Tomato ribbon salad version 2 トマトリボンサラダ V2

This is another variation of my wife’s famous ribbon salad. The red layers are tomato juice based aspic but  the cream cheese-based white layers are a bit more complex than the previous version. I helped by chopping up and slicing the ingredients. Initially, my wife was dissapointed since she expected the white layer to be more flavorful. But a few days later when we had this again, the ingredients had melded together and we could taste much more flavor.

Ingredients for Tomato aspic:
3 cups tomato juice (we used V-8)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. Sushi vinegar
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
Onion juice to taste (About 3 Tbs.
2 envelopes gelatin

Ingredients for white section
1 envelope of gelatin
1/4 cup cream
1 tub (8 oz.) or 1 block (8 oz.) Philadelphia cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tbsp. mayonnaise
2-3 ribs celery, minced
1 med. green pepper, (jalapeño) finely chopped
2 med. onion, finely chopped
1/4-1/2 cup pimento stuffed olives, sliced
1/4-1/2 cup ripe (black) olives, sliced (we didn’t use because we didn’t have) 
(Optional) 1 ripe avocado, peeled & sliced (we did not use) 

Directions:
Soften gelatin in 1/2 cup of the tomato juice. Add mixture to the top of a double boiler. Heat until the gelatin melts. Put the rest of the tomato juice in a pan. Heat until all ingredients dissolved. Add the gelatin that has been melted in the double boiler. Chill 1/2 of the tomato aspic until set, in a 9 x 13 inch pyrex dish (below).

 

Soften the gelatin in the cream. Add mixture to the top of a double boiler. Heat until the gelatin melts. Mix cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise until smooth. Add the melted gelatin then the chopped celery, jalapeño, and onion. Spread cheese mixture over the congealed aspic. Add the olives on top of the cheese mixture. (Next time it would be better that the olives are finely diced.  Cut like this they made it hard to slice the ribbon salad into servings). (If using avocado lay the slices on top of the cheese mixture.) Refrigerate until firm (below).

Pour the second half of the tomato aspic gently over the avocado slices, to cover all. Cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until set.

Although this is a variation on the previous tomato ribbon salad, it is clearly in the same tradition. The red layer is much the same. The white layer is much softer. The olives are a great addition. They add a burst of saltiness. The flavors get much more pronounced after a day or two when the ingredients have had a chance to meld together. In general, this salad and its precursor are a light cool refreshing addition to a meal on a hot summer day.

New Blueberry muffin 新ブルーベリーマフィン

Although we generally like home delivery of groceries, the quality of produce can be a bit unreliable. Since it was high-season for blueberries, we ordered some and several batches arrived in good shape and were delicious. But the last time, the blueberries that arrived had a hard life. Many were smashed or extremely soft. We had to discard about 1/3 of them and even the ones we saved were bit too soft to eat as whole fresh fruit on yogurt for example. So, my wife just heated them up in a sauce pan (no water or sugar, just gently cooked) until they were the consistence of soft jam. The next morning, I pureed them using an immersion blender. The blueberry puree was pretty good. We added a teaspoon of it to our morning yogurt. Somehow the blueberry taste intensified in the puree and actually tasted richer than the whole blueberries we had been adding. My wife, then expanded the blueberry repertoire by making this new version of blueberry muffin using both whole and pureed blueberry. The blueberry puree made the muffin really good with strong blueberry flavor. The puree was added to the top of the muffin. The cut surface looks like only a few whole blueberries were added to but the distribution was somewhat uneven. Other sections of the muffins had plenty of whole blueberries. This is based on the recipe called “America’s test kitchen’s best blueberry muffins”.

Ingredients
1 cup of whole blueberries (or optional substitute toasted pecans).  

1 cup of blueberry puree.
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs room temperature

4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable  oil
1 cup buttermilk room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract 

(Optional) finely grated zest of 1 lemon. We did not use this.

Directions:
To make the blueberry puree, bring 1 cup of blueberries to a very low simmer in a small saucepan. Cook until the berries have broken down. Puree. Cool to room temperature.

Whisk the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Whisk 1 cup sugar and eggs in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk, lemon zest (if using) and vanilla until combined. Fold wet mixture and remaining berries into flour mixture until just moistened (lumpy is fine). If the batter seems loose, let it mellow for 5 minutes, and it will thicken up.

Divide among 12 greased muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups). Spoon 1 teaspoon of the blueberry puree into the center of each mound. (First picture below) Gently swirl into the batter using a toothpick and a figure-eight motion.

Bake at 425F until tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. (Second picture below). Cool in muffin tins for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

These were really good muffins with a very intense blueberry flavor thanks to the addition of the puree. The texture of the muffin was very tender with a nice fine crumb and faint vanilla flavor. The delivery of the smashed batch of blueberries was a “blessing-in-disguise” now that we have learned about blueberry blueberry puree and it’s flavor advantages. 

