Prosciutto-wrapped Haddock 生ハム巻きハドック (コダラ)

Haddock is not fish we usually cook but we had some in our freezer which we received as part of a “white fish sampler” from Vital Choice. Although we finished all the “Chilean sea bass” and almost finished all the “sable fish or black cod”, sole and haddock were left behind. So we decide it is time to try the haddock. I was not familiar with this fish in Japan but the Japanese name is reportedly either “Kodara コダラor montuski-dara 紋付ダラ”.  From our previous experience, haddock is not our all time favorite. If you are going for “cod family”, true cod is much better. Then, my wife found this recipe for “prosciutto-wrapped haddock”. We thought wrapping in prosciutto may give the haddock an additional dimension and make it a bit more interesting. The original recipe was a “baking pan” affair in which the main and side dish are cooked in a baking pan in the oven. I decided to cook the haddock as well as the vegetables in a frying pan. The haddock was much better this way but still faces stiff competition from Chilean sea bass and sable fish. As a side I cooked green beans, shallot and skinned Campari (or cocktail) tomato in the same frying pan I cooked the fish.

Ingredients:
One filet of haddock, thawed and cut into two small servings, skin removed (I removed the skin but skin is very delicate and probably not need be removed).
Prosciutto, enough to wrap the two filets (2-3 slices)
Black pepper
Olive oil and butter

For the side
10 green beans, blanched
1 shallot, sliced 
2 Campari tomatoes, skinned
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Season the haddock with pepper (but not salt since prosciutto has enough salty flavor), wrap the filets with the slices of prosciutto 
In a 10 inch non-stick frying pan, add the olive oil on medium flame. When the oil is hot add the shallot and sauté until lightly caramelized, add the green beans and tomato and cook for another minute, season with salt and pepper
Push the vegetables to the side to make space in the center of the pan. Add the olive oil and butter and place the prosciutto wrapped filets
Cook one side for 1-2 minutes, turn it over and cook another minutes or until done.
Serve it with the side of the vegetables and wedges of lemon.

This is not bad. It really “kicked-it-up-a-notch”. But if we have a choice we would choose other fish. We may try this with true cod or halibut.

Vegetables in Cold Broth 冷製のトマトの煮浸し

Cold vegetables soaked in broth is the perfect dish for summer. I have posted cold simmered tomato and sugar snap soaked in salt broth before. I made a tomato dish similar to the one I made before but it differed because I did not simmer the tomato (Picture #1). I skinned the Campari tomato (by briefly blanching) and then soaking (but not cooking) it in the hot broth. I let it cool to room temperature and then refrigerated it. I blanched the Sugar snap then soaked it in the broth. I topped it with very briefly blanched “mitsuba ミツバ”. This preparation allows you to taste a fresher tomato flavor. The broth is also slightly sweet containing mirin and soy sauce in addition to kelp-bonito broth.

A few days later, I added simmered daikon and shiitake mushroom (picture #2, right). I also served salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き and seasoned egg or “ajitama 味玉” (left). The green is arugula sprouts which were growing in the window pot but needed to be thinned. I dressed with truffle oil.

Directions:

Vegetables I used are simmered daikon and fresh shiitake mushrooms, skinned Campari tomatoes and blanched sugar snaps. The daikon was first simmered in water with added one pinch of raw rice for 30 minutes. The seasoning broth is my usual kelp and bonito broth (I made it stronger with two dashi packs with 500ml of water) which was seasoned with mirin and soy sauce (not too strong to bring out the natural flavor of the vegetable). I did not cook the vegetable further, just placed in hot seasoned both and let it cool down and then refrigerated.

This is a very light refreshing dish to serve on a hot summer evening. The veggies have a very fresh flavor but a slightly cooked texture that make them a bit easier to eat. This is the essence of summer.

Pizza Made in Indoor Electric “Pizzaiolo” Pizza Oven

After my wife gave me this indoor electric pizza oven for my birthday (at the end of March), I have made quite a few pizzas (4-5 times, total of 10-12 pizzas) in the past 2 and half months. The  pizzas I made were quite good (better than the ones I made using our regular oven) but they can be improved and I kept changing the settings and dough recipes. I also got a pizza steel made for the Pizzaiolo and tried that too. 

Compared to the pizza stone, the steel retains and conducts heat better. When making multiple pizzas, the pizza stone requires a few minutes to recover and reach the correct heat settings after making each pizza. The pizza steel appears to stay hot.  The bottom of the crust gets carbonized a bit too much, though. I only used the pizza steel once.  I have to try a few more time before I can evaluate properly.  I am sticking to the pizza stone for now. 

In any case, picture #1A is my most recent pizza (using “00” flour, half Margherita and half pepperoni). To me, the crust charr marks are just right (“Darkness” setting at 11 o’clock) as compared to #3 which was too charred with the “Darkness” setting at one o’clock.

The next pizza (picture #1B) is our first attempt using pesto (from the basil on home-grown on the window sill) and red pepper sauce. The cheeses are low moisture Mozzarella and fresh goat cheese.

The picture #2 is another Margherita I made earlier. It looks “charred” but the taste was not bad, it did not taste like you are eating pure carbon but it was too much charr. This was the “darkness” setting at one o’clock.

