Ethnic Confusion. AKA Marindian, or in other words, Avatar's. I have been here a few times, but not recently. Paul and I wanted to have a quick but good lunch, and this place came to mind. It was really delightful. Ashok was a most charming and attentive host, and everything was fabulous. Cultures are quite blended here, Marin taste sensibility with the best of Indian cooking. Hmm... another for "A Taste of Terroir"? Although more in spirit than likely much of the goods.

I had a rose petal lassi (yum!) and Paul and I shared a Samosa Plate appetizer.

I had a "Trio of Biriyani". What a blend of tastes! Ground lamb, tofu & vegetables and chicken tenders over basmati rice.

Paul had chicken marinated in yoghurt, and pronounced it quite delicious.

We couldn't resist trying out the ONLY dessert on the menu - Avatar's Dream. Wow, ice cream pie never tasted so good!

I'm it! Now I've got to do my part, then tag four others! Cookiecrumb, over at I'm Mad and I Eat, tagged me for the "Five Things Most People Don't Know About Me" meme.

FIVE THINGS:

1-When I was 7 or 8 years old I fell in love with everything France, and checked out a French/English/French dictionary from the library, and earnestly tried to teach myself French. A dear neighbor heard of my fascination and invited me to dinner when he had a Frenchman who was visiting his company over at his family's. It was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me! My dream of going there was finally fulfilled when I lived in Paris as a student in college.

2-When I was 17 and a student in Japan, I fell completely in love with a classmate who was and still is an artist. I nearly never returned home to the U.S.!

3-In my early 30's I fell in love with a Dutchman who grew up in Belgium, and was glad that I had persisted in learning French so that I could understand the sweet nothings being whispered in my ear in romantic Brussels! I nearly moved there too.

4-I dreamed of attending Julliard's and studied music - learning Madam Butterfly in both Italian and Japanese to make my recording that is part of the application. Didn't go there, but continued studying music, getting an A.A.S. in Music and then changing (another story) my major as a senior (graduating in International Relations) .

5-A couple years ago I flew 13 of my friends as a co-pilot over the Serengeti and to Arusha, Tanzania, as the charter pilot thought my student pilot hours were sufficient to take the controls for most of the flight! I got very nervous flying near an active volcano though and asked him to take back the controls!

Bonus revelation - I'm quite an idealist, and besides volunteering with Global Partners for Development (which is how I ended up in the Serengeti), I also lobby on global hunger and poverty issues with RESULTS, including a stint speaking truth to power at a meeting with World Bank officials a few years ago.

Whew. Now it's my turn to tag, and I choose Catherine, Kalyn, Sra, and Y|O|Y. Last one to post is a rotten egg!

BTW-I'm excited to be going on Sunday to the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco -- sure I'll have some food for blog to post from that next week!

Preview Party. I received a little note in my e-mail from the owners of one of my favorite sushi places, Akira, which had the subject line:

Subject: Sushi 69 in San Anselmo is almost ready!

It was an invitation to a Preview Party for their new San Anselmo restaurant for their long time customers. I've been a fan of Akira's since I first happened upon it, and have been quite a regular over the years because of the inventive and fresh food and happy and welcoming atmosphere.

Hiro Makino, owner and chef, and his lovely wife Hiroko have opened a dream location. The inside of the former "Yahiro" has been completely transformed into an elegant and clean decor with beige padded booths which invite romantic moments.

Hiroko greeted the many friends welcomed to celebrate the new place, inviting us to serve ourselves a drink.

When it looked like all had a drink in hand, we all raised our glasses in a compai and good luck to the new iteration of sushi in San Anselmo. There were SO many friends of the Makinos there, that it was difficult to maneuver and get good angles for photos.

As for the next treats, an array of appetizers were brought out, both sashimi/sushi and hot cooked food. The first to come out was the magnificent sashimi boat.

There was a vast array of rolled sushi filling half of the long sushi counter.

There were rows of nigiri on the other end of the counter.

Around the corner, in one of the more intimate booths were plates of baked pork and spring rolls.

