Fresh home-made food every day
As I was telling last week, recently I’m trying new cooking combination and new tastes. In particular I’m trying using spices and fennel seeds. The first attempt was some vegan stew with corn, potatoes, tomatoes, green beans and okra, with some paprika, red pepper, fennel seeds. All cooked together until the potatoes are just done. An utmost simple recipe but very tasty and a nice mixture of texture with the crunchy and sweet fresh corn.
Once a high end onsen resort with beautiful view of the seaside and stunning village spreading in the steep lush green sides of some small mountains, like many other onsen destinations Atami has been transformed into a sad village with too many horrible onsen ryokans that are now falling appart, a pitiful shopping street that goes dark before 18:00 and to complete the picture the seaside bears the scar of a highway. Between conviency and cheap development for Atami was the top destination for honey moon in the 50’s and 60’s, it is still possible to enjoy Atami and a bit of its past grandeur or rather simple luxury and beauty. A few beautiful villas old and new nested in the winding roads up the hills and a few exclusive hotels still exist. A few of the country residences built in the first half of the 20’s century can be visited, and a Hoshino resorts have made some tremendous effort to recreate some of the past atmosphere.
Using both a Japanese and a western building, that used to be a library, they have created a nice secluded space that is large enough to forget a bit about the ugliness of the rest of the city. A steep stair goes up the hill from the library passing by the two onsen bathes and end in the Japanese building. Climbing up one can enjoy the sound of the waves and the wind in the giant camphor trees. Except for onsen and a bit of local food degustation there is strictly nithing to do in Atami, at least for the moment. The only worth seeing museum being closed for renovation for several years, and not opening until 2017… Swimming requires a bit of a drive, and there might be some hiking trails but unfortunately we couldn’t try them because of the rain. There is a beautiful drive through the pass that goes up to Hakone.
But somehow, walking through the deserted streets at night has something really magic, some kind of Midnight in Paris or a magic hour, when your imagination can just make up anything.
Recently I’m experimenting a few new recipes or a few new combinations. Since it’s the season of fresh myoga and we love pickled myoga, I decided to try to make some and found a very simple recipe. This recipe is probably impossible to prepare if you don’t live in Japan or if you don’t have access to some very basic yet not common products, since usually they are homemade. First of all you need 3 or 4 fresh myoga, then you need what I call red “umeboshi juice” but which is in fact called umezu 梅酢 and which is the juice obtained during the making of umeboshi, and the red one is when using red perilla (shiso) to flavor and color the plums. It’s a very pink sour and salty liquid with a delicate plum flavor.Once you’ve got this, then you can prepare pickled myoga. Slice thinly the myoga, put in a jar, add 3 large spoon of umezu. Close the lid, shake well and let sleep for at least 12h. You can keep it for about 4 weeks in the fridge, so you can make much more than just 3 or 4 myoga at a time! Serve as a condiment or a snack.
When in Canada our friend C. Gave us a huge jar of peach jam he made. The jam was so delicious that just one month after it is already empty. And of course I totally forgot about it, hoping this delicious jam would be on the breakfast table for ever!!! This morning when I woke up and was thinking about making pancakes for breakfast, I realized there was no more jam… Pancakes without nothing to top them (A. doesn’t like butter nor honey) would be very sad… Luckily I had plenty of fruits and decided to add them to the pancakes directly to create some moisture add recreate a kind of jam effect. I prepared a regular pancake base. Heated a pan and greased with coconut oil, then started to cook the pancakes on one side. For the fruit I opted for juicy plums that I chopped and added to the pancakes while just starting to cook in the pan. The fruits cooked once I flipped the pancakes and the result was quite interesting: pancake taste and texture and clafouti like fruits juicy, sweet and sour. I added a nashi pear for a crunchy-sweet-super juicy refreshing morning plate. Delicious! Have a good day!!!
