Miso soup panna cotta 味噌汁のパンナコッタ

My wife came up with the idea of making miso soup in a solid form. (This was a natural progression from the various other panna cottas she has made recently. Also this is what happens when she is turned loose with gelatin; she was well-known in the past for her various "gelatin" concoctions). The idea appealed to me because I like to have miso soup with any meal (even breakfast). My wife on the other hand does not like having soup in the evening. So, if we could come up with a dish which had the taste of miso soup but was not liquid it would be a win-win for both my wife and myself.  This recipe was my first attempt. I intended to recreate miso soup with potato, onion, and wakame seaweed ワカメ、ジャガイモと玉ねぎの味噌汁. The reason I choose this particular combination of ingredients is a long story.*

*Digression alert: When my late-brother and I were small (probably I was a just in 1st grade), my late-father was home but my mother was out (probably attending a PTA meeting or something). My father almost never cooked but when 4 pm came around, he suggested "we must be hungry" and decided to cook something for us (in retrospect, I suspect he was the one who was hungry and could not wait my mother to come home). In any case, he made rice (using an electric rice cooker) and miso soup made of potato, onion, and wakame seaweed. When my mother arrived back home with some ready-made side dishes for supper, she was mighty miffed to find us finishing up a supper of rice and soup. But somehow, the taste of this miso soup remains a favorite for me.

The picture below shows the miso soup panna cotta, which included potato and onion, served with cucumber, wakame seaweed, and red radish as garnish. To make it interesting I included unflavored soy milk and silken tofu (the white squares).

I decided to add "sumiso" 酢味噌 (miso, rice vinegar and sugar) sauce as well.

I also put sumiso sauce on the top of the panna cotta.

The panna cotta had a smooth texture and a gentle miso flavor. We could taste the sweetness of the onion but the addition of soy milk may have made it taste a bit vague or muted. The sumiso sauce also overwhelmed the dish. So, next day, I served the panna cotta simply with wakame seaweed and thinly sliced scallion.

This tasted better and closer to the original miso soup taste but there is room for improvement.

Ingredients (about 2 servings):

1 cup Dried fish and kelp broth (from bashi pack).

1 cup unflavored soy milk

1 large white potato, peeled and cut into a dice.

1 large onion, cut into thin strips

1/4 cup wakame seaweed (I used "raw" salt preserved one).

2 tbs Miso

2 envelopes of unflavored powdered gelatin

1/3 silken tofu

Directions:

1. I cooked the potato in the broth until soft (15 minutes) and added onion and cooked another 5 minutes (left in the picture below). 

2. I dissolved the miso. I added more as I tasted. I needed to season it rather strongly since it would be diluted by the addition of soy milk.

3. I added the miso soup into a blender and pureed it smooth.

4. Meanwhile, I put soy milk in a pan, sprinkled unflavored powdered gelatin (two envelopes) on the surface to bloom. I gently heated up and dissolved the gelatin using a wire whisk (right in the picture below). I combined the miso soup and soy milk  with the dissolved gelatin.

5. I placed small cubes of tofu in the bottom of a small ramekin and poured the mixture on top.

6. I refrigerated until set.

7. Like the other  panna cotta dishes we made,  it will come out without any problem by running the thin blade of a knife around the perimeter and introducing air to the bottom of the ramekin. 

The two serving variations above were certainly "edible" but we were not satisfied. My wife suggested leaving out the soy milk. She also suggested serving the potato around the panna cotta rather than pureed in it. I will certainly incorporate her suggestions.  I am now on a mission to make the perfect miso soup panna cotta. 

Baked Cauliflower with Chimichurri sauce オーブン焼きカリフラワーのチミチュリソース

We try to make some vegetable dishes which can be eaten during the work week. We had a large head of cauliflower from last week which needed to be prepared. My wife spotted a recipe which is "Cauliflower steak with Chimichurri sauce". Although we are not sold on the idea of thick slab of cauliflower (it was equated with a steak in the original recipe), the idea of baked cauliflower with chimuchurri sauce sounded good. So, instead, we baked cauliflower florets and dressed them with chimuchurri sauce.

The florets were nicely browed (although a bit overcooked).

The chimuchurri sauce was very good with fresh herbs.

Ingredients (with our modifications)

For Chimuchurri sauce

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (for the Chimuchurri)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 jalapeño pepper, large, deveined and seeded and finely chopped

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons sherry vinegar (we used rice vinegar).

1/2 teaspoon paprika (we used smoked paprika)

3 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley.

For Cauliflower

1 large head cauliflower (about 3 pounds), separated into florets.

Freshly ground pepper to taste

2 tbs olive oil (for coating the cookie sheet and the cauliflower).

Directions.

