Marinated and Baked Tofu

I could eat this sauce with a spoon.

Although I don't do a ton of cooking with tofu, tonight I had a hankering for it. So I adapted this recipe from one that my brother makes with meat.

Simmer the following in a pot:
3 c tomato sauce
1 c organic apple cider vinegar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 c chopped mushrooms
1/2 c sautéd yellow onion and garlic

Then open a package of extra firm tofu and let it sit for a while to remove the water. Chop it into four slices and let it marinate in your sauce as you preheat the oven to 375, prepare a baking tray with olive oil, and begin making some rice. Then place the tofu on the tray to bake for 30 minutes. Flip over the tofu slices about halfway through. Eat with rice and more sauce. Cheers.

In other news, I just learned that the bestseller Skinny Bitch (my students and I just talked about the word, "bitch" last week. Is it demeaning? Empowering? Should it ever be uttered? There was no consensus.) is actually about going vegan. Interesting, hm? The authors chose the title because they thought it would sell books. So think what you want about the word, but "bitch" sells.

Two Likely Companions: Potato & Bean

Boil two Yukon gold potatoes.
In another pot, saute 1/4 white onion and 1 T garlic in olive oil.
Turn the heat on low.
Add 1/2 can of kidney beans, 1/2 can of chickpeas, and 1/2 can of canned tomatoes.
Stir.
Drain boiled potatoes and mash them if you like them that way.
Pour tomato-bean mixture on top of potatoes.
Add cheddar cheese if you like.
Add pepper.
Eat.

Spinach in the Morning

I should really clean my oven.

I know, I know, what about going vegan for the week? Well, maybe it's something to work on for a while. While I did use soy milk instead of milk, you might experiment using egg substitutes or possibly tofu and vegan cheese and butter to make this a real vegan dish (let me know if you do).

So we're in a brunch group; once a month ten of us get together at someone's home and everyone brings goodies: baked apples, yogurt parfaits, mini-quiches. It's always lovely to catch up and see our friends' amazing and adorable children. We recently decided that whoever hosts would make an egg dish. Today that was us, so I made a spinach soufflé, using a cookbook that was new to me (& thanks Hugh): Joy of Cooking All About Vegetarian Cooking.

Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Butter a soufflé dish and dust the insides with 1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese.
- In a saucepan combine 1 1/3 c Thick Béchamel Sauce (directions below), 3/4 t salt, 1/8 t nutmeg, and a pinch of white pepper if you have it (I don't).
- Beat 1/2 c of this mixture into 6 egg yolks, 3/4 c grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese (I used Parmesan cheese)
- Combine with the rest of the sauce, beating vigorously to blend.
- Add 1 1/2 c cooked, dried and chopped spinach
- Beat until stiff but not dry: 6 egg whites and pinch of salt
- Stir one quarter of whites into the soufflé base to lighten it, then fold in the rest.
- Pour into the soufflé dish.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Thick Béchamel Sauce:
Combine in a small saucepan over low heat the following: 1 1/4 c milk (I used soy milk), 1/4 chopped onion and a pinch of nutmeg. Simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered, to infuse flavor into the milk. Then discard the onions.
In another pan, melt 3 T unsalted butter and 3 T all-purpose flour. Cook on medium-low heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Whisk the milk mixture as you add the roux and bring it to a simmer. Cook until it reaches the consistency of thick cream soup, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 1 cup.

Brown Rice and Veggies

I have been thinking more about a vegan diet for a past few days, so I've been trying to swap my usual yogurt with soy yogurt, and generally just eat more fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains. By the way, I take a multivitamin every day and a calcium chew on most days (and so should you).

So here is a vegan dinner for tonight (and this is also a bit of a "go to" dish for me, as you may have noticed):

1. Boil a pot of water for a sliced potato and a handful of baby carrots. Like my lovely friend, Astra Libris, I never remove potato skin either.

2. In another pot, make one cup of long grain brown rice.

3. In a third and final pot, saute two shallots and a heaping T of minced garlic in olive oil, then add strips of red pepper and let sit for a bit. Then add a small handful each of walnuts and sesame seeds, and a box of golden raisins. At the last moment, so that it stays fairly crunchy and doesn't lose its nutrients, add some fresh broccoli.

4. Drain the potato slices and baby carrots, mix everything together and enjoy! Add sauce (tomato or a curry) if you so desire, but know that it's pretty tasty dry, too:)

Sunday salad

Today is one of the first days it feels like fall.
So I made a summer salad.

Sometimes it's hard to let go.

