Delicious and Easy Szechuan Sauce for a Quick Meal

Star Anise

1 cup chicken both, vegetable broth or water
4 teaspoons corn starch
4 tablespoons dry sherry
3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoon Asian chili-garlic sauce
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tablespoon black bean sauce (optional)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar (unseasoned)
2-4 whole star anise
1 teaspoon dried red pepper (hand crushed dried chilis or crushed red pepper are both fine)
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

DISH INGREDIENTS
1 pound regular or soft tofu (not silken) cut into 1” pieces (or other protein of your choice)
2-3 stalks celery slivered, cross-wise
2 carrots, slivered cross-wise
1-2T peanut, coconut or olive oil
splash of dark sesame oil
** you can use whatever fresh vegetables you love or have on hand.  Beans, sugar peas, broccoli, napa cabbage, and any vegetable you would add to a stir fry would all be fabulous in this sauce.

ACCOMPANIMENTS
Garnish with chopped cilantro, green onion, sesame seeds or chili flakes
Serve over white rice or julienned cabbage

RECIPE
Prepare Tofu: Poach the tofu by gently sliding it into a simmering pot of water and keep it at a bare simmer while you make the sauce.  Drain and pat dry.

Make Sauce: In a small saucepan, bring the sherry (dry white wine or rice wine will work in a pinch), soy sauce, garlic sauce, ginger, garlic, star anise, red pepper and sugar to a simmer over low heat.  Dissolve the cornstarch in water while you are waiting for the sauce to simmer.  Once simmering, add the cornstarch mixture and stir until the sauce becomes glossy and thickens.  Turn off the heat.

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
Heat a wok or heavy bottomed skillet to high heat until hot. Once hot, add a tablespoon or two of your preferred oil [this is where you add your meat if you are cooking with something like chicken or pork and you want to cook it completely in this step].  Now, carefully drop in the chopped veggies, stirring continuously.  Once the veggies have cooked for a minute or two, add the tofu and sauce. Turn down the heat to medium and bring your dish it to a simmer. Allow the sauce to simmer until it completely thickens. Once the Drain the tofu and gently add to the pot. Gently stir in the tofu and return the sauce to a light boil.  Once the sauce returns to a boil, remove from the heat and serve.  

(Please note that the star anise are not edible). 

Let's Make an Omelette

Yam and Tomato Omelette
with whole wheat english muffin

So, you make an acceptable excuse for an omelette, but you'd like to make one as good as you'd get anywhere?  You're gonna have to eat eggs and likely butter… beyond that, the skies the limit.

First you need to decide what fillings you want in the omelette… just cheese?  Veggies?  Meats?  You want 3 eggs per omelette (allows for just big enough to add fillings and fold).  You want to use a 9-10" pan and I use a heavy-bottomed stainless, but you can use anything from your garden variety nonstick or a cast iron skillet if it's what you have.  If you are using teflon, my advise is to phase yourself out of that as soon as possible as it is toxic if chipped, cracked or burned and the process of making teflon is highly toxic.  (Here are some details from the American Cancer Society.)

This tutorial will help you construct your favorite omelette, nearly flawlessly.


The first thing is that you really need to master the scrambled egg.  Here is a great video by Jamie Oliver and what we generally make here are english or american style eggs.  Give it a watch by clicking here: How to Make Scrambled Eggs

Alright: Ready go!!

You've decided what you want in an omelette and you've assembled your ingredients.  A bit like this, except I've diced, sliced and grated my ingredients.  You need to decide what you want cooked and what you want essentially raw in your omelette.  I like my ingredients sautéed and gentle, so I will cook them all. If you are just wanting cheeses in the omelette, you don't need to cook anything.

I am using yam, so that will be the first in the pot. If you are using potato or any meat, you'll want to cook that first.  I've diced it in to quarter-inch cubes and started cooking the yam on medium-high heat in olive oil.  Once the meat/yam/potato begins to caramelize, you can reduce the heat and add the remaining vegetables ingredients.  I've added minced onion, garlic scapes (or two cloves), and tomato.  Here's what that looks like.

Sautee until everything is fully cooked.  I know I'm done when the tomatoes begin to wilt.  While I am sautéing the onions, garlic and tomato, I will wisk three eggs for this omelette.  Once the eggs are whisked, I whisk a 1/4 c of grated zucchini and freshly ground pepper to taste.  For making an omelette, you must cook the eggs beyond what a scramble would require so they hold their shape.  I add grated zucchini to help retain moisture and the zucchini stays nice and fresh during the cooking.  Drop them in the whisked eggs and wisk well to incorporate.  Once the meat/veggies are done cooking remove them from the heat and hold in a separate bowl for later.