1. Combine oil, garlic, jalapeño, shallot and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small frying pan. Cook over medium heat just until the garlic starts to sizzle, 2 to 4 minutes, but don’t let it brown. Remove from heat and stir in oregano, thyme, water, vinegar and paprika. Cover and set aside (#3).
2. Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a cookie sheet with olive oil (we used a non-stick cookie sheet).
3. Toss the cauliflower florets with olive oil and season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.
4. Roast the cauliflower, gently turning once halfway through, until browned and the stems feel tender when pierced with a bamboo skewer, 15 minutes (we baked 18 minutes which was a bit too long) (#1 and 2).
5. Just before serving, stir parsley into the reserved herb sauce and season with pepper. Dress the cauliflower florets (#4) with the sauce (#5 and 6).

Th fresh herbs in chimuchurri sauce were very good. It was good warm. We later served cold which was also very good. We may even try real steak with this chimuchurri sauce.

Barbecued leg of lamb and white navy beans ラムのバーベキューとネービービーンズ

This was our Memorial day barbecue. Strictly speaking, this is not a barbecue according to the traditional definition of a barbecue as "low temperature long cooking with smoke".  Nonetheless, for our purposes, we will call it barbecue. While thinking about what we could serve with the lamb, I mused that it would be nice to have something different. My wife remembered that several times in the past we served lamb with beans and found this recipe for navy beans ネービービーンズ . The navy bean dish was a group production. I was chief-in-charge of chopping (and as you will see there is a fair amount of chopping involved.)  My wife prepared the beans, spices, put it together and cooked it.  I made an instant reduced port wine sauce to pour over the meat and sautéed green beans as a side .

Lamb and beans (both the navy and green) are a good combination .

The original recipe was called "Braised lamb shanks with white beans". We just used the white bean part of the recipe and served it with our barbecued leg of lamb.

Ingredients: (4 servings):
For beans
    2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    2 small onions, chopped fine
    2 small carrots, chopped fine
    2 celery ribs, chopped fine
    3 garlic cloves, minced
    2 cups cooked white beans (preferably Great Northern or navy). We used canned Navy beans rinsed and drained.
    chicken broth just to cover beans
    2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    1 bay leaf

For gremolata
    3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves (preferably flat-leafed)
    1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
    3 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:
For Beans

1. In a saucepan heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and cook onions, carrots, celery, and garlic, stirring, 2 or 3 minutes (#1, below). 
2. Add beans, enough chicken broth to just cover the beans, butter, and bay leaf and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally and adding enough remaining broth to keep beans moist and to reach a creamy consistency, about 30 minutes (#2, below). 
3. Discard bay leaf and add half of gremolata and salt and pepper to taste (#4, below).

For gremolata:

I hand chopped garlic, parsley and prepared the lemon zest using micro-grater. (#3 below)

We tasted the white beans (#1, below). Because of the gremolata, it had a nice bright fresh taste of lemon, garlic and parsley. The white beans were creamy with the savory and slightly sweet flavors of all the carrots, celery and onion that was added. The leg of lamb was deboned, seasoned with salt, black pepper and chopped fresh rosemary mixed with olive oil. Using indirect heat, I barbecued it in my Weber grill with added wood chips until the thickest center registered 140F (#2, below). I let it rest for 10 minutes. It was pink inside but I could have  cooked it a bit less. During the rest period, quite a good amount of au jus accumulated. I decided to make a quick sauce (#4, below). I poured the au jus into a frying pan, added port wine (cheap Taylor port I keep for cooking), threw in sprigs of fresh rosemary and reduced it by half, I added a small amount of balsamic vinegar and finished it with pats of cold butter.

This was a quite satisfactory Memorial day barbecue. Although a bit overcooked, the lamb had a nice lamb-y flavor and rosemary scent was a perfect combination. The sauce added a slight sweet and sour taste and moisten the meat. The white beans were a perfect accompaniment for the lamb. I am sure I opened a nice red for this dinner but at this point, I cannot remember what we had.

Egg-in breakfast muffins 卵とベーコン入り朝食マフィン

My wife cannot resist interesting bread recipes especially ones that involve some kind of stuffing inside. She found this recipe on line and she had to try it. These breakfast muffins have cheese and bacon in the dough and encase an egg; either a whole or scrambled. It is an all inclusive portable breakfast. (If served on a stick it would classify as a "breakfast-on-a-stick" at the local state fair).  We were thinking that we might take this to work for breakfast and decided to make the scrambled egg version since this can be, reportedly,  be frozen while the one made with a whole egg cannot because the egg white becomes rubbery. We served this as a weekend lunch with my wife's ribbon salad.

As you can see, the scrambled eggs are stuffed inside.

Ingredients:

Flavorings (#4)

4 strips of bacon, cooked crisp, drained on paper towel (#2) and chopped (#4).

