Simmered “Ni-Yakko” tofu 煮やっこ

Japanese dishes made with cubes of warm tofu can have quite a few variations. Those considered basic/traditional are called “Yu-dofu 湯豆腐”. “Yu” means hot water and “dofu” means tofu. In its basic form, cubes of tofu are warmed in a pot.  The pot contains a kelp broth with no other seasoning aside from the flavor of the kelp.  Submerged in the center of the pot is a special small metal cup with dipping sauce (soy sauce based) in it. This way both the tofu and the dipping sauce both get warmed. You dip the warm tofu in the warm dipping sauce before eating. This dish is usually served at the table and eaten “family style”. Then there is another category of warm tofu called “ni-yakko 煮やっこ*”. “Ni” means simmered and “yakko” means cube of tofu. In contrast to “yu-dofu” the broth for this dish is seasoned. Once you use seasoned broth, the possibility for variation widens; you could add other vegetables, eggs etc. “Niku-doufu 肉豆腐” is another variation. “Niku” means meat and “doufu” is the tofu. In this dish thinly sliced beef is simmered with tofu in soy sauce based broth but the main item is tofu and the beef is considered just part of the seasoning. In any case, I made a variation of “ni-yakko” since we had extra silken tofu. I added thinly sliced fresh wood ear mushrooms and blanched daikon green since I happened to have them. For good measure, I added beaten eggs which is called “tamako-toji 卵とじ (picture below).

*I previously pontificated about why cubes of tofu is called “yakko”.

There is no recipe per se. The simplest form of “ni-yakko” is cubes of tofu simmered in seasoned broth usually soy sauce based. The quality of the tofu is very important in this kind of dish. The silken tofu I got is called “House” brand and is made in the U.S, by a Japanese company. Compared to other “silken tofu”, this is much better. In any case, this is how I made this dish.

Ingredients:
1 package of tofu (good quality, I used silken tofu)
Seasoned both, enough to cover the ingredients (I made Japanese broth with a “dashi pack” and seasoned with 4x concentrated Japanese noodle sauce)
Wood ear mushrooms, cut into thin strips (optional)
Blanched Daikon green, cut into small pieces (optional)
2 beaten eggs

Directions:
Cut the tofu in to bite size cubes
Add tofu in a small pot so that the tofu smugly fits
Add the seasoned broth and simmer for a few minutes or until the tofu is warmed up
Add the mushrooms and daikon green
Add the eggs and gently mix and cook until just set

This is a very gentle comforting dish. Again, the quality of the tofu is the key to its success.

Vanilla Shoofly Pie バニラシュウフライパイ

This is one of my wife’s baking projects. She found this pie recipe in her old cookbook called “From Amish and Mennonite Kitchens”. This pie was simply called “Vanilla Pie”. Although she is very familiar with PA Dutch pies, she has never heard of it and decided to make it. It turned out to be “wet-bottom” shoofly pie with a bit of vanilla flavoring. We did not taste much vanilla.  If you like molasses flavor and shoofly pie, this is for you. In the picture you can see a nice “goo” layer on the bottom. (The pie crust looks a bit over-baked) (#1).

Here is a whole pie just out of the oven (#2).

Ingredients and Directions (makes one 9” pie)
Bottom Part:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 cups water
I egg, well beaten
1 1/2 tbs flour
1/2 tsp. vanilla
9" unbaked pie shells

In saucepan, combine all ingredients except vinilla. Boil until thick. (This could take some time and it doesn’t get very thick.) Set aside to cool. When cooled, stir in vanilla. Pour into unbaked pie shell.

Crumbs:
1 cup flour
3/8 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp. baking powder

Mix all ingredients together to form crumbs
Sprinkle over tops of pies.
Bake at 375° for 50-60 minutes.

As we said, this is a classic wet bottom shoofly pie.

White Pizza “Pizza Bianca” 白いピザ

We tried “pizza bianca” a few times before but we did not particularly like it. So we tried again with different cheeses; roasted garlic seasoned Ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. We topped it with baby arugula dressed in honey mustard dressing (#1). We really like the creamy texture of the cheese toppings and pepper taste of arugula, however, despite used a liberal amount of garlic infused oil, we felt we need a bit more assertive flavor (maybe more garlic or slight “picante” flavor?). So we decided on the this batch to add the roasted garlic. This was about a whole head of garlic, cloves separated and cooked in small bowl of heated chicken broth in the toaster oven at 350 for 30 minutes. We added the roasted garlic to the ricotta cheese and left it in the fridge overnight for the flavors to meld. They became much stronger and this was a much better pizza.

