January 30, 2012: “Letters From Iwo Jima”

I believe that as we get older we have an obligation to become better persons. In youth, we can play the “inexperience card” and mostly get away with it, but as adults, we all know better. We’ve lived life enough to know what is expected of us, we’ve committed those indiscretions of youth and hopefully have learned from them. We should carry the obligation to become better at everything we do, until time robs us of that ability.

How very interesting to have lived enough to observe an individual’s growth from the world of entertainment. Like most young American men of my generation, I was fond of the older films of Clint Eastwood. I think the overt macho, rugged individual-hero male roles he played back then, acted as some kind of weird cultural catharsis to most young men struggling with their own identity in the 70-80′s. Once and a while, I take one of these films out and honestly, now they fall a bit flat. I hope that shows my own personal growth.

I think the choices Mr. Eastwood has made the last few years reflect his own personal growth as well. I adored “Forgiven” when it came out in 1992. Will Money’s anti-hero, struggling with his bad past, trying to become a better person, was just pitch-perfect. I also liked “Gran Torino” (possibly Clint’s last acting role) which showed him as the tough and bigoted lone man, reminiscent of his earlier roles, but also showed a depth of his character as he grows to learn about and care for, the Cambodian family living next door.

I think that consideration of the “other” is also shown in Clint’s production of “Letters From Iwo Jima” which was made back-to-back with the American story of that particular conflict: “Flags of Our Father’s.” “Letters From Iwo Jima” is told from the Japanese side. With that in mind, many Americans will find “LFIJ” to be  bit uncomfortable, as it shows Americans as the invaders. Americans, in this story, are literally the “other.” Iwo Jima, in 1944 may have been a worthless volcanic piece of rock, but it was Japanese soil and this conflict was the Allies first incursion into Japan, proper. A vicious battle, Iwo Jima claimed 40,000 killed or injured men on both sides. I’ve seen some commenters labeling “LFIJ” as “revisionist” saying how evil and vicious the Japanese were during WWII. I have a first-hand account from a much-loved and trusted American man (now passed on) that atrocities were committed on both sides during this conflict. I know that is hard to hear, but I also know it to be the truth.

Although there are a number of interesting side characters in “LFIJ” the main stories surround commanding General Kuribashi (played very well by Ken Wantanabe) and reluctant baker-turned-soldier Saigo (played equally well by Japanese pop-star Kazunari Ninomiya.) The beginning of the film sets these characters well, as the “Letters’ reveal Kuribashi’s concern (at the eve of the battle of his life) to his wife that he didn’t have time to lay the kitchen floor, while Saigo writes of his concern to his wife that the hole he is digging might well be his own grave.

The story continues on. As always I don’t want to give too much away, but one caveat: this IS a war film. War is men at their worst (and rarely and remarkably, men at their best!)  Mr. Eastwood does not shy away from any viewpoint, much to his credit. I’m not so sure that “Letters From Iwo Jima” is history, per se, but it’s damn good cinema.

One lesson that “Letters From Iwo Jima” brings up is one very familiar to me;
“Do what is right because it is right.” This is pretty safe ground for me. But, the film also raises one question that continues to haunt me:  ”In war, do you follow your own convictions…or your country’s?”

January 25, 2012: “Fox” Noodles

The Japanese name for this dish is kitsune soba or “Fox Noodles.” Soba is a buckwheat noodle popular in Japanese cooking. This is a completely vegetarian dish the way I make it. What it makes it “foxy” is that supposedly, the fox’s favorite food is a thin, fried strip of tofu. With the tofu is blanched spinach, the soba, pieces of scallion, Japanese spices, all in a hearty, yet light broth called dashi. Kitsune Soba is a popular but inexpensive dish, in Japan. I have altered it slightly, by making a more vegetarian version of dashi and making the tofu thicker. This combines two of my favorite dishes: age dashi dofu or fried tofu in broth with my own dish Spinach-Noodle Salad. Kitsune Soba is a bit more work than my Spinach-Noodle dish, but is well worth the effort, plus you get a warm and tasty broth that is perfect for a cold Winter’s day.

Fried Tofu:  Wash a block of firm tofu and press under a weight and a plate on a slanted board in the sink. The object is to remove as much H2O as you can. Cut the block in half, then each into thirds. You should end up with 18 thin-ish pieces. Double-roll each piece in potato or corn starch. [What I mean by "double-roll" is roll the pieces of tofu once in the starch, wait a few seconds, then roll again.] Remove rolled pieces to another plate (if you leave it in the starch, the remaining moisture in the tofu will turn you starch into glue.) I DO NOT deep fry the pieces and here’s why: if any of the pieces touch each other during cooking they will stick to one another. I have more control by frying them in a non-stick pan, in corn oil and keep a butter knife handy to separate pieces that DO touch (Oh, and they will.) Turn pieces to cook all sides. Transfer to a paper towel. Cool at room temperature. All this is a tad fussy, but again…it’s worth it.

Dashi is a thin, but hearty broth used in many Japanese dishes. It is traditionally made with bonito flakes and kombu, a Japanese kelp. I’m fine with the kelp, but due to that I am a vegetarian and that I have raised fish, I can’t, for the life of me stop equating bonito flakes with fish food. I like my untraditional, but tasty recipe for dashi.

