Mushrooms on My Toast (an easy meal for one)

Weekend brunch -- mushrooms on toasted English muffin with fresh fruit on the side.

This is a quick and easy entree any time of day. For breakfast, pair it with fresh fruit. Add a green salad for lunch or dinner.

• 1 tablespoon butter (or olive oil)
• 1 clove of garlic, finely minced or crushed
• 4 to 6 oz. mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (for this demonstration, I used a prepackaged mix of shiitake, baby portabello and oyster mushrooms)
• salt and black pepper
• pinch of dried thyme leaves (optional)
• 4-5 basil leaves, cut into fine strips (optional)
• 1 English muffin or 2 slices of your favorite bread choice, toasted

In a small frying pan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the garlic, mushrooms, salt, pepper and thyme and cover the pan with a lid. As the mushrooms heat up, they will shed liquid. Steam the mushrooms in their own juices for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover the pan and allow the liquid to reduce by half. Turn off the heat and add the fresh herbs (if using), and stirring well. Serve over toasted English muffin or slices of toasted French bread. Serves 1.

Every time I make this, I am amazed by how deliciously satisfying mushrooms can be. This recipe can be adapted easily to other fresh herbs and dried spices. Experiment! I've used Herbes de Provence and blackening spices with equally great results. One time, I sauteed sliced leeks with the mushrooms--wonderful!

And if you're looking for something more sinful, try adding a splash of dry sherry at the beginning of cooking and finish it off at the end with a drizzle of heavy cream.

Sex on toast.

Influencing Local Availability

I do most of my grocery shopping--in a 2-hour round of several stores and occasional vegetable stands--on Saturdays. For the last three weeks or so, I've included the Boardman Giant Eagle on my route. The store has rewarded me with 2 or 3 packets of fresh lemongrass each week from their  (over-packaged, over-priced) fresh herbs section for $ 3.99/pkg.

Lemongrass is a key ingredient in southeast Asian cooking, including some of the dishes I've cooked for this blog, like beef rendang and lamb curry. By my calculation, these packages of lemongrass put the price of it at a relatively low 25 cents per inch. Most of the recipes I use require anywhere from 12 inches to 24 inches of lemongrass per recipe.

After last year's scarcity of lemongrass, including the impossibility of getting any before my birthday last February, I've been buying and freezing every package I can get my hands on. Lemongrass is readily available in the Cleveland area, but here in the Youngstown area, lemongrass is worth its weight in gold.

And I mean that literally. Last year, after talking the produce manager at the same Giant Eagle into ordering lemongrass last year, I was faced with a bill for lemongrass that broke down to approximately $1.50 per inch! We argued, and he showed me the invoice. I ended up paying more like $1 an inch for that transaction, and Giant Eagle made no profit, but... suffice it to say, I felt ripped off, even if it was the market price at the time. It just didn't seem right to pay less for the meat in the dish I was cooking than for just one of the herbs!

My lemongrass interaction with Giant Eagle last year, however, impacted the local market. The brand name on the packages of lemongrass is completely different from the brand name on the packages of other herbs. The new packages contain three times as much lemongrass as last year's packages. Plus, because I've been buying two or three packages a week, today I noticed that Giant Eagle has started to stock 6 packages!

In other words, my friends, now there's enough lemongrass in Boardman for me and for you, too!

Nothing-Raw-Except-The-Veggies Sushi

Nothing-Raw-Except-The-Veggies Sushie (top of the plate and moving clockwise): Sweet Bacon Roll, Octopus Roll, dab of wasabi, Youngstown Roll (prototype), Teriyaki Chicken Roll, Spicy Tuna Salad Roll

I did a lot of prep yesterday, so I when walked into my kitchen this morning, I felt confident that my plan for the day's portable cooool meal was under control, "a walk in the park," so to speak. I had only three things to cook that morning: 1) a simple omelet, 2) some bacon and 3) the sushi rice. Not problem. I poured myself a tall glass of iced coffee with a splash of half and half and headed out to backyard with the dogs.

It was significantly cooler outdoors at 6:00 am--cloudy with the threat of rain. But I didn't think much about it as I sipped my coffee and enjoyed the dogs' company. It was after we came back inside that I realized I might have a problem....

Prepping for Nothing-Raw Sushi

I didn't think through just how much prep there is for nothing-raw sushi. Spent three hours prepping and I haven't even made the rice yet!

Frying hot Italian peppers with garlic in olive oil

Greek Lemon Chicken

Oven roasted Greek lemon chicken thighs.

