Chewy or fluffy? And does size really matter?

It's almost Passover, and this will be the first time in many years (maybe 25 years!) we aren't sharing a Seder with two vegetarian families in Wisconsin. We've been getting together for such a long time, I don't even know how to do it without them. When we first started this tradition, there were 14 of us, including small kids, plus extra people who invariably got invited. And as the kids got older and went to college, they sometimes brought friends. We used to put tables together that extended from the dining room into the living room to accommodate all the guests. Over the years as our kids moved away, the group grew smaller, but still we always got together. Now we've moved away, and things will be different this year.

This year we'll have all the members of our immediate family plus my husband's mother and sister. I'm starting to think about the menu, and how to divide the cooking. And I'm trying to get a handle on vegan matzoh balls, since matzoh balls are traditionally dependent on eggs. Not all the members of our long-time Seder family were vegan, and the person who always made the soup made traditional egg-based matzoh balls. At home for my family, I made a vegan version with varying degrees of success.

The first time I made vegan matzoh balls, I used the recipe from the PPK and it worked beautifully. They disintegrated a little but I still managed to have some very tasty dumplings in the soup. But for some mysterious reason, the next two times I made them, they completely fell apart, and I had nothing. I swear, I followed the recipe exactly. (Yes, I know you have to refrigerate the dough.) Yesterday I tried a recipe from "The Vegan Table" that depends on ground flax seeds to replace the egg. The balls didn't fall apart, and they tasted OK but were small, slightly gummy and weird when they first came out of the pot. I put them into the freshly made, hot soup, and left them for a couple of hours. When we ate the soup for dinner, both my husband and I thought the matzoh balls tasted delicious. The taste and texture had improved dramatically, though large and fluffy they were not. I loved their chewy texture, but wonder what the non-vegans and non-vegetarians will think. (Note: The matzoh ball dough is rather stiff and dry, and that's the way it must be for a successful result.)

The soup stock was based on a simple dashi (using 6 cups water, 8 dried mushrooms, 1 piece kombu, soaked four hours) to which embellishments were added with abandon — a splash of this and a little of that. Mirin, brown rice vinegar, tamari, granulated onion, granulated garlic, two large cloves of minced fresh garlic, salt and pepper, dried dill, a pinch of turmeric and four large carrots went into the soup. It looked like chicken soup, and tasted fantastic. I just hope I can create something similar for our family gathering.

I intend to try Isa's recipe again to see if I can get it to work, and then decide which matzoh balls to use for the Seder. Any suggestions?

For vegan Passover macaroons, click here.

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Day-glo bread insides revealed

Get out your sun glasses. Several people wanted to see the inside of the too-yellow bread from my last post, so here it is in all its golden glowing glory.

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52nd Street Tofu House

This is a plate of take-out Korean food from 52nd Street Tofu House. They have a vegan menu (as well as the regular menu) but just because a place has vegan food doesn't mean you should go there. The food was OK but not great. We had two combo plates — tofu and veggies and gyoza with broccoli. I actually prefer the frozen gyoza that my son buys at the Asian market near his house. The tofu dish was decent but the potato dish that came with it was sickeningly sweet, and neither my husband or myself chose to eat it. We may give this place another chance and actually eat there, since take-out isn't always the best way to judge a restaurant.

Pop pop popcorn popper

It seems silly to spend too much time thinking about popcorn, but ever since I found myself popcorn-maker-less, I've been devising ways to make my favorite snack without actually buying another hot air popper when I already have one — even though it's far, far away in another state. I tried microwaving it in a paper bag, popping it in a stainless mixing bowl and making it in my wok. The microwave was disappointing, and I gave it up. The bowl, once I adjusted the amount of oil and salt, worked well but required aluminum foil, which seemed wasteful. Plus it was awkward holding and shaking the bowl. The wok wasn't bad, once I learned to spread out the kernels in a single layer instead of a pile. But there was still the pan-shaking and the slowness. My son, who is very picky about his kitchenware and cooking, kept telling me that the Whirley Pop he got at Goodwill (brand new and still in the box — he's lucky that way) was the best way he's ever found to pop corn.

The next time I was at Goodwill I found one, but it was in someone else's cart, and, well, good manners forced me to leave it there. Recently, I found another one at Goodwill and this time it was on a shelf! The inside was perfectly clean — much cleaner in fact than it is now — though there was a little oil residue on the lid, but I handed over my $2.99 and took it home. I cleaned it up, did a little Internet research into the fine points of using a Whirley Pop, and got popping. My son was right — this IS the best way to pop corn.

