Blini with sour cream and olive ビリニのサワークリムとオリーブ乗せ

After our recent “mini bite” of American Sturgeon caviar from Catalina, we found ourselves with nearly 3 dozen leftover blinis. While the experience evoked a strong desire to rush out and procure some more caviar to go with the blinis that was not possible. As an alternative my wife came up with the idea a “vegetarian” caviar made from black (oil cured) and green olive tepanade. You may wonder, as I did, what the thought connection was here but she explained that she was building on the taste combination of blini, sour cream and saltiness that is characteristic of caviar and blinis. In the past, we have had "fake" or "vegetarian" caviar* which was not too bad so we decided to try it.


I simply chopped up a mixture of green and black oil cured olives after removing the stones. As we did with the caviar, we heated up the blini and let it cool a little to prevent the sour cream from melting. Then I layered the sour cream (creme fraiche would have been better. Home-made creme fraiche is for another post) and added the olives.

This turned out to be really good. If it is not exactly like real caviar it is at least reminiscent of it. The saltiness and flavor of the olives really goes well with the blini and sour cream. We tried this with sake and it went remarkably well.

*Many years ago, a company in Glendale, CA made vegetarian caviar (from seaweed, I think) and we got it a few times but the company went out of business. I have seen "vegetarian" caviar advertised on some caviar selling websites. It appears to be same or a very similar item. We may try this in the near future.

Caviar on Blini キャビアとビリニパンケーキ

When I order sashimi from Catalina Offshore Products, I try to make the purchase worth more than the shipping. It is usually not difficult especially if I add a few trays of uni. The last time, however, they were out of uni. As a new item, they did have American sturgeon caviar (farm raised in California) and I ordered it.

To make the caviar experience authentic, we served the caviar with sour cream on blini pancakes which we made for the occasion.


At one time, in the past, we were curious to find out what all the hype was about caviar. So we had several caviar tasting parties with our good friends to try different kinds. As a legacy of those good times we had the special caviar serving dish shown below. It was given to us by our fellow tasters and was quietly tarnishing in the cupboard since it has been quite some time since we used it. My wife found it, polished it up and used it to serve the caviar.

As you can see in the picture, unfortunately, the amount of the caviar was ridiculously minuscule. Yes, the entire contents of the package are on display there at the bottom of the serving dish. I should have checked the specifications more carefully. I don’t know what I expected (probably something closer to an ounce) but it certainly not just the 10 grams (0.35oz) we received. This is by far the smallest tin of caviar I have ever seen. For a similar or slightly higher price per unit, we could have gotten genuine Russian Beluga.



In any case, to make the blini, I followed the recipe by Emeril Lagasse. I am familiar with the method of using both yeast and baking powder to leaven bread but his recipe used yeast and then whipped egg whites. As usual, my wife made the batter following the recipe and I cooked the pancakes (with my left hand since I was still recovering from my surgery on my right hand).

Batter:
1 package (1/4-ounce) dry active yeast
3 cups milk, warm to 110 degrees F

1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature

2 egg yolks, beaten

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 egg whites, at room temperature and beaten until stiff

1/4 cup butter, for cooking

The only modification we made to the original recipe was to let the dry yeast proof. We did this by adding it to a small amount of  warm (110F) water with a pinch of sugar, letting it stand undisturbed for 10 minutes to make sure it was vigorously bubbling. Then we added the mixture to the milk and butter mixture, mixed in the egg yolks, flour, and folded in the stiff-peak whipped egg whites. I checked the consistency and added more water to make the batter loose enough to spread as shown below into just over 2 inch pancakes. (I found that I usually have to adjust the consistency of pancake batter to get it right, regardless of the recipe I use).



After 1 to 1 and half minutes on medium low heat, I flipped the pancakes and cooked them for another minute.


For libation, we opened a good California sparkling wine Mumm Napa "DVX" 2001. This is a good clear sparkling wine with some depth; green apple, melon and hint of yeast or bread-like flavor and fine bubbles. (The other picture shows the caviar package).



Although the taste of the American sturgeon caviar was very good and went perfectly with the blini, sour cream and the sparkling wine, it was a cruel tease. There was only enough for 4 very small servings if we stretched it. That was just enough to ignite our dormant appetite for caviar. My wife immediately pronounced that we had to go get some more. Since the blini batter made close to 3 dozen pancakes foraging for more caviar seems justified. The additional supplies, however, will have to come from some other source.

Indian-style potato soup with green peas インド風グリーンピーズとジャガイモのスープ

This is another one of my wife's Indian-style cooking but she added green peas deviating from the original recipe. The below is when we served this cold with small slices of Jalapeño pepper and freshly cracked black pepper. This is very nice soup either warm or cold. Once it is cold, the spices get muted but still a very nice soup for summer. I asked my wife to take over.