Picture #3 is one of our most popular pizza; artichoke hearts (from a jar) with olives. Cheeses are mozzarella, Irish cheddar, smoked gouda and fresh goat cheese. This was baked immediately after the #3 pizza (I prepared this pizza in a wooden pizza paddle while the first one was being cooked). This made this pizza crust bottom not as crispy and charred since the pizza stone was not completely recovered heat.

Although this is still on-going process, the below are my current set-ups for the oven and dough.

Dough: I tried both “00” and bread flours with and without addition of olive oil. “00” dough without olive oil is a bit too chewy for us but addition of a small amount of olive oil appears to make it better (may not be authentic for Neapolitan or New York pizza). For us, the bread flour or “00” flour does not make a big difference but  we may even prefer “bread-y” consistency of crust using the bread flour.

Ingredients:
3 and 1/2 of flour (either bread or “00”)
2 tbs olive oil
1 (or a bit more) cup of water
2 tsp Kosher salt
2 tsp instant yeast

Directions: (I use the food processor fitted with a kneading blade in low-speed up to 4 cups  of flour).
After running the blade to mix all the dry ingredients, I drizzle the water in a thin steady stream as it is running until the dough forms above the blade (the surface is a bit sticky). Let it sit for 5 minutes for better hydration and run another 1-2 minutes. Take it out on a floured board and hand knead until elastic. Placed the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turn it over to coat all the surface, cover it with a plastic wrap and place it in a proofing box at 85F for 1 hour or until doubles.

Deflate gently, fold several times and divide it up into 4 equal dough balls (I weigh making 4 balls of a bit over  200grams each). After the first rise, I divide the dough and form 4 balls with a smooth surface. Place it in a small Ziploc bag coated with olive oil inside and let it sit in the refrigerator at least overnight or up to  several days. I take out the dough balls one hour before baking and let it come to the room temperature. If I do not use it within several days, I freeze them. (to use the frozen dough, I transfer it to the refrigerator one day before to completely thaw).

I hand stretch the dough to make 10 inch pizza, coat it with olive oil with crushed garlic. I place the slices of  low moisture Mozzarella first and then tomato sauce.

Oven settings: “Wood fired” and the darkness setting to “11 o’clock”. Preheat for 30 minutes. I use the modified the wooden paddles which fit the oven perfectly. I use corn meal on the paddle so that the dough slides better. I cook for 2 minutes (as it is the automatically setting). Steam and some smoke come out during cooking so I use the oven under the hood with the exhaust fan running. For the next pizza, I wait until the stone temperature completely recovers (a few minutes until the “at temp” indicator light stops blinking).

Is it worth it?? Although pizza I made using the regular oven and pizza stone was quite good, pizza cooked in the Pizzaiola is definitely much better. They cook so quickly (instead of 6-7 minutes in the conventional oven they’re done in just 2 minutes). So if you have a pizza party, you could turn out a few pizzas in a jiffy. I am trying to keep this oven clean but it is a bit of a chore. Other use of this oven may be to bake focaccia (which we tried with a good result) or naan (which we have not tried yet).

Anchovy Salad アンチョビサラダ

Anchovies are not a regular item in our pantry. The canned ones are usually very salty and when I use it as a part of a seasoning I only use one or two fillets and often end up wasting the remaining canned anchovies. More recently, I use anchovy paste in a tube for this purpose. While we were at Whole Foods, my wife found a package of anchovy fillets packed in oil (not canned but in the refrigerator section picture 3#). She was curious of how this would be different from canned varieties so we got a package. Getting an idea from the picture on the package, I made a sort of salad (right in the picture #1 and #2). To keep the seafood theme, I served this anchovy salad with salmon kelp rolls (left) and marinated herring (center, the herrings came from a jar and are marinated in wine sauce. I made sour cream sauce with dill to go with the herring).

For the anchovy salad I sliced skinned Campari tomatoes and topped them with the anchovy filets and fresh basil. I dressed the salad with our favorite Spanish olive oil. I did not add salt thinking the anchovies would be salty.

The anchovies are much better than we expected. They were not too salty or fishy. All nicely filleted and no discernible small bones. We really like these anchovies.

Tomato and Egg Stir-fry with Wood Ear and Natto 納豆、トマト、木耳の卵炒め

This is on the theme of “stir-fried tomato and egg”. We also added fresh wood ear mushroom which made the crunchiness of wood ear quite a nice contrast to the soft scrambled egg and tomato. The current dish came about because I found several small packages of natto 納豆 (dreaded Japanese fermented soybean) in the freezer. I have posted quite a few dishes using natto. Mixing well (400 stirs) using a special natto mixing contraption is the key to making it less pungent and (as far as my wife is concerned ) edible. For a number of years or until my mother discovered and introduced us to the “400 stirs” method my wife would not even consider eating natto.  But now she certainly can eat it, although this is not her most favorite. Upon the news of finding natto in the freezer, I proposed several dishes I made previously including “natto omelet”. She then suggested adding the natto to the stir-fried egg dish with wood ear and tomato. So, I complied willingly. Since the natto was seasoned with the sauce and hot mustard that came with the package, I omitted the ginger I usually use for this dish. This was an unqualified success. The natto gave a nice nutty flavor but no pungent smell or sliminess. We had this as a drinking snack for cold sake and it was perfect.

On close-up, you could see the natto among the tomato and wood ear mushroom.

