Corn soup

May be because I come from the south of France, a region where they don’t grow corn, I never been much use to fresh corn. Only when traveling to the US as a teenager did I discover whole corn grilled with butter and salt, and more recently in Japan corn soup. I must say that Japanese do really have something with corn soup. Something that at first kind of refrained me from trying: they sell corn soup or drink in can in self vending machines!!!! Yes, just like water, coke, tea and coffee… But sometimes in cafe and restaurants they serve some real soup and I actually really enjoy its sweetness. It is often added with cream or some bouillon to make it tastier and creamier.

The other day I bought some corns and decided to try to make some. I boiled the corns, then removed the hard parts and blended the soft ones. I added a bit of water until obtaining the consistency I was expecting because it was more of a purée but you can add milk, soy milk, cream… As you like. And simply served with salt and pepper. It kept the granulous texture of the corn grains skin which I kind a like bit makes the soup rather rustic, so for a more elegant soup I recommend to filter it. Enjoy warm or cold!

September 2, 2016

Quiche!

I think this recipe base is becoming my all-time favorite for the quiche: it’s simple and it mixes Japanese and French flavors perfectly. The quiche is a traditional dish in France, simple to prepare and accomodate with everyone taste. The twist comes from the ingredients I use in the egg base: bonito flakes (katsuobushi) and soya sauce. It gives a subtle flavor of dashi and Japan. For the dough you can use whatever flour you like or have around. I change all the time: white wheat, whole wheat, spelt, buckwheat, rice… A combination of the above mentioned is good too. I usually prepare a sable dough because I like it better, but brise dough works well too. Veggies are only seasonal fresh veggies and this time I pocked some end of summer mushrooms: shiitake (well you can fond them all year round!) and bunashimeji, a white smooth version of shimeji. That’s it!

September 1, 2016

Sweet potato and aburage rice

I know, this not a recipe for laye August usually but this year, it definitely is!!! And this recipe of 炊き込み御飯 (takikomi gohan) is so simple and delicious that it could be eaten anytime actually! Prepare 1cup of rice (wash and add cooking water) , cut one sweet potato in pieces, slice finely half a sheet of aburage (thin fried tofu), finish with a table spoon of soya sauce and cook. Serve while hot and enjoy the melting potato with the rice and the subtle taste and consistency of aburage! All vegan! Perfect with a clear soup with fresh vegetables such as okra.

August 30, 2016

An other rainy day 🌧

The summer is just diluting in rain. What should be the beautiful after season, is this year just a second rainy season. It rains almost everyday and once it’s chilly, once it’s hot and humid. Don’t know what to wear, don’t what to eat. This Sunday was so chilly that it was perfect for gardening and fix a little our trees for the next typhoon and do some additional cleaning and trimming. But with rain all afternoon we were stucked inside and I took this opportunity to prepare a little snack for tea time. The figs season is just now and they are big and rippen. I was thinking anout making a “classical” tart, but the chilly weather pushed me towards something a little sweeter and I devided to try to make a fig crumble. I wanted also to change from the classical almond-fig combination so I decided to add orange flower water to the crumble dough for a fresh taste. That worked very well. I’m thinking also that rose water would have worked too for a more oriental flavor. So it’s really simple. You need 6 or 8 figs depending on their size, 120g of flour, 70g of sugar, 50g of butter, 2tbs of orange flower water. Pre-heat your oven at 200deg. Butter a pie dish, wash or peal and cut the figs in quarters and set them in the pie dish. In a bowl mix the flour, sugar, butter and orange water to obtain the crumble dough. Set small piece by small piece on top of the fruits. Bake for 15min or until golden.

