Zawazawa Kitchen

Endive and Green Apple Salad

This is one of our favourite summer salads. It reminds us of eating in the garden in Kitsilano under the apple trees surrounded by flowers.

• Endives
• Green Apple (Granny Smith)
• Shallots
• Grape seed Oil
• Lemon juice (or apple vinegar)
• Sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Broken hazelnuts (optional)
• Avocado (optional)

Mince shallots. Add in optional avocado (one centimeter cubes or mashed). Add sea salt, wait a bit (ten to twenty minutes) and add neutral oil (not too much, less than for a normal salad) and lemon juice (you can add a bit of a soft apple vinegar like the ones from Italy). Season with cracked pepper.

Chop endives horizontally in about three centimeter pieces (say the width of two fingers). Separate into pieces and keep any really tough pieces at the center for something else (sauté with scallops perhaps).

Cut green apples in six, remove core, slice very thinly (better to leave the skin on). Soak in salt water so that the apples won't brown.

Toss endives, apples and the optional hazelnuts with dressing just before you eat.

Tonight (May 26, 2008) we plan to have this to accompany a seafood pasta and a bottle of California Chardonnay that we brought back from San Francisco (2006 Bonterra Vineyards, Mendocino County).

Pork Tenderloin Cooked in Three Stages

Every year we hold a large summer BBQ at our home in Kitsilano. The event draws between 60 and 100 people of all ages and backgrounds, from babies a few months old to people in their late 80s and every age in between. All five of us invite people, so there is a good mix of ages, and friends are welcome to bring their own friends. This being Kitsilano, we are happy to cater to everyone from hardcore raw vegans (many of whom are excellent chefs, have to be I guess) to the frankly carnivorous, and for all the cultures that our many friends represent - this year one could hear Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, French, German, Czech, some Punjabi and even English spoken at the party. In the next few posts I will put up some of the more popular recipes from the 2007 version of the party. This year was a special occasion for us, as we are living in Boston for a few years and it was good to be in the zawazawa of our friends and family.

One recipe that several people asked for was the pork tenderloin. This recipe comes from Yoshie and is a fairly typical Japanese style preparation, modified to suit our family. It uses a three stage cooking approach with each stage bringing out a specific layer of flavour:

• Sear to caramelize the flesh
• Boil to deepen flavours and remove fat
• Grill to recaramelize with the new flavours and crisp up the texture

The ingredients

• Fresh ginger, about four centimeters per tenderloin, peeled and sliced
• Raw garlic, about four cloves per tenderloin, peeled and quartered
• Raw onions, about half an onion per tenderloin, a mix of red and yellow is good
• Hot peppers (optional), depending on how much heat you want, it is good to use several types
• White vinegar, soy sauce and mirin or rice wine in equal proportions, enough to cover the tenderloin
• Roast sesame oil
• Lemon
• Pork tenderloin, not too small

Prepare a large pot of the liquids, add salt and the first four ingredients, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

Sear the pork tenderloin is a tiny bit of roast sesame oil at a very high temperature, get a good dark brown crust.

Boil the pork tenderloin in the liquid for about 45 minutes, until tender.

Grill the pork tenderloin over very hot coals until is darkens and the outside bits are crispy, normally about five to seven minutes.

Finish with a small plash of roast sesame oil and a squeeze of lemon. and if you like a garnish - chives can work, or finely minced scallions.

The cooking liquid can be strained, thinned with a bit more mirin and soy sauce, and used to drizzle over the pork or on rice.

Poached Pears for Summer Nights

Summer evenings in the back garden are some of our best times. Yoshie has done an amazing job over the years blending textures, rhythms and scents. Exploring the garden you can find many odd objects and fragments of our story. Pieces of a pot Kaito made in elementary school, stones gathered from many places, small sculptures we have made or found, mirrors unfolding surprising vistas into corners or out to the sky. We have also gathered many herbs over the years and use them freely when we cook. We miss the garden a lot sitting on our deck in the South End, just above the trees, looking across to the Hancock Tower and the Prudential Center.

One of my favourite summer deserts is poached pears in sugar syrup flavoured with herbs.

• Pears - a slightly firmer type is best, though any type can work - I like Bosc
• Wine - usually a white
• Sugar - I usually use white, but experiment
• Lavender or thyme or rosemary
• Chili flakes or pepper (optional)

Take two cups sugar and six cups water, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let it reduce to about half, add two cups of white wine and reduce by half, add your choice of lavender flowers, or thyme, or rosemary or whatever herb you think will work. About a large tablespoon will do.

While the syrup is simmering down peel, core and halve pears. Place in lightly buttered pans. Cover with syrup and bake at about 350 degrees until the pears are soft. Then bring up the heat to broil and caramelize the tops, watch carefully.

For a twist, add some chili flakes or black pepper at the end to give it some bite and intensify the taste.

Try other summer fruits as well - peaches perhaps, or in the fall this is one of the things you can do with apples.