A soup made of all the leftovers :
-purple sweet potato
-cod fish
-jelly fish (preserved in salt, soaked)
-chick peas
-capers
-onion
-red wine
Simmer, then add Kintoki red carrot and turmeric.
And it’s… delicious indeed.
Steamed kabocha with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
Steamed okra and sudachi lime.
A yummy Winter lunch.
A long time ago, a very cheerful lady asked if I liked French pot au feu and I said that was not my favorite dish. She was very disappointed as she had just discovered the dish in a “traditional French restaurant” here in Osaka, and she said : “Really I love everything spicy with tomato sauce, chick peas, seafood and hot dog sausages…”. It seems, she ate an original variation for sure that drifts far away from what most call pot au feu in France.
Well, I’ve made it today without the knackies. I don’t know if that has a name. Maybe the Spanish “cocido de pulpo con patatas”, but I don’t see it with sausages. Well, they are not here.
I have the pulpo (octopus) :
Hokkaido octopus.
Into a broth (onion with cloves, chick peas, bouquet garni, mushrooms).
Boiled.
Added potatoes. Later tomato sauce and a little red wine. a little hot chili.
Kyoto red kabu turnip.
I first added pieces of the root, then stalks, then at the end leaves.
Put it in a pottery.
Cover and announce “pot au feu” or whatever name…
A deliciously flavored soup curry, with kabocha, wine flavored kuri chestnuts and hanamame giant beans. And a side of cilantro falafels. Some people are genetically designed to hate cilantro/coriander and it takes a really bad taste in their mouth. That’s really sad. I have to luck to appreciate this herb and I never have enough of it.
Soaked chick peas, mixed with onion, coriander (root, stalk, leaves), chili flakes, Sichuan pepper, salt.
Served with a dip of harissa… well it’s mixed with tomato sauce. Cucumbers, cilantro (the leaves) and shikwasa citrus salad.
Mmm… a dream if you love both falafels and coriander.
Kabocha pumpkin curry :
A cut of steamed kabocha, steamed with skin. Pasted with 1/2 block of tofu, 1 tbs of Japanese curry spice mix, 2 tbs of sakekasu sake lees, salt, water. I simmered the mix till it became thick. Garnished with hanamame beans and wined chestnuts :
White wine chestnuts :
That’s ideal if you have chestnut that start to dry a little.
Soak them 2 hours, then you can easy cut out the hard shell.
In fresh water, soak overnight, you can then take away the inner skin. Most of it. A large part of it. Actually, you want to leave a small amount for flavor. Break them in 2 or 3 parts.
Then I’ve drained the chestnuts, put in rice cooker, added a glass of white wine, a little sugar, a pinch of salt, 1/2 glass of water (to cover). Switched on. That stopped when the liquid had evaporated. You can do it in a pan or a crock-pot, simply simmer very gently.
They are good to add to sauces and dishes, just a few to pinpoint. You will discover the refined taste.
A nice meal, rich in legumes and fragrances.
I’m playing with animal cookie cutters and Provence’s classics.
Same recipe as these bunny panisses you’ve seen a few weeks ago.
Green olive tapenade.
Served with sticks of cucumbers and toothpicks. You have a nice Summer appetizer or light meal.
That’s biryani party at the Daring Cook’s challenge.
Grace, one of our talented non-blogging Daring Kitchen members, was our Daring Cooks’ August hostess who shared with us some of her family’s tried and true Bengali Biryani recipes – all of them delicious and all of them prepared fresh from our own kitchens!
I had a weird one in archives :
I made 2.
seafood biryani (coming soon)
And this veggie biryani with a fruity touch :
Pineapple biryani. I took the recipe at the end as a guideline…I drifted away a little to adapt to my products.
Pineapple is the accent.
Pearl sweet corn.
Okra and red bell pepper. I used these season veggies for the gravy. I replace the coriander by mitsuba leaves.
The gravy, with home-made ghee.
Besides I prepared a ghee flavored rice with turmeric, cashew nuts and pineapple dices.
I had no basmati or other biryani specific rice. The only long grain rice I could get is Thai jasmine rice. I cooked it in the rice-cooker.
Layer rice and gravy, close the lid and reheat slowly.
First side dish : chick pea raita. I mixed boiled chick peas, coconut yogurt, very little grated garlic, salt, lemon juice and stalks of mitsuba. Let a few hours in the fridge.
Aubergine chutney as a second side.
Basic recipe from the challenge :
Vegetable Biryani:
Servings: 6
Ingredients
4 tablespoons (60 ml) (2 oz) (60 ml) ghee
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ inch (2½ cm) ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
4 tablespoons (60 ml) (2/3 oz) (20 gm) desiccated coconut
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
Salt
14 oz (400 gm) canned tomatoes
9 oz (250 gm) frozen sweetcorn, thawed
5 oz (150 gm) paneer, cut into ½ inch (1 cm) pieces
2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh mint, choppedRice:
6 tablespoons (90 ml) (3 oz) (90 ml) ghee
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 whole cloves
4 whole black peppercorns
1 small cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 cardamom pod
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 cup (240 ml) (6½ oz) (185 gm) basmati rice, soaked for 30 minutes and drained
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt
1 cup (250 ml) (6-1/3 oz) (180 gm) raisins
½ cup (120 ml) (85 gm) (3 oz) blanched almonds, halved
½ cup (120 ml) (85 gm) (3 oz) cashews, halved
2 cups (500 ml) water
Directions:1. Melt the ghee in a large saucepan over medium high heat and fry the cumin seeds until fragrant. Add the garlic, ginger, and onion and fry until golden brown. Stir in the coconut and fry for 2 minutes. Stir in the spices, salt, tomatoes, sweet corn, and paneer. Cook for about 20 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the coriander, lemon juice, and mint. Remove from the heat.
2. For the rice, melt the rest of the ghee in another large saucepan and fry the whole spices until fragrant. Add the onion and fry until golden brown. Mix in the rice and fry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the spices, salt, raisins, nuts, and water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until the rice is dry.
3. Layer the rice and vegetables in thin layers in a large saucepan, starting and ending with a layer of rice. Cover and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
GOURMANDE in OSAKA 