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.

Variations on parent/offspring bowls 親子丼バリエーション, TKGと温玉

Oyako-donburi 親子丼 or what is referred to as parent-and-offspring bowl is a classic dish in which chicken meat is cooked in seasoned broth with beaten eggs added and placed on top of cooked rice. The eggs should be semi-cooked (most recipes call for adding beaten eggs in two stages). Although I like it this way, my wife does not like under-cooked egg whites which she thinks gives the dish a slimy texture. When I saw this recipe for chicken steak and raw egg over rice (also known as "TKG" Tamago-Kake-Gohan 卵かけ御飯), I made a TKG version based on this recipe using a raw egg and, another version as per my wife's advice, using a Poached Egg on Rice ("PEoR").

The below is the TKG version. I also made a seasoned broth (see below) and moisten the rice with it. The chicken thigh was marinated in shio-koji 塩麹. The raw egg is, of course, pasteurized Davidson's egg.

I beat the egg well with a bit of soy sauce and poured it over the rice and garnished with thinly sliced scallion (I forgot take the final picture).

This is the soft poached egg version. I cooked the egg as I posted before with the yolk still runny.

My wife used her chopsticks to demonstrate the texture of the yolk for me.

This was a weekend lunch and I also made miso soup with silken tofu, abura-age (fried tofu pouch) and scallion.

I really enjoyed the soup and even my wife finished it (which is unusual).

Ingredients (for four): 

Chicken thighs,  4, deboned and excess skin and fat removed, marinated in shio-koji overnight (marination optional).

Eggs, four, Davidson's pasteurized or other salmonela-safe eggs, either poached or beaten with a bit of soy sauce.

Scallion, 4, thinly sliced

Seasoning broth, made of Japanese dashi broth (I used a dashi pack with bonito, kelp and "iriko" dried fish) and concentrated mentsuyu (or mixture of soys sauce and mirin) about 1:1 ratio warmed.

Directions:

I cooked the chicken thighs with the skin side down on low heat without oil in a non-stick frying pan. I cooked them for over 15 minutes occasionally mopping up the fat rendered from the chicken using a paper towel.

Using a plastic or silicon spatula I carefully removed the chicken and turned them over (because of the shio-koji, the skin tended to stick).

I let it cook for 5 minutes and turned off the flame and let it sit for another 10 minutes to complete the cooking.

I put cooked rice in a bowl and moistened it with the seasoning broth, placed the chicken cut into strips on top of the rice. For the TKG version, I then poured beaten raw egg seasoned with soy sauce over the chicken. For the poached egg version, I placed the soft poached egg on the top. I garnished both with thinly sliced scallion. I knew my wife would need more broth so I served a bit extra in a separate bowl. She added more broth to her rice but mine was Ok. We liked this version of Oyako-don very much. Of course, TKG version has a slightly slimy texture from the egg white which was mixed with the rice but I enjoyed it. I do not even remember when the last time I had TKG. The PEoR version was excellent with silky yolk. The small pieces of cooked egg white mixed in added some nice texture to the rice. The chicken was tender and also had good texture. The skin did not really get crispy, unfortunately but had good flavor. Overall, we liked these two versions better than the classic.

The silken tofu is from our regular grocery store. According to the advertisement on the package it was mostly sold to make "smoothies" but, to me, among other tofu such as "firm" or "Extra-firm" versions sold, this is the best to use in miso soup like the one we had.