There is no recipe per-se but this is how I made it (just a note for myself)

Ingredients:
2 large eggs, beaten
3 skinned Campari tomato, quartered
1 package of natto, prepared with the season packets  (tare sauce and hot mustard came with the natto), mix well (I used the special the “400 stir” natto mixing contraption)
Wood ear mushroom, cut into smaller size (amount arbitrary)
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 tbs peanut oil plus 1 more tsp for frying the tomato
1/4 tsp dark sesame oil

Directions:
Mix the prepared natto, eggs and wood ear mushroom
Heat up the peanut and sesame oil in a frying pan on medium heat
Make loose scrambled eggs and set aside
Add the sesame oil in the same pan and fry the tomato for 1 minutes and add back the cooked egg mixture and cook another 1 minute.

In addition to the “400 stir” method, cooking the natto, further reduces its pungency and stickiness. The combination worked well. We had this as a snack but it would also be good over rice.

Eggplant, Avocado and Nagaimo Gratin ナスとアボカドの長芋グラタン

I made this dish for lunch one day from what we had on hand and what we need to finish before it went bad. I just winged it without any particular recipe. As a result I was not sure how it would come out but it was certainly edible and quite interesting (in a good way).

The main items are Asian eggplant, avocado and grated nagaimo mixed with an egg (in leu of Béchamel sauce). I also added tomato and shiitake mushroom sautéed with shallot, just because I had them.

Ingredients:
One Asian eggplant (pale purple and long), cut into a bite size by cutting at 45 degree angle as I turned the egg plant (“Rangiri” 乱切り)
One avocado, cut into a bite size pieces similar to the eggplant (I only had half of a leftover avocado).
Nagaimo, about 200grams, peeled and grated
One large egg
3 skinned Campari tomatoes, seeds removed and cut into small cubes
1 tbs of chopped shiitake mushroom and shallot sautéed in olive oil (I made this few says ago mostly from the stems of the shiitake mushrooms)
Cheeses (I used sharp cheddar and parmesan but any melting cheese will do), the amount is arbitrary
2-3 tbs olive oil

Directions:
Sauté the eggplant in 2 tbs of olive oil the skin side down first then brown all other sides (4-5 minutes)
Place the eggplant and the avocado in the bottom of a small Pyrex baking dish.  Add the remaining 1tbs olive oil.
Mix the grated nagaimo and the egg and pour over (see below)

Top with the mushroom mixture, the tomatoes, and the  cheeses and bake for 30 minutes at 350F (I used the toaster oven in convection mode) (see below).

Let it stand for 5 minutes and serve (the first picture).

I was not sure the grated nagaimo and egg ratio but it came out ok. This is a sort of healthy Béchamel sauce substitute. The eggplant and avocado went well together. The next day, we placed the remaining dish in smaller individual ramekins and added a bit more cheese and toasted it in the highest setting. It heated up very nicely.

Eggplant Gratin with Cold Eggplant Soup 茄子のグラタンと冷製スープ

These are other eggplant dishes I made from Asian eggplant from Wee. Each dish used one eggplant so in total I used two of the 4 eggplants I bought. The first dish which is “eggplant au-gratin with meat sauce”  was perfect since it would use up a number of ingredients I had on hand. I had the marinara sauce I made some time ago but kept from going bad by reheating it. I also had 1/4 lb of ground chicken to use. I also had some skinned Campari tomatoes which were getting old. All these would be used in this dish (shown in the picture below on the left). Under the melting cheese and the meat sauce are the chunks of eggplant. This was a really good combination.  The second dish was cold eggplant soup which again was perfect since we like cold soup for lunch (shown in the picture on the right). So this was a lunch we had one day.

The hot eggplant au-gratin went well with the cold eggplant soup. There is not really a recipe since it was mostly left-over control.

Directions for the eggplant au-gratin:
I cut up the skinned Campari tomatoes (3 or 4) cooked with minced garlic in olive oil and seasoned it with salt, pepper, dried oregano and basil. I then added the ground chicken and cooked it completely. Finally, I added the left-over marinara sauce to heat through.

I used one Asian eggplant. I peeled off stripes of the skin, (so the eggplant wouldn’t explode while being cooked in the microwave), placed it in a silicon container and microwaved it for 2-3 minutes or until it became soft and cooked through. I cut it into bit-size chunks (#1), layered it with the meat sauce (#2), put the grated cheeses on top (we used sharp cheddar and smoked gouda) and baked at 350F toaster oven for 30 minutes (#4).

Directions for cold eggplant soup is also not really a recipe (made two small servings)
One Asian eggplant, stem end removed and peeled. Cut in half lengthwise and then cut into thin half moon. I placed the eggplant and chicken broth (I used Swanson brand low salt low fat) in a pan just enough to completely cover the eggplant then cooked it for 10-15 minutes. I added salt and pureed it using the immersion blender.

I served it chilled and diluted slightly with cold milk (or cream to your liking).

Both are pretty simple and good dishes. The eggplant added a meat-like texture and umami taste to the au-gratin that blended with the ground chicken in the tomato meat sauce. And what wouldn’t taste good topped with a mixture of toasted cheese? The soup was very subtle but went well with its cousin eggplant in the au-gratin. This was a perfect combo for our lunch.

