Fig and Edible Chrysanthemum Salad 無花果と春菊の甘酢あえ

A few days ago, we got some mission figs. Since figs tend to get moldy rather quickly, I processed them meaning I quartered them and then marinated them in Triple Sec (this is our standard method for prolonging the shelf life of many fruits). Since we had a lot of other fruit (especially grapes) to eat, we forgot about the figs for a while. When I checked, they were still good thanks to the liquor. Instead of eating them as is, I made this small salad with edible chrysanthemum. This was inspired by this blog I follow. The edible chrysanthemum is from Weee. Some time ago, we got it for sukiyaki but somehow we did not have the sukiyaki. So, I blanched and froze it. I thawed and used it for this dish. The fig was quite nice and sweet which made this dish.

This is not a quite a recipe but I used my home-made sweet vinegar and a dash of x4 concentrated noodle sauce for dressing. I served this one evening as part of an “Otsumami” drinking snack line-up. The figs were sweet and slightly sour from the vinegar in the dressing with a slight crunch from the seeds. The chrysanthemum provided a slightly bitter contrast that added to the overall complex flavor of the dish.

Marinated “Tsukemono” Daikon 大根漬物

We got 2 medium size daikon from Weee. From half of one daikon I made two dishes; tuna and daikon ツナ大根 and dried persimmon and daikon in sweet vinegar 干し柿の大根なます. I made this dish from the other half. This is a type of tsukemono 漬物 (salted/pickled vegetable) but it uses quite a large amount of sugar besides salt and vinegar. When I saw this recipe on-line, I was a bit skeptical about the result but this is surprisingly good and we finished half a daikon in two sittings. I used frozen Yuzu citrus zest as well (see below).

I have seen similar recipes in which both salt and sugar were used but this one appears simplest.

I converted the Japanese tbs=15ml and tsp=5ml to grams but this may have increased both the sugar and salt amount as compared with the original recipe but it still came out OK.

Ingredients:
1/2 medium-size daikon radish, peeled, cut in half,

Marinade
25ml rice vinegar
15grams salt
120grams sugar
10 ml sake
Yuzu zest

Directions:
Mix the marinade. The amount of sugar is quite large and the marinade is slush rather than liquid
Add the marinade and the daikon into a Ziploc bag, remove the air as much as possible
Put it in the refrigerator, turning once or twice a day. After a few hours, the moisture from the daikon made the marinade completely liquid and clear (see below)

This dish was subtly very appealing; slowly growing on you. The daikon had a very pleasing crunch; not the hard not too soft. The slight sweetness of the sugar contrasted with the slight sourness of the vinegar and completely permeated the daikon. The original daikon spicy flavor peeked through at the very end of the bite. The added Yuzu zest was like icing on the cake adding yet another dimension of citrus. No wonder we consumed the whole thing in only 2 sittings.

Tuna and Daikon salad ツナ大根

We found two cans of albacore tuna in our pantry. We are not a fan of canned tuna and I am not sure why we have it; something to do with the start of COVID and the various food shortages, particularly of protein that occurred at that time. In any case, I saw a recipe on YouTube which combined daikon 大根 and canned tuna ツナ缶. I was not sure how this would work but I had just got two whole daikon from Weee. So I had to try this recipe. We first tasted the tuna as is. It was very dry and not great tasting but my wife said the only way to save this tuna was with the addition of mayonnaise.  This made me think that  this recipe could work after all. I slightly deviated from the original recipe.

Ingredients:
1 can of tuna (I used albacore tuna in water but the original recipe used tuna in oil)
1/4 daikon, peeled, sliced and julienned
salt

For dressing
2 tbs mayonnaise
2 tbs Greek yogurt
1-2 tsp soy sauce or x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce
1/4 tsp yuzu kosho (optional)
1/2 tsp “aonori” dried sea weed flakes (optional)

Directions:
Add salt to the daikon, knead and let it stand for 10 minutes
Squeeze out as much moisture as possible
Add the mixture of the mayo and Greek yogurt
Add the soy sauce and taste. If needed add more.
Add aonori and yuzu kosho if using..

This is a surprisingly good dish. If you are not told you couldn’t guess it has daikon in it. Even the tuna added some flavor helped by the dressing. This is definitely a very easy dish to make as well. Perfect for a drinking snack or a small side dish.

Chestnut Flour Cake with Persimmons and Buttermilk チェストナッツフラワーと柿のケーキ

This is an another cake my wife made from the new chestnut flour.   She came across the recipe using chestnut flour, persimmons, and buttermilk. Since we happened to have all these ingredients, she went for it. The cake was very moist and had nice chestnut flavor but the persimmon flavor is very subtle (i.e. not discernible at all). It was not too sweet and perfect for breakfast.

