Clams in Miso Soup

Ingredients:

300 grams clams + salt
3 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp Dashi stock powder
*soy sauce, mirin, yuzu juice

Directions:

1. Even if you get de-sanded cleaned clams, de-sand them again so that they spit out any old digested material by soaking them in lightly salted water for 2 to 3 hours.

2. Procedure for de-sanding: Immerse a colander or sieve in a large bowl, and put the clams in. Fill with salted water. This way the clams won't re-absorb any sand or other things they spit out.

3. Put the soaked and cleaned clams in a pot with cold water and heat. After a while some scum will rise to the surface. Skim that off and add the dashi stock granules. Don't overcook the clams.

**The tofu and the mushrooms and any vegetables would come into the pot here.

4. Add the miso, but taste the liquid in the pot first to see how salty it is. White miso is preferred. Don't let the soup come to a boil after adding the miso.

**Alternative: mix together the miso with 2 tsp soy sauce and 2 tsp mirin first, add 1 cup of clam broth, before adding to the rest of the broth. Ladle into bowls, then add a few drops of yuzu juice. Garnish and serve.

5. Top with some chopped green onions etc.

Quiche with Stilton

Ingredients:

stilton
butternut squash (roasted in the oven)
sage
quince paste [?]
eggs
double cream

= adapted from Ottolenghi

1 large butternut squash, peeled, cut into 2cm cubes and deseeded (700g net weight)
1½ tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper
250g best-quality shortcrust pastry
200g stilton, crumbled
75g membrillo (quince paste), cut into 1cm dice
3 free-range eggs
150ml double cream
150ml crème fraîche
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Toss the squash in the oil, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and some black pepper, and spread out on a baking tray. Roast for 30 minutes, turning once, until golden brown. Set aside to cool and lower the oven temperature to 170C/335F/gas mark 3.

Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface and transfer it to a 24cm quiche tin – leave some pastry hanging over the edge. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Line the tin with parchment paper, fill with baking beans and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the beans and paper, and cook the quiche case for 10 minutes longer, until the pastry is golden brown. Remove and set aside to cool.

Spread the roasted squash over the base of the quiche, dot the stilton around and about in the gaps, and sprinkle the membrillo all over.

Put the eggs, cream and crème fraîche in a mixing bowl with a quarter-teaspoon of salt and some black pepper. Whisk and pour over the squash, making sure you leave some of the filling exposed. Sprinkle over the parsley and bake for about 40 minutes, until the custard has set. Remove from the oven and allow to rest before removing from the tin and breaking off the overhanging pastry. Serve warm or at room temperature.