Creamy Tomato Aspic Salad クリーミートマトアスピックサラダ

My wife is a great fan of ribbon or aspic salad which now appears to be out of fashion. I also developed a liking for these aspic salads. Somewhere on-line, she came across a recipe for “creamy aspic salad”. She also had some V-8 juice left over from when she made ribbon salad so she decided to use it making this creamy aspic. As usual, although she got the idea to make the aspic from the recipe she modified it to her liking to accommodate the ingredients that were available. The most difficult part of making aspic is determining the correct amount of gelatin to use. Too much gelatin makes it like rubber and too little and it won’t hold together and keep its shape. This one was a bit on the softer side but had nice flavors and texture from using ricotta cheese and some crunch from celery.

Beside the celery, it has sliced and chopped green and black olive which gives a burst of salty flavor.

Ingredients:
3 cup V8 juice
2 packets of powdered gelatin (the end result was a bit soft so maybe another 1/2 packet of gelatin would make it firmer)
1 tbs sushi vinegar
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup Ricotta cheese (I used 3/4 cup ricotta and 1/4 cup sour cream)
1 small onion (sweet or Vidalia onion), grated
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
5 each Kalamata and oil cured olives, stone removed and chopped
5 pimento stuffed green olives, thinly sliced

Directions:
Soak the powdered gelatin in a cup of the V8 juice. Mix the remaining V8, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Combine the ricotta and sour cream. Mix the cheese into the V8 vinegar mixture. Cut up and prepare the vegetables. Heat the soaked gelatin in the top of a double boiler until completely dissolved. (This is the only way I found to make sure all the gelatin is dissolved.) Add to the cheese mixture and stir to combine completely. Pour into the 9 X 13 pyrex pan and refrigerate. When the mixture becomes semi-solid stir in the vegetables. (This will encourage them to spread through out the mixture instead of sinking to the bottom.) Chill until fully set.

This is a very refreshing dish served cold on a hot summer day. The cheese and sour cream tone down the acidity of the V8 juice while ironically the sushi vinegar adds a nice acidic sharpness. The grated onion completely blends nicely into the mixture rather than standing out. The chopped veggies add a nice texture and the celery in particular really makes the dish. This is a good summer salad.

Nine appetizers served in nine divided plate version 2

This is the second version of nine small appetizers served on the nine space divided plate. Although it was not intentional it turned out that I did not have even one repeat of the items I presented in the previously posted nine appetizers. But this time I did include two store-bought items that I got from our Japanese grocery store; Chinese-style octopus salad and fish cakes. But I made the remaining 7.

The top row left is blanched edible chrysanthemum or “shun-giku” 春菊 shown in detail below, dressed with x4 Japanese noodle sauce and mixed with generous amount of dried bonito flakes or “kezuri-bushi”  削り節. It has very distinct flavors which we really like.

The 1st row, middle is my ususal “dashi-maki” だし巻き Japanese omelet. This time I added dried green nori or “aonori” 青のり. I garnished it with julienne of green perila or “aoziso” 青紫蘇.

The next dish is a Chinese-style octopus salad or 中華風タコサラダ. It is pretty good and we like it.

The center row, left is hijiki seaweed, deep fried tofu and carrot stir fry or ひじきと油揚の炒め物.

The 2nd row center is one I just made this morning. Fried egg plant and mushroom simmered in broth or ナスと椎茸の揚げ浸し. The mushrooms include fresh shiitake and brown shimeji. This is served cold with garnish of blanched green beans.

The 2nd row left is my usual burdock root stir fry ゴボウのきんぴら.

The 3rd row left is a cold skinned Campari tomato. I cross cut the top halfway-through and poured on some Irizake  煎り酒 and special sushi vinegar (both from the Rice Factory). Irizake is boiled down sake seasoned with “umeboshi” picked plum 梅干し, kelp and bonito flakes. The sushi vinegar is a special kind from “Echizen 越前” or present day Fukui 福井.  It tastes milder and better than our usual (Mizkan brand). I topped this with fine julienne of  “Gari” がりsweet vinegar marinated thinly sliced ginger root (usually use to accompany sushi) and perilla. I got this idea from one of the food blogs I follow but I did not follow the recipe exactly.

The 3rd row center is store-bought fish cake which I heated up in the toaster oven and dressed in x4 Japanese noodle sauce and yuzukosho.

The 3rd row right is my usual “asazuke” 浅漬け picked (salted) vegetable which includes cucumber, carrot, nappa cabbage and daikon radish. I also added “shio konbu” 塩昆布, and ginger. The asazuke is about two weeks old but still tasted fresh (I attribute this to the fact I added a bit more salt - more than the usual 3% - and added a small amount of Vodka when I made it. While it didn’t alter the overall taste, I think this makes the asazuke last longer without becoming sour).

After enjoying these 9 small dishes both of us were quite full and did not eat anything else. All the wonderful different flavors and textures made a really enjoyable dinner.

Israeli (Pearl) Couscous Salad イスラエルクスクスサラダ

The other day, we were taking inventory of our pantry and found boxes of couscous (classic and Israeli or pearled) as well as tabouleh all of which were way pass their BUB (best-used-by) date. We sniffed and did not detect any rancid oil odor so we cooked the classic couscous and the tabouleh. But once they were cooked, it was clear that in these cases the BUB date had some meaning—they tasted terrible. So we discarded those boxes and bought new ones. We decided to go ahead and try cooking the Israeli couscous* and it turned out to be OK. So we decided to use it to make a salad. We looked up recipes on the web and essentailly combined two recipes omitting some of the ingredients called for in the recipe while adding others not mentioned.