Vegetarian Dashi:  Bring 1 Qt. H2O to a boil. As it approaches boiling add 4 medium-sized dried shiitake mushroom. I got a whole bunch of gourmet goods from my former student, Regan, for Christmas. One (of many) things she gave me was an assortment of dried mushrooms. I threw 2 Oyster Mushrooms in as well. To the H2O I also added 2 pieces of 6″ kombu; 1, 6″ piece of each wakame and smoked dusle. When the H2O comes to boil, remove mushrooms and cut in half. Return to stock. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1/2 hour. Strain veggies from stock and return to medium heat. Add 2 Tblsp. each mirin and shoyu. Leave cover off and reduce until 1/3rd stock is gone. While the stock is reducing, make the spinach and noodles.

Spinach and Noodles:  In 2 Qts. H2O add a pinch of sal de mer a couple drops of  oil. When, H2O comes to boil, add I bag of baby spinach and blanch for no more than 2 minutes. Remove to strainer with a slotted spoon (but KEEP H2O.) Rinse under cold H2O until you can handle the spinach and squeeze H2O from it. Place on a paper towel. Add soba noodles to boiling H2O. Cook no more than 4 minutes (they should be al dente if they call it anything close to that in Japanese.) Strain. Add cold H2O to arrest cooking.

Chop the very end of the green end off 1 bunch rinsed scallions. Chop small pieces of green end and save these pieces. Remove root from white part and put these (you should have about 2: of white part) in the simmering dashi for about two minutes. Add spinach and noodles to dashi. Just before serving, add fried tofu (you want tofu to be still crispy…not soggy…yet to soak in the dashi. Serve with shoyu and top with furiake and green scallion pieces.

Mmmmm…Writing this up, makes me want more! I’m going back for seconds!

January 12, 2012: “Bravehearts”

Yes. William Wallace was brave enough, he would've munched a bunch!!! Er...IF cranberries and edamame grew in Scotland!

Having run through my Christmas reading for the year, and in a bit of a post-Holiday funk “whatever” mood I reached out for the nearest book, which happened to be “Braveheart.” One really can’t go wrong reading about a Celtic hero, especially when it was one that actually lived, however fictionalized the account. At the same time, I was developing this recipe. The connection? As I was working this up, I thought no one would  be quite “brave” enough to actually serve it, as it is way weird (but very good) so I have nicknamed this snack “Bravehearts.” Also, the title “Only the Brave with a lot of time on their hand” was too long. So, you will have to brave and be patient with this one, but trust me…it’s a winner!

It all started when I went out for a snack at the grocery store. I was looking for something that was healthy, tasty, and somewhat neat. I ended up finding some roasted edamame with dried fruit. This commercial snack had a decent taste, but was dry as bones! One gripe I have with a lot of health food manufacturers is that they sometimes make things too healthy. I hope you all find each of my creations to be healthy, but I will NEVER sacrifice taste to make it so! This snack had promise, so I wanted to re-make it to get it closer to what it should have been.

OK. So this snack is “Roasted Edamame and Craisins.” Now, before you all start saying “Whaaaat” like that cute little minion in “Despicable Me” remember it’s all about bravery (and a bit of trust…and a smidge of patience.) Since I would never ask you to do something that I wouldn’t do, I’m showing my bravery that I have borrowed off another real-life Celtic hero: my friend Pam. She runs her food blog “Feral Homemaking” and she has consistently done what none of us other foodbloggers does: she posts her successes and her failures! Borrowing a page from Pam’s book, and since this was the first time I made this, I will show you what I did vs what I should have done to make this a perfect snack!

“Bravehearts” (Roasted Edamame and Craisins):

Boil two packages of Frozen Edamame (1 Lb.each) in about 2 Qts. H2O. A pinch of baking soda in the H2O will keep the edamame green. Don’t bother with the salt in the H2O, salt comes later. You are really just blanching the edamame to soften the frozen pod, in order to de-pod, so boil no more than two minutes. Strain edamame and immerse in cold H2O, several times to cool. Strain. Here’s where the patience comes in: you have to de-pod the edamame to get the pea-like soy bean inside. There are usually two, sometimes three peas to a pod. This takes time. Put on some music or pop in a movie (Hey! Why not “Braveheart?”) Mulch the pods in your compost. The worms will love you. Rinse the edamame peas. Drain. Dry on paper towels if your patience has not waned at this point. Mix edamame with 1/4 Tsp. Olive Oil and a little bit (1/2 Tsp.) fine sal de mer. On parchment covering a cookie sheet (foil is too conductive and will roast too fast) roast in oven, turning edamame often.

What I did: I roasted the edamame in a 325°F oven for an hour. Tasting them then, they were perfect when warm (half the snack never made it to the finish, they were so tasty.) Out of the oven…heaven! What I noticed is that when they were cool, they were too spongey, indicating that there was too much H2O in the pea still. I put them in for another half-hour. These were crunchy when cool, but were too brown (I wanted a more green edamame.)

What I should have done: Roast the edamame at a lower temperature (275°F) for about an hour and 15 minutes. This should keep them green but allow the moisture out of the pea. Make sure the edamame is crunchy when cool.

Mix with craisins. Serve. Enjoy! Some guests will balk when you tell them what this snack is. That’s OK. More for the brave. You don’t have to do it for Scotland or anything, just give “Bravehearts” a shot and cry “Freeeedooooommm” from boring snacks! [Sorry, guys...I couldn't resist...it was too easy!]