Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The Roots of Flavor: Plant vs Animal

Quote du Jour
   I add a lot of citrus to my food and I think that flavors it. And, to me, that's
   what makes it healthier, lower in fat, lower in calories. It add lots of flavor. 
   Spices, of course. But citrus is definitely kind of my go-to season and 
   really to really make those flavors, make that food come alive. 
                                               ~ Cat Cora, Celebrity Chef and former Iron Chef
Lacking flavor? On the contrary...
The fresh flavors of plant-based cooking lead me to a question I would never have thought to ask: What ingredients are providing all the flavor? Meat? Dairy? Fats/oils? Plants?


Plant vs Animal
Flavor Contributors
In the process of changing our diet, taking a fresh look at ingredients to understand what they provide to a recipe and learning new cooking techniques to develop flavor, my palate has changed. There are flavor differences. Here’s what I’ve discovered:

Herbs, spices, seasonally fresh produce...
Even the smoking process of curing meat is a plant-based flavor technique
To smoke meat, you burn wood! Used in the curing process of bacon, hot dogs and other meats, people associate smokey flavor with meat. Liquid Smoke, produced from smoke passed through water, provides a flavor associated with meat. 

Except for salt, a mineral,
I conclude, flavor comes from plants. The roots of flavor are plant-based! Flavor grows! Test for yourself over several meals, and see if you come to the same conclusion.

*Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, March & April 2013, page 30, “fat has a dulling effect on taste.”
Whee! Plants win!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Awesome Plant-based Waffles!

Quote du Jour
     A waffle is like a pancake with a syrup trap. ~ Mitch Hedberg

From Dubious to Delighted
Being able to modify my old waffle recipe made a plant-based believer out of me! Recipes, modified by removing eggs and dairy, remain tasty...and plant-based waffles can be made that won't stick to the waffle iron!

No food induced coma from fat (oil, butter) overload 
This Recipe Can Make Your Brain Happy!
If you feel grumpy about the higher percentage of "carbs" in the unclogged version of this waffle recipe, read this article from MIT:  Carbs Prevent Grumpiness 

To unclog Overnight Waffles, eggs, butter and milk were replaced with ground flax seed, 
       applesauce and almond milk. The whole recipe became healthier! ~ VeggieBound.Org                                                  
Recipe Notes: Most of the preparation is done the night before. In the morning, while your waffle iron is preheating, mix the baking soda into the batter, and add any additional ingredients (see variations  below). Any leftover batter can be covered and kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

No eggs, butter and milk required
Plant-based Overnight Waffles—Unclogged 
Makes 6 waffles

Night Before, or at least 8 hours before serving

     Wet
           4 Tbsps flax seeds, ground      
           ½ cup water, lukewarm 
     
           2 cups almond milk, or other plant-based milk
           ½ cup applesauce
           2 tsps vanilla

     Dry
          1 cup all-purpose flour
          1 cup whole wheat flour         
          1 Tbsp sugar 
          1 tsp salt 
          2 ¼ tsps yeast, active dry 

     Just before baking, add
          ¼ tsp baking soda

The night before, or at least 8 hours before serving, combine the warm water and ground flax; let stand a few minutes to thicken. Add sugar, flour and yeast. Stir in the almond milk, vanilla and applesauce. Mix in the flour until smooth. Cover bowl tightly and refrigerate overnight.

Just before serving, preheat waffle maker to your preferred setting. Add and stir the baking soda into the waffle batter.


Before baking each and every waffle, spray the waffle grids with cooking oil baking spray, using Steven’s “3-squirt” method: 

  • 3 sharp back-and-forth squirts on the top grid and
  • 3 sharp back-and-forth squirts on the bottom grid

Serve with maple syrup, or fruit and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Enjoy!

Variations
Add to the batter the night before
  • 1 tsp grated lemon or orange peel, or 
  • 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
Just before baking, add fresh and or dried fruit and/or nuts, 1/2 cup total, single ingredient or in combination
  • 1 banana, sliced, gently fold into the batter before baking
  • apple, fresh or dried, chopped
  • blueberries, dried, fresh or frozen, gently stir into the batter before baking
  • cranberries, dried 
  • dates, pitted and chopped
  • nuts, chopped
  • raisins
  • etcetera...have fun!
Oh happy day! 
Another breakfast with no bacon and no food coma!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

2 Skills to Master in Prep for the next Recipe

Quote du Jour
   People always ask me, "What is the best knife?" I say, "a sharp one." 
                                                                                               ~ Jacques Pépin
Be the “sharp knife”
Get Ready to Make Plant-based Waffles
I've had a life-long battle with waffle irons. It seemed like no matter what I'd do, the waffle would stick to the waffle iron...what a disappointment! I solved this by adding lots of butter or oil to the batter to prevent sticking. Waffles became a special weekend tradition.

