Hanami #2 花見＃2

After our first hanami 花見, we were expecting bad weather and rain.  However,  luckily, we had a second nice day of hanami and I made another attempt at a hanami bento 花見弁当. This time, I filled the smaller lidded box with scattered sushi or “chirashi-zushi” ちらし寿司 made of smoked salmon, marinated “ikura” salmon roe いくらの醤油漬け(#1).

Opening the lid of the smaller box revealed scattered sushi (#2 left upper). I also served Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシアずけ topped with ikura (#2 upper right) and herring marinated in wine sauce (store-bought) topped with sour cream mixed with the brine from the herring jar and chopped dill (#2, lower left). The smaller box without a lid, I served salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き, “kinpira gobo” 金平牛蒡 braised burdock root, mock tofu 擬制豆腐, braised spicy marinated tofu ピリカラ豆腐, braised crunchy cauliflower モンパルナスのカリフラワー and crispy marinated  enoki mushroom エノキのパリパリ焼き, skinned Campari tomato, and chicken liver simmered in red wine 鶏肝の赤ワイン煮.

I used frozen rice to make sushi rice. I just microwaved the rice until warm, added the sushi vinegar (from the bottle) mixed and microwaved a bit more to warm up. I mixed it again and let it sit for 5 minutes. It was not the best sushi rice but certainly good enough for the purpose. I marinated ikura with x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce overnight in the refrigerator. I first placed the sushi rice on the bottom of the small covered box then distributed ikura over half of the rice surface followed by smoked salmon (#3). I topped this with a julienne of cucumber and golden thread egg or “kinshi-ran” 金糸卵 and nori threads or “kizami-nori” 刻み海苔(#4). Since we were not expecting to have the second hanami this was a bonus and what I put together for the occasion was pretty satisfying.

Now, our main cherry tree (“somei-yoshino” 染井吉野 which has a bottle brush appearance of numerous blossoms covering the branches (foreground) and the more traditional one like depicted in “ukiyoe” painting of edo time 江戸時代の浮世絵  which is in the background are both in full bloom displaying their individual personalities in the shape and characteristics of their petals. 

Hanami 2025 花見2025

Because it got warm quickly, three of our cherry trees blossomed one after the other. The first one is dropping petals already, our main tree is in full bloom and our old tree has just started. So it was hanami 花見 time. I filled the new jubako box 重箱 with goodies for the occasion. I used the smaller box without a lid, the smaller box with a lid and two small porcelain bowls to fill each tier. One tier served one person.  I served quite a few sashimi items accompanied by soy sauce, wasabi and yuzu kosho 柚子胡椒 (#1).

The sashimi I served (#2) was bluefin tuna クロマグロ (was called “akami” 赤身 but it was more like “chutoro” 中トロ), kanpachi カンパチ” amberjack, and salmon. All came from Riviera Seafood Club. The tuna was good but kanpachi and salmon could have been better. The meat was abit too lean and could have used a bit more fat. 

In one of the bowls, I served the remaining tuna and Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシア漬け in the shape of roses and topped it with “ikura” いくら salmon roe (#3).

I also served scallop sashimi ホタテの刺身 which was really good as always (#4).

In the covered small box (#5), I served an assortment of dishes I made as well as “uni suhto” which I did not make  ウニの酒盗 shown in a very small square bowl. Lower bottom is a salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻 and mock tofu 擬制豆腐. Left upper are dashimaki egg omelet with dried nori powder or “aonori” 青海苔入りだし巻 topped with cruchy braised cauliflower.

Our second generation cherry tree blossomed nicely. The tree has grown quite a bit. It was planted after we lost the original tree in a nor’easter 7 years ago.

We started our hanami while it was still light but the fun extended into the evening and we turned on the flood lights as shown in the picture below. Even thought the sun was down It was still very warm and pleasant.

Creamed Spinach with Cauliflower Puree カリフラワーピュレのクリームほうれん草

I make cauliflower puree occasionally. I modified how I make cauliflower puree mostly for my convenience. I steam the cauliflower florets for 10-15 minutes until very soft. Then I place the cauliflower in the container used for the emersion blender, add warm (in the microwave oven) milk (1/2-2/3) cup and puree first on medium speed and then on high speed until very smooth. This takes a few minutes on high speed. Then add several pats of unsalted butter and salt to taste and puree to incorporate the butter . The resulting puree can be used as is or many other ways which I have posted.  We found it is particularly good as an accompaniment to white fish. This time, we bought “baby arugula and spinach salad mix” and found out the vast majority was spinach. So instead of salad, we decide to make this into“creamed spinach using the cauliflower puree. It was quite good. This blog entry is for us to remember how we made this.

