Innovative Gourmet Flavor Combinations: Sesame by any other name . . .

Innovative Gourmet Flavor Combinations

Welcome! I've always enjoyed unusual flavor combinations. I am committed to continuing this pleasure, while eating healthy. I hope this blog will allow me to share ideas for eating healthy without losing the excitement of innovative recipes.

I am a follower of the diet plan of Dr. Eric Berg, which in my case means gluten-free, alkaline, low-fat; my health and figure have improved vastly with this. This also fits with raw-food, vegetarian, and Weston Price (nutrient-dense), D'Adamo's Eat Right For Your Type, the Perricone Weightloss Diet, and the proportions follow Barry Sears's 40-30-30 Zone Diet. Organic, ecologic, and local-eating are also guiding principles. (Interesting how they all overlap.)

But looking around the Net, and in books, a lot of what's offered for "gluten-free" eating is versions of baked goods, and imitations of wheat dishes like pizza and burritos. You won't find that here. This site will present a complete re-thinking of how to be "gluten-free".

And followers of chef Michael Roberts and khymos, as well as lovers of Japanese creativeness (as in Iron Chef) should also find gourmet ideas here. The recipes will not just echo American cooking, but present new combinations.

Some of the reasons for this way of eating are: autism, perhaps aspergers, "celiac disease", obesity, perhaps cancer and who knows what else. You won't find the word "disease" used here though. As D'Adamo explains, a large part of the world's population (mostly with "O-blood type") never got the genes to adapt to eating the new foods of wheat, etc that came into the diet during the Neolithic. So don't call it a disease! We are actually an older human type. We're not sick; we just don't have that new-fangled adaption that some folks have. And looking into traditional diets shows that much of the world did not have wheat until very recently, and got along just fine. I know I'm eating quite well. I don't miss gluten at all.

Enough! Welcome to my kitchen . . .

Monday, June 8, 2009

Sesame by any other name . . .

Eating at Tachibana Restaurant reminded me of the wonderful Japanese way with spinach, called "goma ae".

Cooked spinach is mixed with sesame paste (you can use tehina), and just a hint of something sweet.

So, in honor of that creativity, here are some other interesting things to do with tehina (sesame paste)

and/or sesame seeds, another very healthy food, but which is often used in too-predictable ways.

Toasted Sesame Cheese Soup: cheddar cheese + milk + dry mustard + cayenne + beer + toasted sesame.

From Singapore Restaurant: Achar - pickled green beans, cucumber, carrots, cabbage in a sesame seed sauce.

Artichoke with sesame aioli.

An appetizer: grilled eggplant agri-dulce with sauce of chilies, garlic, just a bit of honey and nuoc nam + black sesame seeds (from the much-missed Sentosa Restaurant).

Spicy Bean Sprouts with Salted Fish, Scallions, and Sesame Sauce (watch the salt) (from the very sorely-missed Xanadu Restaurant).

Crispy Sesame Fish Slices with Persimmon Dipping Sauce - from The China Moon cookbook,

which can be purchased here: China Moon Cookbook

Ripe mango slices sprinkled with black sesame seeds, fanned-out between seared scallops + baby greens (from San Francisco's House Restaurant).

Asian-stye cabbage salad: rice noodles, almonds, sesame seeds and/or paste, cabbage (and can add chicken, shrimp or beef).

Noodles with Curry, Scallops, and Chives

3/4 pound noodles (use rice noodles for gluten-free)

3/4 pound large scallops

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup yellow curry paste

2 cups Chinese chives or green onions, cut bitesize

1/3 cup roasted peanuts

Sesame oil

pinch of sugar?

Fresh lime slices

Cilantro (coriander) sprigs

A variation of: Chef Sun Pui Wong's Prize-Winning Pineapple Chicken Salad

1 cup fresh cucumber slices

3/4 cup shredded carrots

1 cup crushed pineapple

1/2 cup cooked and shredded chicken

Dressing:

4 Tbsp lightly-toasted sesame seeds (and/or sesame paste)

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup vinegar

1 cup sesame oil

2 Tb dry mustard, mixed with water

3 Tb smooth peanut butter or sesame paste

Some kind of sweetener

Some of my own creations:

A Cabbage Slaw: chicken, black sesame seeds, sesame oil, ginger, sauerkraut

+ pear (bottled)? + peanut butter? + coriander? + almonds?

+ a side of sweet beets with yogurt

Black and White Chicken with Sesame Slaw: rice vinegar, cilantro, sesame oil, soy sauce, mustard, black & white sesame seeds, radicchio leaves, cabbage.

Japanese-style Chicken Salad: oil, almonds, sesame seeds, cooked rice noodles, sliced cooked chicken, green cabbage, green onions. Dressing: oil, rice vinegar, pinch of sugar, pepper

Also see the HUNAN CHICKEN AND CUCUMBER SALAD posted earlier.

Hei Zhi Ma (Chinese) / Ajonholi Til (Hindu) / bijan (Malay) / di la (Thai)