mellow mushrooms

this week, i had to go on a macrobiotic fast to take care of the side effects of the

antibiotics i took.  they were gnarly.

the only thing that got me through it was 'the best of jefferson airplane' and my

subscription to martha stewart weddings.  there were a lot of late nights listening

to "white rabbit" examining floral centerpieces.

i went to the grocery store and picked up some exquisite shrooms.

this is a shiitake mushroom.  to pick a good shiitake, it's crucial

that the mushroom hasn't flared yet.  the edges of the  mushroom

should be curled under, like a teacup flipped upside down.

don't cook with the stems of mushrooms.  they're tough and the

sense i get is that they're very constricting and yang.  they're much

tastier when slow-boiled as an ingredient in soup stock.  i have a

giant stack of frozen shiitake stems in my fridge at home.

mushrooms really do make you mellow.  slivered shiitake

mushrooms finely, boil for fifteen minutes and add a pinch

of sea salt to relieve tension and calm a frayed disposition.

this is a portobello mushroom cap.  i usually don't cook with them

because i think they're too flaky and messy, but it added a nice

chewiness to my spaghetti.

those of you with dishes that predate 1980 must have at least one

iconic, all-american chicken bowl.  i've seen these in almost every

apartment i've been in that wasn't an ikea show model.

there's literally an entire subsection on ebay devoted to them.

i thought that using this bowl would inject my food with that

peaceful, easy feelin'.

ok, so it occurs to me that this picture looks like primordial

mitochondria, so i apologize for how unappetizing it is.

psychedelic psquash pspaghetti

with

mellow mushroom sauce

::ingredients::

two spaghetti squashes

5 cloves garlic

2 shallots

2 tbsp olive oil

sea salt

1 large yellow onion, diced

3 cups diced assorted mushrooms

1/2 cup almond slivers

toasted sesame oil

3 tbsp kuzu dissolved in 5 tsbp cold water

tamari to taste

::squash noodles::

preheat oven to 375.  slice squashes in half, and gut seeds and sprouts with a spoon,

leaving about 1/2 to 1 inch fruit on every side, depending on the initial size of your

squash (see above photograph).  mince garlic and shallots, and fill inside cavity of

each squash half.  pour 1/2 tbsp olive oil, and coat squash and fillings thoroughly.

bake at 375 approximately 1 hour.

::sauce::

stir-fry onion in toasted sesame oil over medium heat until translucent, about 3-5

minutes.  add mushrooms, stir-fry an additional 3-5 minutes until soft, then add

3-4 cups water, almond slivers, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes.

add tamari and stir.  take your dissolved kuzu mix and SLOWLY fold into

the pot, mixing quickly.  if you pour it all in at once, you'll end up with a

solidified block of creamy jello that tastes like nothing.  it's gross.  make sure

your kuzu is fully incorporated.

once your spaghetti squash is out of the oven, allow it to cool until it's safe to

touch.  grasping the squash, rake the tines of your fork down the sides, peeling

the "noodles" from the squash, and deposit them into a large bowl.  if the squash

is cool, this is really fun.  if the squash is still hot, like mine was last night because

i'm a glutton who might as well just eat out of a trough, it's incredibly painful.

let that be a lesson to wait for it to cool.

spoon a large dollop of your mushroom sauce over your garlicky "noodles,"

pour yourself a big bowl of greens (i used dark kale, below), and enjoy!

mmmm.  groovy.

the raving (encounters with a vegan cashew loaf)

once upon a midnight dreary, 

while i hungered weak and weary

over quaint and curious hipsters 

at the whole foods grocery store.

i was starving, nearly snapping, 

so opposed was i to snacking,
as of someone near attacking 
strangers at the grocery store.