In the next booth, there was edamame, kaarage, and salad ready for choosing. I also enjoyed meeting a friend from Yelp, K. and his daughter Sarah. He sat at our table, and then we discovered the connection - the first time having met in person. He makes fabulous reviews on Yelp, and has fine taste. I told him about my experience making tofu, and he gave me a new tip about what makes the tofu taste naturally sweet - calcium. The trick is finding the right water.

And in the booth next to me, the youngest sushi eater, Riley. It was a fabulous event and the restaurant is looking like a great new addition to Marin's fine food choices. Opens to the public for dinner today.

Taste of Sonoma. I happened upon a yogurt at Mollie Stone's in Larkspur that I used to buy from the San Francisco Ferry Building, and enjoy for lunch and just couldn't resist. It's St. Benoit Yogurt, and it's very local to Sonoma County and the San Francisco Bay area. When I revisited its website, what do I see? References to 'terroir' right up front. Yes, it is unique to Sonoma, and has a wonderful authentic taste. The style is French, but the fresh Sonoma grass comes through in the taste. So I'm offering this as another A Taste of Terroir!

Pt. Reyes Blue Endive Salad. This is my entry for "A Taste of Terroir" being initiated from this very blog. There were a number of ideas I had as Marin is certainly a place that has appreciation for its terroir. I think what tipped the scales in favor of featuring Farmstead Cheese Company's Point Reyes Original Blue cheese was that the company describes on its website how important terroir is to the taste and making of this cheese.

I decided to make a salad featuring this cheese to share.

Pt. Reyes Blue Endive Salad

1/2 endive
1 slice yellow heirloom tomato
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons crumbled Point Reyes Original Blue
Drizzle of organic extra virgin olive oil
Drizzle of white balsamic vinegar
Sea Salt to taste

Assemble the above with the tomato slice as a base, the endive leaves placed artfully in a wheel spokes radiating out from the center of the tomato slice. Sprinkle the walnuts on, then the Point Reyes Original Blue cheese, with a concentrated amount in the center. Drizzle with the oil and vinegar and sea salt to taste. This is a portion for one.

This cheese certainly represents Marin well, and graces the salads of many high end restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area. I hope that you will consider creating a blog post for your corner of the world; I hope to read about some unique foods from locals who love their area. To learn more about how to participate, see this post "A Taste of Terroir".

Lunch with a French Twist. Dad and I stopped by the Left Bank in Larkspur for lunch today and perhaps because of the holiday, it was completely full even at 1:15 p.m. When it was our turn to be greeted in line, a table opened up for us near the fireplace. Dad recalled that we had enjoyed Thanksgiving here a couple of different years, even noting where we sat in the restaurant. I love small victories with his memory!

We enjoyed some "Calamars Frits" as an appetizer. It was a huge portion, better shared by more than two. Would go great with casual drinks at the "American Bar". I looked around for the dipping sauce, there was no little side bowl... but I soon discovered that the sauce was an aioili with a French Dijon twist, lightly circled underneath the calamari. There was also some shoestring fried onions on top for a different combination.

I tried the "Sole Cote d'Azur" which was sole on sautéed spinach, capers, tomatoes, olives niçoises. It was light and delightful.

Dad wanted to go with something tried and true - "'Ze' Hamburger" with 'natural' beef. He enjoyed the burger, and liked the unique way of serving the fries. The Left Bank has been consistently good on our visits, and we have very fond memories of Thanksgivings here.

Using the whole bean. In my previous post today, I chronicled my efforts to make soy milk and tofu for the first time. When you make soy milk, there is a product called 'okara' which is left over -- in my soy maker a little over a cup. The filter cup is in the above photo, as well as the okara left from two batches of soy milk. The okara produced by the home soy milk making process is noticeably wetter than the commercial okara you may find in the Japanese supermarket. To get to the commerical version (one most cited in recipes) you just need to simmer or microwave some of the water off until its a bit more flaky. Okara is low in fat, high in fiber, and also contains protein (17% of the original bean), calcium, iron and riboflavin. Okara is often used in making veggie burgers. In fact the nutritional profile for okara, per 100 grams looks like:

Calories 77
Protein 3.2 g
Carbohydrate 12.5 g
Fiber 4.1
Calcium 80
Iron 1.3
Thiamin 0.02 mg
Riboflavin 0.02 mg
Niacin 0.1 mg

It's a keeper for nutrition! So this morning, I made 'Okara Scrambled Eggs' to use about a cup of it.

