It was served with a bowl of miso soup but I didn’t take a photo of that.

The aubergine was scored and baked in the oven wrapped in tin foil until soft. For the dengaku sauce I used:

2 tbsp awase miso (awase: mix of white and red miso)
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sweetener (like agave or rice syrup)

You add these three ingredients to a frying pan and stir until them with a rubber spatula until the sauce has become thick and shiny. Then spread on the baked aubergine, sprinkle with sesame seeds and the not so traditional dill, though I think it gives it a wonderful flavour.

For the ganmodoki:

400g firm tofu
1 tbsp potato starch
1 tsp salt
+
2 shiitake mushrooms
half a carrot
1 tbsp hijiki seaweed
200ml water to make dashi stock
1 tbsp shoyu
1 tbsp mirin

Place the shiitake mushrooms in 200ml water and soak for a few hours, then remove the mushrooms from the water. Soak the seaweed in cold water for about 20 mins to half an hour when it should be soft. Cut the stems off the mushrooms and discard, chop the caps finely and do the same with the carrot and seaweed. Then add mirin and shoyu to the water you soaked the mushrooms in and add the vegetables and seaweed. Bring to a boil and simmer until the carrots are soft. Drain the excess water off the tofu and pat dry with a paper towel. Then mash it with your hands in a large bowl, then add the salt and potato starch. When the carrots are soft, strain the vegetables and keep the simmering water as a tasty dip for later. Add the vegetables to the tofu, mix well and form into balls. You can coat the balls in cornflour if you like a very crisp edge. Shallow fry in rice bran oil on both sides until golden. You can them dip them in the simmering broth.

The brussel sprouts were simply cut in half and boiled for about 5 minutes. The ingredients for the peanut sauce are:

2 tbsp peanut butter (100% peanuts)
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp water (you can use less if you like a thicker sauce)

You can omit the mirin if you like or add rice syrup or agave to make slightly sweeter.

The rice is simply brown rice boiled with natto (fermented soya beans) added to it at the end. The quantities I used for two people were 200g rice and 400ml water and two boxes of natto. Then added some gomashio at the end (ground sesame seeds and sea salt) and dusted with red perilla sprinkles.

Every macrobiotic meal (should?) starts with a soup? This was along the lines of an Eastern European borsht with the addition of some brussel sprouts

I really enjoyed the main course today, from bottom centre clockwise: brown rice with chestnuts, mushrooms stuffed with arame seaweed and leeks, butternut squash baked on a bed of leeks and tahini sauce (this and the mushrooms were my absolute favourites), an apple/sauerkraut and carrot salad and finally a kidney bean stew on blanched greens

For dessert we baked some apples with raspberry

Next week.. Glow!

I’ve been trying to organise my training and finding classes to attend to gain more knowledge about vegan cooking and baking and the other day while researching online I found this course organised by Anna at Wholefood Harmony in Golders Green which I signed up for.

She trained at the International Macrobiotic School in Devon which I was planning to study at, however due to the system in which their classes are organised, I decided that wasn’t the best option for me.

The course takes place once a week, over seven weeks in total. The first lessons was all about detoxing and cleansing the body. I took some photos to show you the dishes we prepared.

This is a soup with courgettes, carrots and lots of ginger and lemon juice

The main course consists of, from lef bottom clockwise: oil free cabbage and kale stir-fry, lentils dressed with mustard seeds, garlic and tamari, pot barley with butternut squash and brussel sprouts, a pressed salad of grated daikon and radish and last but not least a lovely cucumber, wakame and orange salad

The pudding was cous cous stewed in apple juice with apple and raisins and dressed with a sugar free jam

And behind the scenes..

I have tried making gnocchi on numerous occasions before and failed every single time, I was perhaps a bit reluctant to believe this but actually the kind of potatoes you use are crucial to preparing this dish. Also as they aren’t labelled as “potatoes for gnocchi” in England, I had a very hard time finding the right ones.

