2-way stuffed zucchini flowers

The last recipe from this little stay at my parents’ place. As I was telling you yesterday, my mother is really good at preparing zucchini flowers and she not only prepared tempura she also prepared stuffed zucchini flowers. One way is with cheese and mint (vegetarian; on the right of the picture), the other with only vegetables (100% vegan; on the left of the picture). Both are delicious and worth trying!

For the cheese stuffed recipe you need zucchini flowers, cheese like goat cheese, ricotta cheese or sheep cheese, fresh mint, a bitten egg, salt, pepper that’s all. Mix the cheese with chopped mint the bitten egg (you may need only half of it if you stuff only 4 to 6 flowers. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Wash softly the flowers and stuff them with the preparation, set then in oven dish. Bake until golden.

For the vegetables filled zucchini flowers you need zucchini flowers, a carrot, an onion and a small zucchini. Cut the vegetables in brunoise (small dice), in a heated pan with olive oil, cook the vegetables until golden and dry. Wash the flowers, stuff them with the brunoise. Set in an oven dish and bake until golden. Enjoy hot or atroom temperature.

July 18, 2016

Zucchini flowers tempura

After the bouillabaisse the second thing I really wanted to eat while in Provence was zucchini flowers. My mother is really good at preparing them. She has several recipes for them and I gonna share three with you. Zucchini flowers are really hard to find in Japan and it’s a pity but it is not impossible and they are really easy to prepare. The first recipe is a Japanese inspired recipe it’s simply zucchini flowers tempura. The flowers are cut delicately into long strips and then dipped into tempura dough before being fried. This simple preparation is perfect for the flowers to enjoy their very subtle texture and taste. They are served here with little green bell peppers from Marseille, something that ressembles a lot the Japanese green bell peppers.

July 17, 2016

Aix en Provence

As you may have noticed I am not in Tokyo now but in France after two days in Paris we went south and are now spending a few days in my hometown: Aix en Provence, at my parents’ place. Prunellia and I grew up in a beautiful environment. Prunellia probably didn’t enjoyed it as much as I did but we were very lucky. And now that time has passed I see myself even luckier because we can stills enjoy that. A large family house in the middle of pines and oaks, a pool in the middle of lush greens, a tennis court, friends nearby and always ready for a coffee, and nearby the moutain Sainte Victoire and a little (touristic and posh) city with plenty of history.

The museum hotel the Caumont in Aix city center

There are plenty of things to do in Aix en Provence, starting with walking around the city center, its gothic cathedral, the narrow streets of the old center, the farmers markets, the hotels particuliers or mansions with their typical architecture and the numerous foutains. Then there is Cezanne and all the painters, the atelier and the beautiful landscapes around that inspired them with amazing little hikes (not always possible in summer because of forest fire prevention). Recently a few new museums have opened one in the countryside, in a vineyard: chateau Lacoste, contemporary art outdoor, a must see place. The other one in one of the old mansions in the city and the renovation and exhibition are really nice: hotel de Caumont (don’t misunderstand with a hotel where to spend the night!!!).

That said, being in my hometown means a lot of local products for cooking and traditional recipes prepared both by my mother and I: soupe au pistou, bouillabaisse, fig tarts, flan (pudding), zucchini flowers… Many of the recipes have already been posted in the past because they are real classics and I cook them in Tokyo too, but some are just not possible. I will still share them with you in the next few days.

July 15, 2016

Special guest: La bouillabaisse

For this second special guest, we have picked our mother with a very traditional dish in our family: La bouillabaisse, or Bouillante. This typical Provence dish is a grand summer tradition in our family. Our great grand father used to go fishing near La Ciotat every Sunday and bring back the fishes, our great grand mother prepared it, our grand mother fished too and took over to prepare it , and now our mother prepares it too.

No one fishes anymore in our family and what was a fisherman’s hot pot to use all the small fishes and less noble fishes has now turned into a very high end and not so easy to eat/find dish. Of course a lot of restaurants in the south of France serve something they call bouillabaisse but nothing compares with our traditional and familial preparation. Bouillabaisse in our family consists in 3 separate dishes: the fish soup with bread, saffron potatoes and rouille; the fishes cooked in bouillon; the “ramichelle” with rouille. The first thing is to find the proper ingredients and even when living in the south of France it is not that easy! The rock fishes for the soup: wrasses and combers, the white fishes for serving in second: large red mullet, john dory, monk fish.

Soup with the saffron potatoes and bread and rouille

Once that is secured it is rather straightforward to prepare. The fish soup must be a clear bouillon. In our family that’s the way it is made and eaten. We use only fishes (no crab…) and don’t keep any flesh to obtain a brown golden bouillon. It is all hand made, no machine here.
Large soft potatoes are sliced roughly and sickly and boiled in saffron water.
The rouille is a kind of mayonnaise with saffron, paprika, red pepper and additionally garlic if you like it.
The ramichelle are simply vermicelli boiled in the fish soup (not on the pictures because honestly not very photogenic!) eaten with rouille so delicious!

