Table of Contents 2026

January 2026
January 1     Happy New Year 2026 明けましておめでとうございます
January 2    “Ozoni” New Year’s Soup お雑煮 2026
January 5    Osechi from Sushi Taro 2026 すし太郎のお節
January 8    Chocolate Brownie Pudding チョコレートブラウニープディング
January 11    Japanese “Kabu” Turnip Simmered in Broth 蕪の煮物
January 14    Japanese Sweet potato Blini さつまいもビィリニ
January 17    Simmered “Satoimo” taro with squid 里芋とイカの煮物
January 19    Grilled Beef Tongue 牛タンの焼肉
January 20    Persimmon in Tofu Dressing 柿の白和え
January 23    Cauliflower-puree Blini カリフラワーピュレー　ビィリニ
January 25    Gingerbread Pancakes with Date Sauce ジンジャーブレッドパンケーキ
January 26    “Bento” Lunch Box 弁当

Lotus root salad with Yuzu-kosho Mayo 柚子胡椒マヨ蓮根サラダ

This is the second dish I made from fresh renkon (lotus root) we received recently from Weee. This a simple renkon salad. I have posted several renkon salads and this is a variation of renkon salad dressed in yuzu-mayonnaise. I think I saw a recipe on line from which I got the idea for this but could not locate it again. In any case, the dressing is made with mayo plus yuzu-kosho* 柚子胡椒 so in addition to yuzu flavor it has some heat from the yuzu-kosho. This was a really good dish. The renkon is crunchy. It absorbs the yuzu flavor which gives it a bright citrus taste. The mayo mutes the spiciness of the yuzu-kosho but it is still there. Just for green color I added blanched green beans.

* Japanese condiment/ paste made from chili peppers, yuzu peel and salt, which is then allowed to ferment. Usually made of green pepper but also made with red pepper.

Again this is not really recipe. Just for my notes:

Ingredients:
3 inch renkon, peeled, blanched and cut into small bite sized pieces.

Some green for color (blanched green beans, broccoli etc)

Dressing:
1 tbs mayonnaise 
1/2 tsp yuzu-kosho (more for spicier dressing)
1 tsp ponzu shoyu ポン酢醤油
(Because the ponzu also has yuzu juice in it the dressing gets a double dose of yuzu Japanese citrus flavor)

Directions:
Boil the renkon in salted water with a splash of rice vinegar for 10-15 minutes.
Let it cool to room temperature.
In a bowl, add the renkon and dressing and mix.
Add the green beans cut diagonally in a bite size. 

This is a very refreshing salad. The crunchiness of the renkon combined with the bright citrus taste and slight spiciness of the yuzu-kosho provide lovely contrast of flavors for any meal. 

Roasted Bone-in Leg of Lamb 骨付き子羊脚ロースト

Christmas and New Year are approaching. Since my wife likes lamb, we splurged and got a large bone-in (or as they described it, “minimally boned and halal”) leg of lamb from Whole Foods. Clearly this is too much meat for us but we figured once it is cooked we can eat it in several sittings and use it to make other dishes such as lamb stew. I thought about making a special dry rub for it but decided to go with the natural flavor of the meat and used only olive oil, salt and pepper. We hot smoked it using mesquite wood chips in the Weber grill. I soaked the wood chips and added them directly on the hot coals which were separated on either side of the center in a metal baskets so the lamb roasted on indirect heat. I maintained the temperature at 400F. The lamb was done in almost one and half hours cooking time. I set the meat temperature probe in the middle of the thigh fairly deep but not touching the bone and cooked it to an internal temperature of 140F. The meat came out really nice (#1). We let it rest covered loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil for 30 minutes while we cooked some Japanese sweet potatoes to go with it.

The doneness ranged from well-done (close to the shank) to medium rare (middle of the thigh meat). Close to the boned (or de-boned) end (the largest diameter potion)  was medium which I served (#2). I made a quick pan sauce and served it with mashed sweet potato.

This was a simple meat-and-potato affair but very satisfying. We had a Joseph Phelps 2022 Syrah.

