Breakfast, November 21, 2011

Before we pick up our turkey and start preparing dishes for Thanksgiving dinner, we need to create more space in the fridge and freezer. Space-taking lettuce and mizuna, leftover cooked dried daikon radish, and fish marinated in miso will be gone with this breakfast.

• Steamed rice with toasted sesame seeds
• Miso soup with daikon radish, carrot, gobo burdock root and chanterelle mushrooms, topped with sliced green onion
• Tamagoyaki omelet with dried daikon radish
• Gindara no saikyozuke / black cod marinated in saikyomiso
• Mizuna to usuage no karashiae / mizuna and thin deep-fried tofu in mustard dressing
• Retasu itame oisutaasoosu gake / sauteed lettuce with oyster sauce

It has been cold lately, in the 20s Fahrenheit in the morning, and I feel like I might catch a cold at night. Need more vegetables! The seafood chowder Tom made last night was wonderful as usual, and his bread is improving every time he bakes. What's missing is vegetables, especially those in season.

Mizuna here is a purple-leaf version from Nash's Organic Produce. Its leaves feel somehow tough when fresh, but they tasted just like regular mizuna when cooked. When blanching, it imparts a beautiful bluish purple color to the boiling water, and darker liquid emerges when squeezing out extra water, making food preparation colorful and exciting. But it also made me wonder if it would stain some of my ceramic bowls that are not completely sealed.

Tom didn't really like tamagoyaki with dried daikon radish in it. Hmm... I'll try again, but with less daikon, and perhaps add black pepper. He might like it that way. Always keep trying.

A warm breakfast is good fuel for the day.