Okara Scrambled Eggs

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup okara (about)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 sage turkey links (fully cooked) - any sausage will do
1 cup frozen organic mixed vegetables
2 tablespoons tsuyu*
3 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)

Cut sausage into bite size pieces. Heat oil in non-stick pan, saute sausage and frozen vegetables until nearly cooked, add okara. Stir okara in, continuing to cook, reducing moisture. Make a well in the middle and pour in the tsuyu and mirin, mixing the two together and into the okara mixture. Continue simmering to reduce moisture, stirring often. Slowly add beaten eggs into mixture, incorporating well into the hot okara. When the eggs are done to your liking, spoon onto plates. It tastes nearly like scrambled eggs, with veggies except it has a little more moisture and texture.

*Tsuyu can be found at Japanese grocers, but it is just a concentrated mixture of dashi (fish stock) and soy sauce, so you can make your own blend of these items to add if you don't have tsuyu readily available.

The photo is only a portion of the recipe, I had already plated Dad's & my breakfast before putting the rest out of the frying pan into a bowl.

Someone who makes soy milk a lot put together an Okara Cookbook, which has some interesting recipes.

Now I've demonstrated in two posts, how to use the entire soybean! Of course there are other uses too, but I don't think I'll be making soy sauce at home, and probably not miso either.

History of Tofu

Tofu was first created in China a very long time ago - about 164 BC. There are three competing stories of its origin. First is that Lord Lu An invented it during the Han Dynasty. The second is that a cook tried experimenting with flavoring soy milk with nigari, and found it to produce curds. The third is that the Chinese were trying to apply a technique for milk-curdling learned from the Mongolians or East Indians to soy milk.

Tofu was introduced from China to Japan in the Nara period, coinciding with the introduction of Buddhism, and its tenet of vegetarianism. In the Edo period, a recipe book for tofu "Tofu Hyakuchin" was published, listing 100 recipes for tofu.

Tofu has become quite popular in the west with its health benefits. Did you know that most of the soy beans used to make tofu in Japan are from the U.S.?

And by the way, making your own soy milk and tofu is VERY cheap, although you have to put some labor into it. It is certainly fresher, and may also be healthier than commercial. I had been thinking about doing this for some time, and these articles about the probably bad health consequences of an additive in commercial soy milk gave me the impetus: http://fanaticcook.blogspot.com/2006/12/carrageenan-its-use-doesnt-gel.html and http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA44833. There is some controversy about soy, but observing the healthful and long lives of most Japanese who consume a lot more than we, I don't think it is so harmful, in fact it would seem quite the opposite. I am concerned about modifications made in modern processing being a problem though - so I'm making my own.

So that's the scoop on soy beans and its uses for today!

For the love of soy. I'm entering this post into Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this week by Coffeepot at Coffee and Cornbread. I checked first with Kalyn, the originator of the event to be sure that soybeans would qualify for inclusion in WHB, and to my delight, since my new soymilk maker and tofu maker just arrived she said it was fine. After some research I bought the Soya Power from a place in Tennessee, and since they offered a total tofu making set, I couldn't resist trying that as well. (By the way, I am in no way associated with the manufacturer/dealer I'm just documenting for the curious exactly what I used.)

Warning: This will be an unusually long (and I hope interesting!) post since I am going to take you through the entire process of using one batch of dried GMO-free organic soybeans through several different products using the entire bean. The best all-purpose bean for this is a "Laura" variety, which I bought through Chambers Farms in Iowa. I took their deal which optimized the amount of beans with the postage, which meant I have 14 lbs. of soy beans! You can be sure that I will be posting some more recipes using soy in the future too!

The first thing I did was decide what I wanted to make and what amount of soy beans I would need. Since my business partners in Groundwork were meeting at my place on Saturday, I thought I would at least treat them to some very fresh soy milk. I also was eager to make some tofu, so on Friday night I measured out 2.5 cups of dried soy beans, washed and rinsed in water, then left to soak overnight in filtered water. There is a small measuring and pouring cup for the soy beans included with the Soya Power, but it also happens to equal 1/2 cup. It takes 1/2 cup of soy beans to make a batch (almost a half gallon) of soy milk, and it takes four batches of milk to make one 2 lb. block of fresh tofu.

