These chips weren’t photoshopped, I promise! They really are that color, and are as gorgeous to look at as they are good to eat. I simply mandolined two medium yams, tossed them in some olive oil, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and Persian lime salt (more on that soon), and baked at 350 for about 12 minutes or so. Crunchy crispy, bursting with flavor. Now where is that bottle of Chimay….
A cake of soft tofu almost always lives in my fridge. The expiration date on tofu is usually pretty forgiving, so I tend to get around to cooking it long after the more perishable ingredients of my fridge get used up.
I’ve been trying to score a bucket of rice bran to make real takuan (Japanese pickled daikon), but the two beautiful daikon I picked up at the farmers’ market weren’t about to patiently wait around for me, so I made a quick-pickle version of them. And boy am I glad I did.
I had a big bag of Meyer lemons from a friend’s tree, a million kinds of fruit vinegar, and plenty of honey, so why not? I first benriner-ed the daikon into very thin discs, then salted them (with kosher salt) to draw out some of the water. While the salt was doing its thing, I combined some orange blossom honey, raspberry ginger vinegar (leftover from recent batch of raspberry pickled ginger), and the juice and zest of two lemons.
I then rinsed the daikon discs well and dried them as best I could with a clean tea towel, and added them to the brine.
They’re delightfully crunchy and really lemony, yet still have that radish kick. I’m serving a small mound of them with everything I eat. I think they have earned a permanent place in the fridge!
Has anyone ever tried pickled daikon?
This lunch is so typical for me I thought I might share it; it’s a good illustration of how easy it is to make something from nothing in almost no time flat. It tastes great and is pretty healthy.
A quick glance the fridge revealed little except a few eggs, half a leek, and a fresh habanero looking up forlornly at me. So I quickly chopped up the leek and hab (be very careful when chopping up a hab–here’s a detailed explanation on how to do it), heated up some homemade ghee (butter or olive would work equally well), and gently sauteed the leek and hab for a few minutes. I also had the remnants of an open can of tomatoes, so threw a heaping tablespoon of those in.
At this point I was close to finished, so I began toasting the bread. In went two eggs, and a heaping tablespoon of greek yogurt, which always makes scrambled egg dishes better. Season it all with plenty of umami salt and black pepper. Cook very gently (low setting) for about three or four minutes, until the eggs set. Transfer to a warm plate and inhale. Be prepared for a heat blast from the hab, but it’s a good heat blast.
Yes, we’ve had glorious weather the past week, but I still like my roasted sweet potatoes. There’s something about the smell of them in the oven, so different from regular roasting potatoes, with the caramely sugary almost-burnt notes filling up the rooms (that smell makes me want to try to make roasted sweet potato ice cream out of them–a common flavor in Japan, believe it or not).
A typical roasted sweet potato preparation is simplicity itself: roast them till soft, cut them open, slather butter or fruity green olive oil, and top with plenty of black pepper and finishing salt of choice (I like tangerine salt, but kaffir lime salt makes them seem tropicalish and sexy). But for a new spin on mashed potatoes, try the following.
Roast them in a moderately hot (400) oven for about 45 minutes, or until soft. I often poke slits in them with a paring knife to make the roasting go a bit faster. Sometimes I rub olive oil over them, sprinkle on some salt and pepper, wrap them tightly in foil, and toss them in. Other times I don’t bother with anything and just chuck them in as is. However you do it, roast them until tender.
While they’re roasting, heat up some butter or ghee in a small pan, and add a half cup or so of chopped shallots (this takes quite a few shallots) and a nearly equal portion of minced fresh ginger. Season with salt and pepper, and saute for about five minutes, until they’re soft. Transfer that to a blender, add an egg and a good splash of (optional) soy sauce. Pulse it a few times and just set it aside until the potatoes finish cooking.
When the potatoes are done, let them cool just a bit, and transfer them to a large mixing bowl. Add four or so heaping tablespoons of Greek yogurt (regular plain yogurt is fine too) and a little splash of milk to get things going as you mash them with a sturdy wooden spoon and plenty of elbow grease (for a cleaner, more refined version of this dish, remove the skin after baking, and for a more rustico approach, leave the skin on). Add the egg/shallot/ginger mixture and again mix thoroughly. Salt and pepper to taste, and top with a few chives.
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It’s so good I can almost just have that for dinner, but it’s awfully nice to have a piece of simply grilled or broiled fish with it, and maybe a small mound of pickled ginger or pickled daikon (which I’ll be posting about soon). Sake goes really well with this meal.
Embarrassing addendum: I forgot to mention the yogurt!! Mix in a few tablespoons of plain yogurt, to turn these potatoes into fluffy, creamy, gingery concoctions that everyone seems to love. Greek yogurt works best, but any type will do . . . .
