Category: Cooking

Peanuts

I love the Japanese name for peanuts: 落花生, it fits so well the way peanuts actually grow! But before living in Japan I never really considered peanuts as a food or a cooking ingredient. I am not into peanut butter either. But when a friend told me why they were called 落花生 and how they grow, I got intrigued, and even more, knowing that Chiba is famous for its peanuts!

So I decided to grow some in the garden, and see by myself how they grow. Loved it! And so cooking peanuts needed to start. Of course salted boiled is my way to go, but instead of just eating them as snack, today I got creative and came up with a new super simple recipe, that was also super delicious.

Stuffed eggplants (1 serving)

  • 3 small eggplant or one large
  • 100g of cottage cheese
  • 80g of boiled peanuts
  • Salt and pepper

Wash the eggplants, cut in two in the long edge and grill until soft.

Shell the peanuts and chop roughly with a knife, stir in with the cottage cheese.

Spread the mix on the eggplants. Grill again for a few minutes until it starts getting golden. Serve, top with salt and pepper. Enjoy!!

Chilled miso soup

You may be very much used to miso soup as a warm bouillon served either with just a few things in: a slice of shiitake, a peel of yuzu, a few leaves of mitsuba, or with rather plenty of small mushrooms, daikon…

But with the summer heat, a chilled soup is very much welcome and a chilled miso soup version is also possible and it’s delicious!

It just requires to prepare a little ahead so that the bouillon can cool down. This recipe is inspired by a soup we were served for lunch at a small vegan cafe we went for lunch to on our way back from Hoki Museum (by the way, well worth the visit).

My recipe features somen, the Japanese vermicelli, but you do without.

Chilled miso soup (2 servings)

  • 1 dry shiitake
  • 1 small eggplant
  • 2 tsp of miso
  • 1 small cucumber
  • 4-6 leaves of fresh green shiso
  • Optional: 100g of somen
  • Optional: 1 fresh myoga

In a pan boil 1l of water, add the dry shiitake to make a shiitake dashi. Let it boil for a few minutes, when the color goes brownish, turn off the heat and leave it to rest.

Cut the eggplant in bites and bake it or cook it in a frypan until soft.

Wash and slice very thinly the cucumber and the shiso, and the myoga of you use any.

Boil the somen and keep them in cool water.

In the serving bowls, serve one spoon of miso each, top with the drained somen, add the eggplant, the cucumber and eventually myoga, finish with bouillon that covers almost everything, and add the shiso.

For extra chill effect, add a few ice cubes and enjoy!

Summer green chilled soup

Last week we went out for dinner to try Cimi Restorant, a restorative kitchen that proposes an interesting concept, with only 10 guests all sitting at one table, in an old house, redesigned for the restaurant, in a mix of old and new. Most dishes are plant based. All the dishes they served were very simple, using a few ingredients very carefully chosen, from farms producing organic, biodynamic or in permaculture. Though I was a bit confused that they do not use more local ingredients as part of reducing the environmental footprint and being furthermore restorative.

One of the plant based on the course menu was a cold cucumber soup. And it was obvious after the very first spoon that it was not just cucumber, there was also some green bell pepper and a few other vegetables. It was refreshing and very tasteful.

Perfect timing, last Sunday we got some cucumber from a lady with whom we played tennis, and I had just bought green bell pepper. So I decided to try a simpler version if that soup at home. The result was way over my expectations at first try! So here is my recipe.

Summer green chilled soup (2 servings)

  • 2 Japanese cucumbers (or one European)
  • 2 green bell peppers
  • 1/2 cup of vegetables consommé
  • Salt and pepper
  • Optional: olive oil and a slice of sourdough bread

Prepare the vegetables consommé and let it chill.

Wash the vegetables. Cut the stems and remove the seeds of the bell peppers, and of the cucumber if it feels like that (not necessary with Japanese cucumbers).

Put the vegetables and the consommé in a blender and liquify. Dress in adequate plates or bowls. Top with z pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper (I used a mix of pink and white peppers).

If you feel like it add a drizzle of olive oil. Or cut the slice oc sourdough bread in bite size and roast them in a bit of olive oil in a pan. Top the soup.

Enjoy!

