Stir-Fried Sesame Broccoli with Tofu and Glass Noodles

I made this for dinner last night and I cheated in the weirdest way. I used half as much broccoli as the recipe called for and the full recipe of everything else. I figured a pound of broccoli was too much for the two of us. It turned out really yummy, but if I had used the full amount of broccoli we would have had the perfect amount of leftovers for another meal. The dish serves 4 and you really don't need anything else with it since it includes tofu, broccoli, and noodles.

Anyway, this is delicious and not too complicated. The flavors are mild, so if you're introducing people to a new "flavor profile" (to steal a wonderful phrase from my daughter and loyal follower, Brittany) this would be a good recipe to try. It's also a great way to introduce people to tofu because it is fried and wonderfully flavored. You could also use chicken in place of the tofu. No matter how you put this together it will be tasty, but I wish I had streamlined a bit and not made so many dirty dishes. I'm going to describe how to put this dish together in the order I wish I had done it, rather than the way I really did it.

This dish uses parboiled broccoli (and their stems) so they are bright and colorful and still crunchy. It also features bean thread noodles which you can find at your local Asian market really cheap, and shiitake mushrooms either dried or fresh. The recipe calls for dried shiitakes, so that's what I did, but it seems like it would be even easier to use fresh. If you're using fresh, you will need to add a little water to replace the soaking water from the mushrooms in the recipe.

First, start a big pot of water to boil. Make sure you have twice as much water as you need for cooking a pound of broccoli. Toast 1/4 cup sesame seeds and set aside to cool. Get out 3 medium to large bowls and a colander. If you use nesting bowls, they'll be easier to fit into the dishwasher. Also get out soy sauce, roasted sesame oil, mirin (japanese rice wine), and light sesame oil or peanut oil for frying. You can use 1 1/2 T. brown sugar in place of the mirin, if you don't have that in your cupboard, or if it is too expensive to buy. In the largest bowl, probably the one you will serve the finished dish in, put 2 fistfuls bean thread noodles (about 5 ounces). In the next bowl put 8 dried shiitake mushrooms. In the 3rd bowl, put 1 carton firm tofu, sliced into 3/4 inch cubes. Pour 2 T. soy sauce and 2 t. roasted sesame oil over the tofu, toss to combine and let them marinate.

Separate the broccoli into florets. Peel the broccoli stems and slice them into coins. Set them aside on your chopping board.

As soon as the water boils, use a ladle to transfer boiling water to the noodles (enough to cover) and the mushrooms (1 cup or so - enough to cover and rehydrate them) and set aside to soak. Salt the remaining boiling water and put the broccoli in to cook for 1 minute. Drain them in the colander and rinse with cold water. Don't wash the big pot. You will need it in a minute.

On your cutting board, slice 4 scallions, mince 2 garlic cloves, and mince a 1 1/2 inch knob of ginger. Set aside in one big pile

Heat 2 t. light sesame or peanut oil. Add the tofu. Cook without stirring until it begins to brown on one side. Nudge the pieces and turn them so they brown on all sides (or most sides). Add any remaining marinade to the pan to glaze the tofu, season with salt and set the tofu aside on a plate. Rinse or wipe out the skillet.

While the tofu is cooking, remove the mushrooms from the soaking water and set them on your chopping board. Strain the soaking water into the big pot (you'll need it soon) and rinse the bowl. In the bowl, combine 4 T. soy sauce and 2 T. mirin (or 1 1/2 T. brown sugar) and set aside. Remove and discard the stems from the mushrooms. Slice the mushrooms and add them to the soaking water.

Heat 2-3 t. oil in the skillet. Stir fry the scallions, garlic, and ginger for 30 seconds, then add the mushrooms with their soaking water. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the broccoli, the noodles, and the tofu. Pour the sauce over everything. When heated through, toss with the toasted sesame seeds and drizzle with a little more roasted sesame oil. Serve with a dry Pinot Blanc.

Things I'd do differently next time: I'd like to try this with fresh shiitakes instead of dried. Next time I will use a full pound of broccoli and have friends over or have more leftovers.

Approximate cost to prepare:

1 carton tofu - $1.50 (more or less depending on where you buy it)

5 ounces bean thread noodles - $.50

1 pound broccoli - $1.00

6 T. soy sauce, 4 t. roasted sesame oil, 2 T. mirin - unknown. The roasted sesame oil and the mirin are a bit expensive but you use them sparingly. I was going to buy mirin, but it was almost $10 for a bottle at my local market. I'll see if it is cheaper at the Asian market. Remember you can use brown sugar in place of the mirin to keep the cost down.

