Tag: healthy

Vegan pie

You know how much I love to make quiches and tarts, there are so many examples already posted, and there will be this year many more. But when like me you love making dough, kneading and having flour on your hands, better than quiches and tarts, there are pies, for which you need twice more pie crust and I won’t complain about that!!! Pies are also great when you don’t want to use an egg base, and simply use vegetables and some tofu or some miso etc… I also love them in winter because they seems to be much warming, keeping the vegetables in their heat and steam and preventing them fir getting dry. I plan to make more pies this year and to try new recipes, I have already ideas flowing in my head, so maybe something like a pie a week or will be a good rythm, let’s try what I can do!!!

This first pie is a pure vegan delight with an olive oil base pie crust, with half flour half oat bran, and a filling of spinach, radish tops blanched and silky tofu. Everything is said! Bake for 30-40min and enjoy!!!!

Home-made tagliatelle

As planned there will be a lot of pasta in 2018, and it has already started! For Xmas I received a motor for my pasta machine!!! Not that I am a big fan of going mechanical, I prefer to knead manually, to chop manually, to ground coffee manually… but I must admit that with the pasta machine three hands rather than two were neededto hold the pasta in, hold the pasta out and manipulate the handle, so it was really tricky and to get things done by myself I was flouring generously the whole top and I was making a real mess actually! The motor makes things much cleaner, and the pasta is great: thin and not too floury. I’m starting to be really good at making pasta!

For a change I didn’t make ravioli though I was quite tempted to, instead I made tagliatelle, and simply prepared them with buttered leek and shiitake.  I used the same preparation steps that for the ravioli. I prepared the leek and shiitake in a large pan with a bit of butter and at low heat and used the boiling water to keep the mix moisten, and when the pasta were ready I just drained them and added them to the vegetables, added a little of olive oil and pepper and stirred well just before serving. So simple and delicious, invigorating before going back to work!!!

First bread of 2018

While in my parents’ place I baked many pompes a l’huile for Christmas, but I didn’t bake any bread. There are a few nice organic bread shops and bakeries around. But now that we are back to Isumi, it was mandatory to bake some bread. I started this year with a very simple bread: rye and whole wheat, with a handful of flaxseeds. And since the house is rather cold, I kept the bread all night in the room with us for it to rise, and only baked it much later. It has risen very slowly but the result was a very soft yet dense bread. With jam, honey, butter, or whatever, it’s delicious for breakfast. And it goes together with the book I am reading about Roland Feuillas, a guy who has been working for the last 12 years in making bread with traditional wheats grown traditionaly too. This reading has revived in me this idea that I should grow my own sourdough, but I still don’t know how to manage the trips between Isumi and Tokyo every weekends, and the longer one abroad  and to keep it alive properly… If you have some experience in raising sourdough I’ll be happy to learn from you!!!

Leftover Italian cooking

Since we’ve arrived in Florence, everyday I’ve been cooking something different for dinner: simple vegetables and salad, pasta, risotto, cereals… I’ve tried them all. And I’ve been using as much as possible things I don’t usually find in Japan, and that I love extremely: artichokes, fennels, lamb lettuce and a great variety of cheeses. And what I’ve been doing is make sure that each time I would have some leftover for my lunch the next day. Indeed, what’s better than working all morning, going for a walk at noon, coming back at two cold and starving, and having already the lunch half prepared? And what’s better than olive oil pan roasted pasta or risotto when them become all crispy and golden? For me leftovers are a real treat! And top them with some new sort of cheese everyday and it’s pure happiness, and pure energy for working the rest of the day!

Here are my two favorites from this week: leftover pasta with newly added artichokes, and fennel risotto with newly added plenty of tomme cheese. For the first one (top picture), simple pasta leftover is good. Then boil one or two artichokes remove the leaves and keep the hearts, slice or chop them. In a heated pan generously add olive oil, the pasta, the artichokes. Stir once in a while until the pasta are golden crispy. Top with a bit of parmigiano and eat right away!

The second one (bottom picture) is even simpler. I actually made some fennel risotto with some pork roast, so I just cooked it again in a pan with a lot of olive oil and didn’t stir until it got really crispy on the edges, then I served it with plenty of some tomme cheese I bought at the market, a much softer cheese than parmigiano but not less fragrant.

Life in Florence

So, it’s been four days we’ve been in Florence, except for Sunday that we spent walking around the city as described here, it’s been a rather studious time. A. leaves early in the morning while it’s all dark and comes back late at night, and this gives me more than plenty of time to work, write and spend a little hour or two outside walking around the city in the cold and shopping for lunches and dinners.

I’ve now explored both the San’Ambroggio market and the San Lorenzo market, got to see everything twice or thrice to decide what to buy choosing between all the delicious cheeses, fresh pasta and all the fruits and vegetables that are alien to Japan. I must say that I passed on fish, not being fully satisfied with the stands and on meat as there was too many options and I am not good with meat too much… but I guess that I will have to try some for A.. For the moment I’m sticking to speck and San Daniele and it’s been perfect. I also got my tea from La Via del Te as recommended by Giula from the beautiful Juls’ kitchen. And really I am more than happy with my little kitchen and the simple cooking I can do!

