Kabocha Blini かぼちゃビリーニ

Recently, in keeping with the fall season, we got a whole Japanese “Kabocha” 南瓜 squash from Weee, I made the classic Japanese stewed kabocha かぼちゃの煮物 and potage かぼちゃのポタージュ.  Both dishes were great mainly because of the quality of the kabocha was extremely good—very tender (not dry and chalky) and slightly sweet. After some time, we had some of the potage left. My wife decided to make “Kabocha blini” from it. This turned out to be pretty good. It has a nice yellow color, moist inside crispy outside. The kabocha flavor is subtle but it’s there. This is a good blini variation.

Ingredients: makes 12 blini
2 cups kabocha puree (or in this case thick soup/potage)
6 tbs melted butter
3/4 cup cream
6 large eggs, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup + 4 Tbs. cake flour
1 Tbs + 1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
may need additional liquid to bring the batter to the consistency of pancake batter.

Directions:
In a bowl add the kabocha puree, melted butter, cream and eggs. Stir until well blended. Then add the flours, baking powder, and salt and whisk until well blended. (You may need to add some additional liquid so the batter is the consistency of pancake batter.)

Melt 1 Tbs. butter. In a cast iron platar, brush some of the melted butter to grease each of the platar cups before adding the batter. Pour the batter into the cups until they are full using the largest ice cream scoop. Cook over moderately low heat, turning once, until set, about 5 minutes or more per side. Repeat with the remaining butter and batter.

These were remarkably good. They had a tender texture, were slightly sweet and had a lovely subtle kabocha flavor. They tasted great toasted and topped with butter. This just proves the possibilities for blinis are limitless.

Indian Pudding インディアンプディング

This is another of my wife’s baking projects. Although my wife is not PA Dutch, she grew up in rural Pennsylvania and is very fond of the PA Dutch dishes she ate as a child. As a result she has collected quite a few PA Dutch cookbooks. While she was browsing through the cookbooks, she found this recipe called “Indian Pudding”. ** This was one of her favorite childhood desserts and she had not tasted it in years, so she decided to make it. I found this to be a somewhat unusual dish—I had never tasted anything like it before. But it was a success and quite enjoyable as a dessert (#1). It has a nice but not too strong molasses flavor combined with a complexity of cinnamon, and ginger spices plus a burst of sweetness from the raisins. The consistency is like an extremely wet cake referred to as “pudding” consistency. While this was new to me I see why my wife likes it and now I do too. 

** Indian pudding originated with New England colonists in the 17th century, who adapted a traditional British "hasty pudding" to incorporate cornmeal, a staple crop learned from Native Americans. The name refers to the colonists' term "Indian meal" for cornmeal, not to the modern country of India. It became a quintessential American dessert, especially popular during the colonial era.

Ingredients:
(X1)
1/4 cup cornmeal 
1 cup milk, scalded 
1/2 tablespoon butter 
1/8 cup table molasses (1/16 molasses, 1/16 karo), 
1/3 cup raisins 
1 large egg, lightly beaten 
1 tablespoons granulated sugar 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger 
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1 cup milk 

(X2)
½ cup cornmeal
2 cups milk, scalded
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup table molasses (golden, barrel, or King Syrup), do not use baking molasses
⅔ cup raisins
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Stir cornmeal into hot milk with whisk, stirring until smooth. Add butter, molasses, raisins, egg, sugar, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. Blend thoroughly and let stand until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Pour into buttered 1-quart baking dish. Top with remaining cup(s) milk. Bake for 1 1/2 hours  (2 hours if double recipe) or until set. I used the small square corning bake dish. Serve warm.

We were not sure how the milk poured on top would work out. But as the picture we took while it was in the oven shows (#2) it eventually formed a crust topping which added another dimension of texture to the overall dish.

This is a picture of the final product (#3). Isn’t it a beaut?

This is a homey, hearty, savory dessert. It somehow evokes the image of a comfort food on a cold winter’s night. This was truely an old friend rediscovered for my wife and a new friend met for me.