To make creamed spinach: Cook a bag of spinach in a wok without adding water with a tight fitting lid on low flame. Occasionally turn the spinach over until all wilted and cooked. Squeeze out excess moisture (I use a potato ricer to do this). Chop the spinach finely. Mix the spinach into the cauliflower puree. We also added cheeses (Gruyere and parmesan). Place the creamed spinach in a ramekin and bake in the toaster oven 350F for 20-30 minutes.

We had this as a side for “Tsukune with lotus root” 蓮根つくね, pickled daikon and cucumber 大根, キュウリの漬物.

This is a very acceptable substitution for bechamel based creamed spinach. It had a very rich flavor and creaminess.

Table of contents 2024

January 2024
January 1,    Happy New Year 2024 明けましておめでとう2024 
January 5,    Tomato and Egg Stir-fry with Wood Ear and Natto 納豆、トマト、木耳の卵炒め
January 22,   Goat Cheese Scallion Muffin ゴートチーズと青葱マフィン
January 25,   White "Pineberry" and Red "Koyo" Stawberries 白いイチゴと昂揚イチゴ
January 28,   Beef with Kon-nyaku and Vegetable "Kimpira" Stir Fry 牛肉と蒟蒻の金平

February 2024
February 3,     Chestnut Brown Butter, Sage Muffin 栗の粉とセイジマフィン
February 8,     Grated Lotus Root and Tofu Ball レンコン豆腐饅頭
February 11,    Sweet Onion Bread Pudding 玉ねぎのブレッドプデｨング
February 15,    Shad Roe from South Carolina 南カロライナからのシャドロウ
February 18,    Cranberry Camembert Cheese Bites クランベリーソース、カマンベールチーズ　バイツ
February 21,    Simmered Shad Roe with Vegetables シャドロウの煮付け
February 24,    Shad Roe Pasta  シャドロウパスタ
February 27,    Pickled Cucumber キュウリの漬物

March 2024
March 1,    “Maitake” Hen of the Woods Mushroom in Brown Butter and Sage 焦がしバターとセイジ風味舞茸
March 4,    Instant Pot BBQ Baby Back Ribs バーベキューベイビーバックリブ
March 7,    Salted Oatmeal Cookie 塩味オートミールクッキー
March 10,  Lobster Salad ロブスターサラダ
March13,    “Roman” Gnocchi ローマンニョキ
March 22,   Duck Tender Cutlet and Arancini 鴨ささ身のカツレツ
March 25,   Mary Walsh’s Currant Cake マリーウオルシュのカラントケーキ
March 28,   St. Patrick’s Day Dinner, Lamb Chops and Cabbage with bacon セントパトリックのディナー

April 2024
April 6,    Pumpkin “Kabocha” salad カボチャのサラダ
April 10,    Mini Fruit Galettes ミニフルーツガッレト 
April 21,    Spinach Soufflé (easy version) ほうれん草のスフレ 
April 30,    Frangipane Rolls フランジパンロール 

May 2024
May 13,    Pickled Micro Cucumber and Daikon 小さなキュウリと大根のピクルス 
May 15,    Steamed Carrot Buns with Ginger Custard 人参蒸しパン生姜カス... 
May 18,    Braised Eggplant with Oyster Sauce 茄子と椎茸のオイスターソース炒め
May 21,    Creamed Spinach with Cauliflower Puree カリフラワーピュレのク
May 24,    Anchovy Salad アンチョビサラダ
May 27,    Daikon Steak and Two Appetizers 大根ステーキ
May 30,    Focaccia Bread Baked in Breville Pizzaiolo Indoor Pizza Oven 

June 2024
June 2,    Steak and 2004 Joseph PhelpさんInsignia ステーキデｨナーと2004 インシグニア
June 5,    Gyoza made with New Round Gyoza Skin 日本風の餃子の皮で作った餃子 
June 8,    Filled Wool Bread 毛糸のパン 
June 11,    Shrimp Shumai 海老焼売 
June 14,    Pumpernickel Boule ドイツ黒パン 
June 17,    Ice Breaker “Summer” Sake 玉川アイスブレイカー酒 
June 20,    Carrot Panna Cotta 搾りたて人参ジュースのパナコタ
June 23,    Miso-marinated Firefly Squid ホタルイカの味噌焼き 
June 26,    Wood Ear Mushroom and Wakame Salad 木耳とわかめの和物 
June 29,    Nine “Otoshi” Appetizers お通し九種類

July 2024
July 2,    Egg roll 春巻き
July 5,    Red and Green Udon “Pasta” with Prosciutto 生ハムのせ赤と緑のうどんパスタ
July 8,    Pizza Made in Indoor Electric “Pizzaiolo” Pizza Oven 
July 11,    Garlic Chive Dumpling ニラ頭饅 or 韮菜万頭
July 14,    Mitsuba ミツバ 
July 17,    Dassai 45 and Dassai blue comparison 獺祭45とDassai Blue 50 飲み比べ 
July 28,    Cucumber in soy sauce 胡瓜の醤油漬け
July 31,    Tofu, Egg and Garlic Chives Stir Fry 豆腐ニラ玉、木耳入り