½ cup shallots, chopped, sautéed in bacon fat using the same pan in which the bacon was cooked and excess dripping poured out (#3).

2 cups grated cheddar cheese (we used smoked gouda and English cheddar)

Scrambled eggs: 5 eggs plus cream, seasonings and butter (#1).

Dry Ingredients

2 1/2  cups All purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Wet Ingredients (#4)

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp salt

10 tsp Greek yogurt (original recipe called for sour cream)

4 tbs  melted butter

2 eggs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. 
2. Grease muffin tins with with butter (original recipe calls for "Texas muffin tin to accommodate a whole raw egg in each muffin, we used a regular muffin tin and scrambled eggs crumbled into small pieces).
3. Place Dry Ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.
4. Whisk Wet Ingredients in a separate bowl.
5. Pour the Wet Ingredients into the Dry Ingredients until just combined. Do not over mix. 
6. Fold in Flavorings, including cooked bacon (#5).
7. Place 3 tbsp of the batter into 4 muffin tin. Bang the tin to flatten the batter.
8. Make a divot in the batter and put in the scrambled egg (or crack in a raw egg if using a larger tin and so prefer). (#6)
9. Divide the remaining batter between each hole to cover the egg. (#6) shows covered eggs in front and uncovered eggs in back.
10. Brush the muffins with melted butter (optional), then bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. (#7 and 8)
12. Best served warm.

This was good and the smell when cooking was divine but the amount of work and fat content may make us think twice before making this one again. We could possibly achieve the same effect by just baking a biscuit, cutting it in half horizontally and adding scrambled egg. Nevertheless, the idea is very interesting and we will take this to work for breakfast next week.

Tuna tartar variation with Jalapeno pepper 鮪のなめろうハロペニョペッパー入り

This is "a variation on the theme of tuna namerou 鮪のなめろう".  I think two of our favorite ways  to enjoy the block of low-quality but readily available frozen yellowfin tuna are "namerou" and "negitoro" ネギトロ. I could have made this tuna namerou as before but the limitation of what I had in terms of the ingredients forced me to make some changes. I also borrowed some ideas from making "negitro".  I garnished it with thin slices of Jalapeno pepper hinting at  what this namerou contains.

These two servings are made from a half of the tuna block but it turned out to be  quite a lot (for us, at least). 

Making this is rather simple. This time, modifications included using Vidalia onion (in stead of scallion) and Jalapeno pepper.  I cut the tuna into small cubes, added finely chopped, deseeded, and deveined Jalapeno pepper (half of large one), finely chopped Vidalia onion (half of medium sized) and miso (I added a bit more later after I tasted it). In addition, I added the Spanish olive oil we really like. As I "hit" or "tataku" 叩くit with my heavy chef's knife, I gradually added the olive oil to incorporate (instead of using mayonnaise when making negitoro) until it became the pasty consistency and still some small chunks are remaining. I also add a little bit more olive oil on the top as I served this.

Although we started the evening with a Napa cab, we switched to cold sake (We happened to have "Dassai" 獺祭 daiginjo 大吟醸 from Yamaguchi 山口県 prefecture). We thought the addition of Jalapeno to this dish was a good one. It added a fresh pepper taste without adding any heat (since I removed the veins and seeds). Although quite subtle, the addition of olive oil also added to the  unctuous texture.  The amount of miso was just right and we could really taste nice miso flavors with nutty-saltiness. I had a few more dishes planned but at this point, we were quite full.

Fried bamboo shoot stuffed with pork and shrimp たけのこの贅沢揚げ

This recipe used the top 2/3 of the bamboo shoot left over after I made "Tosa-ni"土佐煮. The bamboo shoot is stuffed with a mixture of pork and shrimp based on a recipe I saw on line. Since I did not have access to "kinome" 木の芽, I simply added fried green beans as a green.

Here is a close up of another serving.

Ingredients (2 servings):

Bamboo shoot, one package, pre-boiled, top 2/3 (or "Hosaki" 穂先), cut into 6 wedges (#1), carefully cut from the outer surface to make a pouch but not cut it through.

Ground pork, 40g (I hand chopped pork butt I had).

Shrimp, 60g (I used frozen, thawed and chopped finely until it had a paste like consistency)

Scallion, one, white part, finely chopped.

Ginger root, finely chopped (to taste)

Salt, to taste

Soy sauce, 1/2 tsp

Sake, 1/2 tsp

White pepper, to taste

Flour for dredging

Oil (I used peanut oil) for frying

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients above except for bamboo shoot (by hand or using a silicon spatula) until everything sticks together (#2)

Dredge the wedges of bamboo shoot with flour including inside the slits and stuff the meat (#2) into the slits. Dredge the surface of the stuffing as well (#3).

