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Tofu!
Quivering gelatinous mass or tasteless injection molded blob? The answer tonight on FOX News!
As I've pointed out before, SSSal and I once spent a year cooking things we'd always hated: eggplant, fennel etc. The experiment worked in that we now know the difference between the foods we truly hate and those we thought we hated. Of course there are a couple of foods that are still open to debate, e.g., eggplant - SSSal loves it, Crabby finds it vaguely repellent, etc.
One of the other swing foods is tofu. Understand that both SSSal and I find it to be a tasteless mass, whose real value is in visual appeal and added bulk. It's culinary styrofoam. Bland, forgettable, designed to absorb sauce and take up space. Wow, gimme a plate of that!!!
But wait. SSSal and I, "being of a certain age", now find ourselves worrying about nutritional values, bone density and protein - cholesterol trade-offs. We have entered that dreaded phase of life, "The Should Eat Food " stage. We should eat more vegetables. We should eat more fruit. We should eat less red meat. We should, we should, we should. Eating is suddenly Roman Catholic.
Then there's tofu. High in protein, calcium, iron and magnesium, (sounds like I'm building a TV set not dinner). Low in calories and virtually no cholesterol. It's healthy. It's good for you. You should eat it. Gawd, I can't stand it. Tofu is one of those foods where humans start to confuse quantity of life with quality of life.
But, I love SSSal and want our lives together to last as long as possible. So, in an effort to find the maximized point on the quantity vs. quality curve, I give you Otsu, a soba noodle salad with pan fried tofu. This salad is a two-fer, not only healthy tofu, but also super healthy soba noodles. Heck, eat this 24/7 and you might live forever, you won't have many dinner companions, but you'll live forever. Be forewarned, I found the dressing a bit "zesty", if you're sensitive to that taste, I'd add the lemon juice a teaspoon at a time, tasting along the way. Enjoy.
Otsu - Soba Noodle Salad with Pan Fried Tofu
from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson
Dressing:
Grated zest of 1 Lemon
Fresh Ginger, 1" cube, peeled and grated
1 TBSP Honey
3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (for something less spicy, cut back to 1/4 tsp.)
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 TBSP Sesame Oil
Salad:
12 oz. dried soba noodles
12 oz. extra-firm tofu
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cucumber, peeled, cut lengthwise, seeded & thinly sliced
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
Combine the lemon zest, ginger, honey, cayenne and salt in a blender, process until smooth. Add the lemon juice, vinegar and soy. With the machine running, slowly add the olive and sesame oils.
Cook the soba noodles per package instructions. When done, rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Drain well.
Drain the tofu. Pat the block dry with paper towels. Cut the tofu into rectangular pieces roughly 1"' in length. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, (I added a small amount of olive oil to help the browning process). Add the tofu, cooking 1 - 2 minutes per side, until the cubes are nicely golden brown in color.
In a large bowl, combine the soba, chopped cilantro, green onions cucumber and dressing. Toss until well combined. Add the cooked tofu and mix gently. Serve on a platter garnished with sesame seeds.
There you go. A light dinner, or a small serving first course. I'll be honest, I prefer my cool peanut soba to this recipe, but this one is probably better for you. Anyway, until next time, remember, you can do it, you can cook.
Time to get back to cooking. My last two posts "Death in the Afternoon" and "Wine Lesson 1", while spectacularly entertaining, have drifted away from my blog raison d'etre. So as penance for my profligate ways today I give you a three-fer. Yes that's right, three for the price of one, a recipe, a technique and your second wine lesson. Let's get started before this post reaches War and Peace proportions.
First the technique. For years I have struggled with lighter, skinless meats burning horribly on the grill. No matter what I did, no matter what extra grill grates I employed, nearly every piece of fish or boneless, skinless chicken breast flirted with incineration. No more.
Here's a trick I picked up from the folks at America's Test Kitchen, yes, those anal-retentive, suck-all-the-available-joy-and-spontaneity-from-your-cooking testers from Cook Illustrated. When grilling, take a piece of aluminum foil and fold it in half. Form it into a grilling tray and place it on top of the grill grate. That's it.