This dish first came into my life when we lived in Aldine, near Houston, Texas. Our next door neighbors were Greek. Or, rather, the mom was Greek, born and raised on a small island in the Mediterranean sea. She did not speak English, and she was one of the best cooks I have ever met, before or since.

The dad was of 100% Greek descent, and--without any negative intent or disrespect intended--he was also an all-American redneck. He hated immigrants, people who did not speak English, “colored” people, liberated women, and liberal politics in general. He owned guns in that very special way that some Texans own guns. Nonetheless, when he came of marriageable age, he followed the family tradition of traveling “back” to Greece to court and marry a “spinster,” a woman who had--for whatever reason--failed to marry before her 25^th birthday.

Sherry Shake Herb Ice Cream

Many online herb cooking sites either ignore ice cream as a venue or offer recipes that do not take full advantage of heavy cream's ability to capture the essential oils, flavor points, and other key characteristic of fresh and dried herbs. As I was doing research for this recipe, I ended up turning back to a book that I purchased three summers ago: The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz.

The book includes a number of excellent recipes for ice creams made from mint, basil, parsley (yes! parsley ice cream!), lavender, as well as other exotics, such as black pepper, ginger root, hot chili peppers, and Japanese green tea. The basic method he uses to claim flavor from herbs and spices is to heat up the cream (and, sometimes, part of the milk) to a very low simmer, then adding LOTS of the fresh or dried herb, simmering for a few minutes, then turning off the heat and letting the essential oils from whatever herb he's using to leach into the cream. After an hour or so, the pot of herb-infused cream is cool enough to handle, and you can squeeze or strain out the used herb (sending it posthaste to your compost pile).

Here's my adapted generic recipe, which makes about 1 1/2 quarts:

• 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
• Up to 1.5 oz. fresh or dried herb (1 to 2 well-packed cups of fresh leaves, for example, if you are using something like mint or basil)
• 1 large (or 2 small) vanilla beans, split lengthwise (or substitute with 2 tsp. high-quality vanilla extract)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• big pinch of salt
• 4 cups of half-and-half (Lebovitz uses more cream in most of his recipes)
• 1/3 cup good quality dry sherry
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the cream plus one cup of the half-and-half, the vanilla beans and whatever herb you are using. Simmer for three to four minutes. Put a tight lid on the pan and turn off the heat. Allow the mixture to sit on the stove untouched for 1 hour.

Strain the cream into a bowl, squeezing out the herb to collect as much of the infused cream as possible. Discard the used herb. Add sugar and salt to the infused cream and stir until they are fully dissolved. Cool the cream to room temperature in the fridge (or freezer, but don't forget about it because you don't want to to freeze quite yet).

When the infused cream has cooled, put it, the remain half-and-half, and dry sherry into the freezing container of your ice-cream maker. Freeze the ice cream following your ice cream maker's directions.

Homemade Sherry Shake h'Ice Cream with Fresh Blueberries.

Fake Meat on A Stick: Chinese BBQ'd Tofu

When I was a kid in southeast Asia, I loved tofu. In America, however, I am not a fan. The tofu here is 'silky' and soft, with no texture. Though even silky tofu can take on a wide range of tasty flavors, the texture always puts me off.

A few months ago I was researching grilled tofu recipes for a friend who likes tofu when I ran across a number of websites that recommended freezing your tofu, then defrosting it, to change its texture. I gave the technique a try and was pleasantly surprised by the toothsomeness of the final product.

Here's what you do:
1.  Take the tofu out of its original container. Discard the liquid and the packaging.
2. Cut the block of tofu in half or into slices.
3. Wrap the pieces well in plastic wrap and freeze over night or until you want to use it.
4. Defrost the tofu at room temperature.
5. At this point, you will notice that the tofu is no longer silky but has developed a spongy texture. Gently squeeze all remaining water/liquid out of the tofu sponge.

Defrosted tofu 'sponge'

Squeezing out the liquid

Liquid is removed. This tofu is ready to use.

Chinese BBQ'd Tofu

This is a very easy recipe.

All you need to do is cube your frozen-then-defrosted tofu, slather it in your favorite brand of prepared hoisin sauce, and allow it to marinate for thirty minutes to several hours (but probably not over night). When you're ready to grill, thread the tofu cubes onto water-soaked bamboo skewers, interspersing them with vegetables (onion, red bell peppers, or whatever), if you like.

Tofu cubes

This is the hoisin sauce I used for this recipe, but any brand will do. If the hoisin is especially thick, you may need to thin it a bit with water before using.

