BBQ tofu

ok, this is a quick one, because a) i have no idea what measurements i used, and b) it looks so dubious in a picture that if i posted one, you would never try it, and you SHOULD, especially if you're a tofu doubter.

the idea of huge slabs of carcass slathered in tomato paste and brown sugar usually doesn't light my fire, but i started warming up to the idea after watching hours of BBQ specials on food network this weekend (hey, when you're spending the weekend on a godforsaken 19-mile strip of sand off the coast of jersey in the loving but modestly dysfunctional bosom of your family, you'll do a lot more, up to and including low-quality heroin, to maintain your sanity).

i didn't abide by any of the many regional distinctions when i made the sauce, i just sort of cherry picked the ingredients i thought i'd like:
tomato paste (i actually strained and blended a can of organic diced tomatoes, which tasted great, but was, admittedly, a little chunky)
mustard (just the yellow kind, about four tablespoons)
brown sugar (i dunno...half a cup? could have used less)
white wine vinegar,
olive oil
sriracha
garlic powder, onion powder, ginger powder, salt, pepper, chili powder...wheeee.

preheat the oven to 325, and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. slather some sauce on the pan and lay down drained, 1/2 inch slabs of tofu. coat the tofu with more sauce, and bake until the sauce is baked into the tofu (about an hour).

my gazpacho brings all the boys to the yard.

that's right, it's better than yours.

it's true; i talk a HUGE game about my gazpacho (a cold veggie soup in a tomato-based broth, for the uninitiated), but i think it's warranted. it got a great response at a dinner party i just had, and a bunch of people asked for the recipe, so i figured i would post it (and simultaneously re-start keeping this blog up to date!).

gazpacho
so, first, my two part gazpacho manifesto:
first: thou shalt not blend.
blending gazpacho is for the weak. if you take care with your broth, there's no need to blend.
second: thou shalt let your gazpacho rest.
the great thing about gazpacho, like chili, is that it gets better with some time to rest. it's convenient, too, because you can make a huge amount of it, in advance, and eat it for days.

the broth is easy, but like so many other recipes i post, it's a matter of taste. i don't make it the same way every time, so i've just put down the basic ingredients, with approximate measurements for this last batch. it'll be up to you to find a balance you like. just whisk together V8 (2 bottles), veggie broth (1/2 carton), olive oil (a few tablespoons), lemon juice (4 medium sized lemons), hot sauce (i used 1/2 bottle of green tabasco), salt, pepper, and cumin. re: the cumin, i think it gives the spiciness a nice bottom note, but then again, i once put cumin in biscotti, so i'm pretty much an outlier when it comes to cumin use.

chop into medium bits: carrots, tomatoes (take out the seeds and goo with your thumbs), cucumber (unpeeled), green pepper. cook some onions and a few cloves of garlic, until the onion's a bit soft. let the gazpacho chill in the fridgee for up to 24 hours.

oven roast some corn on the cob (husked) at about 375 or 400 (depending on your oven); slice off the kernels and mix them in just before serving. don't skimp with the veggies, there should be tons.

garnish with avocado, cilantro, more hot sauce, toasted sunflower seeds, sour cream or greek yogurt, or anything else you like.

spiced goat cheese wontons and orange-coconut reduction

yeah...sounds wicked fancy (although it's not)...and i did, in fact, royally screw up thos this desert idea the first time i tried it, having not bothered to consider the relatively low smoking point of butter, or to look up exactly what you do when you make a reduction. in any case, when i tried this whole thing again when i was at my parents' house a few weeks ago, it turned out much better, and i got the thoughtful feedback of two of my favorite foodies: my mom and uncle (my brother and father, though i love them dearly, are goat-like in their indiscriminate consumption of pretty much any old crap).

orange-coconut-chai reduction
(i've got to come up with a better name for this.)
in a small saucepan, bring pulp-free orange juice to a boil. steep several chai tea bags in the oj for a few minutes, but don't let it get bitter. pour enough light (organic, if possible) coconut milk to double the volume. then (and i guess this is how you do reductions), heat the crap out of it, stirring regularly, until it halves its volume and gets thick. if you want it sweet(er), i stir in some honey or agave nectar after you've finished reducing it.

notes for next time: my mom mentioned that this, like chili, gets tastier as it sits, and is great with yogurt. i wouldn't know, since i left the leftovers with her. in any case, i would probably cook this a couple of days in advance and leave it in the fridge next time. i think my next adventure may be a permutation using lime, coconut milk, and green tea.