Shallow fry (1/2 inch deep oil), turning frequently to slightly brown the stuffing and to make all sides crispy (flour makes thin crust).

Drain the oil and serve hot.

This is a very nice dish. It was very hot and my wife had to wait several minutes for it to cool down. By frying, bamboo shoot developed very good strong bamboo shoot flavor while still retaining a nice crunch. The stuffing of pork and shrimp is very flavorful with a nice texture. The shrimp really give a nice firmer texture.  We had this with cold sake which was a perfect match.

Tuna, asparagus and poached egg 鮪漬けの炙りとアスパラガスの温玉添え

The type of tuna sashimi blocks 鮪の刺身の冊 I can get at our Japanese grocery store is limited to frozen ahi or yellowfin tuna キハダマグロ, which was treated with carbon monoxide to give it a bright red color (carbon monoxide sounds bad but it is no health hazard when used on food like this). I always keep a tuna block in our freezer "just-in-case". I have to rotate the stock every several months since unlike wine, the tuna does not improve with time.  Since I bought a new tuna block when I stopped by our Japanese grocery store this weekend, I took the old one out of the freezer to thaw. I have posted  many times how to make this low-quality tuna sashimi palatable. One of the ways is to make "Zuke" 漬けor marinated tuna.  So, I sliced half of the tuna sashimi block and marinated it in a "Goma-dare" ゴマだれ (see below) the night before. This time, I did not do "Yubiki" 湯引き or cooking the surface by dunking it in boiling water and then ice water to halt the cooking.  I was not sure how I would serve this "zuke maguro" (marinated tuna) until I learned we were starting the evening with red wine. Then the "path" became pretty clear;

I had to come up with something that went well with red wine.  This dish was the result. I was inspired by  this picture in one of the food blogs I follow. This dish is grilled asparagus, poached egg with grated Pecorino Romano and botargo.  Since I did not have botargo or karasumi からすみ, I omitted it and used grated Parmigiano-Reggiano instead of Pecorino Romano. Seared zuke tuna is my addition. I poached the eggs as I posted before. 

Since I prepared green asparagus that morning, this was an easy dish to put together once I decided what I would make. 

Tuna preparation:

1. I thawed the frozen block of tuna overnight in the refrigerator. I sliced half of the block into half inch thick slices.
2. This time I made "Goma-dare" for marinade.  I first dry roasted white sesame seeds in a dry frying pan (1 tsp) until slightly darkened and fragrant (the sesame was already roasted but re-roasting it add much more flavor). I ground the seeds in a Japanese Suribachi すり鉢 mortar. I then added mirin, sake and soy sauce in a ratio of 1:1:2.
3. I placed the tuna and the marinade in a Ziploc bag to make sure all the surface of the tuna was covered with marinade and removed as much air from the bag as I could. I sealed the bag and kept it in the refrigerator overnight.
4. The next evening, I took out the tuna slices, blotted the excess marinade from the surface (picture below) and cut one slice into two.

I thought searing one of the surfaces would add texture and a beef-like flavor which would go better with red wine. I seared the pieces two ways; one by using a kitchen blow torch (those are the ones with the black specs in the picture below) and the other seared in a frying pan with melted butter (the shiny ones on the tops row and right of bottom row).  

Asparagus prepration:

I got thick spears of green asparagus from our grocery store. I removed the bottom by simply bending and breaking it. Using a vegetable peeler, I peeled the bottom half of the skin and blanched the stalk in salted water. Just before assembling this dish, I quickly sautéed it in melted butter and seasoned with salt and black pepper.

Assembly:

I cut the asparagus on the bias into 3-4 pieces. I arranged the pieces to look like a whole uncut asparagus spear, resting diagonally on a square plate. I arranged the two kinds of seared tuna squares on one side of the asparagus and placed a poached egg on the other side. I grated Parmisiano-Reggiano on top.

This dish followed my octopus carpaccio and we enjoyed it with a glass of Louse M. Martini Napa Cab as before. The tuna was seasoned well from the marinade and became firmer than non-marinated tuna. Searing added beef like flavor but we could not tell the differences between torched vs. pan seared. The combination of runny warm yolk and asparagus cannot go wrong. This dish really went well with the California Cab we were having.

Octopus carpaccio variation タコのカルパッチョ

I stopped by our Japanese grocery store this weekend, especially since we were running out of sushi vinegar 寿司酢 (an important item for any household especially ours). I bought a few other items which included boiled octopus legs ゆでだこの足. I served them with my usual "karashi sumiso" 芥子酢味噌 that evening with cold sake. The next evening I wanted to serve what was left but in a different way. The variation I came up with is the subject of the current post. Besides, my wife wanted to start the evening with a glass of red wine rather than sake. So, I came up with this rendition of octopus carpaccio. Although I posted a similar dish before, there are enough differences to warrant another post (I am a bit desperate for new posts at this point). Since I also bought cod roe or "tarako" たらこ and "salmon roe" いくら as well, I incorporated these into the dish as well. In the picture below, the green is cucumber slices, the red and white slivers are red radish, thinly sliced and then cut into thin julienne.