*Digression alert: While we were looking up recipes, we found that Israeli or pearl couscous was invented by an Israeli company as a substitute for rice in 1959 since there was a rice shortage at that time.In any case, the end result was a quite nice filling salad. The vinaigrette had a nice lemony flavor with dill which made this salad very refreshing.

Ingredietns:

For Couscous
1 1/2 cup (250gram or 8oz) Israel couscous
1 garlic clove, minced (I used three)
1/2 small onion, finely mince (I used one small onion)
2 tbs olive oil
1 1/2 chicken broth (I used our ususal low sodium Swanson)
1 cup water (we did not add the water. The couscous was fully cooked and the liquid was completely absorbed but although it was not scorched, the couscous stuck to the bottom of the pan. So next time we will try it with the additional water.)

For the salad
5 Campari tomatoes, skinned and cut into quarters
2 tbs dill, finely chopped
6 marinated artichoke hearts, cut into half length wise
1 can (15.5 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and skin removed (optional, but my wife insist on removing the skin)

Other items could be olives, cucumber and other greens.

For dressing
Zest and juice from one lemon
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: {For couscous)
Add the oil in a pan, sauté the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes, add the couscous and sauté another minute
Add the chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes
Fluff it up with a fork and let it cool to the room temperature

Mix all the ingredients and the dressing.

Although we forgot to add one cup of water, the couscous was nicely cooked without. The lemony dressing really worked.

Creamy Tomato Soup クリーミィトマトスープ

I get Campari tomatoes almost every week and prepare them by removing the skin. Then I keep them in the refrigerator which is very convenient to make a quick cucumber tomato salad or just add as a side. Often, we can’t use up all the tomatoes and my default is to make them into marinara sauce. This time since we already had a batch of marinara sauce which had been re-heated several times, I decided to make the excess tomatoes into a creamy tomato soup. I served the soup with macaroni salad (for the salad dressing I used mayo, Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard) and couscous salad, Campari tomato and a slice of baguette I made few days ago. I made this bread using biga made of rye flour and buttermilk (My wife prepared this for me). As a result, this baguette had a slightly different flavor which we really liked.

Ingredients:
5 Campari tomatoes, skinned, cut into small chunks
1 small onion, finely diced
1 small stalk of celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp tomato paste
1 cup water/chicken broth (I used whey from the cheese curd my wife made recently)
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) (to reduce the acidity of the soup, optional*)
1/2 c heavy cream

*Digression alert: If tomato sauce or soup is too acidic, the most common suggestion is to add a small amount of sugar. This may mask the acidic taste but does not reduce the acidity (or does not raise pH). Adding sodium bicarbonate does reduce the acidity. My understanding is that tomato’s acidity mainly come from oxalic acid. So, the addition of bi-carbonate will produce carbon dioxide (CO2 gas), water (H20) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). Reportedly, the resulting sodium carbonate may give rise to a “bitter” and “soapy” taste but I have not experienced this. I have found that adding a small amount of sodium bicarbonate definitely makes these tomato containing dishes less acidic without negative effects in taste. The sodium ion from sodium carbonate in water may add some “saltiness” so the salt seasoning may have to be adjusted. It should be noted that when you add bicarbonate, the soup bubbles up for several minutes.

Directions:
Add the olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the butter and sauté the onion, celery, and garlic for a few minutes. Set the vegetables aside and add the tomato paste and sauté for 30 seconds (I use the type of tomato paste that comes in a tube, Cento tomato paste. It is much easier to use tomato paste from a tube when a small amount is needed compared to opening a whole can). Add the tomato and the liquid (I used whey). Cook 10-15 minutes until all the vegetables are cooked and soft. Using an immersion blender, make smooth soup. Season with salt and pepper.

(Optional) This process is to reduce the acidity. While it is simmering, add the sodium bicarbonate and mix (lots of bubbles come out, keep stirring for serval minutes until the bubbles subside.) I tasted the soup at this stage and it was very good without cream.

Since I was not planning to serve this immediately, I quickly chilled the soup by putting the pan in a large bowl with running water while stirring. Then I put it in sealable container in the refrigerator.

The next day, I served this for lunch. I warmed up the soup and added the cream. With an the addition of the cream, this became quite a luxurious soup.

Tomato and Egg Stir-fry with Wood Ear Mushroom トマトと卵炒め丼 キクラゲ入り

This is another version of “tomato and egg stir-fry”.  I made a few changes to improve this dish. Least of those is the inclusion of fresh wood ear mushrooms we got from “Weee”.  Another change I made was to add potato starch to better coat the tomato with ketchup. I served this on rice for lunch.

Ingredients (for 2 servings): 2-3  Campari tomato, skinned and quartered
1 tbs ketchup
Dash of Sriracha or other hot sauce, optional and to taste
1 tsp “katakuriko” potato starch
1/4 cup fresh or dry rehydrated wood ear mushroom, washed and patted dry using a paper towel, cut into strips and if needed hard attachment part removed
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp ginger root, finely chopped
salt and pepper for seasoning
Olive or vegetable oil

Directions:
Coat the tomato quarters with the ketchup, sriracha, and potato starch.
Heat the oil in frying pan and sauté the ginger and then tomato for 1-2 minutes
Add the wood ear and sauté another minute (despite being patted dry, it does splatter)
Add the egg and let it sit for a few seconds until the bottom is set. Mix and repeat until all eggs are just cooked
Season it with salt and pepper
Serve by itself or over the rice.