This is a very good American Syrah that went perfectly with our lamb dinner.

”Boti Gosht” Indian style Meat Cubes インド風の豚肉キューブ

Whenever we get a large bone-in, skin-on, hind-or fore-quarter pork (called picnic cut), I do secondary butchering to produce one large and one small roast. We cook the large roast in the Weber grill and make the small roast into Chinese-style simmered pork using the InstantPot pressure cooker. I cut the remaining trimmings into small chunks and cook them in the InstantPot. We usually use these to make some kind of curry but this time my wife used them to make scrapple. After all this, we found ourselves with leftover roasted pork. My wife decided we should use it to make something interesting that we hadn’t made before. She came up with this Indian-style meat (pork) cubes dish based on a recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s cookbook “Quick and Easy Indian Cooking”. (The original recipe called for uncooked cubes of goat/lamb/pork.) This is a highly seasoned dish but does not include the extra sauce characteristic of a regular curry. In any case, this turned out to be quite good. It was quite spicy (but not too spicy, at least for me). (My wife ate it topped with yogurt to mute the spiciness a bit and she said it was very good), with lots of flavors. 

Ingredients
3 tablespoons vegetable oil 
1 or 2 onions roughly diced
½-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and very finely chopped 
4 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely chopped
15 fresh or dried curry leaves, if available
1 pound boned shoulder of lamb or pork, cut into 1-inch cubes (We used the left over roasted pork cut up) 
2 teaspoons store-bought garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 fresh, hot green chile, finely sliced
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1½-2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:
 Saute the onion in a frying pan until soft and lightly browned. Add the ginger, garlic, and curry leaves and stir until wilted. When the garlic is wilted add the spices to bloom their flavor.  Add the meat. Add enough chicken broth so the ingredients in the pan do not scorch. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove the lid and cook, uncovered, until all the liquid has gone. Stir as you do this and be careful it doesn’t scorch. Then stir in the lemon juice.

Chilean Sea bass with Steamed with Japanese Turnip 蕪蒸し

When we got some Japanese “Kabu 蕪” turnips from Suzuki Farm, I made this dish called “Kabura-mushi 蕪蒸し”. This is a Kyoto cuisine specialty for winter time. The main component is grated turnip mixed with whipped egg white which is then steamed. The classic, as I understand it, uses a type of lightly salted “amdai 甘鯛 snapper called Guji ぐじ” . I suppose you could use shrimp or other white fish or you do not have to use any seafood. I used the tail portion of Chilean sea bass since that was available. I also added shiitake mushroom. This was a really good comforting dish. The Japanese “kabu” turnip adds an interesting slightly pungent (in good way) taste and nice soft consistency. The  “ankake 餡かけ” sauce is gentle and thickened with potato starch (the classic version uses “Kudzu” 葛 starch)*. We like this dish very much. For a good measure, I also added a small dab of wasabi.

*Yes, this is starch derived from the roots of dreaded kudzu plant. It is often used in Kyoto cuisine.

Ingredients (for 2 servings)

1 medium (about 180 grams) Japanese “kabu” turnip, skin peeled, grated and drained of excess moisture

1 egg white whipped to hard peak

1/4 tsp salt

Two pieces of white fish (I used the tail portions of Chilean sea bass)

2 fresh shiitake mushrooms caps sliced

other optional items may include  edible lily bulb, “gin-nan 銀杏” ginko-nuts.

For sauce

1/2 cup Japanese “dashi 出汁” broth

1 tsp x4 Japanese noodle sauce

1 tsp mirin

1 tsp potato starch mixed with 1 tsp water or sake (for thickening the sauce)

Directions:

Place the fish filet in the bowl, place the kabu-egg white mixture on the top, scatter the mushroom in the periphery, steam for 10 minutes in strong steam (see picture 2)

For sauce:

Heat up the broth add seasonings, taste and adjust, add the starch slurry and mix until thickened. Make sure the sauce comes to a boil (otherwise sauce will revert to watery state quickly).