My wife asked why I always slice octopus in a wavy fashion (check out how a pro will do it with the visual aid here). This wavy cut is called "sazanami-giri" さざなみ切り("sazanami" is Japanese for the small ripply waves on the surface of otherwise calm waters).  I told my wife this is the traditional way of slicing octopus and abalone or "awabi" アワビ because the flesh of these creatures is firm. If the surface was cut smoothly the soy sauce would just run off. The ripples help hold the sauce on much like the grooves in pasta help hold on the tomato sauce. 

As usual, I started with olive oil (I used this excellent Spanish olive oil for this) and syrupy aged balsamic vinegar, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on the bottom.

I made the base layer with very thinly sliced Vidalia onion (I used a Japanese "Benriner" mandoline). I then added cucumber slices around the perimeter and covered the center with thinly sliced octopus. I removed the tarako roe from its membrane sac (I used about 1/3). I scattered the tarako and ikura on the octopus and garnished it with thin julienne of red radish. I finished with drizzles of the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  

We had this with Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2012, this is a very reliable California Cab and got 90 from Wine Advocate. This winery was bought out by the Gallo some years ago but appears to be maintaining their quality. It may not be a spectacular wine but it has all the good qualities of  a Napa cab. One should be careful when buying this brand, however, since they make three different versions with near-identical labels but different prices; they are from Napa, Alexander and Sonoma valleys. We tried all three in different vintages but we liked the Napa version best.  This wine went rather well with the carpaccio, although the addition of fish roe resulted in a somewhat less than perfect match for red wine. The roe were in small enough amounts so as not to be objectionable and they did add a nice saltiness. The balsamic vinegar was more sweet than vinegary and did not compete with this red. The olive oil was again great, adding nice fruity, grassy tastes with a peppery finish. The octopus itself had a very neutral flavor (an euphemism for not much taste) but added great texture. We had the octopus slices with layers of the onion, cucumber which made it very nice. I made one more dish which we had with this red wine before changing to cold sake with tuna tartar (both dishes are subjects of future posts). 

Bamboo shoot Tosani 筍の土佐煮

Spring and early summer are the season for fresh bamboo shoots or takenoko 筍 in Japan but I have never seen fresh takenoko on sale at the grocery store here in the US. So, I have to use the pre-boiled and packaged variety. I have posted few bamboo shoot dishes in the past. This one is called "Tosa-ni" 土佐煮. Tosa is southernmost prefecture in the island of shikoku 四国 which is famous for bonito or katsuo 鰹 and dried and shaven bonito flakes called "katsuo-bushi" 鰹節.  Simmered vegetable especially bamboo shoot in broth made of bonito flakes seasoned with soy sauce is often referred as "Tosa-ni". I also added additional bonito flakes after the bamboo shoots were cooked and seasoned.

Ingredients: (for two small serving as a drinking snack) and directions:

1. Bamboo shoot, pre-boiled and vacuum packed (#1). I used only the bottom 1/3 for this dish and the rest was used to make something else.
2. Bonito broth, I made about 3 cups with two dashi packs with bonito and kelp which is much stronger than usual broth.
3. I sliced off the bottom 1/3, quartered and sliced into 1/2 inch quarter rounds (#2).
4. I cooked it in plain boiling water for 3 minutes and drained.
5. I put them back in a dry pan and added the bonito broth just covering the bamboo shoot (around 1/2 cup).
6. I added light colored soys sauce (1/2 tbs) and a splash of mirin (or you could omit the mirin).
7. Simmer with lid on until most of the liquid has evaporated (#3).
8. I added two small packages (or whatever amount you like) of bonito flakes and mixed to coat. If the moisture is not enough, you could add a splash of the broth or soy sauce depending on the taste of the cooked bonito (I added the broth).

Although I took several shortcuts (not using fresh bamboo shoot and not making broth from freshly shaven bonito flakes), it tasted very good. The bonito flavor combined with the savory saltiness of the soy sauce permeated the bamboo shoot and was further boosted with the additional bonito flakes on the surface. The bamboo shoot was tender but some firmness still remained. This is a perfect small "otoshi" dish to start the evening.

Chashu donburi チャーシュー丼

I am really running out of new things I can cook and post nowadays. My wife has really contributed a lot recently by coming up with some new dishes. Although our posts may not be as interesting or new, it is nice for us to have a record of the various dishes we ate that we can refer back to later. This is one such post. Using the same chashu pork チャーシュー I made chashu egg チャーシューエッグ, I made  this donburi 丼 or rice bowl with chashu, ajitsuke tamago 味付け卵, and spicy baked tofu 豆腐のピリ辛オーブン焼き for lunch. It was an unexpectedly pleasant and sunny day and we were lounging on our deck. This was a quick lunch to make since we did not want to spend too much time inside cooking.

