re-vamp

We've been having fahreezing temps.

Most days have been overcast too.

I've been craving foods with color.

I re-vamped that winter rainbow gratin and added some sausage and the apple that I omitted the first time around.

I also didn't bake it (because I was starving when I made dinner).

Anyway, after taking this picture and eating my bowlful, Satoshi emailed to say he had a last minute drinking thingy, so he wouldn't need dinner...boo!

We had his portion this morning with a sunny side up on top and crusty baguette.

The rooftops were whitish though the frost soon melted.

I think the weather dude said our temps are gonna be 5C (41F) max today...brr.

winter rainbow gratin

The other day, I was looking for a way to use some sweet potato and finally got around to trying a recipe from Heidi Swanson's "Super Natural Cooking".

Winter Rainbow Gratin adapted from "Super Natural Cooking" 2 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 sweet potato, about 8 inches long, washed and cut into cubes
1/2 large carrot, peeled and cut into cubes
1/4 purple onion, cut into cubes
1/2 package of maitake, broken apart into strips by hand
1 small round eggplant, cut into cubes
sprinkle of dry okara
sprinkle of parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Saute veggies in olive oil over medium heat for about 15 minutes.
Heat oven to 375F (190C).
Transfer veggies to greased casserole dish or saute in an ovenproof skillet.
Sprinkle dry okara and cheese.
Bake for about 40 minutes.

NOTES: Her gratin has no white sauce which seemed more of a hash to me.

Her recipe calls for some potato and breadcrumbs but I used all sweet potato and replaced the breadcrumbs with dry okara.

It also calls for some apple or pear but I left it out.

Next time I make this, I will put it into a larger baking dish, so that everything can crisp up more.

Satoshi also enjoyed this dish.

I am glad I tried this and hope to try this with some apple next time.

p.s. the temps have dropped quite a bit especially in the mornings and evenings, so some of the leaves seem to be earlier than normal...

leftovers

This post is a bit old, as old as the leftovers I used?...Anyway, I had some leftover curry furikake, so I made fried rice. I scrambled an egg, and added some green onions. When the egg was cooked, I added in some rice that had been in the refrigerator.

When the rice was warmed up, I added a dash of tonkatsu sauce (a thick sauce similar to worcestershire, used on tonkatsu (pork cutlet)). Then I added the curry furikake.

The only mistake was that I left this in the pan too long, so everything dried out. It was tasty, but dry.

Another dish I did was with leftover pasta sauce and it is called doria. I'm not too sure of the origin of this dish. Usually when you eat it, there is seafood or chicken in it, rice and lots of white sauce, not tomato sauce.

If you order this when eating out be prepared to wait, it takes some time to bake. When it comes to your table, it is bubbly and usually is so hot that I burn the roof of my mouth and tongue and can't taste anything for the rest of the meal.

The other casserole type dish they have in Japan is called gratin, this is usually made with macaroni, seafood or chicken and lots of white sauce, this also takes a while to bake and I usually burn the roof of my mouth and tongue also....

What are you having for dinner?

ratatouille & samsoe gratin

The other day our supermarket had their 10% off coupon on all veggies. I bought quite a bit and made ratatouille it was really easy and tasted great.

The ratatouille that I made was adapted from "The French Kitchen"
Serves 4
1/2 onion, chopped
garlic, minced
1 carrot, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 eggplant, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
5 okra, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
dried oregano
dried marjoram
salt
pepper
flat leaf parsley, chopped

In a pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic and onion
When the onion starts to turn transparent, add zucchini, eggplant, carrot and red bell pepper, salt and pepper to taste.
Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and herbs.
Simmer until all veggies are soft.
Serve and garnish with flat leaf parsley.

Remember last week when my student gave me a little tub of cream cheese? Well, she also gave me an interesting cheese called Samsoe (Thank you again!). I had never heard of this cheese. It is a semi-soft Swiss-style cheese and is apparently named for an island near Denmark where it is made. I think this cheese might also be nice in fondue.

Since I still had veggies leftover from making ratatouille, I decided to make a gratin using potatoes, eggplant, red bell pepper, okra, onion, carrots and bacon. The weather hasn't been too hot so I figured this is one of my last chances to make a baked entree. I used this recipe for the bechamel sauce.

I can't give you a temperature at which I baked this gratin at because my oven has a pre-set button for gratin, but I will tell you that after the pre-set time, I cooked it in a 150C oven for 20 more minutes since the potatoes were a bit hard.

The gratin was spicy from the cayenne and the cheese matched nicely. With the addition of okra, the slimey consistency added to the gooey-ness of the cheese. The gratin was very delicious (and HOT (spicy & temperature wise)) and went well with a glass of red wine!

gratin and the opera

Tonight's dinner was gratin. Usually in Japan, this dish is made with a white sauce and seafood or chicken. I've never had it with tomato sauce, but since I had some pasta sauce in the freezer, I decided I should try to use it up.

The Japanese also have an original version of gratin called doria, this is a gratin made with rice instead of macaroni. I sauteed some shrimp and spinach in oil with some garlic, then put everything into a baking dish and topped it with parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. It baked in the oven for about 20 minutes. (My oven has a "gratin" button, so I just press it and it cooks the dish.) It was a great dish to warm up with.

While wandering in the convenience store, I found a new candy by Morinaga, called "Winter's opera". After checking out their website, I realized it came out last month in Eastern Japan and only came out this month in Western Japan! This candy is very decadent.

The box has a hologram type film on it which sparkles when light hits it.

When you open it up, you are introduced to 9 little opera candies. All with gold leaf flecks smiling at you.

The layers: the gold leaf flecks, a slightly bitter chocolate, a coffee flavored creamy chocolate and lastly the crunch of a chocolate and cookie bottom.

Enjoy the weekend!