What People are Saying ..

"Two days before I got here I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My first thought was 'I have to get to Kushi before I do anything.' In a matter of twenty-four hours, I was packed and on my way, nothing short of a miracle."  

        Deborah Lippi    

"This has truly been a life-changing experience for me. Everyone goes out of their way to be helpful and are sensitive to the needs of the participants. The teachers are awesome. They guided us through the first week with patience and thoughtful organization. They are tremendous mentors."

 Pauline Curry  

This recipe was used in one of our recent Way To Heath PLUS programs, a completely hands-on course in which participants develop more abilities and confidence in macrobiotic cooking and menu planning.

Ingredients: (2 or 3 servings) 

1 cup organic, unsweetened apple juice

1 1/2 tsp agar-agar flakes

1-2 Tbs rice malt syrup 

1-2 tsp kuzu diluted in 1/4 cup water 

1 tsp lemon juice  

 pinch of sea salt 

1/4-1/2 tsp lemon zest  

optional garnish: pumpkin seeds and mint  

Preparation:

1. Combine juice, flakes, rice malt syrup, and salt in saucepan, and bring to gentle boil.

2. Simmer and stir until agar-agar flakes are completely dissolved.

3. Slowly add kuzu (which has been diluted in the cold water) to the heated mixture and continue to stir.  

4. The mixture will begin to thicken -- test a small amount (less than a teaspoon) on cooling plate if necessary.

5. Add the lemon juice and zest, stir into mixture, and turn off heat.

6.  Pour into individual serving dishes.

7. Garnish if desired.

8. If you make the dessert far enough in advance you can leave at room temperature until it gels (according to the temperature in the room, it could take up to a couple of hours.) If you are short on time you can put the bowls in the refrigerator until they gel, typically not more then an hour.  

This delicious dessert was served recently on a Friday dinner at Kushi Institute.  Staff as well as attendees from the Mini Way To Health and Macrobiotic Leadership Certificate Program gathered to enjoy the meal.    

Kushi Institute chef Yu-Minn Lin created the dessert (without a formalized recipe from a macrobiotic cookbook) from pumpkin seeds, pears, apple juice, agar-agar, salt and a small amount of apricots. We asked Yu-Minn to tell us how he made it, and with Misha Forrester, we recreated it to give you the recipe below.  

Equipment:

You will want to use a tart (also known as a flan) pan. Typically, circular, and only 1-2" high, these pans with their unconnected bottoms and sides allow for easier cutting into individual pieces and give the outside edge a finished, fluted appearance. Unlike regular pie plates, the sides of these pans are set at a right angle, rather than flare outward.   

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb (8 oz) organic and unsulfured dried apricots --  we used the Turkish type, but the particular type is not critical to the dish; in fact if you can't find dried apricots you could substitute unsweetened apricot jam and skip the soaking of the apricots and steps 1 through 3
• organic, unsweetened apple juice -- quality makes a difference.  You will need 1 quart (4 cups) per 10"-12"pie 
• fresh pears --  5 will do nicely per pie, we used red Anjou for color and firmness but others will work  
• pumpkin seeds -- 3/4 cup when soaked and roasted will   grind to a little over 1 cup  
• agar-agar --  we used flakes, 2 tsp per 1 cup liquid (you will need 8 tsp for this tart, which is approximately 3 oz) 
• salt, pinch - no more  
• amasake sauce or topping such as a "cream" made from tofu, almonds or cashews (optional)

Preparation:

The day before you make the dish, or if you have pre-roasted seeds or a number of hours before actual assembly:

Soak the pumpkin seeds for 6 to 8 hours (or overnight) and then dry roast them. Yu-Minn did this the day before, but you could actually do this up to a month ahead of time. Some cooks will pan-roast the seeds, which takes limited time with attention (stirring or shaking the seeds) to prevent the seeds from burning at the bottom of pot; others spread the soaked seeds out one layer thick on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and oven roast at low heat. The lower the heat (170 F), the longer it takes (up to 5 hours), so this involves more time but not much attention; some cooks like the taste and texture better at lower heat but it is fine to raise the heat and check the roasting frequently. In either case, roast until the seeds become slightly golden.  

Note: You can change the seeds, and use nuts, such as a combination of ground pecans and walnuts (soak and roast beforehand) for a stronger gustatory response.   

The day you make the dish -- a few hours before actual preparation:

Soak apricots in hot apple juice to cover (approximately 1/2 cup).  It will take only a few of hours for the apricots to plump up and get soft.

Final preparation: 

1. Strain the apricots and reserve the apple-apricot liquid they were soaked in.  

2. Quickly heat the apricots in a saucepan on medium until mushy, stirring to not burn the apricots. This should take no more that 3-4 minutes at most.

3. Puree the softened apricots (without any extra liquid) using a food processor or blender to the consistency of thick jam.  This should yield approximately 1/3 cup.  It is unimportant if it is an exact 1/3 cup; it serves as the binder in the seed crust, and typically you will have more than you need to hold the seeds together.   

