Pulpo al ajillo タコのアヒージョ

This was a dish I made quickly one evening. Although I make "Gambas al ajillo" often, using octopus was a first for me. I happened to have a boiled octopus leg from our Japanese grocery store. I served it as sashimi with California spot prawns the previous evening. My thoughts went thusly; since we already opened a bottle of Cab this evening, my usual miso-vinegar dressing (sumiso-ae 酢味噌和え酢味噌和え) may not work. In addition, I baked baguette that morning. Looking at the line-up of red wine, octopus, and baguette; the only thing I could reasonably make was "Pulpo al ajillo". I did not follow any recipe, I just winged it. As usual, I cooked it my "antique" Corningware. (It was new when I bought it but I just recently discovered it is now considered antique...I don't even want to think about what that means. Nonetheless this is a good vessel to use for this dish).

I use a good amount of fruity EVOO with slices of garlic and red pepper flakes on low heat.

It takes some time before the edges of the garlic slices to brown. I quickly took out the garlic slices (I just used my dexterity with a pair of Japanese cooking chopsticks) and set it aside. I then added slices of the octopus leg (I sliced the tip length wise).

I seasoned it with salt and pepper and added finely chopped parsley. Even off the heat, the olive oil kept boiling for a few minutes. I served this with thin slices of my freshly baked baguette. Yes this was very good. The bread mopped up the wonderful garlic olive oil sauce. The octopus was chewy but tender.

 It is interesting to know that, when I searched for a similar recipe while writing this post, I only found recipes in Spanish. When I searched this in Japanese as "タコのアヒージョ", there were many recipes in Japanese. In addition, I found many Japanese variations. In any case, this was a perfect dish for the evening. The only problem is because of the bread this dish was quite filling.

Spot prawn from Catalina カリフォルニア ボタン海老

We have not gotten anything from Catalina offshore products for a long time but it is California spot prawn season and we got these prawns along with frozen big eye tuna 中トロメバチマグロ and ankimo あん肝. Spot prawn is more like "botan-ebi" ボタンえび than "ama-ebi' 甘エビ and tends to be larger. The closest to Japanese ama-ebi is pink shrimp from Alaska and New England. We did get Alaskan pink shrimp a few times for sashimi from a Japanese-run company in Alaska, it came head removed and the freshness was not great. We see pink shrimp from Maine in our grocery store when it is in season but we never see it fresh enough to serve as sashimi. Even boiled, pink shrimp is quite good. In any case, we are not very fond of eating large spot prawn as sashimi. In the past we made ceviche out of it. I chose the smallest 6 and served it as sashimi for the evening we received them. I also served cucumber cups with tobiko トビコ and moromi-miso もろみ味噌.

For this occasion I thawed real wasabi. I also served octopus. This was quite good and we enjoyed it with cold sake.

I served the larger shrimp as tempura. Although these were not the largest ones the head was sill too tough and we had to remove the outer shell before eating. The prawn itself was very good. I served it with perilla tempura with green tea salt.

The next evening, I made a fry from the largest prawns. After the head and shell were removed, I de-veined (actually removed the intestine) from a tiny slit in the back with a tooth pick (actually not much to remove).  I made multiple shallow cuts on the belly side (ventral surface) to prevent it from curling up. As per usual, I  dredged in flower, dipped in egg water and  breaded in panko crumbs. I also deep fried the head. 

The prawn was very succulent and much better than "frozen and thawed" shrimp. I made an instant tartar sauce with store-bought mayo, finely chopped butter pickles with an addition of the pickling liquid.

Although I fried the head long time starting with low temperature and finished with regular 350F, the outer shell was still too hard. We removed it and only ate the center. The larger prawn is much better cooked than raw. We really enjoyed it. I also made broth from the remaining heads and shells which I am going to make some kind of soup.

Pork and shrimp teriyaki burger エビ入り豚肉照り焼きバーガー

This was just a leftover-control dish but it tasted good. When I made "Fried bamboo shoot stuffed with pork and shrimp",  I prepared much more stuffing than I could use. Using this stuffing, I made this "burger" as a drinking snack.

I served this with green beans (which were already blanched, I just warmed them up in the same pan in which I made these burgers). I also served bomboo shoot "Tosa-ni" 筍の土佐煮. These made nice starting dishes for the evening.

Ingredients: (For two small burgers)

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

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

Directions:

I mixed together the above ingredients and formed the mixture into two identical patties. I cooked the burger in a small non-stick frying pan with light olive oil. I cooked about 2 minute or until browned and then turned over and cooked another one minute or until that side was nicely browned. I then added soy sauce (1 tbs) and mirin (1 tbs) and kept the pan moving and turning the burgers a few times. When the sauce evaporated enough to form a viscous sauce, I cut the flame. After I placed the burgers on the plates, I poured the sauce over them. I sprinkled on some "Sansho" 山椒 powder.

Because of the addition of shrimp, the consistency of the burger was quite different from a just meat burger. It had a more elastic texture (In Japanese, it is called "puripuri" プリプリ). The shrimp also added a slight sweetness. My instant teriyaki sauce went well. Sansho also added its unique flavor. This was a well-balanced first dish of the evening.

Cold Tofu with olive, olive oil and Balsamic vinegar 冷奴のオリーブオイル、バルサミコ酢かけ

This is not necessarily blog-worthy but good to have for our record. I had a this creamy tofu with intense soy bean flavor from Otokomae 男前豆腐.  I modified toppings of this cold tofu dish so it would go well with red wine.

I served it on a bed of baby water cress.

Toppings included, sliced almond-stuffed green olive,  "yukari" ゆかり(red-shiso flakes/salt), aonori 青のりwith our favorite Spanish olive oil and syrupy balsamic vinegar. 

This dish went well with the red wine we were having. The watercress added a slight bitterness. The combination of Western and Japanese ingredients worked surprisingly well.  This is certainly a variation of cold tofu toppings I should remember.

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.