2 T. peanut oil - negligible

8 dried shiitake mushrooms - $3.00 (I don't know how much they would cost fresh)

1 1/2 inch knob of ginger - $.30

2 garlic cloves - negligible

4 scallions - $.30

1/4 cup sesame seeds - $.30

TOTAL - $6.90 for 4 people, plus investing in the sesame oil and mirin if you don't already have it.

On the lookout for Yacón

A friend recently introduced me to a homely-looking, but absolutely delicious tuber called Yacón. Grown in the Peruvian Andes, it is similar to jicama, only sweeter. My friend is going to set me up with a start to grow in my own garden. We'll see how it goes. I'm mentioning it here because I just saw starts of it at my local market (Andy's) for $9.00. Perhaps this ancient plant is going to become the next hot new culinary star. Look for it in your local market and ask your farmer to grow some for you.

Asparagus Ragout (for a transitional season)

This dish has spring ingredients such as asparagus and peas, but it still has some winter ingredients in it, too, such as chard, carrots, and mushrooms. The recipe calls for chervil, an herb related to parsley, but I couldn't find any. The alternative was a mix of parsley and tarragon. I got lazy and just used tarragon - to great effect. I think I used almost twice as much as it called for, and it gave the dish this wonderful anise flavor.

This was my first time making buerre blanc (white butter, in french), a butter sauce. You really can't go wrong with butter. This sauce goes on top of the veggies and broth. You're supposed to serve this in individual bowls with a dollop of sauce on each, but I made this for a potluck, so I just put it in one big, pretty bowl and put little dollops all over the place. It's a beautiful dish with all the vegetables. I ate the leftovers for lunch several days in a row and it was delicious every time.

The recipe has you cook lots of vegetables separately in separate pans. I'll walk you through it the way I made it (the way the recipe recommends), but then I'll give you my recommendation about how to make this easier and have less cleanup at the end. My kitchen was a wreck when people arrived for the potluck. Thank goodness they like me for who I am and don't judge me based on a messy kitchen. :-)

This dish took about an hour. Here's how to get started:

Make the buerre blanc first. Put 1/4 cup white wine vinegar, 1/4 cup dry white wine, 2 T. diced shallot, and a pinch of salt in a saucepan. Simmer until only 2 T. remain. While it is simmering, cut 6-8 T. cold butter into small pieces. Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter pieces a couple at a time until it is all incorporated. The heat from the pan melts the butter bits and incorporates it into a thick white sauce. Season with a little pepper and set aside.

Then start the ragout: Slice the leaves off 1 bunch of chard. Cut the leaves into ribbons about an inch wide. Trim the stems into even planks and lice into strips about 3/8 inch wide and 3 inches long. (I think this is a little too long for bite sized pieces.) Bring 2-3 cups water to a boil, add some salt, and simmer the chard stems for a few minutes. Lay the leaves over the top and cook until tender, a few more minutes. Set aside.

Wash 8-12 slender carrots, and cut them in half lengthwise. (She says to leave them this size. I cut them into 3 inch pieces, which were a little too long.) Chop one small onion or leek (approx. 1/3 cup chopped). Wash 1 1/2 pounds asparagus and snapp off the tough tends. Cut it into 3 inch lengths. Heat 1 T. butter and 1 T. olive oil in a wide skillet with a lid. Cook the onion and carrots over medium-high heat for a few minutes to brown them a bit, then reduce the heat to medium. Add 1/2 cup dry white wine and let most of it sizzle away. Add 1 cup water and the asparagus. Season with salt and reduce the heat even more, cover, and cook until the asparagus and carrots are nearly tender (about 6 minutes.) Add 1/4 pound edible-pod peas, such as snow peas. Turn off the heat.

Heat another tablespoon of butter and olive oil over high heat. When the butter foams, add the mushrooms and quickly stir them about. Saute until they've browned a bit. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until they've released and then reabsorbed their juices a bit. (About 8 minutes total.) Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Loosely arrange the vegetables into 4 pasta bowls. Distribute the chard and stems amoung them, then spoon several tablespoons of juice into each bowl. Add a dollop of the buerre blanc to each bowl, cover with the mushrooms, and garnish with the herbs.

Things I'd do differently next time: I'd cook the chard, and then set it aside in a bowl, reserving the cooking water in a jar in case I needed it for the broth later on. Then I'd use the same pan to cook the carrots, onions, asparagus and peas along with the broth. I would dump all this on top of the chard. Then I'd use the same pan to cook the mushrooms. I'd put the mushrooms in a small bowl and return all the other veggies and broth to the pan and warm through. I'd put this in individual bowls (or one big bowl), add the buerre blanc, then the mushrooms, then the herbs. This would cut down on the number of skillets to wash and the chard wouldn't be cold when you served it.

