Tag: bulgur

Plating

We say in French “les jours (les semaines, les annees…) se suivent mais ne se ressemblent pas”  (days (weeks, years…) follow each other but are never alike) and this is so very true these days for me! Not that I complain about it, but there is very little routine. One day it snows, the next is warm; one day I have intense discussions at work with many different experts, the next I spend in paperwork and administrative tasks; one day I spent writing and reading articles, the next listening to students presentations; one day I run errands and meetings in the city, the next I’m seated 12h in my office… and one day I’m in Tokyo, the next in Italy or in France… It’s a captivating work I do and I’m grateful for all it brings, even a short interview in a French peridocal! But honestly this is not making me better at plating, this is a constant observation. Regardless how my recipes are yummy-easy-healthy. The problem is that I seriously don’t know how to improve it. When I look at my IG feed I feel sorry but I use only my best shots… but when I look at my picture album, I see all these delicious tests I made that I will never dare sharing… For example this amazing plate I made with wild hijiki, grilled swordfish, tomato and caper sauce… deliciously half indeed but the pictures are so bad: lighting, plate, plating… all wrong… Or this broccoli and fukinoto bulgur dish (this one is borderline so I decided to share it… but honestly I hesitated a lot before showing it… but fukinoto are seasonal and the season is right now, and the mix with the broccoli was really great… so at some point I wanted to share it.. because there are so many ways to eat local and seasonal staples that change from the traditional ones. For example fukinoto is mainly eaten in tempura, in miso soup or pickled in miso… but in kind of risotto like this recipe it is also really great! You’ll find the recipe below. And if you have plating advices for daily life food, pleeeeaaaaase let me know!!

Bulgur risotto with fukinoto  (for 2 people)

– 100g of bulgur (I use fine one for it cooks slightly faster) 

– 8 fukinoto of medium size. If they are large 4 or 6 is enough

– a piece of broccoli

– water

– olive oil, salt and pepper  

In a pan grease with olive oil and heated pour the bulgur, start cooking at high heat while stirring for 2 min. Lower the heat, cover the bulgur with water and add about 50% more in volume than the bulgur. Wash the broccoli, the fukinoto. Cut them (if the fukinoto are small don’t cut them). When the water in the bulgur as decreased and is no longer visible add the broccoli and cover, 2min later add the fukinoto and cover for 3 more minutes. Add salt, pepper, olive oil and stir before serving.

One more salad, or bulgur donburi

In my search of the perfect summer salad I’m making a lot of trials, never twice the same. Of course as I was writing in my earlier post all have in common a cereal or carb base: bulgur, rice, pasta, couscous… Tons of fresh vegetables: mainly tomatoes, ocra, cucumbers, a very light or non existing dressing. My salad today ressemble more a donburi for two, with Japanese style accomodation. I boiled some fresh edamame, added some sliced ocra and a perfectly rippen avocado, and a finish with grilled chirimen (very tiny half dried and a bit salty fishes). A perfect combination of softness and crispiness, of sweetness and saltiness. A really delicious mix and a great variation from regular rice donburi.

Salad, salad & salad

With the heat in Tokyo it’s hard to spend to much time in the kitchen in front of the stove or with the oven on. So recently I’ve just been preparing a lot of fresh vegetables salads with all sorts of accomodation. I usually bake some rice, bulgur, pasta, cheak peas for two meals to reduce the heat up of the kitchen, and then accomodate in a different manner each time. I will introduce a few this week.

Today is a simple chick peas and bulgur base with tomatoes, cucumbers and ocras, all with a bit of olive oil and a mix of north african spices. 

One-bowl lunch

I love bulgur and it’s very handy because it takes little time to cook it compared to rice for example. So I find it very convenient when I want to fix something for lunch after playing tennis. And this time the fix was really quick: pork and parsley balls, mini tomatoes, cucumber and bulgur. For the balls I roughly chopped parsley, mix it with an egg and grinded pork and cook then until golden in a pan. Ready in a very short time, full of energy, proteins and colorful! Yummy!

One-plate dinner

Et voila! Busy weeks, long working hours, the one-plate dinner is back!!! 

Quinoa and bulgur for the energy, salad for the green, cherry tomatoes for the red, momendofu (hard tofu) for the white and a little shiso omelet fr the taste. Seasonned with just olive oil and we’re set.

Remember to always drain your tofu, and cook the omelet under cover at slow eat to avoid the flipping task!

Back to the basics

Ballard Sunday farmers market
Ballard Sunday farmers market

After a whole week in Seattle, it’s good to be back home. Though the city has numerous farmers markets, with very attractive food, the hotel life allows only for limited purchases and preparation. There are also a lot of food trucks but honestly the idea of having lunch standing or seated like punks in the street is not very attractive, though the food looks good. As for restaurants, food was ok, fresh but I didn’t find anything outstanding. The best we had was surely grilled salmon or grilled halibut with asparagus. There might be some nice places serving local food (not limited to seafood, which is not what I like best) but we couldn’t find them… It’s really a pity because driving around Seattle one can find  again tones of organic farms selling their products, fruits, veggies, delicious yogurts…

Chimacum local farmers shop
Chimacum local farmers shop

So being back home it is time to go back to the kitchen and improvise some summer recipes with fresh food and light enough to beat the jetlag and the heat. So we’re back to the basics: quinoa and bulgur as a base, baby leaf salad, cherry tomatoes and cucumber, yellow zucchini, ocra, and to finish pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and white chia seeds. Back on the tracks!!

Plate from iittala
Plate from iittala

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