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Leek Barley Soup & Blueberry Cobbler

I enjoy the time when I lift remnants of the last year from the garden, in order to prepare the beds for a new cycle to come. Every year, I am reminded of some of the amazing and sometimes mysterious works of Mother Nature. Lots of hopes, failures, disappointments, frustrations, patience, joy, appreciation, peacefulness and simple happiness–I get these feelings through gardening. Yet all sensory experience really physically kicks chemicals in my brain when working with living plants. They are something so basic and organic yet fundamental in humans’ life in this ever changing world. It is indeed as if I am learning about life itself. This experience has become so much more than just gardening to me. And at the end of the day, I know that there is always a good meal to follow using what’s in season. In fact, it is most exciting to transform these bits and pieces into something hearty and tasty. I begin to feel a sense of triumphant satisfaction regardless of the type or amount of produce on hand, be it a huge bunch of leeks or a handful of cilantro leaves.

In this post, I’m excited to share this soup made with the leeks that just came from a few feet away as a result of my spring cleanup. It was such a reward to turn the last bits of the “onion family bed” into something easy, delicious and soothing. Plus, indoor cleanup created this cobbler dessert thanks to some of last year’s precious blueberries.

Leek Barley Soup

Serves 4

2 cups leek, sliced into ½ inch rounds

½ teaspoon ginger, finely minced

1 heaped tablespoon butter

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

4 cups water

½ cup pot barley, washed and drained

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Chopped scallions for garnishing

Melt the butter in a large pot and sauté the leek and ginger until softened.

Add the chicken stock, water and barley and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer until the barley is soft, for about 40 minutes. Skim as necessary.

Adjust with salt and pepper and serve hot with scallions.

Blueberry Cobbler

Serves 6 to 8

Filling

1 ½ lbs frozen blueberries, thawed

Lemon juice from ½ lemon

1 teaspoon lemon zest

3 tablespoons cane sugar

1 tablespoon flour

Crust

1 cup all purpose flour plus extra for dusting

½ cup rolled oats

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 tablespoons cane sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/3 cup cold butter, chopped into pea sized cubes plus more for greasing

1/3 cup 10% fat plain yogurt

1 tablespoon milk for brushing

Sour cream (optional)

Mix the blueberries, lemon juice, zest, sugar and flour in a large bowl. Transfer the blueberry mixture to a greased 9 inch round baking dish or shallow dish similar in size.

Preheat the oven to 375F with a rack in the centre.

Thoroughly combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and 3 tablespoons cane sugar in a bowl. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon cane sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and set aside.

In a food processor, pulse the rolled oats until coarsely ground. Add the flour mixture and pulse a few times to blend. Add the butter and pulse until the dough becomes flaky. Then, add the yogurt and pulse until the dough comes off from the side of the bowl of the food processor and becomes a mass.

Dust the work surface with flour and knead the dough a few times, forming into a ball. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin into a 2/3 inch thick disk. Cut the dough into squares.

Place the squares on top of the blueberries. Brush the squares with milk and sprinkle with the lemon zest sugar mixture. Bake until cobbles become golden and juice becomes bubbly, for about 40 minutes.

Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream.

Kale & Great Northern Bean Soup

I thought I would share a garden update with you: what’s in my garden at the end of November? The lettuce that I sowed in mid-September is now disappearing and turning into what seems like camping sites for slugs. On the plus side I have plenty of garlic chives that I love tossing into my miso soup with tofu. Also the cilantro is still holding strong, brightening our meals every day, as well as rows of skinny leeks, shabby looking Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, and the rest is kale, kale and more kale.

I have different kinds of kale plants in the garden but so far my reliable ones are heirloom Lacinato kale, which I love for its bug/disease resistance, and Red Russian, which has great cold resistance. We can never have enough kale in our household thanks to its vitamin and calcium content, as well as its renowned anti-cancer properties. The leaves at the bottom part of the kale plant get tough this time of year, so it is a welcome ingredient for soup.

In a cold storage, aka simple lidded containers filled with peat moss in the garage, we have carrots and beets, separately stored. I hadn’t had success in leaving carrots in the soil during winter due to the volume of rain (that equals too many slugs) here in the West Coast, so I pick before the rainy season starts every year. If you want more details on how to store them, check this post. Our 5-tier storage shelves are also lined with bright orange pumpkins, glossy kabochas and warty Marina Di Chioggias. So you might see a lot of pumpkin desserts for the next few posts, but I know you won’t be disappointed! But for now, here is warm kale soup for you. And if you are hooked on kale, there are more recipes, check here.

