why everyone needs a pressure cooker

to the vegetarian, it is indispensable. my curiosity was piqued because they were running rampant on every chef/competition show on television, and when i found this bottom-of-line model at bed, bath, and beyond about a month and a half ago for $16 (with a coupon) i thought it sufficiently cheap to experiment with.
and i love it. i can't even see the need for a more expensive one unless i needed a thicker bottom for searing off meat, but i'm not going to be doing that anytime soon.
my favourite thing about it is it allows me to come home from work, decide i want to cook dried beans (not having soaked them the night before), and eat before eleven o'clock. it's so simple. i just use the 'quick soak' method, wherein beans are put in a pot full of cold water, brought to a boil, and then lidded up, the heat killed, and the whole thing left to soak for an hour. after that, a mere 20-30 minutes under pressure has the beans perfectly done. not 'almost done' - perfect.
also tomato sauces can be tossed and a cooked for half an hour that come out tasting like they've simmered for 3 or 4 hours. amazing. i even bought one for the hospital christmas grab-bag ($20 limit - no problem).
be sure to read instructions so as not to put anyone in danger. especially with beans. always soak them (even just a quick soak) - as this will stop them from foaming up, which can clog the vent, and don't fill the cooker more than halfway.

mee krob

it doesn't look very appetizing, it doesn't sound very appetizing (i think it was one of the 'cursed words' in a south park episode), but man is mee krob tasty. traditionally made with shrimp and beef, this recipe is adapted from madhur jaffrey's vegetarian world of the east cookbook. it's basically a vegetable stir fry with deep fried noodles and egg folded in. very yummy. the ingredients are as follows:

• 6 oz. very thin vermicelli style rice noodles
• 1 large carrot, chopped (sometimes, i don't know what i'm making for dinner until halfway through, and chopping helps me to figure it out. in the picture you may notice i have brunoised the carrot, celery, shallot, and habenero - it might serve the recipe better to finely julliene these ingredients)
• 2 celery talks, chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 habenero, chopped
• 1 small can seasoned, fried bean curd (or season and fry your own), julienned
• 1/2 a small can of bamboo shoots, julienned
• 3 chicken eggs
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce (the recipe calls for ketchup, which i don't have, but i had a mexican tomato sauce i had made the night before flavoured with cinnamon, which worked quite well)
• cilantro to garnish

first soak the rice noodles in warm water until al dente (~8 min), then drain and rinse thoroughly. allow to drain completely. heat oil at a depth of 2 inches or so in a wok to 360 degrees. lay a handful of noodles into the oil and fry for 2 minutes. flip over the noodle patty and fry on the other side until just barely brown. drain on kitchen paper and repeat with the remaining noodles. when finished frying drain off all but 2 tbs. of the oil (i just decant it into a bowl so i can strain it when it's cool). add all the veg to the wok save the bamboo shoots and tofu and stir fry vigorously over high heat for two minutes before adding said omissions. toss for 30 seconds or so before breaking in the eggs. make sure to break the yokes and stir fry until almost set before adding the tomato, soy, and mirin. break in the fried noodles. reduce heat to very low and cook, folding over every now and again until very dry ~15 min. garnish to your liking and serve with rice and your favourite sauce.
also, n.b. i had no scallions, ginger, or bean sprouts, i think all of these things would have improved the dish.

i wonder what this portends...

does this onion resemble anything to you? no?... just me then...

a whole other relleno

i've said before that one of my favourite foods is the chile relleno, so much to my luck a couple weeks ago rick bayless' pbs show, mexico one plate at a time, did a whole episode on just that! his main point throughout the episode was that while the most popular application of the dish is the one of which i am so fond, the name itself simply means 'stuffed chile.' he then proceeded to make the classic, as well as an ancho chile stuffed with ripe planitains, onion, garlic, and brown sugar, served with a craime freche, and an anaheim chile stuffed with shrimp and cheese, wrapped in corn husks and grilled. i have frankestensteined the two together, somewhat, with my own additions of wit or necessity.
the end of october also saw my last csa basket, which consisted predominantly of squash. i still have a pumpkin and a spaghetti squash i haven't gotten to yet and they're going soft in places. unfortunately, we have been without an oven for the last month and i have been required to steam what i have, or cram it into the toaster oven.
i have done a couple different varieties of this recipe in the last week or so, with fresh and dried chiles. here is the ancho, a dried poblano, the classic chile of the relleno, because it's different, and i would never have thought to stuff a dried chile. i used:

