Month: March 2019

Burdock – 牛蒡

There are a few vegetables that are hard to find in Japan and I really love: fennels, artichokes, salsify…

When I first ate burdock (gobo ゴボウ 牛蒡) I was quite surprised with the very peculiar taste, and I realized it was a good alternative for both salsify and artichoke at the same time. This long root looks a lot like salsify, with a lot more fiber and this plus the flavor make them close to artichokes in a sense. I love to cook them, though strangely enough I don’t very often… One of my favorite recipe is in soup, but many recipes are more accessible such as in risotto, or these two very simple recipes today: a mixed sautéed vegetables one and a vegetables soup. Both are ultra simple.

Burdock sautéed

– 1/2 burdock

– 3 shiitake

– 1 turnip top

– olive oil

Wash and peel the burdock, cut in 5cm long and keep in a mix of water and vinegar. Wash and chop the shiitake and the turnip top. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the burdock and cook at high to medium heat until slightly golden. Then add the shiitake and a few minutes later the turnip top. Stir until the turnip top are soft.

Burdock and vegetables soup

– 1/2 burdock

– 1 carrot

– 1/4 cabbage

– 1/2 cup of short pasta (optional). I used stelline.

– a bit of olive oil

Heat a pan of water. Wash, peel and slice the burdock, add immediately to the water. Cut the carrot (I don’t peel my organic carrots), add also. Chop the cabbage and add it, finish with the pasta. When they are cooked serve and enjoy!

BD chocolate cake

It is really not something that I cook often… maybe it’s been 5 or 10 years since I last baked a proper chocolate cake… Usually for A.’s birthday I bake a strawberry tart but as I already baked one two weeks ago, I decided to surprise him with very very rich brownies. So for the first time in a while I went through the recipe without actually reducing the amount of sugar or butter. I chose a recipe that was using cocoa powder as it is easier to find organic cocoa powder rather than delicious chocolate to cook here in Japan. The result was a nice piece of brownies, but you know what, I thought they would be even richer (may be the baking powder was too powerful, or it could be my oven that bakes too quick and I slightly overcooked it, or using cocoa powder rather than creamy melted chocolate…)… I topped them with a sugar and cocoa frosting. A. was really happy with the surprise cake, and it was even better the following day.

So the recipe went that way:

Chocolate brownies

– 2 eggs

– 1/2 cup of flour

– 1/2 cup of melted butter

– 1 cup of sugar

– 1/3 cup of cocoa powder

– 1/4 tsp of baking powder

– 1/4 tsp of salt

– vanilla

Melt the butter in a large pan. Off the heat, add the sugar, the eggs, the vanilla. Stir and add the cocoa, the flour, salt and baking powder. Pour in a greased rectangular pie dish or squared pan.

Bake at 170 for 25min.

For the frosting I used cocoa powder, confectioner’s sugar (ice sugar) and a bit of water, to obtain a kind of cream. I spread on the cake while it is still hot, it helps a lot, and let cool down before removing from the pan.

Enjoy!

Spring is here!

After the fukinoto and the canola which both announce the arrival of spring and the cold unstable weather that usually accompany the plum blossom end, the next step is the real arrival of spring in late March or early April with the famous cherry blossoms of course, Mole’s quince and the jonquils putting beautiful colors in the garden but also the bamboo shoots (takenoko 筍)and the other wild vegetables: fern (kogomi こごみ), horsetail (tsukushi つくし), angelica tree buds (tara no me タラの芽)…

We don’t have kogomi and tara no me in our garden, or not that I know of yet (I discover new things each year!), I found a few tsukushi in the past but never enough or at the right time to harvest them. This year I found really plenty, enough to consider cooking some. Tsukushi are a bit of a delicate plant and their pollen is not very good so it’s better to harvest them early. The one on the picture below is for example a bit too old, this can be seen by the dark color of the head: the pollen is already about to go out! The pollen of tsukushi is blue to black, and looks like mold!!! I have never seen tsukushi in supermarkets, I assume they are too delicate for transport and shelf time. Their flavor is very subtle so I like simple preparations: quickly sautéed, or simply blanched in dashi. To prepare them, simply wash them and remove the corollas parts using your thumb by simply rolling the stem with the corolla on top of your nail. Then cook them in a pan with a bit of butter or as said above blanched them in a regular dashi. Serve them right away with rice, scrambled eggs… nothing too strong.