spiced goat cheese wontons
take plain goat cheese and mush it up with some ground ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom. mix in some agave nectar (or any other sweetener), to taste. fold in teaspoons into square wonton wrappers and seal (see this post for suggestions). heat up some ghee in a frying pan, and pop the wontons in a few at a time, turning to get them toasty and golden all over. serve with a dollop of reduction.

notes for next time: consensus was that these weren't quite sweet enough for a desert, but i leave that up to your palates. i think i would make the wontons rather than the reduction, the sweeter part. also, i happen to really really (really) like goat cheese, but for people who find it too, hm, gamey, you could probably substitute mascarpone or even ricotta.

this ceviche is not a metaphor for my relationship with my mother

so, clearly, i've been kinda MIA lately...i'm doing a lot of catching up on things that i meant to blog a while ago. this scallop ceviche was from when i was visiting home a few weeks back.

for anyone who hasn't tried ceviche before, now is the time to start experimenting...it's light and citrus-y, and best made with fresh ingredients: perfect for summer, really. the basic premise sounds kinda repellent, but i promise it's not. ceviche is a dish made most often in coastal south america (particularly peru and ecuador), and is comopsed acid-cooked fish served in the broth in which the fish has marinated.

the exact recipes vary by region, but the broth is often citrus and/or tomato-based with chilies and onions. you can use any kind of white fish, but, obviously, since you're serving it undercooked (the final product comes out more acid-seared than acid-cooked), you should be getting sushi grade stuff. scallop and shrimp ceviches are also popular, but you should flash cook them, by pour boiling water over them, before you pop them in the broth (maybe more than once for scallops, depending on size. for shrimp, leave in water until they turn just slightly pink, then rinse in cold water to prevent rubberiness). how well done your seafood is depends on how long you leave it in the broth. it should be monitored to prevent a rubbery, overcooked state. you can garnish with anything from tomatoes to cilantro or parsley to avocado to corn chips (popcorn is a traditional garnish...somewhere...ecuador? don't quote me on that).

anyway, my favorite thing about ceviche is the way you can mix and match variations in the broth, seafood, "cooking" time, and garnish to make dishes with completely different profiles using the exact same process. this wasn't the best ceviche i've ever made, but it wasn't the worst. next time, i'm playing with grapefruit and lime juices mixed with some coconut milk, which i guess is used in honduran ceviche. but for now:

tomato-less scallop ceviche
in a glass (or other non-reactive) bowl, mix half and half fresh squeezed orange juice (low to medium pulp) and fresh squeezed lime juice. add finely chopped red onion (or shallot). mix in salt, pepper, olive oil, and hot pepper sauce (i used sriracha, my new favorite thing, which has a smoky flavor) to taste. you may want to dilute the mixture with some chicken broth or water.
give the scallops a quick cook in salted, boiling water. chop them and toss them in the broth. cover and refrigerate until done to your satisfaction. garnish with cilantro, avocado, diced roasted tomatoes a la ellen, and a few dots of sriracha.

thai shrimp soup of the gods

this one was a family collaborative effort from this weekend. my brother brought home the recipe, and my mom and uncle cooked it. i was cooking other things ( gingery brussel sprouts and spiced goat cheese wontons), so, er, i supervised.

the smell of this cooking is pretty near heaven. it's tangy and spicy and sweet in that way only SE asian food is...just. the. best.

the version made was probably lighter than the recipe below, since we used light coconut milk instead of regular. we also cooked it without any meat in it, to accommodate my brother and me. instead, we had shrimp and chicken cooked seperately, to be added in later. apparently, my brother and his friends made it at school with no meat but extra mushrooms, which is also yummy.

