Tuesday, July 26, 2011

sesame chick pea & tofu stirfry



I had a strong craving for chick peas last night. Is that weird? I won't question it, because chick peas are delicious and healthy and an easy meal option. But how would I prepare them? I decided to go with a stir fry, and after a survey of my cupboard I went with sesame as the flavor base. This turned out so good! In fact, I can't wait to eat the leftovers!



Sesame Chick Pea & Tofu Stir Fry

-1 Tablespoon olive oil
-3 teaspoons sesame oil, divided
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 small red onion, chopped
-1 15 oz. can chick peas, drained, rinsed and patted dry
-3 Tablespoons soy sauce
-1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
-1/2 teaspoon white pepper
-1 Tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce
-1/4 cup water
-1 block extra firm tofu, cut in half horizontally, pressed
between paper towels for about 20 minutes, then cubed
-3 Tablespoons roasted sesame seeds
-handful of cilantro, chopped
-Napa cabbage or rice, to serve

Heat the olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil in a skillet. Add garlic, onion and chick peas. Cook on high heat, tossing or stirring often, until the onions and chick peas both start to brown (see photo below recipe). Add soy sauce, another teaspoon of sesame oil, ginger, white pepper and sriracha. Toss to combine. Add water, toss and cook another few minutes. Add tofu, sesame seeds, cilantro and another teaspoon of sesame oil and toss and cook until tofu is heated through. Serve over shredded Napa cabbage or rice.






Similar Posts from the Archive

Curried Chick Pea Salad
Radish Garbonzo Salad
Coconut Peanut Soup
Chili Tofu Stir Fry with Baby Bok Choi
Inarizushi
Cashew Curry
Totally Terrific Tofu Tushies
Egg Noodles... literally

Friday, July 22, 2011

fry bread with maple corn hash



A few weeks ago on a road trip gone awry, we ended up at the Lincoln Cabin Historical site in Illinois. We went on a whim, not expecting much, but were pleasantly surprised to find a fantastic educational experience... complete with a museum and reenactors! As a souvenir, I bought the Cookbook they had put together. It has some historical recipes and some modern (I'm fairly certain they didn't have potato chips for potato chip cookies in the 1840's... In fact I learned such in the museum!)

A simple corn recipe caught my eye... "Mohawk Corn," in reference to the Native Americans, not the hairstyle. Corn, lard, maple sugar and black walnuts. The idea of nuts and maple in summer sweet corn sounded pretty good... so I looked for other ways to make it a meal. Further in the book there is a recipe for Navajo Fry Bread. I have had Fry bread at various fairs and Native American festivals. What's not to love? Fried Bread. So here is my Native American-style dinner via a Lincoln log cabin.


Navajo Fry Bread

-4 cups all-purpose flour
-1 Tablespoon baking powder
-1 teaspoon salt
-1.5 cups warm water
-vegetable oil for frying

Combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the water, stirring, until it becomes a soft dough. Knead until soft but not sticky (I had to add quite a bit of flour to knead without sticking). Break off pieces of dough and roll into golf ball size balls. Flatten into a disk, tear or poke a small hole in the center and fry in 1 inch of hot oil on each side until golden brown.


Maple Corn Hash

-1 medium red onion, diced
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 red bell pepper, diced
-2 smoked chicken thighs, meat chopped, skin separated and chopped
-corn cut from 5 ears of fresh sweet corn
-2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
-1/2 cup black walnuts, roughly chopped

-cook the onion and garlic with the chicken skin and a little bit of oil until onions are soft and translucent. Add in the red pepper, corn, syrup and walnuts and stir over the heat until everything is just heated through. Serve with Fry Bread.