Japanese Cucumber with “Sudachi” Miso 酢橘味噌胡瓜

This was the second  time we got fresh Japanese produce from Suzuki Farm. Last time, we got green yuzu or “ao-yuzu 青柚子” and made “yuzu miso 柚子味噌”. Japanese citrus for cooking include “Kabosu かぼす”, “Yuzu 柚子” and “Sudachi 酢橘” (the differences between these three citrus are  described in English in the linked website.) (They are also summarized below. **) This time we got “sudachi”.  “Sudachi” is the smallest of the aforementioned three Japanese citrus. I have not tasted “sudachi” before but I have seen it used with grilled “さんま” pacific saury” and “sudachi-soba 酢橘蕎麦”. In any case, I made “sudachi miso すだち味噌” and enjoyed with Japanese cucumber (chilled in ice water). I also served salmon belly with crispy  skin (dried over night in the refrigerator). Sudachi indeed has different flavor more complexed herbal flavor and more gentle acidity as compared with yuzu. We really liked the “sudachi miso”. Of course, well-chilled japanese cucumber is really great with this miso.

** Summary of the differences between the various Japanese citrus 
Sudachi 
Region: Tokushima Prefecture (accounts for 97% of Japan’s sudachi production) 
Season: August to October 
Flavor: Milder sourness, fragrant and less bitter than kabosu 
Best Uses: Topping grilled mackerel, soba noodles, matsutake mushrooms, and other fall dishes 

Kabosu
Region: Oita Prefecture (produces over 90% of Japan’s kabosu)
Season: August to October
Flavor: Well-balanced sourness with a juicy punch
Best Uses: Grilled fish, dipping sauces, hot pot, vinegared dishes, salad dressing

Yuzu
Region: Mainly Kochi Prefecture
Season: Green yuzu from August–October, yellow yuzu from November–December
Feature: Intense fragrance due to "yuzunone" aroma compounds
Best Uses: Zest for aroma, yuzu baths, yuzu marmalade, ponzu sauce

Prefer mild sourness for Japanese-style meals? → Sudachi
Want lots of juice and versatile sourness? → Kabosu 
Looking for a strong aroma with zest appeal? → Yuzu

The combination of chilled  Japanese cucumber with sudachi-miso served with crispy skin salmon belly is great.This is not a recipe but just a description of how I prepared the “sudachi-miso”.

Ingredients:
4 tbs of Saikyo miso 西京味噌 or other type of miso (I think sweet white miso like Saikyo-miso is the best)
2 tbs of sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
2 sudachi
2 tbs mirin (or more to make the desired consistency.

Directions:
Using a micro-grater, grate the zest of the sudachi (skin is thin so be gentle).
After the zest is grated, squeeze the juice of the sudachi into a small bowl and set aside.
In a small bowl, add the miso, sugar, sudachi zest and juice and mirin and mix well.
If too stiff, add more mirin

Although “yuzu-miso 柚子味噌” is most common, we really like “sudachi-miso 酢橘味噌. We would like to try this for other dishes such as topping simmered daikon or “furofuki-daikon ふろふき大根.

Cheese Pennies チーズ (ペニー) バタークッキー

This is one of my wife’s appetizer projects. This is a savory and cheesy butter biscuit. The recipe came from the King Arthur.

Ingredients
2 cups (227g) sharp cheddar cheese, grated (Or any combination or cheese that may be available. We used sharp cheddar, smoked gouda, and parmesan.)
8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (180g) All-Purpose Flour
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
paprika, optional

Directions:
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients to make a cohesive dough, sprinkling in a tablespoon or so of water if the dough doesn't seem to want to come together. As soon as the dough starts to come together, turn off the mixer and gather it into a rough ball. Transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a 16" log about 1 1/2" in diameter (#1). Wrap the log in waxed paper or plastic wrap, and chill it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Using a serrated knife, slice the log crosswise into 1/8" rounds (#2). Place them on an ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving only about 1/2" between them; they won't spread much as they bake. Sprinkle them with a bit of paprika. Bake the cheese pennies in a preheated 400°F oven for 11 to 13 minutes, or until they're just beginning to brown (#3). Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool on the pan for several minutes before transferring them to racks to cool completely.

These are cheesy, slightly salty with hits of spices from mustard and cayenne pepper. This is a good appetizer that goes well with red wine but it is not a dessert. We really like it.