Then we switched to a plant-based diet! NO butter, NO dairy, how was I going to make waffles that wouldn't stick to the waffle iron? 

Canned cooking sprays work perfectly....but...
The First Skill to Master: Critical Thinking
Take a look at the Nutrition Facts listed on any of the canned cooking sprays. 

Quandary
100% oil. 0 calories, 0 fat, 0 cholesterol. 

What? 

Now wait a minute (are your finely tuned critical thinking skill-meters going wacky?) All oil is 100% fat, and according to Wikipedia, 1 Tbsp of Canola Oil is 124 calories. How does the manufacturer manage to make 100% fat have zero calories? S.E.R.V.I.N.G  S.I.Z.E.

Serving size...about 1/3 second spray. Okay, how are you going to spray for only 1/3 second...geez, how would you even measure 1/3 second! 

Okay, I can't take credit for noticing this ridiculous "serving size" issue. 

Check out this video.
     Jeff Novick at the Healthy Life Expo, Los Angeles, July 2012

Now that You've Mastered Critical Thinking
Master the Second Skill: Steven's 3-Squirt Method
My son Steven loves pancakes and waffles. Everywhere he has ever traveled, 
he has ordered pancakes or waffles. His recent favorite is a savory Korean pancake...I digress...

He came up with this way to "grease" the waffle iron:
  1. Pre-heat the waffle iron
  2. 3 quick squirts in a Z pattern. One squirt per "leg" of the Z
  3. Do this on both baking surfaces of the waffle iron 
Next Blog: Awesome Plant-based Waffles!

On the road: Driving home from the Lake Tahoe area today, the Aspen Trees are gloriously golden, everywhere! I stopped by the side of the road (actually Hwy 50) on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, just east of the California and Nevada stateline and South Lake Tahoe...and I couldn't believe me eyes! 

*There was my piggy cartwheeling! I took this photo with my cell phone, hence the blurryness, but, if you look real hard, you can see him. And just beyond piggy is
a sliver of the blue blue blue Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe, Toiyabe National Forest, October 24, 2013

*Just kidding...I'm having way too much fun with this!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Baking: Plant-based and Absolutely Delicious!

Quote du Jour
        Forbidden fruit creates many jams!  ~ from a fortune cookie

Eggs and dairy are NOT essential ingredients for baking!
In fact, I find myself baking more often now that I don't need to have fresh eggs and milk on hand. This blog will show you how I approach deleting animal-based ingredients in baking.

1. FaceOff: Ingredients to use in baking instead of eggs and dairy
2. Nutrition Improvement: Eliminate cholesterol and lower fat
3. Taste Test: Recipe for Pumpkin Bread, one of my best recipes! 


Animal-based Eggs and Dairy are loaded with Cholesterol
For baking, use ground flax seed instead of eggs, and replace shortening/butter/oil with unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana.

For unbaked desserts, mashed avocado is awesome to create a mousse-like texture, see post for August 25, 2013 Guess the Ingredients, Chilled Double Chocolate Torte.

Eggs and Butter
Ground Flax Seed
A terrific high fiber grain, ground flax seed is high in heart healthy *omega 3 & 6 oil and, when moistened, thickens to the same consistency as a raw egg. These qualities make it an excellent ingredient to use instead of oil and eggs. Because it’s high in oil, store in the refrigerator.

Replace each egg in your recipes as follows:
  • 1 egg = 1 Tbsp Ground Flax Seed + 2 Tbsps water/other liquid

Oil, Shortening, Butter
Unsweetened Applesauce or Banana
If necessary, only use vegetable oils (no shortening, lard or butter) (what's with lardon...two-syllables, lard-on...used by celebrity chefs...it's pure fat...I don't get it...just sayin'.)

Baking: Breads, cakes, cookies, waffles, etc.
  • replace half of the oil with unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana
  • or replace all the oil with ground flax seed mixed with water
Examples
  • 1 cup oil = 1/2 cup oil + 1/2 cup applesauce    
  • or 1 cup oil = 1/2 cup oil + 1/2 cup mashed banana
  • or 1 Tbsp oil = 1 Tbsp ground flax seed + 2 Tbsps water


Your body will notice the difference, feed this data to your brain!
See the Nutrition Improvement
The original (clogger) recipe for Pumpkin Bread uses 3 large eggs and 1 cup of oil. 