Similar posts:

Street corn off-the-cob
bacon corn soup with jalapeno crema

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

chanterelle andouille risotto with smoky whipped cream


It's all about friends, right? I have friends who hunt mushrooms. It's chanterelle season now. A baggie of them was left at my desk at work yesterday. Boo. Yah. Chanterelles are one of my favorite spring/summer delights! Rich and woodsy, these seasonal wild mushrooms are best used in ways that highlight them. I still have risotto fever from when I made this green garlic risotto (and some aborio rice that I can't let go to waste). So I made this in an attempt to accentuate the very special mushrooms a friend had given me.


But I just posted a springtime risotto! How could I funk this up? I don't want to be redundant, you know? Savory whipped cream came to mind. I am not much of a baker, so I don't even make traditional sweet whipped cream very much. But once the idea got in my head, I had to try it. I thought of soaking wood chips in the cream for a woody flavor to go with the chanterelles... an idea gacked from Chef Gerard Craft at St. Louis' Niche restaurant (he made a wood-infused ice cream). But it's Tuesday. No time for that. Liquid smoke. Don't judge me... this was perfect!

A super-rich meal... but the smokiness and the chanterelles and the spicy sausage made it a fantastic summer dinner. Not diet food, for sure, but so rich you don't need much to feel satisfied. This will easily serve 4 hungry adults.


Chanterelle Andouille Risotto with Smoky Whipped Cream

-2 smoked andouille sausages (1/2 lb.), chopped
-1 1/2 cups chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned and roughly copped
-olive oil (approx. 3 Tablespoons, divided)
-1 Tablespoon butter
-2 large garlic cloves, roughly minced
-2 small shallots, chopped
-3-4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
-1 cup Aborio rice
-1 teaspoon Smoked paprika
-1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
-salt and pepper to taste

-1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
-1 teaspoon liquid smoke
-salt

Cook half of the sausage with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil until it starts to brown. Add mushrooms and cook briefly, about 1 minute until the mushrooms just start to release their water. Reserve sausage mushroom mixture to a plate (add any drippings to your stock that you are going to use for the risotto). Put the rest of the andouille in the pan and cook until starting to brown. set aside with the mushroom mixture.

Meanwhile, add paprika to stock and heat gently on the stove in a separate pot.

Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, 1 Tablespoon of butter to the pan you cooked the sausage in. Add garlic and shallots and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the rice and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring.

Add 1 cup of the stock and stir, cooking and stirring until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice. Continue adding the stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring all the while, to rice, each time letting the liquid get absorbed before adding more. Once the rice is cooked to al dente, turn off heat. Add cheese, sausage and mushrooms and stir to combine. Taste and season. Serve with smoky whipped cream and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

For Smoky whipped cream: Whip heavy cream with a whisk in a bowl until soft peaks form. Fold in liquid smoke and a pinch of salt.

Friday, July 08, 2011

Roving I-ron Stef


Photo From My Roving I travel blog.

I have no recipe for you this week... it happens sometimes. I have been busy posting elsewhere on these interwebs, though.

The photo above was taken by my friend Scott, who is married to my friend Julie, who recently started an AWESOME travel blog called "My Roving I." Scott and Julie are my heroes when it comes to travel. They take very interesting trips. You should read her blog for fabulous photos, great travel tips, and to learn about great destinations. In the past month or so I've been doing guest posts for her, all about my fair city of St. Louis. 3 so far, and there are bound to be more:

St. Louis' most extreme eating challenges

Italy via St. Louis

St. Louis As Seen on TV

Past travel posts from Iron Stef & Food Blog Mafia: Maryland Eats, Mid-South Roadtrip, Gastronomic Galesburg.

And as always, you can check out my other blogs, Skank Ham and Daydream Believer. Speaking of traveling and adventure, I recently introduced Knuckles Handerson on Daydream Believer and twitter. He is my constant travel companion... I'm kind of attached to him :).

Also, my buddy from Every Little Thing blog made my Minty Pea Ravioli and posted about it. Thanks for the kind words, Stacey! You might remember I made her Baked shrimp a little while back. Yay for blog recipe trading!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic summer full of food and adventure!