Watermelon sherbet スイカのシャーベット

We recently got a very good “seedless-mini” watermelon. Although this was a mini-watermelon, there was still a lot of it. We finished about half but time was passing and we were afraid it would go bad. So we came up with the idea of maybe preserving it a bit by somehow freezing it. We consulted a few recipes and decided on making watermelon sherbet (picture #1). It appears, the essence of the recipes is to freeze individual small chunks of watermelon placed far enough apart so they do not touch each other (picture #2). The frozen watermelon is pureed in a food processor/blender along with a liquid sweetner such as simple syrup until it forms a slush/sherbet. Some recipes call for adding lemon juice which we did not do. In any case we winged it and, with some difficulty, (read: considerable difficulty) made sherbet (#1). (After some consideration maybe this process would have gone better if the frozen pieces had been considerably smaller. We’ll try that next time.) The resulting sherbet was not as smooth as we hoped and was sort of a hybrid between granita and sherbet. After it was completely frozen, the only way we could get it out of the container was to scrape the surface like you would for granita (picture #3). As a result it required a bit of effort to put together a serving for desert. Nonetheless it was a very cool refreshing dish. The taste of watermelon came through strongly. Above all else we were able to finish the watermelon before it went bad.

We did not follow any particular recipe but got the general idea and winged it. We used about half a mini-watermelon (x2 of what is seen in picture #2).

Ingredients:
About 4 cups of watermelon, cut into small chunks (picture #2).
1/4 cup of simple syrup (equal amount of sugar and water)
Additional hot water as needed.

Directions:
Freeze the watermelon chunks arranged on a parchment paper lined baking pan so that the watermelon chunks do not freeze together (#2 again). (The process may go better than it did for us this time if the frozen chuncks are considerably smaller than those shown in the picture.) Add the frozen watermelon chunks and the syrup to a blender. Puree until smooth. (We did this in two batches using the Vitamix blender and this was a difficult procedure. We had to add hot water several times and use the “plunger” that comes with the Vitamix to push down the unblended watermelon chunks so they could be pureed). After some struggle, we accomplished a “sherbet-like” consistency. (We tasted it and it was nice smooth and sweet). (After some thought maybe the process would have gone better if the frozen pieces were considerably smaller. We’ll try that next time.) We placed the it in the plastic container in the freezer (picture #3).

We had to scrape of the surface like granita to serve (picture #3) since it was rather solidly frozen.

So, this was partial success but we did not waste good watermelon and it was a quite refreshing summer dessert if not quite a sherbet in consistency. 

Miso Sauce with Green Perilla 大葉味噌

This is a variation of flavored. miso dipping/sauce. Miso can be flavored with kinome 木の芽 (young leaves of the Japanese pepper tree),  Yuzu (Japanese orange), other Japanese citrus or perilla (shiso or ooba in Japanese). Since our herb garden is mass producing Japanese green perilla “Ooba 大葉”, I made “Ooba-miso 大葉味噌”. This is a versatile condiment. We first tried it with cucumber sticks (picture #1). For that iteration, I used regular miso and the condiment came out a bit salty. I adjusted the saltiness by adding some Japanese broth and sugar especially since after cooling the sauce was a bit too stiff. This worked out well after the adjustments. The perilla really added nice flavor. I have also made a dipping sauce for fresh cucumbers using sweet “Saikyo miso 西京味噌” . I suspect if I used that instead of the regular miso in the perilla sauce the sauce would have come out less salty. Maybe I’ll try that next time.

There appears to be some variations in the recipe. I looked at several and came up with the simplest.

Ingredients:
40 leaves of Japanese perilla leaves, finely chopped
6 tbs miso
4 tbs mirin
4 tbs sake
1 tbs dark roasted sesame oil
4 tbs ground white sesame (I re-roasted the white sesame seeds and coarsely ground them in a Japanese Suribachi)

2-3 tbs Japanese dashi broth (optional)
1-2 tsp sugar (optional)

Directions: 
Add the miso and sesame oil to a small frying pan and mix well. Add the mirin, and sake. Cook on low heat stirring constantly for several minutes until slightly thickened. Taste and if needed add the sugar. Add the perilla and stir. Add the sesame seeds. Adjust the thickness by adding dashi broth or water.  It became thicker when refrigerated. The miso mixture can be stored in a clean glass jar (picture #2). It should last several weeks in the refrigerator.

Air-Fried Pork Tenderloin without Panko Crust エアーフライ豚のヒレ肉

When we order pork tenderloin from the grocery store, it comes two to a package. This time when we got the two tenderloins we experimented with cooking them in the air fryer. So we made one by marinating, then breading it with pre-browned panko and cooking it in the air-fryer. (Discussed in a previous blog.) It was a great success. With this success, we tried cooking the other tender loin that came in the package by marinating it and then air-frying it without the panko crust. This was another success! Unlike the last time instead of relying on a specified cooking time I relied on reaching an internal temperature of 145F and that turned out to have occurred at about 20 minutes. The meat was perfectly done. I served the pork slices with julienne salad or “kizami sarada 刻みサラダ” and skinned Campari tomato soaked in cold Japanese broth.

