Goboroot.com – Page 8 – Everyday Recipes from my Garden

Matcha, spring’s lushness

matcha_latte

After the Pineapple Express had drenched its way along the Pacific coast last week, my yellow and purple crocuses along with irises and snowdrops woke up to the intense sun in the balmy air of (almost) spring. To some extent, matcha has the same effect on me. The lush, bright green colour and its intrinsic greenish taste awaken all my senses. As I promised last week, I sorted through a few matcha influenced recipes as a counterpoint to the coffee features that I posted previously. I’m also introducing complimentary ingredients/ nibbles that will greatly enhance these matcha delights. On that note, it may be a good idea to purchase a packet of good quality matcha and a bamboo whisk for your kitchen this spring.

For those who are as mesmerized as I am by the beautiful pottery from the last four photos here, I’m happy to share that they are created by Janaki Larsen, a ceramic artist in Vancouver. I picked them up at Le Marché St. George, which she also co-owns. A great artistic café/ grocery containing specialty foods and other goodies!

matcha latte and toast with Azuki bean paste

Matcha Latte

Just for you

1 cup almond milk, soy milk, rice milk or cow’s milk

1 to 1 ¼ teaspoons matcha powder

Hot water

Sugar *optional

Pour hot water in a wide-mouth cup to keep warm. In a small saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat until small bubbles appear along the edge of the pan, for about 5 minutes. Do not boil!

Discard the hot water from the cup, and add the matcha powder. Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons hot water and whisk intensely until foamy, making sure there are no beads of powder left. Add the warmed milk and serve. Taste it first and adjust with sugar. I like it without sugar when I make the latte with cow’s whole milk, which renders enough sweetness so I can taste the lushness of the matcha flavours.

Sweet Azuki Bean Paste with Toast

As I grew up, I came to learn that my father’s all time favourite breakfast was buttered toast with smeared sweet Azuki bean paste. I wasn’t fond of the coarse texture of Azuki as a child; however, as my palate has matured, I have slowly grown into it and now it’s also my favourite thing to wake up to in the morning.

Makes about 2 cups

200g Azuki beans

160g sugar

½ teaspoon salt

You do not need to soak the Azuki beans prior to cooking. Rinse the beans and discard any deficient or diseased ones. Place the beans in a large pot with plenty of water and bring to a boil.

Drain the beans and discard the cooking water. Repeat this process one more time.

Next, place the beans in a pot with a plenty of water and bring to a boil, then continue to cook until the beans become soft, about 40 to 50 minutes. Add water as necessary to keep the beans covered.

Drain the beans and discard the cooking water. Add the sugar, salt and 1 cup water and cook over medium low heat until all the ingredients are well combined. For serving with toast, I cook for about 20 to 25 minutes until the paste becomes a thick mass. For serving as sauce, I cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, keeping it runny. Keep in mind that as the beans cool down, the sugar solidifies and the mixture becomes hard. So, don’t cook down too much if you intend to pour over the below chiffon cake.

Serve at room temperature. If you have extras, keep refrigerated up to 1 week. The paste also freezes well for about 1 month.

matcha powder

chasen

matcha_jelly

Matcha Jelly and Shiratama with Kuromitsu

Years ago, when I visited the Byodoin temple in Uji, Kyoto, I came across a 150 year old tea company where they also serve a variety of matcha products. I did not visit the area in the recent trip to Japan since the Byodoin was under construction, but I was able to purchase their famous matcha jelly at a souvenir kiosk in Kyoto station. Later I learned that they actually have a café in a department store right next to the station, so if you are near, it would be a nice place to take a break while waiting for a bullet train. All of their products seem wonderful but I particularly fell in love with their matcha jelly so I created this recipe according to my palate’s memory. Until you and I can get our hands on their version of jelly, this recipe may satisfy our desire.

Serves 2

300 ml freshly steeped green tea (from loose tea leaves)

1 g agar powder (I like the Japanese brand called Kanten Papa, sourced from a local Japanese grocery store)

2 ½ tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons matcha

4 tablespoons hot water

Place the matcha and 4 tablespoons of hot water in a wide-mouth cup, and whisk intensely with a bamboo whisk until foamy, making sure there are no beads left.