Sometimes ingredients just come perfectly together at the farmers market and there is nothing else to do than prepare them in the simplest manner. The summer is soon to ginish but not quite yet and fresh little cucumbers are excellent, crispy, juicy and refreshing. The new rice has just been harvested in Isumi and perfectly cooked it’s crazily delicious, slightly softer and more white and transparent than normal rice. Myoga has started to grow here and there in the woods (our neighbor K. San went to pick some just in the hill back our house and you can find plenty at the farmers market) and the taste of fresh myoga just sliced in a simple miso soup is a little astringent. And to finish a piece of fresh wild snapper filet, simply grilled and topping the rice that goes perfectly with K. San’s fresh umeboshi. I’m starving writing this post and dying for an other meal like that!!!!
I love this ring pasta from Sicily: anelli siciliani that I bought in Sicily last time we traveled there. There are so many different pasta in Italy that it is amazing the different reciepe one can imagine with pasta. And it is also so simple to cook. It’s a pity that except from Italy is not that easy to find so much variety and in Japan most Italian restaurants that serve pasta would serve spaghetti, and most of the pasta that one can find in supermarkets in Japan are spaghetti indeed, penne, fusilli and some macaroni. Tagliatelle, lasagne and trofie in more high scale supermarket where they have European imported food. So yes, when I go to Italy i pack on regional dry pasta!!!.
This ring pasta are really perfect when eaten with vegetables and simplyaccommodated with olive oil. For this plate I have opted for fresh tomatoes, fresh shiitake and parsley from the garden. I boiled the pasta al-dente, in the mean time in a pan heated with olive oil I added 2 large ripe tomatoes diced and 5 large shiitake sliced thinly. I reduced until almost dry. I drained the pasta and add them to the sauce, then add a splash of olive oil, salt and pepper and served. Topped with freshly cut parsley. Bon apetite!
Each area of Japan has its own festival more or less famous, that marks the seasons and the year. In Tokyo there are many famous festival but that is not all. Planning to see a festival in the country side or away from Tokyo is always a good idea because the atmosphere is really great and the ceremonies are often impressive. Most festivals are related to Shinto and seasonal events in the area. So the calendar of festival all over Japan is quite busy!
Last year we finally went to see Hadaka matsuri, a festival held every year in Ohara, Chiba on September 23d and 24th, very near to our country house. The festival climax is on Ohara beach where all the mikoshi gather and enter the sea one after the other. It’s hard to describe the atmosphere and the emotions, so I can only but recommend to go and check out for yourself!!!
PS: better enter the beach from the north and walk along the sea rather than the main entrance which is really crowded.
May be because I come from the south of France, a region where they don’t grow corn, I never been much use to fresh corn. Only when traveling to the US as a teenager did I discover whole corn grilled with butter and salt, and more recently in Japan corn soup. I must say that Japanese do really have something with corn soup. Something that at first kind of refrained me from trying: they sell corn soup or drink in can in self vending machines!!!! Yes, just like water, coke, tea and coffee… But sometimes in cafe and restaurants they serve some real soup and I actually really enjoy its sweetness. It is often added with cream or some bouillon to make it tastier and creamier.
The other day I bought some corns and decided to try to make some. I boiled the corns, then removed the hard parts and blended the soft ones. I added a bit of water until obtaining the consistency I was expecting because it was more of a purée but you can add milk, soy milk, cream… As you like. And simply served with salt and pepper. It kept the granulous texture of the corn grains skin which I kind a like bit makes the soup rather rustic, so for a more elegant soup I recommend to filter it. Enjoy warm or cold!
I think this recipe base is becoming my all-time favorite for the quiche: it’s simple and it mixes Japanese and French flavors perfectly. The quiche is a traditional dish in France, simple to prepare and accomodate with everyone taste. The twist comes from the ingredients I use in the egg base: bonito flakes (katsuobushi) and soya sauce. It gives a subtle flavor of dashi and Japan. For the dough you can use whatever flour you like or have around. I change all the time: white wheat, whole wheat, spelt, buckwheat, rice… A combination of the above mentioned is good too. I usually prepare a sable dough because I like it better, but brise dough works well too. Veggies are only seasonal fresh veggies and this time I pocked some end of summer mushrooms: shiitake (well you can fond them all year round!) and bunashimeji, a white smooth version of shimeji. That’s it!
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