Again, I used a mixture of mayo and miso to marinate the pork. This is just a note so that I can remember what I did.

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin, cleaned and trimmed (trimming can be used in other dishes).

Marinade:
2 tbs mayonnaise
2 tbs miso (this time I used the same amount of miso and mayo)
2-3 tsp mirin

Directions:
Mix the marinade ingredients and place it in the Ziploc bag. Add the pork. Cover all the surface and massage. Remove the air as much as you can. Let it marinate for 20-30 minutes in room temperature or couple of hours under refrigeration. Before cooking remove any excess marinade by hand and cook 450F or until the center register 145F.(In this case it took about 20 minutes) (Picture #2).

The increased ratio of miso did not change the flavor much. The surface got nicely browned. Although the meat was perfectly cooked and moist, “air-fried with panko crust” version appears to have retained moisture a bit better.  Certainly not having browned panko crumbs make this method much easier.

Air-fried Spicy Tofu エアーフライピリ辛豆腐

This is a variation of “Baked marinated tofu” which morphed into “Braised marinated tofu”. We thought the morphed preparation was easier and a better way to add a nice char to the surface. This time we “morphed” it further into “air-fried” spicy marinated tofu. This turned out to be the best way to make this dish. As you can see in the picture #1, the surface browned/charred nicely making a thick crispy crust around a soft interior. The tofu was house-brand medium-firm tofu from Weee. We like “medium-firm” tofu for this dish rather than “firm” or “extra-firm” tofu.

There is no difference between this and the original marinade but I list it here for our convenience.

Ingredients:
One block of medium-firm or firm tofu, drained and cut into bite sized pieces (I usually halve the thickness horizontally, then cut vertically into four blocks. I then cut each block into three equal sizes, see picture #2)

Marinade:
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 medium clove garlic, pressed or finely chopped (or from a tube)
1-inch piece peeled ginger root, grated (or from a tube)
1 teaspoon or more hot chili paste (I use Sriracha)

Directions:
In a large enough Ziploc bag, add the marinade and the tofu. Remove as much air as you can from the bag and seal it. Let the tofu marinade several hours at room temperature or longer in the refrigerator.

Pre-heat the air-fryer (or in our case, smart toaster oven on air fry mode) at 450F. Drain excess marinade and pat the tofu dry. Place the tofu cubes on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and parchment paper, with space between them. Air-fry for 15 minutes, turn the tofu 90 degrees and air-fry an additional 5-10 minutes or until the surface browns (picture #2)

We tried this a  second time without turning the tofu and cooking it just for 15 minutes. It did not bown as much but it tasted pretty good.

Air Fried Pork Tenderloin with Panko Crust エアーフライ、ヒレ肉トンカツ

In the past, pork tenderloin was a staple in our cooking repertoire. We used it for quite a few dishes. Recently, however, we have not cooked pork tenderloin as much. Since we had an unqualified success with the air fried chicken tenders we made recently, we decided to try the same recipe and cooking method using our old favorite; pork tenderloins. The result was fantastic! It was the same level of success as the air-fried chicken tenders. I did this building on the previous success by marinating the pork in the same mayonnaise and miso marinate and coating it with pre-browned panko crumbs like I did with the chicken. Since this was a new cooking experience, and I was not following an explicit recipe, I was not sure how long I should cook the tenderloin. So “winging-it” I took the internal temperature of the pork after 15 minutes, it was still too low around 115-120 F. So, I cooked it another 15 minutes. The temperature rose quickly during that time and in the end it was 170-180F and the meat was a bit over done. (I was aiming for 145F. Turns out the cooking time has to be determined by how long it takes to reach the intended temperature.) Nonetheless despite being slightly over-cooked the meat was tender and succulent and the crust was nicely crunchy. I served slices of the tenderloin with my version of ratatouille (zucchini, marinara sauce seasoned with anchovies paste), steamed broccolini, and skinned Campari tomato soaked in Japanese broth (picture #1).

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin

Marinade:
2 tbs mayonnaise
1tbs miso
1tbs mirin

Browned panko (Sauté panko in olive oil until brown).

Directions:
Remove the silver skin and clean the tenderloin (I removed the two tapered ends to make the length of the tenderloin equal in diameter. I’ll use the trimmings for other dishes)
Place the tenderloin in a Ziploc bag and add the marinade, massage to cover all the surface and remove as  much air from the bag as you can. Marinate 15-30 minutes at room temperature or several hours to over night in a refrigerator. Coat the tenderloin with the browned panko and air fry at 450F for about 20 to 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145F with an instant-read thermometer (picture #2). (The actual time to reach that temperature may vary depending on the size of the tenderloin and whether it just came out of the refridgerator.  A tenderloin of this size was somewhat overdone when cooked 30 minutes but a one a larger size may require the full 30 minutes to reach the required temperature) 

As I said before this was a great success. It was much better than the way we used to cook tenderloin in the toaster oven. It was very tender and juicy. The crust was very crunchy and added a nice contrast the to flavorful tender meat.