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…

Indian green curry as a perk of juicing

Palak saag, the Indian spinach curry is an excellent way to enjoy your greens. Today, I made it to recycle.

I had 4 days of this ! The grounds that stay in the filter when I make green juice:

I had 4 days : 1 of spinach, 1 of kikuna (chrysanthemum leaves) and 2 of komatsuna. A full cup.

Onion, garlic, ginger, whole spices…

The grounds and a powder mix for chana masala that contains mango and I find excellent. I also added 1 ts of black sugar.

That gives that mud. I’ve added silky tofu. On top, a tbs of olive oil, fresh veggies.
Mmmmm….

Spicy crazy ramen burger (black bean burger part 2)

Ramen burger ! Yeah, and it’s probably addictive. At least, my version is. You should really try.
If you wonder who came with this crazy idea, here is a little historic explanation. Everybody knows Fukushima, the region is famous for its… atomically good ramen. Well that’s a true.
喜多方ラーメン (Kitakata ramen) from the town of Kitakata are said to be one of the 3 best in Japan.
ramen source “tourist info”
They are ramen, topped with chashu (pork roast), a slice of surimi, menma bamboo shoots, negi… Then one shop had the idea to make to round patties of broth flavored noodles and serve the toppings inside :
ramen burger kitakata ramen-burger
source “the restaurant that started the ra’burger”
They have then been copied all by many others.

So, I have not followed their recipe at all. I’ve used a home-made black bean burger and improvised my fried noodles :
making the burger (click here).

Here are toppings. My sauce : neri goma (pasted sesame, tahini), rice vinegar, miso, a little sugar, paprika, chili pepper and turmeric.

The construction : a round of pan-fried ramen, a layer of greens, a bean burger, a good amount of sauce, pickled ginger, a second round of ramen, cut coriander leaves.

That’s a complete Spring spicy ramen burger. And it’s really delicious.

I tried to eat it with the hands, and I got greasy fingers, that I had to lick after… A sort of burger case would be convenient. I should get some printed at my name.

Cooking black bean burger for Spring (1st part)

I could eat beef burgers but I now prefer bean burgers. If you think I’m weird, you should try these. They are soft, juicy, crunchy, flavorful. And easy to make.

Basic ingredients that you can make from scratch but I had them ready to start. Yakisoba (fresh　ramen for hot plate)　and cooked black beans (here kuromame). You can use other types of noddles/pasta.

today’s green

Mix, shape and cook. OK, I mash the beans with a fork, I mince the greens, onion, ginger, I roughly break the walnuts. That’s not precise be make them to taste, you can sample the ingredients as you mix in. With 1 cup of beans, I made 2 burgers. I cook them briefly in a frying pan.
With 1 pack, I made 4 rounds of yakisoba. I stir-fried them with a little sauce and spices, then shaped and cooked next to the burgers.

You wonder why I made these yaki-soba “patties” ? Oh, I had space in the frying pan. You’ll see that in next post.

Here is the burger !

Black bean shiso baked empanadas

A satisfying savory snack.

The dough : flour, oil, water, a pinch of salt
The filling : boiled kuromame back beans (half mashed, half whole), black sesame seeds, some bean cooking broth mixed with potato starch, minced garlic, salt, cumin, nutmeg, chili paste. To each I added a shredded shiso leaf.