Pumpkin salad かぼちゃサラダ

Since we enjoyed some nice pumpkin dishes while we were in Japan this time, when my wife found a Japanese kabocha pumpkin (or squash) at Whole Foods store, we had to get one. I made my ususal simmered pumpkin and potage but still half of the pumpkin was left. So, I made this pumpkin salad from the quarter of the pumpkin.

One evening, I served this as a part of the opening appetizers. From left to right, pumpkin salad, asparagus and Campari tomato with roasted sesame vinegar dressing and mackerel simmered in miso  with green beans.

The asparagus was boiled and the Campari tomatoes were skinned. The dressing is the same one I used for figs.

This is my usual and favorite miso simmered mackerel. I added boiled green beans for color.

Ingredients:
1/4 Japanese "Kabocha" squash, guts removed, cut into 1/2 inch slices.
1/4 cup raisins.
2 tbs Mayonnaise
2tbs Greek yogurt (my wife strained plain yogurt)
Salt
Cream and soy sauce (optional)

Directions:
I placed the kabocha slices in a lidded silicon container and microwaved for about 4-5 minutes or until cooked. While it was hot, I removed the skin and mashed the kabocha, added the raisins, mayonnaise and greek yogurt and mixed.

This was nicely sweet (without any sugar) from the kabocha itself and from the raisons. My wife liked to add a bit of soy sauce and cream to this which I agree. It was a nice small dish which can be used as a side or as an appetizer.

Squid salad Japanese style 和風イカサラダ

Again, I got cleaned squid. I asked for 1 pound but I ended up with a bit more since the fish monger at our grocery store threw in the reaming squid since not much was left after my purchase. Again, I was not sure what I would make. I decided to quickly boil them so that they would last until I could decide. So I cooked the squid in boiling water with sake and salt for 30 seconds and drained. I kept the cooked squid in a sealable container in the refrigerator and served them as an appetizers over the next 5-6 days until we finished them.  Apparently the quick blanch helped to keep them from going bad over that time. Although with karashi-sumiso sauce 芥子酢味噌  have been our most common way to have this, we had it like sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi ワサビ醤油, sautéed in butter with garlic, celery seasoned with soy sauce イカとセロリの炒め物,  with black olive, olive oil and balsamic vinegar カラマリサラダ and this dish, seasoned with soy sauce and grated ginger.

The pickled myouga 茗荷の甘酢ずけ in sweet vinegar really made this dish, I also added sliced scallion.

Although the squid was tender due to the initial short boiling, I cut up the squid ring and also tentacles especially for my wife.

This is not a really a recipe.
I washed the squid, cut the body into rings and cooked for 30 seconds in boiling salted water with a splash of sake, drained and cooled. I placed then in a sealable container and refrigerated.

The dressing was a mixture of grated ginger and soy sauce. I sliced pickled myouga thinly and sliced scallion on bias thinly. This was really a simple and good dish. I thought the boiled squid I prepared was really good way to make it last for almost one week. Even the sautéed  dish came out really good. Since the boiled squid does not exude liquid, it does not produce much sauce but the cooking time is short and the squid remained very tender. I found it sometimes better to prepare squid this way rather than making one dish since we enjoyed it several different ways during the week.

Calamari salad カラマリサラダ

I like squid and octopus. So, when I see squid at the grocery store, I tend to buy it without thinking about what I will make from it. The kind of squid we can get here is small, pre-cleaned, and previously frozen. In the past, I have posted so many ways I cook squid. This time, I bought 1 lb. I made half my usual way sautéed squid with celery and cucumber イカと胡瓜、セロリの炒めのもの. The next day, I asked my wife how she would like to have the remaining boiled squid. I offered two selections: one was Japanese style with cucumber and wakame seaweed dressed in karashi-miso sauce イカとワカメの酢味噌和え, the other was  some kind of salad in Western-style (details not specified since I had no idea what I would do at the time I made the offer). She, of course, opted for the salad. 

So, I just whipped this up without any recipe using what I had available on hand.

I had just bought oil-cured black olives so I threw them in as well.