I used the simmering liquid with which I made the chashu. It was concentrated; having reduced by 2/3 during the cooking of the chashu.  I let the remaining 1/3 jell by cooling it in the refrigerator and removed the congealed fat on the surface. I repurposed it by making a sauce/broth for this dish. I thinly sliced half of a medium onion and cooked it in the broth (1/4 cup) for several minutes with a lid on until cooked. I had blanched green beans. I sliced them on the bias and placed slices of chashu pork, green beans on the top of the cooked onion and cut the flame and let it warm up (not to cook further) with a lid on. Since I made baked spicy tofu that morning, I also added it to this dish. The rice was previously frozen and then microwaved to thaw. I added some of the broth to moisten the rice and the rest was poured over to my wife's bowl since she like more liquid than I do.

As I mentioned before, the egg yolk in ajistuke egg changes in consistency during the  marinating process. It becomes firmer; almost like a custard.  It also absorbs the flavor of the marinade. As far as we were concerned the egg was the star of the dish...but the pork was pretty good too, oh and there was the tofu; it was mighty fine. This was a perfect small lunch to enjoyed outside on an early summer day. I usually make some kind of miso soup but I did not this time to maximize the lounging time outside.

Ribbon salad リボンサラダ

This is an historic recipe with a story behind it.  Even though my wife had been cooking for her family since her early teens, she didn't enjoy cooking and it showed. She herself used to say nobody would starve while she was at the stove but there were better ways to enjoy life than eating something she put on a plate. She was infamous for her gelatin based creative concoctions so much so that when she was asked what to bring to pot luck dinners, she was usually told napkins would be just find.  She claims she became a much better cook after we got married (whether my influence or not, I am pleased to say that she did).

This recipe was one of her favorites from way way back (early 1970's?). She found it recently after going through a collection of old papers. She couldn't remember where it came from but it was printed on an old newspaper with references to addresses in Ontario, Canada. While she was wildly enthusiastic about making this recipe for me, I remembered some of the dishes for which she achieved her previous dubious fame (I believe a type of tomato-y jello was involved) and was somewhat less enthusiastic. It was fairly complicated involving a number of steps and my wife claimed that when she first made this dish, it sorely tested her culinary skills but this time she seemed well within her comfort zone. Despite my initial hesitancy, I was quite please with how well it turned out.  Unlike other ribbon salads which use flavored and artificially colored gelatin and tend to be sweet, this one is savory and can definitely play a legitimate role in any meal. Here we just served it alone (picture above). Bottom layer looks dark but top and bottom layers are the same savory tomato flavor separated by a creamy cottage cheese based center layer. (below).

This was a weekend light lunch and I served it with my salmon salad and baguette and a wedge of tomato seasoned with salt and olive oil. 

The ribbon salad was a perfect accompaniment for this cold salad on a hot day (we were hitting 90F).

Here you can see both top and bottom layers are the same with a nice white smooth cottage cheese layer.

Ingredients:

Red layer

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

3 1/2 cup tomato juice

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt1 tsp onion juice (we used grated onion).

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs vinegar (we used rice vinegar).

White layer

1 envelope of unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup cold water

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese, mashed (We used small curd and pureed it with other ingredients in a blender).

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup finely diced celery

2 tbs finely chopped onion

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

To make red layer soak gelatin in 1/2 cup tomato juice 5 minutes. Combine remaining tomato juice with rest of ingredients and heat to boiling. Add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Pour half of mixture in 9 X 5 pan. Chill until set ( #1). Leave remaining half at room temperature. 

To make white layer. Soak gelatin in cold water 5 minutes then melt over hot water (we used a double boiler). Combine remaining ingredients puree in the blender. Add gelatin and chill until slightly thickened (#2). Pour over set tomato layer (#3). Chill until set (#4). Add remaining tomato mixture (#5) and chill until firm (#6). 

I first tasted the dish almost as soon as the layers had set. The Worcestershire flavor was rather assertive in the red layer. The white layer was creamy with a subtle onion and celery overtone. The next day, the flavors had a chance to meld. The red layer had calmed down quite a bit and tasted just fine. This is lots of work (mostly my wife's) but it is a nice cool savory dish perfect for hot summer. We were glad we resurrected this "ancient" recipe. 