Addendum:
My wife was impressed by how the blueberry puree added a good blueberry flavor to the muffins. We had some left over puree but no whole blueberries left. So my wife decided to substitute toasted pecans for the whole blueberries. (Toasted pecans as a substitute for whole blueberries is not a substitute I would have made or let alone even thought of ) but this really worked. The picture below shows the result. It’a almost like two muffins in one. The top is blueberry muffin and the underneath is pecan muffin. And the blueberries and pecans really work well together. The pecans add a nice crunchy textural element.

Firefly squid sautéed in butter and soy sauce ホタルイカのバター醤油炒め

Firefly squid or “hotaru-ika” ホタルイカ is very seasonal and, in the past,  the only way we could enjoy it was to visit Japan especially Kanazawa 金沢 in the spring. On exceptional occasions far and few between we had firefly squid at Tako Grill. A few years ago, however, we learned that we could get boiled firefly squid from “Regalis food” in spring. This year, I ordered two trays  which was a bit too much for us to consume all at once so, I froze a few small batches in vacuum packs partially as an experiment to see if it would work. Turns out it worked. We defrosted a batch in August and prepared a few dishes. This one (below) was particularly  good. The firefly squid is sautéed  in butter with deveined and deseeded Jalapeño pepper, shallot, seasoned with soy sauce (Actually I used x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce). I topped it with bonito flakes. This was inspired by one of the Japanese recipes I saw on line but I improvised based on the ingredients we had or did not have on hand. 

Ingredients: (For 2 small servings)
Boiled firefly squid, about 30
1/2 Jalapeño pepper, deseeded and deveind and cut into thin juliennes
1/2 shallot, sliced into thin strips
1/2 tbs unsalted butter
2 tsp soy sauce (or x4 “Mentsuyu” 麺つゆ Japanese noodle sauce)
bonito flakes for topping

Directions:
Melt butter in a frying pan on medium flame
Add the jalapeño and shallot and sauté for a few minutes
Add the firefly squid and sauté a few more minutes
Add soy sauce (or x4 noodle sauce)
Serve immediately with a topping of the dried bonito flakes

The combination of butter and soy sauce flavor cannot go wrong. You can really taste the unctuous  flavor of the firefly squid. This is a good and simple firefly squid dish. Interestingly, the jalapeño added a mild but definitive slow heat towards the end.

Seawater Uni, uni shuto and fresh myoga 海水ウニ、ウニ酒盗、茗荷

Although there is nothing new here, it is not common to have a new crop of myoga 茗荷 harvested from our own garden (just started), fresh salt water (seawater) uni “Kaisui-uni” 海水ウニ and uni-shuto うに酒盗 from Maruhide 丸秀, all available in the same time. Myoga is best enjoyed fresh and the season is rather short and requires some effort to harvest. So, I served a small dish of myoga with cucumber, and wakame as well as two small dishes of each kind of uni. For the occasion, I pulled out the small lidded containers we purchased in Nihiki market, Kyoto 京都錦市場 some years ago.

These covered small dishes make a nice presentation since lifting the lid reveals the contents as a pleasant  surprise. (On this occasion, however, my wife knew exactly what the dishes contained). From left to right are original uni shuto, salt water uni and the myoga dish.

Fresh uni from Maruhide is frequently out of stock. Recently however, fresh uni in seawater (i.e. uni in salt water with a salt concentration equivalent to seawater; about 3.5 percent) became available which was fine with us so we ordered it. We already had original uni shuto frozen in the freezer so we decided to have an “uni tasting festival” of both the seawater uni and the original uni shuto. As I mentioned before, most of the fresh uni is treated with “alum’ which makes it a bit firmer. The salt water uni is not treated or processed at all; just placed in seawater equivalent. As a result, it is a bit softer but has a pure uni taste. Dipped in wasabi and sashimi shouyu it is sublime uni enjoyment.

The picture below shows the original uni shuto(u). Maruhide is the only place this is made. Compared to other preserved uni (classic are “ Neri-uni” 練りウニ, “Tsubu-uni” 粒ウニ and less commonly “steamed-uni” 蒸しウニ). The former two are readily available in Japan and come in small jars. They are salted and some alcohol is added and processed (the details are not clear). Neri-uni is homgenized and paste-like and Tsubu-uni retains its original shape. Maruhide Uni shutou is closer to tsubu-uni but it includes some additional proprietary process. In any case, it comes frozen in a jar and tastes much better than any other preserved uni we have tried. This should just be enjoyed without any additional seasonings .