In a large bowl, strain the freshly steeped green tea (making sure it’s over 80C) and agar powder, and stir well to combine.

Add the sugar and matcha paste, and mix well. Transfer to a medium bowl and refrigerate until solidified.

Scoop into serving bowls, and serve cold with shiratama and kuromitsu (recipe follows).

Shiratama and Kuromitsu

(It literally means white balls and black syrup)

Shiratama is typically served in Azuki bean soup as a warm dessert dish, and with the Azuki bean paste and vanilla ice cream together as a cold confectionary. Here, I introduced a refreshing take on the original, served with the above jelly drizzled with kuromitsu.

Serves 2

100g shiratama-ko (glutinous rice flour, available at a Japanese grocery store)

90ml to 100ml lukewarm water

3 tablespoons Okinawa black sugar (or Muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar)

3 tablespoons water

Bring plenty of water to a boil in a medium saucepan.

Combine the shiratama-ko and water in a medium bowl until the texture of an earlobe is achieved. Tear and form into 2/3 inch balls.

Place the balls into the boiling water. When the balls start rising to the surface, continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Dunk into ice water, let cool and drain well.

Make kuromitsu. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat, and stir consistently until the sugar is dissolved and becomes thick and syrupy in consistency.

Serve shiratama with the above matcha jelly and drizzle with kuromitsu.

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Prawn Tempura and Matcha Salt

I also included this savoury appetizer dish to help highlight matcha’s unique flavour. Instead of prawn, you can use fish, like halibut or cod, if you like.

Serves 4

1 lb prawns

1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup ice water

Vegetable oil for deep-frying

¼ teaspoon matcha

1 teaspoon coarse or fine sea salt

Prepare the prawns. Rinse them first and remove shells, leaving the tail on. Cut off the sharp tips of the tails with a knife and then pat dry.

Heat plenty of oil to 350F in a wok or deep-rimmed pan. If you don’t have a thermometer to check the temperature, the rule of thumb is that the oil is ready when a dropped piece of batter should quickly sink mid way into the oil and then quickly come back to the surface and float.

Combine the egg, flour and ice water very lightly in a large bowl (a few strokes with a pair of chopsticks is good enough, and it’s okay that you can still see powdery flour). Do not stir too much as you will create a glutinous, and thus heavy, batter.

Quickly dip the prawns in the batter, remove excess and deep-fry them in the prepared oil until golden.

Rest the prawns on a paper towel to remove excess oil. Serve with combined matcha and salt.

matcha chiffon cake

Matcha Chiffon Cake

Use 9 ¼ inch diameter x 4 inch high Angel food cake pan

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 ½ cups granulated sugar, divided

2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon salt

½ cup grape seed oil

7 large egg yolks

9 large egg whites

2/3 cup whole milk

4 tablespoons matcha

4 tablespoons hot water

Toppings

1 ½ cups Azuki bean sauce (see Sweet Azuki Bean Paste)

1 cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 325F. Whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk the matcha and hot water intensely in a small bowl with a bamboo whisk until it becomes paste-like, making sure there are no beads left.

Whisk together oil, egg yolks, and milk in a large bowl. Add the matcha paste into the egg yolk mixture and stir to combine. Whisk flour mixture into egg yolk mixture.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form on high speed. Add the remaining ¾ cup sugar in 3 installments. Continue to beat until a stiff glossy peak forms. *If you have a problem, such as that your egg whites won’t solidify, try to cool the bowl by placing ice packs around it.

Whisk 1/3 of the egg white mixture gently into the batter, and then fold in the rest of the egg white mixture with a rubber spatula.

Transfer the batter into a cake pan. Bake until the top of the cake springs back when touched, for about 55 to 57 minutes. Let cool upside down for about 1½ hours.

Release the cake by running a knife around the edge of the tube and the side of the pan. Transfer to a cake stand or a large flat plate.

Beat the whipping cream with sugar to a desired consistency.

