Baked egg on Indian-style spinach オーブン卵とほうれん草カレー

We gave up "baking" eggs such as "oeuf cocotte".  Eggs never cook properly ending up with overcooked yolks and under cooked whites. So, we usually substitute "baking" eggs with poached eggs. Then we came across the article and recipe on perfectly "baked" eggs in a paper copy of Cook Illustrated by America's test kitchen. They tested many different ways of baking eggs They listed a spinach florentine recipe with baked egg. Instead of making spinach Florentine, we used my wife's Indian style spinach without cheese curds.

The picture above shows perfectly cooked egg white and still runny egg yolk. So their method of baking eggs really works!

My wife garnished this with small chunks of Reggiano Pamigiano cheese and fresh basil leaves.

The secret of success is that the item that goes under the egg has to have a certain around of moisture to produce steam during cooking (such as this dish or florentine). It also has to support the egg white and yolk in the proper way. So, my wife made the circular indentations as you see above. The center crater will hold up the egg yolk. In addition, you need to bake the base first so it is piping hot before placing the egg on top. This allows the white to cook first while the yolk is insulated by the spinach mixture and cooks more slowly

We preheated our convection toaster oven to 400F and placed the ramekins with the spinach sauce in a glass pyrex baking dish and cooked ifor 10 minutes before placing the egg on the top. We then continued baking for 10 more minutes. After removing from the oven we garnished with chunks of parmesan and fresh basil. We had this as a breakfast with toast of my wife's home baked white bread and freshly brewed Cappuccino (we home roast green beans and use Italian-made espresso machine, I may be able to post about our coffee when my inventory of the Izakaya dishes are low).

P.S. Later, we also tried this using spinach florentine which was also very good and the eggs were baked perfectly.

Vegetable chips 野菜チップス

This is not something we made but we thought was rather unique and worth reporting. We also think (perhaps wishfully?), that it is also a rather healthy snack to have while imbibing wine. While vacationing in Hilton Head, we visited a gourmet grocery store there called "Fresh Market". It is a large grocery store chain and we learned one store recently open near our home. In any case, they have the largest selection of bulk "snacks" we have ever seen. These vegetables (whole and chips) were among the many snacks offered. I am not sure if they are deep fried or dried but judging from amount of fat and the taste, these are not simply deep fried as many vegetable chips are but tasted too good to be just air dried.



Being in the South, we should not have been surprised at seeing the dried okra--that southern stand-by and favorite (lower left). We just had to try it. It was pretty good as were the green beans (right). Both retained their shape and nice green color, although totally dry and desiccated. Both had a nice fresh green taste. Although the dried okura is not as slimy as the fresh ones, even dried, there is some residual sliminess particularly as it moistens with the saliva in your mouth. Other selections included regular potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrot, Kobacha pumpkin and some items we could not identify. We were kinda hoping that these snacks, eaten while drinking some wine, would count this a USDA recommended daily serving of vegetables (NOT!).

Poached starch-coated chicken breast 鶏水晶の刺身風

I saw this recipe on line and decided to try it. The idea of this dish is to coat pieces of chicken breast with potato starch before poaching it, which creates a transparent slippery surface and also keeps the meat moist. This type of preparation is apparently called “quartz crystal” 水晶 to be poetic.

This was served cold with sliced cucumber, hydrated sea weed (wakame 若布) and julienned daikon seasoned with ponzu ポン酢 sauce. I also added yuzu-koshou 柚子胡椒 and the meat of pickled plum or umeboshi 梅干, which was finely chopped into a paste or “bainiku” 梅肉.
I followed the original recipe closely.

Chicken breast: I used one bone-less, skin-less chicken breast for two small servings as seen above. It was cut along the long axis first and them sliced thin (1/4 inch). Using the back of my knife, I pounded the meat in one direction and then turned the meat 90 degrees and repeated the process. I did this on both sides of meat to tenderize. I placed the meat in a small bowl and added light-colored soy sauce (1 tsp), salt (1/4 tsp), grated ginger (1/4 tsp) and potato starch (1 tbs). Using my fingers, I mixed everything well.