Alternatively, you could set aside the chard, and then cook pan of carrots, etc. and the pan of mushrooms at the same time. After you've turned off the heat to the carrots, you could add the chard in with the warm veggies and juice and then combine everything. This would cut out one pan and speed up the process a bit. You'd have to have all your veggies chopped first.

Approximate cost to prepare:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar - $.40
3/4 cup white wine - $1.50
2 T. shallot - $.40
8 T. butter - $.75
1 bunch chard - $2.50
one small onion - $.20
8-12 slender carrots - $2.00
1 1/2 pounds asparagus - $5.00
1/4 pound snow peas - $1.25
3/4 pound cremini mushrooms - $3.00
2 T. chervil or a mixture of parsley and tarragon - $.50 (I used half a bunch of tarragon, at $1.29 a bunch = $.65)
TOTAL - $17.00 for 4 or more people. 7 people had a serving of this at a potluck, and then I had it for lunch for 3 days. That's more like 10 servings.

Sweet Souffled Ricotta Cakes

I made these delicious little pancakes for Easter brunch with my sweetie. They don't have any sugar in them, so they are only sweet if you put jam or syrup on them at the end. You could take these in a savory direction as well. They are made with ricotta cheese which makes them substantial, but then the folded in egg whites makes them like little clouds. So yummy. I wish I hadn't made so many other things for Easter brunch so I could have eaten more of these. Next time we'll try them for dinner. These are excellent with champagne punch.

Here's how to make them.

Melt 3 T. butter in a skillet. Turn off heat when melted. Beat 1 cup ricotta with 3 egg yolks until smooth, then stir in 1/2 cup milk and the melted butter. Then stir in 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 t. salt. Stir to make a smooth batter. Stir in 1 t. vanilla extract and a little nutmeg.

Whisk the 3 egg whites until they hold firm peaks. Fold them into the batter.

Reheat the skillet that you melted the butter in. Drop 1/4 cup dollops in the pan. Cook over medium heat until golden on the bottom. Turn and cook the other side. Don't pat them down because you want them to stay light and fluffy. Serve with jam, preserves, maple syrup, sour cream, or applesauce.

Things I'd do differently next time: They were really difficult to turn when making several small ones in the same pan. I think I'd make them regular pancake size next time. I made the batter in my stand mixer, which made it super easy. I also whipped the egg whites in there - no effort at all. Yay for the stand mixer. I love it.

Approximate cost to prepare:
1 cup ricotta - $3.50 (the good stuff)
3 eggs - $1.20
1/2 cup milk - $.25 (organic)
3 T. butter - $.30 (regular, organic is about double that)
1/2 c. flour, salt, 1 t. vanilla, dash nutmeg - negligible
TOTAL cost for 4 people - $5.25

Spicy Tofu with Thai Basil and Coconut Rice Cakes

I made this for an Easter potluck and everyone seemed to enjoy it. This dish is a little difficult to take for a potluck, since it needs to be served shortly after cooking, but it was ok lukewarm, too. The colors in this dish are gorgeous. the yellow rice, the slightly purple hues of the thai basil, the lime quarters and red peppers served alongside make this dish really attractive. This would be great for company.

I probably should have waited until Thai basil was really in season, but I was able to find some at the Asian market. The coconut rice cakes are really tasty and could be used as the base for a variety of stir fries. They are also a really gorgeous yellow color due to the saffron and turmeric. The warmth of the basil and the tang of the lime works really well together.

This dish takes some planning ahead because the rice needs to be refrigerated before you fry it. This is the same rice that is used in Black Beans and Yellow Rice, so it might be good to make extra when you make that recipe and use the leftover rice for this recipe. If you don't have time to make the rice in advance and fry it into little cakes, you can just serve the sauce over the warm coconut rice.

You start with the coconut rice: Bring 2 cups water, 1/2 can coconut milk, a couple pinches of saffron and 1/2 t. of turmeric to a boil. Add 1 1/2 cups rinsed basmati rice. Turn down the heat to very low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork when finished. Stir in 4 thinly sliced scallions, season with salt and pepper, and put the rice in a 9x12 pan. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the top, cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.

When the rice is well chilled, cut it into diamonds or other shapes, and fry in a little peanut oil. Set fried cakes aside.

Cut up one carton of tofu into bite-sized triangles or diamonds. Fry it in a little peanut oil on both sides until golden. Season with salt, pepper, and the juice of 1/2 lime. Slide the tofu onto a plate and reheat the skillet with more oil.