Ingredients:
4 potatoes peeled and cubed
2 medium onions chopped
Chicken stock to cover potatoes and onions
¾ inch slice of ginger
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
5 tbs. chopped cilantro
1/2 fresh jalapeno
Bag of frozen Hanover petite peas
¾ tsp salt
1 tbs. lemon juice

I sautéed the onions until they became translucent. I added the coriander and cumin and heated them until they became fragrant (i.e. until the flavors bloomed—this is my favorite part of Indian cooking the lovely smell of the spices as they come alive). Then I added the potatoes, ginger, and chicken juice. I simmered until the potatoes became soft. I took out the slice of ginger and discarded it. I put the soup mixture in a blender and added the cilantro and jalapeño and whirred until mixture became smooth. I then put the pureed mixture back into the sauce pan and added the frozen peas and heated until they thawed. I added the lemon juice at the end and thinned the mixture with milk to taste. (the original recipe adds the peas and blends them along with the onions and potatoes. I decided the put the peas in whole after pureeing the potato onion mixture to retain texture.)

This was a very flavorful and satisfying soup. The peas added a nice crunch with a little burst of sweetness.

“Nagaimo” marinated in garlic soy sauce 長芋のニンニク醤油漬け

I made this marinated Nagaimo 長芋 dish before my hand surgery and forgot to post it. I saw this recipe on the Internet (in Japanese). I made it and placed it in the refrigerator and promptly forgot it (old age). So this had been marinating for at least 4 days which made it a bit strong but it was quite a nice dish with sake or even white rice.



I followed the recipe but substituted "shochu" 焼酎 for white rum.

Nagaimo, skinned and cut in half lengthwise, and placed it in a ziploc bag (The amount is arbitrary).

Marinade: Garlic, thinly sliced (1 clove), dried Japanese red pepper, seeded and sliced (1, or red pepper flakes), soy sauce (3 tbs), rice vinegar (1/2 tbs), shochu (or white rum)(1/2 tbs) and dried kelp (about 1 inch square).

Pour the marinade into the Ziploc bag with the Nagaimo and remove as much air from the bag as possible so the nagaimo is completely bathed in the marinade.

I served this as a small drinking snack and also added the marinated kelp thinly julienned on the side. This is good with a nice crunchy texture. Because of the garlic, and length of time it was marinated it was rather strong. We would have preferred a shorter marinating time but as it is, it may be a good accompaniment with a white rice.

Indian-style chicken in a cilantro, spinach, and mustard sauce インド風鶏肉のマスタードソース

This is another one of my wife’s Indian-inspired chicken dishes. The recipe came from Madhur Jaffrey’s “Quick & Easy Indian Cooking”. We made some modifications especially instead of using whole spices such as whole cardamom pods, and sticks of cinnamon, we used the spices ground. The original recipe states that the whole spices are not to be eaten but once they are incorporated in the dish, they essentially disappear and we were a bit leery of swallowing them or chipping a tooth by crunching into them by mistake. In other recipes, we removed the whole spices after frying in oil but using the ground counter parts appear easier. We are sure this will be frowned upon. I asked my wife to take over from here.
Ingredients:
Chicken: We used thigh, 4 (about 2 and half lb) deboned, skinned and cut into large bit size.
Vegetable oil,  1/4 cup
3 bay leaves
Ground cardamom, 1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp
Ground cloves, 1/4 tsp
Red pepper flakes, to taste
(Ground cayenne pepper, black pepper in original recipe, but we did not add these because we thought it would make the dish too hot).
Salt, 1 tsp
Whole grain Dijon Mustard, 3 tbs
Yogurt, 6 tbs
Jalapeno pepper, 2, seeded and deveined (or leave them for hotter taste), finely chopped
Ginger, 2 tbs finly chopped
Raisin, 1/4 cup
Cilantro, fresh leaves, chopped, 2tbs
Spinach, 1 package (10 oz), steamed and chopped coarsely.

In a large skillet or frying pan, add the vegetable oil and bloom herbs and spices including the bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, red pepper flakes and salt. Once the spices were fragrant, I removed the bay leaves and added the jalapeno pepper, and then whole grain mustard. I added yogurt, 1 tablespoonful at a time and mixing well after each addition to develop the sauce. I added the spinach and the chicken (without browning as per my husband suggestion that it only make the oil splatter but does not add much in terms of the flavor). I put on a lid and simmered it for 30 minutes. I finished by adding the raisins and cilantro. The sauce became rather thick.

This is again very flavorful with layers of the many spices and cilantro but not too spicy hot and went perfectly well with cooked rice. We noticed, though, many spices such as cumin, cardamom, cloves are similar among many Indian dishes.

Indian-spiced deviled eggs インド風味のデビルドエッグ

This is another one of my wife's Indian-style dish. This may be my wife's modification to make deviled eggs and the original recipe might be somewhat different. Our good friend who passed away recently, used to make wonderful deviled eggs which prompted my wife to make her own deviled eggs and also bought a special plate for deviled eggs. Although it is rather old fashioned appetizer, I heard, it is making a comeback with new twists. So, this is her contribution to this trend; Indian-spiced deviled eggs". Here is one serving with my usual tomato flower.



Here is a dozen (or 6 whole eggs) on a serving platter.



