TPS Paris is in Tokyo

It’s not too often it happens but my sister is visiting Tokyo this week. It means a lot of eating out and some cooking too, mainly Japanese for lunch and dinner. It also means a lot of going here and there. We spent the Saturday in the countryside, blessed with an amazing weather on Saturday morning that allowed us to go swimming in the ocean, just before the temperature dropped and felt like it’s winter. So to warm ourselves in the evening I first prepared a simple miso soup with tofu for me and clams for the others, seasoned with a bit of yuzu peels, some simply grilled bonito and a few nuka pickles.

And while dinner is getting ready, what’s better than some little slices of lotus root slightly fried in a heated and greased pan? May be cucumbers and miso… well I’m just cooking all my favorite ingredients for her!!!

October 30, 2016

More butternut squash!!!

This autumn I am all about butternut squash and A. loves it too, so I cook some many times a week as you can have seen already. The parisian sister is coming to Tokyo tomorrow for a week and so we had to prepare space for her at home, move a lot of furniture here and there, arrange lighting and make a cosy tiny space for her. It kept us busy for a long part of the evening before I started thinking about dinner, and so I needed a very easy and quick meal. In these situations, packed gnocchi (of course I prefer my homemade gnocchi but it is not always compatible with my schedule) are very handy, they cook very quickly and it is easy to accommodate them with any type of veggies. And of course butternut squash is no exception!!! So I prepared some gnocchi with a butternut squash and spices sauce: in a hot pan I put a bit of olive oil, add a large piece of butternut squash peeled and cut in big chunks, a ripe large tomato, black pepper, cardamon, nutmeg and cinnamon (for those who like some bacon). Cook until the juice is almost all gone. Boil the gnocchi in the mean time and serve, add just a few drops of olive oil. How do you like your gnocchi?

October 26, 2016

Butternut squash + shiitake = perfect combo

There are ingredients like these that are a perfect match and a perfect seasonal signature. Butternut squash and shiitake are one of these pairs. Funnily in Japanese butternut squash is called nippon kabocha ニホンカボチャ, which means basically Japanese kabocha. Yet until very recently it was impossible to find something else than regular kabocha, the small pumpkin with a green skin. But recently I have found butternut squash at the farmers market and I love it. Shiitake is very easy to find too, but this time I have found tiny ones, really cute and delicious. So I have used them quite intensively. Using the same pair of veggies I have prepared two different variations one Japanese one more western. The first one is takikomi rice. Which is a preparation where vegetables and rice are cooked together, at the same time. And the cooking base can be either dashi, warer or a seasoned one. I love simple water seasoned with soya sauce. So I cut a piece of butternut squash in cubes, use the shiitake as whole or cut in halves, put them on top of the rice and water, season with a large table spoon of soya sauce. And cook as usual.

The second version is as simple. It’s with pasta. In a pan I cook the butternut squash and the shiitake in olice oil, add some pork slices, season with pepper and a bit of salt. Boil some pasta of your choice. And serve. That’s it!!! Really simple!!

How do you like your autumn veggies?

October 24, 2016

Kabocha here, kabocha there!

Autumnal weather with cool evenings and beautiful days calls for some autumnal ingredients. Kabocha is one I love. As you can have seen from my previous posts, it is in almost all my recipes these days: soup, sauteed… and it goes perfectly well with Japanese food, western food… And bonus it cooks very quickly which for me is a must.

Today’s recipe is just so simple: kabocha and eggplant grilled at high heat and then seasoned with some soya sauce, served with plain white rice and dry konbu. Dinner can be ready really quick!