Honestly, the popper looks like a piece of junk — it's so thin and lightweight you'd expect it to burn up with the kernels — but it works just as the Whirley Pop Web site says it will. You turn a little wooden handle in the lid, that's connected to a thin thingyjig that sweeps the kernels around the bottom of the pot so they don't burn. It takes no time at all for the corn to start popping, and within two or three minutes it's all popped fluffy and tender. I love it. You can pop the corn with as little as one teaspoon of oil so you're not adding that many calories. I had to do a little adjusting of the metal latches and spinner of my used popper, but it works perfectly, now. So, would I abandon my old Presto Air Popper? Probably not. It's easier, and I'm profoundly lazy. But, duh, I might just get used to this whirley-thing.

I made a batch of no-knead bread dough (basic recipe in "Healthy Bread in Five" subbing 1 cup potato starch for one cup unbleached, 2 teasp. yeast, 2 teasp. salt) and made some of the finished dough into an English muffin. Used a cast iron pan and it was ready in under 10 minutes. It tasted just like an English muffin, only better!

Here's another of my "big bowl" lunches. It consisted of broccolini, mushrooms, dried tomatoes, soy curls and rice noodles in the last of the dashi. I could eat this every day, except maybe the soy curls. I like soy curls, but not every day!

Dreaming in color | daikon soup variations | crochet

Daikon, shiitake and buckwheat soup

I always dream in color. Sometimes my dreams are so vivid I wake up not knowing where I am and what is real. I used to remember more of my dreams, and at one time kept a dream journal to document the weirdness. Now I hardly ever remember my dreams, but recently I woke up disturbed after a particularly vivid one, and recounted it to my husband who suggested I write it down. Here it is, open for interpretation.

I was in Australia with my husband and youngest son, and we were headed off to tour a scenic area. We were in an underground train station, and I became separated from them — couldn't see them anywhere, and was feeling a little panicky. The station was packed with people trying to board the train, and the doors closed before I could enter the car. Suddenly the doors opened again and I rushed in, convinced they had boarded and would be inside. They weren't there but I hoped to find them when I got off at our destination.

The inside of the car looked exactly like the worn-out buses I used to ride to high school, with cracking leather upholstery and a bench seat stretching across the back. It was packed with people but there was one space open on the rear seat, so I went to sit down. A young woman who seemed to know the other people on the seat came and squeezed in beside me. She and her friends were all laughing and talking in a language I didn't understand but somehow I knew that the seat had been hers — she had just left it for a few minutes to talk to friends. The seating was ridiculously tight and uncomfortable so I got up and worked my way to the front of the car. I was worried about missing my stop (15th and 45th Street!) so asked the conductor for help. I got off at my stop but my family wasn't in the station. I tried to use my cell phone to call my husband but I couldn't seem to press the right numbers. I kept messing up. Suddenly I was accosted by a man who tried to steal my phone. I told him I really needed it but he demanded I turn it over, and I asked if I could make one last call. While the thief was distracted I ran out of the station with my phone, into the city.

I wandered around and discovered a craft fair where a woman was selling small sculptures, each with a thin, reddish twig attached. I was thinking that the sculptures weren't too great, when someone approached me and whispered that there existed a certain worm that had four stages of life, and one of the stages was a reddish twig. I asked the sculptor if the twigs would turn into live worms but she didn't answer — just murmured something and smiled enigmatically. I walked away.

I needed to find a bank to change U.S. dollars into Australian dollars so I could take the train back to where we were staying. After I got directions and headed towards the bank, I tried to call my husband again and reached an operator. I learned that because we were using U.S. cell phones, an operator had to place the call. The operator knew us (though I wasn't exactly sure who she was) and was very friendly and helpful, and she placed the call for me but my husband still didn't answer. I tried calling my son but he didn't answer either.

A traveler's aide representative came out of a building and offered to help me. (I was kind of surprised to see she was someone we know from Wisconsin.) I told her I needed to find a bank and she gave me Australian dollars. Then she walked me to the train station and told me which train to catch. I was very worried because I only had one bar of power left on the phone, and wasn't sure how to get home from the train. I woke up suddenly, and after several moments of disorientation, realized with relief I was in my bed, and wouldn't need to find my way home after all.

Well, I suppose some parts of the dream are about my feeling separated from my home, and stranded in this new city, and my difficulty navigating the streets. But the worms? What are they? Too bad the dream wasn't about daikon or dashi, and didn't take place in Japan — it would have been a better segue into the soup I prepared and would like to share with you. The soup was influenced by the Japanese cooking class we recently took, and the recipe for cooking the daikon comes directly from that class. It's very easy to make and incredibly delicious but may take a little advance planning to make the richest tasting dashi. It's worth it.