The picture 2 is before the arugula topping.

Ingredients:
1/2 Ricotta cheese
About a head of roasted garlic (or to taste)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
(mix the above well)
10 or more thin slices of mozzarella cheese enough to cover the pizza leaving the rim
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil with crushed garlic
Pizza dough

Baby arugula
Honey mustard dressing

Directions:
Form pizza dough
Paint the dough with garlic infused oil including some crushed garlic in the oil 
Cover the center of the pizza with the mozzarella cheese
Spread the seasoned Ricotta
Sprinkle half of the parmesan cheese

Bake in the pizza oven at 700F (Neapolitan-style setting in “Pizzaiolo” pizza oven) for 2 minutes (#2)

Brush the rim with the garlic infused oil and sprinkle the reaming parmesan cheese
Top it with the dressed baby arugula (#10)

This a definitely better pizza bianca we made.

Caramelized onion pizza 飴色玉ねぎピザ

After we got the electric pizza oven “Pizzaiolo”, we have been making home-made Neapolitan-style  pizzas regularly. We usually make two kinds of pizza; one is the classic Margherita another is marinated baby artichokes with olives. Since we do not finish two pizzas in one meal, we have left-overs and enjoy one piece each as an appetizer in subsequent days. The left-over pizza heats up nicely in the toaster oven.  Interestingly, when freshly made, the crust is Neapolitan-style.  It is chewy but not “crispy”. After being re-heated in the toaster oven, the crust becomes very crispy like a New York-style pizza. 

We decided that we should get out of our pizza rut and make some other kinds of pizza. We used to make caramelized onion pizza キャラメライズドオニオンピザ in the oven long before we got the ‘Pizzaiolo’. But we have not made it recently. So we settled on making that pizza as one of the two we made recently one evening. This is a really tasty pizza. Creamy goat cheese and pine nuts added nice texture and taste. The caramelized onions added nice sweetness. The Neapolitan-style crust goes well with this topping.

Ingredients (for one 9 inch pizza)
For caramelized onion
1 large onion, halved and sliced
2 tbs olive oil
2 tsp sugar

For crust (makes enough dough for four 9 inch pizzas)
3 1/2 cups “00” flour (I used 00 flour I got from King-Arthur’s) or bread flour
1 cup warm water (more or less)
2 tsp active years
2 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil (optional)

For topping (amounts are arbitrary)
10 thinly sliced pieces of mozzarella cheese (enough to cover the crust leaving the rim) 
1/4 to 1/2 cup grated reggiano parmiziano
1 inch log of fresh goat cheese crumbled
1/4 cup roasted pine nuts

Garlic-infused olive oil to brush on the pizza crust. (I make this oil with 4 cloves of crushed garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil. I brush some this oil on whatever pizza I am making that night)
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat the pizza oven to “Neapolitan-pizza” temperature (about 750F)

For caramelized onions
Coat the onion slices with the sugar (to facilitate caramelization),  
Add the oil in a large skillet or frying pan. Sauté until nicely browned (do not constantly stir, leave for a few minutes until the bottom browns and then stir)
Set aside

For crust
Add all ingredients except for the water and oil to the food processor fitted with a dough blade. Turn on low speed to mix dry ingredients. If using oil, stream it in. Add the water in a thin stream until a dough ball forms above the blade without any dry ingredients left on the bottom. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Turn the food processor on low speed for a few minutes for a second kneading. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and hand knead it briefly shaping it into a ball. In a large enough mixing bowl, add a small amount of olive oil, add the dough ball and turn to coat all its surface. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let it rise for 1 hour or until doubled (I use a "Brod & Taylor Collapsible electric bread proofer“ set at 85 degrees). 