Ingredients (for two servings):
1/2 lb squid, cleaned, The tubes cut into 1/2 inch wide rings and the tentacles cut into two.
1 American mini-cucumber, quartered and seeds removed, and cut into small cubes
6 Oil-cured black olives, stone removed
Fresh basil, cut into chiffonade
Baby arugula, skinned Campari tomato
Lemon juice from one lemon
Olive oil, 1-2 tbs
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Boil squid 30 seconds in boiling water with salt and sake added, drain, let cool, then refrigerate until serving (up to one day)
In a bowl, add the squid, cucumber, basil, lemon juice and olive oil and mix. Season with pepper and salt
I served the calamari on a bed of baby arugula leaves (stems removed). I topped the salad with black olives and added a side of sliced Campari tomato. I then sprinkled the salad with our favorite Spanish olive oil.

Since it was a rather hot and humid day, for a change, we enjoyed chilled (a bit unusual) white Rioja called Fernandez Gomez Seleccion Familia White Rioja 2015. It is a blend of Viura 70%, Grenache White 20%, Malvasia 10% and was aged in barrels for 6 months with its lees. We never had white Rioja before. This is rather a pleasant white with some peaches and apricots and a hint of vanilla. We could also sense slight oak and crisp acidity. This went perfectly with this calamari salad.

Salmon salad sushi 鮭のサラダ寿司

After my wife had sushi made with tuna salad ツナサラダ (canned tuna dressed in mayo) in Japan, she was convinced that mayo and sushi rice are a good combination. We tried hand rolls of sashimi tuna dressed in mayonnaise which was quite good. I also made "imitation" negi-toro 擬制ネギトロ　from low quality frozen yellow tail tuna using mayonnaise. I then made a "donburi" with it  ネギトロ丼　which was also very good. One evening, my wife, all of the sudden, asked me to make sushi out of my salmon salad as an ending dish. I often make salmon salad from leftover salmon after we have a salmon dinner. The version of salmon salad we had was made from  flaked cooked salmon, chopped sweet onion, celery, and fresh dill dressed with mayo, Dijon mustard and the Greek yogurt my wife makes. We usually eat this as a sandwich or a canapé.  I complied with her request and made salmon salad sushi.

I garnished it with thin slices of cucumber.

I made it in "Gunkan" 軍艦 or battle ship style. I just used our frozen rice which I microwaved and then dressed with sushi vinegar. This is not the best sushi I have ever had but it was certainly quick and more than just edible.

Having this dish, further confirmed my wife's belief that sushi rice and mayo are an excellent match, and I have to agree. This was an impromptu "shime" 〆 ending dish and it was quite good. Now, she is lobbying me to make "egg salad" sushi, we will have to see.

Coleslaw with homemade buttermilk ranch dressing ランチドレッシング コールスロー

This is a variation of coleslaw. Since my wife discovered a high octane buttermilk, she wanted to make salad dressing using it. She found a Ranch dressing recipe on line. This is not our usual or favorite dressing but with this buttermilk, it may be worth it. We simplified/modified it (removing fresh herbs so that the coleslaw would last longer) and made this coleslaw. This post is mostly to document our modification for the dressing.

Using this buttermilk and home-made Greek yogurt, the Ranch dressing came out rather thick and creamy (and hopefully more healthy than if we had used the sour cream called for in the recipe).

First I prepared the cabbage and carrot.

Ingredients:
1/4 head of cabbage
2 medium carrots, skin peeled, sliced thinly on bias and then cut into thin julienne.
Raisin

Directions:
I hand chopped the cabbage and then soaked it in cold water for 10-20 minutes and drained.
I salted and massaged the cabbage and let it sit in a bowl until slightly wilted and some juice came out.
I pressed the cabbage and discarded the any juice accumulated. I mixed in the carrot and raisin.

Dressing:

(1/2 the original recipe)
1/2 - 3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
2-3 tablespoons home made Greek yogurt (the original calls for sour cream)
1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red onion, finely minced
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded deveined and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Few dashes Sriracha sauce
(1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce and optional suggestion from my wife based on her previous coleslaw recipe)

(Original recipe) 

1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
4 tablespoons home made Greek yogurt (the original calls for sour cream)
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red onion, finely minced
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded deveined and finely chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Few dashes Sriracha sauce
(1tsp Worcestershire sauce and optional suggestion from my wife based on her previous coleslaw recipe)

This represented 1/2 of the original recipe. The original recipe also called for 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon, dill, parsley, chives or celery leaves (or a combination) but we omitted it since we thought these fresh herbs may make the dressing more perishable. Instead, we added finely chopped Jalapeno pepper. The original called for Tabasco. One of the things my wife said is important is to premix the buttermilk in a bowl with a whisk since it tends to separate. Just shaking the bottle, in her opinion, will not do it.