`'tis a cashew loaf,' i muttered, 

`formed upon my cutting board-
only this, and nothing more.'

eagerly i set it baking; - 

lately i had started making
my roast to surcease my aching - 
hunger from the grocery store -
with some rare and costly cashews 
purchased in bulk at the store -
soaking, still for evermore.

 now my pants are never fitting, 

while i'm sitting, while i'm sitting
with quiv'ring seams about to bust 

and hit my ankles on the floor;

and the roast has all the seeming 

of a gravy that is gleaming,
gobs of oil casting sheen 

while cashew crumbs lie 'cross the floor;

and my butt from out that barstool 

that stands shaking on the floor
shall be lifted - nevermore.

vegan cashew loaf

modified from peta recipe

::roast::

1 cup olive oil

1 cup vegetable stock 

2 large onions, finely chopped 

3 cups raw cashews, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes

1 1/2 cups bread, cut into small cubes (i used food for life gluten-free brown rice bread)

3 large cloves of garlic 

salt

nutmeg 

2 tbsp lemon juice

::stuffing::

3 cups bread cubes 

1 cup olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 tsp. each thyme and majoram 

3 tbsp. dried parsley

• Preheat oven to 400°F

Pre-chop all your ingredients.  This will save you a lot of time in the long run, trust me.  I also separate the onions/bread that's used in the roast from the onions/bread used in the stuffing.  Makes life easier once things get started.

• Heat oil in a deep pot, add the onion and sauté over low flame until translucent and soft. Remove from heat.

• Grind the cashews in a food processor with the bread and garlic and add to the onion, together with the stock, salt, nutmeg, and lemon juice, to taste.

Combine stuffing ingredients in a large bowl.

• Put half the cashew mixture into the prepared pan, top with the stuffing, then spoon the rest of the nut mixture on top.

• Stand the pan in another pan to catch drippings and bake for about 30 minutes or until firm and lightly browned (cover the roast with foil if it gets too brown before then).

• Cover in delicious almond-mushroom gravy.  Recipe for that one to follow.

pot-sticking to my story.

can gyoza be gluten-free and vegan?

with more rice flour disasters under my belt than i'd like to

freely admit, i was pretty sure these dumplings were going to

be a total hot mess.

they were hot.

they were not a mess.

i got my filling from yukiko's delicious recipe over on berkshire vegan.

it's shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, scallions, and garlic.

i have made these in the past with tofu and leeks on the inside, and

they were totally delicious, so i would recommend doing that too!

to stuff a dumpling, just make sure you have:

a sticky protein (i.e. tofu, crumbly tempeh, mushrooms)

something with some heat (garlic, sesame oil with chili)

something tangy (scallions, leeks, onions)

something green (cabbage, baby bok choi)

gyoza wrappers

white rice flour

arrowroot starch

water

salt

and sesame oil

again, hat-tip to berkshire vegan for an excellent set of instructions.

the gluten-free modification was pretty simple, just a straight flour-to

rice-flour substitution.  i DID have to add more water, though.

following yukiko's excellent instructions, i combined the dry

ingredients, added the sesame oil, and slowly added water,

kneading for approximately ten minutes.  i then pinched little

balls of dough slightly smaller than a ping pong ball, rolled

them in arrowroot, and pressed them flat.

dumplings are a communal activity.  you really need more than

one person, because the fragile dumpling wrappers begin to

crack and dry out quickly, so the faster you can stuff those

wrappers, the better.

place a SMALL amount of filling (no more than one teaspoon)

on a flat, circular wrapper, take a finger dipped in water and wet

a half-circle on the flat wrapper, press edges together, and smooth.

they should look like little crescents.

if your dumplings begin to crack... DO NOT PANIC.

just add a little water and gently smooth.

heat oil to pretty high temperature, and toss in your dumplings,

flipping gently as each side browns, about 2-3 minutes on each side.

i opened a window to avoid setting off the smoke alarms.  this

helped tremendously, as they get a little smoky.

gyoza sauce:

1/3 c. tamari

1 tbsp brown rice vinegar

1 pinch chili powder

diced scallions

1 tsp. grated ginger juice

on the side:

2 tbsp. grated raw fresh daikon

yum!!

beautiful yudofu. beyudoful.

this is why i need you people to keep me in check.  i start punning.

yudofu

what is it?  a beautiful, light tofu dish that can be served warm or cold.

how long does it take?  this is the brilliant part.  about 15 minutes.

i love japanese cooking because with simple techniques and the same

few ingredients, you can make endless combinations of dishes.

what is bonito?

