OMGSNAX!

i really needed to use up the broccoli i had from that curry recipe a couple weeks ago & the cream i never used to make whipped cream when i made that apple crisp, so here we are at one of my favorite dishes from when i was a kid.

INGREDIENTS
4 ounces dry fettucine pasta
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 ounce tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup broccoli florets
1/4 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

METHOD
cook fettuccini in a large pot of boiling salted water until “almost” done. drain, & return noodles to pot.

stir cream, butter or margarine, tomato sauce, garlic, & broccoli into the noodles. simmer until noodles are done. stir in sliced mushrooms, & remove from heat. sprinkle with parmesan cheese, & season with salt & pepper to taste.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
fettucine? no no no. maybe it’s just that i have a soft spot in my heart for rich & charlie’s terribly overcooked pasta con broccoli, but i just never visualize this dish with a long pasta — r & c uses shells, my favorite shape is definitely wagon wheels, & on this particular night, i ended up using penne b/c that was the box i had in the cabinet.

i schlepped all my stuff over to daniel’s house for a reason that sounded good at the time, & while he cursed at the speaker stands he built this afternoon, i boiled the water, chopped the broccoli, & threw everything together. so fast, so easy. mushrooms are a big no-no in my book (even though my distaste for them is purely psychological), so that variation had to go, & i used half a box of penne (which was 8 oz, not 4 oz), but it all came out JUST RIGHT.

this is what i mean by “easy”

before the ingredients become a meal

i think this is probably daniel’s favorite recipe to date — or, at least, he was incredibly enthusiastic about it, which i can’t say about every dish i’ve made thus far.

the finished product

 

 

“Pasta Con Broccoli” from allrecipes.com.

i found this coconut curry tofu recipe last week on allrecipes.com via a vegan recipes community on livejournal & was determined to try it. i was nervous b/c i’d never made anything like it before, & i knew i was going to modify the ingredients substantially, thus dramatically upping the chances of disaster, but i felt i had to forge ahead in the name of science.

so forge ahead i did.

INGREDIENTS
2 bunches green onions
1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
1/4 cup soy sauce, divided
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons chile paste
1 pound firm tofu, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
4 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
4 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
4 cups chopped bok choy
salt to taste

METHOD
remove white parts of green onions, & finely chop. chop greens into 2-inch pieces. in a large heavy skillet over medium heat, mix coconut milk, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, brown sugar, curry powder, ginger, & chile paste. bring to a boil. stir tofu, tomatoes, yellow pepper, mushrooms, & finely chopped green onions into the skillet. cover, & cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. mix in basil & bok choy. season with salt & remaining soy sauce. continue cooking 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender but crisp. garnish with remaning green onion.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS
so … i really like broccoli. i like the way it soaks up sauces in thai & vietnamese food, although i really like it with almost anything as long as it’s just slightly overcooked. bok choy, on the other hand, i could take or leave. so i substituted broccoli for bok choy.

chopped vegetables

i also eliminated the tomatoes (not in season), the bell pepper (didn’t want it), & the mushrooms (ew gross). i should’ve made more broccoli to compensate, but i didn’t.

additionally, i drastically reduced the green onions (used maybe half a bunch instead of two full bunches) & added a small chopped white onion instead. i’m not sure how much of a difference that made. i also added 3 cloves of garlic, just for the hell of it.

oh, & i didn’t have curry powder, so i just added equal parts cumin, tumeric, & red pepper instead, & doubled up on the ginger. i also used cilantro instead of basil b/c i see cilantro all the time at thai & vietnamese restaurants, whereas for me, basil has more of an italiany taste.

so i guess it’s kind of almost an entirely different recipe? but still really good.

i put my latke-making know-how into the task of frying tofu

the last change i made was that i fried the tofu in peanut oil before i added it to the sauce. (i actually fried it up before making the sauce at all b/c i only have one skillet.) i’d never fried tofu before, but a waiter told me once that peanut oil was the secret, so i poured a few tablespoons of peanut oil into the skillet (which probably would’ve worked better were my burner not off-kilter & slanty), heated it, & plopped the tofu cubes in. it took WAY longer to fry than i thought it would, but my patience paid off & the tofu got golden & crispy on the outside. i am REALLY proud of myself for figuring that part out — especially without guidance from a recipe — & now that i know how to do it, i’ll probably be doing it a lot more often. & you can drain it on paper towels after it’s done, so that probably helps marginally with the grease factor.

