iron stef

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.

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.