While the tofu is cooking, stir together 1 t. brown sugar and 2 T. soy sauce until the sugar is dissolved. Chop 2 garlic cloves, thinly slice 3 large shallots, and chop 1 jalapeno chile. (Take out the seeds and veins if you want to limit the heat.)

When the oil is hot, stir fry the garlic, shallots, and jalapeno for 30 seconds. Add the soy sauce mixture, the rest of the coconut milk (1/2 a can), and 1/2 t. turmeric. Squeeze the other half of the lime over all and put the tofu back in the pan. When everything is warmed through, turn off the heat, taste for salt and add more salt or soy sauce as desired. Season with pepper. Stir in a handful of torn Thai basil leaves and a handful of torn mint leaves.

Arrange the coconut cakes on a platter or on individual plates. Add the tofu and sauce over the top and garnish with thai basil, especially the flowers. Serve with additional jalapeno and lime quarters.

Things I'd do differently next time: Rather than cutting the rice into squares to fry, I would shape it into ovals and refrigerate it that way. Also, the tofu wasn't very spicy, so I think I'll leave some of the seeds in the jalapeno next time.

Approximate cost to prepare:
1 1/2 cups basmati rice - $2.00 (or less)
1 can coconut milk - $1.25 (Ranges from $.89 - $1.99 at the Asian market, but more in specialty stores)
saffron - $2.00 (the little container of saffron cost 5 dollars. 2 pinches was about 1/3 of it.)
1 t. turmeric - $.20
4 scallions - $.15
1/3 cup sesame seeds - $3.00
peanut oil for frying - $.25
1 t. brown sugar, garlic - negligible
2 T. soy sauce - $.20
1 carton tofu - $1.20
2 limes - $.65
3 large shallots - $1.25
1 jalapeno chile - $.20
thai basil (half a bunch) - $1.00
handful of mint - growing in my back yard
1 red jalapeno or thai pepper, optional, or red pepper flakes - $.20
TOTAL - Approx. $12.35 for 4 servings. I had a lot of this stuff in my pantry.

I think this dish would cost about $18 per serving at a restaurant.

Seared Tofu with Miso Sauce

This is so fast and flavorful, you'll have it on the table in minutes and have people raving. There's a second sauce for this same style of tofu that I will try on another occasion. This miso sauce takes only a few minutes to put together and you can do it while the tofu is cooking. Some pretty garnish on top makes it look great, too. I suppose you could also make this with chicken if you wanted.

Take one container of firm tofu, cut it into 6 rectangular pieces, and fry it over medium high heat until golden on one side. Turn over and cook the other side until golden. Add a couple tablespoons of worcestershire or steak sauce. Most of it will cook away and what remains will glaze the tofu.

While the tofu is cooking, mix up the following ingredients in a bowl or food processor: 1/3 cup miso, 2 T. mirin, 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, 1 garlic clove, 1 t. sesame oil, a splash of soy sauce, 2-3 T. mayonnaise, and some salt and pepper. I didn't have enough mirin, so I used water to thin the sauce.

Put the sauce on the tofu pieces and put them under the broiler until the sauce blisters. Add a dollop more sauce and garnish with slivered green onions and slivered red peppers.

I also used a little of the miso sauce in a salad dressing I made up to go with this meal. It was about 1 T. soy sauce, 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 T. miso sauce, 1 t. sugar, salt, pepper, and olive oil. I put grapes in the salad, which I wasn't sure would work with the japanese tasting sauce, but it was great. I also put in the extra scallions and red peppers from the tofu dish, and some pine nuts I had in the freezer. It was yummy.

To round out the meal, I served roasted asparagus. Just drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper over asparagus and stick it in the oven at about 350 for 20 minutes. We took the whole meal out on the patio and enjoyed the first outdoor meal of many for the season. Welcome, spring!

Things I'd do differently next time: Make more tofu. We loved it and could have eaten more.

Approximate cost to prepare:
1 tub firm tofu: $1.20 (Trader Joe's organic)
1 slivered scallion and 1/8 of a red pepper: $.50 (?)
1/3 cup white miso: $1.50 (the whole container cost a little over $4.00 and I used about 1/3 of the container)
2 T. mirin - $.25 (a bottle costs about $3.00)
2 t. fresh ginger - $.25
garlic clove, salt pepper, soy sauce - negligible
1 t. roasted ssesame oil - $.25 (about .80 per ounce at Safeway)
3 T. mayo - $.50 (.17 per ounce)
TOTAL - $4.45 for 2 people and I had a lot of sauce left over.