4 posts tagged “isimmer”
These little gems are easy to peel, sweet to eat and seedless. They're great for a snack or to pack in lunches, and what's not to love about their natural wrapper. Get them now, the price is right and ths season's short!
Ripen mandarins at room temperature.Test the fruit for ripeness by gently pressing the center or the mandrin's bottom, it should yeild to the pressure. (the stem end being the top ;0}-) Once ripe, be sure to refrigerate so the fruit's juice doesn't begin to ferment.
Curried Spinach and Tofu simmered in Coconut Milk
This is a
great vegan recipe that is terrific over brown, basmati, wild or jasmine
rice. This dish ranks high among vegetarians and is simple to prepare. Serves 4
Ingredients:
2
tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
4
shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 garlic
cloves minced
1
tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1 sliced
serrano pepper (optional)
2 teaspoons yellow curry
½
teaspoon ground mustard
¼
teaspoon white pepper
1/3 cup
water
2 packs
frozen chopped spinach (10 ounce size)
1 ¼
teaspoon salt
2
teaspoons brown sugar or to taste
1 pack
firm tofu, drained and diced
2 cans
coconut milk
Pour oil into a 10-inch sauté pan with lid. Place pan over medium high heat then add shallots, garlic, ginger and serrano pepper. When the shallots become translucent add the curry, mustard, and white pepper. Stir for one minute then add water, and spinach; cover and lower heat to medium. Cook for 10 minutes. As the spinach thaws, gently stir in salt, sugar and tofu. When the spinach is completely thawed, pour in coconut milk and continue cooking, uncovered over medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Serve piping hot over grains or rice.
For more recipes and short stories, please visit www.isimmer.com
My mom, Harriett Beach has offered to do some book reveiws on her food related reads. Here is the first with more to come.
The Reach of A Chef ( Beyond the Kitchen), Michael Ruhlman, 2006, Viking Press,
Penguin Group, 338 pages.
Ruhlman gives the reader an "in-the-trenches" look at professional Chefs whose life work is to feed others in order to feed themselves. This is a chronicle of the current business of food preparation as it goes from just preparing food "ordinaire"to the shift in American culture that has raised restaurant cooking to the level of performance art and the status of the celebrity Chef to being a CEO of his food empire. Ruhlman over the years has developed the skills and contacts with the Chef stars in the food world to hold his own in a commercial kitchen and thus writes from personal experience.
The narrative leads the reader through some of the most illustrious and ingenious kitchens in America while exploring how and why a successful kitchen or style of food preparation has evolved. The state of professional cooking has been elevated and shaped by the likes of industry giants such as, Thomas Keller, Masa Takayama, Grant Achatz, Melissa Kelly.and Emerial Lagassee. The description of the food
preparation in the various kitchens illustrates how much the art of food preparation has gone beyond that of Julia Child and The Food Network. In some kitchens even the equipment is no longer just stoves, coolers, and sinks but equipment usually found in industrial settings or the chemistry lab. This is no longer " your Mama's
kitchen" as food preparation and food tastes are changing.
Ruhlman's writing is an exciting review of the current cooking world that is a "don't skip a word" page turner that leaves the reader wanting more as they finish the last page. The writing captures the ritual and routine of creative food
preparation that centers the soul of the professional or "at-home" chef.
and a really bad childhood picture of me doing what I do for a living now, cook, but without the chair....Oh! And the fancy pants! My mom made some of my clothes, and believe it of not, there was a matching vest to match. UGGGG! What was she thinking letting me wear stripes at the same time! In 1970 wild fabric prints were groovatious, i guess. You can tell by my shape that I loved food and cooking. Mom used to say, "Kid, you were born hungry!"
My family worked together in the kitchen for the most part. In the background
you can see my sister in, her fancy pants, washing dishes. I'm blocking your view of my
brother drying the dishes. It must have been before he developed the syndrome
we called "dish pan diarrhea". Defined as: having to go to the
bathroom EXACTLY when it's time to do the dishes!
You are invited to visit my website at www.isimmer.com for more of my recipes and stories.