Kale & Great Northern Beans Soup

Serves 6

1 cup Great Northern Beans, soaked overnight

1 tablespoon butter

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 small knob ginger, finely chopped

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 dry sausages of your choice, sliced

2.5 L chicken stock, vegetable stock or water

2 teaspoons turmeric

2 bay leaves

A big bunch of kale, stalk removed and cut into 1 inch length

Salt and pepper

Truffle oil or olive oil for finishing

Cook the beans for 25 minutes, then add a bay leaf and dash of salt. Continue to cook until soft, for about 20 minutes.

Sauté the garlic, ginger and cumin with butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, and sausage. Continue to sauté till they are nicely coloured.

Add the chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Skim occasionally. Add the turmeric, a bay leaf and beans, and then turn the heat down. Simmer for another 25 minutes.

Add kale and cook until it is tender, for about 10 minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper. Serve with a dash of oil. I like adding a few drops of truffle oil for its rich aroma.

Kuri Gohan & Tonjiru

After my mom left, many kind hearts looked after my sister and me. We were consoled by my grandma, our aunties and uncles, and my father’s colleague Mrs. Tajima. We were about 8 years old and Mrs. Tajima had children who were in junior high, so sometimes she came to our apartment to help us with chores or brought us to her house after school. This was when I discovered a love of chestnuts. Boiled, steamed or roasted, I loved eating these nuts, as to me they encompassed a whole autumn season on a plate.

Mrs. Tajima’s children taught us how to spoon the nutty dense meat out of the steamy hot chestnuts. My fingernails ended up all yellow and sweet, with hard brown shells piled up on a table. After working hard to extract the chestnut meat, we happily ate the delicious chestnuts with a glass of milk. Today, when I close my eyes and discern the flavour of each chestnut in the rice, I wonder how Mrs. Tajima is doing, and suddenly remember the way she wiped my wet hair in the evening light with me burying my head around her tummy and wondering if this was how my mother would smell. Cooking chestnuts always brings back this memory and the warmth of Mrs. Tajima.

Kuri Gohan (Chestnut Rice)

Serves 6

30 plump chestnuts

1¼ cups white rice

1 cup (250ml) brown rice

2½ cups water

2 tablespoons sake

½ teaspoon salt

For sprinkling

Roasted black sesame seeds

Sea salt

Rinse the chestnuts, place them in a large bowl, and cover with cold water over night.

Next day, rinse the chestnuts and place them in boiling water for a few minutes. Let them cool off in the water. Peel the skin with a small knife, being careful not to break the chestnuts. Soak them in water for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, wash the rice well and change water a few times until water becomes clear. Place in the bowl of a rice cooker with 2½ cups water.

Rinse the chestnuts and drain well. Place the sake and salt in the prepared rice and stir to mix. Lay the chestnuts on top of rice evenly and cook (If you don’t use a rice cooker, you can cook the same way you normally cook the rice in a pot).

Combine the sesame seeds and salt in a small bowl. Serve immediately with sesame mixture lightly sprinkled on top.

Tonjiru (Pork & Vegetable Miso Soup)

I always make a plenty of this dish because the flavour gets even better the next day!

Serves 6-8

1 large gobo, skin removed and cut lengthwise and then, into 1 inch pieces

6 inch daikon, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon roasted sesame oil

1 lb pork centre loin chop, boneless, cut into 1 inch pieces

8 cups water

2 sheets abura age, cut into ½ inch strings

2 leeks, cut into ½ inch pieces

1/3 cup to ½ cup red miso and white miso (I like mixing half and half)

Soak the gobo in cold water, changing the water a couple of times until it becomes clear, about 20 minutes. Drain well.

In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil over medium high heat and sauté gobo. Then, add daikon, carrots and pork until they are nicely coated with oil, for about 15 minutes.

Add water and bring to a boil. Skim occasionally and simmer for 30 minutes.

Rinse the abura age by pouring boiling water to remove the excess oil. When cool, squeeze the moisture out and add to the soup.

Add the leek and cook further, about 10 minutes or so.

Turn the heat down to low heat, place the miso in a ladle and melt gradually into the soup. Never boil miso soup, as this will destroy the subtle umami flavour.

Gentlly simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serve while hot.

Ohitashi with Cabbage

½ head of cabbage

½ organic lemon

1 Thai pepper, chopped thinly

2 tablespoon dashi stock or water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

Boil water in a medium pot and submerge the cabbage for about 5 minutes. Drain well.

In the meantime, extract lemon juice for about 1 tablespoon. Peel the rind and cut into thin strips for ½ tablespoon. Combine the juice, dashi and soy sauce in a small bowl.

When cabbage is cool, squeeze the moisture out and cut into ½ inch pieces.

Mix the cabbage, lemon rind, pepper, and lemon juice mixture and serve immediately.