August 2024
August 9,    Home Coffee Roasting 緑コーヒー豆の自家焙煎 
August 12,    Icelandic Pumpernickel (Rye) Bread アイスランドのライ麦パン

September 2024
September 2,    Smelt Fry シシャモフライ
September 5,    Pesto Blini ペストビリニ 
September 8,    Yakitori de le Canard 鴨ささみで焼き鳥 
September 11,    Vegetables in Cold Broth 冷製のトマトの煮浸し 
September 14,    Pesto Blini Prosciutto Cheese Sandwich ペストビリニの生ハムチーズサンド
September 17,    Chicken Tender Fry with Salted Plum Sauce and Perilla ささみの梅大葉揚げ 
September 21,    Simmered Dried Daikon Threads 切り干し大根の煮物 
September 24,    Fresh Corn Blini コーンビリニ 
September 27,    Stir-fried Eggplant and Shiitake in Oyster Sauce 茄子と椎茸のオイスターソース炒め... 
September 30,    Mashed Potato Blini マシュポテトのビリニ

October 2024
October 3,    Five appetizers お通し５品
October  10,    Hen-of-the-Woods Grilled Cheese 舞茸のチーズ焼き
October 13,    Strawberry Blini いちごビリニ 
October 16,    Enoki mushroom frittata エノキ　オムレツ/フリッタータ 
October 19,    Kabocha salad カボチャサラダ 
October 22,    Matsutake (from Weee) Touban-yaki 松茸の陶盤焼き 
October 25,    Black Cod Marinated in Saikyo miso 銀鱈の西京(味噌)焼き
October 28,    Egg-wrapped Kabocha カボチャの黄金焼き 
October 31,    Almond Olive Oil Cake アーモンドオリーブオイルケーキ

November 2024
November 3,    Hiyaoroshi Sake Dewanoyuki “Sho-nai Bijin” 出羽ノ雪　冷やおろし庄内美人
November 6,    Hiyaoroshi Sake “Shichi Hon Yari” 七本槍　純米ひやおろし 
November 9,    Prosciutto-wrapped Haddock 生ハム巻きハドック (コダラ) 
November 12,    Marinated Chicken Tender Cutlet 鳥のささみのカツレツ
November 15,    Crispy Enoki Mushroom エノキのパリパリ焼き
November 18,    Bagel ベーグル 
November 21,    Chestnut Apple Soup クリとリンゴのスープ 
November 24,    Norwegian Mackerel Teriyaki 冷凍ノルウエイ鯖の照り焼き 
November 27,    “Imo-ni” Stew famous in Yamagata 芋煮庄内風 
November 30,    Matsutake and beef cooked in an Aluminum Foil Pouch 松茸と牛肉のフォイル焼き

December 2024
December 8,    Chestnut olive oil bread 栗とオリーブオイルケーキ
December 11,    Marinated Tofu and Egg Sir fry 味付け豆腐の卵炒め 
December 16,    Braised daikon with carrot, wood ear, and fried tofu 大根と人参の炒め物
December 19,    “Taco Carnitas”-ish タコ カルニタもどき
December 21,    Tofu in Warm Broth ミニ湯豆腐

Broccoli Balls ブロッコリボール

Since we are getting home grocery delivery, the amount of broccoli we get per order is out of our control. For some reason they are extremely generous with the amount they provide; we get three large heads of broccoli in one order. I usually, wash and separate the broccoli into small florets and steam them. Afterwords, I divide the steamed broccoli into small batches and freeze them for later use leaving a few days worth in the refrigerator. In addition, sometimes we get free-be cookbooks with the grocery delivery. My wife was purusing one of these little cookbooks called “from Freezer to Table” and came across a broccoli-centric recipe. This combined with seeing the abundant supply of broccoli we had just received led to a conjunction of the recipe/ingredients planets and my wife decided to make her own version of this recipe.  The original recipe (as would be expected coming from a cookbook about frozen food) used frozen “riced” broccoli and cauliflower. While we had the broccoli (non-frozen, of course) we did not have the cauliflower so my wife used mashed potatoes instead…(don’t ask). In any case, this made a quite good small appetizer that also heat up nicely in the toaster oven.

Ingredients:
1 cup steamed broccoli chopped in the small food processor
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese (any cheese would work)

1 cup shredded smoked gouda cheese
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/2 tsp onion powder (to taste)
1/4 to 1/2 tsp garlic powder (to taste)
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp salt (optional)

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients (#1). Using medium ice cream scoop drop scoop fulls into small muffin cups lined with muffin papers (#2). Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown (#3 and #4).