• 6 ancho chiles
• 1 small-medium acorn squash
  
• 1 tsp. fresh grated cinnamon
• 3 cloves, pounded fine in a mortar
• 1 tbs. brown sugar
• 1 medium white onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs. butter (optional)
  
• corn husks for wrapping (optional)
  
• olive oil as needed

soak the chiles in water just off the boil for about five minutes, until softened but still holding their shape. cut a slit into the side of each chile and remove the seeds and membranes.
half the acorn squash and scoop out the seeds, reserving them for another use. drizzle the halves with olive oil and season with the cinnamon, cloves, salt, and pepper. cover with foil and roast the squash at 375 degrees f for about 45 min. before removing the foil. allow another 15 min. or so for the squash to finish. it should be fork tender. allow it to cool somewhat before scooping out the flesh.
heat olive oil with the butter in a small pan and sweat the onion and garlic with salt and pepper until translucent. add as much of the squash as is prudent to fill the chiles, reserving any extra. sautee the squash until well combined and season to taste. stuff the mixture into the chiles.
now you could serve that just as is, there is no need to cook anything further, but if you are preparing for later in the day, or your filling is messier or needs to melt or something, the corn husks are a lot of fun. you just soak them in boiling water for about ten minutes, place two end to end to end to give yourself a decent working space, and tear one into ribbons for tying. then you can grill or roast them as you like it, no muss no fuss.

dashi

killer stock for clear asian soups, which make an amazing first course, or as a base for miso soup. i've done this twice in the last week, the first time with dumplings filled with spicy mushrooms, and here with cabbage rolls. the idea for the rolls came from a madhur jaffrey recipe for a stew with potatoes, turnips, and seitan. i liked the picture and thought it might be pretty as a soup.
the broth is simple and spectacular. i filled a two quart rice pot with water, 1/4 cup soy sauce, about 10 dried shitake mushrooms, four crushed cloves of garlic, a thumb sized bit of ginger, and a sheet of kombu about five inches square. brought it to a boil and then simmered for about twenty minutes before straining through muslin. the mushrooms are totally usable for anything else, and i saw a recipe in the aforementioned jaffrey cookbook for some kind of japanese pickle/relish using the soaked kombu, though i haven't tried it yet.
for the cabbage rolls i cut the rough center stem (sliced thinly go great in a stir fry) out of about six of the outer leaves of a large head of napa cabbage and blanched the leaves for about two minutes.
the filling was just shredded carrot, garlic, and ginger sauteed together for about two minutes before adding a handful of frozen spinach, covering, and leaving to steam on low heat for an additional five minutes. i placed two leaves end to end before adding the filling, then rolling and slicing like maki rolls. a few of the slices were delicately placed in a soup bowl and the dashi broth then spooned around. a delightful, light first course with cold sesame noodles.
i also tried my hand last week at making both tofu, and seitan. guess what i had for diner... pizza! the seitan worked all right in theory, i used the recipe from the post-punk kitchen. but, no matter how i cooked it up it just tasted like bread to me. maybe the texture of meat, but the taste of soggy, chewy bread. i know i can make tofu taste good and i know i can get the texture that i want, why do seitan and tempeh elude me so? i am here officially giving up on seitan and tempeh. i will not attempt to dick around with these devilish things again, unless, at some time, i taste a dish containing one or the other that is truly sublime. i do not foresee this happening.
the tofu experiment went mostly well, i made the soy milk without problems, anyway. something went wrong with the coagulation and pressing, however (also, i fell asleep for about three hours while the tofu was pressing) - and wherein the problem lies, exactly, i do not know. i will do further reading on the subject before trying again.
other failed experiments of the last week included trying to make agar vinegar sheets, which looked and tasted horrible, and making agar caviar out of herb juice a la the top chef episode a couple back. the mint/cilantro pearls i made were absolutely gorgeous, at least the first few were, before they started to turn brown, but they tasted the same as the vinegar sheets, that is bland and rubbery.
i had the great fortune of seeing an old friend from new york a little bit ago, and she was talking about food as i was staring into her dark, beautiful eyes. in her infinite wisdom she said, 'i like food to taste like what it is.' alas, she's gone, but the lesson i took to heart; experimenting is fun, but it's time to get back to clean, simple, delicious food.