Pour over the steamed dish and top with a dab of wasabi.

Amazingly, my wife really liked this dish. I may make it again when we get some more “kabu”.

Chili Crisp Cottage Cheese Flatbread カッテージチーズフラットブッレドと食べるラー油

My wife is always looking for new baking projects. She came across a flatbread recipe using cottage cheese. In addition, this recipe included “chili crisp*”. We are usually not interested in “very spicy” food. In our household, we keep “Tabasco” and “Sriracha” and use them sparingly or as part of a marinade. We used to have a Japanese version of chili infused oil or ra-yu ラー油 but since we used it rarely, it oxidized by the next time we wanted to use it. Since my wife asked for “chili crisp” for this recipe, I looked into it. The Chinese version appeared to be too spicy for us and we do not particularly like tongue numbing Sichuan pepper which many Chinese brands may include. So I settled for a Japanese mild version of chili crisp from ‘Momoya 桃屋**”.

*Spicy chili infused oil “辣油” is a traditional condiment in Chinese cuisine. In Japan, it is known as “ra-yu ラー油”.  Chili crisp or chili crunch  is a variation chili oil in which bits of chili, garlic and other solids are included. This became very popular during the  COVID time (2020 on) in the U.S. and many brands (including some U.S. brands) became readily available. In Japan, this was known as “eating ra-yu  or 食べるラー油”.

**Japanese condiment maker “Momoya 桃屋” started selling a Japanese version of chili crips which was dubbed as “Looks spicy but not too spicy ra-yu 辛そうで辛くない 少し辛いラー油” in 2009 which was a big hit in Japan.

So my wife started making the bread but at the last moment her friend called and I was left to do the final preparation; making the dough balls, let them rest. Preheating the cast iron skillet. Pressing and stretching the dough balls in to 7 - 8 inch disks without making holes and cooking them in the cast iron skillet. The picture #1 is the result. I included the Japanese chili crisp in the picture (on the side).

This is how we enjoyed it (picture #2). Just dip the bread in the chili crisp. (We subsequently found that spreading the chili crisp directly on the bread works very well too.) The bread and chili crisps were wonderful. The fried garlic adds a nice crunch and the oil is flavorful but not hot; just a bit of buzz which suits us just fine. The bread on its own also has nice flavors.

Ingredients
3/4 cup (170g) cottage cheese, whole milk preferred
1/2 cup (114g) water, warm
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
1 cup (14g) cilantro, leaves and tender stems*
2 1/4 cups (270g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
1 tablespoon (22g) chili crisp, plus more for brushing
vegetable oil, for brushing or greasing

*Or substitute with dill, parsley, or a mix

Directions:
To make the dough: In a food processor, process the cottage cheese, water, yeast, sugar, and salt until smooth, 20 to 30 seconds. Add the cilantro, flour, and 1 tablespoon (22g) chili crisp, in that order, and process in about 8 to 10 second-long pulses, until the dough comes together and starts to gather around the blade.

Scrape the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise until increased in volume by about 1 1/2 times, 30 to 45 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead it gently, sprinkling with additional flour as necessary, until it's smooth, springy, and less sticky, 30 to 60 seconds. (The dough was extremely, wet and sticky and required the addition of a fair amount of flour to make it workable.) 

Divide the dough into 4 pieces (about 150g each) and shape each into a tight ball. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until puffy and relaxed, 15 to 30 minutes.

Toward the end of the rise time, preheat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Working with one dough ball at a time, stretch or roll into a 7" to 8" round. Brush the top with vegetable oil, then place, oil-side down, in the skillet. Cook until brown underneath and bubbled on top, 1 to 2 minutes. Brush the other side with oil then flip the dough and cook until brown on the second side, 1 to 2 minutes.

While one flatbread is cooking, shape the next.
For an extra spicy finish, brush the warm flatbreads with chili crisp before serving.