I my case I made a simple fried takenoko rice with sesame oil, scrambled eggs season with a few drops of soya sauce. That’s it!

Melbourne

Well well well the title of this post is very ambitious and may be misleading. I am not going to give an extensive review of the city nor of it’s eateries and markets… I was there for three days for work and it was my first time in Melbourne and I didn’t touch a pan or a knife, nor a raw ingredient the whole time. I actually didn’t even enter a supermarket or any shopping place! I was staying downtown where our friends and colleagues live, and they showed me a bit around every morning and every evening. The one thing that I truly enjoyed is that there are plenty of options to go out for breakfast even quite early and D. took me to a few very nice places. The top of the top was Vacation, I liked the fresh and open atmosphere and where I had an amazing avocado toast made with Australian avocados. Topped with sprouted garbanzo beans and green peas it was really divine!! Of course D. also took me to Lune for the best croissants in town (it was also recommended to me on IG by @baker.kobo) and I had there an indeed delicious croissant. Going out for breakfast in a new city, when people move around is really a good way to feel the vibe and discover a bit of their habits. I found that a lot of people grab breakfast on their way or stand in to eat, there are of course some seat in places. But everywhere it is usually quick. Lune in particular reminded me of that cafe in Milano I loved to go to have a croissant and a fresh squeezed orange juice. Breakfast eateries in Melbourne offer a large panel of options with healthy bowls and fresh fruits or bacon sausage and eggs, and plenty of fresh smoothies. There’s a lot of vegetarian and vegan options too. And with strong ties to the UK they have kept the tea culture, so every place has delicious tea to offer.

Dinner wise they took me to different neighborhoods and food was great. There is one thing though I realize when we were in Brisbane last May, Australian restaurants for dinner are utterly noisy. They always have very very loud music and huge space with people shouting rather than conversing as you can’t hear each other because of the music. It makes the whole atmosphere rather exhausting after a day at work.

D. and C. also took me to see some possums living in the city near Flagstaff. They were absolutely too cute!!!

So basically I haven’t seen much of the city in these three days, and that wasn’t the point of my visit, but I know I will be coming again and this first contact was a good one! I am hoping to stay longer next time for more exploration of the fresh local food and a kitchen takeover if I don’t have my own kitchen!!!

Canola

Every year one of the first vegetable that shows the arrival of warmer days and real spring (meaning up and downs in temperatures and unstable weather) is canola.

Not only canola is delicious, it is also beautiful in the nature, with its tall vibrant green leaves and yellow flowers. Isumi and Otaki are quite famous for its sight as they grow along the Isumi line train tracks and make very picturesque pictures for which a lot of people come. Not to say when the cherry trees start blooming, the pink trees bring some more pictural scenes and views, and gather even more people!

I enjoy very much when we ride in the country side at that time, but as you know, I love cooking canola too a lot.

This time, I used it for a very quick recipe, with soba and scrambled eggs. I simply blanched the canola washed and cut with a handful of katsuobushi. I boiled the soba, prepare the eggs, served all in a bowl, added olive oil and soya sauce, that’s it!!!

I’m now flying to Australia for a few days… bye-bye!

Lemon curd

When I find beautiful, naturally grown local lemons I want to make many different things with them. The first lemons I harvested in our garden on are newly planted lemon tree were a little small. But when I can find large and juicy, one thing I love is lemon curd, and lemon tarts. Using up all the juice and the zest, lemon curd is quite easy to make. When it comes to British recipes I like to use the BBC website as they always have good recipes for the British basics. I started with this recipe and slightly changed it to adjust to my habit of not using half of an ingredient, in particular an egg, and because I didn’t to make meringues to top the tarts.