...what IS bonito?  bonito is a common japanese ingredient.  it's a predatory fish

native to asia that is dried, shaved, and used either as a garnish or a base in recipes

and sauces.  ghee is to indian food what bonito is to japanese food.

in the past, bonito came in big plastic bags, shredded like coconut flakes.

it's become a lot more processed in modern times, mostly for speed and ease

of use.

Eden brand bonito flakes, traditional style.  Between $6 and $8
at Whole Foods Market.

bonito pellets.  Usually between $2-$6 at Asian grocers.

the pellet brand and similar brands powder the bonito and combine it with kombu,

salt, sugar, MSG, and some processed compounds i can neither pronounce nor digest.

this is one of those cases where traditional food has become doctored and processed

in the name of "convenience."  it's so SO important to read ingredients.  i love eden brand

because i can trust that there's no funny business hidden in the label.  i used to cook with

the pellets, but it always left me feeling dehydrated and puffy.  on the contrary, after cooking

with the eden flakes, i felt light and wonderful.

real, whole foods are beautiful <3 p="">

making yudofu

ingredients

--tofu--

1 package silken tofu

--sauce--

4 tbsp shredded dried bonito flakes (eden is a great brand)

1 3 inch strip dried kombu

1/3 cup shoyu or 1/4 cup tamari

1 tbsp mirin

3 cups water

--garnish--

2 scallions

1 sheet roasted nori

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

rinse kombu in cold water.  place kombu in three cups cold water in a medium-sized

saucepan and bring to a boil.  once boiling, add bonito flakes, lower temperature,

and simmer for ten minutes.*

add mirin, tamari/shoyu, and bring back to a rolling boil.

cube silken tofu and GENTLY place it on a spoon with a strainer.  lower into

boiling sauce for 2-3 minutes.  gently lift and roll tofu cubes into a shallow bowl.

once all cubes are boiled, take sauce off the heat.  pour sauce over tofu using a strainer

to remove any stray tofu or bonito flakes that may be lurking around.

cover in grated fresh ginger, scallions, shredded nori, and enjoy!

*i save time here by stuffing the bonito in a tea or coffee filter and tie it off at the top.

this means i don't have to strain the sauce at the end.  it's just a convenience thing.

you certainly don't have to do it, but it IS easier.

bento ii :: sesame-fried mochi

after a couple weeks of lackluster meals, i feel like i'm finally starting to get

my macro chops back!

last night was bento ii :: advanced bento theory

i made savory fried mochi, nanban onions, miso condiment, and made a weak

attempt to cook fish before resigning and putting it back in the fridge.

i found this marvelous blog, Just Hungry, that features traditional japanese recipes.

many of them will be familiar to those of you who spent any time at the kushi

institute.  what i admire about this chef is the honest simplicity of her recipes.

she buys almost nothing pre-made.  if you're willing to do things the long way,

she has instructions from homemade pickled umeboshi to homemade mochi.

i adapted these recipes from justhungry to be macrobiotic, which was quite simple.

sesame fried mochi

slice 1 package mochi into small squares.

puff in oven at 400 degrees for approximately 10 minutes,

until mochi begins to pop and expand.

preheat cast-iron skillet over medium heat.

add 1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil with 1 tsp. tamari.

immediately add puffed mochi.  over the course of three

or so minutes, check the bottom of your mochi with a spatula.

it should be a beautiful golden-brown.

flip once.  toast another two-three minutes.

the afore-mentioned beautiful golden-brown.  yum.

cover in nori, toasted sesame seeds, green onions, spicy kimchi, whatever you choose!

i think even a natto-scallion paste would be nice!  my package of natto arrives next

week, so i'll try it and tell you!