Close up of the stuffing.

After I made poached eggs in spicy cream sauce. I had a lot of sauce left over. It was so good I had no intention of not using it. In addition, it had become very thick. Since the original recipe used it with eggs I got the idea of making “indian style” deviled eggs. I boiled up 6 eggs and cut them in half. I removed the yolks and mashed them with a fork. Then I added the sauce to the egg yolks until I achieved a consistence in which was thick enough to hold its shape when I put the mixture in the cooked egg whites. I used a small scoop to make the yolk mixture into a ball that fit into the cooked egg white.

This was a delicious variation on an old-tried-and-true favorite. It was interestingly spicy with many layers of flavor.

Poached egg with Indian-style sauce 落とし卵とインド風ソース

Recently, I had surgery on my right hand and ended up sporting a large cast which made it impossible for me to cook anything for several weeks. During this time, my wife did all the cooking (quite admirably, I might add, despite the dearth of Japanese dishes). Recently she has become interested in Indian food particularly the use and combination of spices that provide complex flavor without a lot of heat. Although we have posted her dishes before, I asked her to “pinch hit” for me posting her Indian-inspired and other dishes exclusively until I am back in action. This is the first installment. The Indian dishes are all based on recipes from two books; "Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking" and "Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking". In most cases she took considerable liberties with the recipes (our apologies to the cookbook’s author) but they still tasted good.

We had this for breakfast. It is a type of curry sauce with a poached egg on English muffin bread. (My wife also baked the bread. Instead of making round muffins she made it into a loaf). I think the original recipe called for the use of hard-boiled eggs but we like runny yolk. Of course, we used pasteurized shell eggs for this dish. Breaking the yolk and mixing it with the sauce and eating it with the bread (you’ll need a fork and knife) was wonderful. Again, it was very flavorful with lots of spices but not spicy hot. Perfect for breakfast or a late night snack.



Ingredients:
1 medium onion chopped
2 tsp grated ginger
1 jalapeño chopped
1 cup of light cream
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cumin seeds
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp garam masala
2 tsp. tomato paste
2/3 cup chicken stock

My wife cooked the onion until it was browned and caramelized. Then she added the ginger and jalapeño followed by the cream, lemon juice, cumin seeds, cayenne, salt, garam masala, tomato paste and chicken stock. She cooked the mixture until everything was combined and the sauce had thickened a bit. (The original recipe call for putting 6-8 hardboiled eggs, cut in half, face side up into the sauce and spooning the sauce over them cooking for 5 minutes). Instead, she toasted some english muffin bread, buttered it, put the sauce on the bread and topped it with a poached egg—voila, Indo-eggs Benedict (?). 

As I said earlier, when the poached egg was broken the yoke ran into and mixed with the sauce. It was a luscious combination because the sauce was not too hot (spicy) but full of flavor. The toast added a lovely crunch.

Barley salad 大麦のサラダ

This is a salad my wife makes as a “side” for lunches and we really like it. We made it recently and found out that we have not blogged it. This salad will go well with sandwiches or any Western-style entree but, it’s also a good drinking snack on its own.  This will go with red wine or sake.



There are many ingredients and we like them all together but you can omit or substitute. Besides the barley, Feta cheese, walnuts and onion are “musts”.

Barley: We used Quaker oats Medium pearl barley* (1 cup). My wife first dry roasted the barley in a dry frying pan until it started smoking. After it cooled down somewhat, she rinsed it under cold running water. (Although she would have rinsed the barley after roasting anyway, in this case the rinsing “put out the fire”)… despite the pyrotechnics the barley had a nice roasted flavor. This appears to add flavor and the step should not be skipped.

Instead of water, she used non-fat reduced salt chicken broth from Swanson. Following the recipe, she added 4 and 1/3 cup of liquid but, in retrospect, 4 cups would have been enough. At the end of 1 hour of simmering with a lid on, there was still liquid left and she strained the barley and then again washed it under the cold running water (to remove the "sliminess").

*My understanding of this product is that the outer hulls are removed, and grain polished (pearled) to remove bran on the surface. I am not sure about "Medium" designation (cooking time on the box was 40-45 minutes).

Onion: I finely chopped (two small).

Celery: I chopped celery finely after removing the veins (3 stalks).

Walnuts: My wife first roasted them in the toaster oven and removed the brown skin by rubbing between the dish towel and coarsely chopped (1/2 cup).

Olives: I used mixture of oil-cured black olives and spicy green olives, pits remove and coarsely chopped (amount arbitrary but about 1/2 cup combined).

Feta cheese: I crumbled a block of feta cheese (about 1/2 cup).

Parsley: finely chopped (the amount is arbitrary, I used 4 sprigs).

Dressing: mixture of olive oil, rice vinegar and Dijon mustard (about a 4:1:1 ratio).

I mixed all the ingredients and the dressing up and seasoned it with cracked black pepper. I tasted it and it had enough saltiness (from chicken broth in which the barley was cooked, olive and feta) and I did not add any salt.