So here is my recipe of lemon curd. I love how the lemon flavor is not overly compensated by the sweetness and the perfect creamy texture it has.

Lemon curd (makes about 500g, good for 2 medium size tarts)

– 4 lemons, untreated, nor waxed or whatsoever

– 100g of salted butter

– 3 eggs

– 200g of brown natural cane sugar

Take the zests and juice of the lemon. Put in a pan with the sugar and butter and heat until the butter is melted. Remove from the fire and add the eggs. Stir well and put back on a very low fire and stir regularly. Keep cooking and steering once in a while for 15-20min, until very creamy. That’s it.

You can now use directly in your tarts, in cakes or put in glass jars and use as jam…

If you to make a tart, prepare a sablé dough, bake it and then add the lemon curd. Keep refrigerated.

Lemon curd keeps a few days if not jarred. But in both cases in the fridge.

Tofu

I am a big fan of tofu… most of you may say that tofu is an insipid, watery, white thing, but it is actually much more than that. I was convinced very quickly when we went to a tofu restaurant near Nezu (we used to live in Nezu) the very first months we lived in Tokyo. There was tofu in every single dish of the kaiseki course menu and it was amazing to discover all you can do with tofu. After that of course we’ve been to many other tofu restaurants, and for the scenery (though they serve not so much tofu actually) Ukai, at the foot of the Tokyo tower is without mistake a great pick. And regarding the preparation of tofu I learned a lot thanks to my cha-kaiseki classes. On thing that is always important is to drain hard tofu (momen tofu – 木綿豆腐) well. But what I realized recently is that a very well drained tofu, when heated in a pan for a short time ressembles ricotta in texture, without the milky taste. Perfect for A. who doesn’t like the taste of cheese and for me who live cheese. We have a compromise!

That’s how I’ve stared using very well drained tofu in many preparation where I may have used cheese. So, how does that work?

Drained tofu, rucola, shiitake for ravioli filling

You need to cutting boards, and a clean cloth. First start draining the tofu by pressing it between the two boards. Slightly incline the bottom one towards the sink, put the second on on top with a non breakable weight… anything you can find in the kitchen… I use miso packs or flour packs. Leave for an hour or so. Gravity will do the work.

Then put the tofu in the clean cloth and gently knead while squeezing to take the water of. Don’t be scared of squeezing hard. Once done you should obtain a rather dry to creamy texture. That’s it! Now you can use it in traditional Japanese recipes such as tofu balls with vegetables (I’ll post a recipe about that when the edamame season will arrive), or as I do, in replacement of ricotta, in quiches, in ravioli, or in pasta sauce, in salad…

Filled ravioli

Last night I used the same drained tofu for a simple pasta recipe. I had fresh and tender radish tops, and beautiful fresh anchovies and prepared penne. After draining the tofu and washing the greens I cooked them in a pan at low heat. I boiled the pasta and drained. Add to the greens and tofu, add salt, pepper and olive oil. In a small pan I grill the anchovies, add a few drops of olive oil. Served in the plates and enjoyed. That’s it, simple right?

The only issue is that draining tofu is a bit tedious, and takes time, so if you don’t have much cooking time, I recommend starting draining in the morning, by using a tea pot and a tea filter and leave in the fridge, by night it should be almost perfect.

Cheeses from Chiba

When we first settled in Isumi, and I found a cheese factory right down our valley I was really happy! Soon after that At Ohara harbor market I found Takahide farm and another Yojuemon cheese factory. This was more than enough in a country that doesn’t have a strong milk and cheese culture and I was fully satisfied. To be honest the closest cheese factory: Komagata, was good enough when I knew only that one, but as soon as I found Takahide, I stopped buying cheese there, as Takahide cheeses are so much better. Takahide has three delicious original cheeses: a reblochon style, a small creamy one that recently comes in different maturity (the more matured one on the picture below is just perfect) and a blue cheese, that is so perfectly made that even I who don’t really like blue cheese I love! The plus with Takahide is that they have also mozzarella and fromage blanc, and for those who like ice creams, and what for me is really important, they have their own milk farm. So when going to the cheese shop you can see the cows and how well treated they are. Takahide cheeses won several international awards and have attracted a lot of media attention a few years ago and the shop, which use to be a small counter inside the cheese factory is now a little cafe space where you can drink a delicious coffee and eat a pizza made with fresh mozzarella while looking at the cows.