Insalata di riso – インサラータ・ディ・リーゾ

In France, the early summer is the end of the school year, and more than often children go on day trips. In which case parents should provide a lunch box. I have no idea what today’s lunch boxes look like, but when I was a child (saying that feels like I 80 years old or something!!!!), one very popular recipe for the lunch box was “rice salad”. There were two main versions: the cheese and ham one, usually with mayonnaise dressing, and the tuna one either with mayonnaise or olive oil. I personally liked the later best. With a piece of fresh local bonito, some cooked rice, and summer vegetables plenty, the menu for dinner tonight was all set: it would be a classic rice salad. Of course rice is a key ingredient in the recipe and I wasn’t sure it would work well with Koshihikari rice, but it is truly perfect.

For the other ingredients, that would be normally can-ready food: corn, tuna… but I don’t by much canned food, and it is the season for delicious local corn now. And it makes a much much better meal. Almost fancy!

Here is my recipe.

Rice salad (2 servings, one dish meal)

  • 1/2 cup of rice
  • 1/2 fresh corn
  • 1/2 filet of fresh bonito
  • 1 tomato
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 leave of laurel

First, cook the rice, and boil the corn.

In a pan set the bonito filet, some olive oil and salt, pepper, laurel add a little of water and cook slowly under cover.

Dice the tomato and the cucumber.

In a large bowl, set the rice (much better if it has had time to cool down. Generously splash olive oil and stir. Add the tomato and the cucumber. Stir again. Once the corn is cooked and had cooled down, add the husked corn, pull the bonito, like you would do with pork and add too. Stir, add salt and pepper if you feel it’s needed. Enjoy at room temperature or chilled.

A close up of the finalized salad

Zucchini season!

It’s been a long time since I last wrote here. I’ve been cooking as usual of course, but nothing that deserved a special entry. Until today. Inspired by a giant zucchini I bought for 100JPY at the farmers market, I decided to use it for a soup. I love mint and zucchini soup, and the mint is spreading at a very fast pace in the kitchen garden, so I was all set, until I realized that “just” a zucchini soup won’t make the trick for an active day, and we needed a little more.

But what…

I just had pork meat and opted for pork mint croquettes, and with a piece of bread left over a couple of croutons. Something that could be largely inspired by Italian meatball soup, but my way.

And it was damn delicious, so much that I really want to keep the recipe and do it again and again!!!

Zucchini meatball soup (2 servings)

  • 1 extra large zucchini or 2 normal size
  • Fresh mint (10 leaves)
  • 100g of ground pork
  • 23bs of panko
  • 1 egg
  • More fresh mint (10 leaves)
  • A piece of left over bread
  • A bit of oil for cooking
  • Salt and pepper

Wash and cut the zucchini, steam it until soft. In a blender, put the steamed zucchini, and 10 leaves of fresh mint rinsed. Blend until liquid. The soup is ready. Keep at room temperature.

In a bowl, chop 10 leaves of fresh mint, add salt and pepper, the ground meat, the egg, the panko. Stir well.

Heat a pan, add some oil for cooking, make bite size patties and cook them on both sides until golden.

Cut the bread in small bite size and toss them in the pan, turn until golden.

Serve the soup, add the meat balls and croutons and enjoy!

Making the meat balls.

More cauliflower!

I don’t think there was a lot of recipes with cauliflower posted here except quite a few classic soups and a few more creative such that one with sansho. This winter I believe we may have eaten a little more cauliflower than usual because it is so easy to prepare and so quick to cook.

I have always been a fan of coconut, everything coconut, and since we came back from Fiji I must say that I am even a bigger fan. I bring back from our trip virgin coconut oil, and we learned and saw how coconut milk and cream are made from the raw coconut. Definitely, coconut cream has been on the pantry shelf without fail since our return.

So last night when I was looking for a recipe to prepare the cauliflower I had, I thought about it: a coconut cream curry with only cauliflower. And it worked out so well… I wanted to share the recipe.

I served it with super flat savory pancakes and a fresh salad.

Spicy cauliflower in coconut milk

  • 1 raw cauliflower
  • 1 pack of coconut cream (200g)
  • 1tsp of curry powder
  • 1tsp of fresh ginger gratted
  • 1tsp of cooking oil

Wash and cut the cauliflower in florets. In a pan, pour the oil and heat to medium high heat. Add the cauliflower and cook at high heat for about 5min while stirring regularly. Add the curry and the ginger. Cook under cover for another 5min. Stir in the coconut milk and cook another 3min at high heat, while stirring once in a while. Serve.

Could also go well with basmati rice.

Cauliflower pasta

It’s the season for cauliflower and I am a big fan, so it always makes me happy to prepare some.

