Tag: original

Butternut squash week day 5

Ok… the weekend is here and I’m still cooking butternut squash!!!

Using it again today in a recipe that is the pure product of my imagination: vegan gyoza. I don’t know why The other day, on my way to the station I had this vision of simple gyoza, filled with a butternut and green shallots and served hot with soya sauce and ra-yu (you know the slightly vinegared and spicy oil that you mix with soya sauce when eating gyoza). So on my way back from work I stopped to buy the shallots, the ra-yu, and gyoza dough because it was already 21:00 I didn’t have boiled my butternut squash yet and making the dough meant eating too late. Making the dough is very simple, just water and flour, but you need to wait 30 to 60min before making small balls and rolling them. So it was out of the question. Luckily it is rather easy to find fresh prepared gyoza “skin” in Japan that has only the basic ingredients. All good supermarkets have some. Here is my recipe below the picture.

Butternut squash gyoza for 20 pieces

– 100g of butternut squash pealed and boiled

– a pack of gyoza skin

– shallots greens 小ねぎ

– soya sauce and ra-yu

– optional: fresh ginger grated

If your butternut squash is not yet pealed and boiled like it was the case for me, start with that. You don’t want to have a filling that is too hot because it makes the forming of the gyoza more difficult: the skin breaks more easily, in particular when hand made.

Drain the butter well and purée it. Wash and chop the shallots green, grat the ginger if you want to use some. Add to the butternut squash purée and stir well. Take a round gyoza skin in the left hand, deep your right index in water and moist the outskirt of the skin. With a spoon set a bit of filling in the middle. Fold in two and start making small pleats to close the gyoza (see the movie below). Then once they are all ready, in a heated pan with a bit of oil and water cook at medium to high heat and flip once until golden on both sides. Serve with greens (I served simple boiled komatsuna) and the soya sauce and ra-yu.

http://gentianeetantoine.com/igk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/img_7761.mov

Butternut squash week day 2

For this second day of the butternut squash week, I have chosen a new recipe that I had in mind for a while but never tried. I am a big fan of coconut milk but I use very few in fact because I don’t use much packed food from places I don’t go… As you may have noticed I used local products of the places I am and those I take back with me as much as possible. Anyway once in a while experimenting with other products is fun! This recipe is again very simple and perfect for the fall using not only butternut squash but also sweet potatoes and an autumn fresh fish: cod from Miyagi, a little north of Chiba.

Coconut milk ragout

– 125g of butternut squash peeled

– 125g of sweet potatoes (a large one)

– 2 portions of fresh cod (I like the tail part)

– 200ml coconut milk (I use Kara classic coconut milk because I like the creaminess but not sur it’s a sustainable choice)

– salt, pepper, a spoon of oil, 1/2 cup of water

I simply cut in bites the butternut squash and wash and cut also the sweet potatoes in bites, and the cod. In a large pan I heat the oil a bit and trough all the vegetables at once and cook at high heat for a few minutes, then I add the fish on top and finish with the coconut milk, the salt and the pepper. Compared to other recipes I add slightly more salt to enhance the coconut taste while taking some of the sweetness. I then add the water (adjust eventually depending on the coconut milk texture, some are very creamy, some very liquid) and cook without stirring for 10min, or until it is just right creamy and the ingredients are well cooked. You may need to add a bit more water, but you don’t want it to be too liquid when done, or overcooked to reduce the liquid. Then serve and enjoy!

Plating such ragout was not super easy for me but the taste was amazing!!!

Spicy carrot pie

The other day we went for lunch at cafe Boba and while we were waiting for our food to arrive I browsed an American cookbook on pies. Something that was perfect for the season. And with my basket full of autumn vegetables, I was very much inspired by the recipes with pumpkin, carrots… and one really attracted me. It was a sweet and spicy carrot pie. But of course I didn’t do what the recipe said, I just get the inspiration and made a savory carrot pie with spices. It was super simple and really delicious. I like the idea of a carrot pudding in a pie crust, it makes the pudding easier to serve and gives a good boost with healthy carbs.

Here is my recipe, I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Spicy carrot pie (makes 6 individual pies)

For the pie crust:

– 100g of flour of your choice (I used a mix of white and whole wheat flour)

– 80g of butter

– a bit of water

– cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt

For the filling:

– 3 large carrots

– 3 eggs

– same spices as above

You can add cream and fresh grated ginger, but I had none.

Prepare the pie crust by stirring all the ingredients and kneading until soft. Roll and set in your pie dish(es)

Peel and boil the carrot, when soft, put them in a blender with the eggs and the spices and purée the mix. Pour the mix in the pie crust. Bake for 30min at 190deg. Enjoy!!

And because I had a bit of leftover pie crust, I made chai apple tarts too!!!

Goya chanpuru

In Okinawa cuisine they use a lot of pork meat and of goya, a bitter melon. Goya in Okinawa is delicious, but goya is a vegetable I never buy in Tokyo, because the ones you find in supermarkets are usually horribly bitter and hard (I did try a few times a long time ago…). There are a few tricks to remove the bitterness but normally you shouldn’t even need it… When someone give me one from their garden they are usually very delicious and not bitter at all, then I am more than happy to cook it. And one of the most classic recipe is goya chapuru ゴヤチャンプル. A traditional recipe from Okinawa with goya, tofu, pork meat and eggs. Sometimes moyashi (sprouted soya beans) are added… the pork meat is usually thin slices of pork belly or ribs, or in cheap version Spam. And it is seasoned with sesame oil usually but not always.