After a nice night's rest, I got up to very swollen soy beans, and realized that I needed to figure out how much of the swollen soy beans to measure into the machine for one batch. Luckily, the owner's manual mentioned that 2 7/8 cups of soaked soybeans was the equivalent of the 1/2 cup dry. (The above photo is the filter cup after finishing the soy milk making). So first I made the soy milk. I poured filtered water between the lines on the stainless steel bowl, added 1/2 teaspoon sea salt since the owner's manual warned that if you used filtered water without adding salt, there was a tenancy to boil over.

I then fed the soy beans into the feeding window, gently shaking the equipment occasionally to have the beans distribute themselves equally in the filter cup. Once all the beans were in, I placed the machine head with the filter cup attached into the bowl with the water, latched it and pushed start. In 15-20 minutes, the machine started beeping (after quite a bunch of noises since it grinds the beans while its making the milk), and that signaled it being ready.

I made hot chocolate soy milk pouring the milk straight from the bowl of the maker into glass mugs in which I'd placed 1 rounded teaspoon birch sugar, and 2 rounded teaspoons Sharffen Berger Natural Cocoa Powder (sweetened). Wow! Is this good, and my guests and father all gave it a thumbs up.

I then embarked on making four more batches of soy milk (the most tedious part of making the tofu), and pouring them into a large pot.

I kept thinking that it MUST be too much soy milk, but I discovered it was not.

After all four batches are in the pot, you simmer it for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then let the temperature of the milk settle in between 170-180F.

At the ready, you have 1 teaspoon of nigari dissolved into 1 cup of warm water. You then slowly pour in about 3/4 of the cup, stirring as you go. Let it rest, the watch the curdles form. Stir a bit more and look for milky areas, and add the last 1/4 cup of nigari, stirring. You can put more nigari (dissolved in water) in if you would like to have firmer tofu.

You line the tofu box with a tofu straining cloth, and ladle in the curds and whey.

Fill it to the top, letting it drain as you go, until you fit all that's in your pot into the box.

Then fold over the cloth.

And put the wooden top on.

Add a 3-5 lb. weight to the top.

Wait 20 minutes.

You can see how much water it lost.

Unfold the cloth.

Take a look at your approximately 2 lb. brick of tofu.

I divided mine in half, one half to eat, the other to store.

I made hiyashi tofu for dinner. Just cut into squares, add a dab of wasabi, dried fish flakes, nori and soy sauce and it's good to go. Yum! It was still warm and more delicious than the typical store bought tofu. It wasn't very hard either. I'm going to stop here, and write another post this afternoon about how I used the OKARA, the left over soy bran from making soy milk. I will also post some of the history of tofu in that post.

Elegant lunch. Dad & I stopped by for lunch at Sushi Ko in Larkspur Landing. I've been here for dinner, but this was the first lunch visit. We were greeted warmly, and given our choice of tables. The menu was quite extensive for lunch so we took a little time to decide.

We started out with a cup of piping hot green tea and delicious freshly made miso soup.

Dad decided to try the "chicken on a stick" - Yakitori Don. It has some crisp takuwan lining the pretty lacquer box, and he enjoyed it.

I ventured to try their daily lunch special, which was a combination of teriyaki salmon, chicken katsu, gyoza, cabbage salad, steamed broccoli, the requisite dipping sauces and a bowl of rice. The rice was remarkable, the rest was very tasty too. I asked what kind of rice was used, and the reply from the kitchen was Tamanishiki. The very same brand in my pantry.

I think Dad misses having ice cream as its something I just don't think to keep on hand, and requested dessert. He asked for ginger ice cream, and really enjoyed it.

I tried a few bites of an "angel" cake, which was a rich, dense chocolate cake with some chocolate truffle inside. It was delicious, but very rich. Sushi ko really takes care with the details, whether for their inexpensive lunches or their full dinners. The rice was supreme, and they also paid attention to the chop stick detail offering chiseled wooden ones that were rounded and quite elegant, with only a slight joining at the top to break. Very low danger of splinters, and they were just to elegant to toss, so I spirited my used ones away in my purse. Will definitely remember that they serve great lunches as well as dinners.