Mexican inspiration

It’s cold in the evening and I am glad the week is almost finished, I can only look forward the days to come in the country with some discussions for the reform of the bathroom! So to cheer us up for the last draw I prepared a colorful plate with plenty of yummy fresh veggies. It started as being vegan, but in the end I added some scrambled eggs with coriander.

From left in counter clockwise order: fresh heirloom tomatoes, chopped red cabbage, tofu and avocado spicy mix topped with fresh coriander, coriander scrambled eggs, corn flour galettes. For the tofu avocado I drain a firm (momen) tofu and mix it with one avocado, add some spices of your choice, and some fresh coriander. For the corn galette I mix corn flour and water and fry them in a pan, you can also add one egg for better and quicker cooking. The scrambled eggs are simple scrambled eggs into which I added chopped coriander. The rest is just raw tomatoes and cabbage. No dressing.

January 22, 2016

Curry mochi

Because fresh rice cakes, or mochi 餅 come in a bundle of 6, I had some to eat so I decided to experiment a little with a vegan curry not served with rice, but with grilled mochi. Something in between a nan and rice! And it worked super well!!! So here’s what I did: in a large pan greased a little I cut 1/2 leek, 1 potato, 2 little purple sweet potatoes, 1 turnip, 1 carrot, 1 red carrot, after it started to get golden I added some water just to cover, and 2 table spoons of curry powder, 1 tea spoon of tumeric (curcuma), 1 tea spoon of carvi seeds, 1 tea spoon of coriander seeds, grinded black pepper, a little piece of cinnamon and cokked until most of the water is gone. In the oven I arranged the rice cakes on a sheet of aluminum foil and baked them until they grown (I love to watch them in the oven, moving, breathing…) and the tip is golden. Then served all together.

January 21, 2016

Cod & spinach version 2

When I find a seasonal combination I like, it is not rare that I test it in several bariations and versions. Right now there is some nice cod and plenty of Japanese spinaches, and I particularly like the two together, so after the wet risotto I tried a butter grilled cod with spinach and oat bran pancakes and some blanched spinaches. Super delicious! For the cod just a little of butter in a hot pan grilled both sides until crispy. For the blanched spinaches in a little of boiling salted water, I soak the cut spinaches no longer than 5min, then drain well. For the pancakes I used spelt flour, oat bran in the quantity you like, add baking powder, salt, chopped spinaches, 1 or 2 eggs, soy milk, stir well, then cook in a pan at low heat. Serve all while still jot and eat immediately!

January 19, 2016

Sometimes

Sometimes all these happen: you have a tough day at work, you want to cry it out and prepare a lovely post (yes, for you guys!) when the squarespace app crashes before you’ve saved this beautiful coconut pyramids recipe, the only thing that remains to do is to say “sorry guys, I’m going home and eat the coconut pyramids with my supportive husband!”

Well, hopefully the next morning the sky is blue, Mount Fuji is all covered in fresh snow and the storm has passed, so now I can share with you my recipe inspired by the nordic cookbook. For a 20one-bite pyramids I used 1egg, 45g of brown caster sugar, 100g of coconut flakes, 40g of melted butter. Mix the egg and sugar, add the coconut and the melted buter, stir well and let sit for 10-30min so that the coconut get moisted. Pre-heat the oven at 175deg and on a cooking sheet form the pyramids. Cook until the tip is golden. Enjoy!

January 19, 2016

Colorful winter plate

It’s incredible the sudden change in temperature and weather, one day is winter, one day spring. Some of the plum trees in the garden ate already starting to bloom which is incredibly early. So for the food it’s one meal winter one meal spring and a colorful is always welcome and with a beautiful red cabbage a plate is always a feast, with tomatoes, baby leaf salad, avocado, whole rice and scramble eggs with sesame.

Just the perfect boost before a new week!

January 17, 2016

Spinach risotto and cod

As expected, it is now getting cold in Tokyo and the real winter is here. Nothing better to get warm than a kind of thick ice soup or wet risotto with veggies and fresh cod.
In a pan greased with olive oil, first grill the rice (arborio or carnoli), then cover twice with some veggie consome of your choice, and cook. When the consome has lowered by 1/3 add some fresh spinach roughly cut, and cook until the consome is now just on top of the rice. Add the cod, a slice of lemon and cook some more until the liquid has almost vanished. Serve immediately while still wet, and eat when hot.

January 14, 2016

Cauliflower soup x katsuobushi

Too happy with the mix cauliflower and katsuobushi in the tart the other day that I decided to try it in an other version: a warm soup for a cold evening. And the magic worked again!

It’s crazily simple and delicious: boil a cauliflower (I just removed the green leaves, washed it and boiled it all in one piece in 3cm of water under cover. Once soft I roughly crush it with a wooden spoon and mix it with the remaining water in my blender, add black pepper and the soup is ready. When I serve I add some thinly cut katsuobushi (usukiri), that’s it!

January 13, 2016

3 types of cabbage tart

At the local farmers market the other day I found beautiful cauliflower, romanesco and broccoli. Having all them together I couldn’t help but cook something mixing it. I love the idea of having ingredients close in shape but different in taste and color, and the first idea that I had was to make a tart with a piece of each. And becauseI really love the idea of mixing Japanese flavors with western ones I decided to add in the base some katsuobushi flakes. For the dough, I opted for a classic sable dough. A perfect balance.

January 12, 2016

Miso-parsley-pork meat balls

Nothing better than a one-bowl meal for a perfect lunch. Donburi are really easy to prepare in endless seasonal variations, with meat, fish or vegan, with white rice, brown rice, a mox of grains…

For this one I used plain white rice, seasonal veggies: turnips, carrots and shiitake, and prepare miso meat balls. For that I used pork meat, about 100g, 1 egg, 2 or 3 branches of parsley, 2 table spoons of panko, and 2 table spoons of miso (of your choice). I mix all together and cook the balls in a frypan until golden. The mix miso-parsley is really delicious!

January 11, 2016