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.

 

tart tatin

For your dessert,if you want to eat tons of really tasty apples, it would be a tart tatin.














10 inches diameter + 2 inches depth cast iron skillet or tart tatin pan
pre heat oven at 450F

3-4 pounds apples,peeled, cored and quartered
1/4 cup Earth Balance, margarine
6 tablespoons sugar, Florida Crystals or more to taste

crust
3/4cup whole wheat flour
3/4cup white flour
1/2cup Earth bBlance, margarine
6 table spoons(more or less)ice-cold water

Making the crust, put flour and margarine in the food processor and combine them until crumbly. Add water little at a time, pulse,until mixture become a cluster.Do not over mix or add too much water, less water is better. Take out the dough and wrap, rest in the refrigerator.

Heat the skillet over high heat, melt the margarine. Add 2/3 of quartered apples to the skillet and mix well to coat the oil. Sprinkle the sugar over apples. Now you arrange apples in concentric circles. You have to use as many apples(use lest of 1/3 apples ), and pack them tightly. Its ok, apple will stuck up! Keep cooking in high heat, undisturbed, until juice from apples are deep golden and bubbling. 15-18 minutes.Take skillet off from the heat.

Roll out the dough,larger than the skillet,and lay crust round over apples, tuck in edges( it is very important).

Bake 20 minutes to 30 minutes until crust is light brown.
Invert tart tatin onto plate.

tempeh korokke (croquettes)

Tempeh plays an essential role in our vegan diet. Not only is it a staple source of protein, but it is also very tasty when cooked in a wide variety of receipes, such as sweet and sour tempeh,tempeh sausage, tempeh mock tuna salad, tempeh strogonoff, , tempeh scallopine, and more. . .

Today I am posting tempeh korokke. Korokke is one of a very favorite meal in Japan, basic ingredients is potato. We usualy mix in: onion , carrot , corn , tuna , salmon ,ground meat , etc.



make 10 -12 korokke


3 large (2pounds) potato

8 ounces tempeh

(seasoning for tempeh)

2cloves garlic, minced

2teaspoons chili powder

1teaspoon cumin powder

1teaspoon salt

2teaspoon rice vinegar



(for korokke )

2/1 - 1cup whole wheat flour

2/1 cup soymilk

2 cups fresh whole wheat bread crumbs (you can make , great by hand/ put the slices of bread into a food processor or blender)
safflower oil for deep frying



In a mixing bowl ,great the tempeh and add all ingriedients of seasonig, mix well , cover and let stand several hours or overnight in refrigerator.

Wash and peel potatoes and cut into quarters, put in a pot , add water and bring water to boil and reduce heat and cook until potatoes become soft. When potatoes are done, drain and mush.

In a large mixing bowl combine mushed potato and seasoned tempeh, mix well and make 10 -12patties.

Place the flour, soymilk, and bread crumbs individually in three plates /bowls.

Put the patties one at a time in to the bowl with flour, and roll patty until it is covered with flour. All patties will covered with flour.

Then place each one in the soymilk, then place in the bread crumbs and roll to cover thoroughly.

Heat the oil in a wok to 350 F. Try a piece of bread dropped in and immediately it rise to the surface, it's ready to fly patties.

Put the patties into the hot oil and fry both side, turning often, until light brown and crusty.Drain on a paper towels or wire rack.

Korokke must served with a large amount of shredded cabbage and tonkatsu sauce or worcestershire sauce

mochi and veggetable casserole

When outside temperature is single-digit like today,I recommend this hearty mochi casserole ( no oven using ) to warm you up. This is a great winter meal I like to make often at home.




serves 1-2

1/3 package/4ounce mochi, Grainaissance whole-grain original mochi, cut into 1inch square
2 large collard green leaves, coarsely chopped
4 scallions, cut into 2 inch long
several thin slices of winter squash
1-2 table spoons sesame oil

tahini mixture
2 tablespoons tahini
2 teaspoons shouyu
1/4 teaspoon chili paste
1 teaspoon mirin or 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar
1/3 cup water

To make a tahini mixture, in a small bowl put all ingredients except water and stir well. Add water little at a time, stir, to make thin sauce. Set a side.


Heat sesame oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat, place winter squash slices in a single layer and cook until lightly brown. Add collard green and scallion, keep stirring up side down to coat the oil to vegetables. When vegetables become softer and reduce its volume, place mochi squares on top of vegetables, reduce heat and pour tahini mixture over vegetables and mochi.

Cover and simmer 7-10 minutes or until mochi melts and becomes soft.