Tag: butternut squash

Winged beans

As I was explaining on IG yesterday, at the farmers market I found a new (to me) vegetable, it is green, fancy shaped and called 四角豆 shikakumame in Japanese. As it is a 豆 mame (bean) I figured I would like it, and after discussing with the farmer who told me it is easy as okra to prepare, I immediately put them in my basket. I wasn’t sure what to do with them but a quick browsing of the web inspired me. And rather than preparing something Asian style, which seems to be what it is mostly used in, I decided to go for something more western style: pasta with butternut squash and crispy bacon and the famous winged beans. That was simple and a great discovery! The winged beans taste like green beans but greener. And the wings are a bit like mushrooms in texture but green… I really loved them! I hope I’ll find more in the future!

Winged beans pasta (for 2people)

– 4 or 5 winged beans

– a piece of butternut squash

– 3 slices of bacon

– 120g of pasta

While boiling water for the pasta, cut the ban and grill it in a pan. Peel the butternut squash and cut in bites. Add to the bacon and cook at medium heat under cover. Wash the winged beans and cut them in bites. Add to the pan, and cook for 8min under cover while the pasta cook. After straining the pasta, add to the pan, stir well and serve. Add a bit of salt and pepper if you like.

PS: I had to remove the comments option from the page because it was trashed with spam… sorry… please use fb or ig or dm me!

Mackerel – 鯖

In France we don’t eat a lot of mackerel, in particular in the south of France or at least in my family… we usually eat more Mediterranean fishes such as tuna, snapper, Peter’s fish, pilchard and sardine, anchovy… so mackerel was very rarely on the table. Here in Japan, of course there are a lot of fishes as the above mentioned but to eat grilled, mackerels, and they have so many different types, are some very easy to find and delicious fishes. Though I am always a bit reluctant to cook some because it smells a lot, I am always happy to eat some! I find it very versatile and simple to prepare with many different types of vegetables in either Japanese style or more western styles. This time I prepared it in 3 different options, two being very close to each other: 1. pan grilled on the skin; 2. in croquettes; 3. to stuff lotus roots. 2. and 3. are actually made with the same base. and both start with 1..
The first thing (top picture) I did was to grill the fish on the skin side until it is well done and the skin is crispy (though I don’t eat the skin). I served half of it for one dinner with blanched baby pak choi, yuzu and a bowl of rice with an umeboshi.
The second thing (bottom picture) I did with the second half was to remove the bones and skin and mix it with one egg and a piece of steamed butternut squash to obtain a thick paste. I then make small ball of the paste and rolled in panko and fried in a greased frypan both sides for the croquettes. Finally I also used the mix to stuff some lotus root that I then steamed. Unfortunately my lotus roots blacken a lot more than I expected due to oxidation, and the result wasn’t up to my expectations presentation-wise and  color-wise. Good to know that it is really important to add a little of vinegar when you wash and cook the lotus roots to keep their perfect white color. Taste-wise though both were really nice!

Butternut squash and pasta

I’ve been posting a lot about butternut squash these days, indeed it’s the pick season now before shifting to kabocha which taste is very different. And since I’ve been living alone in the past weeks, one butternut squash is a lot of food for one, so I’ve cooked it one way, an other, and an other… and tried to find new ones… Last night I came back late from work but at last the rain had stopped so I could walk home using a detour to enjoy being out. But it was really cold. I almost regretted not having a beanie. So I arrived home craving for something hot to eat. And I was pleased to find some leftover butternut squash soup in the fridge. Yet I was starving and it was not enough. So after browsing my cupboard and the fridge I opted for short pasta that I simply threw in the soup that was already boiling and I cooked 10-12 minutes until the pasta were soft and the soup has almost reduced to puree. I generously gratted fresh parmigiano on top and added black pepper. And I was very happy with it!!!

Vegan butternut squash soup (2 or 3 servings)

– 1/2 or 1/3 butternut squash

– 1 cup of soya milk

– salt and pepper

Peel the butternut squash and remove the seeds. Cut in pieces. Boil in 1L of water. Once soft enough, blend everything with the soya milk, salt and pepper. That’s it!  It’s basically the same recipe as the cauliflower soup!

Then you can add the short pasta. I chose stelline. And cook them together in the soup. For a better result use fewer water to cook the butternut squash or as I did, use left over soup.

New kitchen!

We moved in our new apartment this weekend and we have just finished emptying the last boxes. Now it starts to like home! I’m still not used to it and in particular to the kitchen. It was very difficult to find a place that checked all the boxes of our list of “must”  given the very long list and the very short time we had: the moving was motivated by A.  new job starting next week and by the fact that there is a highrise under construction right in front of our former place which would have blocked seriously our beautiful view of Mount Fuji and Nihombashi skyline. Anyway… it was time to move… after 8 years in the same place, the longuest we’ve ever been. So, I had to give away my precious terraces, the large window in the kitchen, the all white and bright interior, the 3 sides orientation and natural lighting, the no neighbors around… but we kept the view, or got even better! I got a kind of boudoir/dressing room, and a slightly larger kitchen, a new oven, but not much larger… I also kept the gaz cooking range, which is a must!!! And finding mansions where they have gaz cooking range is getting much more difficult. So I am ver very pleased with that! Would you imagine cooking on an electric range???? 