Turn the dough onto the kneading board. Deflate and divide the dough into 4 pieces. (I weigh the dough to make sure the pieces are equal in size). Knead the dough to make a tight ball. Coat the surface of the each dough ball with olive oil and place in a small Ziploc bag. Squeeze out any excess air, seal the bag and refrigerate overnight. (It can be refrigerated up to a few days. If I haven’t used it by then I freeze it.)
Take out the dough one hour before baking. Form the dough into a 9 inch pizza-shape (by stretching it using two fists under the dough leaving the rim intact)

Assembly
On a wooden pizza peel, sparingly spread cornmeal. (The cornmeal acts like a layer of ball bearings under the pizza dough making it easier to slide the pizza dough off the peel onto the baking stone)
Place the prepared pizza dough on the peel over the cornmeal. Paint the surface of the dough with the garlic infused oil along with some of the crushed garlic in the oil. Use the mozzarella cheese to cover the dough except for the rim. Spread half of the Parmesan over the mozzarella, then spread on the onion. Add the pine nuts. Sprinkle on the rest of the Parmesan, and distribute the small chunks of goat cheese.

To bake
Slide the pizza onto the pizza stone, close the door and press the timer (2 minutes)
When done take it out and paint the rim with the garlic infused olive oil.

The pizza oven creates perfect leopard spots on the bottom of the crust and nice charred rim on the top. The caramelized onion gives a nice sweet flavor. The creamy texture of the goat cheese is wonderful. We really like this pizza.

Brioche ブリオーシュ

We found some small disposable brioche cooking cups in the cupboard. My wife told me she got them to make individual fruit cakes one Christmas some time ago. She then came across a brioche bun recipe in “Frog Commissary  Cookbook”.  So with the juxtaposition of these two events she decided she had to make it. This is the end result (Picture #1). I am not sure why but the traditional brioche bun has a small “topknot” attached to the “body” making it a snowman shape (#1). In the case of this batch almost all the little knobs fell off. No worry. They made nice little bites for breakfast. These were very nice slightly sweet, rich buns. We had them toasted for breakfast and they were perfect. I will let my wife take over.

Ingredients:
¼ cup milk
½ pound butter, in bits
½ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 package dry yeast (4 ounce each)
¼ cup warm water
6 eggs
5½ cups flour (1½ pounds) 
1 egg yolk (optional)

Directions:
Gently heat the butter with the milk until the butter melts.

Put the sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer and pour on the warm milk-butter mixture. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Cool to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, bloom the yeast over the warm water in a small bowl. Add to the milk mixture. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Add 3½ cups of the flour and again mix until smooth. Switch to the dough hook and stir in the remaining flour. The dough will be too sticky to knead but should begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl; this may take 5-10 minutes of mixing. (I could not add all the flour specified in the ingredients because the dough became quite thick before I was able to add it all. Next time I may not add so much flour leaving the dough a bit sticky as suggested in the instructions.)

(Note: This bread requires 3 rises;  the first 1 to 1 1/2 hrs, the second about 1 hour, the third about 1/2 to 2 1/2 hrs. This is anywhere between 2 1/2  to 4 1/2 hours total. In order to have freshly baked brioche for breakfast, the recipe suggests putting the bowl in the refridgerator for the second rise to occur overnight. They suggest checking on it periodically to make sure it doesn’t rise too much before it cools to the temperature in the refrigerator. Then the third rise could be done the next morning after taking the dough out of the fridge. This is what we did.)

Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled, about 1-1½ hours. Punch down the dough and lightly knead in the bowl for 1-2 minutes. Cover again and let rise once more in a warm spot until doubled (about 1 hour). Punch down and knead for 1-2 minutes. With floured hands, divide the dough into 14 pieces (about 3½ ounces each). Shape 12 of the pieces into balls and set one in each of 12 greased individual 3-4 ounce brioche tins.

Divide the remaining 2 pieces into 6 pieces each and roll them into little balls. Poke a hole with your finger in the top of each brioche and put one of the small balls in each indentation for a "topknot” (#2). Set the brioches in a warm spot to rise until very light and doubled in bulk; this could take ½-2½ hours depending on whether dough has been refrigerated Preheat the oven to 375°. Beat the egg yolk and brush it lightly over the brioches as a glaze. (This is optional and we did not do it.) Bake for 15 minutes until lightly browned (#3)

These were very good and made a very nice breakfast. We sliced one into 4 slices and lightly toasted it. Then spread on butter to melt in the residual heat. We each took 2 of the slices. What is not to like? Next time I think I will forgo the top knot and maybe cook them in the smaller sized brioche muffin cups we have.