Open-Face Salmon Sandwiches

I have been an abysmally bad blogger lately, apologies.

I just moved, and it's been a real struggle adjusting.

I don't know a lot of people here, and between beginning

a new job and getting things settled, it's been hard to find 

the energy to write.  Cooking takes emotional legwork!

I am working on scaling back my energy bubble and trying

to center.  My mood is so dependent on the moods of other

people that being in a new setting is totally wearing me out.

I'm moving again in July to my own house for a little

while, and I'm really excited for the time to center and

focus on my macrobiotic practice.  Also, a few people

from Boston are hopefully coming to visit, which would

be enormously awesome.

+  +  +

Now, on to the sandwich.

This is a Martha Stewart recipe that fits in PERFECTLY

to the macrobiotic diet.  Just steam some greens, and you've

got dinner in fifteen minutes!  The other thing I love is that

there's practically zero prep.  Who doesn't love that?

Juice 1/4 cup plus 1 tsp. lemon juice.

Set aside 1 whole celery stalk (no cutting necessary)

Set aside 2 springs fresh flat parsley.

I used 1 lb. wild Alaskan Salmon.

Fill a large pot with 2 inches of cold water.  Add

1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 tsp. salt, celery, and parsley.

Bring to a boil.

In the mean time, peel and remove pit from 1 avocado.

Combine 1 tbsp. wasabi powder with 1 tbsp. lukewarm water.

Add remaining tsp. lemon juice, avocado, and wasabi paste

to your handy Vitamix blender or food processor.  Run

until it looks like this bad boy:

Cover in saran wrap that touches the surface so no air

is allowed in.  This keeps the paste from turning brown.

Toast 4 slices whole grain rye bread or your trusty

frozen gluten-free bread.  My kingdom for delicious GF

bread that doesn't come in a plastic bag.

Add your salmon to the boiling water and poach for

10-12 minutes, until cooked through.

Assemble your sandwich and enjoy!

Barbecue Tempeh Sandwich!

bbq tempeh sandwich

- 1 block tempeh

- 1/4 c. olive oil

- 2 tbsp. tamari

- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

- 2 tbsp. brown rice syrup

- 4 tbsp paprika

- 1 tsp chipotle powder

- 1 tsp onion powder

- 1 tsp kuzu, dissolved in cold water

- pinch salt

- black pepper / chili powder if you can handle it

- red onion slices

preheat oven to 400.  combine liquid and spice ingredients in a large bowl.  whisk well.  

take your bun (i used an udi's gluten-free bun, but i'm not in love with them), brush it with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place face-down on a baking sheet.  bake until golden brown.

soak tempeh in spice sauce.  wrap in tin foil and bake 30 minutes.

sprinkle with onion slices, place on your bun, and enjoy :)

Millet Burgermeister

A lot of my readers ask me how I keep from getting bored on the macrobiotic diet.  Grain, bean, greens.  Grain, bean, greens.  When you're using the same ingredients and you have a hard time finding food at restaurants, it's really easy to grow bored with this diet.

What I would stress to you guys is that making some of the "harder" recipes... the ones that take a little more time or a little more skill... is worth it.  It is a commitment.  You're taking an hour and a half, in this case, and dedicating it to food preparation.  But the reason we do it is to force growth.  When you make something beautiful and new, like these millet burgers, your brain and tastebuds light up and get excited.

And at the end, you have something fun, tasty, and new to look forward to :)

- - millet burgers - -

Combine 1 cup of millet with 3 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer for 20-30 minutes until soft but moist.  Set aside for later.

Tiny-dice all your ingredients.  I cut my carrots in half.  Then I cut them into thin strips.  Then I line up the thin strips, and chop tiny dice down the line.

This is how tiny your dice should be.  This makes the carrots cook faster.

Here are my tiny dice.  I've tiny-diced carrots and red onions.  Then I chopped my scallions into thin strips. Then I minced fresh curly parsley.