After a bit of research online I found that “red” potatoes can withstand water well and don’t allow too much moisture to penetrate them, which is perfect for gnocchi. If the potatoes get too soggy then the dough won’t hold together and you’ll need to add more flour which may result in the final product being too hard.

I found these babies in Morrisons, they had different varieties of red potatoes but the organic ones looked the best so I got those.

The three simple ingredients you are going to need to make gnocchi are:

1kg of boiled potatoes
300g white flour
a pinch of salt

I actually had just over a kilo in the saucepan and once passed through a potato ricer, I ended up with 765g of potatoes so I adjusted the amount of flour accordingly.

Directions
1. boil the potatoes in water (no salt added)
2. once they have boiled for about 20/25 mins check with a toothpick if the centre of the biggest one is soft. Some of them will have broken down a bit, this is still fine
3. strain them and allow them to cool down for about 10 mins until you can handle them with bare hands
4. peel the skin off each one of them, this should easily come off without having to use a knife
5. then pass them all through the potato ricer into a bowl or floured surface
6. add a pinch of salt and start kneading in the flour by half
7. once the first half of the flour is mixed, knead the rest in
8. form a ball with the dough you obtain and set to rest for about 10 mins
9. take a piece off the ball and roll it out so that it has the shape of a long sausage and cut with a knife
10. you can then press each gnocco gently on a floured fork to give it a pretty ridge
11. bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi
12. stir occasionally so that they don’t stick to each other
13. they cook very fast, so as soon as they float on the water they are ready to be drained

Note: The standard recipe calls for 1kg of potatoes and 300g of flour. However, as this type of potato doesn’t retain much water, I will try adding less flour next time to see if this has an impact on the softness of the dumplings. I have seen recipes that only call for 200g of flour as opposed to 300g, so I’m all up of trying again since I had such a good result this time.

And here is the final product that I dressed with some homemade pesto, that you ideally make with a mortar and pestle but as I do not have one I used my blender. Whizz up one small clove of garlic, one handful of pine nuts (preferably European – the quality is superior to the Chinese ones which also happen to taste different), the leaves of two basil plants, a pinch of sea salt and extra virgin olive oil.

I do not add any nutritional yeast or miso to try and substitute the cheese as this overpowers the flavour of the basil too much. I find that there is enough aroma in those ingredients to make a fantastic pesto without having to add something that mimics the taste of parmesan and pecorino.

Ingredients

For the crust:
200g rich tea biscuits
100g soya margarine

For the cream:
350g firm silken tofu
225g vegan cream cheese
200g sugar
85g bar of dark chocolate x 1
250g peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
1. melt your bar of chocolate in a bain marie over a very slow flame
2. in the meantime blend the tofu with vegan cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract
3. pour out 530g of this in another jug and add 250ml of smooth peanut butter
4. blend very well again until you have a silky smooth cream
5. add the melted chocolate to the original container and blend this as well
6. then make the crust by crushing biscuits in a bowl
7. add the margarine and then work with your hands to ensure the soya butter is completely incorporated
8. transfer in a pie dish (preferably one with a loose bottom) and mould it in with your fingers (mine is quite shallow so I have to take out some of the pb cream to allow room for the chocolate top, but if yours is deeper then you should be okay)
9. pour the peanut butter mix and smooth with a spatula
10. then do the same with the chocolate
11. bake in a preheated oven on gas mark 3/180 degrees Celcius for 30 mins
12. allow to cool and then place it in a fridge where you’ll keep it for a few hours before eating
13. before eating ensure it has been out of the fridge for at least half an hour as this will allow the cream to soften up

Rikyu miso soup

From the bottom left clockwise: sautéd kombu and broccoli stalk, daikon steak with broccoli, baby corn, renkon and gobo chips, spinach with walnut sauce, taro potato mash with miso, radish pickle and rice with mushrooms, ginko nuts, burdock and nori sprinkles

Deep fried tofu ball with daikon and ginger

Matcha tiramisù

With regards to the pastry, her original recipe calls for an egg yolk and a tbsp of water to be added to flour, icing sugar and butter. However, I found that by using vegan margarine, icing sugar and flour you don’t need to add anything else, no extra liquids since the margarine is already very moist as it has a much higher water content than butter which is mostly fat. This is the best pastry I have ever made, not only it was super thin and crispy but also consistency-wise.