Tofu cubes hanging out in hoisin sauce.

Marinated tofu and raw veggies on soaked bamboo sticks waiting for the grill.

Grill the tofu on a very hot grill. Do not fuss with these while they are grilling, or you will risk breaking up the tofu and losing it through the grill. I turned these only a few times, every 3 or 4 minutes.

Chinese BBQ'd Tofu on a bed of grilled asparagus.

I love this dish! In my not-so-humble opinion, it was the best meat-on-a-stick of the day!

Meat-on-A-Stick Extravaganza

[Note: Links will appear as I post each entry, but they may not all be available for several weeks.]

For 4th of July this year, I decided to sample a variety of different meat-on-a-stick recipes from Asia. The offerings included:

• Chinese BBQ'd Tofu
• Indonesian Beef Satay
• Japanese Chicken Yakitori
• Indian Chicken Tikka
• Filipino Barbecue Pork

The end result was, obviously, too much food. I had a lot of fun, though, planning and cooking. Plus, I learned a lot and we all ate well. Which is what it's all about.

In the weeks since Independence Day, I've been pre-occupied with a sick dog that needed an expensive operation and close attention. I have not, until now, taken time to write up the blog entries for this meat-on-a-stick extravaganza. I am still planning, however, to write about each recipe separately, giving each one its own blog entry. (Just click on one of the links above--as they appear in bold--to read more about that recipe.)

It may take some time before all the recipes/blog entries are completed. Thanks for your patience.

Guilty Pleasures: Indonesian Peanut Sauce, Thai Sticky Rice & Dutch Patatjes Oorlog

A ball of sticky rice, spicy peanut sauce, and raw veggies.

As part of my 4th of July celebration this year, I decided to grill a bunch of "meat on a stick" using recipes from different Asian cuisines. (See the upcoming blog on July 10th entitled "Meat on A Stick Extravaganza" for those recipes). To go with Indonesian Beef Satay, I decided to make spicy peanut dipping sauce, something I haven't made in a while.

Just the thought of peanut sauce sent my mind spinning around the many, many possibilities that peanut sauce offers. It's not just a dipping sauce for meat on a stick. It is also the centerpiece for one of my favorite comfort meals of all time: peanut sauce with sticky rice and raw veggies. Peanut sauce appears in a classic Indonesian salad called Gado-Gado AND it is the unlikely companion to mayonnaise  in the Dutch heart attack known as patatjes oorlog (oorlog = "war").

Oh, yum! But first, I had to make the sauce, a lot of it. 

America is the home of peanut butter, so you might think finding good peanut butter would be easy.  But it's not. If I had been thinking ahead, I would have remembered to get some peanut butter from Whole Foods in Cleveland, where you can grind the peanuts yourself. Unfortunately, however, I had failed to plan ahead and was at the mercy of the local grocery store chains.

Before I got to the store, I had already decided that I wanted the most "natural" peanut butter available in a jar. I wanted nothing artificial, no additives and no sugar (or sweeteners of any kind), if at all possible. As I stepped up to the shelf, I naturally reached for the jar that said "Naturally," the one that assured me that it contained "what peanut butter should be":

Having been fooled before by labels, I turned the jar around to read the fine print:

Wow. I knew that processors sometimes added sugar or honey, but this was the first time I had ever seen 'flax seed,' 'wheat germ,' or 'egg white' on the ingredients list for peanut butter. And these were ingredients in addition to both sugar and honey. While no single item appears to be bad for you, the point is that this jar does not contain plain peanut butter.

My heart sank because the only other brand names on the shelf were the usual commercial suspects. Oh, but wait . . . they each had a "natural" version of themselves, in addition to their original formulas. Let's take a look . . .

I had to admit, Jif Natural was looking pretty good, compared to the first jar. Despite the sugar, I decided it was probably okay. After all, it was real sugar, not high fructose corn syrup or "corn sugar." Nonetheless, I decided to check out the third "natural" offering:

Yes!! That's more like it! Peanuts + salt = perfect!

Indonesian Peanut Sauce

• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 inch ginger root, finely minced or grated
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 T. vegetable oil
• 4 anchovy fillets, smashed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 cup good broth (vegetable or chicken) or water
• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
• 4 kaffir lime leaves or 1 lemongrass stalk, cut into 3-inch pieces (optional)
• 2 1/2 cups of peanut butter
• 1 to 2 tablespoon crushed red chilies or sambal oelek (optional)

Saute the onion, ginger root and garlic in the oil until the onion is translucent. Add the smashed anchovies, cumin, and coriander and continue to saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Do NOT omit the anchovies, however tempted you may be to toss them out or forget about them. When the sauce is done, you will not taste anchovies, I promise. However, if you leave the anchovies out, the sauce will not have the complexity and depth of flavor you want in a Southeast Asian dipping sauce. Without the anchovies, you might as well skip cooking altogether and just stick your meat on stick into the peanut butter jar.

