oh, it's gonna be that kind of party?

Hurd once asked me why she hardly ever made the blog while it was "Ellen-Ellen-E-dawg all the time". I replied that it just so happened that what we got up to when together wasn't always fit for public consumption. She had no choice but to agree. In fact, she pretty much has to agree with me on everything from now on because I have some hilarious photos of her escapades. Here's a sample. These are the ones that are sorta fit for public consumption (after much editing and censoring).

She and Jen came over to Zeke's house while I was dog-sitting this weekend to soak up some central air and have dinner (I made Eric Gower's crispy tangy tofu and edamame salad again--such a great summer dinner). Seems pretty innocent, eh?

Ah, yeah. Good times. The weekends are where it's at!

Now, to back up a bit, Friday evening I met the Hurd, E-dawg and Lareese out at Spice Island Tea House for a little java fried rice feeding frenzy. So good! I also ordered up some fresh bean sprouts with basil (on Jen's recommendation), which was also taste-a-licious. And, we split a couple desserts. E-dawg and I went with chocolate samoosas with pomegranate sauce and coconut ice cream, and Hurd and Lareese went with coconut cake with mango ice cream. Yuh-um. I love you, Spice Island!

Speaking of E-Dawg and Lareese, on Saturday night they ran into Sue and Ledcat from the Pghlesbian.com blog, and got a shout-out as "characters" from this blog! I love it!

Anyhow, Saturday (prior to the debauchery mentioned above), E-dawg, the Hurd, Emily, Oisin and friend-of-Emily and I met up with my pal Karen. We did a little trade-off of some goods. I brought her a batch of sprouted garbanzo burgers with a tangy tomato sauce. I did this batch of burgers with onion, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and green pepper for a kind of italian flair. The tangy tomato sauce was:

Tangy Tomato Sauce
(serve with your sprout burgers for good times)

-1 c. greek yogurt (used Fage 0% Total)
-fresh lemon juice of one lemon (use the zest in the burgers!)
-1/4 t. dry yellow mustard
-sea salt, to taste
-1/2 t. crushed toasted fennel seeds
-1/2 t. dried parsley
-8 sundried tomatoes, soaked in hot water for ten minutes
-a couple dashes of chipotle powder
-a big pinch of crushed red pepper
-a clove of garlic

Put it all in the food processor, and process until smooth, and adjust seasonings to taste.

I hope she liked them!

After the pool, we rolled over to The Vault, and had some snacks and some iced tea/coffee (free refills!), listened to some good music, perused the magazine selection, flirted with the coffee-boy (I'm serious. I think we all flirted with him. Yes, we are all dyke-tastic, but still. He was a doll-pie.), and had an impromptu dance party. All seemed well until a couple hours later, and we all realized that we were burnt to a crisp. What the hell was I thinking with the not putting on of the sunscreen? Saturday night you could feel the heat radiating offa me from six inches away. Not good.

But, Sunday my burn had mellowed to a lovely bronze, and that made me think, "hey, maybe I shouldn't ever wear sunscreen...?" But that's the kind of thinking that can get you in trouble. But also, tan.

Guess where Ellen and I hit yesterday afternoon? I'll give you a hint. It rhymes with Mita's Mitalian Mices.

my newest love

I'd been hesitant to post about my newest love because I have his book from the library, and there's only one copy in circulation, and I want to keep it forever. But, I just checked the library site, and now there's a dang hold on my copy so I won't be able to renew it. Crap. Buying new books does not fit into the budget, but I'm in love with this chef and his cookbook. Whoever has the hold on this book--a pox upon you!

So, anyway, the book is The Breakaway Cook by Eric Gower.

Last night I made two of the recipes from his book. The Edamame Salad with Pickled Ginger, Maccha Salt and Roasted Almonds and the Crispy, Tangy Tofu. Holy cow. Both were amazing. Very light and perfect for a summer dinner. I made them, and took them over to Maggie's with a jug of my homebrewed kombucha. Yum.


Eric's whole philosophy of "breakaway cooking" is that:

A breakaway cook is, above all, someone who loves great home cooking without excessive fuss – it’s all about keeping things very simple and accessible. Simplicity is what distinguishes breakaway cooking from fusion food, which often muddies the waters with needless and excessive complexity. Breakaway cooking reaches all over the globe for inspiration and ingredients to produce easy, no-fuss food. The flavors are bright and fresh, and the ideas are simple yet sweeping.

Breakaway cooks aren’t fancy restaurant chefs trying to achieve cutting-edge or trendy results. They typically work solo, or if they’re very lucky sometimes have a friend or family member to help out, and they typically work in imperfect kitchens, with imperfect tools, limited budgets, and limited time to cook.