Sweet Potato muffin with Dates and Cranberries サツマイモマフィン

This is another of my wife’s baking projects. The original recipe appeared in Washington Post as “Sweet potato bread with dates and cranberries” but she converted it to muffins. One of the reasons she made this is that we got some Japanese sweet potatoes a week ago and she wanted to use them before they went bad. This recipe was a bit unusual in that the dates were pulverized with oil, eggs, and milk and become a part of the wet ingredients.  The original recipe also calls for fresh cranberries but we didn’t have any so we used dried cranberries (craisins). Since craisins have added sugar and dates are quite sweet, we were afraid the muffin would be too sweet but it was just pleasantly sweet. The texture appeared dense but was very tender. Overall, this is a good unique muffin/bread. We enjoyed it for our breakfast. I ask my wife to continue.

Ingredients
1/2 cup (120 milliliters) neutral oil, (We used Crisco)
1 1/2 cups (190 grams) pitted dates
1 cup mashed, roasted sweet potatoes (We used Japanese sweet potatoes)
1/3 cup (80 milliliters) milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (65 grams) whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup (65 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (60 grams) almond flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (95 grams) fresh whole cranberries (We used craisins)
1/2 cup (60 grams) chopped raw pecans

Directions:
Prepare 2 sweet potatoes by piercing the skin, then putting them into a silicone cooking container with a little water. Cover and cook in the microwave until tender (about 4-5 minutes). Remove the skin. Mash them and then run them through a ricer to get rid of any remaining lumps. 

Place the dates in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the sweet potato puree, oil and milk and pulse until smooth. (Small bits of the dates will remain.) Add the eggs and vanilla, and pulse to combine. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

In another large bowl, whisk together the whole-wheat, AP, and almond flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the sweet potato mixture, and stir just until evenly incorporated. Stir in the cranberries and pecans; the batter will be very thick.

Transfer the batter to the prepared muffin tins. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then remove from the pan.

Scallops and Shrimp with Yuzu Galic Butter Sauce ホタテとエビのソテー柚子ガーリックバーターソース

This is another inventory control dish. This time, frozen scallops and shell-on shrimp from “Great Alaska Seafood”. We had this as an ending “shime” dish for the evening. Since I had 4 scallops and 2 shrimp, vacuumed packed into two separate packages I could quickly thaw them by soaking the packages in ice water. Frozen items thaw much quicker using this method than leaving them in the refrigerator to thaw since water has much better heat transfer than air. Just before cooking, I patted them dry with paper towels and seasoned them with salt and pepper. I also decided to cook the shrimp with the shell on.

This is not a recipe per se but just for our record. Since I had some “ao-yuzu 青柚子” (from the Suzuki Farm) left, I used the zest and juice to make a Yuzu garlic butter sauce.  To mop up the sauce, we served several slices of mini-baguette I baked. The cucumber salad was dressed with strained home-made yogurt (Greek yogurt) seasoned with salt and olive oil. I also added finely chopped dill.

To sear and brown the scallops, I used a stainless steel frying pan with peanut oil (high smoking point) on medium high flame. I waited until the surface of the oil shimmered and I made sure the surface of the scallops was dry. I seasoned them with a generous amount of salt and pepper. I placed them in the pan for 1 minute until browned. Then turned them over and added the shrimp and cooked 1 more minute. I took out the scallops and set them aside (at this stage they were undercooked). I turned the shrimp over and cooked 30 more seconds then took them out. I added some butter (1-2 tbs) to the pan and when it melted added the finely chopped garlic and cooked for 30 seconds. I added a splash of white wine, scraped off the brown bits and stirred. I added the scallops and shrimp back into the pan and cooked for 30-40 seconds. Then I added the yuzu juice and zest and served.

As a quick impromptu dish, this was quite good. It is unfortunate I could not undercook the scallops since they were not sashimi quality but they were still quite ok.

Lemon Sponge Pudding/Pie レモンスポンジプッデング

This is another one of my wife’s PA Dutch baking projects. This is based on a recipe in Marsh Adams “PA Dutch cookbook”. My wife made this as a pudding by cooking it in a ramekin. But it can be cooked in a pie crust making it a pie. (The original recipe made it as a pie.) In both cases as can be seen in the following pictures, the top is a nice sponge cake with a lemon custard on the bottom. This is not too sweet and nice light dessert. Here she comes.