We dressed the cabbage misture generously and seasoned it with salt and pepper after we tasted it.

My wife's original coleslaw dressing had Worcestershire sauce which gave some zing to the dressing. This ranch dressing version is milder and creamer and I sort of like it but my wife said she likes the original.

Kelp-cured salmon molded sushi 鮭の昆布締め押し寿司

The day we received sashimi-grade salmon, I made instant gravlax for lunch. While I was preparing the gravlax, I also prepared "kelp cured salmon" 鮭の昆布締め. Usually, white meat fish is used for this preparation but I wanted to experiment. After almost 3 days curing, I made molded sushi or "Oshizushi" 押し寿司 out of it. I served it with French style green beans dressed with sesame dressing インゲンの胡麻和え and simmered burdock root ごぼうのしぐれ煮. I also served my potato salad topped with salmon roe soaked in sake and soy sauce イクラの醤油漬け.  I served miso soup with tofu, and onion on the side.

Actually one mold made 7 pieces. Since it was an uneven number,  but wife and I split one before plating. I garnished it with fresh dill. You cannot see it well but I made two layers of sushi rice; one seasoned with dried "aonori" seaweed 青のり and the other with red perilla salt or  "Yokari" ゆかり(see #6 in the composite picture below).

Kelp cured salmon

Ingredients:

Sashimi-grade salmon, thinly sliced (#1).

Dried Konbu kelp, briefly hydrated until pliable,  moisture blotted (three 4 inch pieces of kelp).

Directions:

I placed the slices of salmon on the kelp (#2) and covered them with another piece of kelp. I added one more layer of salmon slices and topped with more kelp.

I wrapped the kelp and salmon in aluminum foil and placed the package in the refrigerator.

I cured it for 3 days.

Kelp cured salmon molded sushi

Ingredients:

Kelp cured salmon slices

Sushi rice

Dried "aonori" powder

Yukari (powder of dried red perilla leaves mixed with salt)

Directions:

I soaked the wooden mold in water for 10-15 minutes. I placed one layer of the kelp-cured salmon slices on the bottom of the mold (#3). 

I divided the sushi rice into two portions; I mixed one with dried "aonori" seaweed and the other with Yukari powder making green and red colored rice.

I first placed the aonori rice in the mold over the salmon piece and pressed using the wooden lid of the mold. I then layered the Yukari rice on the top (#4) and pressed using the wooden lid.

I cut the molded portion into 7 pieces (#5).

As you can see the rice layers are green and red (#6)

Since I had potato salad which I made a few days ago and "ikura" salmon roe which I marinated in a mixture of sake and soy sauce, I made the dish below (I put the potato salad in a round mold and topped it with the salmon roe)

With the combination of side vegetables, potato salad and miso soup, we were quite full. Compared to kelp-cured white fish, the salmon has too strong a flavor and is too oily to have a lot of kelp umani flavor transferred to the fish. But still we could taste the subtle difference between straight raw salmon and this preparation of salmon.  The combination of aonori and yukari rice was a great success and the saltiness of yukari rice and nori flavor really added to this dish.

Watermelon ribbon salad スイカのリボンサラダ

This is a variation of my wife's ribbon salad.  We bought a regular size watermelon last weekend. I "processed" it so that it was all cut up and ready to go as fruit to take to work in small containers. But a whole regular sized water melon (as opposed to a mini-water melon) was too much for us to finish in one week. My wife remembered that she used to make a variation on ribbon salad using watermelon.  I served it with cucumber salad and broccoli as one of the small dishes for the evening.

The center layer is "wasabi" flavored cottage cheese.

