Archive for the 'techniques' Category
Braised tofu. For some reason, the very concept terrified me. In fact, despite doing some very good braised dishes in my life (if I do say so myself), the whole technique seems exo
tic and difficult.
Then again, sometimes you have a meal (like the Fire Bird from Blue Koi made with braised tofu instead of duck) that forces your hand and suddenly you find yourself trying a dish you never thought you would. Like
Asian Braised Tofu
… and finding it’s actually really easy.
Braising?
For those who are not familiar with braising, it’s a wet cooking method (meaning there’s a lot of liquid). The most often used wet cooking method is boiling where food is completely submerged in liquid. This tends to be a harsh cooking method and is good for leeching starches and flavor compounds out of the food.
On the other hand, when braising, the food is usually browned first and then covered halfway in a flavorful cooking liquid. Having one half of the food (usually meat) uncovered allows for different flavors to develop while the food absorbs flavors from the cooking liquid.
It’s a great technique for tougher cuts of meat or for slow cooking dark meat chicken.
Braising Tofu
However, in this case, I decided I was going to braise tofu. Because tofu is essentially a soft protein, I knew that cooking it for a long time was going to result in a big soy mess. So I did three things:
- Used firm or exra firm tofu
- Precooked the tofu
- Cut down the cooking time for the tofu
Ready for the recipe?
I learned something important tonight.
The ratio for making simple syrup is 2 to 1. HOWEVER, it’s not 2 parts water to 1 part sugar. Rather, it’s 2 parts sugar to 1 part water.
Bring to a boil and then let cool.
It was that kind of night! 
Just wanted to give everyone the head’s up…
Over on SheKnows.com, I recently had an article published on
How to Make Your Own Sushi
Everyone check it out and then getting to sushi making!
So after yesterday, we’re back to what we do best: recipes. (Yay recipes!) This post was inspired by my Twitter buddy @fiftiesguy, who once told me, to my absolute horror, he wasn’t a big fan of eggplant. Once I recovered from my complete shock, I promised I would create, espeically for him, this recipe:
Eggplant Parmesan
Eggplant is one of those vegetables that you either love or you think you despise. Sadly, given my culinary experience, I find that there are far more of the latter than the former. The only explanation I have for this disturbing trend is that those who say they don’t like it haven’t had good eggplant.
Cue the calvary charge music…
In my recipe for Orange Rice, I mentioned my friend Carissa was a good enough chef to
“own the recipe.” I didn’t talk much about it, but I got to thinking about it later.
I wrote that entire post off the cuff sort since I am between series right now and thought the recipe might come in handy. Plus, I wanted to warn everyone of the dangers (at least to my taste buds 
) of over citrusing rice. Anyway, the term she could “own the recipe” got typed without me consciously typing it.
Later, though, it hit me what I had written and I started to think about what I really meant to own a recipe.
The other day, my friend Carissa emailed to ask a question. It seemed that she was going to serve 30 guests that evening and wanted some thoughts on making this recipe from RecipeZaar for
Fresh Orange Rice
and wanted my thoughts on how to make it.
First off, Carissa is a great cook, so I had no doubt she could follow the recipe, own it, and make it great. There was one problem, though, as far as I could see.
Being a big fan of Chipotle, I have tried and tried to make their cilantro lime rice and I just can’t get it right. It’s ALWAYS too limey. (Since trying and failing several times, I think I figured out the key. I think they add the lime juice after the rice is cooked, but that’s another story.)
Anyway, I told her my misgivings that basically a little citrus goes a long way and that some people (like myself) were going to really taste the citrus if it was strong. She later emailed me, telling me that she had changed the recipe, reducing the citrus and it had turned out wonderful.
I asked permission to share this story and her recipe. Read the rest of this entry »
I can’t believe I’m doing this…
Spam Sushi
Okay, so really, there are so many things wrong with spam sushi including:
- It’s spam
- It’s spam
- It’s sushi made from spam
But it’s soooo good!
I hadn’t thought about it for a while, but @eatlikeagirl was talking about spam on Twitter and I opened my big mouth that when I ate spam sushi, I really liked it. Like it was REALLY good.
Never one to let a good food conversation go, here’s the recipe:
Okay, so this isn’t the normal type of post I’d make on the blog, but at the request of the Party Planning Professor, I was asked to put together a small menu for a friend whose husband loves the Grateful Dead.
As you probably know, the Dead are an American icon for their great music, the era in which they made it, and for certain herbal and/or chemical activities in which they partook. And sang about.
So if you’re looking to capture the spirit of the Grateful Dead, but maybe without all the “extras,†here’s a few sweets that are sure to get you Truckin’ this Valentine’s Day.
“Pot” Brownies and Vitamin C, ‘Rettes and “Cocaine”
So, in other words, what I have done is in no way family friendly, but I do love me a good pun every now and then and couldn’t resist the chance to employ my punning ability for evil.
Ready for the recipes?
Recipe: Deep Fried Vegan Sushi – Junk Food Post #10
Author: Chris PerrinJanuary 10, 2009
Consider the following entry into the amazing world of sushi-dom just a taste of things to come. On a personal level, I am slowly leaving my Chinese phase and am strongly considering a sushi-at-home phase. Either way, I thought that deep fried sushi would be a perfect entry for unResolution month because sushi, if the rice is kept to a minimum, is a decent health food for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike.
So what better way to spend my 10th post of unResolution month than making the dish as remarkably unhealthy as I possibly can?
Deep Fried Vegan Sushi
I hate to say it, but sushi is like anything else…it’s better when its fried. I can only imagine the army of highly trained sushi chefs who are coming to hunt me down now, but it’s true. Add batter and fat and it’s enough to make my American heart soar, right before it seizes.
It is important to note when considering this dish that this recipe is vegan (it keeps up with the theme of this week – vegan comfort food that is also bad for you), but if you are not a vegan, you can fill your roll with whatever you like. This one is just a very easy vegan go-to roll.
Rolling Vegan Sushi And Then Frying It
To get things roll going, you are going to need standard sushi ingredients: nori (toasted seaweed), sushi rice, and fillings, but then we go the extra step and fry it in tempura batter. So this recipe will be broken up into three sections: making the rice, making the sushi roll itself, and then deep frying it.
Well the first week of unResolution month is almost over. How is everyone feeling? I’m hoping for full, but stuffed would work, too.
So, today’s wondrous dive into the realm of food-that-cannot-possibly-be-good-for-you-no-matter-how-hard-you-try has been inspired by Michele, Jen, and Sean Paul Ellis (who has actually inspired two posts this month.)
Thanks to all three of you because without your comments, we might not have an unResolution month post on …
Paninis
To be fair, Michele, Jen, and Sean all mentioned grilled sandwiches, but I don’t know, there’s something cool about the word Panini. And a Panini is a grilled sandwich, after all.
Still, it’s kind of hard to give the definitive Panini recipe since, really, Panini is a technique more than an individual sandwich (as far as I know…), but perhaps that’s why they are so popular. Really anything can be good Panini fodder, all you need is a little butter/vegan margarine (or a lot!), some cheese (vegan or otherwise) to act as glue and some bread. After all, it’s not much of a sandwich without the bread!
With that being said, the following recipe is one I tend to like a lot. It’s simple, delicious, and I think it fits the month.
Read the rest of this entry »
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