Look at all the goodies I'm going to throw in the freezer to use as soup stock later!

I took a bag of frozen corn and poured 1/2 cup into a bowl.

I then heated a saucepan of water to a rolling boil and quick-blanched my carrots and frozen corn, 30 seconds each.

Lay out your seasonings.  Above you can see my umeboshi vinegar, black pepper, sea salt, olive oil, and fresh chopped parsley.  Follow your own dietary restrictions for this part.  If black pepper is too much for you, don't do it.

Combine your chopped veggies with your millet.  The reason I didn't specify a specific amount of vegetables is that you should play it by ear.  You can see the little blue bowl, which is where I put the leftover chopped vegetables that I didn't want to use.  There's a little bit of everything in there.

For 3 cups of prepared millet, I used about 1/2 to 1/4 cup of each vegetable so that there was a 60-40 millet-vegetable ratio.  The millet is keeping these burgers together, so there always needs to be more millet than vegetable.

Add approximately 2 tbsp. olive oil, a pinch of sea salt, a dash of pepper, and a dash of ume vinegar.  I added about 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley.

Take a lump of millet burger dough roughly the size of a golf ball, and pat it into shape.

Gently roll the ball in corn flour and place on a baking pan to await frying.

Millet, awaiting the skillet.

Fry your burgers in oil over medium-high or high heat until golden brown on each side, approximately 3-5 minutes.  Monitor them closely so they don't burn!

TA-DA!

I served my millet burgers with homemade kale chips, sweet parsnips, homemade daikon pickles, and placed a big dollop of whole-grain dijon mustard on each one!

Introducing Korean Gimbap!

Look like sushi, but seeing as we used Korean ingredients, I thought I'd give gimbap it's dues.  Gimbap is Korean sushi, using egg, fish, pickles, and veggies as fillings.  Korean food is unheard of in a lot of American cities.  If I had to describe it, I'd say it has bolder, brighter flavors next to Japanese food's woodier, salty flavors.

This was May's birthday gimbap.  We went to see Jiro Dreams of Sushi.  If I had to pick a movie that sums up macrobiotic cheffing and philosophy in a nutshell, it'd be that one.  Amazing.

gimbap 

two // ways

/kimchi gimbap

//////////////////////////////////////

- 1 cup korean kimchi

- brown rice vinegar

- 3 cups brown rice/sushi rice, uncooked

- 5 to 7 sheets nori seaweed

- 1 cucumber

//////////////////////////////////////

Cook rice with 3 1/4 c. water.  When rice is sticky and soft, mix 1 tbsp. brown rice vinegar with rice, fluffing amply.

Prepare a small bowl of cold water.

Lay nori on sushi mat, shiny-side down.  Layer rice on nori, leaving a half-inch border on each side.  To flatten rice (oreo-thickness is idea), use the bowl of cold water to keep wetting your hands so the rice doesn't stick to them.

Slice cucumber in half long-ways, scooping out all seeds with a spoon.  Make long, pencil-thick slices down the stem so that you have strips that are about 1/2" by 6".  Lay two strips on your rice and seaweed, keeping the strips the same direction as the bamboo on the mat.  Lay about 6-7 pieces of kimchi veggies along the cucumber, squeeze, and roll your gimbap.

To slice, dip the edge of your knife in your bowl of cold water.  Move your knife quickly across the center of the sushi.  The key to nice, round, non-squashed sushi is moving quickly and lightly, applying as little pressure as possible.

\sweet shiitake gimbap

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

- brown rice vinegar

- 3 cups brown rice/sushi rice, uncooked

- 5 to 7 sheets nori seaweed

- 1 1/2 tbsp. gluten-free Tamari

- 3 tbsp. brown rice syrup

- 1 tsp. kuzu dissolved in cold water

- 6-7 shiitake mushrooms, dried or fresh

- 5 whole scallions

- 2 raw carrots

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Cook rice with 3 1/4 c. water.  When rice is sticky and soft, mix 1 tbsp. brown rice vinegar with rice, fluffing amply.