These were very flavorful, crispy bites perfect for appetizers. The garlic, onion and herb flavors were very rich and satisfying. The potatoes added a slightly creamy texture inside the crispness of the outside shell. One word of advice, go light on the salt. The cheese is salty. I used 1 tsp of salt and that was too much. I reduced it in this version of the recipe. These really crisp up nicely the toaster oven.

Seared Scallops on Cauliflower Puree 焦がし帆立とカリフラワーピュレー

We like cauliflower puree. Now I changed how I make it and the process is easier but the results are the same (I added the directions below).  We used the puree for quite a few dishes. Recently, we revisited one of our favorite fish dishes; Chilean sea bass (Patagonian tooth fish). We really like this fish over a bed of Cauliflower puree. Recently we tried a similar combination using seared diver scallops which we got from Great-Alaska-Seafood. I made an impromptu pan sauce which went well.

For seared scallops
Ingredients (for two small servings)
4 diver scallops, thawed if frozen, patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper
1tsp peanut or other vegetable oil
Pan sauce:
2tbs Japanese sake for deglazing
1tbs lemon juice
1 tsp x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce
1 tbs of cold butter

Directions:
Add the vegetable oil with high smoking point to a stainless steel or iron frying pan on medium high flame. Heat the pan until the oil just starts smoking
Add the scallops and brown one side for 1-2 minutes and flip-over . Brown the other side for another 1 minute or until the scallops are just cooked in the center (expect some smoke).
After removing the scallops, add the sake and deglaze the pan. Reduce the liquid to half. Add the noodle sauce and the lemon juice. Reduce briefly and finish with pats of butter.
Place the scallops on the bed of warm cauliflower puree and pour the pan sauce over the scallops.

For cauliflower puree
Ingredients (makes at least 4 to 6 servings):
One head of Cauliflower, washed and florets separated
1 to 3/4 cup 4% milk, warm (I microwave but be careful of over boiling)
Several thin pats (2-3 tbs) of cold butter
1/2 tsp salt or to taste

Directions:
Steam the florets for 7-10 minutes or until very soft.
Meanwhile warm the milk (I microwave but be careful of over-boiling)
In a cylindrical container for a immersion blender, add the cauliflower and half of  the warm milk.
Press down the immersion blender at a medium speed, up and down several time.
Depending on the consistency add more milk and blend in high-speed until silky smooth (may take some time to attain the smooth puree).
Add the butter and salt and further blend
Taste and adjust the salt

We really like this combination. The pan sauce also worked well. If this is a main dish, I would use 4 scallops per serving and add side vegetables.

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”.

Chicken with Avocado miso dressing アボカド味噌ドレシング

We used to subscribe New York Times Cooking. It was rather expensive for just the cooking section so we eventually cancelled the subscription. In any case, this is a recipe called ”Creamy Avocado-miso dressing” and it is from NYT Cooking. Since we had ripe avocado on hand and the recipe uses miso, we deemed this worth a try. This was supposedly  “salad dressing” for “hearty” greens, a warm grain bowl or grilled vegetables. We tried it as a topping for the homemade cheese wife made and as a dip for blanched cauliflower. Both tasted good. When we thawed a sous-vide cooked chicken breast, in addition to my traditional shredded chicken dish using sesame dressing, as per my wife’s suggestion, I made half of the shredded chicken with the avocado miso dressing. In the picture below, the left is with sesame dressing and the right is with avacado-miso dressing.

I used fresh cilantro leaves to garnished the dish made with avocado dressing.

For the one made with sesame dressing, I garnished it with white sesame.

The sous-vide cooked chicken breast is perfect for this type of dish. The meat is soft and moist.

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado, halved and pitted, flesh removed from skin
1/4 cup lemon juice (I used Meyer lemons since I had them).
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs vinegar (I used rice vinegar)
1 tbs white miso (I used “awase-meso” which is mixture of red and white miso).
1tbs honey
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a mini-food processor and blend until smooth (shown below).

This is a very nice dressing and we definitely taste the miso. The avocado takes a back seat but works well with the bright taste of the lemon and vinegar. We think this works better as a dip for vegetables. (We also had it as a dip for crackers and that worked very well too.) For the chicken dish, we think the sesame dressing goes better.

Scalloped potato with cauliflower puree

My wife came up with this dish one day. A few days before I had made my usual Cauliflower puree. Beside eating it as an “adult baby” food, we have made Mac-and-cheese using the puree instead of Béchamel sauce. I am not sure how she came up with this dish but, it is essentially scalloped potatoes made with the Cauliflower puree, cheese, onion and jalapeño pepper. This was topped with several kinds of cheese and baked.

