chawanmushi

11-10-2014 Mon. mild, clouds.  


BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- rice with vegetables  
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- apple 
DINNER --- steamed egg custard with Japanese cured fish | stir-fried chive flowers, smoked tofu and pastrami | sauteed mustard green |  rice | wine 

 

• homey and comforting

bitter melon and mustard greens

6-26-2013 Wed. hot, cloudy.  


BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- steamed dumplings 
AFTERNOON-TEATIME ---  plum
DINNER --- scrambled eggs with tomato | sauteed bitter melon with shittake | sauteed mustard green | rice | fennel and avocado salad | wine 

• go easy

another kind of comfort food, mostly green.

5-01-2013 Wed. mild, sunny.  


 BREAKFAST --- coffee
 LUNCH --- rice with pork chop and vegetable ragu 
 AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- apple | mango 
 DINNER --- stir-fried chive flowers with smoked tofu | sauteed mustard green | scrambled eggs with tomato, dried shrimp and cilantro | rice | wine 

 

• easy and homey

red and green

2-25-2013 Mon. chilly, sunny.


BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- rice with simmered spicy eggplant 
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- apple
DINNER --- pasta with roasted red pepper and hot chili sauce and black olives | sauteed radicchio and artichoke hearts | sauteed mustard green | garlic bread | wine 

 

• sweet pepper and hot chili blend well into red pasta source

stuffed eggplant with lamb

7-30-2012 Mon. hot, sunny.  


BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- pasta salad
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- cherries
DINNER --- sauteed young mustard greens and fresh soy beans | simmered stuffed eggplant with ground lamb, bacon and roasted red pepper | rice | fennel salad | wine 

 

• stuffed Italian eggplant with slits like grid.

steamed dumplings

5-14-2012 Mon. mild, rain.


BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- rice with vegetables 
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- apple
DINNER --- steamed dumplings | fennel and mango salad | wine

 

• homemade dumplings with mustard green filling.
• sowed pole Roma beans and fava beans.

will science reinvent cooking?

7-20-2011 Wed. very hot, steamy.


BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- new potato stew with chorizo and chard
AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- cherries
DINNER --- sauteed shrimp with Thai basil and spring onion | stir-fry of young mustard green, orange pepper and smoked tofu | salad of marinated jellyfish and radish | rice | wine

• a 40-pound box came from Amazon today, it contains the massive 6 volume set: Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. a random flip lands on a page: science on why you need to stir the liquid when you poach an egg. just what I needed to know
  

Mustard greens to fill dumplings

11-10-2010 Wed. warm, sunny.

BREAKFAST --- coffee
LUNCH --- ( at J.G. Chinese restaurant ) sauteed mushroom and seafood | orange beef | rice AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- apple
DINNER --- steamed dumplings with fillings of minced chicken and mustard green | pear and fennel salad | wine

• mustard green adds a little spicy taste to the dumplings. the texture could have been a little coarser, recalling how it is at the old neighborhood breakfast corner in Shanghai.
  

Tofu-skin rolls with taro and mustard greens

• 2 sheets fresh tofu skin, cut into roll wrapper size
  
• 1/4 cup pickled mustard green, finely chopped
  
• 1 cup taro root, boiled and skin removed
  
• 1 tbs seasoned seaweed paste
  
• a little milk
  
• salt and sugar
• cooking oil
  
• 2 tbs dashi broth
  
• 1/2 tsp sweet soy sauce
• sesame oil

1. smash taro roots ( like mashed potatoes) in a big bowl, add salt and sugar and a little milk
   
2. add mustard greens and seaweed paste, mix well
   
3. put 2 tbs taro mixture on a sheet of tofu-skin wrapper, make a roll and seal with a little water or tight with a dried gourd string
   
4. heat the cooking oil in a pan, fry the rolls lightly all sides
   
5. arrange the rolls in a shallow bowl, add dashi broth, soy sauce, and sesame oil
   
6. put the bowl in a steamer and steam for 10 minutes.
   
7. cut the rolls in small sections and serve