So far the things I have really been enjoying are the greens: I packed on lamb’s lettuce, rucola, zucchini, fennel and artichokes and I have been using them in many various preparation. My best being this delicious dish of pasta with olive oil roasted fennels and zucchini and topped with rucola. It is so simple and so fresh, and so easy to make, that here is my recipe:

Pasta with zucchini, fennel and rucola (for 2)

– 125g of pasta

– 1 zucchini

– 1/2 fennel

-1 handful of rucola

– olive oil, salt and pepper

– additionally some fresh parmigiano or some other cheese

Boil the water for the pasta and the pasta. In the mean time, wash and cut the fennel and the zucchini, and in an olive oil greased frypan cook them, but not overcook them! Add the drained pasta, salt, pepper, and olive oil, top with rucola and stir, serve immediately. Add cheese if you like!

And have a great Wednesday! 

Friday already!

The week has been incredibly busy with many various things going on at work: the book I was mentioning, the organization of a workshop in January, classes, experiments… drinks with friends, party and MarioKarting with the lab, skipping lunch for tennis… and without even noticing it is the last night before the departure, it’s getting winter cold and days are at their shortest! So now I need to shop for some presents to bring to family and friends and pack everything!!! And I also need to cook!!! These days, as often before traveling, I have cooked a lot of very simple and light meals, with pasta, tortellini or risotto, but for the last night it can only be Japanese of course! So I’m thinking of rice, umeboshi, and some colorful vegetables (broccoli?) and may be some half dried salmon. Which reminded me of that excellent simple dinner I cooked last weekend with some roasted vegetables, pork cutlet from Isumi, plenty of pickles and rice. It was colorful with the fancy pink pickled daikon, the roasted carrots and the pure white of the rice. It was tasty with the sour salty umeboshi, the sweetness of the sweet potato and the carrots, and the caramelized pork… It was one perfect dinner for a cold evening!

Next time I’ll write I will be in Florence, hopefully with some Italian surprises! Have a beautiful weekend!

Polenta “pizza”

Maybe it’s because we’re going to Italy soon, maybe just because I love it, but there are two things I am craving for: Italian food and Japanese food. So I alternate Italian inspirations and Japanese ones, and sometimes mix the two. When you need a rapid base for dinner polenta is much better than rice. It cokks in no time and it is very versatile and fun to arrange with many vegetables. One of the things I like to prepare it with are mushrooms and tomatoes. Somehow very classic. But you can give it a twist and prepare it like a pizza (vegan, gluten free). Here is my recipe!

Polenta pizza (4 servings)

– 100g of polenta (more or less depending on the size of your pie dish, the thickness of the polenta you want etc…)

– 2 large shiitake or 5 small

– a bundle of rucola

– a hanful of cherry tomatoes

– a branch of rosemary

– olive oil

– salt and pepper

First cook the polenta, you want it slightly dry to hold when it is cold but not undercooked.  Then pour the hot polenta in your olive-oil greased pie dish to obtain an even layer. Since I’m making a “pizza” I don’t want it to be thick, but neither too thin. 5-8mm is the right thing for me. Let it chill. Wash the vegetables and cut them. Add a bit of olive oil on top of the polenta, rosemary, salt and pepper. Then add the tomatoes and shiitake. Pre-heat the oven 30min before serving to 180deg. and cook the polenta and vegetables. Finally when done, just before serving add the rucola. That’s it!

Last bread of the year?

The last week in Japan for this year is just starting. As usual before traveling, the last week is a marathon: squeeze in all the appointments, meetings that require me to be physically here, prepare for packing, and here on top, prepare for Xmas presents, since we’ll follow directly with a visit to our family and friends in France. I’m quite excited to go to Florence, first because I’ve never been there yet, and A. will show me around, there will be cooking opportunities with sone local products; second because these five days there are meant for me to work on a book (not an scientific one, neither a cookbook…). A very new activity, something I don’t know where to start and how to organize myself, it is very challenging for me… I write this book with a philosopher who is used to that so that will probably help a bit… we’ll see. That said, it means that I have less time in the morning to prepare pancakes… so yesterday I baked a big black bread that would be our breakfast for the next three days. I used 1/3 of black wheat flour and 2/3 of whole wheat flour for it. It is very nutritious and tasty. And to slice it more easily and evenly, I baked it in a rectangular bread mold, something that makes it resemble pumpernickel. Simple and delicious. Have a great week!!

Double almond pancakes

The last weekend we spend in the country before traveling for a few weeks in Europe: Italy and France, and it is perfectly cold and sunny, just how like the mornings it this season. To warm us up before going outside play tennis and garden, a rich breakfast is now needed and this morning I chose to make rich pancakes, but not muesli pancakes, since A. is not a big fan of muesli. But almond in cakes he likes very much. The recipe is really simple, they are fluffy, warm and nourishing.  The recipe is vegan, but you can add eggs if you want them even richer. So here is my recipe with proportions that are about, adjust slighty if needed! Enjoy the weekend!

Double almond pancakes  

– 200g of flour

– 1 glass of almond milk

– 80g of almond powder

– 1tsp of baking powder, and a pinch of salt

– 2tbs of sugar (optional) 

– 1/2 vanilla bean

In a large bowl, add the flour, the baking powder, the salt the sugar. Stir and add the almond milk. Then the almond powder and the vanilla. The dough must be creamy thick. If it is too hard add a bit of almond milk or water, if it is too wet add a little bit more almond powder or flour.

Heat a anti-adhesive fry pan, don’t grease it. Cook the pancakes on both sides for a few minutes. Eat warm!

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