I think the video pretty much speaks for itself, but just in case, it’s about how to peel garlic in less than 10 seconds.

What can I say? You either love the Mythbusters or you haven’t seen the Mythbusters. The clip above is for getting your appetite going for the next season starting in October. You’re welcome.

Here is this year’s Christmas dinner, featuring a chicken spiced up with some Mexican seasonings. There were mashed potatoes, Asian-style broccoli, and garlic bread to go with it. I used Mark Bittman’s book How to Cook Everything for this year’s menu.

I squeezed some lime juice, added some peanut oil to hold it together, minced some cilantro (coriander leaves) and a jalepeño chile, and added salt and pepper.

I spooned that mixture all over the chicken, top and bottom, added some whole garlic cloves around it, and put it in the preheated oven. One nice difference from the Bittman and previous recipes is that I used my iron skillet in the oven. The trick is to put the leg/thigh side down (that side needs to cook more/faster), and the heat from the iron skillet is enough to cook the bird evenly. The thighs got cooked and the breast meat came out nice and juicy.

The chicken was not spicy at all, but it had all the flavor of the chiles and cilantro. I drained off some of the juices from cooking, and we used that to flavor the meat and potatoes. The juices were definitely spicy and delicious! I’ll play with that recipe some more; this year’s chicken may have been the best yet.

The shop is on the first floor, next to the grocery store. I think the space used to be a cell phone store and the information counter. You really should go.

My favorite fruit is strawberries, and these are the best strawberries I have eaten. They are grown in the wintertime in Nagasaki. Big, sweet, and juicy, they are wonderful. Try them out if you get a chance.

Last month I decided to upgrade from my mountain bike of 12+ years. With the mountain bike, I could never get the speed going that I used to enjoy with the Motobecane 10-speed I bought in the mid 1970s. I’m getting a bit old for the drop-down handlebars, so I decided to go with the cross-over style: basically a road bike with its thin tires, but with a mountain bike’s flat handlebars.

I chose the Trek brand for its reputation, and since this may be one of the last bikes I buy, I thought I’d step up a bit and get a mostly carbon-framed bike. That pretty much left the 7.9 FX (the U.S. site) (in Japan). We’ve had really cold weather recently, so I haven’t ridden it so much. Having written that, though, I have to say it’s the most comfortable bike I’ve ridden, and it is a shear pleasure to navigate. One review I read complained of the thumb shifters, but I haven’t been bothered at all. I’ll post more as I ride more.

One of the hot shows on New York’s Broadway is Fela! Above is one of the numbers from that musical.

I went to see UP, the latest movie from the folks at Disney/Pixar at one of the first shows last Saturday (the opening day) here in Japan. I have to say that it is one of their best movies yet. It is just beautiful to watch, especially the 3-D version that I saw. I don’t like like read reviews of movies before I go because even if there are no “spoilers,” there are always things in the reviews that spoil it for me. I’ll leave it at that. Just go watch the movie; I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Anyway here goes. The bigger the pan, the more you can cook at the same time. I have a great iron skillet I bought more than 30 years ago at a Sears (10 bucks!), so I usually make two at a time. I always turn the heat up to high first while I get the other things out of the fridge. By the time anything hits the pan, it is getting warmed up.

I get my flour tortillas from one of two places: A-Price near the Jietai (Self-Defense Force) base or Premier Cru. A-Price is kind of a restaurant supply shop that has some bulk items and a variety of things for the kitchen that you might not be able to find other places. Premier Cru is an imported food and spirits shop that is small, but it packs a lot of stuff in there. I peel off two of the tortillas and put the inside side down. Don’t laugh. Each side of these tortillas looks different; I save the more attractive side (it usually has some nice brown spots on it) for the outside.

As the pan heats up, I turn down the heat. This takes a bit of practice. There’s a balance between scorching your quesadillas and waiting forever for the cheese to melt and the tortilla to heat up. I don’t leave it on this one side long, just enough to get the tortilla softened and warmed a bit. Flip it/them over and cover 1/2 with your favorite grated cheese (I get the 1 kg. bags at A-Price).

Then I add some hot sauce. I’ve become a major fan of the Marie Sharp’s Fiery Hot sauce. Great stuff!

My preference is to go full steam ahead with the cheese quesadilla. The other Viajeros like a slice or two of something meaty (I can be persuaded to join in when there’s some leftover taco meat… ) If you want something else in there, by all means add it in. I will say, though, that the more you add in, the more you need to flip the ‘dilla and reduce the heat. When I have a pile of leftovers from, say, chicken tacos the night before, I’ll add some chicken, homemade salsa, sour cream, tomatoes, and a bit of lettuce for some crunch. I’ll use the burrito-sized tortillas from Costo (in Fukuoka) and make a real meal out of it.

I have to say that it’s best to work quickly at this quesadilla-filling stage, so the tortillas don’t burn. The trick is to get it all in there, so the heat is working on that cheese and the other ingredients. As long as the quesadilla is still open, it’s at risk. You have been warned.

Once it’s all together, I turn the heat most or all of the way down. Then it’s all a matter of flipping every 30-60 seconds. Hotter pan, more frequent flipping. Cooler pan, have a sip of coffee while you watch the moisture evaporate from your tortillas. I don’t use a spatula for any of this. It’s finger food, so I use my (clean) hands. It’s okay to peek inside if you want to check. It’s done when it’s the color and consistency you want AND the cheese is melted. If the cheese still has the same look as when it went in, it’s not ready yet. Hint: this one is NOT ready yet:

I’ll add some shots of the stuff I can get here in Kyushu to make this all work.