Yojuemon makes ricotta mainly, or at least that’s what I always buy from them. And it’s a really good one. I usually buy at Ohara harbor market on Sunday morning.

But the whole point of this post is not to review what I already more or less said before… it’s to introduce a new cheese factory. This one is not in Isumi, but in Otaki, on the way to Yorokeikoku. It is called Sen 千. I discovered it thanks to some people I follow on IG. Sen is open only the first Sunday of the month, but luckily we had no plan but to go to Katsuura to see the Hina matsuri last Sunday, and with the terrible rain we thought that a drive in the country to see plum trees blossoming and early sakura would be great. So we headed up to Sen. The place is really cute, old houses, polish garden on top of a hill. Picturesque.

We were warmly welcome, and the cheese shop offer several varieties of cheese, even raclette cheese!!! I bought one small cheese but when the owner realized we were French we start chatting (in French) about her stay in France to study French cheeses, and the cheese she makes, and she offered me one of her award winning hash cheese. We also took a tour of the old buildings.

Once back home I prepared breads: fougasse with walnuts, and campagne bread and couldn’t wait to try them. Well to be honest, you don’t need bread. They were delicious just like that. It is very interesting because they are very different than Takahide cheeses, with probably stronger milk and cheeses flavors (probably due from her training in France!). The maturity also was great, with a creamy side below the crust. It was a great discovery!!

Now I have one favorite cheese farm and one favorite cheese factory!!!!

Braided brioche

When looking at Instagram and at breakfast tables, I was often seeing beautiful braided breads and brioches and was always intrigued by their realization. Not the braid itself, but how to obtain a dough that wouldn’t be too sticky to actually make a braid. I didn’t do much search. My recently acquired cookbook again helped me solving that problem. The Challah Dough from bread in 5 is really a nice alternative between bread and very rich brioche dough and I’ve come to use it often. And that’s how I learned how to make braided breads. It is actually extremely simple, much more than I imagined!

The book recipe can be found on that page but I slightly modified it to fit my pantry and taste. So here is mine:

Braided brioche bread (for one 400g bread)

– 250g of flour + for dusting

– 1 egg

– 1/2 cup of tepid water (add slowly as a little less may be required)

– 5g of yeast

– 5g of salt

– 2tbs of brown sugar

– 25g of melted salted butter

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients. The order has strictly no importance. For some reason (habit for sure) I almost always start with the flour, though the book recommends to finish with the flour… I tried both and the result is basically the same. To mix things altogether I use my hands or Japanese cooking chopsticks if I am on a rush or multitasking and want to keep my hands clean. I then leave the dough to prove and wait until it has almost doubled in volume.

Once the dough has risen, using flour to dust I move it to a sheet of cooking paper. Then flatten it and cut in 3 for long braided bread, or 4 for the round ones. I roll them into 20-40cm sticks to make the strands, and start braiding. The 3 strands, braiding is obvious, and don’t need a picture. The 4 strands in circle, it is a little more tricky but not much actually, it’s just that you have to twist and turn 90deg, go up the first strand and under the second. The braids don’t have to be too tight, as the dough will rise again.

Leave for the second rise about 45-60minutes and then bake at 180deg for 20-25minutes, or until golden. Don’t over bake, it will make the brioche too dry, in particular if, like me, you like to eat it warm, and plan to warm it up in the oven before eating if you don’t eat right after baking. Oh… and I don’t use egg wash and they always come out perfectly golden.

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