Ingredients:

Red layer

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 lime squeezed

2 3/4 cup watermelon puree

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

White layer

1 envelop gelatin

1/4 cup milk or cream

1 3/4 cup cottage cheese mashed

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 tsp salt 

2 limes squeezed

1 tbs wasabi (or to taste) 

Puree the watermelon. Take 1/2 cup of the puree and use it to bloom the gelatin. Heat the bloomed gelatin in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add the gelatin to the rest of the puree. Pour half the puree into the bottom of the casserole dish and let it jell in the refrigerator until solid. (Keep the remaining puree at room temperature and it will stay liquid.) 

Mash the cottage cheese. Add the mayo, salt, lime juice. Take some of the cottage cheese mixture, add it to a small bowl and use it to soften the wasabi. The amount of wasabi is basically to taste. I found that the cottage cheese tends to calm it down so I end up putting in a fairly large amount. Once it has been homogenized into the amount in the small bowl add it to the large bowl and stir until it is incorporated. Bloom the gelatin in the milk. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds until melted. Add to the bowl of cottage cheese. Pour the cottage cheese over the watermelon layer and cool until solid. 

Add the remaining watermelon puree on top of the cottage cheese layer and cool until solidified. 

This is a refreshing summer side dish. The watermelon flavor comes through and goes very well with the cottage cheese layer. The wasabi really makes this dish. Because of the cottage cheese and mayo the wasabi is not "clean out your sinuses" intense.  Instead it adds a nice little bite that goes well with watermelon and adds to the refreshing flavor. Also mayo and wasabi are another surprisingly good flavor combination. This is a good variation for my wife's historic ribbon salad. 

BTW the pureed watermelon served with wasabi cream makes a very nice cold melon soup. 

Baked Cauliflower with Chimichurri sauce オーブン焼きカリフラワーのチミチュリソース

We try to make some vegetable dishes which can be eaten during the work week. We had a large head of cauliflower from last week which needed to be prepared. My wife spotted a recipe which is "Cauliflower steak with Chimichurri sauce". Although we are not sold on the idea of thick slab of cauliflower (it was equated with a steak in the original recipe), the idea of baked cauliflower with chimuchurri sauce sounded good. So, instead, we baked cauliflower florets and dressed them with chimuchurri sauce.

The florets were nicely browed (although a bit overcooked).

The chimuchurri sauce was very good with fresh herbs.

Ingredients (with our modifications)

For Chimuchurri sauce

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (for the Chimuchurri)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, large, deveined and seeded and finely chopped

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons sherry vinegar (we used rice vinegar).

1/2 teaspoon paprika (we used smoked paprika)

3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley.

For Cauliflower

1 large head cauliflower (about 3 pounds), separated into florets.

Freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tbs olive oil (for coating the cookie sheet and the cauliflower).

Directions.

1. Combine oil, garlic, jalapeño, shallot and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small frying pan. Cook over medium heat just until the garlic starts to sizzle, 2 to 4 minutes, but don’t let it brown. Remove from heat and stir in oregano, thyme, water, vinegar and paprika. Cover and set aside (#3).
2. Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a cookie sheet with olive oil (we used a non-stick cookie sheet).
3. Toss the cauliflower florets with olive oil and season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.
4. Roast the cauliflower, gently turning once halfway through, until browned and the stems feel tender when pierced with a bamboo skewer, 15 minutes (we baked 18 minutes which was a bit too long) (#1 and 2).
5. Just before serving, stir parsley into the reserved herb sauce and season with pepper. Dress the cauliflower florets (#4) with the sauce (#5 and 6).

Th fresh herbs in chimuchurri sauce were very good. It was good warm. We later served cold which was also very good. We may even try real steak with this chimuchurri sauce.

Ribbon salad リボンサラダ

This is an historic recipe with a story behind it.  Even though my wife had been cooking for her family since her early teens, she didn't enjoy cooking and it showed. She herself used to say nobody would starve while she was at the stove but there were better ways to enjoy life than eating something she put on a plate. She was infamous for her gelatin based creative concoctions so much so that when she was asked what to bring to pot luck dinners, she was usually told napkins would be just find.  She claims she became a much better cook after we got married (whether my influence or not, I am pleased to say that she did).

