Recipes by Ingredient + Prep – Page 52 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Tossed Tofu and Brussels Sprouts Salad

After a family friend had a small heart attack this past week, my mother didn’t necessarily start running on the treadmill. The family friend is, thankfully, okay, but now he has to change his diet. That at least made sense to my mom who bought a few packages of tofu to change hers. Well, at least, begin to change. She asked me for a recipe that’s easy and quick to do.

I want my parents to know that altering their traditional diet to a healthier one requires not much more work than what they’re used to. If they start their meal with a light salad like this, then maybe they would be apt to eating less during the main course. At the least, there’s a variety on their table when I eat with them.

I always have Brussels sprouts on hand so I used a tub of them here. I sliced them in ribbons so that they would cook in less time and they could match the shape of the sliced tofu. This would be excellent with fried pancetta chunks, but I left that off just to teach my mom a lesson. At the end, the leaves were bright and the almonds added some crunchy texture for no more than 20 minutes of prep.

Ingredients:
1 package of extra firm tofu, drained, cut into small and thin chunks
1 small tub of Brussels sprouts, tips cut off, then sliced so they are like ribbons
2 cloves of garlic, minced
half a bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
a handful of sliced almonds
salt, peanut oil

1. In a large skillet, heat some peanut oil and sautÃ© garlic until golden brown. Add Brussels sprouts and season with salt. Toss in the almonds. Cook for about 5 minutes, setting them aside in the skillet after 3.
2. Add a little bit more oil and fry the tofu. Gently turn them over to cook the other side. It’s okay that some of the tofu get crushed. Turn off the heat. Sprinkle in cilantro and toss everything together. Transfer to a salad bowl.

Porkolt, Hungarian Fish Stew

When my boss returned from our office in Budapest, he handed me two red packets of paprika. The developers we work with over there bought them for me because paprika is the most Hungarian thing that I could think of in terms of food. I’ll just have to wait until I visit them myself to experience and taste everything else.

I read that pÃ¶rkÃ¶lt is like ghoulash, a traditionally peasant and comforting dish for the Eastern Europeans. The most common version is to cook it with beef, but I used fish because I saw fresh Swai fillets in my grocery store. I also wanted to spend more time eating it with a glass of bold, red wine rather than actually cooking it.

Swai, or Vietnamese cat fish, or basa, are inexpensive at $3.99 a pound. But feel free to use any other firm, white fish. Swai fish retain flavor and stay moist when cooking, so I found them ideal for this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 Swai fish fillets, sliced in smaller pieces
1 green bell pepper, seeds removed, julienned
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 tomato, quartered
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of regular paprika
2 tbsps of hot paprika
sour cream
salt, pepper, oil

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet and sautÃ© garlic until golden brown and onions until translucent. Add tomato and green bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes while gently crushing the tomato. Season with paprika, salt and pepper. Remove everything to a plate and set aside.
2. Add a little bit more oil in the skillet. Cook fish fillet for about 3 minutes per side. Add the vegetables back and add 1/4 cup of water and lower the heat to simmer. You’re done when the water has somewhat reduced.
3. To serve, top with a dollop of sour cream. Eat this with rice, pasta or lightly toasted bread.

Bubble and Squeak

There was half a cabbage head in the fridge that I didn’t want to go to waste. I remembered the Dr. making us bubble and squeak throughout our stay in Iceland, making use of the expensive cabbage and potatoes available in the grocery stores we drove by. Locked up indoors because of a nasty bug, I made my version and tucked in with a bowl of it in front of The Millionaire Matchmaker. Vegetarians can make this without the pancetta, and vegans can skip the heavy cream if they roast the cabbage and the potatoes longer towards the end.

Bubble and squeak is an English dish traditionally made with leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. I’m being traditional here because, hey, that cabbage was from the corned beef I made. Funny how cabbages last forever! I’m not quite sure where the name comes from. I think the bubble is from when the dish is bubbling hot. And the squeak? Well, we all know what a lot of cabbage does to you!

Ingredients:
half a head of cabbage, sliced in ribbons
4 medium potatoes, halved
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly
1 chunk of pancetta, chopped
1/2 cup of heavy cream
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt, pepper, oil

1. Boil the potatoes in a pan filled with salted water until tender, about 25 minutes. Remove potatoes from the water. When cool enough to handle, slice the potatoes thinly.
2. Preheat oven to 350Âº. Using an oven-safe skillet, heat some oil and render the pancetta. SautÃ© the garlic and onions. Add the cabbage. Season with salt and pepper. Toss and cook everything together until cabbage is soft. Spread the potatoes on top, covering the cabbage. Pour in heavy cream.
3. Roast in the oven for about 10 minutes or until bubbling hot. Remove from the oven, toss and serve with gherkins.

Hearty Lentil Soup

In Michael Pollan’s latest book, In Defense of Food, he summarizes his lecture on the first page: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly greens.