Chashu egg チャーシューエッグ

I got a rather large pork loin the other day. Instead of hot smoking the entire loin in my Weber grill, I divided it into two portions; I hot smoked one portion in the Weber and the other I made into Chinese-style simmered pork 煮豚・焼き豚 or Cha-siu 叉焼, "Chashu チャーシュー". Loin is not the best portion of pork to use for cha-sui since it does not have enough fat but still there is some fat on the surface which totally rendered out and became sweet and gelatinous which was nice. I used this as a ramen topping for lunch.  This also works well as a sandwich. Then I saw "Chashu eggs" チャーシューエッグ which is supposedly famous in one of the restaurants called "Yachiyo" 八千代 in Tsukiji market 築地市場 and wanted to try making the similar  or "inspired" dish.

This is a much tamer version than the one described at Tsukiji market. This version is less fatty (and therefore less unctuous) with thin slices of loin cha-sui and one egg. I served this as a "shime" 締め or ending dish one Friday evening with pieces of my baguette.

I also made a kind of broccoli au gratin using blanched broccoli mixed with parmesan cauliflower puree,  a bit of mayonnaise and topped with more grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.  I put it in a Pyrex gratin dish and baked it in the toaster oven. The cauliflower picked up and "expanded" the mayonnaise flavor and gave the dish the mouth feel of a rich cheesy gratin with, we would like to think, much less fat.

To make sunny side up eggs, I heated a non-stick frying pan on medium flame and melted the butter. I then placed two eggs on each side of the pan. I didn't want to put the pork directly on the hot surface of the pan so I carefully placed the slices of the pork over the cooking white portion of the egg. I put on the lid, waited 2 minutes then cut off the flame. I let it sit for another 2 minutes with the lid on. The eggs were sunny side up with cooked whites (my wife hates uncooked and loose egg white) but the yolks were nice and runny (of course I used Davidson's pasteurized eggs here).

I firmly believe that a good breakfast is also a good "shime" dish after imbibing. This was perfect! We mopped up egg yolk with the baguette.

English Pea panna cotta イングリッシュピーパンナコッタ

Previously, when my wife wanted to make this dish, we ended up making cauliflower-spinach panna cotta. This time, we made English pea panna cotta. It was based on a recipe in the Washington Post. As usual, we made some changes. The original recipe used agar-agar making it a vegetarian dish but, not being vegetarian and not having any agar-agar, we used powdered gelatin instead. We also infused this dish with fresh French tarragon as we do with our pea soup. Our panna cotta came out deep green; much deeper green than one in the picture contained in the recipe.

Instead of using cold sauteed vegetables around the panna cotta, I just placed watercress, thin slices of carrot, small cubes of tomato which were then dressed with my usual honey mustard dressing and fresh grinds of black pepper.

The pannacotta was smooth and creamy.

This time we made sure we had all the ingredients. We used frozen petite green peas from Hanover brand. (Over the years, my wife tried many different kinds of peas for various dishes and this is one instance when, generally, the frozen variety is better than fresh.  We even tried fresh peas which we bought at the roadside stands but they were too starchy. Among the frozen brands, she likes Hanover the best. I guess unless you grow the peas yourself, frozen are better than fresh. Oh-oh, maybe, I shouldn't give my wife ideas about growing our own peas).

Ingredients (about 12 servings using small Pyrex ramekins):

Frozen petite pea (Hanover brand petite pea, 12oz bag), 2 bags, thawed using running hot water.

Spinach, 2 bags, cooked without adding any liquid, turning occasionally, until well wilted. Let it cool down and squeeze out excess moisture.

Onion, one medium, halved and thinly sliced, sweat with olive oil until semi-transparent

Fresh tarragon, leaves removed and finely chopped (about 1 tbs)

Milk, we used 1% milk, added as needed while pureeing the peas (about 1/3 cup per one bag of frozen peas (#1) and also for infusing tarragon and dissolving the gelatin, about 2 cups (#3 and #4).

Butter, unsalted, 3 tbs

Gelatin, powdered, unflavored, 3 envelopes

Salt

Directions:

1. Add half of the peas, onion, spinach and tarragon in the blender* (#1). We did this in two batches. Add milk and puree. Add more milk until peas are totally smooth and pureed (#2).

*Do not use a food processor. We learned that using a good blender in "Puree" mode gives the best result.

2. Heat 2 cups of milk with 3 tbs of butter and tarragon (#3).

3. Just before boiling, sprinkle powdered gelatin on the top and whisk to dissolve (#4)

4. Put the milk mixture through sieve and put into #2 in the picture above, mix well. Taste and season with salt.

5. Pour into individual small glass ramekins.

6. Refrigerate until firm (at least several hours).

7. Remove from the ramekin by passing a thin bladed knife around the perimeter of the ramekin, inverting the ramekin over the plate and use the tip of the knife held against the side to introduce air to the bottom of the ramekin. The panna cotta should drop onto the plate with a "plop".