It doesn't seem like enough, but it separates the flesh from direct contact with the grates, but provides enough heat to create those sear marks that everyone raves over. Try it with the following recipe.
Grilled Swordfish with Tomato & Onion Relish
from Cooks.com
Marinade:
1 TBSP finely chopped shallots
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup oil, canola, walnut, grapeseed but not olive oil.
1 1/2 lbs fresh, boneless swordfish fillets
At least 2 hours before grilling combine the shallots, red wine, orange juice and oil in a medium bowl and blend well. Pour the marinade into a resealable bag, add the swordfish, seal and refrigerate.
Tomato & Onion Relish:
2 TBSP dark brown sugar
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
Rind of 1 orange, finely grated
2 cups peeled, seeded & chopped tomatoes
1 cup peeled, seeded, sectioned and chopped oranges
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
Combine the brown sugar, orange juice, vinegar and orange rind into a medium saucepan. Cook over medium high heat until reduced to about 1/2 cup (approx. 10 - 15 minutes).
While the liquid is reducing, place the tomatoes, orange sections and onion into a sieve and drain thoroughly. Pour the solids into a mixing bowl (retain the juices to adjust the relish if needed). Add the hot sauce and mix well.
Preheat your grill over high heat. remove the swordfish form the marinade and pat dry. Place the fish onto your homemade grill pan. Place on the grill and cook for approximately 4 minutes per side depending on thickness (this recipe assumes 1 1/2" thick fillets).
Remove form the grill and serve with a dollop of relish and a glass of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
Which brings us to phase three of today's post. the food-wine combination. As I mentioned in the last food wine lesson, WWBob provided me with the pairings and he made a clear distinction between French Sauvignon Blanc and New Zealand SB. Today we're drinking two New Zealands both from the Marlborough region, a Nobilo and a Cloudy Bay.
Of the two wines pictured, the Cloudy Bay was a clear winner. It had a tropical fruit flavor at the very beginning that quickly gave way to a grapefruit sensation. It was a perfect foil for the richness of the swordfish, while complimenting the relish very nicely. The Nobilo was nice but it just didn't match the fish as well.
I believe Cloudy Bay is a widely distributed wine that's available nationwide. It's a great partner to a rich fish like swordfish.
Phew, I'm tired. No more fooling around, only quick posts from here on out, alright, a few nasty ones about the Tomato Tree, but otherwise, just remember...
You can do it, you can cook.
Tonight's Episode: Death in the Afternoon.
After nearly a month and a half of growing, after two recall notices, after many measures intended to provide public safety, the Tomato Tree Stand had it's first death. Chipmunk? Poodle? Hummingbird? Senior Citizen? No.
The first casualty of the Tomato Tree was, a tomato. Yes, Christine - The Stand of Death, has resorted to cannibalism. Yesterday afternoon I found a ripening tomato destroyed by some sort of fungus. What's interesting about this problem is that among the vaunted advantages of the Topsy-Turvy Tomato Planter, is the elimination, that's right, elimination, of ground fungus, harmful bacteria and cutworm damage.
As the pictures show, Crabby is having some sort of fungus/bug problem. Can anyone out there in Crab Nation identify what is happening to my tomatoes? Anyone, please?
To my thinking, the whole point of the Topsy-Turvy was to have tomatoes sooner (per the infomercial), with fewer diseases/pests (per the infomercial), and less overall stress, (read the recall notices). So far, nada. Yes I do have some tomatoes starting to ripen, but they are ravaged by some disease. The other plants in the planter show almost no fruit. August is beginning to look like a grim harvest.
Next time back to recipes. May God have mercy on my tomatoes.
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Crabby Quiz: Pretty easy one this time. There are two literary references in this post, at/near the beginning. Please identify.
Tofu!
In a large bowl, combine the soba, chopped cilantro, green onions cucumber and dressing. Toss until well combined. Add the cooked tofu and mix gently. Serve on a platter garnished with sesame seeds.