  • 3 eggs replaced with 3 Tbsps of ground flax seed, mixed in 1/2 cup water
  • Oil** reduced to 2/3 cup then 1/3 cup of the oil replaced with unsweetened applesauce
Using the e-nutrition calculating tool on NutritionFacts.org, this table shows the animal-based (Clogger) vs plant-based (unClogged) nutrition difference











Taste Test
I’ve always loved the Pumpkin Bread available at a favorite coffee house. One day, out of curiosity, I Googled the recipe…& tah dah…it was online! I was taken aback at the calories, most of them from oil! 

I took that recipe and revised it, replacing the eggs and oil as discussed above. The reinvigorated recipe is below. If you absolutely insist, you could replace the ground flax seed and applesauce with eggs and oil...this does work both ways...but why? I think the UnClogged recipe tastes waaaaay better. Taste for yourself!

Recipe Notes: Although this is titled a recipe for bread, you can also bake it as muffins or a bundt cake. Just adjust the baking time. It does call for a lot of sugar...hmmm...you could eliminate the 1/3 cup granulated sugar. Warning: This bread smells so good when it's baking, people are going to want a taste as soon as it's out of the oven! If you can garner enough patience, the flavor does get better...and it slices more easily...if you let it cool.

One of my best recipes: plant-based and truly awesome!

Pumpkin BreadUnclogged 
Makes 2 loaves
Preheat oven to 350°

Wet  
        Beat together in a small bowl, then 
        let sit a few minutes
3 Tbsps ground flax
½ cup water

2 cups pumpkin puree or a 15-oz can pumpkin 
 1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup applesauce
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Dry  
        3 ½ cups flour: a combination of
2 cups all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 cups whole wheat
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Add Ins
½ cup chopped walnuts (pecans or almonds or sunflower seeds, etc.)
½ cup raisins (or dried cranberries or dried apples or shredded coconut,etc.)

Toppings
Before baking, sprinkle over the top of the batter
crunchy sugar, or
chopped nuts
         
         After baking
            Sift powdered sugar over the top 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all ingredients together, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Add chopped walnuts and raisins.

Divide the batter between the two greased pans and sprinkle with a few walnut pieces or crunchy sugar. Bake for 1 hour +, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Rest in the pans for a few minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.


Found: The Great Pumpkin (bread recipe)...wheeee!

*Get your omega oils like fish do, from (sea) plants. Fish don't make omega oils
**1 cup of oil seemed like a ridiculous amount, so I reduced it to 2/3 cup


I am having way too much fun doing these graphics! ~ hwj

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Sunday Morning Humor

Quote du Jour
        I do not like them here or there,
        I do not like them anywhere.
        I do not like green eggs and ham,
        I do not like them Sam-I-am.
                                              ~ Dr. Seuss
                                                 Green Eggs and Ham

A Toast to the Clever Folks who Created this Cartoon!
Keep this in mind when you're thinking eggs and bacon!


Here's the link to the website:  Kermit and Miss Piggy's Son is Missing

Wheeeee! I survived breakfast!

Friday, October 18, 2013

Tamale Pie FaceOff: From Clogger to Unclogged

Quote du Jour
     This little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none... ~ Nursery Rhyme

Did you know that our body makes its own cholesterol? 
And our body makes all the cholesterol all it needs!
No one explains this better than John McDougall, MD, a hero in our dietary journey. Listen to this video from his website this weekend:  


  "The body uses fat primarily for energy storage when no food or other immediate
   source of fuel is available, and cholesterol is needed for many critical cellular
   functions, so both are part of a normal, healthy body. Having said that, the body
   produces all the cholesterol it needs; and as for fat, plants already contain
   adequate amounts and only plants make the essential fatty acids your body
   needs to functionWhat’s more, plant foods never contain cholesterol." 
                                                                       ~ John McDougall MD
                                                                          drmcdougall.com

Is it possible that favorite recipes will still taste delicious if all animal-based ingredients are removed? How?

Test it yourself
Using  a recipe for Cashew Cream and the cooking technique of sweating, here is a model for taking the FaceOff of a favorite casserole resulting in an even tastier final dish.