Daikon, shiitake and buckwheat soup
To make the dashi:
Soak 8-10 dried shiitake mushrooms (rinsed) and 1-1/2 pieces dried kombu seaweed (wiped off with damp cloth) in 6 cups of water overnight in the refrigerator. When you're ready to prepare the soup, remove the kombu. Gently squeeze out the mushrooms into the stock and remove the stems. Slice the mushrooms into 1/4" strips and set aside.

To prepare the daikon:

• 1 medium daikon radish, peeled
• 1 cup dashi
• 3 tablespoons sake (or brown rice vinegar) (you can buy a cheaper sake for cooking)
• 3 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 1 teaspoon salt (or less to taste)

1. Cut daikon into 2" pieces. Trim off the edges of each cut end so the pieces are slightly rounded.

2. Put the daikon in a pot with just enough water to float the daikon, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cook, covered, for 30 minutes, until the daikon is mostly cooked.

3. Drain the daikon and add 1 cup of dashi to the pot. Add sake and mirin. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil.

4. Turn heat to low and add tamari and salt. Cook until daikon is tender. (easily pierced with a toothpick) Turn off heat and let sit while you prepare the soup.

To prepare the soup

• dashi
• 2 to 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4" thick on diagonal
• 8 to 10 shiitake mushrooms (from the dashi), stems removed and sliced into 1/4" strips
• 1 to 2 cups 1/2" firm tofu cubes
• 1/2 cup buckwheat groats, lightly toasted in a pan
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 3 ounces fresh baby spinach, washed
• scallions, thinly chopped

1. In a large soup pot, sauté the mushrooms, carrots and buckwheat for a few minutes in the oil.

2. Add the tofu and remaining dashi and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to simmer and cover. Cook until buckwheat is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Add daikon and its cooking liquid.

4. Just before serving, add spinach and stir in to wilt. Check and adjust seasonings.

5. Place in bowls and garnish with scallion. Serves four as first course or two to three as a main course.

The soup was so delicious we had variations of it two more times. My husband made it with buckwheat noodles instead of groats, and cauliflower instead of spinach but it wasn't as good.

We purchased a set of white serving bowls that make perfect large eating bowls so I've been a little obsessed with making dinners in a bowl. Here's a lovely stir-fry with rice noodles and mushroom broth that I made for myself on a night when I was dining alone.

Now, I know this doesn't look good — it looked the same way in person — but it WAS good. It was really good. Maybe it just needs a little parsley or something. I was the lucky winner of a copy of "Vegan Fire and Spice" from Robin Robertson's blog, and this was the first recipe my husband tried. It's red beans and rice casserole made with pinto beans instead of kidney beans. I think it needs the deep color of the kidney beans rather than the bland-looking pintos.

Last but not least, this is me, modeling the hat and scarf I crocheted. It's made from Lion Brand Homespun yarn which is one crazy yarn to work with. I bought this yarn because Bethany from Spotted Devil Cat and His Vegan Assistant made a fabulous scarf with it, and I wanted to make one too. (Of course, mine isn't half as cool as hers.) It does make beautiful stuff but it takes some getting used to working with its crimped texture, and items made with it seem to grow. Seriously, the photo was snapped just before the hat grew past my eyes. :D I wet it and put it in the drier, and now it seems to have stopped growing, but consider yourself warned!

Shojin Japanese cooking class

Hiryozi to daikon no nimono - Deep-fried tofu cake and daikon stew

On Monday night my husband and I attended a Shojin Japanese Cuisine cooking class at PCC, our local food coop. Our instructor, Kanako, told us that shojin cuisine refers to vegetarian cooking that originated in the Buddhist monasteries. The dishes she made reminded me of some of the macrobiotic dishes I used to cook. In my last post I made a humorous reference to a time when I followed a macrobiotic diet (honest fact #9), but in reality I loved the food we consumed during those years. (The modern macrobiotic diet was made popular by Michio Kushi, and was based on traditional Japanese cooking.) This class made me reflect on how much I enjoyed Japanese food, and why I should restock my pantry with such things as sea vegetables, daikon, mirin and sake!

The first thing Kanako made was dashi, a Japanese broth made from kombu and dried shiitake. (There are many versions of dashi that include fish, especially dried bonito flakes.) I used to make this all the time, and it was my standard version of "vegetable stock" before I learned to reach for the handy aseptic carton. Sheesh. The stock is rich and flavorful and Kaneko said you could make a big pot of it and store it in the fridge to use as needed. She used dashi in all the dishes she made in class. (She also said I could share her recipes on this blog.)