I love greens, but I also love all kinds of meat. And you know how I feel about bacon, right? But there are days when I do crave vegetable-only dishes. I run to Joe’s Shanghai for their baby bok choy flash-fried in garlic and hot oil. I go to Snack for their artichoke salad sans the chicken. Sometimes, I even go to my local deli’s make-your-own-salad counter and pick from the available ingredients just to get my fix. And when I eat my meat, there’s always a side that involves a vegetable.

You can use almost any kind of greens here. I used Chinese spinach because that’s what I had in the fridge. Regular spinach, watercress or bok choy will do, too. They key is to simmer everything for a long time, so that the broth thickens with all the carrot and celery goodness. You’ll get more of the lentils’ earthy taste in the end. If you can deal with the extra work, use a hand blender and purÃ©e the entire batch before serving.

When they’ve cooled down, transfer leftovers in quart containers and store in your freezer for up to two weeks. You can just thaw and heat one up when you want another serving of hearty lentil soup.

2 1/2 cups of lentils, rinsed
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 bag of baby carrots, halved
1 bunch of greens
vegetable broth
1 tomato, quartered
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of coriander, toasted, grounded
1 tbsp of cumin, toasted, grounded
1 tbsp of cardamom, toasted, grounded
salt, pepper, oil

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat some olive oil. SautÃ© garlic and onions. Add the carrots and celery and cook until glistening, about 8 minutes. Add the lentils, tomato and the spices to combine. Add enough broth to cover.
2. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Cover and simmer until lentils are tender, about 40 minutes to an hour. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Cook’s Illustrated’s Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I don’t cook like this.

But because I was testing a recipe for Cook’s Illustrated, I knew I had to follow their instructions as much as I can to get the results they were trying to achieve. When I first got this recipe in my inbox, I thought, No meat? I was ready to reject the test but decided at the last minute that maybe a meatless recipe (well, except for the pancetta chunks) will be more of a challenge for me. Besides, I still shudder when I look at mushroom pleats, so I thought this was a good attempt to overcome my so-called fear.

America’s Test Kitchen’s goal with this stuffed portobello mushroom recipe was to get an intense mushroom flavor without the gumminess of other recipes they’ve tried. I think I achieved that when I tried it at home, but it sure did take a lot of time and ingredients to try and get everything right.

After cooking, I answered the questions associated with the recipe and put in my two cents. I noted the adjustments and substitutions I made. I used more oil than the recipe suggested when brushing the mushrooms for roasting. I also used salted butter instead of unsalted, so I eliminated the required salt when I was rendering the pancetta. It also called for lemon juice, but I didn’t see it used in the steps. An honest mistake? Perhaps. It could have been a test to see if I was paying attention. I realize now that writing recipes that everyone will interpret correctly is a difficult job. What makes sense to me may not mean the same for other people. I wonder how many people out there try the recipes on my blog and get confused? Are you one of them?

Below is my edited version of their recipe. Click any of the photos for the complete set.

Ingredients:
6 portobello mushrooms, stems removed and reserved, caps wiped clean with a paper towel
3 slices of white bread, pulsed in food processor to make breadcrumbs
1/4 cup of pancetta, diced
cheddar cheese, chopped to fill 1/2 cup
2 tbsps heavy cream
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1 tbsp thyme leaves
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp butter
salt, pepper, oil

1. Move the oven rack in the upper-middle position. Preheat oven to 400Âº with a baking sheet inside.
2. Make a criss-cross slit on each of the 4 portobellos. Brush both sides with oil. Chop the other 2 and set aside for later. Place the 4 mushrooms on the pre-heated baking sheet, pleats side up. Roast until their edges are a bit brown, 10 minutes. Carefully flip them over and continue to roast until the liquid has evaporated, another 10 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the oven and heat the broiler.
3. Using a large skillet, heat some oil. Add the butter and swirl in the oil until melted. Add the breadcrumbs with a pinch of salt, stirring frequently until golden brown, 6 minutes. Transfer crumbs to a large bowl.
4. Wipe down the skillet with a paper towel. Heat some oil and add the pancetta until some fat is rendered. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta and transfer to another large bowl.
5. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook in the rendered fat without stirring for 3 minutes. Add 1 tbsp more of oil and continue to cook the mushrooms for another 3 minutes, stirring this time. Season with some salt. Transfer to the bowl with the pancetta.
6. Add more oil to sautÃ© the onions and the garlic. Stir in sherry and cook until almost no liquid remains. Stir in thyme, parsley, cheddar cheese and heavy cream with the pancetta. Season with salt and pepper and toss until cheese is melted. Your filling is done.
7. Flip portobello caps. Spoon this filling onto the mushrooms. Top with breadcrumbs. Broil mushroom until the crumbs are golden brown, about 2 minutes.