After the servings were cut out, you could see multiple layers of thinly sliced potato with cheesy sauce. The green bits are chopped Jalapeño pepper. She ended up making a quite large amount but we managed to enjoy it all as a side for lunches and dinner and also as appetizers. Probaly not as rich as if we made this with full-fledged Béchamel sauce but it was quite good.

I ask my wife to provide the recipe. I help her by slicing potatoes, onions, and chopping up Jalapeño pepper.

Ingredients:
Two russet potatoes thinly sliced
2 onions thinly sliced
2 jalapeño pepper
1 cup of cheddar cheese grated
1 cup monterey Jack cheese grated
1/2 cup parmesian cheese grated
Several slices of smoked gouda to top.
Enough cauliflower puree to cover several layers


Directions:
Cover the bottom of an oven casserole dish with the puree. Distribute a layer of potatoes (#1) then the sliced onions, jalapeño pepper and the various cheeses (# 1&2) then the cauliflower pure (#3) Keep layering until all the ingredients have been distributed. End by putting on slices of smoked gouda (#4). Cook in a 400 degree oven covered for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and continue cooking for 30 minutes until the potatoes are tender and a knife slides in easily. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

This is a very comforting dish with thin layers of potatoes between custard like layers of warm cheese. The jalapeño peppers and onion give a nice flash of flavor. You would never guess that cauliflower was one of the main ingredients. It heated up nicely in the microwave. This would the a staple for any menu. 

One spoonful appetizers and more

These are appetizers I served one evening. Not particularly new but we had "uni" sea urchin from Maruhide 丸秀 a day before, so my one spoonful appetizers a.k.a baby food for adults got a topping of ikura with chopped perilla (for cauliflower purée) and uni with broccoli florets (for broccoli purée).

I also added three small appetizers  which I served in small lidded bowls we got from Nishiki market in Kyoto 京都錦市場. We had Dassai 45 獺祭４５with this.

This is salmon "Nanban" 鮭の南蛮漬け (fried salmon marinated in sweet vinegar with carrot and celery).

This is salmon Russian marinade 鮭のロシア漬け topped with vinegar cucumber slices.

For veggies, I served blanched sugar snap soaked in salt broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし and skinned Campari tomato.

Uni from Maruhide (both regular and in salt water) is really good. My one spoonful appetizer definitely got "kicked up a notch" with the addition of uni.

One spoonful appetizers a.k.a baby food for adults 一口スプーンの前菜第二弾

This is another iteration of one spoonful appetizers. I am making more purées or what I refer to as “baby food for adults” to use as one gulp spoonfuls of food. In any case, the below are three such appetizers. From left to right: Kabocha potage カボチャのポタージュ, seasoned soft boiled egg 味卵 with ikura salmon roe イクラ and cauliflower puree with ikura.

I also strewed the plate with simmered kabocha カボチャの煮物 (left lower corner), braised cauliflower モンパルナスのカリフラワーand blanched sugar snap in salt broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし.

The below was what I served for another evening. This time I made broccoli puree which I garnished with flowerets of blanched broccoli. The other two are the same cauliflower puree and Kabocha potage shown in the pictures above.

I made broccoli puree from the stem of broccoli, onion, and parsnip. It has very good and interesting flavors. When I ask my wife to taste it, she thought it had asparagus.

I made the broccoli puree without a recipe but the basic is very similar to any potage or puree.

Ingredients:
Broccoli stem, hard bottom removed and hard skin removed (I used stems of two broccoli heads), cut into small cubes.
One medium onion, finely diced
One parsnip (or maybe a potato), skinned, cut into small cubes.
1/2 cup of chicken broth or more depending on the consistency of the puree (I used Swanson's no fat reduced salt)
1 tsp unsalted butter and 2 tbs olive oil
Salt to taste
Two bay leaves (optional)

Directions:
Add the olive oil and butter to the pan on medium flame and sauté the onion until cooked (2-3 minutes).
Add the broccoli stem and parsnip and coat with butter/oil and add the chicken both to cover.

Add the bay leaves and simmer until soft (15-20 minutes)
Remove the bay leaves and puree using an immersion blender until smooth (add more chicken broth for desired consistency).
Season with salt

These appetizers are nice. The spoonful is just the right amount for a satisfying gulp. They provide a nice range of flavors although the consistency seems, well consistent. It is lovely and smooth but I can’t help but think of it as sophisticated “baby food for adults”. I’ll have to come up with something different.

A spoonful appetizer 一口スプーン前菜

My wife gave me some new plates and bowls for Christmas which required us to rearrange things to make a room for them. During these activities, we found spoons my wife got for me some time ago which were meant to serve a just one-swallow/bite appetizer.  Since they newly resurfaced, I promptly tried a one-swallow/bite appetizer using the spoon. The handles of the spoons are bent so that they can sit on the plate without a handle sticking over the edge. I served this with the last of New Year’s salmon kelp roll and Russian marinaded salmon.