Thanks Mum for this amazing dinner and this familial recipe!

Bouillabaisse family table with croutons, saffron potatoes croutons again, fish soup and rouille

July 13, 2016

Summer fruits tart

Crazy time of the year, one day is summer: 35 and not a single breeze, sudden thunder storm and pouring rain, the next it’s almost chilly. Yet summer fruits start ripening and are delicious. Peaches season has started as well as plums, melons and watermelons season is also well advanced. When this time comes I love to prepare poached fruits, clafoutis and simple tarts where the fruits have the leading part. This time it’s a peach and plum tart. I like the mix of the super sweet peaches and the slightly sour plums. For the dough I prepared a sable dough with oat bran to add a bit of texture. I roll the dough, cut the fruits and bake. That’s all. No added sugar, no flavoring. Just fruits.

July 6, 2016

Simmered plums

When I harvested the garden plums I had in mind to try one recipe of simmered plum from my Shojin cuisine book. So I kept 6 of the largest and greenest plums for that recipe. But busy with other things I didn’t prepare them right away and the plum have turned from green to a beautiful orange, and were ripening very quickly. So I decided to go for an other manner to cook them, simply preparing some kind of compote. I put the plums in ample water and boiled them at low heat for 2h under cover; then I drained most of the water and kept only 5 to 10mm in the pan, added 2tbs of brown sugar and simmered at low heat again for 30min without cover, or until almost all the syrup is gone. Instead I obtained a thick jelly (the brown paste in between the plum on the picture).

You can serve the plums warm, at room temperature or cold.

June 22, 2016

Shojin cuisine inspiration

Since I got my Shojin cuisine book I only tried one recipe but many others are really simple and delicious. So I’ve decided to try (and slightly adapt) two other recipes. One is a classic, the otherone is rather new for me. But even the classic I gave it a little twist. I really love green beans salad, alone, with potatoes or with tomatoes. It’s a real simple dish perfect with thin little green beans or flat beans that my mother cooked very often in season. I used the recipe of miso green beans as a base and mixed it with my childhood memories. So I added small ripe tomatoes. So it’s just blanching the green beans, just a few minutes, they should remain vivid green and crisp, mixing with miso of you choice, adding the tomatoes in quarters (bottom left of the picture).

The second recipe is eggplant and edamame. The colors and mix of textures and tates really attracted me and I was very happy with the result. The recipe apparently used fava beans or broad beans but the season is over and the season for eamame just started so I replaced them. Also in the recipe the beans were sweetened with sugar, but I didn’t find it necesary, the edamame being already super sweet. So you need half little eggplant per person and a handfull of shelled edamame for two. Halve the eggplants, in a frypan greased with oil cook the eggplants, skin size first, the turn them. They must be soft but not overcooked. Keep to cool on kitchen paper skin up. Boil the edamame, when ready shell them and peel them. The thin skin over the beans must be removed for a smooth preparation, and is actually super easy to remove. Place the beans in a mortar and crush them but not too much. Cut the eggplnt in bites and top them with the edamame.

Both recipes are perfect served at room temperature.

June 19, 2016

Pre-talk lunch

During the winter I didn’t give many talks and plenty of new results came in, so when I was invited two weeks ago to Kyushu Institute of Technology and today to Tokyo Institute of Technology to give talks I wanted to include plenty of our new material and shape new talks. When I work on these kind of things I really enjoy being home, I am much more productive, focused and I memorize my talk very easily. Unfortunately it is not always possible for me to squeeze in this time during week days, so I often work on my talks on weekends. Recently I am managing my time much better than I used to (may be it’s the low tide after the panic of business from last year) and I can prepare my talks more calmly and better. And this means having lunch at home which is also really nice. I can cook simple things that are just the perfect food before giving a talk: light and energetic. Today, I went for a simple arrangement of steamed zucchini and couscous with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh mint from the terrace. Ready in 5min, but so delicious!

June 14, 2016

Summer plate

The very first days of sudden hot weather always make me happy but I have a hard time adjusting with the temperature and never know what are the proper clothing. I feel kind of feverish without being sick. When this happens I like super simple a freshfood, eating melon and grapes a lot, and preparing some very simple dishes. Brown rice is a real treat in that case. Simple to prepare, both delicious warm or cold, easy to accommodate with all the vegetables and herbs. I love shiso for its fresh taste and its herbal texture, thinely chopped and mixed twith rice is just a perfect match. As for the vegetables I take what is available on the market, and because we didn’t go to Ohara, it’s not that fancy: mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, salad. The dressing is a simple olive oil plus a bit of fresh lemon and a few drops of soya sauce. Simple as can be!

May 24, 2016