This recipe was one of her favorites from way way back (early 1970's?). She found it recently after going through a collection of old papers. She couldn't remember where it came from but it was printed on an old newspaper with references to addresses in Ontario, Canada. While she was wildly enthusiastic about making this recipe for me, I remembered some of the dishes for which she achieved her previous dubious fame (I believe a type of tomato-y jello was involved) and was somewhat less enthusiastic. It was fairly complicated involving a number of steps and my wife claimed that when she first made this dish, it sorely tested her culinary skills but this time she seemed well within her comfort zone. Despite my initial hesitancy, I was quite please with how well it turned out.  Unlike other ribbon salads which use flavored and artificially colored gelatin and tend to be sweet, this one is savory and can definitely play a legitimate role in any meal. Here we just served it alone (picture above). Bottom layer looks dark but top and bottom layers are the same savory tomato flavor separated by a creamy cottage cheese based center layer. (below).

This was a weekend light lunch and I served it with my salmon salad and baguette and a wedge of tomato seasoned with salt and olive oil. 

The ribbon salad was a perfect accompaniment for this cold salad on a hot day (we were hitting 90F).

Here you can see both top and bottom layers are the same with a nice white smooth cottage cheese layer.

Ingredients:

Red layer

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

3 1/2 cup tomato juice

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt1 tsp onion juice (we used grated onion).

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs vinegar (we used rice vinegar).

White layer

1 envelope of unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup cold water

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese, mashed (We used small curd and pureed it with other ingredients in a blender).

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup finely diced celery

2 tbs finely chopped onion

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

To make red layer soak gelatin in 1/2 cup tomato juice 5 minutes. Combine remaining tomato juice with rest of ingredients and heat to boiling. Add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Pour half of mixture in 9 X 5 pan. Chill until set ( #1). Leave remaining half at room temperature. 

To make white layer. Soak gelatin in cold water 5 minutes then melt over hot water (we used a double boiler). Combine remaining ingredients puree in the blender. Add gelatin and chill until slightly thickened (#2). Pour over set tomato layer (#3). Chill until set (#4). Add remaining tomato mixture (#5) and chill until firm (#6). 

I first tasted the dish almost as soon as the layers had set. The Worcestershire flavor was rather assertive in the red layer. The white layer was creamy with a subtle onion and celery overtone. The next day, the flavors had a chance to meld. The red layer had calmed down quite a bit and tasted just fine. This is lots of work (mostly my wife's) but it is a nice cool savory dish perfect for hot summer. We were glad we resurrected this "ancient" recipe. 

English Pea panna cotta イングリッシュピーパンナコッタ

Previously, when my wife wanted to make this dish, we ended up making cauliflower-spinach panna cotta. This time, we made English pea panna cotta. It was based on a recipe in the Washington Post. As usual, we made some changes. The original recipe used agar-agar making it a vegetarian dish but, not being vegetarian and not having any agar-agar, we used powdered gelatin instead. We also infused this dish with fresh French tarragon as we do with our pea soup. Our panna cotta came out deep green; much deeper green than one in the picture contained in the recipe.

Instead of using cold sauteed vegetables around the panna cotta, I just placed watercress, thin slices of carrot, small cubes of tomato which were then dressed with my usual honey mustard dressing and fresh grinds of black pepper.

The pannacotta was smooth and creamy.

This time we made sure we had all the ingredients. We used frozen petite green peas from Hanover brand. (Over the years, my wife tried many different kinds of peas for various dishes and this is one instance when, generally, the frozen variety is better than fresh.  We even tried fresh peas which we bought at the roadside stands but they were too starchy. Among the frozen brands, she likes Hanover the best. I guess unless you grow the peas yourself, frozen are better than fresh. Oh-oh, maybe, I shouldn't give my wife ideas about growing our own peas).

Ingredients (about 12 servings using small Pyrex ramekins):

Frozen petite pea (Hanover brand petite pea, 12oz bag), 2 bags, thawed using running hot water.

Spinach, 2 bags, cooked without adding any liquid, turning occasionally, until well wilted. Let it cool down and squeeze out excess moisture.

Onion, one medium, halved and thinly sliced, sweat with olive oil until semi-transparent

Fresh tarragon, leaves removed and finely chopped (about 1 tbs)

Milk, we used 1% milk, added as needed while pureeing the peas (about 1/3 cup per one bag of frozen peas (#1) and also for infusing tarragon and dissolving the gelatin, about 2 cups (#3 and #4).

