Miso soup with swiss chard and kabocha squash

A friend recently sent a link to a website listing a myriad of miso soup recipes to tantalize the palate of (in particular) Americans who are used to seeing the same miso soup nearly everywhere they go. I always keep some miso paste in my fridge as a pantry staple, as it is quite useful to have on hand. It can be added to other soups to add some body to the broth, and if you have (as I do) miso paste that is made with dashi (fish stock) already, then you are halfway to miso soup already, minus the tasty add-ins.
Check out this link, if you need to jump-start your miso soup creativity! http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2009/12/how-to-cook-miso-soup-66-ways.html

I bought a large kabocha squash at the store, roasted it whole in the oven (after stabbing it several times with a large knife to avoid catastrophic squash explosion), and used it in a variety of dishes this week, but I have already made this miso soup several times over and it is just delightful.
I tossed cubed firm tofu in whole wheat flour and gomashio, which is a japanese condiment that I bought at a local co-op but you could make it yourself easily. It is comprised of salt, toasted sesame seeds, and mine also has seaweed in it. I fried the tofu in vegetable oil and placed it on a paper towel to drain. I sliced some roasted kabocha squash into bite-sized pieces, and blanched several swiss chard leaves in a pot of boiling water, then sliced them lengthwise so they were also more bite-sized. The swiss chard, kabocha, and some wakame were then added to the miso soup broth, and served at last with the tofu added in just before serving. The kabocha added a little color to the broth and was perfect with the wakame and chard. This fried tofu, additionally, was probably the most satisfying fried tofu I've ever made--I'll definitely use the gomashio in the future!

Portland is delicious.

Forgive the brevity, but I wanted to at least share some of the deliciousness that I encountered on my (very brief) trip to Portland, Oregon.


Pix Patisserie -- americano, tawny port macaron, potato/caramelized onion/red pepper/goat cheese pastry

Piazza Italia -- pappardelle al cinghiale

Saint Cupcake -- coconut cupcake, chocolate cupcake with fudge topping


Bombay Chaat House -- lunch combo, samosas

Saint Cupcake -- carrot cake & red velvet cupcakes



Tasty N Sons -- assorted brunch deliciousness

Sopa de Ajo (Garlic Soup)

I have been growing increasingly interested in recipes that will make use of leftover bread--I often find that the odd half-loaf sits for a couple of days, gets stale, and runs the risk of being wasted if I don't have a good use for it. Wasting bread makes me think of my great grandfather, who came to America from Ireland at the age of 9, and survived his first days here by picking bread out of a dumpster, cutting off the moldy bits, and eating it. That is perhaps a little dramatic of me, but an awful lot of food gets wasted in the world, and I want to be more efficient.
This soup recipe acomplished what I wanted, and added a delicious new soup to my repertoire. I am also more convinced than ever that I need a new bread knife soon.
There are many recipes out there to choose from; mine was found at http://www.seriouseats.com/ and tweaked ever so slightly.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 pound stale bread, crusts removed, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon hot pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika)
Salt
4 cups vegetable stock
a dash of cayenne pepper, if you want an added hint of spice

This recipe is deceptively easy. I looked at it several times as I was cooking, to be sure I hadn't missed out on some important detail... I am pleased, though, to have a recipe kicking around that takes very little time, is inexpensive to make, and involves very few ingredients!

Directions as follows:
Add your olive oil to a medium-sized pot on med/high heat. Add the bread and toast lightly in the olive oil for approximately 5 minutes. You'll want to stir the bread often, to evenly brown them. Add the minced garlic, pimentón, and a pinch of salt; stir well, and cook for 3 minutes.
Add vegetable stock, bring the soup to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

Serve the soup topped with a poached egg, garnish with a dash of pimentón, and enjoy!
This isn't the prettiest soup I have ever made, and I am sure that future incarnations will get more attractive, but it was delicious and garlicky and is just the kind of soup you want to eat during cold season. It also takes a great deal less work to make than homemade chicken soup, should you live alone and occasionally get colds this time of year, as I do.

other things I ate in Japan

Things I ate in Japan

dinner date

Heather offered to make me a nice dinner for my birthday a few weeks ago, and we finally scheduled some time last weekend for our dinner date. We decided on steak a la Julia Child, with a red wine/butter/shallot sauce that was fantastic. I don't have the recipe at the moment, because I didn't do the cooking (awesome!), but I thought I needed to say something about how delicious it was.




SO DELICIOUS.
Also, I revisited the roasted brussels sprouts, which were a huge hit. I am pretty certain that Heather said the brussels sprouts changed her life. At any rate, it was the perfect meal to share with a friend over a bottle of cotes du rhone!

making use of thanksgiving/csa leftovers

Pie is something I can bake pretty well, at this point. It is easy enough for me to throw one together if I need to bring something to a dinner, and they give my apartment such a delightful aroma that I'll use any excuse to put one in the oven.
In this case, I used leftover turkey, and veggies from my CSA box (community supported agriculture) to bake a turkey pot pie. I've already talked about pie crust, and pie filling is more about what you like than anything else, but one key ingredient to a turkey or chicken pot pie made in my family is that it must have hard-boiled egg in it. I don't know how or where this started, but if you haven't tried it--you should. Hard boil two or three eggs, coarsely chop them, and add to your pie filling.


In addition, I had: celery, parsnip, turnip, potato, onion, carrot, and cauliflower. If I could go back in time and do it all over, I would love to put sweet potato in the pie, but I am extremely partial to sweet potatoes and pretty much all other root vegetables right now. Add a delicious turkey gravy, salt & pepper, and anything else you wish (celery salt? roasted garlic?), bake for about 40 minutes (until the crust is golden brown and your kitchen smells divine), and enjoy!