October 21, 2016

Autumn quinoa soup

Last Christmas my parents offered me a giant book on vegetarian cooking. I’ve tried several recipes from that book and a lot of inspiration. I also learned a lot about some basic preparations. But if there were only one recipe to remember about it, the one that I would have not thought of, it’s the quinoa soup. I love that recipe and how it can easily be adjusted to the seasonal ingredients. This time I prepared it with half of a little kabocha, 2 little potatoes, 1 large very ripe tomato and one Japanese eggplant. First, I cut all the veggies but the tomato in dice then in a pan on high heat, greased with olive oil I roast them a bit. Add water for 2.5 soup servings, 1/2 to 2/3 cup of quinoa (I used black quinoa, but red and white work perfectly too). Add the tomato diced or in 1/8. Add a bit of black pepper and nutmeg (salt is not necessary with the nutmeg I find). Cook under cover at medium heat for 10 to 15min. Serve hot!

October 20, 2016

Want a Japanese twist for your pasta salad?

Since I have bought some different types of miso at the miso shop in Kichijoji (see Saturday’s post), I am using quite extensively. Mainly with raw veggies as a dip but finally last night I decided to try an original mix: a pasta salad with a white miso dressing. And it was a real nice experience! And super simple to prepare. I boiled some farfalle, then cut some okra, tomato and cucumber in small dices and add them to the pasta. And for the dressing I used 2 tsp of white miso, 2 tsp of olive oil and 1 tsp of sesame seeds, stir well and add it on top of the salad, add a little more sesame seeds for the decoration. The white miso mixed with olive oil is perfectly creamy and almost cheesy and suits perfectly the vegetables in the salad and the farfalle! A very good wa-yo taste and texture!

October 18, 2016

Vegan light curry

Nature has not plan for us to eat alone! Most of the fruits and vegetables are so large that if you want to it several sorts you need to be more than one person or you need to eat the same food over and over! I don’t even mention how we humans have even forced that tendency with packaging by almost only offering the option to buy food in buddles. Luckily, in Japan this bundle sale is less common and it is possible to buy one apple, one carrot, one kiwi or 3 slices of bread! Yet cooking when you are alone snd want to eat several types of veggies is not simple, and A. is not back before tomorrow night…

Last night I was really tired after the intense time at work, so I prepared myself some vegan curry with a can of chickpeas , carrots, eggplants, sweetpotatoes and anise seeds. Of course to keep a good bslance with the amount of chickpeas I had to add 2 carrots, 1 sweet potato and 5 tiny eggplants all cooked in coconut oil. And so I made a lot more than I could eat… And it’s goung to be lunch for two today for me and my friend D. who is still visiting my lab.

October 13, 2016

Fresh ginger!

It is now the season for fresh ginger. Fresh ginger looks very much like “old” ginger that is commonly found in supermarkets all over the world, but instead of a dry and thick skin and a very rooty aspect, fresh ginger has a whitish-pinkish color with a very thin skin and a much softer structure with much less fibers in it. It is quite juicy and slightly less spicy in taste. Ideal for any recipe involving ginger, perfect just sliced or grated for the juice. And since the weather is getting chillier these days a hot honey-ginger or ginger-tangerine drink is perfect!!!!

Making these drinks is very easy, you need a piece of ginger, honey and/or 1 or 2 tangerines. Boil water, peel and cut the ginger in slices, squeeze the tangerines for juice. In a tea pot put the sliced ginger, the tangerine juice, 2 tsp of honey, add the water. Let infuse 5 to 10min depending on your taste and drink while hot! Perfect to prevent colds and season fatigue.

October 13, 2016

Breakfast

Usually my morning routine in Tokyo is very simple: after waking up I do a little pilates workout, then take care of the laundry, in the mean time A. prepares breakfast for us and takes care of the dishes. So when A. is away my morning routine is quite busy since I have to squeeze in everything…

Hopefully this weekend end I made a huge German black bread and we packed on fresh produce at the farmers market: persimmons, early tangerine (which green color is normal, not that they are not ripe!!!) and cheese from Komagata factory. And I am very lucky because my uncle in France has a few hives and makes delicious honey. Perfect for an Autumn morning!

October 12, 2016