Salmon Shrimp Pâté with Shiitake 椎茸入り鮭とエビのパテ

About 3 years ago, at the recommendation of my wife’s sister who used to live in the Philadelphia area before moving to California, we stumbled across an old cookbook called “Frog Commissary Cookbook”. In its hey day, this cookbook was a “must-have” especially in the Philadelphia area.

We completely forgot about this cookbook until a few days ago when my wife was looking through our blog for an “Appetizer” to make and she came across “Salmon and scallop pâté”.  We realized the recipe came from this cookbook. My wife quickly located the book and we started looking through the recipes. My wife found a few she would like to try. (You may expect to see them here at some later date.) We remembered that the salmon scallop pâté was quite good. So, I decided to make the pâté again but realized we did not have any scallops and we did not have any spinach to make the center layer. But we did have shrimp which I could substitute for the scallops and a cooked shittake mushroom/shallot mixture which I could substitute for the spinach used in the center of the pâté (#1B).  Making the layers this way was much easier than the original recipe. I served the salmon shrimp pâté with a wedge of Myer lemon and leaf of arugula from our window sill veggie garden (#1).

In the original recipe, the center is spinach and scallop mousse (#1B). Although it looks nice it is more work than my current variation and the spinach didn’t really add much flavor. In terms of texture, the original salmon/scallop version was a bit softer. But the scallops basically only contributed to the texture not the taste; The main flavor was salmon. In my salmon/shrimp version, you definitely taste the shrimp.

Ingredients:
(The original recipe was essentially restaurant sized and too large for our home consumption. When I made it last time, I scaled it down to 1/4 of the original amount which made one small loaf of  pâté. This time I essentially halved the original amount and made two loaves of pâté).

175 grams salmon, skin removed and cut into small cubes.
175 grams shrimp, shell removed and cut into small cubes.
1 whole egg (Original recipe called for just the egg white.)
120 ml cream (I used light cream, the amount of cream depends on the consistency of the mousse. You want a consistency that is not quite “pourable” but not too loose.)
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper (to taste)
14 ml brandy

(for the center layer)
4 tbs of minced and sautéed shiitake mushrooms (mostly chopped up stems) and shallots*

*When we get fresh shiitake mushrooms from Weee, I remove the stems and small caps and chop them up into small pieces. I sauté them in olive oil with finely chopped shallots seasoned with salt and pepper. This can be used in many other dishes such as meat balls, risotto etc. I put the remaining whole caps into a Ziploc bag with a paper towel. This keeps them fresh much longer than if left in the original packages.

Directions:
Add the salmon, shrimp, egg, and about the half of  the cream into a food processor (I used a mini-food processor) and make a smooth mousse. Add more cream to get the right consistency and season the mixture.

(for the center layer)
Take 1/3 of the salmon shrimp mousse and add the shiitake-shallot mixture and blend well.

I made the pate in 2 small loaf pans (14x6.5x5cm) (I used a silicone pan. No need to oil or line it with a parchment paper). Fill the bottom of one of the the pans with 1/4 of the salmon-shrimp mousse and smooth the surface with a silicon spatula (#2 right) and top it with half of the mushroom mousse to form the center layer (#2 left). As was done with the bottom layer smooth the mushroom layer with the spatula. Add another 1/4 layer of the salmon-shrimp mousse to form the top layer and smooth the surface (#3). Repeat the process for the second pan. Cover the loaf pans with aluminum foil.

I preheated the oven (I used the toaster oven in a convection mode) to 350F.

I placed the loaf pans in a larger baking pan with a high rim. Poured hot water to the middle of the depth of the loaf pans (bain-marie) and cooked for 35 minutes (internal temperature of 135F).

Un-mould and let it cool (#4).

Slice (#5) showing the center mushroom layer.

As far as I was concerned, this was as good as the original salmon-scallop pate. (My wife said she liked it better because in the original version the spinach layer didn’t “bring much flavor to the show”. In contrast the mushrooms in this version added a lot of complexity to the flavor which was very good. This version was also a bit firmer in texture and had a lovely shrimp flavor. The only mistake I made was salt. I pre-salted the mushroom mixture and also shrimp after thawing. All this accumulated and the pate was a lightly salty side for our taste but still extremely good. We had this without sauce or just with lemon juice which was all it needed.