Winter Minestrone

for 8
8 cups stock
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 fennel bulb chopped
small kabocha, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 leek, chopped
several cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red wine
1 cup cooked beans (we are using Rancho Gordo Yellow Indian Woman beans today)
lots of chopped parsley and basil
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil

In a soup pot, heat up olive oil, add onions, leeks and salt and let sweat for 10 minutes. Add rest of vegetables, thyme and oregano and cook 5 minutes. Add red wine to deglaze and let most of it evaporate. Add the stock and cooked beans. Bring to simmer. Add fresh herbs at the end

konyaku w/ karashi miso dressing

konyaku wrapped in shiso with karashi miso dressing


for karashi miso dressing:
2 tbsp  saikyo miso
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp mirin
dash salt
mix very well, thin with a little kombu dashi, let sit 30 minutes before using to mellow.

slice konyaku very thinly.
place each piece of konyaku on a shiso leaf. Brush konyaku with karashi miso dressing

Yudofu

yudofu

Yudofu is a classic Kyoto style dish, served in winter. It is very simple and one of the great ways to highlight freshly made tofu. The variations are as simple as tofu simmering in kombu stock to a more diverse hot pot with greens (often chrysanthemum), mushrooms and leeks.

In a nabe (Japanese hot pot), place a piece of kombu and 2 dried shitake and fill 2/3 way with water. Bring to simmer and let simmer for half hour.
Add your tofu and vegetables, cover and let simmer for 5 minutes.

To serve

each person gets a bowl. To each bowl add a few spoons of stock from the hotpot. Add 1 tbsp each of mirin and shoyu to each bowl. The diners simply take a piece out of the nabe, dip it in their bowl and eat.

For today, we are making yudofu with homemade tofu, shimeji mushroom, leek and chrysanthemum greens.

wakame daikon salad w/ citrus dressing

Wakame Daikon salad w/ citrus dressing

1/4 cup wakame
1 large daikon, julienned
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

dressing
1 satsuma tangerine, juiced, zest
1 lime, juiced, zest
1 lemon juiced, zest
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp shoyu
dash sea salt
whisk together and pour over salad just before serving

Place wakame in water for 20 minutes. Drain and press dry.
Toast sesame seeds in pan.
Cut daikon in julienne

arrange on plate, cover with dressing

adzuki kabocha stew

adzuki-kabocha stew

1 cup adzuki, soaked overnight
1 small kabocha, cut in half, remove seeds and medium chopped.
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp ginger, minced
10 cloves garlic, minced
1-10 thai chilis, minced
1 quart shitake-kombu stock
1/3 cup sake
1/3 cup mirin
1/3 cup shoyu
2 tbsp non toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

Drain soaked adzuki, place in pot, add 3 cups cold water, bring to simmer, cover and cook 40 minutes. Set aside.

in saucepan, heat up oil, add onions and let cook 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and chilis and cook 2 minutes. Add kabocha and cook 2 minutes. Add sake and mirin and cook 1 minute. Add cooked beans, stock, bring to simmer and cook till kabocha is cooked. Add shoyu, cook 30 seconds and season to taste. More shoyu for salt, more mirin for sweet. add toasted sesame oil, and serve hot

spicy lotus root pickles

spicy lotus root pickle

2 lotus roots, sliced very thinly on a mandoline
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp shoyu
1 green onion, chopped
2 tien tsen chilis, chopped


Steam sliced lotus roots for 10 minutes
Let cool and place in bowl with the rest of ingredients. Mix well and let marinade at least 2 hours before serving

Noodle soup with fried tempeh, garlicky kale and sichuan chili oil

Hot bowl of noodles with many elements; fried, sauteed, pickled

4 servings

Noodles
for this you will need, 1 recipe  homemade pasta (http://philipgelb.blogspot.com/2009/12/homemade-pasta.html)

for the Tempeh
cut tempeh into strips, 2" long 1/2" thick.
Deep fry in safflower oil till golden brown. Drain well. set aside


for the garlicky kale
Sautee 8 cloves chopped garlic in 1 tbsp sesame oil for 30 seconds. Add 1 bunch, chopped kale and sautee for 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup stock, cover, remove from heat. set aside


Chop 4 green onions. set aside


for the stock
16 cups water
8 dried shitake
4 pieces kombu
bring to simmer, cover, let simmer for several hours. Strain.


Cut noodles to desired size and cook in boiling water for 2 minutes or till done.


Arrange noodles in bowls. Add kale and green onions to the bowls.  Arrange tempeh slices around the bowl. Pour stock over the noodles. Add a small dollop of sichuan chili oil to the center of the bowl.
Serve immediately and slurp away, happily.