A random selections of favorite 2013 savory posts… Most are plant-based, all were yummy ! Thanks for visiting. I hope to see you again in 2014
Romanesco and cauliflower green quiche
My experiments in plant based milks and yogurts
Simple nori okaki. Make your own Japanese rice crackers.
Avocado edamame breakfast croquettes, my simple recipe
Green gnocchi in yellow curry soup
Oeufs cocotte are French baked eggs. They are baked in a dish that is called in French, guess what ? A ramequin, a bol, etc. It’s never called a cocotte. Because a cocotte, it’s hen, it’s a woman sometimes, well in the kitchen, it’s a big stew pot. So baking eggs in that over-sized pot, that’s like quail eggs inside a pumpkin. Well, today exceptionally we’ll do that.
Botchan kabocha (little boy pumpkin) is the smaller Japanese pumpkin. It’s perfect to make individual stuffed pumpkin dishes. For instance :
Open and empty the kabocha, steam it till the flesh is soft. Fill with quail eggs and a mix of soy milk, argan oil, salt and pepper. Bake till the egg whites are stuck and the yolks still soft.
Served with toasted home-made whole-wheat bread.
Turmeric. In Japan, they cultivate a few types. Autumn turmeric is the most common. Spring turmeric (in English “wild turmeric” ) is the second most common. This plant is believed to have great medicinal properties.
This one is only a little bitter, perfect for cooking.
Stir-fried gently a few slices of turmeric and of dry apricot. On low heat, added in daikon radish leaves, stirring till they get wilted. Added salt, walnuts and chrysanthemum flower.
A nice Autumn brunch.
These nice one-bite cakes were too good to be saved for next day and daylight photos.
I consider sake kasu as a new type of cheese. It’s creamy, it’s fermented so why not ? And that’s natural that it gives great results in cheese cake type preparations.
So here it is, fresh sake kasu (sake lees).
I had some sweet bread crumbles, similar to cookie crumbles from my baker.
With other ingredients : silky tofu, kurozato black sugar.
I creamed 1/2 cup of sake kasu with a little water, added melted sugar, 1 cup of tofu, vanilla powder, 2 tbs of potato starched. Made it very smooth.
I mixed the crumbs with a little coconut, butter, garnished bottoms of paper cups. I poured the cream on top. Cooked 5 minutes, slowly in steaming program of microwave. Let cool totally. Then paper cases can be removed, if you want.
A salmon and mushroom pie hidden in a pumpkin. That’s Halloween on the plate.
This month :
Hannah of Rise and Shine was our October 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she challenged us to bake our own double crusted savory pot pies. Using any from-scratch crust and filling we choose, we were allowed to get completely creative with our recipe, showing off the savory flavors and fillings from our own home or region.
So let’s go for Japanese season produce and even tofu for a dairy free pie :
Autumn/Fall is the season of kabocha pumpkin, salmon, mushrooms (shiitake).
Kabocha pumpkin crust : 1/3 boiled kabocha flesh, 1/3 flour, 1/3 whole wheat flour. Plus a little baling powder, salt, chili flakes and enough of the squash cooking water to for a dough.
The fresh ingredients.
Gravy : I stir-fried onion, garlic, the feet of the shiitake with salt and black pepper. Then added the shiitake hats, the peas. To cream it, passed in the blender : 1/2 block of silky tofu, 1 glass of white wine, a tbs of potato starch. I’ve added the fish and parsley raw.
Baked 45 minutes.
The crust is perfectly cooked. The inside is a little curded (I should have added the wine to the onions to avoid it), but it looks nice.
Cress and parsley pesto on the plate.
Japanese-Lebanese-Gourmande fusion : Lebanese sfiha (sfeeha, small meat pies) with Japanese kaki, and coconut tzatziki.
Cut thinly lamb meat, season with salt. Cut a little kaki persimmon. Cut onion and kabocha pumpkin in small cubes, garlic thinly, stir-fry with lamb fat. Season with a little salt, cumin, cinnamon, nutgmeg, black pepper. Add the meat and fruit to the onions. Shred a few leaves of mint and some fresh thyme, add them.
Dough : flour, cumin seeds, a little baking powder, a drizzle of olive oil. Mix. Add just enough hot water to form a ball.
Take a ball of dough, spread in a circle, put filling in the middle and pinch the squares to form a basket.
Paint with olive oil and bake.
Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, chili flakes and mint leaves. Serve hot.
Tzatziki : cucumbers and a little goya (bitter squash), the sauce is made with coconut cream, garlic, mint and thyme.
The perfect pair.
GOURMANDE in OSAKA 