© OLD SAGE HANDS

Archive for the ‘Food, Glorious Food’ Category

Shopping for Japanese Food

In Food, Glorious Food on February 18, 2020 at 11:04 am
Pictured from L to R: gobo, sato emo, daikon, napa.

Pictured from back, L to R: gobo, sato emo, daikon and napa.

Whenever I get the chance, I like to go shopping for Japanese groceries with my friend and neighbour Nori.

As a person of mixed Japanese Canadian (JC) heritage, I’ve had a more traditional upbringing in terms of exposure to the foods, language and culture of Japan–but that’s not the case for many JCs.

Although I like to eat and cook Japanese food, I know the two aren’t necessarily interchangeable for others. In our family, not everyone knows how to prepare certain traditional dishes, those long-time staples we grew up on.

And don’t worry, if you don’t recognize specific ingredients in their raw states. For example, you may have eaten some of my favourite vegetables before: from gobosato emo to the mainstream daikon (white radish) and napa (Chinese cabbage). You may have simply walked right by them in the grocery store and not known what they were or how to cook them.

Napa (Chinese cabbage) and daikon (white radish) can be found in almost any grocery store these days, and often are actually called by their Japanese names. Great in stir-fries and salads, they make for hearty fare year-round.

Gobo, also known as burdock, is a fantastic root vegetable – after you peel off the woody skin, it’s amazing sliced into small sticks and fried with sesame chilli oil. As kids, we used to call sato emo “hairy potatoes” since they’re a type of starchy potato sometimes referred to as eddo root or eddoes, and are from the same family as taro. Easy-to-find in Asian supermarkets, they’re a bit tougher to locate elsewhere but worth grabbing if you happen to stumble upon them. Delicious in stews, they’re also a mainstay in savoury Japanese cabbage pancakes known as okonomiyaki. 

Happy shopping!

 

It’s 2019!

In Food, Glorious Food on January 1, 2019 at 2:36 pm

Akemashite Omedetou – Happy New Year! Wishing everyone health, wealth and happiness in the new year ahead.

mikoshi

Love these mikoshi-themed (portable shrine) napkins!

2019NYD

For our traditional new year’s day festivities, we’ve made (clockwise from top): matcha mochi, red rice, vegan Peking duck wraps and fried daikon.

 

Happy 2018!

In Food, Glorious Food on January 1, 2018 at 2:48 pm

Happy New Year! Akemashite omedetou. Time for more eating of classic staples in three-tiered box: azuki gohan, organic kale and gobo, fried daikon and black beans. Plus, a soon-to-be new favourite of Peking-style jackfruit rice wraps. Enjoy!

Roasted Ratatouille

In Food, Glorious Food, Recipes on March 1, 2017 at 1:15 pm

Even though the days are starting to get warmer, during these winter months nothing quite satisfies like real comfort foods: hearty stews, casseroles and roasts. They’re easy to make and allow you to cook in bulk, which can be a budget-friendly addition to your cooking rep. Let your stove do the work for you on cold nights as you cosy up in front of the TV. Just remember to set the timer at commercial intervals, so you’re reminded to stir or check on your master creations, and prepare to be the dinner hero time and time again!

Here’s my take on the classic ratatouille dish. Roasting it in the oven brings out a delicious sweetness in the vegetables.

roastveg

Roasted Ratatouille

Ingredients

2                                  small eggplants, chopped

3                                  red peppers, chopped, seeds removed

1                                  large onion, chopped

2                                  celery stalks, chopped

1                                  can chickpeas, rinsed (398 ml)

1                                  can tomato paste (156 ml), plus water

¼ cup                         sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

2                                  cloves garlic (2-3 tsp) minced

avocado or coconut oil

salt & pepper, balsamic vinegar to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 400° C. Prepare roasting pan with a light coating of avocado oil or non-stick spray. Wash and chop organic vegetables. Starting with eggplant, toss with 2-3 tbsp avocado oil, and roast about 15-20 mins. Eggplant will start to soften, shrink and brown.