Ingredients:
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell if making a pie, otherwise several small ramekins

4 eggs, separated
2 cups sugar
6 tbs. AP flour (or 1/4 cup plus 2 tbs.)
1/2 stick butter melted
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 lemon rinds
2 lemon lemon juice 

Ingredients ( X1/2)

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell if making a pie, otherwise several small ramekins

2 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
3 tbs. AP flour 
1/4 stick butter melted
1/4 tsp salt
1 cups milk
1 lemon rinds
1 lemon juice

Directions for pudding:
Preheat oven to 400°.  Beat egg yolks until smooth. Beat the egg whites until stiff. In a large bowl combine the sugar, flour, melted butter, egg yolks and grated rinds. Then add the lemon juice, salt and milk and blend. Fold in the egg whites, then pour into the ramekins. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 350 for an additional 15 minutes. Let cool completely before eating.

Directions for pie:
Preheat oven to 425 F. Use a deep dish pie plate and set out the pie crust in it. (If making the 1/2 recipe use a regular pie pan.) Beat egg yolks until smooth. Beat the egg whites until stiff. In a large bowl combine the sugar, flour, melted butter, egg yolks and grated rinds. Then add the lemon juice, salt and milk and blend. Fold in the egg whites, then pour into the pie shell. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes then reduce to 350 for an additional 20 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting

This is a lovely light dessert. The contrast in texture between the chiffon topping and the lemon custard underneath is quite nice. This is a classic.

Wood-ear Mushroom in Sesame Sauce キクラゲの胡麻和え

This is another dish I made to finish up the fresh wood ear mushrooms I got from Weee. Although we prepared the mushrooms by boiling and washing them before storing them in the fridge, I repeated the process for this dish since they were getting old. I got the idea for this dish from a recipe I saw on line.  I prepared the sesame sauce the way I usually make it using freshly re-roasted sesame seeds rather than following the recipe. The re-roasting adds a fresher sesame flavor. I also added golden thread egg or “kinshiran 金糸卵” mostly for color. This turned out to be quite a good dish. The wood ear mushrooms gave a nice crunch in contrast to the softer vegetables.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup blanched and washed wood-ear mushrooms, cut into thin strips (I used whatever was left which was about 1/2 cup)
2 small carrots, peeled, cut into thick match sticks about1 inch long then boiled in salted water for a few minutes and cooled
7-8 green beans (I had ones already streamed for 3 minutes and cooled), cut into the. same size as the carrots. 
golden thread egg for garnish (optional)

Dressing:
1 tbs white sesame seeds, dry roast using either small dry frying pan or a special sesame roasting pan
1 tbs white sesame paste
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1-2 tsp rice vinegar

Directions:
Add the roasted sesame seeds in a Japanese mortar and pestle or “suri-bachi 摺鉢”  and grind them until some oil comes out.
Add the sesame paste, sugar and soy sauce and mix using the pestle or “suri-kogi すりこぎ” . Taste and add more soy sauce if needed. Add the rice vinegar.
If the consistency is too thick and the seasoning is strong enough, add warm water to make the consistency appropriate for dressing.
Dress the vegetables and mushrooms and garnish with the egg threads.

This is a nice dish. It can go as a small side dish for a Japanese meal or a drinking snack. It can also go with red wine especially if you do not make the dressing too vinegary.

Nutmeat Pate 木の実のパテ

This is a very interesting pâté recipe from “Frog Commissary Cookbook” my wife found. This is a pâté made of white beans and nuts. The color is a bit drab but it almost tastes like a meat pate (#1). After a few days, the flavor and texture got better. This is a perfect appetizer for vegetarian friends but the omnivore will also enjoy it. I will ask my wife to take over.

Ingredients: Makes 3 small loaves. 