Since I received a beautiful goya And it’s been a really long time I haven’t I was really happy to cook it. With the heat and beautiful weather an Okinawa style preparation was perfectly adequate. Except that I didn’t have tofu and wanted some carbs to make the meal nourishing. I opted for a version of whole wheat penne with a goya, sausage and eggs preparation very similar to goya chanpuru. I used olive oil though rather than sesame oil. I simply cut the sausages in bites, grilled them in a frypan slightly greased, then added the goya, halved and sliced (and the seeds removed) and once they have soften with the heat I had 4 eggs beaten and stir regularly. I served it on top of the boiled penne and added olive oil, salt and pepper to finish.

Jute mallow

モロヘイヤ (say moroheiya) or jute mallow is a summer green that us eaten often in Japan in miso soup and tempura. I’ve known it for long but was barely cooking it until last summer when we visited our friends in Tsunan and K. prepared some. This little green plant is like okra or yamaimo, it becomes a bit slimy when cut and even more when heated. I know that many people may be disgusted by the slimy aspect and texture but honestly for me, as soon as it is vegetal I don’t mind. And jute mallow is really nice in many other preparations. I use it with eggs in omelets or scrambled eggs, in stir fried vegetables to serve with rice, and in quiche which is today’s recipe.

Jute mallow and mustard quiche

– flour, water, olive oil for the pie crust

– 2 handfuls of jute mallow

– 2 tomatoes

– a piece of smoked bacon (optional)

– 2 tbs of mustard

– 3 eggs and some milk for the egg base

Prepare and roll the dough in a thin layer to set in a large pie dish. Spread the mustard on the pie crust.

Wash the tomatoes and chop them. Wash the jute mallow and remove the thickest/hardest parts if any. Chop and grill the bacon.

Beat the eggs and the milk, add the bacon and vegetables. Stir and pour in the pie crust. Bake for 40min or until golden. Enjoy warm or cold!

More zucchini!!!

I could have totally go with an other zucchini week worth of new or modified recipes in the last 7 days… to add to the existing collection of zucchini recipes! I’ve been preparing most of our meals using zucchini because it’s just the season and now they grow plenty of zucchini in Isumi! So again last Saturday I got plenty… yellow, green, small and big… later there will so round ones… And with the typhoon coming and the sudden drop in temperatures, a warm soup was very welcome, so I prepared a … zucchini soup of course!!!

Zucchini naked soup

– 2 large zucchini

– olive oil

– salt and pepper

– optional: 2tbs of cream cheese

– optional: bread croutons

In a large pan filled with 1l of water boil the zucchini washed and cut in rough pieces. When tender blend and add olive oil, salt and pepper. That’s it!!! Serve warm and eat right away!

You can add the cream cheese directly in the plate. Stir a bit when it has melted. Add the bread croutons if you want a richer experience.

New wakame

There’s a season for everything and now is the season of new wakame apparently. This dried seaweed that is most often used in miso soup and in salad can be used in a variety of recipes I assumed and so I tried something half French half Japanese for this recipe. It all started with the finding of wild (should I mention) splendid alfonsino (kin me dai 金目鯛) that really attracted me, and some green peas (I’m a big big fan of green peas), that could complement the snap peas and new onion I had already. For the fish I simply grilled it on the skin side in a pan without any thing added, and flipped it when almost done to obtain a crispy outside. For the vegetables, that’s where the new wakame goes, I simply blanched the peas for 2min then drained them and in a pan with a bit of olive oil I grilled the onion and the added the wakame cut with scissors in small bits, and finished with the peas. Wakame, new or not is a dried seaweed, it needs a bit of moisture to return to its normal condition. The oil and the moisture from the onion and the peas is the perfect amount to keep it a little crunchy, too much moisture makes it quite chewy I find. Stir a bit and serve. No need to add salt, it’s already salty from the wakame.

Oh! I forgot! It’s the beginning of golden week in Japan! So happy golden week!!!

Stuffed lotus root

There is one thing that I don’t cook often but I love, is stuffed lotus root. It is not always easy ro find big, clean or still untouched lotus roots, but when I do, I definitely try to make some stuffed lotus root, changing recipes depending on the available ingredients and the mood of the moment. This weekend I found huge lotus roots that were untouched and perfectly cleaned. And I tried a filling made with chicken meat and curry spices. The result was a crispy melty spicy combo that I served with simple fresh salad and radishes and a bowl of plain rice.

Ravioli again!

After this busy week at work and several dinners out, a little bit of slow cooking was more than welcome! But it was so cold that I didn’t even dare trying to make bread. Indeed, when we arrived Saturday morning it was 2-3 degrees in the house, it slowly went up to 15-17 by the time it was bed time, and again it was 3 degrees when we woke up the next morning. These old Japanese houses are really not meant to be warmed, they are wind breakers, just to live in wearing many warm layers of clothes. And it totally works. But to make bread in such conditions is really hard (oh! Maybe that’s one reason why bread and alike are not traditional to Japan!). The bread takes forever to rise and it’s never long enough! Instead, I simply kneaded some pasta dough to make ravioli. There was some beautiful salmon from Miyagi, some baby komatsuna, and I had some dill on the verge of drying. The recipe was all set. I put the dill chopped directly in the pasta. I made filling by first grilling the salmon and blanching the komatsuna, then put the two in the blender to obtain an almost creamy texture. Rolled the dough in my pasta machine (with the dill I found it hard to roll it to extra thin) and made the ravioli. I served with some more blanched komatsuna, butter for me, olive oil for A. and it was simply delicious!

I wish a good very week, it might snow again in Tokyo!

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