Stir in peppers, onion and celery. If eggplant has soaked up all oil, toss with another tbsp or two of oil, roast another 20 mins. Vegetables should be starting to brown.

Add rinsed chickpeas, tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes and garlic. Fill the empty tomato paste can with filtered water and mix it into vegetables. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Roast another 15-20 mins. More water can be added at this stage if vegetables look dry. Continue roasting until vegetables are fully cooked and have golden brown skins. Serve with cooked basmati rice, couscous or grain. Can also be added to pasta sauces or used as a topping on bread or pizza.

 

Curry in a Hurry

In Food, Glorious Food, Recently Reviewed, Recipes on February 20, 2017 at 12:00 pm

While we love Indian food, if you’ve ever made curry from scratch you know, it can be a long, time-consuming process. To cut corners, I sometimes use ready-made sauces but it’s really hard to find prepackaged ones that not only taste good but are organic, not to mention vegan, gluten-free and nut-free.

For the most part, I find that store-bought sauces or mixes often need a bit of embellishment to make them more flavourful – so I end up having to add a ton of spices just to make them palatable. How happy I was to recently discover a new line of sauces that step up to the challenge! These sauces are made in small batches and are full of flavour on their own.

Ingredients

3          large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1          small cauliflower, chopped

1          large onion, diced

1          can chickpeas, rinsed (398 ml)

2          cloves garlic (2-3 tsp) minced

1          jar (485 ml) Perfect Chef Veg Curry

avocado or coconut oil

salt & pepper

Slower Method

Chop potatoes into bite-size pieces. Boil in salted water about 15 mins., until tender. Drain and set aside. While potatoes are boiling, heat oil in large Dutch oven or heavy pot with lid, add chopped onions and sauté on medium heat about 5 mins. Mix in garlic and cauliflower. Cover with lid and allow cauliflower to steam about 5-10 mins.

Once cauliflower has started to soften, stir in chickpeas and cooked potatoes. Add sauce and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper. If curry is too thick, add a small amount of water or unsweetened non-dairy milk (soy, rice, coconut or almond milk work well for a creamier sauce) to desired consistency.

Replace lid and continue cooking, stirring regularly, until sauce beings to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 mins., until all vegetables are heated through. Serve with cooked basmati rice and flatbread or naan. Enjoy!

Make ahead tips:

The trick is to make parts of this meal ahead of time. Any prep you can do beforehand will cut down your overall cooking time.

Some suggestions:

-Boil the potatoes as above. Drain. Cool and store for later use.

-Wash and chop cauliflower, then store in container until ready to use. Or while you are boiling the potatoes, toss cauliflower with oil until lightly coated and roast in oven at 400°C for about 15 mins., until lightly browned. Cool and store for later use.

-Prechop garlic and store in a small amount of oil (or cheat and buy minced garlic).

-Sauté onions in oil until lightly browned.

Speedy Method

If all or most of your ingredients are cooked and ready to go, it’s a quick and simple assembly. Simply heat oil in Dutch oven, add onions and stir in garlic. Mix in cooked potatoes, roasted cauliflower, chickpeas and sauce. Season with salt and pepper and simmer 10-15 minutes until all vegetables are heated thoroughly.


Disclosure Notice: We participate in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program, which earns fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites. Our participation does not influence our content decisions but helps to offset the costs involved in maintaining this website.

Tiny Tomatoes

In Food, Glorious Food, Recipes on January 12, 2017 at 4:30 pm

Although organic cherry tomatoes tend to be plentiful during the summer, I noticed them on sale in late fall and more recently before and after Christmas – so I had to buy a few containers. We like to use sun-dried tomatoes on pizza, in pasta, sauces and other dishes but it’s not always easy to find organic ones and they can be expensive. Why not roast your own? This recipe is super easy to make and has more flavour than any store-bought variety I’ve ever had. When I made bruschetta with them, it was gobbled up in a flash.

inbowl

Oven-Roasted Organic Cherry Tomatoes

Ingredients

30 oz               organic cherry tomatoes (3 small containers/284 g each)

4                      cloves organic garlic, chopped

4                      bay leaves

8 oz                 organic olive oil  (250 ml)

salt, ground pepper, dried thyme to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 250° C. Wash tomatoes and slice in half. Arrange cut side up on tray. Season with salt and pepper. Roast about 2 hours until shrivelled. Cool.