This tasted better after sitting in the refrigerator for few hours since all the flavors will meld together. The barley has a nice texture and nutty roasted flavor, the walnuts provide additional crunch, and the olives give bursts of saltiness along with the feta. It’s a nice complex salad.

Addendum: 10/3/2022

I made barley salad. This time I cooked barley in an Instant Pot (which didn’t we didn’t have in 2014 when we first blogged this salad). This cooking method was much quicker than cooking on the stove and in additional there was no excess liquid.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup barley (Quaker oats pearled medium barley)

1 cup non-fat low sodium chicken broth (Swanson)

Directions:

My wife toasted the barley in the toaster oven (toasting mode) occasionally stirring until it became fragrant, and started the brown. (it also just start lightly smoking) (4-5 minutes)

Place the toasted barley in fine meshed strainer and rinse the barley with cold running water (it steams).

Place the barley in the Instant Pot, add the broth.

Cook it with high-pressure for 20 minutes (manual mode) and let it depressurize naturally after cooking.

This gives us perfectly cook barley with the liquid almost completely absorbed.

Marinated Salmon and salmon roe “Oyako” rice bowl 鮭のマリネといくらの親子丼

I still had some leftover Russian marinated salmon from the New Year. One evening I made this small "donburi" 丼 as an ending dish. In Japanese culinary parlance, "Oyako" 親子, meaning parents and offspring, denotes dishes in which both offspring (eggs) and parent (meat) are used in the same dish.  The most common is a combination of egg and chicken in a donburi called "Oyako donburi" 親子丼. Another rendition is the combination of salmon (grilled, cold smoked, or sashimi) and salmon roe "Sake Oyako donduri". Since I had marinated salmon and I prepared Ikura in sake and soy sauce a few days ago, I came up with this dish.



I just made vinegared rice, added nori strips and julienned perilla leaves, I then placed Russian marinated salmon and onion and topped it with Ikura in soy sauce and sake.

The combination of saltiness with vinegar flavor both from the rice and the marinated salmon works well.

"Kuromame" black beans in Greek yogurt 黒豆の水切りヨーグルト和え

Kuromame 黒豆 or "black beans" are practically only eaten as part of the New Year’s dishes. Reportedly, it is not related to Western "black beans" but are a type of black soybean (Recipe in English is also found here). I have not ever prepared New Year’s black beans myself but instead bought them from the Japanese grocery store. More recently, they have been included in Sushitaro Osechi.  Although we always enjoy kuromame on new year's day, we tend to forget we have kuromame and find them much later tucked in the back of the refrigerator. I saw an interesting recipe to use kuromame on the Internet and decide to try it.



I did not do a good job presenting this dish (some embellishment such as some parsley etc would have helped) but it is too late.



I used Greek yogurt (or you can drain regular yogurt to make “greek” yourself). Using my own instinct, I added a bit of good fruity olive oil and salt to the yogurt and mixed in the cooked black beans.

It tasted good but I  mainly tasted the Greek yogurt. The black beans added texture and some sweetness in contrast with the sourness from the yogurt. This is a good way to finish off the kuromame .

New Year's eve soba noodle from Sushi Taro Osechi 寿司太郎の年越しそば

This should have been posted earlier but somehow got delayed. New year's eve soba noodles or "Tosh-koshi soba"年越しそば appears to be a common custom in Japan (with about 57% of the population participating according to Japanese Wikipedia). When I was growing up, however, our household did not have this custom at all. We usually had a feast on New Year's eve that did not leave any room to eat soba even if we wanted to. It appears that the custom started in Edo period 江戸時代 for good luck/longevity (longevity because soba is thin and "long" and to "cut" bad fortune from the previous year as soba is brittle and easily can be cut). In any case, Sushi Taro Osechi also included hand cut or "teuchi" 手打ち "Toshikoshi soba". We were too full to eat this on the New Year's eve but we ate this as a  lunch on the second day of the New Year.



There appears to be many variations of toshikoshi soba (cold or hot in a broth etc), I made it to "zarusoba" ざるそば as you see above. ("Zaru" means "bamboo basket" as the noodles are served a special flat bamboo basket or in a special container like I used).

The Sushitaro soba came in a separate box with instructions. According to Chef Kitayama's description, it was made from specific soba and wheat flours produced in Hokkaido. A pieces of kelp and "Katsuobush" 鰹節 dried bonito flakes (real "MaCoy", probably shaving from the ends of the dried bonito or katsuobushi were included and were perfect to make dashi). I followed the instructions and prepared the soba and dipping sauce. For garnish, I served thinly sliced scallion and nori strips. I also added Japanese red pepper flakes ("Ichimi tougarashi" 一味唐辛子)



The noodles had a nice al-dente texture and we enjoyed it although it was not the "end-of-the-year" but "beginning-of-the-year" soba.

Kampachi collar dressed in grated daikon カンパチかまのみぞれ和え

The package of frozen amber jack collars I got from the fish for sushi contained three. I grilled all three in the toaster oven at the same time and served two. That left one over. A few days later, I decided to make this dish. I briefly warmed the fish up in the microwave oven and asked my wife to debone it (since she is the resident expert in this area).