Finally, we enjoy the very unique and distinct flavors of fresh myoga. We just harvested this in the morning. I combined the myoga with cucumber and wakame (salt-preserved one) dressed in sumiso 酢味噌.

Nothing comes close to fresh, especially saltwater, uni. But Maruhide uni shuto comes in a close second. Each has it’s own rich distinctive taste that goes extremely well with a sip of cold sake. Also, because of the rich taste intensity a little goes a long way. The myogo is such seasonal late summer taste harbinger of fall. Its distinctive fresh somewhat sharp taste complemented the the rich uni beautifully. 

Instant Pot Egg Bites version 2 インスタントポットエッグバイツ

This is the second version of Instant Pot Egg Bites. The last one which was supposedly a recreation of  Starbucks’ egg bites was good but tasted a bit too cheesy rather than eggy when it got cold. So this time we changed the ratio of egg and cheeses so that it would taste more eggy. This is based on a recipe but, as usual, we winged it a bit. We added finely chopped prosciutto, shallot, and jalapeño pepper. This turned out to be quite good. It was smooth with distinct shallot and jalapeño flavors. The prosciutto added slight saltiness which also worked well. While both versions were very good. We probably liked this version better than the first version.

Ingredients (Recipe x1, 7 egg bites)
3 large eggs
1/4 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup soft cheese, like cream cheese, Brie, Boursin, or Laughing Cow (we used cream cheese)
1/2 cup chopped mix-ins, like cooked meats and/or raw or cooked vegetables (we used jalapeños, shallots and prosciutto)
1/2 cup shredded cheese, such as cheddar, Monterey jack, or mozzarella (We used cheddar and Monterey Jack)

Ingredients (recipe x2, 14 egg bites)
6 large eggs
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup soft cheese, like cream cheese, Brie, Boursin, or Laughing Cow (we used cream cheese)
1 cup chopped mix-ins, like cooked meats and/or raw or cooked vegetables (we used jalapeños, shallots and prosciutto)
1 cup shredded cheese, such as cheddar, Monterey jack, or mozzarella (We used cheddar and Monterey Jack)

Directions:
Combine the eggs, cottage cheese, soft cheese and other cheeses in a blender. Blend at medium speed for about 30 seconds, until smooth. Pour into molds 3/4 full. Evenly distribute the chopped veggies into the molds. Stir to further incorporate.

Pour 1 cup of water into the Instant Pot or electric pressure cooker. Cover the egg molds and put into the wire steam rack. Grasping the handles of the steam rack, lower the egg molds into the pot.

Cook the eggs on “steam”: Secure the lid on the pressure cooker. Make sure that the pressure regulator is set to the “Sealing” position. Select “steam” then adjust the time to 8 minutes (for single batch and if making a double batch, increase the cooking time to 10 minutes.)

The pressure cooker will take about 10 minutes to come up to full pressure. Cook time begins once it has reached full pressure.

When the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then perform a quick pressure release by moving the pressure release knob from “Sealing” to “Venting.” It will take a minute or two for the pressure to release completely. Remove the egg bites from the pressure cooker.

These were very good egg bites. They tasted more eggy than cheesy but the cheese flavor came through nicely enough. The shallots and jalapeño gave a nice spiciness while the prosciutto added some saltiness. The texture was very smooth almost like a very firm custard. These would be lovely as an egg substitute for breakfast or brunch as well as an appetizer with a glass of wine.

Pigs in a blanket (PIB) ピッグインブランケット

When we got steaks from Omaha Steaks, we also got assorted packages of several different raw and cooked meat products as part of the promotion. One was hamburger  meat which prompted us to bake hamburger buns and make cheeseburgers. One of the additional packages was hotdogs. I am not sure when was the last time we ate hotdogs but since we had them in the freezer my wife proposed making “pigs in a blanket (PIB)”. The origin of this dish is not clear but hotdogs wrapped in “Pillsbury’s mini-crescent rolls”  appears to be the most common rendition in the U.S. (This was the stand-by dish my wife ate as a child.) My wife proposed we “kick-it-up-a-notch” and use frozen puff pastry instead of the Pillsbury mini-crescent. (Besides we didn’t have any mini-crescents but we did have frozen puff pastry which was getting old in the freezer). In keeping with the classic version of PIB she added cheese. (Just exactly like they were made when she was a child). Unlike the cheeseburgers we made some time ago, in which my wife insisted as a hamburger “purist” no ketchup or mustard should be involved, she insisted the case of hotdogs was completely different; ketchup and mustard, preferably mixed together were absolutely required. The PIB were good but the cheese ran out and made little puddles of crispy cheese on the bottom of the pan. I thought these were pretty good with the “required” amount of ketchup and mustard (As shown in the picture below, I did not mix the two together although my wife did). (We used Dijon mustard).