We think this version is better. Because of the potato starch, the tomato does not exude too much liquid. The wood ear adds nice crunch and went well with the cooked egg.

Tomato and Egg Stir-fry on Rice トマトと卵炒め丼

 This is a variation of tomato and egg stirfly I posted previously. I learned that this is based on a Chinese dish called “番茄炒蛋” and there appears to be many variations. The main difference between this version and the recipe I posted previously, is the addition of caramelized catsup which adds a slightly sweet dimension. I made this one day for a lunch from my memory since we had skinned Campari tomatoes which needed to be used fairly soon. I made it as a type of “donburi”. Since I just made “simmered” pork or “nibuta” 煮豚 using InstantPot, I included a slice and also broccoli rabe (rapini) which I blanched earlier.

I may have overcooked the tomato a bit, but it was juicy and flavorful and very nice over the rice.

Ingredients:
4 skinned Campari tomatoes, cut into quarter pieces
2 eggs
Vegetable oil and dark sesame oil for stir frying
Salt and peper to tast
1tbs Ketchup
A dash or more of Sriracha sauce (to taste, optional)

Directions:
Add the tomatoes, ketchup and Suriracha into a small bowl and coat the tomato pieces.
Add the vegetable oil and a splash of sesame oil into a frying pan on midum high flame. Quickly stir fry and season with salt and pepper.
Add beaten eggs and let it sit until the bottom is set.
Gradually mix until the eggs are cooked (for 1-2 minutes).

Heat up the slices of simmered pork and chopped up blanched rapini in a separate frying pan with a small amount of oil. Season the rapini with salt and pepper (optional).

Pour over the bowl of rice and place the pork and rapini on top.

In general, we like “donburi” dishes. This one is no exception. The caramelized Catsup adds a nice complex slightly sweet dimension. Also the slow heat from the Sriracha is nice and enough juice came out of the tomatoes to make a nice sauce for the rice.

Chilean Sea bass チリアン・シーバス

 We eat lots of fish. When we lived in California many years ago, we really liked  “Chilean sea bass” which is buttery moist yet flakey and very difficult to overcook and make dry. Then we learned the real name of this fish is ‘Patagonian toothfish” and, at that time, that the fish was frequently illegally poached. So we stopped buying it and forgot about it for a long time. Then, my wife found Chilean sea bass available at Vital Choice which came from MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) -certified sustainable fishery. We remembered how wonderful it was and ordered it, although  it was a bit on the expensive side.

Digression alert: “Chilean sea bass” is said to be the most popular in US, and EU as well as in Japan. (Although when I was in Japan I did not know about this fish.) In Japan, this imported fish is reportedly called “mero” メロ or “ginmutsu” ギンムツ.

The fish was as wonderful as we remembered. Actually the first time I cooked this fish, I did not take a picture. So, I made the same dish a second time in an identical fashion. This was simply sautéed in butter with a caper lemon butter sauce. The sides were  cauliflower purée and haricot vert (pre-blanched) and Campari tomato (skinned) sautéed in butter. Everything went well together but the combination of cauliflower puree and Chilean sea bass was sublime.

Ingredients (2 servings):
2 4oz frozen Chilean sea bass, thawed, seasoned with salt and pepper

For Caper lemon butter sauce
2 tsp pickled capers (from a jar)
1 tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp lemon juice (half lemon)

Directions:
Cook the filets in melted butter on medium flame, turn once after 5 minutes and cook another 5 minutes (I put on the lid since one of the filets was rather thick)
Once cooked, set aside on a plate
In the same pan add the butter. capers and lemon juice and quickly warm them up then pour over the filets

We also served small slices of mini-baguette I baked to soak up the sauce. The fish is buttery, flakey but moist. Somehow it went so well with the cauliflower puree. The green beans can be “a hit” (nicely crunchy after few minutes of steaming) or “a miss” (fibrous skin no matter how you cook) but this one was definitely “a hit”.

Salmon-Spinach Tortas 鮭とほうれん草のケーキ

My wife is into making small appetizers. When she saw the recipe called “Tuna-Spinach tortas” at Washington Post on-line, it was a “must-do”. Although she liked the idea of a small tortas, canned tuna does not grace our pantry…ever.  (Instead, we keep frozen sashimi-grade tuna in the freezer). We also like salmon and almost every other week we get a half-salmon filet (A special available from the local grocery store only through home delivery). I scale it and using the main portion, make several fillet portions. I then separate the belly portion for an appetizer and use the resulting small irregular trimmings including the tail portion of the filet to make salmon cakes. After we cook the fillets (usually cooked in a frying pan to make crispy skin), I make salmon salad from the leftover portions.

This time my wife used the salmon salad I made from the left over salmon fillets instead of the canned tuna called for in the original recipe. The salmon salad was a bit different from what I usually make since we did not have enough cooked salmon fillets so I oil-poached the irregular bits of fresh salmon to make about 5oz of salmon. The oil poached salmon was much softer and more moist than our usual cooked salmon.  In addition, we did not have home-made Greek yogurt. So I used all mayo instead of mixture of mayo and Greek yogurt.

The tortas came out very nice and the salmon filling was moist but made a nice crispy shell. Although we cannot tell how the original canned tuna version would have been, this is pretty good.