4 cups chicken stock
5 cloves garlic , peeled and cut into large chunks
2 inches fresh ginger , peeled and cut into large chunks
1 tablespoon Thai green curry paste
2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
3/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves and stems, plus additional 1/2 cup chopped for garnish
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
3/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 (4- to 6-ounce) boneless chicken breast , cut into 1/4-inch strips
2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (nam pla)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 jalapeno , sliced into rings (optional)
1 small tomato , seeded and diced, for garnish
1/2 cup freshly shaved coconut or unsweetened coconut flakes , toasted, for garnish

In a large heavy-bottom pot over high heat, combine chicken stock, garlic, ginger, curry paste, coriander, cumin, peppercorns and cilantro. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Strain broth over a bowl through a fine-mesh sieve; discard solids. Return broth to pot; add coconut milk, shallots, mushrooms and chicken. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until chicken is cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar and jalapeño, if desired; stir until sugar is dissolved, then add mixture to soup. Garnish with tomato, coconut shavings and cilantro; serve hot.

a children's treasury of my mom's culinary staples (or: why i go home)

so i've been inactive on the blog for a little while, because i was home for a long weekend, and while i'm there, i like to pretend that there is nothing but walks on the shore, reading on the couch, beers at grumpy's, and my mom's cooking....

...especially the cooking. for a woman who will happily eat unspeakable, week-old leftovers all mushed up together in a bowl, my mom is an incredible cook. the best. and we never really stop eating in my house. we're a family of grazers; i would wager that most of our calories are consumed just before dinner, with the eternal cheese and roasted veggie and hummus and toast and deliciousness that goes out before we actually consider ourselves ready to consume the real meal.
below is a collection of her old standards (or variations on them), with my pictures and instructions in her own words.

roasted red peppers
ellen sez: "wash and dry them. Put them on a baking sheet (I line it with foil, since sticky juice leaks out when the peppers cook, and it's hell to clean up. Broil them, turning until all sides are charred but not so charred that the meat is all desiccated. It's fine if the charred skin cracks. Let them cool completely. Peel and remove seeds. Juice will come out, and it--or at least some of it--is yummy to keep the peppers in. Cut, douse with some good olive oil, and balsamic if you want, and a slice of garlic if you want, and some basil leaves if you want"
molly sez:"eat with everything, especially soft cheeses and toast."

rumanian eggplant
ellen sez: "wash, dry, prick a couple of times on all sides. Broil, again on foil and again until charred all over and collapsed. remove from oven, make a slit from one end to the other, squirt plenty of lemon juice in, and let cool. Scrape into a bowl, chop, add olive oil, salt and pepper, and in the true rumanian style, some very finely chopped oninons, but I don't like the onions."
molly sez: "ONIONS. and yeah, kinda looks like boogers, but as someone who missed out for the first 20 year of her life due to squeemishness, i can tell you: sack up."

roasted tomatoes
ellen sez: "Buy the Roma (Plum) tomatoes. Cut in half the long way and with your index and middle fingers (or in my case, kielbasas), dig out the seeds and the juicy stuff the seeds are in; leave the pulp, though. Line a baking sheet w/parchment, put tomatoes cut side up, drizzle with olive oil, balsamic, salt, pepper, and chopped garlic. Roast at 275 for 2 hours."
molly sez: "new favorite."

salmon
ellen sez: "get a slab of salmon fillet, put it on a baking sheet on top of parchment. Brush with olive oil and salt and pepper. Cover with another sheet of parchment and press so it sticks to the fish. Bake at 400-ish --maybe 10 minutes--until fish flakes and is as done as you like it. I don't know how to determine that except dig a fork into the middle and look. The rule of thumb seems to be 10 minutes/inch of fish."
molly sez: "not her usual preparation, but just as good. serve with tsatsiki"

fruit pie
ellen sez: "4 cups of fruit, 2/3-ish cup of sugar, 1/4cup flour, lemon juice and peel (but not pith, of course), 1/4 tsp cinnamon, anything else (nuts? craisins?) and if juicy, 2 tsp quick-cooking tapioca sprinkled over the top. Stir gently. Let sit 15 min. Preheat oven to 450. I use the Pillsbury or store brand pie dough that comes in the long rectangular box in dairy sections. Put fruit filling in shell, dot with butter, put top layer of crust on. Brush top crust with milk or cream and dust with sugar. make several slits. bake at 450 for 10 minutes, lower heat to 350 for 35-40 min. If the edges start to get too brown, you can do that tin foil trick."
molly sez: "i put a little half and half on, but if you wanna be all european, finish with cheese"

nouveaux lentils and further adventures in flatbread

as much as i love my lentils (and my roommate does call me "lentil queen"), i've gotten sick of my usual curried-ish tomato-ish lentil recipe that i've relied on for most of the winter. so, i was understandably psyched when a friend sent me a lentil recipe that relies on winter greens and fresh herbs for a new take on this particular staple. i made some changes from the original to suit my taste, so it's still pretty spice heavy, but during a new england march, when you've pretty much run out of patience with winter, scenic snow-scapes or not, trust me, the this fresh-herb dependent recipe can make all the difference....