garden tart

so we've been waiting very patiently for our tomatoes to turn red, somewhat daunted and a little bit giddy seeing the two or three hundred fat green fruits weighing down our vines, which have all turned brown and wilted under the strain. but all of august came and went, cool and rainy as it was, and nary a blush. i resigned myself to the prospect of making jar upon jar of pickled green tomatoes. then, about a week ago, under the warm and pleasant september sun, the first little tinge of pink appeared, brightening into an orange glow that seemed to come from within. i am a firm believer in the adage, 'there are only two things that money can't buy: true love and home grown tomatoes,' and while me mum may be happy to pick them half ripe and let them redden inside, i patiently awaited that perfect rubber ball red specimen to manifest itself.
and then the chipmunks came.
like a demon horde belched up from a bloated rodent hell, they came. and they attacked what i loved the most, choosing only fruit just on the cusp. and for awhile, i was a broken man. i had half a mind to loose duncan on the yard, who does not hesitate in the disposal of a chipmunk.
then my csa box came, and on top of the 3/4 bushel box of assorted veg there was another whole box of just tomatoes, of all shapes and varieties. and in the end, our yard held too many tomatoes to sate even the chipmunks gluttony, though i hope they all got the runs. we now enjoy the abundance of our little plot of dirt, and i must think on canning soon. when things get tough, the tomatoes will always win.
this tart is just a way to use up all the abundant squash and tomatoes that late summer brings. just puff pastry with a layer of caramelized onions, then squash sliced very thin on a mandoline, then tomatoes, just baked until the pastry was puffed and brown.
i took what was left of the thinly sliced zucchini, and along with some chioggia beets sliced the same way, deep fried them to make vegetable chips. the beets worked out much better than the squash did.
i also made a poblano and hominy soup that night, as an appetizer, adapting the recipe from one i found from vincent price (he rubs his roast). pretty good, but i didn't take any pictures

thai curry (sorta)

emptying the fridge into something comforting. this is a very egalitarian dish as it welcomes pretty much any ingredient into it. what it isn't is authentic. i spent my day off the other day trying to search out a few things for my kitchen. i was recently inspired by the how to make tofu post on the i eat food vegan blog. i have yet to order my cultures yet, but there was the clever idea to buy muslin at a fabric store instead of shelling out five bucks for two square feet of cheesecloth at the grocery store, or even half that at home depot. so, i am now the proud owner of about five yards of muslin that i picked up for ten bucks, and can strain to my hearts content for about the next ten years or so. i was also looking for agar agar which i failed to find, so i think it'll have to be the internet for that one.
anyway, i was in whole foods searching, and ended up buying tempeh again. i keep thinking i must be doing something wrong, and am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that i just don't like tempeh.
i marinated it in soy, garlic, ginger, rice wine, and sesame oil for an hour, then stir fried it until golden brown, basting with the marinade, before adding it the curry. and it still tasted like soggy bread to me. eh. i need some lateral thinking here, cause i still have the other half of the block in my fridge to use up.
firstly, i had no curry paste to speak of, so i made a quick curry powder by first toasting pepper, cloves, cumin, mustard seed, fenugreek, coriander, dried curry leaves, and nigella seeds in a dry wok. i then ground these with turmeric and a little rock salt in a mortar.
the rest of the ingredients were:

• 1 green pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 carrots, cut on the bias
• 2 ribs celery, cut on the bias
• 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut on the bias
• half a small cabbage, shredded
• handful large green beans, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (these were from my garden, they're getting too big to eat super fresh and need to be pretty well cooked)
  
• 3 large scallions, cut on the bias
• about 4 oz tempeh, marinated for an hour and pre-cooked (i recommend tofu instead, unless you know how to make tempeh taste good, in which case, please enlighten me)
• 3 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 habanero, minced
  
• thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 can of coconut milk
  
• handful fresh basil leaves

i stir fried the carrot, celery, and scallions in a wok with some oil for about two minutes before adding the zucchini, cabbage, and the beans. i let those stir fry for about five minutes before adding the garlic, ginger, and chile. tossed those around for about five minutes before adding my curry powder, though i think a thai curry paste would be better. then i added the lime juice, coconut milk, and basil and let it simmer for ten minutes before serving over white rice.