Mix oil, garlic, bay leaves and thyme in bowl. Stir in cooled tomatoes to cover. Enjoy!

If you’re not eating them right away, place in a sealed container in the fridge. Oil will solidify, which can make it more spreadable for some dishes. Otherwise, if you want it to liquefy, let it come back to room temperature.

 

Happy New Year!

In Food, Glorious Food on January 1, 2017 at 4:03 pm

It’s that annual celebration day – for 2017…a day of feasting and connecting with family and friends.

My three-tiered bento box is ready to go, tied in a festive red furoshiki. I’ve made (clockwise from top) red rice, chap chae, green beans and sengiri daikon. For dessert, which tastes better than it looks, I’ve made a plum cake topped with minced candied ginger. Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

Perfect Pansies

In Food, Glorious Food, In the Garden on May 7, 2016 at 11:08 am

What’s not to love about these tiny, perfect pansies just harvested from the garden? This year, we found a bumper crop growing in different clumps in the back garden, so it seemed like a great time for a gathering.

wildpansy-1

Many people enjoy them fresh in salads and desserts. You can even buy them crystallized to use as pretty decorations on fancy cakes or sandwich loafs. Although you usually need to go to a specialty store to find them…they tend to be expensive, and since most are done with whipped egg whites and sugar – they aren’t vegan. Why not make your own?

Our bunnies love to eat fresh herbs so I thought I’d give them one each to try. No surprise when neither hesitated for a moment — it was just grab and gobble them down. It’s so easy to simply wash and dry them on a baking sheet for later use.

Happy New Year!

In Food, Glorious Food on January 1, 2015 at 1:25 pm

newyearsAkemashite Omedeto Gozaimashite- 2015! On the menu (clockwise from top right): Candy Soybeans, Red Rice, Okonomiyaki (Cabbage & Potato Pancakes), Karinto (rice crackers), Gobo & Tofu Salad (Burdock).

Say Hello to Strawberry Season

In Food, Glorious Food, Recipes on June 4, 2014 at 2:39 pm

crumbleMy husband visited a strawberry farm earlier the other day so when I arrived home I discovered he had plunked two containers of fresh strawberries on the counter that needed tending to. Strawberries are one of the fruits that can be quite toxic, so always go for organic. Although I don’t always list “organic” as part of my ingredient list to save space (and I’m a lazy typist), it’s always implied as you’d be hard pressed to find non-organic ingredients in my home!

Now I’ve never made crumbles before and didn’t realize it was so easy! Apparently the trick is to not over mix the crumble part. I literally just threw this together on the fly and was quite pleased with the results. Perhaps it was beginners luck.

 

Vegan Strawberry-Coconut Crumble

Ingredients

3 cups                              fresh strawberries, roughly chopped

 

Mix together

3 tbsp                                 coconut sugar

3 tsp                                   vanilla

3 tsp                                   water

 

Mix together

4 oz                                    whole wheat or gluten-free flour

1 ½ tsp                              baking powder

2 tbsp                                 coconut sugar

4 tbsp                                 shredded coconut

4 oz                                     rolled oats

4 oz                                     coconut oil (melted)

 

Method

Chop strawberries and line bottom of baking or casserole dish. Mix sugar, vanilla and water together until sugar dissolves. Pour over berries. Mix flour, baking power, sugar, coconut and oats with fork until blended. Add melted coconut oil and stir until crumble forms being careful not to over mix. Top berries with mixture and bake in preheated 350°F oven until crumble is browned and fruit is bubbling. Approx. 20 mins. Enjoy!