Prepare a small bowl of cold water.

Lay nori on sushi mat, shiny-side down.  Layer rice on nori, leaving a half-inch border on each side.  To flatten rice (oreo-thickness is idea), use the bowl of cold water to keep wetting your hands so the rice doesn't stick to them.

Prepare mushrooms.  Slice into THIN strips, as thin as you can get, removing the stem from the get-go and composting it/using it for stock.  Pan-fry in sesame oil for 1-2 minutes, until some water is released.  Whisk kuzu, syrup, and tamari in a separate bowl, and pour over mushrooms, simmering until sauce thickens and glistens like melting ice.

Remove bottoms and top inch from scallions and separate extra leaves.  You should end up with the long stem (about 6-7 inches) and if you're lucky, a couple extra scallion leaves about 4-5 inches each.  Cut carrots into 6-7 inch strips, about the length and width of a pencil.  Place 1-2 scallions, 1-2 carrot strips, and a healthy couple spoonfuls of shiitake on the gimbap and roll!

It's A British Invasion!

What's so special about spring?  Why, it's the anniversary of the Royal Wedding and the Diamond Jubilee of H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth II!  It puts us in a British Persuasion.

So you went macro.  That means no more pub crawls and goodbye figgy pudding.  But Britain is about more than confusing words and binge drinking.  It's about tea!  It's about tiny teacups!  It's about Fish and Chips!

So here are all three.  With love, from me, to you.

FRIED FISH

for your macrobiotic consideration

-------------------------------------------
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (corn flour for GF)
1 tsp. arrowroot flour
1-2 c. water
2-3 c. panko flakes (crushed GF Brown Rice Crispies for GF)
5-6 white fish fillets, I like sole or cod
1/2 gallon safflower or dark sesame oil.  Safflower is cheaper
daikon radish
-------------------------------------------

Before beginning your fish, grate 2-3 tbsp. per person of raw daikon radish.  This will help break down all the sinning you're about to do so your large intestine doesn't go on strike.  It's also extremely flushing, so if you're having trouble with loose bowels, skip the grated daikon.  In fact, it's probably best to skip the fried food entirely.  When you get done grating, stick this in the fridge until serving.

Combine 1 cup flour and arrowroot flour, mixing thoroughly.  Add water until the batter takes on a moist consistency similar to pancake batter.  Set up three dipping stations.
STATION 1:  Flouring.  At this station, you will rub the fish around in the remaining 1/2 c. whole wheat or corn flour until it's thoroughly coated.
STATION 2:  Battering.  Take your floured fillets and dip them in your liquid batter, covering all sides and surfaces.
STATION 3:  Breading.  Finally, you'll drop your floured, battered fillets in the panko bread crumbs or crushed brown rice crispies.  Place finished fillets on baking sheet to await frying.

Heat your oil in a deep cast-iron pot.  I always open the windows, because inevitably my smoke alarm goes off, I panic, and my fish burns while I'm running around trying to ventilate the place.  The oil is hot when a drop of batter quickly floats to the top.  Gently lower your fish fillets.  Allow to fry until fish is golden brown, then remove with a small strainer and rest on either a mesh drying rack or a thick stack of paper towels.

For a dipping sauce, try a light sauce of tamari mixed with kombu or bonito soup stock, some grated fresh ginger, and some chopped fresh scallions.  Or if you really want to go British, dip it in a little brown rice vinegar.

Tea & Cups

kate spade :: gardner street green teacup  $38

harney & sons  ::  cherry blossom tin $7

kate spade ::  market street green teacup + plate  $38

teaforte :: organic lemon lavender tea (citrus set)  $24

teaforte :: sontu teacup + saucer  $15

harney & sons ::  indian nimbu looseleaf tin  $13

whittard of chelsea ::  long may she reign cup & saucer  $25

harney & son's ::  paris tea satchet tin $8

British flag motif inspired by zazzle (dot) com.