Butter, unsalted, 3 tbs

Gelatin, powdered, unflavored, 3 envelopes

Salt

Directions:

1. Add half of the peas, onion, spinach and tarragon in the blender* (#1). We did this in two batches. Add milk and puree. Add more milk until peas are totally smooth and pureed (#2).

*Do not use a food processor. We learned that using a good blender in "Puree" mode gives the best result.

2. Heat 2 cups of milk with 3 tbs of butter and tarragon (#3).

3. Just before boiling, sprinkle powdered gelatin on the top and whisk to dissolve (#4)

4. Put the milk mixture through sieve and put into #2 in the picture above, mix well. Taste and season with salt.

5. Pour into individual small glass ramekins.

6. Refrigerate until firm (at least several hours).

7. Remove from the ramekin by passing a thin bladed knife around the perimeter of the ramekin, inverting the ramekin over the plate and use the tip of the knife held against the side to introduce air to the bottom of the ramekin. The panna cotta should drop onto the plate with a "plop".

This was an unconditional success! The panna cotta has nice deep green color with creamy texture and an intense fresh pea taste with a hint of fresh tarragon. The salad around the panna cotta was also great with some bitterness of watercress and slightly sweet and tangy dressing. We really liked my wife's original cauliflower puree spinach panna cotta, but this is definitely a nice fresh pea and tarragon flavor variation on the theme of panna cotta. This is a perfect salad/appetizer in hot summer season.

Spice-roasted cauliflower with barely salad スパイスローストカリフラワーと大麦のサラダ

We saw this recipe in WSJ. Since we make roasted cauliflower and barley salad, separately this combination really caught our attention. This is a recipe from Chef Eric Ziebold who used to be the executive chef of CityZen at Oriental Mandarine hotel, where we had some wonderful meals on several special occasions. This January he opened a new restaurant of his own called "Kinship". We have not yet dined there.  Of course, we had to make some modifications to the recipe basically to accommodate the ingredients we had on hand.

The cauliflower was baked with spices but it was not "spicy" hot.

Ingredients: Serves: 4

- Kosher salt

- 1 head cauliflower, broken into florets (#2 in picture below)).

- 1/4 Tbs. ground turmeric (#1)

- 1/4 Tbs. ground cumin (#1)

- 1/4 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped (original recipe calls for dried)

- 1/2 tsp dried oregano (#1)

- 1/4 cup (4 tbs) olive oil, divided into 2 portions

- 2 navel oranges, use the zest, orange segments and juice from the segments

- 1 cup uncooked barley

- 2 cups of chicken stock

- 1/4 cup walnuts toasted and roughly chopped (#6). (original recipe calls for Marcona almonds)

- 1/4 cup roughly chopped mint

- 1/4 cup green olives, pitted and roughly chopped (we had almond stuffed green olives from California, which we used instead).

- Juice of ½ lemon

1. Toast 1 cup of barley in the toaster oven until it is golden brown and fragrant. Rinse the toasted barley and add it to 2 cups of boiling chicken stock. Simmer for about 40 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. If there is left over liquid drain the barley 

2. On a sheet pan  toss the cauliflower with the spices. Use 2 tbs of olive oil and a 1/2 tsp of salt to coat the florets. (The quantity of spices we used result in fairly mild flavor for the cauliflower. For a more intense flavor we could have probably doubled the spices. But it is generally to taste.) We put the tray in a 350 degree toaster oven and toasted for 25 to 30 minutes testing to so as not to overcook. (#3 and 4). 

3. Once both the barley and the cauliflower were completely cooled we put them in a bowl, then added the orange segments, orange zest, walnuts, mint and olives. We seasoned it with the remaining oil, lemon juice and salt. Then squeezed the juice from the reserved orange membranes over the salad (#5).

This is a wonderful salad. It has so many layers of texture and taste. The cauliflower had some crunch left. At first, when we tasted the cauliflower alone, it tasted too salty but after mixing it with the rest of the ingredients, it was just fine. Our store bought mint was not as strong as we would have liked. The navel oranges were very sweet and juicy which really added to the overall flavor. Over time even the cauliflower was infused with a sweet orange flavor. It is a rather filling salad but we like it very much.