The thing I didn’t expect was a much better lighting in the kitchen to take pictures at night with much less reflections!!! So, while I’m slowly getting used to this new place, I prepared some very simple food, because when I come back to work we worked on boxes, hanging frames etc… And I prepared this a bit weird combination but really delicious dish with chickpeas, bunashimeji, butternut squash and tofu. Seasoned with papeika, salt and pepper. Each ingredient is diced (but the chickpeas) and all are pan cooked in a little of olive oil. I had the spices in the end and served right away.

oh! Yes... there's also a dishwasher... A. is so excited about it!!! 
oh! Yes… there’s also a dishwasher… A. is so excited about it!!! 

Butternut squash…

…what would I do without you? So easy to peel and cut compared to kabocha and most pumpkin, so quick to cook, and so many recipes possible. I can’t help buying one every time I see some at the farmers market. It suits so very well all types of dishes, Italian, Japanese etc… So what did I do with last time? Some autumn spread! Enough of eggplants, chickpeas or yogurt speads summer spreads but Yes! for a butternut squash autumn version.

Butternut squash spread

– 1 butternut squash

– salt, pepper, pumpkin spices (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, clove)

Simply peel the butternut squash and remove the seeds, cut it into large chunks and steam or boil it. Once it is soft, with a fork just mash it. Add a bit of butter if you like. Add salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and clove. Stir well to obtain a purée. That’s it!!!! Eat with freshly baked bread or crackers for a killer experience!

Red quinoa

I’m on a mission to finish every single pack of rice, pasta, cereals and legumes that is opened and sitting on a shelf or in the fridge half empty. Yes! I keep pretty much everything in the fridge: flour, cereals, rice… to keep them longer (it prevents damages from high humidity and high temperatures in the summer, and low temperatures in the winter) and it allows to avoid pests since they are all organic or natural products and I am tired of food with bugs (more generally in the food that I buy in France…). I’m trying to empty my shelves as much as possible before we move to our new apartment in Tokyo, and same in the country house, just to clean my cupborads and fridge.

So I had a half pack of red quinoa to use. One thing I love to do with quinoa is some kind of croquettes. I cook the quinoa and then mix it with 2 eggs, some chopped vegetables: spinach, bell pepper, zucchini… and whatever else. This time it was some yellow bell pepper and a piece of Hokkaido salmon that was leftover from the previous day. I added some curry powder and some nutmeg, salt and pepper and cooked on both side in a greased frypan until crispy. I served them with some blanched okra, but any green is great. A light yogurt sauce with herbs can also be great.

And I was still having some extra quinoa, so for the next meal I prepared a vegan soup. Simply quinoa, sweet potato, butternut squash and shiitake, and again a bit of curry powder.  Finished with two shishito.

Butternut squash…

Since last autumn there has been a lot of butternut squash on the shelves at the farmers market, really a lot! I love to cook it because the taste is more subtle than that of kabocha. So since we came back from the summer holidays I have cooked plenty: in lasagna, in cold soup, in risotto, there is also ravioli… Since the summer seems to be completely finished: no very hot days anymore and the nights are almost chilly, it is a perfect ingredient to make the transition to autumn cooking. Last night I prepared it in a new variation. Instead of steaming it I cut it and cooked it in a bit of butter in frypan with fresh sage from the garden. I used it to accomodate some simple tagliatelle. Of course you can replace butter by olive oil, but sometimes it feels like cooking with butter. Add some fresh sage of top and some black pepper.

I wish you a happy September and a great week!

Summer butternut squash

If two or three years ago it was not so easy to find butternut squash (see my previous post about it), now it is almost on possible to find it all year round at the farmers market… and since it is so easy to cut and peel and so quick to cook I’ve thought that it would be perfect even in summer. Of course no pumpkin spice or warm and rich preparation in summer, but rather a very simple one: cold soup.

Butter cold soup:

– 1 butternut squash  

– water

– salt

– pepper black and pink

– curcuma  

Simply peel and cut the butternut and remove the seeds. Boil it in water until very soft. Remove the water to have the butternut just covered. Smash and stir with a spoon or a fork until almost smooth (or blend). Add salt and curcuma. Cool in the fridge before serving. When dressing the plates add some black and pink pepper. 

Butternut squash ravioli again

Last winter I made some butternut squash ravioli  with a very simple filling and in small size, with the ravioli plate I bought in Roma last year. This time I decided to add some nutmeg to the filling and to make large ones, where there is plenty of filling. And since I had plenty of sage in the garden seeved them with olive oil and sage. Simple and soooooooo delicious! How do you prefer your ravioli?

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑

Verified by MonsterInsights