Once the spices and anchovies start to "bloom" with aroma, add the broth or water and the coconut milk, along with the kaffir lime leaves or lemongrass, if you are using them. When the liquid comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and put the lid on the pot. Allow the broth to simmer for 30 minutes or so, to allow the flavors to "marry."

Turn off the heat and discard the lime leaves and/or lemongrass. Carefully stir in the peanut butter. Be careful about splashing the hot broth on yourself. As you stir, it will seem--at first--like the peanut butter is not melting and is lumping up, but persevere. Keep stirring and stirring. Eventually, the peanut butter will melt and you will end up with a thick, smooth sauce. Add the chilies or sambal, if you are spicing up the sauce.

My main reason for making the sauce was to serve it with these: Indonesian Beef Satay...

But I purposely made too much sauce for the amount of satay sticks I had. This recipe makes a quart, so feel free to cut the recipe in half, if you like. Or, better yet, keep the excess in your fridge or freezer for other delicious peanut-sauce meals . . . like peanut sauce with sticky rice!

EASY Thai Sticky Rice  

Sticky rice is usually steamed on the stovetop with special equipment and cheesecloth and a lot of patience.

A few months ago, however, I came across a recipe that used a rice cooker. It's a very simple, very easy recipe:

• 2 cups Thai glutinous rice (this rice is gluten free, by the way; 'glutinous' refers only to its stickiness, not to any gluten content)
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Put the rice and the water in your rice cooker. Do not turn the cooker on yet, however. Close the lid and allow the rice to soak for 1 to 4 hours depending on the rice.

On this particular day, I opened the bag of rice for the first time. It was a brand name I'd never seen before, so I had absolutely no experience with this particular product. Based on past experience with other sticky rices, however, I decided to soak the rice for 3 hours. As it turned out, however, the rice was a little too soft for my tastes. When I make this again using this brand of rice, I will soak the rice for only 2 hours. The rice was delicious, by the way, even though it was a little softer than I like it. (I like it chewy.)

Add the salt and stir it into the rice and water, then close the lid and cook the rice. (If you don't have a rice cooker, you can cook this on the stovetop. Keeping the lid on, bring the water and rice up to a boil, then turn the heat down as low as you can get it. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until all the water is absorbed by the rice.) As soon as the rice is done, make sure the machine and/or is turned off.

Allow the rice to cool to room temperature because Thai sticky rice dipped in peanut sauce is a sensual experience that is always done with naked fingers!

Mel's Patatjes Oorlog -- Oven Fries with Mayonnaise and Peanut Sauce

Another guilty pleasure of mine, when it comes to spicy peanut sauce, is something I was introduced to when I lived in The Netherlands during the 1990's. Patatjes Oorlog translates to something like "fries, war-style" or "war fries." They were a very popular street food at that time--a paper cone or paper dish piled high with fried potatoes and doused (1/2 and 1/2) with mayonnaise and peanut sauce.

When I asked one street vendor why they were called "war" fries, he said, "Well, it's like the war, you know, when Indonesians and the Dutch fought after World War II." Ah! It suddenly made perfect sense: A war for independence that is, in reality, a love affair.

As you can see, my homemade version of patatjes oorlog involves oven fries instead of deep fried potatoes. I try to tell myself that they're healthier than the Dutch version, but I know I'm stretching the truth. The truth is that I have no business eating this plate of guilty pleasure, especially given my sedentary American life style, a life in which I sit to do almost everything from working to socializing to being entertained to moving myself from home to work and home again.

In Holland, I ate those supposedly evil, deep fried patatjes oorlog, but I walked and biked everywhere, paddled paddle boats in canals, carried my groceries home in my arms almost every day (because without preservatives, food must be purchased fresh), did not own a car, and I spent almost no time in front of the television. Actually, I would be better off in Holland eating patatjes from street vendors!

Nonetheless, this meal was a delightful remembrance of a very special place and time in my life.

Go ahead. Give it a shot.

I know it sounds odd--mayonaisse with spicy peanut butter--but try it.

Open wide....   I dare you!