Kabocha Blini かぼちゃビリーニ

Recently, in keeping with the fall season, we got a whole Japanese “Kabocha” 南瓜 squash from Weee, I made the classic Japanese stewed kabocha かぼちゃの煮物 and potage かぼちゃのポタージュ.  Both dishes were great mainly because of the quality of the kabocha was extremely good—very tender (not dry and chalky) and slightly sweet. After some time, we had some of the potage left. My wife decided to make “Kabocha blini” from it. This turned out to be pretty good. It has a nice yellow color, moist inside crispy outside. The kabocha flavor is subtle but it’s there. This is a good blini variation.

Ingredients: makes 12 blini
2 cups kabocha puree (or in this case thick soup/potage)
6 tbs melted butter
3/4 cup cream
6 large eggs, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup + 4 Tbs. cake flour
1 Tbs + 1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
may need additional liquid to bring the batter to the consistency of pancake batter.

Directions:
In a bowl add the kabocha puree, melted butter, cream and eggs. Stir until well blended. Then add the flours, baking powder, and salt and whisk until well blended. (You may need to add some additional liquid so the batter is the consistency of pancake batter.)

Melt 1 Tbs. butter. In a cast iron platar, brush some of the melted butter to grease each of the platar cups before adding the batter. Pour the batter into the cups until they are full using the largest ice cream scoop. Cook over moderately low heat, turning once, until set, about 5 minutes or more per side. Repeat with the remaining butter and batter.

These were remarkably good. They had a tender texture, were slightly sweet and had a lovely subtle kabocha flavor. They tasted great toasted and topped with butter. This just proves the possibilities for blinis are limitless.

Indian Pudding インディアンプディング

This is another of my wife’s baking projects. Although my wife is not PA Dutch, she grew up in rural Pennsylvania and is very fond of the PA Dutch dishes she ate as a child. As a result she has collected quite a few PA Dutch cookbooks. While she was browsing through the cookbooks, she found this recipe called “Indian Pudding”. ** This was one of her favorite childhood desserts and she had not tasted it in years, so she decided to make it. I found this to be a somewhat unusual dish—I had never tasted anything like it before. But it was a success and quite enjoyable as a dessert (#1). It has a nice but not too strong molasses flavor combined with a complexity of cinnamon, and ginger spices plus a burst of sweetness from the raisins. The consistency is like an extremely wet cake referred to as “pudding” consistency. While this was new to me I see why my wife likes it and now I do too. 

** Indian pudding originated with New England colonists in the 17th century, who adapted a traditional British "hasty pudding" to incorporate cornmeal, a staple crop learned from Native Americans. The name refers to the colonists' term "Indian meal" for cornmeal, not to the modern country of India. It became a quintessential American dessert, especially popular during the colonial era.

Ingredients:
(X1)
1/4 cup cornmeal 
1 cup milk, scalded 
1/2 tablespoon butter 
1/8 cup table molasses (1/16 molasses, 1/16 karo), 
1/3 cup raisins 
1 large egg, lightly beaten 
1 tablespoons granulated sugar 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger 
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1 cup milk 

(X2)
½ cup cornmeal
2 cups milk, scalded
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup table molasses (golden, barrel, or King Syrup), do not use baking molasses
⅔ cup raisins
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Stir cornmeal into hot milk with whisk, stirring until smooth. Add butter, molasses, raisins, egg, sugar, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. Blend thoroughly and let stand until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Pour into buttered 1-quart baking dish. Top with remaining cup(s) milk. Bake for 1 1/2 hours  (2 hours if double recipe) or until set. I used the small square corning bake dish. Serve warm.

We were not sure how the milk poured on top would work out. But as the picture we took while it was in the oven shows (#2) it eventually formed a crust topping which added another dimension of texture to the overall dish.

This is a picture of the final product (#3). Isn’t it a beaut?

This is a homey, hearty, savory dessert. It somehow evokes the image of a comfort food on a cold winter’s night. This was truely an old friend rediscovered for my wife and a new friend met for me.