Recipe Notes for *Clogger and *UnClogged: This recipe, from a dear friend, 
became an instant family favorite and is a casserole that most everyone loves. 
Easy to double, the heat is mild. Have a selection of hot sauces on hand for 
anyone who wants “heat” (that would not be me!). Mexican Coleslaw, recipe 
below, goes really well with this casserole.

Tamale Pie—*Clogger

Serves 6-8                                    
This little piggy had roast beef...
Preheat oven to 325º

Filling 
   1 lb ground beef
   1 onion, chopped   
    2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce 
   1 12-oz. can of kernel corn (1 1/2 cups - drained)
   1/2 cup pitted, chopped black olives
   1 clove garlic, minced 
   1 Tbsp sugar
   1 tsp salt
   2-3 tsps chili powder
   dash of pepper

   2 cups cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, grated

Combine beef and onion and cook till meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain liquid/fat. Add every thing else EXCEPT cheese. Simmer 20-25 minutes. Add cheese. Pour into 13x9 inch casserole and top with cornmeal topping.

Cornmeal Layer 
   2 cups cold water 
   1 Tbsp butter
   1/2 tsp salt
   3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

Cook and stir until thick, but not so thick that you won’t be able to spread it. 
Spread over casserole. Bake casserole in preheated oven, 25 minutes till bubbly.

Recipe *Unclogged Notes: When I unclogged Tamale Pie, I took the opportunity to tweak several ingredients to reflect my preference for the chunky texture of canned diced tomatoes, frozen corn over canned corn, and ground cumin. Then, I switched out plain cornmeal for the tastier texture of stone-ground cornmeal - the cornmeal used for polenta. What an easy way to add flavor, texture and fiber!

Tamale Pie—*Unclogged 
Serves 6-8
Preheat oven to 325º
...and this little piggy had none! Yum!!

Filling 
   1 onion, chopped
   1 clove garlic, minced
   3-4 veggie patties (optional)
   2-3 tsp chili powder
   2-3 tsp ground cumin
   dash of pepper
   2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
   1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
   1 15-oz. can black beans, drain and rinse
   1 cup frozen yellow or white corn
   1 15-oz. can whole pitted olives
   salt to taste


    Add at end of simmer session, 1/2 cup cashew cream 
    (recipe on 10/12/13 post, My bridge to a plant-based diet)

Sweat onion and garlic in a bit of water. Add chili and cumin powder. Sweat
for a minute or so, then, if using, add chopped veggie burger and heat through. 
Add every thing else EXCEPT cashew cream. Simmer 20-25 minutes. Now 
add the cashew cream. Pour into 9 x 9 casserole dish and top with cornmeal
topping.

Cornmeal Layer
   
   2 cups cold water 
   1 tsp salt
   3/4 cup yellow cornmeal, or 

         medium grind, stone ground yellow cornmeal (used for polenta)

   For a creamier texture, add at end of simmer session
        1/2 cup cashew cream, previous post


Stir cornmeal and salt into water. Cook and stir until thick, but not so thick that 

you won’t be able to spread it. If using, add cashew cream and mix.

Spoon over casserole. Bake right away, or cover and refrigerate. Bake casserole 

in preheated oven till bubbly.

Mexican Coleslaw
Serves 6 

Veggies 

   ½ head green or purple cabbage, chopped
   1 carrot, peeled and grated
   1 green pepper, seeded and chopped

Vinaigrette 
   1 clove garlic, peeled and scored in a few places to help release flavor
   ¼ cup red wine vinegar
   1 tsp Dijon mustard
   Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
   Olive Oil (to taste…use a tablespoon or so)


Shake vinaigrette and let sit for a few minutes for the flavor to build. Pour over
salad, then toss. Serve and enjoy.

Variations 
To add a sweet, salty and tangy profile to the salad
   4-5 radishes, sliced
   2 Tbsps raisins
   2 Tbsps smoked and salted almonds, chopped
Happy day! Yumminess...with no animal-based ingredients! Whee!


*Definitions for Clogger and Unclogged can be found on the page link to the right of this post.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Develop Flavor Using 3 Old Cooking Techniques

Quote du Jour
    Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need. ~ Julia Child

Tomorrow's Post will be a Plant-based Tamale Pie Recipe
The recipe includes Cashew Cream - previous post - and uses a cooking technique to build flavor that was new to me, but it's been around as long as people have been cooking!

From Dubious...
A major obstacle for me was figuring out how to build flavor in savory dishes without using butter or oils. Sautéing in butter or oil is a standard cooking technique to layer flavors, beginning with onions, garlic and ending with—if adding “heat”—a pinch of hot pepper flakes. Ah, me of little faith…I found the answer in a Julia Child cookbook. 