This was an unconditional success! The panna cotta has nice deep green color with creamy texture and an intense fresh pea taste with a hint of fresh tarragon. The salad around the panna cotta was also great with some bitterness of watercress and slightly sweet and tangy dressing. We really liked my wife's original cauliflower puree spinach panna cotta, but this is definitely a nice fresh pea and tarragon flavor variation on the theme of panna cotta. This is a perfect salad/appetizer in hot summer season.

Cauliflower puree with parmesan cheese パルメザンチーズ味カリフラワーのピューレ

This is based on a recipe that appeared in the Washington Post. I decided to make this since I had a head of cauliflower in the fridge which I bought a week ago. I followed the recipe exactly and it was not good. It had an unpleasant mealy consistency and was not smooth and creamy. We figured out why this was. The recipe calls for using a food processor. No matter how long your run the food processor, the cauliflower will not become smooth and creamy. Instead of a cuisinart you need to use a blender on high speed (puree mode). Once I fixed this, the end product was nice and creamy with good Parmesan flavor.

As suggested, I garnished it with finely chopped parsley fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and freshly cracked black pepper. 

The below are the original recipe with one important modification; instead of a food processor, use a blender.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium head (2 pounds) cauliflower, cored and cut into 11/2-inch florets (7 cups)

1/3 cup low-fat milk (1 percent), plus more as needed

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed

Generous pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese, plus 4 teaspoons for garnish

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Freshly ground black pepper

STEPS

Place the cauliflower florets in a steamer basket set over a pot of boiling water. Cover and steam until the cauliflower is just tender, 5 to 7 minutes.

Transfer the cauliflower to a blender along with 1/3 cup of the milk (I needed more milk, probably 1/2 cup total), the butter, the 1/4 teaspoon of salt and the nutmeg; puree until very smooth.  Add extra milk a tablespoon at a time, as needed. Immediately add 1/4 cup of the cheese and pulsed just until the cheese melted and was incorporated.

When I first made it, using the Cuisinart as specified in the recipe, it was grainy and mealy. When my wife made cauliflower puree to make her cauliflower/spinach panna cotta, the cauliflower puree was really silky smooth. I initially thought cauliflower must be cooked in milk and butter as my wife did. But when we made English pea panna cotta, it became clear to us, the use of the blender made the difference. So I placed my previously made cauliflower puree into the blender and pureed it again. I needed to add a bit more milk but the end result was night and day different. Now the puree was nicely smooth, creamy and incorporated more air and became fluffy. This can be served warm or cold. I served it cold the second time with some good Spanish olive oil on the top. This made it better still. This can be eaten as a side vegetable dish, drinking snack or even as a spread for a cracker or a slice of bread. 

Greek yogurt and olive oil ギリシャヨーグルトとオリーブオイル

We had some leftover salmon, so I made my salmon salad as a starter one weekday evening. The small dish consisted of slices of cucumber, wedges of tomato (skinned), salmon salad and my wife's homemade Greek yogurt with Spanish olive oil with freshly cracked black pepper.

The Greek yogurt with the fruity spicy Spanish olive oil (additional cracked black pepper on the top) was the best. This was Spanish olive oil we got on our recent trip the Pennsylvania.  I served this with flat bread crackers with sesame seeds.

The combination of yogurt and olive oil was a surprise. The yogurt seemed to absorb and accentuate the fruity grassy and peppery flavor of the olive oil. It made a wonderful spread. It tasted great either spread over the cucumber or cracker. We had noticed before how yogurt absorbed and accentuated the taste of mayonnaise when we mixed the two together as dressing for potato or cucumber salad. Using this combination we were able to get an intense mayonnaise flavor while using just a small amount. This same characteristic seems to have extended to the combination of yogurt and olive oil and it was a great discovery that we shall exploit extensively. We were drinking red wine for sure but were so blown away by the yogurt/olive oil we cannot remember exactly what it was.

Blanched garlic chives and stewed chicken wings ニラのおひたしと手羽の煮物

This is continuation of our spring garlic chives series making use of the garlic chives growing in our herb garden. This time I blanched them and let cool then dressed them with soy sauce, Japanese mustard, and sugar. Since I had some left over chicken wings simmered in black vinegar sauce, I removed the meat from the bones and served that as well.

I served this as a starter dish one evening.

This is not really a recipe. I just washed and cut the garlic chives into one inch long pieces and blanched them for a few minutes then let them cool down before using. The dressing is a mixture of Japanese mustard (from a tube), sugar and soy sauce.

Although in the past few garlic chive dishes, I complained that there was not enough garlic chive flavor in this one there was perhaps a bit too much. The garlic chive was also a bit chewy as well and my wife gave up on eating it. Since I made the dish I persevered and finished it. This dish requires some improvement.