pasta salad

Spring is around the corner though ... wind is still cold. We can't say "good bye..." to our winter clothes: glove, hat and scarf. Today was cold but nice sunny day. For my lunch I felt like having a festive pasta salad.




what did I put in this salad?
broccoli, red onion, caper, black olive, roasted red pepper, sun dried tomato flake, mint leave. For dressing I mixed, vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mastered, salt, and black pepper.

potato au gratine

I got this potato gratine recipe from my friend, in my 20's. This is my favorite potato dish and I have cooked often ever since. Now one of the essential ingredients - gruyere cheese - was removed from the original recipe, it does not matter, still it is delicious! I love this very much.

serves 1-2,

bechamel sauce

I table spoon Earth Balance (margarine)
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup soy milk
1 clove garlic,finely minced
1/8 teaspoon or more to taste salt
black pepper to taste

1 large, ~12ounces, potato

first prepare the bechamel sauce. Heat the margarine in a heavy saucepan over low heat and add flour, stirring thoroughly until flour is cooked,but not burned.
Remove from heat, and add soy milk, inced garlic. Put sauce pan back to the low heat, stirring quickly and continuously, until the sauce thickens and bubbles.Add the salt and black pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 400F

Wash and peal the potato and slice into thin slices, no thicker than 1/8 inch.
Add potato slices into the sauce, and mix well the potato and the sauce.
Transfer the potato into a baking dish (8 inches diameter). The potato layer should no thicker than 1/2 inch. So if you want to double this recipe, you should use larger baking dish. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until potato is cooked.

chinese cabbage salad

Chinese cabbage(hakusai)is a queen of the winter vegetable in Japan. Surprisingly I have never eaten raw chinese cabbage until this winter. I have never tried or never thought about hakusai salad. So this winter I ate a lot of raw chinese cabbage with variety of dressing and enjoyed it's crunchiness and sweetness.

I would like to post chinese cabbage salad with two different type of dressing.







salad 1

chinese cabbage, cut into 1/4 inch wide
carrot, julienned
Bryanna's tofu "feta",crumbled(Vegan Feast Kitchen: Bryanna Clark)
toasted sesame seeds
hot sesame oil


dressing
1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon agave nectar
combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl.

Place chinese cabbage, carrot, tofu "feta", in a bowl. Add 1-2 teaspoons or more to taste, dressing over the salad, sprinkle hot sesame oil and sesame seeds, and toss gently.






salad 2
chinese cabbage,cut into 1/4inch wide
carrot, julienned
scallion, finely chopped

sesame sauce
5 table spoons toasted sesame seeds
1 table spoon miso
3 table spoons brown rice vinegar
1 tablespoon agave nectar

Place sesame seeds into suribach (earthenwear mortar) and grind with surikogi(wooden pestle)very well until sesame seeds release the oil. Add miso, vinegar, and agave nectar mix well to make a creamy sauce.

Place chinese cabbage and carrot in a bowl. Add 1-2 table spoons, or more to taste, sesame sauce and toss gently, sprinkle chopped scallion.

gyoza - dumplings

When I make dumplings sometime filling is not enough, so skins are left, or vice versa. But this time I did perfectly made 54 gyoza and nothing left. Wow Iam feeling good.

 

make 54 gyoza

1package (54sheets) gyoza skins
4-5 cabbage leaves
1bunch Japanese chives(nira)
1ounce (10pieces) dried shiitake, soaked in water
1/2 pack soft tofu, drained
2teaspoons sesame oil
1teaspoon ginger juice

dipping sauce:
shoyu
rice vinegar
hot sesame oil


Very coarsely chopped cabbage and place them in a bowl sprinkle salt and set aside 5- 8minutes or until cabbage start releasing the liquid. This method I learned from my friend, and it make gyoza's filling very tasty.

Put tofu in the food processor and make a puree,transfer to a large bowl.
Squeeze cabbage with hands to take out the liquid, and finely minced in the food processor, add to tofu. Drained shiitake put in the food processor to process until finely minced. add to tofu cabbage. Cut Japanese chives finely by a knife.( I think food processor does not good for this vegetable, I prefer using a knife.) combine tofu, cabbage, dried shiitake, japanese chives (nira), sesame oil, and ginger juice. Mix well with a wood spoon or hands.

Place a large spoonful of mixture on top of a skin.( You may need to adjust the amount of filling to make 54 gyoza) Wet edge of wrapper with fingertips, make pleats on one side, fold over and seal closed. Continue with remaining mixture.

In a well seasoned skillet heat oil. Place five gyoza in one row and five more in another row ( there are two rows gyoza (five gyoza ) in the skillet) Cook gyoza over high heat 4-5minutes or until bottoms are brown and crispy. Add water 1/4 cup immediately cover skillet and steam over medium heat for 3 - 4 minutes, until gyoza are cooked through. Serve with dipping sauce.