Spring salad with broccolini and scrambled egg 春の菜の花風サラダ

We are having record warm temperature in our area. Some of the cherry trees are starting to turn pink and ready to bloom.  They are predicting the cherry blossoms along the tidal basin will be at their peak the last week of March. To me  rapeseed plant or nano-hana 菜の花 is one of the classic spring vegetables. As I posted before, the substitutes we can get here are either broccolini or rapini. The weekend before I prepared broccolini (quickly blanched) and made this yellow and  green salad on one of the subsequent weekdays. I thought the bright yellow of the eggs and deep green of the broccolini would be very spring-like.

For dressing, I made sesame mayonnaise.

Since I had ripe tomatoes I also added some wedges to make this spring salad.

Ingredients (for two servings):

Broccolini, 8 stalks, only flower ends, quickly blanched in salted boiling water and cooled.

Eggs, two large

Cream, 1-2 tbs

Tomato, one medium, skinned and cut into small wedges.

For Dressing:

Mayonnaise, 1tbs

White sesame seeds, 1 tbs, dry roasted in a frying pan and them ground using a Japanese pestle and mortar or suribachi すり鉢.

Light colored soy sauce, about 1 tsp

Directions:

I placed the broccolini and wedges of tomato in a bowl. I mixed the eggs and cream and beat well and scrambled with a bit of butter. I made sure the eggs were just cooked and fluffy. I seasoned with salt and added to the bowl. I topped with the dressing.

Freshly roasted and ground sesame really made the difference in the taste of the dressing.  Although broccolini does not have the bitterness of nano-hana, it is very close visually. This was a very colorful spring like salad perfect for the warm evening we were having.

Mac and Cheese with cauliflower puree カリフラワープピュレー入りマックアンドチーズ

When my wife made baked cauliflower with cauliflower puree, we were impressed with how creamy the puree was without much fat. My wife suggested making Mac and Cheese with cauliflower puree instead of Bechamel sauce. So, one weekend, we made this new cauliflower puree Mac and cheese. We made two versions. One was topped with a mixture of panko bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese (see below). It came out nicely browned with a crunchy crust.

Under the crunchy topping was a creamy cheesy sauce clinging to the macaroni.

The second version was topped with grated cheddar cheese.

Again, underneath was the warm, cheesy sauce with macaroni.

Ingredients: (this makes about 8 servings in small ramekins such as the one seen above).

One head of cauliflower, separated into small florets.

Enough milk to cover the florets.

1 tbs unsalted butter

One large Jalapeno pepper, seeded and deveined, finely chopped (optional)

Cheeses (we used smoked gouda, fresh goat cheese, parmesan and cheddar) grated (#3)

Elbow macaroni, half box, cooked, drained, seasoned with salt, rice vinegar and then coated with olive oil (#5).

Directions:

Making cauliflower puree is exactly the same as posted before. Briefly; separate a head of cauliflower into florets, cook it in milk until tender with a pat of butter and red pepper flakes. I added one medium onion sautéed (instead of baked), adjusted the amount of milk to attain the right consistency while blending using a immersion mixer (#1). For variation, I added sautéed and finely chopped Jalapeno pepper (seeded and deveined) (#2). For cheeses, I used smoked gouda,  fresh goat and parmesan (#3) and mixed into the puree and cooked over the lowest flame until the cheeses incorporated (#4). I added the cooked macaroni (#5) into the cauliflower puree cheese mixture (#6). Then added the cheddar cheese (#7).  The reason for adding the cheddar at the last moment is to prevent it from being over cooked and getting grainy in texture. Meanwhile, I mixed panko bread crumbs, grated parmesan and olive oil (#8).

I placed the macaroni mixture in small ramekins (#9 and 10). I topped one with the panko/parmesan mixture (#11)  and the other with grated cheddar (#12). Baked in 350F oven for 15 minutes. If the top is not browned enough, place it under the broiler until the top browns nicely.

The end result: Both version were good but the sauce/puree was a bit grainy as compared to the cauliflower puree we made before. We were wondering if this is something to do with the cheeses we used, although we took precaution not to overcook cheddar cheese which get grainy after long cooking. We do not know how much calories/fat we are saving by substituting bechamel with cauliflower puree but certainly this is a good alternative. Compared to bechamel based Mac, this cauliflower puree did not get thick even after baking. We liked the one topped with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.