Japanese Cucumber with “Sudachi” Miso 酢橘味噌胡瓜

This was the second  time we got fresh Japanese produce from Suzuki Farm. Last time, we got green yuzu or “ao-yuzu 青柚子” and made “yuzu miso 柚子味噌”. Japanese citrus for cooking include “Kabosu かぼす”, “Yuzu 柚子” and “Sudachi 酢橘” (the differences between these three citrus are  described in English in the linked website.) (They are also summarized below. **) This time we got “sudachi”.  “Sudachi” is the smallest of the aforementioned three Japanese citrus. I have not tasted “sudachi” before but I have seen it used with grilled “さんま” pacific saury” and “sudachi-soba 酢橘蕎麦”. In any case, I made “sudachi miso すだち味噌” and enjoyed with Japanese cucumber (chilled in ice water). I also served salmon belly with crispy  skin (dried over night in the refrigerator). Sudachi indeed has different flavor more complexed herbal flavor and more gentle acidity as compared with yuzu. We really liked the “sudachi miso”. Of course, well-chilled japanese cucumber is really great with this miso.

** Summary of the differences between the various Japanese citrus 
Sudachi 
Region: Tokushima Prefecture (accounts for 97% of Japan’s sudachi production) 
Season: August to October 
Flavor: Milder sourness, fragrant and less bitter than kabosu 
Best Uses: Topping grilled mackerel, soba noodles, matsutake mushrooms, and other fall dishes 

Kabosu
Region: Oita Prefecture (produces over 90% of Japan’s kabosu)
Season: August to October
Flavor: Well-balanced sourness with a juicy punch
Best Uses: Grilled fish, dipping sauces, hot pot, vinegared dishes, salad dressing

Yuzu
Region: Mainly Kochi Prefecture
Season: Green yuzu from August–October, yellow yuzu from November–December
Feature: Intense fragrance due to "yuzunone" aroma compounds
Best Uses: Zest for aroma, yuzu baths, yuzu marmalade, ponzu sauce

Prefer mild sourness for Japanese-style meals? → Sudachi
Want lots of juice and versatile sourness? → Kabosu 
Looking for a strong aroma with zest appeal? → Yuzu

The combination of chilled  Japanese cucumber with sudachi-miso served with crispy skin salmon belly is great.This is not a recipe but just a description of how I prepared the “sudachi-miso”.

Ingredients:
4 tbs of Saikyo miso 西京味噌 or other type of miso (I think sweet white miso like Saikyo-miso is the best)
2 tbs of sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
2 sudachi
2 tbs mirin (or more to make the desired consistency.

Directions:
Using a micro-grater, grate the zest of the sudachi (skin is thin so be gentle).
After the zest is grated, squeeze the juice of the sudachi into a small bowl and set aside.
In a small bowl, add the miso, sugar, sudachi zest and juice and mirin and mix well.
If too stiff, add more mirin

Although “yuzu-miso 柚子味噌” is most common, we really like “sudachi-miso 酢橘味噌. We would like to try this for other dishes such as topping simmered daikon or “furofuki-daikon ふろふき大根.

Cheese Pennies チーズ (ペニー) バタークッキー

This is one of my wife’s appetizer projects. This is a savory and cheesy butter biscuit. The recipe came from the King Arthur.

Ingredients
2 cups (227g) sharp cheddar cheese, grated (Or any combination or cheese that may be available. We used sharp cheddar, smoked gouda, and parmesan.)
8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (180g) All-Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
paprika, optional

Directions:
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients to make a cohesive dough, sprinkling in a tablespoon or so of water if the dough doesn't seem to want to come together. As soon as the dough starts to come together, turn off the mixer and gather it into a rough ball. Transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a 16" log about 1 1/2" in diameter (#1). Wrap the log in waxed paper or plastic wrap, and chill it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Using a serrated knife, slice the log crosswise into 1/8" rounds (#2). Place them on an ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving only about 1/2" between them; they won't spread much as they bake. Sprinkle them with a bit of paprika. Bake the cheese pennies in a preheated 400°F oven for 11 to 13 minutes, or until they're just beginning to brown (#3). Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool on the pan for several minutes before transferring them to racks to cool completely.

These are cheesy, slightly salty with hits of spices from mustard and cayenne pepper. This is a good appetizer that goes well with red wine but it is not a dessert. We really like it.