nouveaux lentils
chop one large onion, and sautee in a large saucepan with a couple tablespoons of olive oil.
when the onion gets soft, add two minced cloves of garlic and some powdered ginger and cumin, as well as about a cup and a quarter of lentils.
mix together and add enough vegetable stock to cover the lentils with room to spare.
cover and cook until the lentils are tender, adding more stock as necessary.
throw in a generous amount (1/4 lb? 1/3 lb?) of kale (or any winter green...the recipe called for spinach, i used kale, and chard would probably work as well, besides adding nice color) with a little extra stock or water, and wilt the greens.
add red pepper, black pepper, salt, and more ginger and cumin if necessary, to taste.
when everything else is satisfactory, mix in a double handful, equal parts chopped mint and cilantro. serve with a dollop of yogurt.

first attempt at naan
so i've already blogged my shot at foccacia, and the naan i made tonight is really similar, just with more fat, and different seasoning.
mix 1 packet yeast and 2 tsps honey.
add 3/4 cup warm (~110F) water to activate yeast, and leave covered for 5-10minutes, until frothy.
mix together 2tsps salt and 1 1/2 cups flour, and 2 cloves minced garlic.
add yeasty/honied water, along with 1/4 cup ghee and 3 generous tbsps greek yogurt.
mix, then knead, adding flour as needed to get to an elastic and not impossibly sticky dough.
oil a bowl and the dough, and cover. leave to rise to double its size (~1 hour).
punch down dough, remove from bowl.
preheat oven to 400F.
divide dough into 10 pieces, roll out, and place on oiled baking sheet.
cook until golden, flipping halfway through.
remove, glaze with more ghee, and serve.

just to go along with the theme, i decided to try a new beer:
otter creek brewery isn't my favorite (their copper ale tastes like a trip to the dentist), but, given the theme of my dinner, i couldn't resist trying their "world tour: sphinx" which is an "egyptian multigrain ale bewed with chamomile and honey". it very much tastes like if you were to make a beer out of a mug of chamomile tea with lemon and honey. it's actually not bad...unique, if likely to offend purists. on the other hand, it pairs pretty well with the spice/mint of the lentils and the buttery naan....and maybe more importantly, it's $2 for a 1pt 6oz bottle...so enjoy!

herbed apple pie

it's snowing out AGAIN...i am so done with winter...

that said, it seemed appropriate to end my weekend with a little comfort food and a movie. so i cued up "can't hardly wait" (which i'd actually never seen before), and decided to use up some of the fresh thyme and mint that i had in my fridge.
i don't much like sweet things, so i decided to adapt an apple pie for my tastes. it's still kind of sweet, but uses honey and orange juice rather than sugar.

crust
2 cups white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
2 sticks butter, cut up
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
ice water

mix the flour, sugar, and salt with a food processor, add the butter and pulse until the mixture is kind of crumbly. add the water, slowly, until you can make the mixture stick together. knead the dough until it forms a ball, and divide it into two discs. pop them in the fridge, wrapped in plastic, for about an hour.

filling
peel and dice some apples and mix them with lemon juice, orange juice, honey (only about a 1/4-1/3 of a cup), ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. let it hang out, covered, while the crust chills.

take the crusts out, let sit at room temp for about 10 minutes, then roll both out. line a pie pan with one. mix the apples with a handful of thyme and chopped mint. throw the filling in the crust and cap with the other. pinch the two crusts together and trim off the extra.
bake in an oven pre-heated to 400 degrees. when the edge of the crust starts to look brown, cover it with foil, turn down the oven to 375 and keep cooking until the rest of the top crust gets golden.


cool the pie for a while and serve with some cream (i didn't have heavy cream to whip, but that would be yummy), and maybe a little maple syrup.

notes for next time: i was a little heavy handed with the thyme. in the future, i'd be more judicious with that, and add a little more cinnamon, and maybe some cloves (which i didn't have tonight).

is food the new sex?

i can't quite articulate how much the kind of answer that mary eberstadt (as echoed by george will) provides in the hoover institution's policy review makes me froth at the mouth.

