I have the impression that recently I have further decreased our intake of meat and fish without A. complaining much about it. Only after 5 or 6 days would he start asking for some. So once in a while I buy a pork filet or some ham, or some nice fish in Isumi. This weekend there was not much fish, probably with the rainy weather and the winds, so we went to our old little butcher shop and got some ham (the cat is crazy with the fat so I like to give him some!!!) and some pork filet (where there is stricly nothing to trash). Pork filet in a cocotte with some vegetables is such a treat that I simply cooked it that way. A bit of olive oil, a few new potatoes from our neighbors kitchen garden, some locally grown new carrots (yellow and orange) and a handful of green beans, the pork filet from Isumi, everything together at low heat and just stirring every 10-15min. You can add herb, salt, pepper, but I didn’t. Why would you make more complicated when it is perfect as it is?
Tiny new potatoes
When I was a kid my grandfather had a terraced kitchen garden where he would grow in the summer green beans, tomatoes, salads, radishes, strawberries, raspberries, red currants, herbs, there was also a fig tree, a verbena tree etc… I have vivid memories of eating the tomatoes on the plant while warm from the sun and full of the smells of the tomato leaves, of picking red currants and eating half of them before they even reach the basket… one thing that I really loved was picking potatoes with him, not only because it was fun picking them, but because of the promise of one of my favorite dish at that time: new potatoes sautéed. The main difference with new potatoes you can find on the farmers market is the size pf the potatoes. My grandfather never waited until the potatoes where big to harvest them, he harvested them whem most where still very tiny, and the tiniest was always in my plate. Today, I went to visit our old neighbor. Since her dog has passed she doesn’t come mear our place as often as she used too so I meet her much less. And she was in her kitchen garden harvesting potatoes. She offered to give me some and while discussing she told me that most people criticize her for harvesting also tiny potatoes but I told they were my favorite so she gave me plenty and I was very happy. It is rare to find tiny new potatoes and they are really delicious. I washed and brushed them and cooked them with some pork belly slices and rosemary. A very simple meal, very nostalgic. Thanks Mrs. K. For the tiny potatoes!!!!
Brown rice risotto
Summer is here right? We’re past June 21st already! But in Japan June is not summer as westerners could imagine it, rather I could say that the rainy season has finally started, with pouring rain one day, and humidity level increasing noticeably. Summer will start later in July for us! In the meantime the summer vegetables are getting better every day, more ripe, more tasty. And I love to make summer risotto that can be eaten hot or lukewarm with all the summer vegetables, in particular zucchini!
A. doesn’t like brown rice as much as I do, or rather I would say he loves as much brown rice than white rice so I have to cook both evenly! What is nice with Japanese brown rice is that it is easy to cook in many ways, much more than white rice I find. In particular pilaf and risotto suit it very well. With fresh summer yellow zucchini, red onions, and sage from the garden, the dinner was all set. Simply chop the onion and cook until soft in olive oil. I’ve added some thin slice of pork because I had them, but it’s optional. Add the brown rice, stir. Add water, sage chopped, salt and pepper. Finally when most of the water is gone add the yellow zucchini diced. Cook and stir for 3min. Serve, add more sage, gratted cheese… as you like.
The weekend is arriving soon, but before TV shooting this afternoon about my research work and the exhibition at the museum. I have a huge stage fright for TV shootings as I find it deforms us so much and spaking in Japanese to TV is going to be even worse… 🙁
Curry soup
A few weeks ago, one day when the weather was awfully rainy, we went out for lunch in a new place we haven’t tried before: Green +. It’s a small cafe a bit remote with a chef that cooks vegan local food using tones of herbs and mild spices. The lunch menu is rather simple: curry soup, or a choice of 3 little dishes. All served with fresh salad, miso soup, brown rice and homemade pickles. Everything is delicious, but the curry soup was a real discovery. I like tasty soup but not too spicy. With the summer settling in, I thought that I won’t make any curry soup anytime soon, but last Sunday the weather was again very rainy and windy and chilly, and I was also sad and worried because our cat didn’t show up for the whole weekend. A warm spicy tasty vegetables soup was perfect for a warming dinner.