This was just a whim-of-the moment dish. Since I had Cauliflower purée which I made a few days ago, I just put a small amount on the spoon and topped it with soy sauce  marinated “ikura” salmon roe and micro green perilla from our window sill herb garden. This combination worked well. We had this with cold sake and it went very well.

This was quite good. Although our initial cauliflower purée was made with cauliflower cooked in milk, recently I have been making in an abbreviated quick method.

Ingredients:
One small head of cauliflower, florets separated
1-2 tbs unsalted butter
1 cup warm milk

salt to taste

Directions:
Steam the cauliflower using a basket steamer for 10-15 minutes until very soft.
Place the cauliflower in a plastic container for immersion blender

Add 2/3 of the milk and blend using an immersion blender in high-speed
Add more milk for the nice silky consistency if needed.
Add the butter in thick pats
Season with salt and blend until very smooth and silky

This is wonderful way to prepare cauliflower. This purée can be used in many different ways. The smooth texture of the cauliflower purée was a great contrast to the burst of saltiness from the ikura.

Sushi Taro "regular" kaiseki box "普通”の寿司太郎会席弁当

We have gotten several "Special" kaiseki boxes 特別会席弁当 from Sushi Taro which we enjoyed immensely. This time because of a large catering job in which Chef Kitayama was involved, they could not provide us with a "special" version but a "regular" kaiseki box was available. Since we never had a "regular" kaiseki box we went ahead and ordered it. This was quite good but also quite different from the "special" kaiseki box we had been getting. Everything comes in elegant one-time-use paper boxes and plates which closely emulate Japanese lacquer ware boxes and china dishes as you can see below. In contrast to the special Kaiseki, instead of all kinds of little different dishes, this one focused more on sashimi and sushi. Each of the two boxes were identical and each contained 4 pieces of sashimi, as well as 9 nigiri plus one half “negitoro” roll and one half rainbow roll equaling the equivalent of one whole roll . The kaiseki part of the box contained 3 dishes.

The Sashimi assortment was composed of "akami" red meat of wild bluefin tuna, flounder, arctic charr and sweet shrimp, all excellent in taste and quality.

One of the 3 kaiseki dishes shown below was "Goma-dofu" 胡麻豆腐 sesame tofu topped with blue crab and "ikura" salmon roe and I think small cubes of "ankimo monkfish liver. This was lovely with a smooth texture and the salmon roe and monkfish liver really added an elegant touch.

Another was shrimp cream croquette in lobster sauce which also contain small chunks of crunchy cauliflower accompanied by crunchy deep fried sweet potato and "renkon" lotus root. There is no way one could go wrong with this crowd pleaser. What is not to like about the smooth creamy texture and sweet taste of crab wrapped in golden crunchy crust accompanied by crunchy renkon and sweet crunchy sweet potato?

Grilled miso-marinated "Gindara" 銀鱈 sable fish or black cod topped with mushrooms and chestnuts. This one was "off the charts". The fish was succulent, melted in the mouth and was covered with a wonderful sauce surrounded by complementary mushrooms.

The sushi section of the box shown below included Nigiri-zushi 握り寿司 included ikura, Maine uni, "anago" sea eel, "aji" horse mackerel (upper row, left to right), "kohada"gizzard shad, bluefin tuna "chutoro", " madai" Japanese snapper, King salmon, and kampachi  (middle row, left tp right), Negitoro roll and rainbow roll with spicy tuna in the center (bottom row, left to right). All of it was excellent. It was also quite a substantial meal. No one would walk away from this hungry; it would satisfy even the heartiest eater in the crowd. (remember we got two sets of this since we ordered boxes for two which is a minimum order).

The regular kaiseki box is quite different from the special kaiseki box but we really quite enjoyed it. Nonetheless, although it is a bit more expensive, our absolute favorite and top choice remains the "tokubetsu" or special kaiseki box. The regular Sushi Taro kaiseki box, however, would, definitely be the next runner-up.

Eggplant gyoza 茄子餃子

Last weekend I made gyoza 餃子. As usual, I used the trimmings from pork tenderloin. I made up a batch using wonton skins but I had more gyoza stuffing leftover. Then, I saw a Japanese recipe using thin slices of eggplant instead of Wonton or Gyoza skin. Since I happened to have a Japanese eggplant (one we can get here is a small diameter elongated eggplant. I only rarely see the other varieties of eggplant available in Japan such as "Kamo-nasu" 賀茂茄子 or "Mizu-nasu" 水茄子).  So, I made gyoza with this eggplant. A small amount of gyoza stuffing still remained after I made this dish so I stuffed a fresh shiitake mushroom to finish it up. I served this with some veggies as a starter one evening.