Salad:
Handful of mixed greens
1/4 chopped red pepper
2 diced carrots
1/2 red tomato
2 heaping T low-fat cottage cheese
1 box yellow golden raisins
1/2 sliced cucumber

Dressing:
1 T honey
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
1 T orange juice
1/8 t fennel seeds

The Brandy, My Friends, Did Not Ignite

glaze: butter, honey and brown sugar

note the fabulous new pan

probably my favorite veggie

Last night I made three pounds of honey-glazed baby carrots. Looks like honey is the ingredient of the week, eh? A couple suggestions:

1. Let the carrots cook longer than 15 minutes.

2. Do not use a long lighter to ignite your brandy. It just won't work. Perhaps try a match? Please let me know if you have any success with this.

I thought about posting a very long video of trying to get the brandy to ignite, but really, who wants to see that? Someone who googles "brandy won't ignite" who happens upon this site and then feels less alone about their own brandy not igniting?

The carrots actually taste quite good despite this failure -- they lack that alcohol taste (which I guess tastes good to some?).

Enjoy!

Honeycake

I used a round pan since my bread loaf pan is AWOL.

Cake topping

My friends are such excellent readers. And so after a recommendation, I began reading Jane Kramer's essay, "The Reporter's Kitchen" around 4 this afternoon. I should have been reading Women as Wombs: Reproductive Technologies and the Battle over Women's Freedom. Or The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World. But this seemed more engaging at the particular moment.

Of course, after reading about Jane sifting wheat through a wooden sieve in Paris and drowning her freaking carrots in chervil in Umbria (my goodness Josh, how did this woman ever remind you of me?), I immediately needed to get to my kitchen. Yet we have nothing: We're out of soymilk, cheese, and almost all fruit and vegetables, my usual staples, plain and uninteresting ingredients that a person like Jane Kramer possibly scoffs at...

But then I thought of honeycake. It's the perfect time of year. You know, so many writers who've made silky or nutty honeycake for Rosh Hashanah have such kvetchy stories about it -- how they hated it growing up, and after all, who didn't, blah blah. Well, I didn't.

And since I'm obsessed with all things Mollie Katzen, of course I used her recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a medium-sized loaf pan.
2. Place 1 cup of honey in a medium-sized bowl, and beat at high speed with a mixer for about three minutes. I like this part, even though we don't have a mixer so I use a fork and my incredibly strong arms.
3. Add one egg, 3 T oil or butter, and 1/2 c cold black coffee or water. Beat for one more minute.
4. Sift 2 c white flour, 1/2 t salt, 2 1/2 t baking powder, and a dash or two of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice directly into the honey mixture. Add 1/4 c minced walnuts.
5. Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle another 1/4 c of minced walnuts on top.
6. Bake for about 45 minutes and cool in the pan for 15 minutes.

Consider adding the following topping:
4 c peeled and sliced tart apple
1 to 2 T fresh lemon juice
3/4 t cinnamon
optional honey to taste

Cook these ingredients over medium heat until the apples are soft (around 10 minutes), then spoon the mixture over the honeycake.

My husband hates sweet cakes of this nature, but I just couldn't resist baking this afternoon. Even without a mixer or allspice and my usual bread loaf pan. So thanks Jane Kramer.

And L'Shana Tova!

Carb City

Who doesn't like a little carbs with their carbs?

If you are one of these people, then try this:

Boil 1/2 package of egg noodles.
Boil 3 small yukon gold potatoes. dice them. Then place them in a frying pan with chopped white onion, garlic, and your favorite spices (I used curry powder).
Add a cooked veggie burger.
Add tomato sauce.
Drain pasta. Mix everything together. Voila.

An entry...

...without recipes and photos. Because I left my camera in Miami this weekend. With dozens of photos of iguanas. I went on a walk and came across eight of them. A family reunion perhaps, a meeting of the minds by the water.

So anyway, when my camera finds its way back to me, expect iguanas: forest green and lime green.

...And finally! Enjoy!

Golden Raisin Muffins

Gosh, I've been running around like a crazy person lately. Or so I've felt. In the past couple weeks I got a flat tire, my computer broke, our vet said something seemed wrong with our beloved cat, and I started a new job and a new semester. So of course I caught a cold. Things are now getting a lot better. Our vet changed his mind after more blood tests. The tire is fixed. The computer isn't, but I now have a new attachment to Jake's work computer. And as for the cold, well, who cares.

So I baked! These. I only made one change, adding grated lemon instead of grated orange (no oranges, sad). They're yummy. And pretty easy.