Fall has fallen

So with the cookout done and the garden mostly finished I woke to the sound of rain this morning. It has not rained in the last three weeks and has felt like August the whole time. Today it feels like September. I carried an umbrella when I went to work. I wore a jacket (still wearing shorts however). A chill was in the air. And what better way to take on that chill then to stew up some chicken and potatoes and make a corn chowder. The wife started off heading towards a teriyaki style chicken but with a little prodding ended up here.Kind of a sweet base but for me it was perfect. The chicken tasted like chicken. I mean it was cooked through and through, moist, falling off the bone chicken and was just very lightly flavoured. The potatoes were lovely even though they just tasted like potato. I mean the stewing juice definitely added something but it was almost intangible. The soup was made with an assortment of vegetables and then a creamed corn base. It was also a little sweet and the warmth of it filling up my stomach turned aside the chill of the day. The hijiki had some of our home grown beet in it for a little flare. The rice was unbleached and just soaked up the sweet stew juice. A great meal to usher in the fall. The peppers are all hanging outside and the not quite ripe tomatoes are down in the cellar. Gotta get back to work.

Almost Classic Japanese.

Konban wa. Good evening in Japanese. Yes we ate Japanese style tonight. It seems like five dishes is the right amount of dishes to serve in Japan. I do not know the rationale. Maybe it has something to do with getting a well balanced meal. In any case, this is an attemp at "Go hin ryori" of five dish cooking. You may be wondering as there are only four dishes in the picture. No, the fifth dish did not run away with the spoon. And it wasn't dessert. Although there was some majoring pleading going on after dinner for ice-cream. (ed. heartless parents = no dessert) The first and second dish are combined in the big bowl. Originally the tofu was going to be deep fried but we ended up putting the tofu in with the "nimono" or boiled stuff. Doesn't it sound so much nicer in Japanese. The black stuff is called "hijiki" and has some soybeans, kelp and something else, I never got a solid answer. I am aquiring a taste for it as time moves on. This was all rounded out with some miso soup and rice. As I sit here snacking on crackers and cheese I have to admit that we blew the tofu portion of tonights dinner. The daughter gobbled it up but I was decidedly undecided. Need to keep looking for that tofu inspiration.

Tomorrow: Pork stir fry with salad.