Conquering My Fear of Tofu

August is one of my favorite times of year to cook - I am not yet sick of the summer produce (as I sometimes get in September) and it is still available. When it is hot, as it is in DC right now, I tend to cook in batches to minimize the discomfort of a hot kitchen on an already hot day.

So, on Sunday, I made 4 dishes. I had three eggplants, so I used 1 1/2 eggplants for baba ghanouj (see a recipe similar to what i used here). I used the remaining eggplant in a parve pepperless ratatouille (recipe to follow) that was delicious when paired with roast chicken and brown rice. I also made pasta salad (see previous post) with feta, pine nuts, grape tomatoes, roasted garlic and homemade pesto. Yum!

Finally, I tried to recreate a dish I often order at Thai restaurants - a Penang curry with tofu. It turns out that this dish was a LOT easier to make than I thought, and required only one bowl and one pot. Two variations on the recipe follow. Enjoy!

Caitlin's Penang Curry with Tofu (Parve)

Sauce

1 jar peanut satay sauce or peanut sauce mix (parve) (A Taste of Thai is not hechshered but is ingredient-kosher)

1 can light coconut milk

2 tbsn chunky peanut butter (or smooth if that's all you have)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp curry powder or cumin

Tofu

2 eggs, beaten with a little water (optional, see below)

1 cup flour (optional, see below)

1 block extra firm tofu, drained in a sieve for 30 minutes

1 broccoli crown, broken into bite-sized pieces

1 tbsn oil (optional, see below)

Cooked white or brown rice (there are hechshered frozen rice packets available at most grocery stores, or you can cook ahead and freeze in bags yourself - alternatively, you can use Uncle Ben's microwaveable shelf-stable rice, though am not sure about hechsher status).

Directions:

(1/2. If you are making fresh rice from scratch, put the rice on to cook).

1. Heat half the oil in skillet over med-high heat. Drain tofu, cut into 1" cubes, dip in egg wash, dredge in flour. Throw in skillet and cook, turning frequently, until brown on all sides. Remove from skillet and set aside (this will take two batches at least, depending on the size of your skillet). Drain and wipe out skillet.

ALTERNATIVE: Cute tofu into 1" cubes.

2. To the same skillet add the coconut milk and stir over medium heat. Gradually whisk in the satay sauce, then the peanut butter and spices, stirring until dissolved. Bring sauce to a simmer and stir until slightly reduced.

3. Add broccoli (and, if using the non-fried version, the tofu). Meanwhile, heat rice, if necessary. When sauce is reduced and sticks slightly to the back of a spoon (or is otherwise "saucy" in consistency), remove from heat. If you used the breaded tofu, add to the pot and stir. In either case, allow to sit (and thicken) for a few minutes to cool and thicken.

Spoon tofu mixture over rice. Garnish with fresh basil leaves or, if you have it, a few threads of lemongrass.

The tofu mixture can be kept (separate from rice) in a covered container for 4-5 days. It is actually better the second day (flavors meld).

My Cup(board) Runneth Over

Hello folkses,

Well, I am officially three weeks away from returning to Beantown.

YAY!!!!

So advantages of living in Boston, as opposed to DC:

1. It's cooler and less humid.
2. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is there - my favorite museum in the world.
3. They have good sports teams.
4. They have Wagamama (swoon)!!!
5. Haymarket provides cheap produce!!!

Sadly, Boston does not have a consolidated market that sells great local produce (well, maybe they do in the summer, I haven't been there). The growing season there is shorter, and the sprawling, neighborhoody nature of town means each town has a little farmstand, but (other than Haymarket, which isn't local) there isn't one overwhelming one. However, I am hopeful that I will be able to squeeze out a few weeks of tomatoes, cukes, zukes, and fruits before it gets too cold for good produce.

In the meantime, I am working hard to clean out my parents' cupboards and create some semblance of order - despite my mother's best efforts. My mother believes that looking in the refrigerator before going to the grocery store is a waste of time, which is how we end up with 3 dozen green onions, half of which are wilting, but no milk. I don't understand it at all. Meanwhile, the pantry shelves are full of things that expired in 2004 or that have multi-generational families of moths. Seriously gross.

So, I am trying to find a happy medium, throwing out what needs to be thrown out and cooking what needs to be cooked. The green onions, along with some garlic, will be added to a quart of goat's milk yogurt (a terrible experiment on my mother's part) to become going to become oniony/yogurt cheese tomorrow.

I have a bunch of baking to do, but to do that, I need to buy some yeast. For some reason, every time I buy yeast at my parents' house, it disappears. Very strange.

In the meantime, I tried one of Mark Bittman's 10-minute mains (or, at least, a riff on one) last night, and it was delish! I highly recommend it...

Asparagus in a Soft-Boiled Sauce

1/2 bundle fresh asparagus (leftover, btw)
2 eggs
1 tsp kosher parmesan cheese
1 tsp butter
sea salt and fresh pepper

1. Bring a medium saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, rinse the asparagus and cut off the bottom 1 1/2" of stalk (my asparagus were thin and didn't require peeling), then chop into 1 1/2-2" sections.
3. When water comes to a boil, carefully add eggs, then asparagus. Boil for about 2 minutes. Turn off burner.
4. With a slotted spoon, remove asparagus and place in bowl/on plate. Toss with butter and cheese until well-coated. Allow to cool about 5 minutes.
5. After 5 minutes, remove eggs from pot and run under cold water until cool enough to handle. Remove shell and chop/mush eggs over asparagus, allowing yolk to form a sauce.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve warm with some crusty bread.