Ingredients (made 8 small P-in-Bs):
4 Hotdogs, thawed and cut into half
1 frozen puff pastry, thawed and cut into 8 long strips
Monterey jack and cheddar cheese (enough to stuff the hotdogs)

Directions:
Cut the hotdogs in half making 8 short pieces
Slit the hotdogs but not cut trough (may be better to make a pocket rather than cutting through to both ends)
Stuff the slits with the cheese (either cheddar or Monterey Jack)
Wrap it in the strips of puff pastry (see below)
Bake at 400F for 25 minutes (we used our toaster oven in convection mode).

In retrospect, to prevent the melting cheese from running out, it would be better to make a pocket in the hotdogs instead of cutting through to the ends. Another option would be to place the shredded cheese on the strip of puff pastry, wrap the cheese up by merging the both ends of the long edges of the pastry and then flatten it to the original width before wrapping the hotdogs. Nonetheless this was a nostalgic trip for my wife. These brought back some of the joy of one of her favorite childhood dishes. She did observe, however, that these hotdogs did not seem as flavorful as the ones she remembers. She mused that the brand used back then was probably Oscar-Mayer. I do not have any opinion since I am not sure I have ever tasted an O-M hotdog. To head off the possibility of a trip to the grocery store to retrieve a package of O-M’s I reminded my wife that the “taste difference” may be due to the difference between the taste buds of a child versus an adult. Nonetheless, she said the adult taste buds really liked this batch. While it was not part of my childhood I quite liked it too.

How to defrost a frozen tuna block 冷凍鮪柵の解凍方法

 This is a continuation of the frozen bluefin tuna block from Great-Alaska-Seafood saga. This is mostly to document for myself how best to thaw a frozen sashimi tuna block (since we have a number to which this process will need to be applied). In any case, we tried “Chu-toro” 中トロ this time. This was a relatively small  block and was perfect for the two of us. I served two slices as is (left) and made one slice into “Aburi” 炙り (right) (which was possible due to the recent acquisition of a new small kitchen torch. More about that later). This is better than the “akami” we tasted before (due to the thawing method or the fact this is chu-toro is unclear but probably both).

I made the remaining tuna into our usual “pseudo” negitoro  擬制ネギトロ. served with slices of cucumber and small sheets of nori (this is “Korean nori” 韓国のり. Since there was a bit too much tuna to  make all into “Negitoro”,  I also served one slice of tuna as well.

 

Now onto the main topic. I knew there were special instruction on how best to thaw a frozen tuna block which I may have seen on several YouTube videos. Most of the time, however, I am too lazy and just take it out from the vacuum pack, wash it in cold running water, blot it with paper towel, place it on the folded paper towel, wrap it with a plastic wrapping and thaw it in the refrigerator. This time, I looked at several instructions and decided to record the best method as far as I could tell.

How to thaw a frozen tuna block:
1. Remove the tuna block from the vacuum pack.
2. Quickly wash the surface using cold running water to remove any “saw dust”.
3. Soak it in 40C, 4% salted warm water for 3-5 minutes or until the surface becomes soft.
4. Quickly wash and blot the surface with a paper towel.
5 Wrap it completely with a sheet of paper towel.
6 Place it in the ziploc bag and remove the air, seal or Using a “Food saver” type vacuum bag and device, vacuum pack (see below).

7. Submerge the vacuum packed tuna in ice water for 1 hour or until thawed (below).

Digression alert: Every set of instructions I came across also provided some “scientific” explanation of each step. I am not sure of the validity of those explanations but the following is my understanding of the science behind each step. The warm salt water process may activate myoglobin oxidation which, especially in “akami”, makes a better red color without extracting or infusing liquid (over exposure to oxygen may make the tuna darker or “black”). Because of the much better heat conduction of water (20 times greater than air), the tuna will quickly thaw without increasing the temperature in the ice water than in the refrigerator. This process allows the tuna block to go through a -5 to -1C temperature zone which is conducive to the formation of ice crystals in the meat more quickly than if it is left to “thaw” in the refridgerator. A shorter time spent in that temperature zone supposedly improves the quality of the tuna meat because the formation of ice crystals can break the cells or form holes making the meat mushy.

As a side note, I got a new small kitchen torch since the old one failed to ignite last time. Instead of a larger torch which would use a standard size butane canister, I chose one that requires charging the butene gas like a cigarette lighter like the one I had before. Also, I had some leftover butane canisters from the previous torch I had. My reasoning was that we had a difficult time to use up and discard the standard butene canisters that we used with our old table-top gas cooker, basically because we seldom used the cooker. In any case, this one is compatible with Zippo butene canister which comes in a much smaller size.

This torch works well. It ignites easily and the flame size can be easily adjusted. I made “aburi” 炙り quite quickly with a nice char. I salted the surface before torching.