Slice into individual portions, and serve with a dollop of whipping cream. Spoon the Azuki bean sauce over top.

Adapted from MarthaStewart.com

Blood Orange Roasted Chicken

I thought I would quickly throw together this amazingly satisfying recipe for a weekend meal idea since we really enjoyed it! It’s the blood oranges! It’s the chicken thighs!

What is your pick-me-up food when you are under the weather? Mine is Japanese mandarins. While laying on a thick futon, fighting a high fever for a few days during our Japan trip, that was the only thing I wanted to eat. They possess just the right juicy sweetness plus plump succulent meat with great acidity. They are tiny yet burst in your mouth: just a perfect fruit to quench one’s thirst. Coincidentally, Ninomiya, the suburb where we stayed with my sister, is one of the country’s most important producers of Japanese mandarins. Upon recovery, I truly enjoyed the crisp walk weaving through the orange fields under the sun.

Those days seem already a faraway memory, so I tried to find my beloved mandarins in a local market in order to savour their unique flavour once more. Unable to find the Japanese variety, I discovered red hued blood oranges instead. I simply could not resist their scent so I brought some back home with me. I ate some raw, slurped their flesh and paired them with roasted chicken for supper. I find it very refreshing when the garlicky, tangy citrus juice mixture meets the greasiness of the chicken. Another quick and easy yet delicious dish following my last post! The next day, I nestled the reheated leftover chicken pieces on the freshly cooked spaghettini, squeezed the roasted slices of blood orange over top and drizzled it all with the gravy. It was really an unexpected treat after having been soaked during a cold rainy night.

Blood Orange Roasted Chicken

Serves 4

2 ½ pounds chicken thighs, bone in and skin on

Marinade

3 garlic cloves

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon smooth Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons soy sauce

½ cup freshly squeezed blood orange juice (about 2 -3 oranges)

1 tablespoon white wine

3 tablespoons olive oil

Few sprigs of thyme

2 blood oranges, sliced into ½ inch thick pieces

3 tablespoons all purpose flour for gravy

Using a pestle and mortar, mash the garlic. Slowly add the salt and make into a creamy paste. Add the mustard and combine well. Transfer into a small bowl and add the soy sauce, orange juice, wine, oil and thyme. Mix well.

Rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry. Marinate them in the orange juice mixture in a large rimmed dish. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Turn the meat upside down to ensure that it thoroughly marinates when half way done.

Preheat the oven to 325F. Place the chicken and sliced oranges in an ovenproof large heavy bottomed pan, making sure the thighs are not overlapping; pour the marinade liquid over top. Roast for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the thick part reads 165F. Baste the chicken a couple of times during the roasting.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and make gravy. Add the flour to ½ cup water and stir well. Whisk the flour mixture into the remaining liquid in the pan and bring to a boil. Stir constantly and continue to boil until the desired thickness is achieved.

Serve with roasted orange slices and gravy sauce.

Roasted leeks, carrots and mushrooms

Serves 4

4 large carrots, cut in half and quartered lengthwise

2 leeks or a bunch of baby leeks, cut into 2 inch pieces and halved lengthwise if thick

2 cups mushrooms, washed with ends removed

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Coat the vegetables well in oil, salt and pepper. Place them in a baking sheet and roast in the 325F oven for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Serve warm.

Coffee Marinated Pork Tenderloin and Coffee Ice Cream

While visiting Japan, I was reminded of some of my favourites from our family recipes as much as I got inspirations for new recipes. Before I began to forget all the foodie excitement, I quickly started trying to recreate and adjust the Japanese recipes back in Canada. Today, I posted this tenderloin recipe that my twin sister always prepared for our family and friends at her BBQ / garden party along with other amazing dishes. This is the one of the easiest yet tastiest dishes when you crave good protein for dinner.

Inspired by this recipe, I thought I would group together all the coffee influenced recipes from my travel journal. It took me a couple of attempts to achieve the texture and taste that I desired for this. Although I NEVER drink instant coffee due to its inky taste, for this recipe I used good quality organic freeze dried ones, made by Mount Hagen Organic Café, that I had picked up from a local organic store. As a result, the recipe was easier to execute and I loved the result!