August 29, 2016

Saturday energy lunch

We are back to our little weekend routine: going to the country, gardening, playing tennis, baking bread etc… Which means a lot of outdoor time and a lit of activity. Lunch always to be energetic and well balanced. Pasta, rice or cereals make a good base, and since we have local and fresh vegetables and meat or fish I also use many. Today I opted for grilled vegetables that can cook while outside gardening, together with Sicilian ring pasta and some dried tomatoes and thyme pork balls. The veggies are oven roasted in olive oil for 60min. The pork balls I made them with fresh pork meat, 2 dried tomatoes chopped and a tsp of dried thyme (if you have fresh one it’s even better). I them mix all together, made tiny one bite balls and cook them in a bit of olive oil.

August 27, 2016

Desktop lunch

I’ll never quit this habit of eating freshly prepared food in my office. No matter what the prepared food in shops don’t appeal me to much nor the cafeteria. I’ve been doing for ever and actually love it. I just get rid of some usual combination so try new ones once in a while. In summer I prefer cottage cheese rather than cream cheese, less fatty and heavy. And I replace the thick large slice of bread by slightly drier and smaller ones. Avocado and tomatoes are my always winning combination and I stick to it while tomatoes are still sweet and juicy! I prepare this in my office and I enjoy the super fresh and mix of texture very much. What is your best lunch option at work?

August 27, 2016

Dinner one-plate

Some brown rice left over? The perfect base for a one-plate dinner. I oven grilled some white eggplants marinated in a bit of olive oil and added plenty of fresh coriander; grilled some horse mackerel pieces and added some fried beet on top of the rice. A bit of kosher salt and here is a perfect dinner after a long day at work. Quick, simple, colorful and tasty! What else?

August 26, 2016

What’s up?

Sorry, I’ve been a little down these past days. Nothing bad, just annoyed. After the jetlag which is always pretty bad for me between USA and Japan (at 19:00pm I start to be really badly sleepy without even willing to eat dinner), I started to sleep bad which was mainly due to the terrible weather: several typhoons hit Tokyo in the past 7 days, so I couldn’t do any of my usual workout outdoor and my body was feeling weird being stucked inside with the AC. I hate that. Finally, now it’s getting better and nothing more than a big bowl of brown rice with fresh veggies can help get my body back on tracks! I found some beautiful little beets at Takashimaya Shinjuku, perfect for eating raw, and had some okra from the country, add a bit of katsuobushi, a few sesame seeds and here is the perfect lunch before going out for a walk, enjoying the summer heat!

August 24, 2016

Cooking contest!

And the jury + α: soya sauce association top members, Dr. Hattori, cooking specialists and chef from a big hotel restaurant, itimidating

The D-day finally arrived and I left home Saturday morning under a raging thunder storm to join the cooking contest finale at the Hattori nutrition college. I felt totally unprepared and a bit stressed. On the same day they were having entrance exam for the college and college tours so it was a bit crowded and confusing. We were 10 finalists from 75 applications. Some were people working in the cooking business, most just cooking fan like me all from different country so looking at their recipes was really interesting. The relaxed and nice atmosphere helped me a bit to cool down but seeing there recipes actually made me nervous, and seeing at how most were prepared I kind of freaked! Cooking in a pro-kitchen under cameras and photographers and a jury was really intimidating and the worst part was having to deal with ingredients I didn’t choose. I tried to do my best but I was not quite satisfied with the result. The dough was perfect I found but the filling it was not quite right… The plating was hell! I am so bad at plating. And the photoshoot of the dish afterwards was really though. I am probably not going to win that contest (I realized afterwards that my cooking habit of doing everything from the scratch with only seasonal and lical products may not suit everyone) but I really enjoyed the opportunity, the very friendly atmosphere and the very helpful staff from the college. Thanks also for the jury: Mr. Yukio HATTORI (President of Hattori Nutrition College), Ms. Remi HIRANO (Cooking expert and Chanson singer), Ms. Akiko WATANABE (Cooking expert), Mr. Isao IIMURA (Executive chef of Royal Park Hotel). It was fun to chitchat with them while cooking!! . Thanks Japanese Soya Sauce Association and I will for sure challenge myself with a new recipe next year!!!

August 22, 2016