Fall salmon pot pie

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.

Rei-kishimen, fresh noodles for a tropical lunch

We are now having a nice Summer weather, as during official Summer, we were inside a sauna. So it’s ideal to lunch with rei men (chilled noodles) and enjoy hot weather fruits.
You don’t see the noodles ? It’s because they are hidden under.

They are kishimen, a type of flat udon particularly popular in Aichi, the region of Nagoya. (read more)
Served cold, they remind some white Chinese noddles they serve in Pekin’s streets.

Salmon slices ready for sashimi (it has to be frozen, don’t forget if the fishmonger didn’t do it).

Ceviche : I just covered with kabosu citrus juice cut at 50% with water, kabosu zest, a little sea salt. Let only a few minutes. The more you wait, the more your fish will be cooked.

My grandma’s technique to cut parsley thinly (yep, with scissors).

4 layers :
-a bed of grated cucumbers and minced parsley, slightly salted and later pressed to get out excess water
–kishimen noodles, boiled, refreshed in iced water
-onion slices (salted, let, rinsed) and kikuna chrysanthemum greens
-salmon kabosu ceviche

Mix and you have a very fresh salad meal.

Dragon fruit and litchis for dessert. Natto-wasabi as a side :

Asian breakfast : salmon okayu

Second morning of okayu rice porridge with the leftover cooke for the umeboshi okayu

The base is the same : brown rice + cooked aka endomame red peas + a little salt.

Grilled salted salmon.

With the salmon, I’ve toasted a few abura age (fried tofu). To make croutons for a Fall salad, with figs :

The fish on top of the rice, with sesame seeds and shikwasa lime.

Salmon Summer tacos (home-made masa tortilla)

A fresh Mexican style lunch today…

The market’s findings…

Yeah ! Cilantro, coriander.

Masa tortillas. Well, it’s work in progress for the shape, but they taste great. It’s too simple, just add water, mix, knead, wait, spread… Just train. But I can’t buy masa harina easily, so I won’t have many opportunities for training.

If you don’t have masa harina , you can make :
wheat tortilla
corn tortilla (with grits, polenta, they are not gluten free)

Salmon and green peppers are grilled…

Before filling the shells…

… on top of the veggies. I’ve added some minced hot chili that does not appear on photos (it’s red), and a few drops of Jalapeno Tabasco sauce.

Now let’s devour that…

Aburi and amaguri, oregano seafood pasta

Seafood pasta. I could eat some everyday. I know there are no pasta on this photo. I have not eaten them before shooting. They are under :

Ballerina pasta alle vongole, bianco e oregano.
That’s the name in my kitchen. Don’t trust my skills at Italian language, but trust me to adapt the recipe to Japanese context.

First, let’s prepare salmon. It’s salmon trout to be exact.

Aburi sushi is midway between raw sashimi and grilled fish, so you get the great texture and the nice taste.
For more details on this technique :

aburi DIY (click here)

hamaguri is a sort of local clam.

First let them refresh in salty water.

The hamaguri clams are opened in white wine with negi (green parts) and oregano. Then ballerina pasta are added and let 2 minutes with a covered lid, the time they swallow the flavors.

The plate is crowned by bok choi, that was blanched with the pasta. I place the pasta in the middle, the seafood and more oregano on top. Black pepper and a drizzle on olive oil on top.
Mmmmm…..