Dashi

• 2 cups water
• 3" x 3" piece kombu (dried kelp) rinsed quickly or wiped with damp towel
• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms

1. Put water, kombu and mushrooms in a medium pot. Soak for several hours, or overnight if time permits. (In the refrigerator if overnight)
2. Heat the pot over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat just before water starts to boil.
3. Remove kombu and mushrooms, squeezing moisture from mushrooms into the pot.

Shiitake develops the best flavor in cool water but if you don't have time for a long soak you can place the kelp, mushrooms and water in a pot, heat to just below boiling, turn off the heat and soak for 15 minutes. That's usually what I end up doing though I mean to soak it overnight.

Kanako stemmed the shiitakes and added the sliced caps to the rice dish. She also cut the kombu into 1/2" squares and added it to one of the dishes. Using the kombu is a matter of personal taste.



Hiryozi to daikon no nimono - Deep-fried tofu cake and daikon stew

OK, I admit the deep-fried tofu cakes were ridiculously delicious. But I doubt I'll be deep-frying anything in the "easy vegan" kitchen. When Kanako described growing up in Japan where her family kept a pot of oil handy, and deep-fried foods were cooked every day, she almost convinced me that it was a good idea. But, whoa, that's not going to happen. I might make the incredibly delicious tofu balls in the oven or in a pan on the stove, and if I do and it works, I'll share the recipe with you. In the meantime, let me tell you about the daikon; I don't even like cooked daikon that much, but it was DELICIOUS — sweet and mellow. According to Kanako, this is the perfect time to buy daikon, and I believe her. You could cook the daikon, maybe add some large carrot chunks, kale or bok choy and wok-browned tofu cubes, and have a wonderful stew. I'll post a recipe soon.


Nasu dengaku - Grilled eggplant with miso topping
Gobo takikomi Gohan - Rice with burdock root

I loved the rice with burdock root, but I'm going to give you the much simpler recipe for grilled eggplant with miso topping. The topping is very versatile, and you could mix a batch and keep it for months in a sealed container in the refrigerator. You could use it on fried tofu, potatoes or whatever you want.

Grilled eggplant with miso topping

• 2 ounces red miso paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 2 tablespoons dashi
• 3 Japanese or 1 large globe eggplant
• 3 tablespoons canola oil (more as needed)
• toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

1. Place miso, sugar, mirin, dashi in a small saucepan. Mix together well. Place over medium heat and stir with a wooden spoon until you get a creamy consistency, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
2. Cut eggplant in half lengthwise.
3. Heat a large cast iron skillet to medium. Add oil.
4. Grill the eggplant with the cut side down. After 5 minutes, flip to cook through. Continue to flip eggplant until cooked and soft, ending with cut side up. (Add more oil if necessary to prevent sticking.)
5. Spoon miso sauce over cut side of eggplant and place under broiler for a minute or two. Garnish with sesame seeds. (If you cooked the eggplant in a pan that can't go under the broiler, carefully transfer with a large spatula onto a broiler pan before adding sauce.)
6. Cut into sections to serve.

Wakame to serori no sumiso ae - seaweed & celery salad with miso vinegar
Namasu - Daikon & carrot salad with sweet vinegar

We actually started with the salads, above. They were both tasty but my favorite was the carrot and daikon. This salad is supposed to be good for digestion and preventing heartburn. I have no personal experience with this but you could try it and let me know!

Daikon and carrot salad with sweet vinegar

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/2 medium daikon radish, washed well (peeled, if not organic)
• 1 medium carrot, washed well (peeled, if not organic)
• salt
• 1 teaspoon dried chili flakes

1. Mix the rice vinegar and mirin in a small saucepan.
2. Heat over medium heat and cook until the alcohol in the mirin evaporates. (The cooking is just a minute or two, and whether or not alcohol evaporates during cooking is questionable. Alcohol content can vary among brands of mirin from 0 to 14%.)
3. Add lime juice to the dressing.
4. Cut the daikon and carrot into matchsticks or grate on a course grater.
5. Sprinkle salt over the vegetables and leave for 5 minutes.
6. Rinse the radish and carrots under running water to remove salt, and squeeze out excess water.
7. Toss the vegetables with the dressing and garnish with the chili flakes.

Tonyunabe - Vegetable one-pot dish in vegetable broth

Above you see a hotpot that was cooked in a traditional Japanese cooking pot. It was filled with wonderful vegetables that were cooked in a broth of dashi and soy milk. I'd give you the recipe but my arms are tired from all this typing. Go make dashi!