Since only enough leftover stuffing for one shiitake mushroom, I served three eggplant gyoza and half each of the shiitake gyoza. The veggies are sliced cucumber dressed in sushi vinegar 胡瓜の酢の物, skinned Campari tomato with sesame dressing トマトの胡麻和え, braised crunchy cauliflower モンパルナスのカリフラワー and sugar snap in salt broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし.

Ingredients:

Gyoza stuffing is my usual. Hand chopped pork tenderloins trimmings, boiled and chopped cabbage, chopped scallions, garlic, ginger, seasoned with sesame oil, salt, and soy sauce. As I mentioned this was the leftovers after making regular gyoza.
One Japanese eggplant (one with small diameter and very long),
Potato starch (Katakuri-ko 片栗粉).
Peanut oils and sesame oil for frying

Directions:
Skin the eggplant using a peeler on both sides lengthwise, cut crosswise into 2 inch long pieces and then slice lengthwise into 3mm thick pieces and soak in about 5% salted water (#1) until the eggplant pieces get soft/limp (It took more that 30 minutes).
Drain in a colander and press using the back of a ladle to press out excess moisture and line them up on paper towels (#2) and press with another sheet of paper towel to blot.
Sprinkle potato starch or Katakuri-ko (#3)
Wrap the gyoza stuffing by folding the eggplant in half (#4).
Since I still had some gyoza stuffing left, I stuffed one fresh shiitake mushroom (#5)
Add 1tbs peanut oil and splashes of dark sesame oil in a frying pan on medium flame and place in the eggplant gyoza (#6).
After a few minutes when the eggplant is browned, turn it over and put on the lid for several minutes and finish with the lid off for 1 more minute (#8).

This time, the stuffing was well-seasoned and did not need any dipping sauce. This is not bad but both my wife and I prefer regular gyoza. We both missed the lovely crunch of the crispy wonton skin.

Red wine miso sauce with tuna cutlet 赤ワイン味噌ソースとマグロカツ

I thawed a block "saku" of low-grade yellowfin tuna sashimi. As usual, I tried to make some variation dishes. First I made "zuke" marinated tuna cubes with avocado very similar to one I posted. The second dish was imitation "negitoro " ネギトロ. These two dishes are very good with cold house sake "Tengu-mai"  天狗舞大吟醸.  The third dish I made was tuna cutlet マグロカツ.  I gave a twist to this dish by making a red wine miso sauce and serving it with our relatively new house red wine DAOU Vineyards “Pessimist” Red Blend 2018. I saw the sauce recipe in a digital version of the Japanese newspaper “Asahi “ 朝日新聞. The recipe was written by a sommelier. It is a reduced red wine with miso and he claimed that, with this sauce, the food will go well with red wine. He also suggested fried food would be the best with this sauce. I served tuna cutlet with this sauce accompanied with cucumber and cabbage “asazuke” 浅漬け as well as the cauliflower I usually make and skinned Campari tomato.

The reason I made this sauce was because one of the bottles of red wine we opened recently had a bit  of a musty taste/oder and we decided not to drink it. It was not corked but somehow the handling was not right since other bottles of the same wine were ok. Also we have had this wine so many time in the past with no problems.  In any case, I used a portion of this wine to make a chicken liver dish, a stew of leftover barbecued chicken, and this red wine miso sauce to finish the bottle. Once cooked, the wine lost its mustiness.

Ingredients
Red wine 200 ml
Red miso 2 tbs (I did not have red miso 赤味噌 and used “awase” miso 合わせ味噌)
Mirin 2 tsp
Rice vinegar 2 tsp
light colored soy sauce 2 tsp
Honey 2 tsp or more to taste

Directions
Reduce the red wine in half, dissolve the miso and add other ingredients and adjust sweetness to your liking by adding more honey.

I added more honey than indicated. I had to strain the sauce since it developed some sediments (due to vinegar?). I served it on the fried tuna and the fried taste completely dominated. We actually couldn’t taste the sauce at all. My wife, who never skimps when it comes to the application of sauces actually took to soaking her pieces of tuna in the sauce and said she still couldn’t taste it. Finally, in desperation she slurped it with a spoon and conceded it tasted very nice. I would have expected to at least taste the miso flavor but it was completely muted. I am not sure this may have been because I did not use red miso. In any case, this sauce did not have much flavor but we enjoyed the tuna cutlets with red wine. Since more sauce is left, I may add more miso to see if that will improve the flavor.