Turn your heat on medium low and add a nice pat (1-2 T) of butter to the pan.  Once it is melted and not splattering, give your eggs a final whisk and pour into the pan.   Follow the "American eggs" method and move the eggs gently around the pan to ensure even cooking.  As the eggs begin to firm, move the remaining liquid eggs around to the edges of the pan by picking up the pan and gently tilting it side to side.  Keep doing so as the eggs begin to set.  This is when you want to add your cheese to 1/2 of the omelette.

I've added a bit of shaved asiago here.  Use a spatula to make sure your eggs are not sticking to the pan and continue cooking on low heat until the cheese begins to melt.  This is when you know your eggs have been thoroughly heated and you can add your final ingredients.  They go on the same side as the cheese.

Turn off the heat.  Once the filling is on the egg mixture, use your spatula to gently fold the empty side over the loaded side.


Slide the omelette gently off the pan and onto the serving plate.  Serve while hot.  Top with your choice of salsa, hot sauce, or avocado or enjoy plain and simple.  I love to have mine with great bread, fresh fruit and a perfect cup of coffee! Sometimes I serve omelettes with a simple salad.

Enjoy!!

Baked Salmon with Green Tea & Horseradish

Genmaicha (Green Tea with Roasted Brown Rice)

Genmaicha (green tea with roasted brown rice) is one of my favorites) and a staple of a Japanese kitchen.  A few years ago I picked up a nice salmon fillet from my local fish monger and wanted to do something unusual with cooking it.  Salmon is an oily and heartily flavored fish and I wanted something with a bit of brightness… green tea to the rescue.  I coated the fish with white horseradish, sprinkled it with a nice coating of genmaicha and baked it in parchment paper in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

The following recipe works well with any salmon, arctic char, meaty white fish or scallops.  Cooking times and processes are similar, but you'll want to check your fish to ensure it isn't over cooked or under cooked.  It should be flaky and moist at the end of baking.  It would also be good with a pile of root vegetables, although instead of cooking them in parchment, toss in olive oil, sea salt and pepper and bake in a glass baking dish over the horseradish and tea.

A note about cooking with fish:  I take sustainability very seriously and the health of my food even more seriously.  It isn't easy to know what fish is sustainably farmed, harvested and supplied to your fish monger (although hopefully they know) or which fishes are low in mercury and other toxins.  Seafood Watch has a simple guide that you can download here and a website packed full of great info.  Another tip:  I never cook fish with the skin on.  Skin (and bones) is part of a body's toxin elimination process and where most of the heavy metals are stored in the fish.  I like to remove the skin and bones when cooking to not leach any additional toxins into the meat.  You can always ask your fish monger to remove the skin and bones if you don't want to do it yourself.

INGREDIENTS (serves four)

1 1/2 - 2 pounds of salmon fillets
about 1T extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste
pepper to taste
4-5 T horseradish
4-5 T genmaicha

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Lay out a piece of parchment large enough to encase your fish.  Sprinkle the parchment with a layer of tea and a few dollops of horseradish.  Spread them evenly and lay your fish on top. Coat the top of the fish with horseradish and then tea and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Fold the parchment to make a packet around the fish and roll the top to stay sealed.

Bake in your 350 degree oven for around 30 minutes or until when tested with a fork the fish will flake apart and is still moist.

I like to serve this with roasted brussels sprouts or baked squash and a deep green salad dressed simply with mirin and rice vinegar.

Vegan Palak Chana (and variations)

This recipe was inspired by the palak paneer recipe I discovered at www.vegrecipesofindia.com.  If you head there, you can watch a video of making the palak that may be very helpful to you.   If you are a fan of palak or saag dishes, this is a wonderful way to incorporate fresh spinach that makes it very easy to handle.  You'll need a stock pot, blender and two saute pans for smoothest operation here.  I've adapted the recipe for vegans, but it is just as easy to make palak paneer or with shrimp, scallops or chicken.  The recipe is made in three parts.

Serves 4

PART 1: fresh spinach puree

INGREDIENTS

2 bunches of spinach or 1 bunch turnip greens or mustard greens… or mix and match (You can also use frozen spinach here
2-4 jalapeño peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
2-4 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

Rinse the spinach well while bringing a large pot of water to boil over high heat.   The easiest technique I've found is to put the plug in a very clean sink, place a colander with the spinach loosely in it and fill the sink with water.  Once filled, swish the spinach releasing and residual dirt or sand then drain the sink.  Spritz the spinach once over to remove any remaining dirt.

Once the water is boiling, add a healthy pinch of salt.  When the water again boils turn off the heat, add the spinach, cover and allow the spinach to steep for 2-3 minutes.  Drain the water from the spinach through your colander and then immediately immerse the spinach in ice cold water.  This keeps the spinach from turning brown.  Again drain the spinach squeezing out much of the water.

Once the cool spinach is drained, add the spinach, peppers, garlic and ginger to your blender or food processor.  Puree until smooth.  Set aside.


