Category: Cooking

When is that rain going to stop?

I have the impression that this summer it’s been raining 9 days out of 10… Many typhoons already hit Tokyo and still continue. I miss being able to go outside to garden and to play tennis. Hopefully we are leaving for Germany tomorrow night and the weather should be much nicer. Since autumn vegetables are starting to fill the shelves of the farmers market I decided to start with sweet potatoes. I made some mashed sweet potatoes for the first time and really liked it. It’s really a nice combination with fish or pork. This time I served them with oven grilled cod, simply boiled beat and raw okra.

Gratted ginger scones

When we were in Chicago We went to Wholefood quite often, and when lining at the cashier they always have some magazines. Usually people press in which I have no interest, but also few cooking and interior magazines. And I must say that I totally get attracted to these. And I ended up buying one, with plenty of autumn recipes. I was definitely too early and too hot for thinking about pumpkin cakes and heavy preparations, but this time might come I tought (and it came quicker than expected!). Most of the recipes are too rich in butter and sugar but they provide some inspiration for sure and moveme out of my comfort cooking zone. The first recipe that inspired me is scones. Well nothing that move me too much away of my comfort zone… I love to prepare scones. They are so versatile and so easy to prepare. They can be sweet or salty, they can be prepared in advance… Pear and ginger make a good combination and pears are just starting to be in season. Funnily pears in Japan are often called “la france”, a name I’ve never investigated but that has always intrigued me! So in the classic base of scone recipe I added fresh ginger gratted, cinnamon, vanilla and grated clove. I served it with fresh pears, but you can add the pear diced in the scones too!

Vegan curry pasta

While curry rice is an institution it in Japan, I decided to try an other combination, of course with a slightly different recipe, and was very much surprised with the way it ended. As the title saus, it’s curry pasta. For two not too big servings I used 3 tomatoes, 4 okras and 1 carrots, a bit of olive oil, 1 tsp of curry powder and salt and pepper. It’s really simple. Boil some big pasta: penne or whatever you like. In a heated and greased pan I put the tomato cut in pieces, cook at high heat for 2min than at low heat. I add the carrot sliced, the salt pepper and curry and cook under cover until the carrots are almost done. Add the okras, remove the cover, cook until the moisture is almost gone. Serve with the pasta. The taste of curry must be subtle and should not hide the sweetnes of the tomatoes and carrots.

Cooking and recipe contests

No, I haven’t quit writing for TPS, it’s just that sometimes work is taking really all my time, even the one in the train, one of the moments I prefer to write. so this week, no workout (but with the muscle pain I had from the surfing and paddle boating Saturday, and the stairs climbing at Kai, stretching and abs were more than enough), very little cooking and more disappointing I missed the deadline for several recipe and cooking contests. Because Yes! I really enjoyed it and I want more!!! So after some search I found a few with submission deadline September 15th, but September 15th was also the deadline for too many things at work and I didn’t have time to do my homework and prepare and adequate recipe for each contest (I’ve learn my lessons). Too bad… But I’m sure there’s gonna be new ones soon! 

Below is one of my new recipe for a simple healthy dinner with quinoa, myoga, cucumber, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and soya sauce. I wish you a good weekend! 

Spicy stew

In the series of new preparations I really wanted to try fennel seeds together with north african style spices in a stew with plenty of veggies and a little bit of chicken. Something close to a tajine indeed, but served with a little of couscous for the full blast of energy. So I put one potato, ine carrot, a few green beans, one large tomato and some chickpeas and a few pieces of chicken breast together in a pan and cooked them in a bit of oil before ading some water, North African spice mix and plenty of fennel seeds. In the last minute of cooking I added a few okras. Served with steamed couscous. Enjoy!

Trying new ideas

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.

Pickled myoga

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.

Pancakes and plums

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!!!

The simplest Japanese dinner!

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!!!!

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