As you can see in the picture below, the top portion is mixture of spinach, tomato and egg. The bottom is mixture of cheese and the salmon salad.

Ingredients: (12 cupcake sized servings)
2 bags of baby spinach cooked and drained
5 oz. Cooked salmon made into salmon salad (end amount about double the amount of salmon)
1/4 cup Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese grated
1/4 cup smoked gouda grated
3/4 cup plain panko (bread crumbs)
4 large eggs
4 Campari tomatoes
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/8 to 1/4 cayenne pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease the wells of the muffin pan with cooking oil spray. Combine the salmon salad, cheeses and panko in a mixing bowl. Divide it equally among the muffin pan wells, packing it in firmly. (I used second to largest ice cream scoop).

Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl. Coarsely chop the tomatoes (to taste), then add to the eggs, along with the salt and pepper. Add the spinach to the bowl. Stir until well incorporated, then spoon equal amounts of the mixture on top of each tuna portion in the individual muffin pan wells (#1). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until set and lightly browned (#2). Let cool for a few minutes before carefully inverting the tortas on individual plates. (#3 & #4)

This makes a great little dish that can be used as an appetizer or even part of a lunch. We were amazed at how it came out. Somehow the panko combined with the egg mixture makes a nice crisp crust on the bottom so the salmon salad seems like it is a pie filling. The salmon salad itself made a great filling. It was moist but held together. The flavors of the celery, onion and mayo used in the salad fused beautifully. The topping added a fresh note of tomato which went very well with the salmon filling. Overall this is an amazing little torta. 

Tomato ribbon salad version 2 トマトリボンサラダ V2

This is another variation of my wife’s famous ribbon salad. The red layers are tomato juice based aspic but  the cream cheese-based white layers are a bit more complex than the previous version. I helped by chopping up and slicing the ingredients. Initially, my wife was dissapointed since she expected the white layer to be more flavorful. But a few days later when we had this again, the ingredients had melded together and we could taste much more flavor.

Ingredients for Tomato aspic:
3 cups tomato juice (we used V-8)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. Sushi vinegar
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
Onion juice to taste (About 3 Tbs.
2 envelopes gelatin

Ingredients for white section
1 envelope of gelatin
1/4 cup cream
1 tub (8 oz.) or 1 block (8 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tbsp. mayonnaise
2-3 ribs celery, minced
1 med. green pepper, (jalapeño) finely chopped
2 med. onion, finely chopped
1/4-1/2 cup pimento stuffed olives, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup ripe (black) olives, sliced (we didn’t use because we didn’t have) 
(Optional) 1 ripe avocado, peeled & sliced (we did not use) 

Directions:
Soften gelatin in 1/2 cup of the tomato juice. Add mixture to the top of a double boiler. Heat until the gelatin melts. Put the rest of the tomato juice in a pan. Heat until all ingredients dissolved. Add the gelatin that has been melted in the double boiler. Chill 1/2 of the tomato aspic until set, in a 9 x 13 inch pyrex dish (below).

 

Soften the gelatin in the cream. Add mixture to the top of a double boiler. Heat until the gelatin melts. Mix cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise until smooth. Add the melted gelatin then the chopped celery, jalapeño, and onion. Spread cheese mixture over the congealed aspic. Add the olives on top of the cheese mixture. (Next time it would be better that the olives are finely diced.  Cut like this they made it hard to slice the ribbon salad into servings). (If using avocado lay the slices on top of the cheese mixture.) Refrigerate until firm (below).

Pour the second half of the tomato aspic gently over the avocado slices, to cover all. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until set.

Although this is a variation on the previous tomato ribbon salad, it is clearly in the same tradition. The red layer is much the same. The white layer is much softer. The olives are a great addition. They add a burst of saltiness. The flavors get much more pronounced after a day or two when the ingredients have had a chance to meld together. In general, this salad and its precursor are a light cool refreshing addition to a meal on a hot summer day.

Crispy Cheese round カリカリチーズ

 One evening, my wife served this as a surprise. According to her, she saw a similar dish on YouTube WebSpoon. The original used slices of pepperoni. Since she did not have pepperoni, she used black olives. It was crispy and cheesy with parmesan flavor coming through. Good appetizer with wine. 

I will ask how she made it.

Ingredients:
Grated cheese of your choice and taste. The amounts are arbitrary. I used:
Smoked gouda
Cheddar
Monterey Jack
Mozzarella
Parmesan

Tomato sauce
Black olives (or pepperoni)

Directions:
Grate the cheeses and mix together. Make little mounds of the cheese mixture on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (The parchment paper is important because it makes it possible to remove the cheese once its melted). Spoon the tomato sauce on the mounds and top with whatever you are using as the topping; olives or pepperoni. Heat in the oven at 390 degrees for 10 minutes. The cheese will melt and brown.

These are a quick flavorful cheese snack for appetizer.  They make a nice alternative to the traditional cheese plate. They are chewy, salty and go perfectly with red wine. 

Mini Lasagna cups ミニロザニアカップ

One day, all of a sudden, my wife asked if we still have wonton or gyoza skins. I said we had leftover gyoza skins frozen. I was not sure why she was asking this. I found out that she saw a recipe for “mini-lasagna cups” which uses wonton skins as the pasta. This is a good dish to make since I have been reheating my marinara sauce once a week for several weeks now to make it last. It was time to use it up. In any case, the picture below shows the mini-lasagna cups she made. They are perfect for a lunch or appetizer. The combination of flavors is very nice.

