Excuses, excuses

Well, I guess I got a little tuckered out after all the food I made last Sunday, because I was very lazy about cooking last week, and I've got to say, I don't really have a good excuse. Part of it was that we really needed to go to the grocery store. But, I guess that doesn't actually work when I live a half-mile from our little food co-op and within very easy driving distance of several other food stores.

Maybe it's because work has been so busy this week, that by the time I'm finished and have done some sort of exercise I'm just too tired to come up with anything. But that's not really an excuse either since a) I work from home and b) all I have to do is work, hang out with Bob, get some exercise, and maybe meet up with friends. Really, if I can't get a meal made nowadays what would I be eating if I had kids and a commute? And although Bob is a great cook, he's not much for improvising, so throwing something together sans trip to the market won't really work there. Plus, when he cooks it means I do the dishes, and I really hate doing the dishes.

But, I'm feeling back in the groove now. I made some cupcakes for the fantastic send-off-to-our-elopement brunch our friends Megan and Dan threw for us on Sunday, and they were all deliciousness with their cream cheese icing. (Well, there was the complete disaster batch when I couldn't find my muffin pans and thought I might be able to just prop up some cupcake liners in a pan. If anyone out there tries to google "how to bake cupcakes with no muffin tins," I'm here to tell you, it doesn't work). Then, there was the strange recipe for Spicy Chickpea Soup that was not spicy, nor did it look anything like the photo in Food and Wine, but with a few tweaks turned out tasty enough to get a phone call in the middle of the afternoon from Bob just to tell me how good the soup was when he ate it for lunch today.


Spicy Chickpea Soup

The original recipe didn't call for any onions or garlic, which immediately made me suspicious. Then, after I did the first step of blending the ingredients, my base was the most unpleasant shade of peachy-pink you could imagine. So, I started with onions and garlic and added a lot more tomatoes and tomato paste to turn it red, and it did end up very good in the end.

1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
3 15.5-oz cans of chickpeas, drained and separated
1 13.5-oz can of light coconut milk
1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, separated
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tbsp tomato paste (I just put in a few healthy squirts from the tube I keep in the fridge, feel free to use one of those small cans. It might be more than I used, but I think it will be fine, and I hate when I have a third of one of those cans floating around).
Salt and pepper
Red pepper flakes
Plain low fat yogurt (optional)

1. Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes.
2. In a blender combine two cans of chickpeas, coconut milk, half of the tomatoes and their juices, apple juice, cilantro, garam masala, ground ginger, and curry powder until very smooth.
3. Transfer contents of the blender into the dutch oven with the onions and the garlic. Add the chicken stock, tomato paste and remaining whole, peeled tomatoes. (You have a few options on how you add them. You can chop them up first, or add them whole and crush them up with the back of a spoon, or do what I do, which is grab a tomato and crush it in my hands right into the pot until all the tomatoes are gone, then add the remaining juices from the can.)
4. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and simmer for at least 30 minutes. It was tasty the first night I made it, but the flavors really melded and developed overnight. If desired, serve with a dollop of plain yogurt.

Not-so-lazy Sunday

Sundays have always been one of my favorite days. I think it all stems from when I was a waitress. The restaurant I worked at for years was closed on Sundays so it was a guaranteed day off, one where I never had to look at the clock to make sure I could run all my errands before my 5 o'clock shift started. Back then I probably went shopping to spend some of the tips that were burning a hole in my pocket and blew off doing my homework in favor of hanging out with friends. Whatever it was, it was my day.

Now, Sunday is still my favorite day, but mostly because I spend so much of it in the kitchen. I love to have the time to prep some food for lunches during the week and make a dish that takes a little more effort for dinner. Lately my habit has been to listen to the most recent podcast of "The Splendid Table" for the first hour or so of cooking. This routine is especially comforting in winter in Syracuse, and with the rain turning the snow into mud and slush yesterday, I could think of no place better to be than my kitchen.

So, what did I make, you ask? I made granola to have on hand for breakfasts and red lentil soup with lemon that is so simple and so satisfying I understand why Melissa Clark of the New York Times has made it her go to lentil soup recipe. And for dinner we cooked up some 'Eye of the Goat' heirloom beans, spicy braised greens and homemade flour tortillas. All in all, pretty productive for a day that became my favorite because it didn't involve work.

Market Day, Winter

Like a lot of food nuts across the country, my husband Tom and I are committed locavores, doing our best to cook with local and seasonal ingredients. Cooking seasonally requires ‘cooking in reverse’. I used to find a recipe then shop for the ingredients. Now I find the ingredients at the market, or discover them in our Community-Supported-Agriculture basket, then find or create recipes to match what is supplied. I suppose an economist could turn this into an equation of the dreary science – this is moving from ‘demand dictating diet’ to ‘supply creating a demand’, in this case, demand for something yummy, seasonal, and local. In upstate New York, however, this is the time of year we fall off the locavore wagon. We rely on the Syracuse Food Co-op for produce. Trips to the über-Wegmans in DeWitt are more frequent (it used to be the mega-Weg, but now it is so large it has leaped to ‘über’). But we do manage to get ourselves to the regional farmers market.

