, you can recreate these fun-looking cakes. Here's how you put together the building blocks. ...

Three degrees north of the equator 2007-10-17 04:28:00 [Once a favorite of mine]It was vacation, and the next thing it was relocation. I am now going to be based in Asia for those of you not in the know. This bar is in the National Musuem of Singapore and I took this picture back in March. Unfortunately, it's changed hands and it doesn't look and feel quite like it used to be anymore.Until I get the inspiration to start taking pictures here again, I'll be blogging about a few places worthy of sharing in Europe that I've been lately. This little note signals that I'm alive and well, as they say in Spanish - dar señales de vida. Hasta muy pronto, te prometo. ...

De vakantie 2007-09-14 09:23:00 *The long-awaited vacation is finally here. I'll be in London and Venice till Sept 27. A presto! ...

Fishes 2007-09-13 09:23:00 [Fresh fish and seafood at Fishes, Amsterdam]With a 9 to 5 work schedule, I could never indulge in the luxury of selecting the freshest seafood from one of the open-air markets in town. The neighborhood Albert Heijn (the ubiquitous Dutch supermarket) around the corner is one of the bigger stores in town but there’s no fresh meat or seafood counter in sight. Cellophane-wrapped ground round and chicken breasts abound, and so are cooked tiny shrimps and sickly colored farm-raised salmon. But other than that, I really did have a problem finding a good source for the fresh catch of the day.That was before I stumbled on Fishes, an unusually sleek fishmonger, unbeknownst to the unsuspecting eye on Utrecthsestraat. Flanked by two facing rows of funky cafés, ethnic restaurants, quaint little shops, traditional delicatessens, hairdressers, and high-end furniture stores, the fish shop stays open 30 minutes past the 6 p.m. closing time for almost all stores in town, allowing people like me to s ...

Loading up on kitchenware in Amsterdam 2007-09-10 12:30:00 [Duikelman's porcelain section]There's one address in Amsterdam that avid bakers and passionate cooks show up for their tools and wares. I first learned about Duikelman because Talia was raving about this awesome zester/grater that gets the zest off lemon without that white pith. And she was sure that I would be able to find it at this store loaded with every kitchen gadget imaginable close to De Pijp's Albert Cuypstraat open-air market.Sure enough, the store had the Microplane zester that I was looking for. Not only that, the person who helped me was very helpful -- gave me a whole run down of all the options I had, and he seemed extremely knowledgable of every item stocked. With two adjoining stores and a prominent window displaying a colorful row of Kitchenaid cake mixers, the family-owned business has been around for 60 odd years. Across the street, they have another storefront for fine porcelains and a showroom for home and professional kitchens. I was so drawn to the minimalis ...

Sleek Restaurants of Amsterdam: Brasserie Harkema 2007-09-07 12:27:00 [Lunch fare at Brasserie Harkema, Amsterdam] The last two times we dined at this sleek eatery, we found ourselves being the only guests at their premises. The reservation I made was unwarranted but the quality of service and food (rack of lamb and tuna steak) we found extremely good. Second time around was a bit disappointing. The renovation in the main dining hall had just been completed, it was lunch time, the server noticed our presence, but went on about her business by the kitchen. It probably took us a good five minutes before we decided to seat ourselves by the huge window and at this point the server slowly strolled by. The saving grace was the food served -- best fries in town. I succumbed to my craving for a good hamburger and T had a dish made with mussels and a wine sauce.Despite the fact that this restaurant is in the Wallpaper city guide, it's not getting a whole lot of traffic and momentum these days. And so it goes in the competitive world of setting up restaurants, th ...

Sleek Restaurants of Amsterdam: Balthazar's Keuken 2007-09-05 11:35:00 [Assorted appetizers at Balthazar's Kitchen]A fabulous girl I know from work, an accountant by day, is a serious kickboxer. Yup, think Million Dollar Baby. When it comes time for a match, she trains hard and consumes all the calories she needs. Lunching with her makes me feel like a wimp -- portions that throw any diet out of the window.When it comes to food, Gabi is a connoisseur in the Amsterdam foodie scene. I "interviewed" her once on her favorite eateries in town and she was kind enough to list them all out on a piece of draft paper, along with a line explaining each place's key characteristic. Once, we've gone together to one of the places she'd recommended - Pata Negra, a lively tapas bar in Utrechtsetraat that has been faithful in serving latenight bites to merrymakers in search of the scarce working kitchen past 9.Her favorite haunt in the list was this small Meditarranean place -- Balthazar's Keuken in the Jordaan. There's no menu. Instead, you get to choose a meat, fis ...

Marrying table etiquette with outdoor dining 2007-09-03 05:05:00 [Snap and Dine single-use tableware]What a quirky way of reinventing the idea of a picnic in the park. The work of product designer Demelza Hill, Snap and Dine is a "portable lunch setting that reinforces some of the tables manners and etiquette that have been lost over time." Presented at the Milan design festival and International Furniture Fair, the design won the young designer the British Council's National Design Award for 2007. I would love to see it on the retail shelves some day! Bear in mind that it's truly green too: components made out of completely bio-degradable plastic resin.*Image courtesy of www.demelzahill.com ...