You can see the layers in the picture below; layers of ricotta cheese and spinach and alternating layers of marinara sauce (actually one time when I reheated it I put in chopped up cooked chicken) separated by the wonton skins. She ran out of the wonton skins and some of the lasagna cups ended up having a layer of Pennsylvania Dutch noodles instead. (Because she had those and hey, they are a form of pasta).

 

I am not sure where she saw this recipe but I’ll ask my wife to take over. (Note from wifey: I found the recipe in the Washington Post and as usual treated it as just advisory.)

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked spinach
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups shredded cheese (I used a combination of dry mozzarella, smoked gouda and cheddar.)
1 1/2 cups husbandito’s marinara sauce
36 wonton skins (3 per 12 muffin cup tin)

Directions:
Mix the spinach, ricotta cheese and salt together. Put half of it in a separate bowl and stir in 1/2 of the shredded cheese. Fit a wonton skin into the bottom of a 12 cup muffin tin. (I used muffin papers to make it easier to get the finished product out but it turned out they weren’t necessary.) Evenly divide the ricotta spinach blend into each cup (#1). Fit another wonton skin on top. Spoon the marinara sauce on top (#2). Cover with another wonton skin. (Note that at this point I ran out of wonton skins so I used cooked pasta as shown in the left side of #3) Evenly divide the ricotta shredded cheese on top (#4). Top the mixture with remaining marinara sauce and grated cheese (#5). Cook in a 375 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes until cheese on the top is melted, browned and bubbling (#6). 

These were a bit tedious to put together but they were worth it. They had all the satisfying complex flavor of a full lasagne with all the elegance of a single portion. They made a perfect lunch with a salad or a small bowl of soup. 

Cashew tomato curry with cheese curds (and chicken) カシュートマトカレー

As we mentioned earlier, with an abundance of homemade buttermilk, my wife has started making cheese using 4% milk and the homemade buttermilk. (One aspect of using heirloom cultures such as the one we are using for buttermilk is that you have to keep using them to keep them viable and active.) As a result we now have an abundance of homemade cheese curd. Although we enjoy eating it plain or marinated in olive oil and various spices including jalapeño, there is a limit to how much we can eat. My wife found this curry recipe and thought it would be a good way to further diversify the use of our abundant cheese curd supply. The original recipe was vegan but our version is not, since we added barbecued chicken. This is a very interesting and unique curry (for us) since it uses emulsified raw cashews and pureed tomato in addition to the usual Indian spices. It has a nice fresh tomato flavor and slow heat. The browned cheese curd substitute for meat was something new for us and we really liked it. Later, since we had extra chicken meat from a Weber cooked chicken, we added the dark meat which meant the dish was no longer vegan. But the chicken really “kicked it up a notch”; adding an additional smokey layer of flavor. The next picture shows how we served it with rice, tomatoes and broccoli for lunch. As usual, I ask my wife to take over.

Ingredients:
for the cashew puree
1/2 cup (2 oz.) raw cashews
1/2 cup boiling chicken broth

For the curry
4 Tbs. (2 oz.) butter (1 tsp. to brown the cheese curd and 3 tsp. for the curry)
8 oz. cheese curd cut into 1 inch cubes (firm tofu could be substituted)
2 cups tomato puree
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cayenne powder
1/2 tsp. garam masala
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Optional chicken broth if the sauce gets too thick.

For the chicken
dark meat from barbecued chicken amount to taste
Since the meat came from the chicken legs it was a bit dry. So we cooked it again in the Instantpot (the chicken meat, 1/2 cup of chicken broth at high pressure for 35 minutes with natural depressurization). The chicken tasted much better and was extremely tender after its encounter with the Instantpot.

Directions:
To make the cashew puree combine the cashews and the hot chicken broth. Let soak for 30 minutes. Then puree until smooth in a mini food processor (#1). Puree the tomatoes and set aside. (We used canned tomatoes)(#2). Cut the cheese into 1 inch squares (#3). Put 1 tsp. of the butter in a frying pan and melt until slightly browned. Add the cheese curd and cook until golden brown on both sides (#4). Set aside. Add the remaining 3 Tbs. of butter to the pan. Once it melts add the cashew puree (#5). Then add the cayenne powder, garam masala, paprika and sugar. Bloom the flavors. Cook the mixture until fully blended. Add the tomatoes and blend completely. Cook until the mixture thickens slightly. Add the cheese curd and cook until the mixture darkens (about 5 -10 minutes) (#6). (A splatter guard would be recommended because the mixture may tend to spit.) If the mixture gets too thick add some of the chicken broth. Add the chicken and continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with a drizzle of cream on top. 

 

We really liked this curry. The browned cheese curd was something new for us. We didn’t know it could be cooked like that and it added a new dimension for our approach to cheese curd. We will probably use it in other recipes. It was crispy on the outside with a pleasant browned butter flavor and soft on the inside. The curry sauce was very smooth with a bright tomato flavor and a slow heat. We found the sauce itself was surprisingly filling. We realized this is because it is nut based, so in essence, we were eating handfuls of cashew nuts. The version without the chicken was very nice but we thought the addition of barbecued chicken really made it even better by adding chicken and barbecued smokey flavor. We learned a lot from making this curry and it really expanded our “curry horizons”. We’ll be making this and various versions of it in the future.