One can of white navy beans whizzed until smooth in a food processor 

2 cups walnuts (½ pound), lightly toasted and finely ground
2 cups pecans (½ pound), light toasted and finely ground
1 cup grated Gruyère cheese (¼ pound)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
⅓ cup minced scallion
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried thyme (I used fresh from our garden)
½ teaspoon crumbled dried rosemary (I used fresh from our garden)
1¾ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon pepper
⅓ cup heavy cream
1½ teaspoons minced garlic
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tablespoon brandy  
1 ounce dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted in warm water, drained and minced

(These are other herbs called for in the recipe but I didn’t use)

⅓ cup minced parsley 
½ teaspoon dried marjoram 

Directions:
Toast the walnuts and pecans. Grind them separately in a food processor and set aside. Grind the white beans in a food processor to form a “bean paste”. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well (#2) Preheat the oven to 350°. Fill the three small silicon bread pans with the pâté mixture and cover it tightly with tin foil (#4). Set in a larger baking pan filled with hot water half way up the sides of the baking pans.

Bake in the toaster oven for 1 hour. Let cool 10 minutes and then invert the baking pan onto a serving plate and unmold the pâte. The pâté can be served either hot or cold (#4).

As stated before this pâté tastes remarkably like it was made with meat. It is very savory and makes a nice appetizer with a glass of red wine. 

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.

Julienned vegetable salad 刻み野菜サラダ

I got the idea for this salad of julienned vegetables from two separate sources. One was a segment on a food blog I follow about a tempura restaurant in the Ginza called “Ten-Asa 天あさ” which serves a julienned vegetable salad. The other was a YouTube episode by Chef Kasahara describing a similar salad. I am not sure how the salad dressing was made at Ten-Asa but from the description, it must contain  “shio-kombu 塩昆布” julienned “salted kelp”. In addition, this kelp was also used in Kasahara’s recipe.

Since I was planing to make “smelt fry ししゃものフライ” and “arancini”, I thought this type of salad, made without any oil in the dressing, would be a perfect salad accompaniment (#1). I think any vegetable can be used. Ten-Asa clearly included cabbage. I used what I had on hand which included carrot, cucumber and wood ear mushroom. Besides the salted kelp, I also used re-roasted and coarsely ground white sesame seeds for seasoning following chef Kasahara’s example. This turned out to be a very refreshing salad. We felt it was a healthy offset to the fried food we were eating .

Ingredients (for two servings) (see picture #2)
2 American mini cucumbers, “Katsura-muki 桂剥き” roll-cut making thin sheets and then finely julienned or using a mandolin with a julienne attachment.
2 scallions, white parts, cut lengthwise on one side (not through), opened like a book and then finely julienned called “shirakami-negi 白髪ネギ or white-hair scallion”*
4-5 fresh wood ear mushrooms, blanched and washed, cut into thin julienne (optional, I happened to have them on hand. They added a nice crunch)

(I am not sure if the two ingredients listed below would be considered seasoning or salad ingredients. They impart a very unique flavor and aroma)
4-5 green perilla “aojiso 青紫蘇” leaves, stacked, rolled and cut into thin julienne.
1 “Hojiso 穂紫蘇” flower and seed pods (optional**)

Dressing (seasoning)
2 tbs “shio-konbu 塩昆布” salted kelp
1 tbs coarsely ground white sesame

*This is easier if using a Tokyo “Negi” scallion which is much thicker than spring onion/scallion.
** This is the top of the plant in autum developing flower/seed pods. Our perilla started blooming so “hojiso” was available. But this is totally optional.

Directions:
Soak the julienned vegetables in ice water for a few hours and drain (#2). Let them dry on a paper towel. Just before serving, add the shio konbu and the sesame and toss. Taste and if not salty enough, add more shio-konbu or add “Konbu-cha 昆布茶” powder.

Besides the taste, the major factor of this salad is texture or “shokkan 食感”. For crunch, Chef kasahara suggested pickled young gobo or pickled “takuwan 沢庵” daikon.

