Tofu lasagna and farm fruits

Not the Italian lasagne. 豆腐ラザニア tofu rasaniya It’s a Japanese comfort dish. Not an homonym, it’s really inspired by the pasta dish but without the pasta. You are left with very soft tofu in Italian style sauces. Warm and tender. It’s usually served with rice.

Fruits like those you pick in the backyard. I went to the countryside. I have some from a farm, others from farmer’s market. They are the fruits you can see in local woods right now, kaki persimmons, mikan oranges, yuzu citrus. You can see two types of kaki, some rounds and some ogive ones. The latter may be shibui (tart) and the farm lady said we should guess… A bit of branch is left and if they are tart, we can do that.

That’s a quickly thrown casual meal. I had tomato sauce, silky tofu and these blanched veggies : bell peppers and ninniku no me (garlic stalks).

For the cheezy sauce as usual sake kasu, miso and this time the oil was sesame oil. I have added grated ukon (turmeric).

Alternate and bake. I topped with toasted bread crumbs.

Genmai, brown rice. I was given good farm rice too.

Serve very hot. Mmmm…

Creamy quiche, sautéed taro, fiery miso

It’s a leftover recycling meal. I don’t know why but often when you try to finish up ingredients not meant to be served together, you obtain a better meal than if you had got the produce on purpose.

I used a lot of orange flesh of kabocha in other recipes, I had kept the skins. I’ve cut them, added a cut onion, a few leaves of laurel, covered with water. Cooked till onion is done. Add miso.

A good kabocha miso soup.

I am still eating this beast of oyaimo (satoimo/taro). I’ve peeled a bit, cut in cubes and cooked till tender in a pan with a little olive oil.

Added a few green peas to reheat.

Served with a spicy tomato sauce and parsley. Let’s find a name :
Jardinière folle au taro.

You don’t make simpler : mix 1/2 cup of oatmeal, 1 tbs of potato starch, salt, pepper. Add water. Put in a mold.

The crust is pre-baked 10 minutes, then garnished.
The topping : diced onion, diced romanesco stalk, cooked in a little oil. Then I’ve added 2 tbs of sakekasu (sake lees) diluted in a cup of water with 1 ts of potato starch. Simmer till it thickens. Add salt, a little nutmeg, a drizzle of olive oil.

Creamy quiche. It’s plant-based and gluten-free.

A filling lunch, very tasty.

Autumn lasagne

Lasagne with season ingredients : kabocha pumpkin, mushrooms, mature sakekasu (sake lees)…
First, I’ve made the pasta with durum semolina.

Steamed kabocha pumpkin. Silky tofu, crumbled and mixed with a little olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, chili flakes.

On the boiled pasta, I’ve layered kabocha, tofu and sauce.

For the sauce, I’ve pasted the nuts, garlic, sakekasu.

Added the paste to the soaked fungi. Added a tbs of potato starch to thicken slightly. Let a few minutes on low heat. Seasoned with salt and pepper.

Top sauce : I’ve pasted sakekasu, miso, water, olive oil, then added broken walnuts.

A newly created Japanese citrus. キノス kinosu, from 木の酢, which means “vinegar from trees”. It has a very fruity flavor.

Blanched okra with negi leeks and kinosu juice as a green side.

Provence fragrances escaping from the oven

A South French Sunday lunch. Think about a dinner, enjoyed slowly between noon and 5 p.m., talking and eating food cooked by the grandma.

The roast : A chicken baked inside a salty crust, with lots of perfumed herbs.

It gets very tender.

The zucchini that believed they were bananas.

Colorful Mediterranean Summer vegetables. They must be full of vitamins.

Layered, then baked. Tian is also the name of the pottery in which this dish is baked.

Teaser about the dessert (to be posted soon) :

Tarte automne-été aux trois fruits (Summer-Fall triple pie).

Japanese aubergines, moros and Moorish spices

We have lots of nasu or nasubi (aubergine or eggplant) in Summer here, many types and sizes. These small ones, I think are those known in the US as Japanese eggplants.
Moros, the Moors. Or black beans. And Moorish spices, that seem to be red pepper, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, pimentón…
This is a free adaptation of these stuffed aubergines by Rick Stein. The main change is it’s plant-based. I have not eaten the original but this version is delicious and perfect for the season.