Another note I would like to add is that I have never baked my pastry case blind and never had a “soggy bottom” as they call it. I was super impressed with this one especially as it baked evenly and stayed crisp even after cooling overnight. Initially I was rather afraid that the filling wouldn’t set as it was quite liquid, so I let it bake longer which resulted in in a slight ridge of filling caramelising on top of the pastry. Once cooled down completely (overnight is even better) the filling firmed up just right, so that it is still very creamy but not runny therefore I don’t think there is the need to overbake or worry about it. I will nonetheless try making it again and ensure that what I have written is correct. There are also a few cracks, but apart from these minor cosmetic faults, I have to say this was the best tart I have ever made.

Ingredients

For the pastry:
175g plain flour
100g soya margarine
25g icing sugar

For the filling:
325g silken tofu (I used the Nigari Mori-nu: this)
225g caster sugar
125ml soya cream
the juice and zest of 4 UNWAXED lemons
2 tbsp cornflour to help it set
1/4 tsp turmeric to give it a beautiful golden colour

Directions
1. make the pastry by sifting flour and icing sugar in a large bowl
2. add the margarine and mash it down with the help of a fork
3. then work it with one hand until all the margarine has been incorporated nicely and you have a shiny ball of dough
4. wrap it in cling film and place it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 mins while you prepare the filling
5. zest the lemons in a plate
6. then juice them in a bowl or juicer and add this to a jug where you will be liquidising the tofu
7. add the tofu, cream, sugar, turmeric and cornflour
8. liquidise until very smooth and then add the lemon zest
9. get your pastry out of the fridge and dust a clean surface with some white flour (rub some flour on the bottom of the pastry ball
10. then spread some more flour on the top and start pressing it out with a rolling pin. make sure you keep dusting it with a bit of flour to avoid the pastry sticking to the pin
11. once you have reached the shape you need for your tin, check it is a little bigger than its perimeter
12. to transfer the pastry without breaking it, here is a useful tip: dust its top with flour, then fold in two, then dust again and fold again. you can then easily place it in the tin and unfold it (my tin is 25 centimetres wide. I had a bit of pastry left over but the filling was used all)
14. press down the edges around the base of the tin and the sides gently, then trim off the excess pastry with a knife
15. prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork to give it some ventilation and stop it from rising
16. pour in your filling and bake in a preheated oven at 180C/gas mark 4 for about 40/45 minutes
17. make sure you keep checking it and if you notice that the filling starts bubbling, reduce the temperature of the oven to avoid it spilling over on the edges of the pastry

The literal translation of “torta verde” is “green pie” and it does exactly what it says on the tin.. The recipes varies from family to family but I think its base pretty much everywhere around the area I come from is the trombetta courgette which is a quite sweet and long one that we’ve been trying to grow in England. And it’s done surprisingly well considering the weather shock factor. The version I know that seems to take different spins contains courgettes, white onion, rice, eggs, parmesan and basil however some people add beet chards, peas, spinach and other green vegetables. My version is obviously vegan so it has no eggs and parmesan but it is still surprisingly tasty and light.

Ingredients

For the dough:
250g plain flour
120ml water
60ml olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

For the filling:
4 large trombetta courgettes
4 tbsp brown short grain rice
4 tbsp frozen peas
1 handful of basil leaves
2 tbsp golden flax seeds + 8 tbsp water
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp shiro miso

The reason why I use miso is because it really reminds me of the taste of parmesan and as we want something to hold the vegetables together (I didn’t want to use liquidised tofu) I thought I’d give a shot to flax seeds blended with water. For the one you see in the photo, I actually only used 1 tbsp seeds and 4 of water but I feel that it needed more.. Here is a photo of the courgettes finely chopped and of the filling before I added the blended seeds and miso.