4. Grind the roasted pumpkin seeds or nuts  in a food processor to a fine texture, place in a mixing bowl, and  add in the apricot puree using a fork. 

Note: You want to avoid a sticky mass, but have one that keeps most of the seeds together. It is important to add the puree into the ground seeds or nuts by hand in order to keep check of the right consistency. Not too crumby, and definitely not wet.

5. Press the mixture by hand into the bottom and sides of a flan tin.  You can use a toothpick to gauge the thickness so that it stays even.  It can be very, very thin or it can be moderately thick if your preference is a thickener crust.    

Note: it is more typical that the mixture is too wet than dry, which is why it is important to mix the puree into the ground seeds or nuts by hand rather than in a food processor.   

6. Slice fresh red Anjou pears in half (keeping the skin on), pit and core them.  Next, slice each half lengthways into quarters, and trim to make them equally sized and shaped.   

7. Bring 2 cups of apple juice to a boil and quickly blanch (30 seconds to a minute, no more) the pear slices. Reserve the juice which will now be a deep maroon hue.     

8. Arrange the pear slices close together on top of the pumpkin seed crust (see picture below) in a circular manner, with the skin side showing. You can easily lay this out by initially placing a pear slice each in the four directions on the crust, and then filling in the remaining spaces.    

9. Mix agar-agar in 1/2 of cold water, stirring well.  Combine all the juices: the pear/apple blanching juice,  the leftover apricot/apple juice the apricots were soaked in, and the remaining unused cold apple juice.  This should yield about 3 1/2 c of liquid.  Add the dissolved agar-agar liquid to the  juice mixture. You should now have approximately 4 cups.  

10. Bring the liquid to a boil, stirring, then lower heat and simmer for only a few minutes to allow the agar-agar to thicken.  Add a pinch of salt as you turn off the heat. 

Note: You can test the mixture, using only 1/2 teaspoon spread onto a small plate. Mixture should gel but not be rubbery.  Add additional juice or water if too thick, or dilute another teaspoon of agar-agar in a small amount of water and add to the juice mixture, reheating for a few minutes.   

11. Pour the agar-agar/apple juice mixture into the flan tin, gently so not to disturb the resting pear slices.  Let sit at least two hours before slicing.  You can refrigerate the pie after it cools.  The pie also keeps very nicely for a day before serving.

Note: using a tart pan allows you to remove the outside ring from the bottom after the mixture has been set and before slicing. If you have leftover agar-agar mixture, pour this into small dessert dishes for an apple kanten that has just a hint of pear and apricot flavor.  

Yu-Minn made a sweet sauce from amasake (a fermented sweet rice drink) that was poured on each plate before placing the tart slices on the plates. You can use any sweet sauce of your choosing, or make a sweet tofu, almond, or cashew cream to top with. This tart is also excellent just by itself.  

Cognition Studies and  Leafy Green Vegetables  

Students in Senior Macrobiotic Teacher and Counselor Diane Avoili's Level 3 class on "Vegetable Energetics" examined a study (2006) specific to vegetables and how eating at least three servings of green, leafy vegetables daily lowers the risk of declining cognition by 30-40%. Researchers of the study, which used 3,718 participants from Chicago's South Side, maintain that this is the equivalent of being five years younger in age. Furthermore, researchers suggest that eating fruit, often touted as high in antioxidants, does not create the same response.(1)  

The USDA Food Pyramid, noted Avoli, continues to group fruit and vegetables together despite insulin concerns. In fact, many meta-research studies continue with this grouping, and come to similar conclusions that by increasing vegetables and fruits, one's risk for an assortment of inflammation and illness is greatly reduced. But is this from vegetables or fruit or a combination?

A renaming of the USDA Food Pyramid to the FoodPlate in 2010, and a further re-organizing of dietary guidelines,  recommends half a food plate to contain vegetables and fruits, to rely on whole grains rather than processed, and to replace sugary drinks with water. (2)  Although this shows a change from previous paradigms, it still raises macrobiotic concerns of over-consumption of natural sugars found in fruit and consequently the overuse of the pancreas and spleen organs in our bodies.   

Michio Kushi, in The Cancer Prevention Diet recommends minimizing simple sugars, such monosaccharide and disaccharide sweeteners, known as fructose, glucose, maltose, and lactose, found in fruit, refined sugars, honey, and dairy products. He suggests replacing these with complex carbohydrates, known as polysaccharides, found in whole grains, vegetables, and beans. For those wishing additional sweetness, try using brown rice malt syrup as it is a soluble complex carbohydrate (ie. polysaccharide).  

At Kushi Institute, along with our selections of whole grains, beans and vegetables served daily we offer other foods in smaller quantities. These include seeds, nuts, fish, and fruit. We enjoy fruit in different ways including fruit slices in pressed or raw salads, bits of chopped dried fruit in some grain dishes, and fruit desserts such as the two featured in this newsletter. Fruit is an enjoyable part of a healthy diet, we simply need to consider the proportions we are using.    

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