Part 2: chana (chick peas) and veggies

INGREDIENTS
1T madras curry powder
1t ground cumin
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 t ground cayenne pepper
1/2 t freshly ground coriander powder
Puerto-Rican style sofrito or cilantro pesto

2T olive oil
1 12-oz can of chick peas (garbanzo beans); drained, rinsed and dried
1 red bell pepper, cut in ribbons
6 oz package of white button mushrooms, sliced

Begin preparing the veggies by rinsing and draining  the chick peas very well in a colander.  Shake the water off and then pour the chick peas into a clean dish towel and allow to dry while you prepare your veggies.

Next, roast the spices.  This is best done in a high quality heavy-bottomed stainless skillet because it will be much easier to control the heat. To do this, measure all of your ground spices into a small, dry stainless steel sauté  pan.  Bring the spices to temperature over medium-high flame while watching carefully.  Once you see the spices start to smoke or change color slightly, begin moving them around the pan with a wooden spoon or by gently shaking the pan continuously until your spice mixture is homogenous and color and is approximately the color of caramel.  Take the roasted spices off the heat and set them aside.

Place a large skillet on medium-high heat.  Once hot, add the olive oil and then the dried off chick peas.  Any residual water will splatter, so be careful when adding them to the hot pan. Allow the chick peas to brown while cooking.  Once they begin to brown, reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining vegetables along with the sofrito (cilantro pesto) and sauté until the mushrooms start to shrink and look moist. Once this starts to happen, you can add the roasted spices and continue sautéing the vegetables until they are thoroughly cooked.  

Once thoroughly cooked, set the mixture aside. You will add it to the spinach puree later.


PART 3: palak chana

INGREDIENTS
spinach puree (from Part 1)
chana and veggies (from Part 2)
2 T olive oil
3/4 t cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1/2 medium yellow or white onion, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t tumeric powder
1/2 t red chili powder (optional)
pinch asafoetida or 1/2 inch of minced ginger root
1/2 t garam masala
1-2 T almond milk, whole milk or cream (optional)
sea salt
1t crushed kasuri methi (fenugreek) leaves **OPTIONAL:  DO NOT USE IF PEANUT ALLERGY EXISTS

Heat a stock pot or large sauté pan over medium high heat.  Add the cumin seeds to essentially fry them for about 1 minute.  Turn down the heat to medium and add the onion and bay leaf.  Cook for several minutes until the onion is browned.  When it is finished, it will look like this picture.

Now, add the garlic and chopped tomato and sauté until the tomatoes are softened.  Add the turmeric, chili powder and asafetida (or ginger) and saute for another minute or two.  Now, add the the spinach puree and the sautéed vegetables.  If the mixture is a little too dry, add 1/4 cup of water.  
Simmer on medium heat for 6-7 minutes to cook the spinach.  Add salt to taste (no more than a small pinch) and the garam masala.

Add  the almond milk and simmer for another minute.  If you are going to add the fenugreek leaves, now is the time to do it.  Remember that people with peanut allergies will have trouble with fenugreek.  You are ready to serve, so go ahead and remove the bay leaf.

Enjoy with rice, roti or nan!

VARIATIONS

More traditional vegetarian:  Use ghee or unsalted butter in place of oil and cream instead of almond milk.  Add paneer (homemade Indian cheese) to the vegetable sauté in part 2.

More traditional; not vegetarian: Add 1/2 pound of peeled and deveined shrimp to the vegetable sauté in part 2.

Condiments to Consider:  Top with ghee, cream, mango chutney or make a mustard oil-coriander-tomato chutney.  You could also top it with raita or coriander-lime yogurt. 

To make the chutney, heat 2 T of olive oil over medium high heat in a pan with a lid.  Once hot, add 1T of mustard seed.  Cover immediately and allow mustard seeds to pop open.  Once popping is done, remove from heat.  Chop a bunch of cilantro leaves (rinsed and stemmed), 2 medium tomatoes and a 2-3 green onions if you like. Combine with the mustard oil.  Can be kept refrigerated for a few days or frozen in ice-cube trays for later use.  If you want to freeze any herb like this (sofrito, pesto, etc), you can freeze it in ice cube trays and once frozen, store in a baggie for up to a year.

Delicious Mediterranean Salad

This salad is inspired by Olive and Ivy, a fabulous restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ, my favorite vacation spot.

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, smashed and minced
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped

Salad:
Coarsely chopped mixed greens (2cups)
Coarsely chopped almonds (1/4 cup)
1/3 cup couscous, cooked and cooled
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, split in half
1/2 cucumber, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup feta cheese ( to make it vegan, you can substitute marinated tofu with herb-infused oil)
1 thin sliver of onion, minced and sprinkled on salad

Whisk salad dressing together and let chill in fridge to cool.  Mix salad together, but add couscous  last.  Dress salad and enjoy!