I mixed the fish meat with grated daikon (drained), (the amount is arbitrary) and soy sauce. I garnished with finely chopped chives.

As a small starter dish, this is simple and good.

Grilled Amber Jack collar カンパチのカマ焼

One of our favorite dishes at Tako Grill is grilled "Hamachi" collar and whenever it is available we order it. We have found frozen Hamachi collar at the near-by Japanese grocery store but it happened only once. When we got frozen tuna and kampachi sashimi for "Fish for Sushi", they also had "Kampachi" collars カンパチのかま so we ordered them along with the sashimi fish.

Since it has been bitterly cold in Washington, DC, grilling these small items on a charcoal grill outside in the evening was out of the question. Not to be deterred, I decided to grill them in our toaster oven (on "broil" mode). Half way through the cooking, it started smoking. “Eau de Fish” started permeating the house. On my wife's advice, I hastily moved the entire toaster oven under the hood vent for the stove and turned the vent on high. The smoke cleared and I managed to finish the cooking (see below).  Next time, I will move the toaster oven under the hood from the start. (Born of necessity we actually found a method to cook other “smelly” items in the toaster oven such as roasted Brussels sprouts which taste good but leave the house smelling of sprouts for days.) I served this with grated daikon and wedges of lemon. It is not as oily as Hamachi but almost equally good. Since it is smaller than Hamachi collar, I served one each.



One package contained three collars (see below). I thawed them slowly in the refrigerator (for 2 days). I salted them and started cooking them on the meat side using the toaster oven on broil after 7 minutes I turned them over so it was skin side up. That’s when it started smoking. After moving the toaster oven under the hood, I continued broiling for another 7 minutes until the skin was crisp and brown and the meat was done.



Japanese kitchen stoves usually have a "fish grill" which appears to do a better job than my toaster oven. But we will be prepared next time, the toaster over will go under the hood the minute I even think of broiling fish.

A Pinot noir we can love with two curries 気に入ったピノノワールと合いがけカレー

We usually do not particularly like Pinot noir including Burgundy. (We are not sophisticated enough to enjoy the subtleties of these Pinots). But occasionally, we come across a Pinot we really like such as the one we had recently.  So I decided it was worthwhile to post something about it. This wine was a bit unusual for Pinot (may be that is the reason we liked it). It was unusually dark in color for a Pinot—it was almost dark like Cab. The wine is called "Belle Glos Pinot Noir" Clark and Telephone from Santa Barbara. The grapes are from the vineyard located at the corner of Clark and Telephone roads. This is a young wine (2012 harvest, 9 month aging in an oak cask). It bursts with dark cherry, blueberry, caramel and vanilla up front  leading to a smooth silky tannin. We can really enjoyed this Pinot.

The appetizers may not have been a perfect pairing for this wonderful California Pinot but the threesome I served were (from left to right); Indian spiced braised cabbage with raisins (my wife made this, a subject of a future post), baked spicy tofu cubes, and baked chick peas. These dishes were not too spicy hot but had layers of spice flavors. For the tofu dish, this time I used Sriracha which added a nice flavor and heat.

For dinner, we had two quite different curries which my wife made. These two curries were made for a dinner for our friends; a mixed population of vegetarians and omnivores but because of bad weather they weren’t able to make it to the dinner. The left "red" curry is  lamb curry and the right "green" curry is spinach curry. For the spinach curry, instead of home-made cheese curd, we used cubes of Feta and smoked gouda cheeses. In Japan, "Aikake" curry 合いかけカレー is rather popular in which two different curries are served over rice on a single plate. The idea is you first enjoy the two curries and rice individually and then mix them up to create a new flavored curry.

My being carnivore/omnivore, I liked the lamb curry better but the spinach curry was totally different in flavor and texture and was excellent. Both curries had complex layers of Indian spices but were not too spicy hot. For some reason, this Pinot really went well with these curries.

Tender simmered octopus 蛸の柔らか煮

When I made extra octopus legs to Galician octopus tapas, I also made a Japanese-style simmered octopus.



This is a rather simple recipe. I started simmering the octopus legs and head (body) in water with a dash of sake with an Otoshi-buta 落とし蓋 (see below) and a regular lid. I cooked it for over 1 hour before I seasoned the broth. I did not measure but added sugar first (1 tbs to about 3 cups of boiling liquid). I simmered it for 30 minutes and added soy sauce (about 1 tbs). I removed the lid and turned up the flame to low-medium and reduced the broth to 1/3 (took another 30 minutes).



The sauce became thick and clingy (The first picture). I cut  the cooked meat into bite sized pieces and served. We like this preparation better than Galician octopus. The meat became really tender after long hours of cooking. With this dish we congratulated ourselves for completely finishing the whole boiled octopus.

P.S. Once the simmer octopus was refrigerated, it got chewy again. heating up in the microwave did not improve.