golden tofu

the sauce initially looked like it was never going to come together — the coconut milk was all separated & weird-looking, the spices were clumpy, the chile paste wouldn’t mix in, & i forgot to saute the onions in advance — but i just dumped it all in & crossed my fingers & it actually totally worked out.

i should’ve taken a photo when it looked horrible

the spices still need a little fine-tuning, & that may be mostly to do with the improvised curry powder, & i REALLY should’ve made rice to go with it, but by the time i thought about it, everything was almost finished & the rice i have takes about half an hour to make, so no go. i did make rice afterwards & i poured the leftover sauce in with the rice, b/c i really needed to either halve the sauce recipe or triple the amount of broccoli (& use a full package of tofu instead of a half, which is what i did).

the finished dish

daniel hated it, but he apparently hates coconut milk, so there you go. i asked him if he didn’t like it b/c of the spices, & he said, “no, i don’t like it b/c it’s bad.” at least he’s honest!

 

 

“Coconut Curry Tofu” from allrecipes.com.

so here’s the thing: i realized at work today that i absolutely had to do this week’s recipe today, as tomorrow is brian’s CD release & saturday i’ll be in kirksville with him for another show, & then it’s NEXT WEEK already, & come on, man, i’ve got a schedule to stick to! sheesh.

other dishes up for consideration, mostly found while browsing allrecipes.com during my half-hour lunch break, included: some kind of yellow curry & broccoli, sweet potato cornbread, frittatas, macaroni & cheese, some kind of pasta (oh wait but yesterday!), cheesecake. but then i got home & flipped through my Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home & saw i’d dog-eared a fried rice page, & daniel said that he’d been craving some kind of rice dish ANYWAY, so we were off to schnucks to get a bunch of overpriced oils & some vegetables. thank god for last minute choices!

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar or cider vinegar
2 teaspoons molasses or brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon chili paste, or splash of chili oil (optional)
1 cake tofu (about 3/4 pound)
3 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil
2 medium red or green bell peppers, cut into thin strips
6 ounces snow peas, stemmed (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup water
4 cups cooked brown rice
2/3 cup chopped scallions
chopped toasted almonds (optional)

METHOD
in a shallow nonreactive bowl, mix together the marinade ingredients [everything through chili oil]. cut the tofu into strips 1 inch long, 1/2 inch wide, & about 1/2 inch thick. add the tofu strips to the marinade & stir gently, using a rubber spatula to avoid breaking the tofu. marinate for about 10 minutes.

prepare all of the remaining ingredients & have them at hand before starting to stir-fry.

heat a wok or large skillet. swirl the oil around the wok, add the peppers, & stir-fry for 3 to 5 minutes on medium-high heat. add the snow peas & water & continue to stir-fry, uncovered, until the water evaporates & the snow peas are crisp & begining to puff up. using a slotted spoon, remove the tofu from the marinade & add it to the wok. stir for a moment, hten add the rice & heat thoroughly. pour on the marinade, add the scallions, & stir.

serve immediately, garnished with chopped almonds if you like.

DEVIATIONS & OBSERVATIONS

daniel chops the ginger (still don’t have a grater, people)

i hate brown rice.

have you noticed how often i start this section with “i hate X” or “i hate Y” ..? well as a big old DUH, i’m picky! christ. let it go.

so i bought some speciality medium-grain sticky rice b/c, as i discovered during last week’s chana masala fiasco, good rice really does make a difference (the basmati rice was delicious). & i will tell you this: eff your uncle ben’s minute rice shit, b/c this is where it’s at.

other things i did differently: added broccoli, halved the snow peas, 86ed the green bell pepper, used way less tofu (daniel doesn’t like it), oh, & i scrambled an egg on the side of the wok after i’d cooked the vegetables b/c doesn’t fried rice usually have egg in it? the hell?

my virgo boyfriend had to stack all the vegetables on the cutting board just so

vegetables in the wok

but holy COW, this was a good marinade. & i almost always mess up tofu when i make it, but i just got extra-firm & crossed my fingers & it didn’t fall apart! & it tasted really really good! & it was made even better by the fact that i didn’t have to chop any of the vegetables b/c daniel did it all while i did the tofu & the rice.

note the mongolian “fire oil” in the background

anyway, i believe we finally have our first OMGSNAX! success story. & imagine this, i owe it all to moosewood!

the final product

 

 

“Fried Rice” from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day by The Moosewood Collective, © 1994.