How quickly it will become apparent that I know nothing about farming. What does a farmer do during the winter in upstate New York? Getting ready for the next season, certainly. Happily, some of them bring their long-storing produce to the regional farmers market. The market is alive in early February, even on a dark, overcast day. On Saturday, we loaded up our basket with onions, Empire apples, Savoy cabbage, and garlic (a bit battered). From Wendy, the owner of Sweet Grass Farm in Vernon, New York, we bought a broiler chicken. Another long storer that I hadn’t seen and we sprung upon at the market – parsnips, grown in Clyde, New York. The plan is to puree them and serve them up with the chicken from Wendy’s farm, roasted into deliciousness. Surprisingly, the farmer from Clyde admitted he hadn’t tasted parsnips. He told us his father and grandfather grew them, so he does too. I’m really grateful; the taste of parsnips is amazing.

Since I’ve had one ear tuned to the political conversation going on at the national level, I wonder what do farmers do for health insurance, is this a group of people that are vulnerable to going without? So many jobs in food production and creation appear to be hard on the body - burnished skin, long periods standing or stooping, a farmer’s hands bigger than seem possible for her frame, stiffened by arthritis.

One last stop after the market takes us to Squadrito Foods, 412 Ash Street, on the north side of Syracuse. The owners make their own delectable version of Italian sausage every week. We buy it all year long. Returning to the stove, there’s fun to be had with local food even on this dark winter’s day. By mid-afternoon I notice something subtle in the quality of the light outside that tells me the days are getting longer and the sun is returning. And I’m getting ready to use Squadrito’s Italian sausage and local Savoy cabbage in Cook’s Illustrated (March/April issue) ‘Hearty Tuscan Bean Stew’ recipe.

On flapjacks and pancakes

I must say, I really like the idea of pancakes (or flapjacks, hotcakes, or griddle cakes, whatever you call them). The ratio of crispy outside to fluffy inside is immensely pleasing and they are the perfect vehicle for all types of syrups and sauces. And forming something into a cake and pan-frying it doesn't need to be limited just to breakfast. Sure, pancakes are classic, but there are also crab cakes, corn cakes, fish cakes, rice cakes -- heck, I even made quinoa cakes recently. Familiar comfort food that becomes something special with the little extra work they take to make well.

So, when I saw the tofu pancakes while browsing through my new copy of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, I knew they would be one of the first items I tried. Bob and I are what I call "mostly veggie*" and I'm always looking for new ideas on how to cook tofu. I find I mostly just end up putting it in a stir-fry and whenever I try something new it ends up so blah. The dish usually makes me feel very healthy while I'm eating it, but the leftovers always end up sitting in the refrigerator until they get tossed in the trash (example: tofu and kale stuffed shells).

I made the Thai style tofu pancakes and they were very, very good. Flavored with garlic, ginger, lemongrass and cilantro these little cakes pack a lot of flavor and the crispy-outside-to-creamy-tofu-inside balance was just plain delicious. I had some serious issues in trying to flip the cakes, so the first batch I made last night were quite ugly. But I made two more for lunch today, and, well, they're still pretty ugly but I think that's inevitable. At least they look like pancakes this time. Serve these on top of an Asian slaw and top them with some peanut sauce, and you've got yourself a comforting, fragrant, flavorful meal.


*Bob was a vegetarian for years and is just not a big fan of meat, and while I love me a good steak, I do try to cook with locally raised, grass-fed animals. Since I live in Syracuse and the availability is limited and I am frequently too lazy to get my butt to the market on Saturday morning to purchase said meat, I too, end up "mostly veggie."

Tofu Pancakes, Thai Style with Peanut Sauce (adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian)

As I mentioned, I had a tough time flipping these little guys, they just didn't want to slide onto my spatula and the don't have the handy air bubbles that let you know it's time to flip like regular pancakes do. So, I highly recommend making sure the pan is nice and hot and using a large pan for just a couple of cakes at a time so you have plenty of room for flipping.

1 1/2 pounds firm tofu, patted dry
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1/3 cup soy milk or water (I used water)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced lemongrass
1/2 cup flour (all-purpose, rice or whole wheat)
Salt or soy sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2-3 tablespoons peanut, dark sesame or neutral oil

1. Put the tofu, peanut butter, water, garlic, ginger and lemongrass in a food processor and puree until smooth.
2. Transfer to a mixing bowl and sprinkle with the flour, some soy sauce to taste and the cilantro, stir well to combine. It should be the consistency of a thick batter, if not, add more water or flour as necessary. The batter cam be made ahead up to this point, covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to a day.
3. Put the oil in a large nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Spoon the batter into the pan and spread out to form desired sized cakes, leaving enough room to flip. Cook, undisturbed, until they turn golden and release easily from the pan, about 5 minutes. Flip carefully and cook until done, another 3 minutes. Serve hot.

Peanut Sauce
This sauce is also great for dipping vegetables or tossing with noodles for a cold salad or cabbage, red pepper and carrots for an Asian-style slaw.

3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 shallots, peeled
1 stalk lemongrass, white part only, thinly sliced (optional)
1 teaspoon ground tumeric
1 tablespoon peanut or neutral oil
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon Sriracha (Thai chile) sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy, your preference)

1. Combine the garlic, shallots, lemongrass and tumeric in a food processor and grind until fairly smooth; you may have to scrape down the sides of the machine quite a few times to get the right consistency.
2. Put the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, cook the garlic-shallot mixture for about one minute. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth. Simmer, stirring occationally, until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. Serve immediately or store, covered adn refrigerated for up to a week.