eberstadt takes idle cocktail party speculations (has society's moral regulation of food choice replaced its moral regulation of sexual choice? are these shifts connected?), and turns it into a 7500-word steaming turd of ill-informed self-righteousness, thinly disguised as analysis by a throwaway reference to kant. i was going to spend a lot more time dissecting why this complete nonsense, but it's just too irritating, and, frankly, could take up several books. anyone who claims that the fact that people of a lower socio-economic class suffer higher levels of obesity is due to overabundance (and implied lack of self-control) shouldn't be allowed to get within 2 intellectual miles of food policy and trends. and any woman who waxes nostalgic for the days of pre-sexual revolution moral regulation, when "Susie in the town nearby got pregnant and wasn’t allowed back in school", should be forced to wear a chastity belt.

tofu dumplings with brussel sprouts...and love.

so, i've never made dumplings before, i've never liked fried food, and i don't have a steamer...but hey! after a couple of very strong homebrewed beers (a yummy baltic porter, courtesy of a brewer friend), anything seems pretty do-able. plus, i've had a couple of blocks of tofu, wonton wrappers, and frozen brussel sprouts in my fridge for a while now, so i decided to hit up the korean grocery/fish market on the corner for ginger and scallions, and give it a shot. (note on small, ethnic grocery stores: they are the best. everything is always cheaper, and often in small, cooking-for-one friendly packaging. i go a lot to this fish market, although never to buy the fish, which always seems like a gamble. there's also a mexican grocery which i've yet to try, but plan on going to, to hunt down some masa for tamales. stay tuned.)

i've kind of taken the general thrust of technique for the dumplings from this blog, which also makes me want to try other japanese-inspired dishes. the brussel sprouts are inspired by this heidi swanson recipe. (if i could kill anyone for the purpose of stealing their life, mr.ripley style, it would be swanson: foodie, photographer, and general bad ass. wow i hope i don't get in trouble for putting that on the internet). since, like i said, i don't have a steamer, i decided to go with lightly frying the little suckers, but you could probably use the same ingredients, but sautée the filling first, and then steam them.

tofu dumplings with brussel sprouts...and love


wanton skins
a mess o' brussel sprouts (try to use fresh, but frozen will do)
2 blocks extra firm tofu, drained
2 eggs
1/2 cup edamame
a medium bundle of scallions, chopped
a large bulb of ginger, grated
lots of minced garlic
salt, sugar, red pepper flakes
sesame oil
canola oil
a lime or two

brussel sprouts:
shred the brussel sprouts and sautée in sesame oil with ginger, garlic, salt, and red pepper to taste. don't overcook them: you want them to be brightly colored, and kind of flexible, but not yellow or droopy. squirt some lime juice on in the last minute or so, if you want.


dumplings:
process the tofu and eggs to a creamy mixture, then blend in the edamame, scallions, ginger, garlic, salt and sugar.i put some lime juice in, but i'm not sure it actually came through in the end...
i'm a big believer in the phrase "to taste"...how much of everything is in there will depend on what you like. this is only partly because i am too lazy to measure things (so go ahead, taste it...no, i don't care that there are raw eggs. sack up, scooter).


take wanton skins and moisten the edges with your finger, dipped in water. put about a teaspoon of the tofu mush in, and fold it over, so that there is still a border of damp wanton visible. fold the border back over to close, and moisten the whole edge to seal (see below).



heat some canola oil in a frying pan. fry each dumpling until golden brown, flipping each half way through to cook on both sides. do not walk away from the stove to pour yourself another beer in the middle of your second batch.

let the fried dumplings cool/drain a bit, then serve on top of the brussel sprouts.

druze-ish

so i was recently in israel (yeah, during the gaza, er, kerfuffle), and we ended up in a town outside of haifa, with a relatively diverse, relatively non-jewish population, including baha'i and druze populations. here, we had arranged for us a "tour" of druze life. (this sort of things always brings up my internal conflict with "culture" tourism, but maybe more on that later...also maybe more about the druze faith which is really interesting in and of itself).

however, leaving aside debates about authenticity of experience, the tour ended in a really delicious meal, which i'm determined to try making some of. one of my favorites seemed to be just a cabbage leaf stuffed with nutmeg-seasoned white rice. i'm looking for insight on the following:

- does anyone know the name for these?
- also, when i experiment, i was going to try blanching the cabbage, like you would leaves for stuffed grape leaves...any other thoughts?