Directions
1. start by boiling the rice for about 20 mins otherwise it will not get soft in the oven
2. wash and chop the courgettes finely, chop the onion and add both to a large bowl
3. also add the peas, washed and chopped basil
4. when the rice has softened up, rinse it under cold water to remove the excess heat and starch and add to the vegetables
5. make the dough by adding salt to the flour, mix and add water and oil
6. stir with a fork and then work with your hand
7. blend the seeds with water and 1 tbsp olive oil
8. add the miso and whisk well to dissolve
9. add the mixture to the vegetables
10. take a piece off the dough to make the top of the pie and stretch the remainder with a rolling pin on a pre-floured surface (this will prevent it from sticking to the counter and pin) and carefully place it in the pie dish
11. prick with the end of a fork
12. add the seed/miso/oil emulsion to the vegetables and mix well
13. lay the vegetables mix in the pie dish and flatten with a spoon
14. cut the excess dough from the side
15. stretch the top part of the pie again on a pre-floured surface and carefully transfer on top of the vegetables
16. join both perimetres of the dough together to seal off the pie
17. bake in a pre-heated oven between 30 and 40 mins at 180C or gas mark 4

Anyway, these are fresh courgette flowers from our garden in Peckham. We’ve been trying to grow a variety local to my hometown called “trombetta” which is a long and thin courgette with a very sweet flavour. For anyone interested in finding out what they look like, you can click here. They are normally stewed or used in pies such as the famous “torta verde” (green pie) which I am eager to prepare as soon as they’ll have fruited.

Ingredients
About 6 large flowers
160ml cold sparkling water
130g plain flour
a good pinch of salt
a pinch of baking powder
sunflower oil for frying

Directions
1. wash the flowers to remove any dirt or dead insects
2. make the batter by sifting the flour, salt, baking powder in a bowl
3. pour the sparkling water in and whisk it very well to remove all lumps
4. dip the flowers in the batter and fry in hot oil until golden brown

As you can see above the batter needs to be bubbly and quite thick.
I can’t tell you how delicious and delicate they are. A real treat!

I have also tried being a bit more creative and illustrative to show you more of what I used when I made this dish.

INGREDIENTS

1 litre of filtered water + 250ml to soak mushrooms
3 large pieces of kombu seaweed (I think this should be the equivalent of a little less than one sheet as it comes in its package – I use a lot of this because I like a more flavoursome stock)
6 dry shiitake mushrooms
2 carrots
a good bunch of fresh spinach
2 x 40g packs of natto
1 tbsp shoyu soya sauce
1 large tbsp of your favourite miso (I normally use the Shinshu variety – the photo is of a bag of Inaka miso which I use from time to time because it has too strong a flavour for me)

DIRECTIONS

1. soak the kombu in 1 litre of cold water for about an hour
2. boil the 200ml water and soak the mushrooms in it for about 30 mins (place them in a small bowl and put a lid on it or plate so that the heat is retained)
3. wash the spinach and carrots
4. chop them up as you prefer and put them aside
5. sieve the kombu stock in a large pot and place the carrots in it
6. in the meantime remove the stems from the mushrooms, chop them lengthwise and then place them in the saucepan together with their soaking water
7. open the packs of natto and mash it up in a bowl (see last thumbnail photo.) if you have a mortar and pestle then you can easily do this. mash it up until it’s very gooey
8. when the carrots are almost soft, add the spinach and simmer until wilted
9. then turn off the heat and add the miso. you can easily do this by melting it inside a sieve and stirring it with a spoon. this ensures that you don’t have any lumps in it. otherwise using a ladle, scoop out some stock and melt in there before adding it to the saucepan.
10. finally add the natto, stir well and serve
11. you can sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on the soup to garnish