Pain de mie

Pain de mie is a classic and delicious bread, very easy to use in many different ways: toast for breakfast, sandwiches, snack… There are two ways to prepare it based on the same recipe depending on what you want: a fluffy golden bread or a perfectly square and uniformly baked bread. I was opting for the latter and wanted to use my covered pie dish. Yet this dish is really huge and I needed to prepare a large bread, and needed a large bowl to knead.

Finally all equipped I prepare my bread with the following ingredients and proportions:

500g of flour; 280g of water; 20g of sourdough; 20g of yeast; 13g of salt; 15g of powdered milk; 40g of sugar; 45g of butter. After mixing all the ingredients wait for 90min before putting the dough in the greased dish and close the lid. Wait an extra 60 to 90min before baking at 170deg for 30-35min.

This made a large bread, slightly too big for my dish wich is about 12cmx12cmx30cm but the result was perfect to make our breakfast sandwiches to eat on the beach after our bodyboarding early morning sessions.

August 2, 2015

The useless ingredients tart

I usually shop everyday for diners and breakfasts when in Tokyo execpt for the fruits and vegetables I bring back from the country, but a few rare times I have an idea, shop for it and by the time I arrive home I have a new and better idea, or I remember there’s something that needs to be eaten first, or I just run out of time to prepare according to my original plan. So a few times I end up with a piece of tofu, herbs, a few vegetables that I need to prepare rather than having them in the fridge for ever.

This time I had a big piece of tofu, the left over celery from the ravioli, and a few cherry tomatoes. What best then preparing a tart with these ingredients. A simple sable dough with olive oil, a mixture of egg and tofu, a strict lining of tomatoes and a rough scattering of celery cut in pieces. In the oven for 30min, and a delicious dinner ready to enjoy!

July 31, 2015

Chick-pea flour and vegetables thin tart

It’s summer, it’s hot and still a bit humid, the farmers market is full of beautiful and ripped tomatoes, the last asparagus and green beans. And I was craving for a thin tart with a thin and crispy dough. So I prepared a brisee dough with 2/3 of chick pea flour and 1/3 of wheat flour, olive oil and water. In a large tart dish I set the dough and add raw asparagus, green beans and diced tomatoes, and finish with eggs mixed with a little of water, salt and a lot of grinded black pepper. Then bake for 20min in the oven at 210deg. Simply delicious!

July 24, 2015

Feels like a Sunday

Yesterday was holiday, and when Monday is holiday I get lost in the days of the week we are, so I have the impression there was two Sundays this week! Not bad!

Spending one more day in the country, swimming in the ocean in the morning and fixing things in the house at the hottest hours didn’t give me to much time for cooking. So I fixed a rapid one-plate lunch with raw tomatoes and sweet peppers, boiled eggs, soft bread that I made for breakfast and that leftover, for the dressing drip-yogurt (I’ll explain in a later post), salt and pepper. It made a super delicious “open sandwich”.

July 21, 2015

One-plate salad

Spending the week-end in Tokyo we’ve been eating out a bit and I’ve had time to do some cooking reading, and it inspired me for this vegetarian one plate (though eggs are optional and it can turn out vegan easily). I boiled 2 new potatoes, 1egg and 3 asparagus, and 3 okras. In order to spare time, I first put the potatoes in the boiling water, washed but with peel. Then when the potatoes are half cooked (I use a little bamboo toothpick to check) I add the egg to hardboil, after 4min I add the hardest part of the asparagus and after 1min I finally add the head of the asparagus and the okras. After less than 1min I drain everything and rince in cold water. In a bowl I roughly cut one avocado, the egg, the hard parts of the asparagus, mix with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. In a plate I slice the potatoes, mount the avocado-egg-aspara mixture in a circle and line the okras, finish with the asparagus heads, a bit of olive oil and salt. Bon appetit!