Galician octopus tapas 蛸のガリシア風タパス

As I mentioned earlier, with a whole octopus in the house, we had a lot of octopus eating to do. As a result I had to come up with something totally different from my usual recipes. I was thinking of making "tapas" and looked for recipes. There are many "Galician" octopus recipes. Although they are essentially boiled octopus eaten with paprika and olive oil, how to boil the octopus ranges widely from just boiling it in plain water to boiling it in highly seasoned broth. I took a middle-of-the-road approach heavily influenced by Chef Eric Ripert's recipe.


I started with two legs of boiled octopus. I added salt (1/2 tsp), Fino sherry (1/2 cup), lemon (1/4, juiced), black pepper corns (5) and smoked paprika powder (1 tsp), and crushed garlic (2 cloves) into the water (3 cups) (below picture, left). I put on an "otoshi-buta" 落とし蓋 and then a regular lid and cooked it on a very low simmer for 1 and half hours (Picture below right).



When it cooled to room temperature, I sliced it rather thickly and sprinkled on smoked paprika powder and a good amount of good fruity olive oil (the first picture).

This was not bad but despite the long cooking, it was still a bit chewy. Initially I tasted some bitterness while it was hot, but the bitterness disappeared when it cooled to room temperature. Two of us quickly consumed the two good sized legs.  I don’t think I will buy octopus just to make this particular dish but if you should find your self in the position of having an excess amount of octopus, this is a good dish to try.

Japanese winter stew with octopus legs たこ入りのおでん

I posted that we got 2lb whole octopus for the New Year. I made this Japanese winter stew or "oden" おでん with the octopus. The way oden was made is exactly the same as my previous post, but I added the tips of the octopus legs on skewers to the oden. When octopus legs are cut for sashimi or other use, the tips remain. I usually cut the tips into small chunk or "butsu-giri" ぶつ切りand dress them with "sumiso" 酢味噌. I serve them as contrast in texture with the sliced octopus. This time, I decide to use the tips of the legs in oden.

As I add items to the oden pot, I usually end up having too much oden. So I restrained myself and did not add any fish cakes just the octopus legs, boiled eggs, tofu, daikon, konnyaku 蒟蒻, and shiitake mushroom.


This one small serving with a dab of Japanese hot mustard. Since I left the octopus legs for long time in the pot, they were rather tender and also imparted a nice “fresh ocean” flavor to the broth.


The picture below shows how I cut the tips of the legs and then skewered them. You do not have to skewer them but it looked nice and it prevents them from curling up when they cook.


This is a very good way of using tips of the octopus especially on a cold winter day.

Oyster Stew 牡蛎のシチュー

Oyster stew for Christmas eve dinner was a tradition for my wife’s family since she was a young girl. At some point, I do not know when, oyster stew became our Christmas eve dinner tradition too. It probably started when we lived in California and had access to large plump Pacific oysters. In any case, I made oyster stew from shucked oysters sold in a jar last Christmas eve. These oysters are not anything like the Pacific oysters we used to get but they are certainly good enough to enjoy.



The ultimate oyster stew especially when you can get high quality oysters (i.e can be eaten raw) is to heat up cream, butter, and the oyster liquor and poach the oysters briefly in the mixture then season with celery salt (so call Grand central station style). My recipe is more like oyster chowder but with enough butter and cream to make it still rather decadent.

Oyster: I use 12oz jar of shucked oysters which contained about dozen small to medium sized oysters.

I finely chopped onion (1 medium), celery (1-2 stalks). I sautéed them in a stew pot with melted butter (1 tbs) for a few minutes and added chicken broth (2 cups, the Swanson no-fat, reduced salt, kind), oyster liquor from the jar, and water (1 cup). If I had clam juice, I would have used that instead of chicken broth. I then added peeled and cubed white potatoes (2 large) and carrots (2-3, peeled and cut into similar size as the potatoes). When all the vegetables were cooked (15 minutes), I turned down the flame and added cream (I used light cream, about 1 cup). I brought the liquid just to the start of a boil, I added the oysters and gently cooked for another one minute. I tasted the stew and adjusted the seasoning (Kosher salt).

I served the stew with chopped Italian parsley and freshly ground white pepper. With the butter and cream, this is certainly rich enough for us. Even reheated the next day, this was not bad at all.

Candied duck liver and gizzard

The whole duck we rotissed for Christmas, came with most of its parts—the liver and gizzard tucked in its cavity. I decided to use these in a small appetizer which was inspired by the dish we had at Nojo restaurant in San Francisco. I think, for my first try, this was quite a success but it was a bit too sweet and I will need to further modify the recipe.



Duck liver and gizzard: For the liver, I removed any veins and fat from the surface and cut it into small bite sized pieces. For the gizzard, I removed the silver skin and sliced it rather thinly against the grain of the muscle.

Deep frying: I essentially made tempura. I first dredged the liver and gizzard. I made a rather thick tempura batter with cold water, cake flour and small amount of potato starch. I deep fried (350F vegetable oil) the pieces for a few minutes until they were cooked through and the crust was crispy and golden brown.

