A Japanese Glaze...a recipe adapted

When I start with a new recipe I generally give it a try as written ,while read the reviews when I get it online, and then play with it after the initial test.

Usually, the outcome is quite successful though not always without incident! A couple of weeks ago I was making a chocolate cake to take to a friend's house and instead of making it as a layer cake as the recipe instructed, I made it in a 13x9 inch pan. I was a little worried that there was too much batter in the pan...but fear not! Fate took a hand and I spilled a bunch of the batter down the front of my oven:

Anyways, one of my favorite recipes, I discovered when my husband and I had a long weekend in the Hudson Valley, the summer before last. We had a wonderful time: stayed at a lovely B&B across the river from Poughkeepsie, The Inn at Twaalfskill  (http://www.innattwaalfskill.com/), tasted wine, toured the Roosevelt and other estates and ate at the Culinary Institute as well as at a great Japanese restaurant called Hokkaido (http://hokkaidonewpaltz.com/) in New Paltz. Both restaurants were fantastic...if you've never been to the Culinary Institute, it is worth the trip. The food is of course wonderful, but the best thing about it is the students; they are so passionate about what they are doing and they do everything at the restaurant: serving, cooking etc. The night after this meal, we were ready for something lighter and I found Hokkaido through TripAdvisor. It was a perfect counter balance to the prior evening, delicious, simple Japanese food: great sushi and there I discovered Nasu Dengaku which is japanese ggplant broiled with a miso glaze. Unbelievably delicious!

When I came home, I scoured the internet for the recipe and found it at http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/06/nasu-degaku-japanese-eggplants-broiled.html. I make this recipe throughout the summer, as long as I can keep getting the Japanese eggplants, which I love.

I made a batch on Sunday night and had leftover glaze. So last night I decided to roast some sweet potatoes, cut up to about inch or so chunks, and once they were nicely browned and soft enough, removed them from the oven and tossed them with the miso glaze. OMG...they were fabulous. Maybe better than the eggplant.

Here is the glaze repeated from the recipe linked to above:

• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons sake (may substitute dry vermouth or white wine)
• 4 tablespoons mellow white miso (reduced sodium, if available) I've used red miso
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar

1. Place the mirin and sake in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for about 2 minutes to allow some of the alcohol to cook off. Then add the miso and stir until smooth. Stir in the agave nectar, reduce the heat to very low, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally. 
2. Roast the sweet potatoes and when done to your liking, pour some of the glaze over top. I used the saved glaze right out of the frig for last night's meal and it was fine.

Bon Appetit or どうぞめしあがれ (douzo meshiagare) as they would say in Japan!