Poaching: I deviated somewhat here. Instead of water, I used chicken broth (my usual reduced salt non-fat Swanson chicken broth). In a frying pan, I poured chicken broth about 1 inch deep. After it came to a boil, I turned the heat down and gently poached the seasoned chicken. I only poached it for 2-3 minutes or until the meat was cooked. I did not poach as long as the original recipe suggested (10 minutes). I immediately dunked the poached meat into ice water until it was completely cooled down. Then, I drained it.

I made a mound of sliced cucumber (as usual,thinly sliced, salted and the moisture squeezed out), hydrated wakame sea weed (excess moisture wrung out), finely julienned daikon. All were dressed in ponzu (soy) sauce. I then arranged the poached and cooled chicken around in a circle.

This is quite a nice small dish perfect for cold sake. The chicken was tender and moist. Some may not like the slippery (slimy) texture on the surface. We coated the pieces with plum meat or yuzu koshou and dipped it in additional ponzu sauce. Certainly this could be our “Teiban” 定番 or regular home Izakaya dish.

Cold Udon noodle salad 糸うどんのサラダ

This is another cold thin udon dish. In this case. This was a lunch.  We had more vegetables than noodles but although you can’t see them, they are there under the vegetables in this picture.

Vegetables: I used whatever was available. I used cucumber (American mini-cucumber, sliced into long ribbons for s change), carrot (likewise cut into thin ribbons), Vidalia onion, sake steamed chicken breast, hydrated wakame わかめ sea weed.

Dressing: I used ponzu shouyu ポン酢醤油 sauce (from the bottle) with a dash of dark sesame oil.

Especially if you already have cold udon, this is a very quick dish for lunch or ending or “shime” 締め dish. By cutting the veggies lengthwise they are similar in dimension to the noodles. And believe-it-or-not they have a slightly different consistency and taste than if they were cut the usual way.

Miso flavored salmon in a pouch 鮭の味噌味酒蒸し

This is a rather easy to make and yet quite tasty dish. I had shimeji しめじmushroom (clam shell mushrooms) and about 1 lb of salmon fillet. I did not have the energy or time to make anything complicated so I made this dish. I did not follow any particular recipe but the combination of butter, sake and miso cannot go wrong.

Salmon fillets: I divided a 1lb fillet into two equal pieces (scales and pin bones removed).
Scallion: I cut on bias into 1-2 inch pieces. I used one scallion per packet.
Mushrooms: I used a combination of hon-shimeji (brown clamshell) and white clam shell mushrooms but any mushroom such as shiitake or enoki will also do. I just used whatever amount I had. I cut off the root end and quickly washed and drained it.
I took a large sheet of aluminum foil, greased it with sweet butter. Next came the sliced scallion and the salmon fillet skin side down. I placed thin pats of butter(1/2 tbs) and miso (1tbs) (#1 below) on the fillets and topped with the mushrooms (#2 below). I closed the packet by folding and crimping the edges together (#3) but just before I closed it completely, I added sake (3-4 tbs). I placed the packets into a pre-heated 400F toaster oven (convection) for 30 minutes. When I opened the pouch (#4), I discovered the miso had not dissolved but got baked and darkened. I simply removed the miso and dissolved it into the juice/sake accumulated in the bottom of the pouch.

I served this with baby bok choi (quartered) which was boiled in water with splash of sake and salt (The first picture). Since I cooked this ahead of time, it lost its green color. Although I did not use sugar or mirin, the sauce was sweet enough. The salmon had a poached-like consistency that was nicely tender. The baked miso, added a very nice nutty flavor and richness.

Matsutake and chestnut Japanese Egg custard 松茸と栗の茶碗蒸し

Although I have posted several variations of chawan-mushi 茶碗蒸しbefore, this time, I had a convergence of North American chestnuts or “kuri” 栗 and matsutake 松茸 and decided to make this dish. To accommodate more items, I used larger bowls. For two servings like the one below, I used two eggs.