July 7, 2015

Vegetarian stuffed zucchini

Here is an other recipe of stuffed zucchini, but vegetarian this time. For me it’s a classic because my mother has been preparing it for decades and I find this recipe perfect for hot summer days. In her original recipe my mother was using “brousse” or “bruccio” a white fresh cheese from the south of France or from Corsica, since I cannot find easily this cheese in Japan I replaced It by ricotta and it works very well. This recipe is lovely also in small round zucchini, but I couldn’t find any today.

The stuffing is really simple: it’s a mix of ricotta cheese, egg, fresh mint, salt and pepper. Stir the ricotta with an egg, chop the mint and add it to the mixture, season with salt and pepper, stir well. Cut the zucchini, remove a little of the seeds, stuff with the mixture. Line the zucchini in an oven dish and bake at 180deg untill the top is golden. Eat warm or cold.

It is perfect as starter or to accompany a main dish. Here I served it for dinner in a one-plate with a little omelet, home-made pancakes and greens.

July 4, 2015

Buckwheat pancake and vegetables

This recipe with zucchini was invented on the spot. I wanted to eat my yellow zucchini with some green beans and purple asparagus, but didn’t want to eat pasta or risotto, so I prepared a batter with buckwheat flour, baking powder, salt, 2 eggs and water (makes two large pancake). In a pan I sauteed in olive oil the green beans, the yellow zucchini cut in small pieces, and the purple asparagus, then I baked it in a small greased pan at low eat the batter and topped it right away with the vegetables and baked only on one side under cover. The vegetables sink a bit in the dough and it resembles something in between a crepe, a pizza and an omelet. I topped it when done with a bit of salt and olive oil. Simply delicious!

July 1, 2015

Zucchini cold soup

Zucchni are delicious in soup hot or cold. In summer I prepare a cold soup with mint. For two I just boil a large zucchini with the skin (the skin gives a nicer color to the soup and it is full of nutriments, but only do that if you know your vegetables are grown without chemicals or organic). Then I smash the boiled zucchini with a fork until it looks like a puree (you can blend it too), add chopped fresh mint leaves, salt, pepper and olive oil. For a creamy taste you can add some greek style yogurt or some fromage blancBut I usually don’t. Keep in the fridge before serving with freshly grinded pepper and mint leaves.

June 30, 2015

Sunday morning breakfast

The week-end was supposed to be all rainy so I had in mind to do a lot of cooking but in the end it’s a beautiful sunny day ahead!
For breakfast I wanted something new to try, and since I bought nice ham and free range eggs, I’ve been thinking about English muffins. I love English muffins, but until now I’ve only bought processed ones. So it was time to give it a try. When cooking British (scones, crumpets…) the BBC website is always my best resource and I found there a recipe for English muffins. It is incredibly simple and the result is just stunning!

Of course I had to adjust a bit the recipe to my taste and the available ingredients in my cupboard. So I changed the white flour for whole wheat flour, and prepared without the finish with semolina. The recipe is vegetarian: milk-egg-butter are needed. I love the fact that it is baked on a hot plate or in a pan, in summer I like not to have to lit the oven. The preparation is also quite quick because it needs only 1h proving and 30min rest. So basically in 2h you can have your muffins ready. For breakfast I served them with egg and ham, or butter and jam but there are so many ways to serve them! And to complete a fresh fruit salad with seasonal fruits. The perfect start for a Sunday in the garden trimming trees.

Recipe:
– 300g of whole wheat flour
– 6g of instant yeast
– 6g of salt
-1 egg
– 15g of butter
– 15g of brown sugar
– 150ml of milk
– a little bit of oil
In a bowl set the flour, and in the middle the yeast, the sugar, the milk, the egg, the salt and the butter. Knead until soft and smooth. Move the dough in an oiled bowl and leave for prove for 1h. When the dough has doubled volume, of a dusted surface roll-out the dough on a 2cm thick rectangle. with a 8cm to 11cm circle cut-out the muffins and leave for prove an other 30 min. Pre-heat a hot plate or a pan at very low heat and set the muffin, bake until golden (5~7min) and flip on the other side and bake again until golden. It’s ready to eat!

June 28, 2015