Funny cake ファニーケーキ

My wife grew up in rural Pennsylvania and although she is not Pennsylvania Dutch herself. She is very fond of the many Pennsylvania Dutch dishes that she ate as a child. Among these were “Shoo-fly pie” and “Funny cake”. For many years, she had to bake them herself, if she wanted them, since they are strictly Pennsylvania regional specialties not available elsewhere. Especially funny cake which is unique specifically to the area where she grew up. (Even a Pennsylvania Dutch specialty food store in a nearby town in Maryland said they never even heard of it when we asked if they had funny cake.) Then she discovered that a bakery near where she grew up made these pies. They were extremely good quality. (“Probably better than what I was making,” she claimed). (This was her assessment not mine). In addition, joy-of-joys, she found she could mail order them. So for quite some time this was her source of these delicacies and she didn’t have to bake them herself. But during and after COVID, the bakery stopped their mail order service. After some hiatus she decided that if she wanted these childhood favorites, like the “old days” she would again have to go back to making them herself.  We naturally assumed, we posted the recipes for funny cake and shoo-fly pie before but to our surprise we have not posted either. So my wife sprang into action and made a funny cake (picture #1). Although we usually do not partake of substantial desserts like cake, in this case we clearly had to make an exception.

One interesting thing about this cake is that the chocolate “goo” layer is made by pouring the liquid chocolate mixture over the batter in the pan before going into the oven. Then during cooking it forms a chocolate jelly-like layer on the bottom while the batter forms a cake layer above the chocolate (picture #2). Hence the name funny cake. But this is actually a cake/pie since it is made in a pie crust.

The recipe is based on the recipe on-line at “Serious Eats” but a modification was made to increase the chocolate “goo” on the bottom.

Ingredients

1 store-bought pie crust or any recipe you may have for pie crust.

For the Cake:
144g all-purpose flour (15 ounces; 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons (6g) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; for table salt, use half as much by volume
56g unsalted butter (2 ounces; 4 tablespoons), softened
150g granulated sugar (about 5 1/4 ounces; 3/4 cup)
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk

For the Chocolate Sauce: (for less sweet goo reduce the sugar to taste) 
200g granulated sugar (7 ounces; 1 cup)
52g unsweetened cocoa powder (about 2 ounce; 2/3 cup) (Since this is Pennsylvania Dutch in origin the chocolate has to be Hersheys). 
2/3 cup (160ml) boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Pie crust: On a clean, lightly floured work surface, roll pie crust into a 12-inch circle about 1/8 inches thick. Transfer to 8-inch pie plate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour, or up to 24 hours. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F (175°C).

For the Chocolate Sauce: 
In a 2 cup heat-proof spouted measuring cup, whisk sugar and cocoa powder to combine. Add boiling water and vanilla extract and whisk until sugar and cocoa powder dissolve and no dry bits remain in the bottom of the cup, about 20 seconds. Sauce will be very fluid. let it cool somewhat.

For the Cake: 
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together. Place butter in a separate medium bowl and, using an electric mixer fitted with beaters, whip butter on high speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add sugar and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute more. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix on high speed until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Using a flexible spatula, scrape down sides of the bowl. Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter- egg mixture, then start mixer on low speed and gradually increase to medium speed, until no dry flour remains, about 30 seconds. On low speed, add half of the milk and mix until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Repeat with remaining flour and milk, mixing until pale and creamy with no visible pockets of flour, about 1 minute. Do not overmix. Set aside.

Assembly: Spoon batter into prepared pie crust in 3 to 4 large dollops. Do not spread. Using a butter knife, swirl batter. Briefly whisk chocolate syrup to recombine, then pour over batter, beginning around outer edge into the middle. Bake until the crust and cake are a deep golden brown, cake is risen with a few cracks, and a cake tester or sharp knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Remove cake from oven and cool on wire rack.

Oh the joy of a childhood favorite rediscovered. (My wife decided her home baked funny cake, of whatever quality, was infinitely better than no funny cake). This is truely unique but extremely good. Not to be missed.