Egg mixture: As usual, I used “dashi pack” (bonito flakes ad kelp) and made dashi broth. After I measured two eggs, I added a bit less than 3 times of the volume of dashi broth and seasoned it with light colored soy sauce (1 tbs), mirin (2 tsp) and salt (1/2 tsp, kosher). I added more dashi to make it to exactly 3 times of the voluvme of the eggs.

I placed, slices of chicken breast (this time I used sakamushi 酒蒸し chicken breast), slices of matsutake and boiled and peeled chestnuts (see below). I poured the egg mixture through a fine mesh strainer into two bowls.


I used an electric wok and steamed the bowls for 5 minutes in medium-high continuous steam and then reduced it to low-continuous steam. After 6-7 minutes when the surface of the egg mixture was congealed enough, I placed shrimp, more sliced matsutake, and scallion slices (picture below). I continued steaming for another 7-8 minutes until the egg mixture became firm.

I served this with a dab of real wasabi and a wedge of lime.
Despite the large amount of matsutake slices, the matsutake flavor was very subtle (i.e. almost nonexistent). Next year, I will go back to Oregon mushrooms to get my matsutake. Otherwise, the chawan mushi was quite good with the nice sweet taste of the chestnuts and rather filling because of the size.

Yakitori, two kinds 焼き鳥２種類、レバたれ、笹身のシソ梅肉

I started this blog with “Yakitori” posts 3 years ago. I also posted about our surrogate “Izakaya” “Tako Grill”.  Last year, to our surprise, Chef Kudo went back to Japan for good and opened up his restaurant “タコグリルTako Grill” in the small town he originally came from called “Kuroishi” 黒石 in Aomori prefecture 青森県. Now Mr. Terry Segawa 瀬川哲紀 who mostly took care of the business side of Tako Grill is more involved in the kitchen. He added quite nice Izakaya type snacks to the menu (actually, he now has a special Izakaya menu). When Terry is behind counter, he often offers something “off the menu”. These dishes are different and quite nice; one evening it was Yakitori (chicken liver and hearts). My wife really likes chicken liver Yakitori, which I have not made for some time. This prompted me to make these small yakitori skewers on weekend.
When I barbecue whole chickens, I usually discard the neck, gizzards and liver which are packaged in paper and tucked inside the cavity. (These are usually meant for making the American classic gravy-with-giblets). This time, I used the liver to make this small Yakitori while we are waiting for the whole chickens to finish cooking.

Since the Webber grill was otherwise occupied with the whole chickens and the mosquitos were still around making me reluctant to stand around outside tending the grill, I cooked these Yakitori in the toaster oven in “Hi-broil”.

Chicken liver: I removed attached fat, vessels etc and soaked them in sake for 20-30 minutes. I used a flat metal skewer. From two whole chickens, there was enough liver to make two small skewers (picture below).

Sauce: I made quick “tare” たれ or dipping sauce. It is a mixture of sake (1 tbs) mirin (1 tbs), sugar (2 tsp) and soy sauce (1 tbs). I first heated the sake and mirin mixture to boil, then dissolved sugar and added soy sauce. I then made a potato starch slurry (katakuriko 片栗粉 or potato starch plus sake). I streamed it in until the sauce was slightly thickened.

Chicken tenderloins: This is a variation of shiso and salted plum roll 梅しそ巻き which I previously posted. Instead of making it into a roll, I butterflied the chcken tenderloins, lined it with 1 or 2 leaves of perilla and smeared bainiku 梅肉 (I removed the meat of umeboshi 梅干 plum and minced it into paste with a small amount of mirin to make it a paste consistency). After closing the butterflied portions, I used a sawing motion to thread the skewer (see below).

I cooked the skewers on Hi-broil in the toaster oven (with the upper heating elements about 1 inch from the skewers) turning once or twice for 10-15 minutes. For the liver,  I coated the surface of the cooked liver with the dipping sauce and broiled it for one more minute turning once. I put on one more coat of “tare” sauce and sprinkled “sansho” 山椒 or powdered Szechwan pepper corn on the liver.

This was a perfect appetizer to eat while we waited for the chicken to cook. Sometimes the liver included in the packet found in the cavity of a whole chicken is not fresh and is all broken up, but I should check it before discarding. This was perfectly good chicken liver.