Develop Flavor Using 3 Old Techniques

1. Seasonal
The most flavorful ingredients are fresh ripe fruit or vegetables.

2. Stock
The French use stock, a flavorful (and thrifty) broth made from vegetables and herbs, to build flavor in savory cooking including sauces, soups and stews.

3. Sweat
Don’t sauté (or boil) — to develop flavors. This old cooking technique releases the freshness in ingredients to enhance flavor. In a small amount of liquid (no fats or oils), the vegetables that serve as the flavor base in a recipe are heated until they release moisture, or sweat. 

Here’s how:

     A. Heat a saucepan over medium heat

     B. Add enough liquid—water, vegetable stock, wine, fruit juice—to cover the 
         bottom of the pan. 

     C. One at a time, add the vegetables that will serve as the flavor base in the 
         recipe, starting with the ingredients that take the longest to cook. Through 
         the sweating process, add additional liquid as needed to prevent 
         sticking and scorching of ingredients. 

         Gently stir as the ingredients soften. (Piggy's showing off...he's moving 
         the ingredients around by tossing them...which could make quite a mess!) 
         
         Until you get comfortable with this process, start with the suggested order 
         below. Simmer each vegetable for several minutes before adding the next 
         (if using).

                                                1. Onions 
    2. Shallots 
         3. Garlic 
              4. Celery 
                   5. Carrots 
                        6. Peppers
                            7. Mushrooms 

After adding mushrooms, cover pan and steam for a few minutes. Mushrooms are loaded with water, and steaming helps release their deliciousness. I often add a squeeze of lemon, a bit of wine or wine vinegar - something acidic - at this point. Cover the pan for a few minutes to continue to grow flavor.

...to a Diet of Distinction
Now I prefer the fresh flavors that result from sweating vegetables in water or stock. I’d come to believe that butter and oils blur and obscure flavor when I stumbled upon confirmation for this in the Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, March & April 2013, page 30, “fat has a dulling effect on taste.”
Wheee...no bacon fat is very good for my heart!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

My Bridge to a Plant-based Diet

Quote du Jour   
   Coronary artery disease need never exist. ~ Caldwell Esselstyn, MD

It's the Weekend: Time to VEG!
Along with a suggested YouTube video to enjoy at your leisure, today's blog includes the long promised recipe that provides the delicious aspects of cheese, with none of the casein and cholesterol. This recipe made a plant-based believer 
out of me.

VEG Video
Caldwell Esselstyn, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, gives a 62 minute talk from the 2003 VegSource Healthy Lifestyle Expo. 

Click this link to watch:  Make Yourself Heart Attack Proof

Oh, I could never give up cheese!
Everyone makes this statement, me included! So, I decided to think about what qualities I like about cheese, and see if I could find those qualities in plant-based ingredients. It worked!

Identify the traits you like about dairy
Good food includes a variety of elements beyond taste, including color, temperature and texture. With dairy off the table, I struggled to come up with a alternative that would provide a creamy texture. How could I make velvety Vichyssoise without cream? Pizza without cheese?

Finallythe recipe that was my bridge to a Plant-based Diet
Cashew Cream 
Creamy Texture: I don't know where I came across this wonderful recipe. It is so good, it stands alone. Not a cheese-alternative or cream-substitute, it is excellent all by itself in providing creamy texture to both savory and sweet recipes.

Well...it doesn't stretch: Cashew Cream does not provide the melting quality of cheese. Casein - the growth promoter protein in dairy - provides the stretchiness in melted cheese. If you purchase "vegan cheese," check the label for casein. Generally, if a Vegan cheese promises it melts like cheese, casein is an ingredient. Crazy!

Gee whiz fact: Casein and Gluten have similar molecular structures, and they both provide stretchiness. Gluten, the protein in wheat that many are sensitive to, provides the stretchy elasticity in wheat flour dough that helps it rise, keep its shape and bake into bread.

Where does cheese get flavor?: You know how yeast provides a yeasty flavor to bread, and another flavor to beer? This got me to wondering. Since yeast is used to make cheese, does yeast add flavor to cheese? I think it does! I'd never have thought this, until trying Nutritional Yeast. 