Sauce: I added honey (1tsp) and maple syrup (1/2 tsp) and water (2tbs) in a small frying pan over medium flame. After the honey and maple syrup blended, I added hot sauce (Sriracha). I added about 1/2 tsp but the amount is arbitrary and to taste. As the sauce reduced and thickened, I added the fried duck liver and gizzard and coated all the surfaces with the sauce (see the below picture).



This was quite good. The crust was very crispy and provided a nice crunch in contrast to the softness of the liver. Although the dish was a bit too sweet from the sauce, there was a nice slow heat from the Sriracha. The liver was good without any gamey flavor. I am sure I can do this with chicken livers. The gizzard was firm but added a nice contrast in texture to the liver. My wife usually does not like gizzard but this one she liked because of the thin slice. I may have to drizzle the sauce over the fried liver to make it less sweet next time.

Christmas rotissed dry-cured duck クリスマスのローテッサリーダック

Although Christmas is long over I am just getting around to posting this Christmas item. We are not particularly fond of turkey for the holidays (or, for that matter, any occasion). We usually substitute chicken for the turkey on Holidays but, for a change, we decided to try a whole duck this Christmas (We tried a goose many years ago and did not particularly like it). We also wanted to try our newly acquired  Rotisserie device for our Weber grill. After looking through some duck roasting recipes, I decided to do the salt dry rub cured method. The golden brown rotissed final product is shown below.



We also cooked potatoes (sweet and regular) in the drip pan (shown below).



Both the duck and potatoes (especially sweet potatoes) were excellent. The skin of the duck could have been crisper but the meat was moist and succulent. The self basting process by rotissing really made a difference.  As a test run and to compare my usual indirect method of cooking vs. rotissing, we first rotissed two chickens . My usual indirect method in Weber often makes the chicken legs a bit over cooked and dry. With the rotisserie method all the meat was uniformly cooked. The legs were not dry but very tender. The breast was ridiculously succulent. The only draw back was that the skin which is lovely and crisp using the indirect heat method (and is one of our favorite parts of roasted chicken) was not the least bit crispy and actually not particularly appetizing.

Preparation of the duck: I washed and pat dried the whole duck 2 days before Christmas. I rubbed about 1/2 tsp of Kosher salt each in the inside of the cavity, on the breast and legs, and on the back and wings. I placed it on a rack with a drip pan underneath. I placed this uncovered in the refrigerator for 2 days (#1).  After two days curing and drying in the refrigerator, some fluid dripped down and the skin looked "dry" especially on the breast side (#1). Using a tip of the knife, I pricked the skin of the breast to ensure rendered fat will flow out easily. I pushed through the rotisserie rod and secured the duck with prongs (#2 and 4). I used my usual indirect heat setting with two baskets on the side filled with lit charcoals (I used hardwood lump charcoal). I added soaked hickory chips to the charcoal baskets and turned on the rotisserie (I used the weight on the handle to balance the load so that the rotisserie turned smoothly). I doubled the drip pan, using a corrugated pan on the bottom and a flat bottom one on the top. I poked several holes in the upper pan and put in some potatoes (cut up in bite sized pieces). This was so that the duck fat could dip down and baste the potatoes then drip on through the holes in the top pan to prevent the potatoes from being soaked in the fat. The excess fat accumulated in the bottom pan—and there was a lot of it! (#4). We could have saved it for other recipes but didn’t “for health reasons”.


I cooked everything for 1 hour and 20 minutes and the meat in the thickest portion of the thigh reached 175F.

The duck fat dripped on the potatoes as they cooked so they were basted but not submerged by the fat. They were delicious—particularly the sweet potatoes. They were crispy on the outside and soft and sweet on the inside. They had a lovely smoky flavor. The duck was also very good. Like the chicken everything was uniformly cooked. The legs were very tender and were similar to duck legs we have eaten that were cooked using a confit method. The breast was lovely and succulent. Again, like the chicken, the skin was not crispy. Nonetheless, the next day my wife heated some of the duck leftovers including the skin in a frying pan. Amazingly the skin crisped up very nicely. Maybe that is a solution to the “crispy skin” issue with rotisserie cooking. We really liked the rottissed duck and the potatoes cooked with duck fat dripping on it. It was a feast worthy of a Holiday.

Kampachi cured with Kelp カンパチの昆布締め

Kampachi カンパチ is usually called "Amber jack" or sometimes "young" hamachi ハマチ which is young "buri" ブリ but appears to be different from the Hamchi/Buri family—confusing?. The taste of the meat is similar to Hamachi, albeit more delicate. We got this kampachi from a source that is new for us called "Fish for Sushi". I made "Kobu Jime" 昆布締め or kelp cured kampachi. This preparation results in a kampachi with a firmer texture and subtle but definitively  enhanced "Umami" flavor　



The kelp-curing technique is commonly used for white meat sashimi fish especially flounder but I thought it will be interesting to use it for kampachi. After thawing the fish completely (#1), I divided it into the loin and belly parts (#2). I thinly sliced the loin meat obliquely to get thin but larger pieces. I wiped the surface of the dried kelp sheet with a wet paper towel and placed the slices of kampachi on it (#3). I folded the kelp to completely cover the slices. I wrapped the kelp packet in plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator for several hours. When I opened it, the kampachi slices were almost transparent and the texture was firmer since the water had been drawn into the kelp and umami from the kelp infused into the fish (#4).



