When it rains, jeon and makkoli

It was raining, raining, raining today…

When it rains, the Koreans make jeon as the noise of cooking them is similar to the sound of rain drops falling. And they drink makkoli, because… Well, I guess they must be thirsty.

I’ve got makkoli from the convenience store. It’s written in Japanese but that’s the real thing. It’s a drink made of fermented wine, close to Japanese amazake (sweet sake). But the Japanese one is for kids, while the makkoli has 6% alcohol, like a wine. I have to be careful because that’s so sweet that I’d drink that like milk, well even more easily than milk. But then, I don’t make a merry tispy fellow, just a person suddenly feeling sick. So, let’s be reasonable.

Chijimi and jeon are both names of Korean pancakes, well in Osaka, it’s all chijimi and you’ve seen some before here.
That’s the fashion to make green nira chijimi. I’ve seen restaurants had them. That’s a good idea,

nira

I have added a whole bunch of nira (garlic chives) into the blender with flour, a piece of potato and potato starch. That’s not so solid as usual, but if you flip them carefully, no problem. The taste is very green. I’ve used the color of onion and yellow bell pepper to contrast.

Add a sauce (soy sauce, black rice vinegar, water, onion, chili), the drink…and enjoy the rain !

For more : Korean Compil’

Choucroute en croûte

Choucroute en croûte. Sauerkraut in a crust. Hey, why not ? That’s a really nice on a chilly night, with hot spices and it’s quite light actually.

Yes, that’s this month’s Daring Cook’s challenge.

Our lovely Monkey Queen of Don’t Make Me Call My Flying Monkeys, was our May Daring Cooks’ hostess and she challenged us to dive into the world of en Croute! We were encouraged to make Beef Wellington, Stuffed Mushroom en Croute and to bring our kids into the challenge by encouraging them to create their own en Croute recipes!

I didn’t have the courage for a Welly. I didn’t even took the time to make a classic pie pastry. No, I couldn’t use some bought pastry as I am stubbornly against the principle of buying it. OK, I could make exceptions easily in France as they sell quality doughs, usually too expensive for what it is, but good in taste. The *products* they sell in Japan are really very bad. The last time I tried to buy some, I have not eaten it. So I’ve taken shortcuts :

Sauerkraut rinsed and reheated in red wine. I’ve added to it onion cooked in a little oil, pepper, nutmeg, spice mix and potato starch to absorb excess liquid. Let cool.
The dough is flour with spices (turmeric, ajowan, salt) and hot water.

To make it flaky, there are 2 layers of dough. I oiled all around with a brush.

Locked with cloves. Then baked till it sounds hollow and gets a nice color.

Serve hot. Break the piñata…

Maquereau au four – baked mackerel.

Spring is a bit this year. Let’s enjoy baked fish.

Okinawan yellow skin potatoes. New.

A bed of baked potatoes with a fragrance of white wine.

Tarragon brings an interesting flavor.

Cover with the mackerel (maquereau).

With a quick ciabatta.

Royal elegance of a simple radicchio risotto.

My version of the beautiful and tasty Italian dish. Only rice and veggies, another weekday lunch.
Actually that was delicious and so luxurious that I regretted having it for a casual lunch. I mean, for a rice like that, you should throw a party, a royal wedding or something like that.

I had a radicchio (Trevise salad) waiting to be cooked. Why not a risotto ? I have cut the leaves in thin ribbons, and mixed them with good Japanese rice (polished hatsuga mai germinated rice).

I made a few risotti before with step-by-step photos

risotto compil’

I use my rice-cooker pot on the stove, then I can put it back mid-way into the cooker and use the stay-warm function.
Olive oil, garlic, a few red raisins, red wine and a broth of (edible) beer yeast and salt. Flavored with thyme.

The velvety rice !

A piccata of parsley, olive oil, lemon zest and a few spices.

Toasted almond slices.

Matelotte de truite ayu

A matelotte is a French river fish stew, with a creamy wine sauce. It’s out of fashion now, which is a shame. It’s really delicious. Well you need good river fish. When I was a kid, we often had neighbors that were emptying their fish pond, and we had some more often that we wished. Now it’s a rarity.