Salmon Shrimp Pâté with Shiitake 椎茸入り鮭とエビのパテ

About 3 years ago, at the recommendation of my wife’s sister who used to live in the Philadelphia area before moving to California, we stumbled across an old cookbook called “Frog Commissary Cookbook”. In its hey day, this cookbook was a “must-have” especially in the Philadelphia area.

We completely forgot about this cookbook until a few days ago when my wife was looking through our blog for an “Appetizer” to make and she came across “Salmon and scallop pâté”.  We realized the recipe came from this cookbook. My wife quickly located the book and we started looking through the recipes. My wife found a few she would like to try. (You may expect to see them here at some later date.) We remembered that the salmon scallop pâté was quite good. So, I decided to make the pâté again but realized we did not have any scallops and we did not have any spinach to make the center layer. But we did have shrimp which I could substitute for the scallops and a cooked shittake mushroom/shallot mixture which I could substitute for the spinach used in the center of the pâté (#1B).  Making the layers this way was much easier than the original recipe. I served the salmon shrimp pâté with a wedge of Myer lemon and leaf of arugula from our window sill veggie garden (#1).

In the original recipe, the center is spinach and scallop mousse (#1B). Although it looks nice it is more work than my current variation and the spinach didn’t really add much flavor. In terms of texture, the original salmon/scallop version was a bit softer. But the scallops basically only contributed to the texture not the taste; The main flavor was salmon. In my salmon/shrimp version, you definitely taste the shrimp.

Ingredients:
(The original recipe was essentially restaurant sized and too large for our home consumption. When I made it last time, I scaled it down to 1/4 of the original amount which made one small loaf of  pâté. This time I essentially halved the original amount and made two loaves of pâté).

175 grams salmon, skin removed and cut into small cubes.
175 grams shrimp, shell removed and cut into small cubes.
1 whole egg (Original recipe called for just the egg white.)
120 ml cream (I used light cream, the amount of cream depends on the consistency of the mousse. You want a consistency that is not quite “pourable” but not too loose.)
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper (to taste)
14 ml brandy

(for the center layer)
4 tbs of minced and sautéed shiitake mushrooms (mostly chopped up stems) and shallots*

*When we get fresh shiitake mushrooms from Weee, I remove the stems and small caps and chop them up into small pieces. I sauté them in olive oil with finely chopped shallots seasoned with salt and pepper. This can be used in many other dishes such as meat balls, risotto etc. I put the remaining whole caps into a Ziploc bag with a paper towel. This keeps them fresh much longer than if left in the original packages.

Directions:
Add the salmon, shrimp, egg, and about the half of  the cream into a food processor (I used a mini-food processor) and make a smooth mousse. Add more cream to get the right consistency and season the mixture.

(for the center layer)
Take 1/3 of the salmon shrimp mousse and add the shiitake-shallot mixture and blend well.

I made the pate in 2 small loaf pans (14x6.5x5cm) (I used a silicone pan. No need to oil or line it with a parchment paper). Fill the bottom of one of the the pans with 1/4 of the salmon-shrimp mousse and smooth the surface with a silicon spatula (#2 right) and top it with half of the mushroom mousse to form the center layer (#2 left). As was done with the bottom layer smooth the mushroom layer with the spatula. Add another 1/4 layer of the salmon-shrimp mousse to form the top layer and smooth the surface (#3). Repeat the process for the second pan. Cover the loaf pans with aluminum foil.

I preheated the oven (I used the toaster oven in a convection mode) to 350F.

I placed the loaf pans in a larger baking pan with a high rim. Poured hot water to the middle of the depth of the loaf pans (bain-marie) and cooked for 35 minutes (internal temperature of 135F).

Un-mould and let it cool (#4).

Slice (#5) showing the center mushroom layer.

As far as I was concerned, this was as good as the original salmon-scallop pate. (My wife said she liked it better because in the original version the spinach layer didn’t “bring much flavor to the show”. In contrast the mushrooms in this version added a lot of complexity to the flavor which was very good. This version was also a bit firmer in texture and had a lovely shrimp flavor. The only mistake I made was salt. I pre-salted the mushroom mixture and also shrimp after thawing. All this accumulated and the pate was a lightly salty side for our taste but still extremely good. We had this without sauce or just with lemon juice which was all it needed.