No Knead whole wheat bread 捏ねない全粒小麦粉パン

This is from Washington post's  free-bee digital baking cookbook. We made "No knead English muffin"  from this cookbook which was very easy and good. So we decide to try this second recipe from the same cookbook. It turns out this is the most rustic bread we've ever made (or even eaten for that matter). Later we learned this recipe is originally by Jim Lahey's cookbook "My Bread. The revolutionally no-work, no-knead method". So, we also got his book. Certainly, this bread looks nice, rustic and artisanal without kneading.

Cutting into it; a nice crust and very "hole-y".

Ingredients:
300 grams (2 1⁄4 cups) bread flour, plus more for the work surface
100 grams (3/4 cup) whole-wheat flour
1 1⁄4 teaspoons table salt


1⁄2 teaspoon dried instant yeast

300 grams (1 1/3 cups) cool water (55 to 65 degrees)
Wheat bran or cornmeal, for dusting (may use additional flour)

I weighed the flours and water. I used yellow corn meal for dusting.

Directions:
Step 1: Stir together the flours, salt and yeast in a medium bowl. Add the water; use a wooden spoon or your hands to mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let the mixture sit at room temperature until its surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough has more than doubled in size, 12 to 18 hours.

Step 2: Generously dust a work surface with flour. Use a rubber spatula or lightly floured hands to scrape the dough onto the surface in one piece. Use your lightly floured hands to lift the edges of the dough up and in toward the center. Gently pinch the pulled- up dough together, cupping the edges in your hands as needed to nudge it into a round (don’t worry about making it a perfect circle).

Step 3: Place a clean dish towel on your work surface; generously dust the towel with wheat bran, cornmeal or flour. Gently place the dough on the towel, seam side down. If the dough feels sticky, dust the top lightly with more wheat bran, cornmeal or flour. Fold the ends of the towel loosely over the dough to cover it. Place the dough in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it has almost doubled in size. When you gently poke the dough with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for an additional 15 minutes.

Step 4: About half an hour before you think the second rise is complete, position a rack in the lower third of the oven and place a 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart heavy Dutch oven or pot with a lid in the center of the rack. Preheat to 475 degrees. Use pot holders to carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven, then lift off the lid. Uncover the dough. Quickly but gently invert it off the towel and into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution — the pot and lid will be very hot.) Cover with the lid; bake (lower rack) for 30 minutes.

Step 5: Remove the lid; continue baking until the loaf is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. (If you like a more precise measure, the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the bread registers 200 to 210 degrees.) Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly before serving or storing.

Certainly, looks great.

It was still warm when we sliced off a piece, buttered it and tasted it. This may be too crusty and rustic for us. The crust was extreme and almost felt like it broke into shards when we crunched it. It also didn't seem to have much flavor. My wife commented that it would make a nice crouton to dunk into  hardy stews or soups but not the first choice for breakfast with coffee. Certainly some liquid is required and wine alone was not enough to enjoy this bread.

The next day, we had a toasted slice of this bread with cauliflower parmesan potage (similar to what we posted), and a small salad as a lunch and it was great! Somehow resting overnight made the bread much better. The crust, while crunchy, was not as hard and the overall texture of the bread had improved. The toasty flavor of the whole wheat flour really shone through.  So what was the lesson learned here? We were clearly too hasty busting into this bread before it had cooled enough. It needs to rest at least until fully cooled or, at best, one day to mature to its full potential--and it is well worth the wait.  This is definitely a very good bread to have.

Subsequently, reading Jim Lahey's cookbook we found the following passage which confirmed what we stumbled upon and mentioned above. "After the bread is removed from the oven there is a final step in the process. The cooling step is crucial. Thorough cooling actually completes the cooking of the dough and when you slice a hot loaf you are releasing heat and moisture prematurely. The bread will taste under baked and wet."

Three "otoshi" appetizers お通し３種

There is nothing really new in this line up. These are the three starters we had one evening.

The left and below are Fried salmon in sweet vinegar 鮭の南蛮漬け.  I added salt-broth soaked snap peas スナップ豌豆の塩びたし.

Digression alert: because of social distancing during the covid-19 crisis I have not been able to go to the Japanese grocery store and I was running short of rice vinegar. I bought what I thought was rice vinegar at the regular grocery store but it turned out to be basil and oregano flavored rice vinegar (?!!) I used it in this dish anyway and it actually added a very nice flavor dimension that was an interesting twist on the traditional. We actually liked it. I may have to stock in basil flavored rice vinegar...heaven forbid.

In the dish below I used brazed crunchy cauliflower モンパルナスのカリフラワー炒め, blanched broccoli with sesame sauce ブロッコリの胡麻よごし, and Japanese style omelet with "aonori" 青海苔入りだし巻き.

This dish is braised cabbage, onion, and strips of agura-age or deep dried tofu pouch seasoned with soy sauce and mirin, I posted similar ones with daikon green.

All simple Izakaya affairs but perfect opening of the evening with cold sake.