I used vegetables I just bought at the farmers market: a few baby corns, a handful of green beans, three little potatoes. one carrot, and one big ripe tomato. All in a big pot, covered woth water. I then added a tea spoon of curry powder, sprinkled a bit od cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg, added just a bit of black pepper. Cooked under cover for 30min, and served right away.
Fougasse bacon-mustard
I make fougasse regularly, and I regularly change the ingredients and try new recipes: fougasse, sesame fougasse, olive fougasse… This time I tested a new recipe with smoked bacon and mustard. Simply delicious for a quick bite! I used my reguler recipe base with plain white flour. And when shaping the fougasse I added bacon that I cut in small cubes and mustard. Then folded the dough and rolled it to trap the bacon and the mustard mainly inside. And shaped it as usual. Same baking time, same olive oil brushing after baking.
Have a great week!
Fresh corn
Yesterday one of my students at the university brang some fresh corn he has received from his family and he gave me one. Corn for me immediately calls for Tex-Mex food, why I don’t know… and when I say Tex-Mex it is a bit of an extrapolation. It just mean tomatoes, spices and sometimes avocado and beans. So back home with my corn I first boiled it, then separated all the grains and in a pan I cooked the corn with fresh tomatoes and pork for A., added chilly pepper, all spice and salt; and for me I cooked the corn with tomatoes, hard tofu drained and cheese and the same spices. Just before serving both I added a bit of olive oil. Served with a few nacho chips just for the fun (I didn’t have corn flour to make some)
Colorful salad
Sometimes a very simple meal is welcome, but something different than usual. And for no specific reason I don’t cook potato salad very often, even though it’s super easy and delicious. I don’t mean mayonnaise base potato salad that is very common here in Japan, but rather olive oil base. Something with plenty of fresh vegetables. This time I had red cabbage and celery, so I simple shredded the cabbage, cut the celery, boiled and peeled the potatoes. Added some black sesame, a dressing with olive oil and white miso. And here was my vegan salad. For those who like, you can add pan grilled bonito to it. Super delicious. Have a great week!!!
Japanese style quiche
Today we were invited at our neighbors places for a group session of Vipassana meditation and a dinner aftewards. I was busy all afternoon harvesting plums and didn’t see time flying, but absolutely wanted to prepare some food to bring rather than simply buying drinks. So in a rush, the thing I am the best at is making quiches. So I prepared a Japanese style quiche. Japanese style meaning that I used buckwheat flour, katsuo bushi flakes and soya sauce. For the topping I used tomatoes and red onions, with a egg base of soya milk and soya sauce, making it taste a bit like chawanmushi, this Japanese egg-base preparation that is steamed. It was simple to prepare and cooked in 30min in the oven, which is hand-free to continue doing what I was busy with.
As for the meditation, it was my first group meditation and I was curious to see what it was, even if I am a total novice and know very little about the different methods except for a bit of Zazen, so trying Vipassana was interesting, but I guess it requires a steady practice to feel any benefit from it and I not sure I am ready for that… we’ll see. Yet discovering it and discussing with some steady practitioners was very interesting. A great experience!
Stuffed zucchini
Summer = zucchini plenty! Of course there are many ways to prepare them (see the zucchini recipe week from 2 years ago!). One of my favorite is stuffed zucchini. Classic meat stuffing would be my grand mother recipe, cheese stuffing would be my mother recipe. But yesterday night I invented a new recipe with some fresh local ingredients plus a bit of quinoq for texture. So here is my new recipe, and I loved it!!!
Cod and quinoa stuffed zucchini
– 2 large zucchini
– a piece of cod filet
– a block of tofu (silk or hard, both work)
– 2/3 of quinoa (I had tricolor one)
– 2-3 eggs
– salt, pepper olive oil
Pre-heat the oven to 200deg. Drain the tofu. In a pan grill the cod briefly then add the quinoa and cover with water. Add salt and pepper. When the quinoa is cooked and it’s dry stir well to mix the fish with the quinoa. Add the tofu and stir again well to obtain a rather creamy paste. Add the eggs. Wash the zucchini and cut them in 3-4cm trunks. Carve them to remove a bit of the center part to add the filling. Fill them. Set in an oven proof dish add some olive oil and bake until golden (30min or so). That’s it!!!