Ingredients:
172 grams chestnut flour
148 grams or 5.2 ounces of persimmon puree. *
1/2 cup buttermilk (we used my wife favorite buttermilk from Harrisburg dairies.)
3 eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup melted unsalted  butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
generous pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder

* The persimmon came from Weee (#1 below). They are “Fuyu” 富有柿 (which is pronounced “fuyuu” meaning “wealthy”) variety and are called chocolate fuyuu because of the dark brown color of the fruit. They were not expensive but they were small with seeds. (Most commercially grown Fuyu persimmons are seed-less). They were irregular in shape with dark blemishes which made them look like they came from somebody’s backyard tree. But when ripened they are very good with pudding-like consistency and sweet. Only problem was that it was very difficult to remove all the seeds/stones.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Butter 9" cake pan. (Having learned from our previous experience with the chestnut flour cake we added a buttered piece of parchment paper to the bottom of the pan and the cake came out of the pan with no problem) 
Puree the persimmon and set aside (#2). Sift chestnut flour to remove any larger bits/chunks.
Mix dry ingredients in bowl and set aside. Using either an electric mixer or a bowl whisk and beat the eggs. Add other wet ingredients. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until fully incorporated (#3).
Pour batter into buttered pan and put into pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes, until the cake is firm in the middle and a toothpick pulls out clean. Remove from oven and cool on baking rack for at least 30 minutes before serving (#4). We reheated in the microwave for 15 seconds (First picture).



This cake was very moist, slightly sweet with a dense texture. The nutty chestnut flavor came through but we couldn’t identify any persimmon taste. This was a very good addition to breakfast.

Castanaccio Pugliese (Chestnut Flour Cake) カスタナチオ

We like pancakes for breakfast sometimes. One of the unusual ones we like to make is chestnut flour pancake”. Since we are now in the chestnut season, we decided to have the chestnut flour pancake for breakfast one weekend. We keep all exotic and whole grain flours including the chestnut flour in a small freezer in the basement. When my wife got it out, she realized its BUB (best used by) was in 2015. It smelled ok. We went ahead and made the pancakes which were very good but even by our standards this flour was a bit too far past its BUB. We decided it is the time to buy a new batch. We got a couple of bags of chestnut flour and my wife looked for some new recipes to use it. She came across this recipe for chestnut flour cake on-line. Actually, she made a chestnut flour cake with the same Italian name “Castagnaccio” previously. But that cake was quite different from this one. It was very savory and did not use any leavening agent, or sugar but did use fresh rosemary which provided good flavor. Overall, however, we were not crazy about it because it was rather dry and crumbly. The new recipe she found must be a variation of an Italian generic cake called castagnaccio. In any case, the major differences are this cake uses a leavening agent, sugar and coco powder. Instead of herbs such as rosemary this used a combination of nuts and candied fruit. It is much thicker as well. This version is more suitable for breakfast or dessert than the previous version which was more savory and as the original recipe suggested “should be washed down with red wine”. The common thing is that both cakes are quite crumbly. (We ended up eating both of them as crumbs with a spoon.)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups chestnut flour
1/3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
2 tablespoons honey, plus more for serving
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup of Harry and David’s medley of candied fruit. (The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup raisins and 1/2 cup dried cranberries, plumped in 1/4 cup warm water or wine - preferably Vin Santo).
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1/3 cup roughly chopped toasted walnuts (As added measure we added chopped chestnuts)
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Prepare a 9-inch cake pan (The original recipe suggested lightly greasing it with olive oil but we had trouble getting the cooked cake out of the pan. We suggest next time greasing the bottom of the pan and adding a layer of greased parchment paper.)
Toast the pine nuts and walnuts. In a large bowl, swift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, honey, eggs and milk. Slowly pour the liquids into the dry ingredients, whisking very well to avoid lumps. The batter should be smooth and a bit liquid. Add the nuts and dried fruit. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 35 minutes, or until the cake begins to puff slightly and the middle is set. Remove from the oven and cool completely before removing from pan.
Dust lightly with confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder and serve with some warm honey.

We found it was difficult to remove the cake from the pan. A portion of it stuck to the pan and crumbled. (See the picture below). (Next time, we will use buttered parchment paper on the bottom of the pan). Even the portion that came out in one piece was difficult to cut into wedges since it kept crumbling. The only good thing was that even the crumbs tasted good.

Although eaten in crumbs this cake was very good. The chestnut flour added a nuttiness to the overall chocolate flavor. The pine nuts, walnuts and dried fruit added little bursts of flavor and texture. The dried fruit was particularly nice because it added a burst of sweetness. Interestingly, over time the chestnuts we added became rock hard and we had to be careful to remove them from every mouthful. We liked this cake better than the previous version my wife made. It would just be nice if it did not disintegrate into crumbs.

Eggplant and Jalapeño Pepper Braised in Miso なすとハロペニョペッパーの味噌炒め

This is another eggplant dish using an Asian eggplant. This was inspired by a recipe I saw on-line but I significantly deviated from it. It is miso flavored and makes a pretty good drinking snack.

Although I used jalapeño pepper, it is not hot (I carefully seeded and deveined them).

Ingredients:
One Asian eggplant, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced crosswise into 1/4 inch thick pieces, immediately soak in salted water for 5-10 minutes, drain and pat dry
2 jalapeño peppers, halved lengthwise seeded and deveined, cut in julienne on bias
1 tbs light olive oil for sautéing

Seasonings, premixed
2 tbs miso
2 tbs mirin
2 tbs dashi broth (or chicken broth)

Directions:
Sauté the eggplant and jalapeño pepper with the oil for several minutes on medium heat, add the seasoning mixture and put the lid on and turn down the heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the heat to medium high and stir until most of the liquid evaporates. I tasted it hot but served it cold.

This dish has a very pleasing complexity of flavors and textures. The eggplant is soft and nicely contrasts with the somewhat crunchy texture of the jalapeno. The miso flavor plays nicely against the fresh green pepper taste of the jalapeno which tastes fresh not hot.

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.