I’m planning to introduce matcha (Japanese finely ground green tea) influenced recipes as a counterpoint to today’s coffee recipes sometime soon, so stay tuned!

Coffee_ice_cream

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Coffee Marinated Pork Tenderloin

I really liked the pork, marinated for only 2 hours, since the smoky roasted coffee flavour enhanced the taste of the pork. I also experimented with marinating pork overnight, but the coffee tasted a little acidic after many hours of oxidation while being marinated. Nevertheless, it’s important to grind the coffee beans with a spice grinder just before making the rub for the best result. So I’d stick to the 2 hour marinating method, as it gave me plenty of time to do other chores in the kitchen and to prepare the best matching salad (recipe below) to accompany this dish. The grainy texture and saltiness from the rub don’t require any other sauce aside from a citrus note from the following salad to help balance everything out. Oh, you’ll love this combination!

Serves 3 to 4

1.5 lb pork tenderloin

For rub

1 tablespoon freshly ground coffee

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Make the rub by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Rinse the pork and pat dry. Rub the pork all over and marinate it covered for 2 hours in a refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 390F. Roast the pork on a rack in a baking pan until the thermometer inserted into the centre reaches 142F, for about 20 to 25 minutes. Cover the pork with a piece of tin foil and rest it on a cutting board for 5 minutes. At this point, the temperature rises about 5 degrees. If you desire the meat with a slight pink tint when you slice it, watch the timing of carving closely. But make sure the meat reaches 145F to ensure safe consumption.

Slice the pork and serve warm along with the following spinach salad.

Lemony Spinach Salad

Serves 3 to 4

If you plan to serve this salad with the above pork dish (as I strongly recommend!), you can start preparing it when the pork is 10 minutes away from being done. The key to this salad is to take time to infuse the flavour of the pancetta into the onions and mushrooms over low heat. Also be sure to combine the hot onion mixture into the spinach to lightly wilt the leaves. No salt is added to the dressing due to the amount of saltiness derived from the pancetta.

1 teaspoon butter

1 teaspoon olive oil

100g thinly sliced pancetta, cut into strips

½ onion, thinly sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

A lump of goat cheese

150g baby spinach, washed and drained well

Big handful of pecans

Dressing

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

In a large skillet, melt the butter and add the olive oil over low heat. Sauté the pancetta, onion and mushrooms until the onion becomes very tender. In the meantime, make the lemon dressing. Combine the lemon juice, olive oil and black pepper in a small empty glass jar with a lid on, and shake until emulsified.

Roast the pecans until they give off a nice roasted scent, for about 5 minutes. I use the heat that is left after I take the above pork dish from the oven.

Combine the spinach, the hot onion mixture, pecans and lemon dressing in a large bowl. Crumble the goat cheese over the salad and toss well.

Serve with the pork tenderloin.

Coffee Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

1 ¾ cups whole milk

2/3 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

2 ½ tablespoons good quality instant coffee

1 ½ cups whipping cream (Avalon for the best flavour if you are local)

¼ cup Kahlua (coffee liqueur)

For serving

½ cup Kahlua

A bar of white chocolate

In a saucepan, heat 1 cup of milk over medium heat. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, add the sugar, and mix well.

While stirring the egg mixture, add the hot milk in a few instalments. Return the mixture to the saucepan and add the coffee. Stir well and continue cooking until the mixture thickens, about 12 minutes.

Remove from the heat, strain to another large bowl and let the temperature drop a little bit. Add the remaining milk, cream and the coffee liqueur, and whisk well. Cover the mixture and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Churn the ice cream mixture according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Freeze in a sealed container overnight.

When serving, simmer down the coffee liqueur to about half of the amount or until thickened. When it cools down, it gets thicker. Transfer to a small jar for serving. Leave the chocolate in a warm place to let it slightly soften. For the topping, shred the chocolate using a vegetable peeler.

Serve ice cream in an individual chilled glass. Pour a generous amount of coffee syrup over top, and sprinkle with the shredded chocolate.