Togarashi is made from dried orange zest, black & white toasted sesame seeds, cayenne, ginger, Szechuan pepper & nori. 

Hiramasa is Yellowtail Kingfish found in the pristine waters of Australia.  The basic formula is that the farm spans the fish, allows them to grow  and then releases them to the ocean where they live a normal life until net caught at a certain size and then brought back into the farm to finish feed to appropriate size.  This sort of farming can be found in the video documentary Tuna Cowboys or to find out more go to: http://www.australianhiramasa.com/

This weekend I harvested a bunch of herbs from the garden and processed them for later use.  Right now I have this beautiful sage tied in bunches and hanging in protective bags while it dries, this is going to make some really tasty stuffing on thanksgiving!

I let one area of my cilantro go to seed; this is also hanging in protective bags drying out so I can collect the coriander seeds.  The flavor of the fresh seed is so sweet, pure and the aroma lingers in your mouth.

I have so much mint its silly.  Trust me I have done everything I can to go through it one mojito at a time, but I’ve been losing the battle.  I spent close to 3 hours picking mint leaves while sitting on the deck; it was a gorgeous day outside.  I then had to wash, spin dry and process into simple syrup.  Now I have mint leaves at their peak packed in syrup for mojitos or to glaze some roasted game meats, even for a simple dessert sauce.