What Would Peter Do?
Miso. What the heck is miso, anyway? My blogging friend, Peter of Cookblog, uses it quite a lot in his cooking, which I have always admired, so I decided to find out and perhaps start using it myself. One of the best things about blogging is the new ideas I get from fellow bloggers.I have had miso soup in the past - who hasn't? - but never really knew what it was. That seems a shame, since I lived in Japan for nearly a year and enjoyed many a bowl of miso soup, then and since.
It's a seasoning but, even more, it's a protein-rich natural ingredient to many dishes. Peter mentioned having used it to slather on his salmon, along with some maple syrup before broiling and I thought that sounded pretty good. After a lengthy search in my market, I discovered where they keep the miso and brought a little tub home in triumph with a nice piece of wild coho salmon. I always have maple syrup since I got spoiled by the real thing many years ago and have never looked back.
Slather and pour. Flip. Slather and pour again. Grill on the Jennair, grill pan or broiler until just short of done in the center. Plate next to some red winter chard that has been garlic butter-steamed. The miso added a mildly salty flavor while the syrup brought the dish to the sweet side, a tasty teaming with the slightly bitter-but-savory/buttery chard. The colors were great together, too, although the photo doesn't do justice to the rich orange of the salmon.
Now that I have my little tub of miso, I am set for serious explorations. If you have suggestions for what to try next, I'm all ears. What would Peter do?
Labels: maple syrup, miso, salmon
posted by Zoomie at
5:20 AM
5 Comments:
I had a commenter suggest miso would be yumza stirred into steak tartare (instead of raw egg). Sounds good.
Miso also makes really nice salad dressing. I stir a little into yogurt for artichoke dunk (though I know you're stuck on melted butter).
I'm suddenly thinking I would love miso stuffed into celery sticks (instead of dreaded peanut butter).
What would Peter do? Hmph. Better not ask me.
Now, I want a grill! Not just for miso but to grill tofu - one of my favorite dishes is the grilled tofu at Greens. Or even a tofu brochette. But alas, no room at Chez Nancy (sniff, woe is me..)
I see you photographed your greens before you cooked them - smart lady! I should have done that but I liked my title of "Jolly Green Goop" to much to change my photo.
Ah, the vanity, the vanity.
Miso in celery instead of peanut butter --- but, but, I like Peanut Butter.
Cookiecrumb, thanks for your suggestions - I do prefer butter with my artichokes but next time I promise to try the miso-yogurt idea, too. You must mix the miso with something to make salad dressing - oil and vinegar, perhaps? And, guess what! I have some celery in the house so will give that a whirl today!
Nancy, you can have a grill pan, which is a (usually) cast-iron frying pan with ridges in the bottom so the food grills rather than fries. Inexpensive, too. And, no, that was red chard after cooking - I only cook chard for a very short time to wilt it, so the color stays bright.
And, I like peanut butter, too, but I'm going to give the miso a whirl, just for fun.
Hey Zoom: Yes, a salad dressing would have oil and vinegar; the miso seems to help emulsify it.
(I'm not a total snob about celery sticks: I eat them with almond butter!)
Cookiecrumb, I still think almond butter is a step up from peanut butter. You're still snobby in my book. :-)
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