This is certainly a worthwhile preparation for kampachi.

Super-frozen Bigeye tuna sashimi and Kampachi 超冷凍メバチ鮪とカンパチのさしみ

As I mentioned in the boiled octopus post, we got super-frozen bigeye tuna and kampachi from a new place called "Fish for Sushi". The picture below shows the sashimi I served for New Year's eve along with the octopus we got from them.

The picture below is what I served in the evening on New Year’s day. Instead of regular daikon garnish I served daikon namasu 大根なます with ikura and also added kazunoko 数の子 with bonito flakes.

The fish came in a styrofoam box with plenty of dry ice.  The left in the picture below is super-frozen (bigeye) tuna and the right is "kampachi (belly loin). The instructions on how to thaw the tuna were slightly different from the ones listed on their website and on the label (temperature and duration of initial treatment). I followed the one on the package. The kampachi loin did not come with any specific instructions. So, I just thawed it quickly in the package soaked in running cold water. I wrapped both the tuna and kampachi in paper towels and placed on a plate in the refrigerator.



The kampachi thawed rather quickly but the tuna took more than 5 hours, probably better to leave it 12 hours (overnight). After it was thoroughly thawed, I wrapped in parchment paper and placed it in a Ziploc bag. It keeps up to 3 days after thawing in the meat case of the refrigerator.

In terms of taste, as far as "akami" or red meat of tuna goes, this was rather good but nothing beats "toro" and "chutoro" we can get from Catalina. It is far superior to "yellowfin frozen tuna" treated with CO. The kampachi was good but you may have to clean it up by removing some small bones and the remnants of skin. We still prefer tuna from Catalina but this is a good second source for sashimi fish.

Whole boiled octopus ゆでだこ

We usually get sashimi items from Catalina Offshore products but with the New Year fast approaching, they did not seem to have fresh tuna (especially fatty bluefin tuna) available despite many times I checked their web site. So, I decided to try a new vender called "Fish for Sushi"*. They sell only frozen fish but unlike many of the frozen yellow fin tuna which I have used in dishes posted before, their tuna (either bigeye or yellowfin) is said to be "super-frozen" and not treated with "odorless smoke" (euphemism for carbon mono-oxide gas to make it look more red). For the New Year, I ordered frozen bigeye tuna, kampachi (subjects for later posts) and boiled octopus. We usually get one small octopus leg at a time especially for the holidays but they only had a 2 lb boiled then frozen whole octopus. The price differential between the single leg we usually get and the whole octopus with 7 additional legs plus a body made the purchase seem more than reasonable i.e. the whole animal was relatively cheap compared to the single leg.

*The actual frozen items came from "Uoriki Fresh" located in New Jersey. This place appears to be the wholesaler for the “Fish for Sushi” retail site—or so we assume.

A whole, 2 lb octopus, however, is a lot of octopus, (the usual lamb roast that we buy is only about 3 pounds). So in addition to the portions being used for the New Year's dishes, we had a lot of octopus-eating to do. I had to come up with a number of different dishes in a race against time to finish it up before it went bad.  The first day we received it, I made my usual octopus dressed in "karashi-sumiso" as seen below.

I added chopped scallion and thinly julienned daikon.

Another variation I served on a different day was dressed with yuzu-koshou, olive oil and soy sauce. This was rather good with some heat, yuzu citrus flavor.

This is how the whole boiled octopus looked. I defrosted it in the refrigerator for 2 days and washed it under the running cold water.

I separated the legs (eight of them, just in case you did not know "Octo" is 8).

One leg was sliced and then placed in sweet vinegar to make "Sudako" which I used to accompany my daikon "namasu" 大根なます for the New Year (below).

Rejuvination process: The octopus tasted good and fresh but the 3rd day after I thawed it, I re-boiled it to remove any off flavors and to make it last longer. I boiled enough water so that 2-3 legs could be submerged easily with a dash of sake and a small amount of salt. I also prepared a large bowl with ice and cold water next to it. I first placed the 2-3 legs at a time into rapidly boiling water for 5 seconds and then immediately plunged them into the ice water to cool. I repeated this process for all the legs and the head. After they were thoroughly iced down, I removed them from the ice water and patted dry with a paper towel. I wrapped them in a new paper towel and placed them in a Ziploc bag. I refrigerated the pieces in the meat drawer of the refrigerator (lowest temperature place in our refrigerator). With this treatment, I expected the octopus to last at least another week. After tasting it again I think that although it was very good and fresh, after the parboiling, it tasted even better. I made more dishes from this fellow and they will be the subject of separate posts.