Repost: Kabocha Soup

It is finally hoodie weather, well, at least in the morning. Time for kabocha. I posted this one in 2009 so it is time to make sure everyone knows about it. It is so easy and satisfying on a cold day.

 

Kabocha Soup

Serves two.

1/4 kabocha, peeled and chopped

1/4-1/2 small onion, diced

a little oil

1 chicken bullion cube (vegetable also tastes great and makes this a vegan recipe)

2 cups water

fresh ground pepper to taste

milk or soy milk, optional

In a soup pot, saute the onion in the oil until transparent. Add the kabocha, bullion cube and water.  Simmer until the kabocha is cooked – it should break in half when you put a fork in it. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a bit.  Puree everything using a blender, food processor or immersion blender.  Reheat if necessary. This will be on the thick side.  You can thin it with water or milk/soy milk/cream if desired.

Additive Free Miso

I make my own miso, so I haven’t bought any in years. I was surprised to learn that not all miso still has a live bacterial culture. Some of it has flavoring and additives. Last time I went to the supermarket I snapped some pictures of the ones that were still living and are additive free. As an aside, I didn’t see any that were one or the other.

What to look for:

生 (nama)- live (as in live culture)
無添加 (mutenka) – additive free
酵母が生きている (koubo ga ikiteiru) – the yeast is living
生詰 or 生詰め (namatzume) – “packed with life”, as in the culture is still alive

Note: the miso I make has three ingredients soy beans, rice malt and salt. Some misos will have barley as well.

Taco Night Cooking Class

After a summer break I am going to be back at Serendipity Cafe for another season of workshops. If you would like to see the schedule for September to December for both Serendipity and my new cooking school Akiya Kitchen, click here.

Come join me on September 28th for taco night. In the class we will be making tortillas, guacamole and all the fillings. If you are gluten free we can do lettuce wraps instead of tortillas.

Date: September 28th

Time: 4-7pm

Place: Serendipity Cafe in Chigasaki

Cost: 3000 yen per person (includes dinner)

Sign up: http://www.akiyakitchen.com/class-sign-up/ 

Lemon Yogurt Cake

The other day I wanted to make a cake on a whim. The problem was that I didn’t have any milk or much butter in the house. That is usually a problem. I remembered that you can bake with yogurt so I gave Pinterest a little look. The second recipe I clicked on looked like a winner. It was. It is a nice moist lemon cake. With the sugar reduction, it would not be too sweet for most people here. This is definitely going on my recipe list since I usually have all of the ingredients in the house.

Lemon Yogurt Cake Modifications

Get the original recipe here.

• I used 200ml cups instead of American sized cups
• I added 2/3c of sugar to the cake instead of 1c. The amount in the icing remained the same
• I used meyer lemons
• I used regular full fat yogurt instead of low fat Greek yogurt

Fall 2014 Cooking Class Schedule

Just a quick note to let you know that the cooking class schedule for fall 2014 is up. I have some holiday specific classes and other yummy delights.

You will notice that I’ve added a new location for classes. I have opened a cooking school in the Akiya area of Yokosuka. For more information, check out my website here.