Miso Clam Soup

I read through a lot of different recipes and kept in mind the clam miso soup I had in Tokyo in coming up with my recipe.  I loved the result, but I already have ideas for improvement!

This is what I did last night:

Ingredients:

2 quarts dashi 

4 scallions - greens chopped, whites trimmed of roots

24 littleneck clams - de-gritted and de-salted

8 Tbsp of shiro (white) miso

Instructions:

Heat dashi to 100℉ - good time to chop the scallions and portion the miso into a bowl for mixing.  When the dashi reaches 100℉, ladle 1 cup of dashi into a bowl containing 8 Tbsp of shiro miso and stir/whisk until incorporated - set aside.  Add the white parts of the scallions to the dashi.  When dashi reaches a simmer, add the clams.  When the clams are open, add the miso (making sure the dashi NEVER boils after adding miso - it can get gritty and you will kill all the crazy health benefits of miso!) - after a minute or 2, toss in the chopped scallion greens, simmer for a minute or 2 and then kill the heat and serve!  

Now ... what would I do different?  Not much - mostly has to do with the clams! :)

Specifically? MORE!  I love clams - 24 didn't seem like enough!  But in my smaller pot, those 24 clams were a bit crowded - I would use a much bigger pot!  I would do everything the same until the clams opened - I would remove them from the pot when they are open, continue with the directions above without them, remove them all from their shells and then add the shucked clams back in at the very end, just to make sure they are heated through.  With these changes you will have more clams and less hassle dealing with shells.  Don't get me wrong, the shells look pretty in the soup and I might leave a few for presentation.  

The clam miso soup I had in Tokyo used really teeny tiny clams - not sure what they were, but if I come across teensy clams, I would absolutely try this recipe using those!

Quart sized mason jars are perfect for storing dashi and miso soup!  

Croquettes

I am dreaming of the karokke we had in Japan - looks like this site can make those dreams come true!

https://washoku.guide/recipe/2141375

Tonkatsu Ramen

After our trip to Japan, I returned to Japanese cooking!  How could I not?  We have been CRAVING Japanese food since we returned and after having the real thing, many of the Japanese restaurants we thought were fine before our trip are just disappointing now.  The only answer is to make it myself!

There IS a really good ramen place in Livingston, but I found this technique discussion and recipe while tooling around the internet and I have been inspired!

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/02/rich-and-creamy-tonkotsu-ramen-broth-from-scratch-recipe.html

I get weirdly anxious about volume measurements and always worry I am going to wreck the whole thing with a bad ratio.  Even things like "baseball sized" and walnut sized are helpful, but weights leave little to chance. I came across this site and knew it was the cure for my demand for precision in an imprecise world:

Ingredient Equivalents 

Red pepper – 1/2 cup diced – 3 ounces = 1/4 pepper

Yellow pepper – 1/2 cup diced – 3 ounces = 1/4 pepper

A large pepper is about 6.5 ounces

A smaller pepper like a poblano is 3 ounces 

Small onion – 3.5 ounces whole

Small onion = 3 ounces = 2/3 cup

Medium onion – 5.5 ounces whole

Medium onion – 1 cup diced – 4.5 ounces

Large onion – 8 ounces whole

Large onion – 1 1/4 cup diced – 7 ounces

1 medium shallot = 1 ounce = 1/4 cup mince

1 large shallot = 2 ounce = 1/2 cup mince

1 rib celery = 2 ounces = 1/2 cup dice

1 small carrot 2 ounces = 1/3 cup dice

1 medium carrot = 3 ounces = 1/2 cup dice

1 large carrot = 4 ounces = 3/4 cup dice

10 mushrooms = 4 ounces

1 medium tomato = 4 ounces

1 ear of corn makes about 1.5 cups kernels

1 medium spear asparagus = 1/2 ounce

1 19 ounce can black beans = 2 cups

1 medium leaf napa cabbage = 1 ounce

4 cups arugula = 5 ounces

1 Tbsp. pine nuts = 10 grams

1 Tbsp. minced ginger = 3/8 ounce

1 lb. Mussels in shell = 3.5 ounces cooked and shucked

1 lime juiced = 1/4 cup lime juice

1 medium beet = 8 ounces

15 ounce can garbanzos = 1 1/5 cups

8 ounce tomato seeded = 5 ounces

1/2 cup diced pickle = 2.5 ounces

1 medium banana = 1/2 cup mashed

1/4 cup wasabi peas = 1 ounce

Cream Cheese Cookies

i had exactly 5 oz of cream cheese after making the velvet pound cake so I searched for recipes to use it up. This sounded tasty and easy: Cream Cheese Cookies

Cream Cheese Cookies

Ingredients

5 oz cream cheese, soft
3 oz cup butter, soft
8 oz cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
8 oz all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325F and prepare a baking pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and the cream cheese. Slowly, mix in sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy. Finally, beat in the egg, the vanilla extract and the salt.

In a small bowl, mix together the baking powder and the flour and slowly add them to the cream cheese mixture.

Spoon the batter onto the baking pan. Bake at 325F for 12-14 minutes, or until the bottom edge just barely turns brown.

Baking Tip: Make sure you do not over bake them. When the bottom edge starts to turn brown they still seem not cooked at all on top but they actually are! After 10 minutes I usually move them on a higher rack in the oven.

Makes about 30 cookies.

Raspberry Popsicles

Recipe from People's Pops - it's fantastic!  Such amazing flavor and leaving the seeds in gave it a great texture.

1 lb raspberries - I was lucky enough to score mine at the farmers market!
9 fl oz. simple syrup

That's it!

Nordic Ware!!!

I've always kind of loved it - the molds are so intricate and detailed and shouldn't baked goods look as good as they taste?  Nordic Ware makes that so!

It's not cheap and thus I didn't own any until recently.  Scott found me the Sweetheart Rose muffin pan while he was poking around the bargain box, I found a great price on the Grand Popover pan and when I saw a good price on the Harvest Bites Cakelet Pan I grabbed it.

King Arthur Flour seemed to have a nice result using their Velvet Poundcake recipe, so I think I will start with that recipe.

Be sure to read the article on the King Arthur site to get their notes.

This pound cake — a rich dark brown outside, with a fine, golden crumb — is the perfect base for sliced fruit and a dollop of whipped cream.

The recipe is for pound cake, but can be used to make cakelets/mini muffins.  Bake the acorns for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the nuts comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for about 2 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

• 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3-ounce package cream cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 5 eggs

Directions

1. 1) In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and cream cheese, at high speed, until they're very light and fluffy. Add the salt, sugar, flour, and baking powder, and mix to combine; the batter will be stiff. Add the extracts, and 1 egg. Beat well. Continue to add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg is added; the finished batter should be extremely light and fluffy.
2. 2) Spoon the batter into a greased 9" x 5" loaf pan. Bake the cake in a preheated 325°F oven for 90 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil after 60 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan to cool on a rack. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature; store it well-wrapped at room temperature.