Until recently I would either eat it raw, steam it to melty-crunchy, or make a puree or a soup for some classic recipes. Or use Indian inspiration and cook it with spices.

Yet this year I started to make a sauce for pasta with it, like you would with broccoli. My first attempt was good but needed a bit more elaboration. My attempt today reached the perfection I was expecting. So here is my recipe. Simple but so delicious.

Cauliflower pasta (for 2 servings)

  • 120g of dry short pasta (I used farfalle, but penne, macaroni etc… would work very well)
  • 1/2 cauliflower
  • 2tbs of olive oil
  • Salt, pepper, turmeric, paprika

Boil the pasta. Steam the cauliflower until very mushy.

In a pan, puree the cauliflower and add the olive oil and the salt, pepper, turmeric and paprika, a pinch of each. Stir well. Add the cooked and drained pasta, stir to obtain a well mixed mix. Serve.

You can add grated parmesan on top if you like it.

Chestnut risotto

Last winter I trimmed our chestnut tree to try to improve its production, because we usually have very few chestnuts, despite it being a rather large tree. And it work perfectly, we had plenty of chestnuts, I could enjoy seeing them growing slowly, and I was already thinking about all I would do with them, and give away. But in early August with the drought (since July 10 it’s been 32deg at least every day and it rained may be twice or thrice just a little), most of the beautiful chestnuts felt when they were still small. In the end I only collected 10 chestnuts 🌰…. Basically the same amount as usual… just enough for one or two meals.

Instead of the classic Japanese kuri gohan, I prepared a western version with Carnaroli rice, olive oil, and a bit of kale. I replaced the Parmigiano by fresh grated comté cheese. Super easy, and very delicious! Here is my recipe.

Chestnuts risotto (2 servings main dish)

  • 10 fresh raw chestnuts
  • 1 go of carnaroli rice, or other risotto rice you like
  • 2 leaves of kale (tender is better)
  • 1tbs of olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Comté cheese (optional)
  • Water

Boil the chestnuts for 50min. Let cool and peel them.

In a large pan heat the olive oil, add the rice and stir until the rice is translucent. Cover amply with water, add salt and pepper and the chestnuts roughly broken into bite size. Let cook under cover for 15min. Wash and chop the kale, removing the hard parts. Add to the pan. The liquid must have almost all reduced, and the rice should be almost cooked. If that’s not the case: if the rice doesn’t seem cooked yet and there is no liquid anymore, add a bit of water and cook under cover. If there us still too much liquid and the rice seems cooked, remove the cover, and slightly increase the heat.

In the end, the rice should start grilling in the bottom of the pan. That’s when you want to serve, with just a bit of crisp in the bottom.

Serve, add grater comté cheese if you like and enjoy.

Goes well also with prosciutto or better with Speck. Unfortunately recently Japan has a ban on Italian cured meat so that’s not an option…

Sushi rice and spring vegetables, the perfect combo!

Harvest from the kitchen garden: plenty of green peas, fava beans and herbs.

Late spring brings in so many vegetables! Our modest kitchen garden produced a beautiful crop of green peas. Not over a long period of time like last year, but a few kilos in a very short time. I also harvested a lot of sansho pods, and while looking at the recipe to prepare them in my book of Shojin cuisine, I just found a recipe that so far curiously never attracted me before but was perfect with what I had in the fridge: bamboo shoot and green peas sushi rice. It took just one second to verify I had all the ingredients I needed and my mind was all set. I don’t eat fish and seafood sushi, but I love sushi rice, slightly vinegary and sweet. It is very easy to prepare but somehow never make any…

It was time to change this!

Here is the recipe I prepared, slightly modified from the original.

Bamboo shoot and green peas sushi (4 servings, side dish)

  • 2 go of rice (or 2 cups but that would be more)
  • A handful of fresh green peas
  • 1 fresh bamboo shoot
  • A pinch of salt
  • 2tbs of rice vinegar
  • 3tbs of sugar
  • 1tbs of soya sauce
  • A few sansho leaves

Cook the rice. In the meantime, peel the bamboo, cut it in 3mm thick slices, and the cut the the slices in 2cm strips and boil it for 15min. Drain. In a pan set the bamboo and the green peas, add 2tbs of water, 1tbs of sugar, 1tbs of soya sauce. Cook at medium heat until almost all the liquid is gone. Mix the vinegar and the 2tbs of sugar with the rice. Stir well, add the vegetables and stir gently. Add the sansho leaves and enjoy!

Do not refrigerate, the rice would become hard and flavors would vanish.

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