All the cheese flavor, none of the cholesterol, and loaded with B12
Nutritional Yeast: Yellow in color with a nutty cheese flavor, it’s basically unfermented brewer’s yeast (the yeast used to make beer). Nutritional Yeast is made by culturing yeast in a mixture of sugar cane and beet molasses for 7 days, then harvesting, washing, drying and packaging it. Sold as a powder resembling corn meal, or in flakes, it’s a major source of B12. Use it to add cheese flavor. Some folks use it as a condiment and sprinkle it on foods in the same way that Parmesan cheese is used. Some movie theaters even sprinkle it on their popcorn! Use Nutritional Yeast when a recipe calls for cheese flavor, for example, plant-based macaroni and cheese. (It's been around all my life, but still, what a find!)

Recipe Notes: Raw cashews have little flavor making them an ideal nut to use as a base for savory or sweet "cream." When roasted and salted, cashews have a somewhat sweet and distinctive flavor. Some cashew cream recipes call for soaking overnight. Generally, I don’t bother with the soaking, but it does yield a velvetier creamy texture. For different applications, vary the consistency by adding water or fruit juice to thin the cashew cream. 

Cashew cream will continue to thicken a bit as it stands. In cooking on a stove-top, because of its fat content, cashew cream reduces quickly in a pan, even faster than heavy cream, so watch it closely, and stir often.

Use in recipes the same way as cream, or half-and-half
Cashew Cream

Yield 2 ¼+ cups, depending on the thickness you need

     Place in the container of a heavy duty blender
           
               2 cups cashews (can be purchased in 3 lb. containers at big box stores)
                  Use raw for flavorless creamy texture
                  Use roasted, salted cashews for a layer of flavor

     Cover with fresh, cold water, by one inch
                Add additional increments of water as needed, to process, and to thin

     Blend on high speed for several minutes, until velvety smooth. Cover

     and refrigerate until needed. 

Variations  
Get creative!

  1. Cheesy: Nutritional yeast to taste
  2. For Mexican Crema, thin with a bit of water
  3. Go Nuts: Instead of cashews, try almonds, or walnuts, or pecans
  4. Salad dressing: Add one whole lemon, one garlic clove, 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  5. Savory: Add garlic, herbs, roasted red peppers, “heat,” fresh basil, etc.
  6. Sweet: Add honey, maple syrup or agave nectar and vanilla and use as a dollop on pies, cobblers, etc.
I moooooove cashew cream replaces dairy cream in all cooking!

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Piggy-backing on Previous Pad Thai Post...

Quote du Jour
  We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. 
  There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them 
   with our eyes open.                                                     ~ Jawaharial Nehru

A Local Travel Adventure...
Deciding to try Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Pad Thai recipe from her Post Punk Kitchen blog, led to the type of experience you usually get when traveling in a foreign country. You know, touring a country that speaks a different language? 

Rather than buy rice noodles at the local chain grocery story, I decided to check out 99 Ranch Market. Shopping list in hand, along with my own grocery bags, I set out for an unexpected adventure!

Melting Pot? My shopping perspective quickly became THINK OUTSIDE the pot! Many of the interesting food items I saw...geez, they've never been in any pot I've ever seen, and believe me, I want to find out what these ingredients are, and I want to taste and cook with so much that I saw. Check out their website (99 Ranch Market) for an e-experience. (You know they're in America -  their store logo is decorated for Halloween!)

Comparison shopping? OMG! The few American foods looked boring, relying on the same ingredients over and over again, they all seemed to contain cheese, cream or butter. 

99 Ranch has a whole aisle devoted to rice, with dozens of varieties beyond the plain white or brown rice we usually see at a grocery store. And the noodle aisle...OMG again and again! 

Here before me was a visual of our American diet...along side multi-Asian cuisine ingredients. Gotta tell you, the American diet comes off boring. 

Back to the Frying Pan
A new skill using my old cast-iron skillet:
Following Isa's simple and clear instructions for Perfectly Browned Tofu from Post Punk Kitchen
I finally know how to fry tofu, and it's delicious.

Already I've plans for using Perfectly Browned Tofu in other recipes. Thank you, Isa!

Confessions of a Cook
Okay, I made 3 deviations to Isa's Excellent Pad Thai Recipe
  1. added 2 carrots (for color), peeled and sliced diagonally
  2. cut tofu into .5 x.5 x 2 sticks, just cuz I wanted to
  3. because of a peanut allergy in the family, I used chopped smoked and salted almonds. (How cool that we can make Pad Thai at home and not worry about peanut reactions!)
absoliman bon gou
(absolutely delicious in Thai)