A breakaway cook is someone who's willing to take a culinary leap by combining everyday staples—chicken, eggs, common vegetables, pasta—with an international bazaar of readily available ingredients: miso, green tea, tamarind, chutney, star anise, pomegranate molasses, lemongrass, ginger and galangal . . . the list seems to grow everyday. The Breakaway Cook shows home cooks how to take these "global flavor blasts" down from the shelf and use them in new, time-saving ways. These intense flavors then get combined with the freshest of local organic produce, and are woken up even more with the liberal use of excellent salts, citrus, fresh herbs, and good olive oils and vinegars.

I love his style, and I LOVE the way those recipes tasted. And, they were really easy and straightforward. I had to make a couple substitutions/omissions, and it was still amazing. I'm especially down with his ideas of making flavored salts and vinegars as a simple way to infuse your cooking with "flavor blasts". I made his maccha salt last night for the edamame recipe, and used it today on some hard-boiled eggs with my lunch. So delicious!

Here's the tofu recipe:

Crispy, Tangy Tofu
serves 4 [ek: uh, this served 2 and I could've totally eaten more]
from The Breakaway Cook, p. 100

zest and juice (about 1/4 c.) of 1 large lemon, preferably Meyer
zest and juice or 1 orange
2 T. carrot juice [ek: i didn't have carrot juice, so just used water]
1 T. honey
1 T. soy sauce [ek: i used Bragg's liquid aminos]
pinch of cayenne
3 scant T. rice flakes or fine dry bread crumbs [ek: i used panko]
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of freshly crushed black pepper
1 block silken tofu, drained, then wrapped in paper towels to absorb moisture
1 egg yolk
1 generous T. unsalted butter
1 t. chopped fresh chives (optional)

Put the citrus juices into a small saucepan, add the carrot juice, honey, soy sauce and cayenne, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer while you prepare the tofu. [ek: i actually added the zest, too. when i read through the recipe i thought he forgot to add it, but i'd do it again. it made the sauce extra citrusy and delicious].

Put the rice flakes (or bread crumbs), salt and pepper in a coffee or spice grinder and pulse a few times. Be sure the paper towels have absorbed as much water as possible from the tofu, then slice the tofu along its "equator", creating 2 large flattish slabs. Cut each of those in half, giving you 4 pieces. Spoon the egg yolk on one side of each piece and evenly spread the rice-flake crust over them. Heat the butter in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat and saute the tofu, crust side down, for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Carefully flip the pieces over with a spatula and briefly cook the other side, about 2 minutes. Pour some of the reduced sauce into a warm plate or shallow bowl and slide the tofu into the center of the sauce, crispy side up. Top with the orange and lemon zest and the chives, if desired.

And, here's the edamame salad recipe.

Edamame Salad with Pickled Ginger, Maccha Salt, and Roasted Almonds
serves 5 or 6 [ek: Mags and I each had two helpings of this, and I had one helping left over for lunch today]
from The Breakaway Cook, p. 66

1 T. unsalted butter
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. minced shallot
3 c. cooked edamame
1/2 c. pickled ginger (p. 38), juilienned [he makes his own pickled ginger, which I'm totally going to do, but I didn't have that ready, so just used it from a jar]
1/4 c. vinegar from Pickled Ginger
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced into irregular shapes
freshly crushed black pepper
maccha salt (p. 36)
1/4 c. roasted almonds, roughly chopped

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a small pan over medium-low heat. Add the galic and shallot and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large serving bowl and add the edamame, pickled ginger, vinegar and avocado. Mix and sprinkle in plenty of pepper. Divide the salad among individual plates, dust each serving liberally with the maccha salt, and top with the almonds.

I can't wait to try as many of the recipes as possible before I have to return the book (on 7/18, you bastard! no, not you. that person who has a hold on the book). I will definitely be buying a copy of this when I'm more financially solvent.

In other news, I've been on a quest to track down a source for raw dairy. At the beach Doggie made some waffles with raw milk, butter and cottage cheese that were amazing. I haven't been able to stop thinking of them, so I emailed around and found a couple sources for raw milk and cheese (alas, no butter or cottage cheese yet, but one farm said they may start making yogurt soon). E-dawg and I are making a little road trip out to Le-Ara Holsteins/Wilson Farms tomorrow to pick up some milk. And, then she and Kara and I are making the waffles tomorrow. I'm getting some strawberries and ricotta cheese (the raw cultured cottage cheese was sorta like ricotta) and maple syrup, and Ellen's brining some of her friend Richard's country honey and some raspberries. Kara is going to make "something complimentary", and I can't wait to see what that is because she's an insanely good cook. Now, that is what a Sunday morning is all about!

Oh, and the kombucha. I finished one batch on Sunday (took about a week and a half to get to the acidity that tasted good to me), and started two more. I bottled what I'd made, and have been drinking it up (made about a gallon). It's not as effervescent as the stuff you get in the store (I'm thinking that's probably because it's mixed with fruit puree which gives it something to eat and build up pressure), but it's delicious and I feel good when I drink it. The two mothers that will come from the batches I'm making now are spoken for, and one of the ones from the batch after that, but if you're interested in making your own, just let me know and I'll put you on The Mother List.