My first foray into tofu

For some reason, I decided that I really wanted to try out cooking tofu. Therefore, we had veggie tacos last week. The ingredients included: firm tofu, roasted carrots, roasted potatoes and roasted sweet potatoes. To prepare the tofu, I pressed out some of the moisture using paper towels and cubed it. Then, I made a dry rub of chili powder, cumin, cayenne, a little salt, red pepper flakes and fresh ground pepper. I added the cubes of tofu to the rub and stirred to coat. Using a pan with some heated olive oil, I sauteed some onion and green pepper. I then added the tofu and proceeded to get a nice brown coating. Since the rest of the veggies were already cooked, I added them last just to heat them through. We put the mixture on corn tacos. MTH loved it! I had enough for dinner the next night. The best part? The pound of tofu cost $1.79!!! That's way cheaper than a pound of meat.

3rd Annual H Christmas Party Eve, Pre-Cooking

I'm off from work today in order to get ready for our Christmas party tomorrow. I'm back from the grocery store and now need to start cooking. I'm planning to take some pictures of the preparation.

First Cookout

Today will be our first cookout in our new house. It's just a small affair - about 7 people. My British friend is bringing lamb kebabs with green peppers and halloumi accompanied by tzatiki and pita bread. To keep with the Greek theme, I'm making grilled chicken souvlaki and a Greek salad. I'm also going to buy some hummus. Dessert will not be Greek as I do not think I'm up to making baklava. And, I've already mentioned that I'm not a big fan of the Greek version of baklava. Dessert will simply be grille bananas and strawberries topped with vanilla ice cream and Thin Mints on the side.

Mediterranean Food

I love almost all food that is Mediterranean. Here in Richmond we no longer have access to a Lebanese restaurant. I'm very sad about that. I love Lebanese baklava the best of all. Rosewater and pistachios instead of honey and walnuts like the Greeks. But, I can get some really good hummus and baba ghanouj. We're having a cook out next weekend so I'm definitely looking forward to our first grilled Halloumi of the season. If you don't remember Halloumi, click here.

I never did try it with kebabs as I mentioned in that post from last year. We also never tried it for breakfast. Maybe this year.

Buffalo Burgers?

I went to my new favorite grocery store on Sunday, Ellwood-Thompson's. They have a nice but very small meat department. I had originally planned to buy ground turkey or chicken. They had neither so I decided to try some ground buffalo. I had also bought some goat cheese that was supposed to go with some frozen ravioli. I had the idea to make stuffed buffalo burgers on the way home last night. They turned out quite nicely. Since I hadn't bought any buns, we used pita bread for our sandwich holders. I also had some caramelized onions left over from the previous night's meal (homemade pizza). I heated up the onions with some balsamic vinegar. I also had some hummus on hand. So, our sandwiches had the following in them: buffalo burger stuffed with goat cheese, caramelized onions with balsamic vinegar and hummus. They turned out really good.

The next thing I'm going to try to make is bison bolognese. In Northern VA, one of our favorite restaurants (Vermilion) had this dish. I need to figure out how to make it now that we're no longer in Alexandria.

Wishing I Could Cook

I love to cook. It's one of my favorite pastimes. Of course, I knew this fact about myself before we moved into temporary housing without my necessary cookware but I didn't realize just how much I would miss it. For example, yesterday, I saw a post on Brandon Eats about French Onion soup and thought, I should make that. Then, I remembered that my oven proof bowls are in storage along with my mandoline for thinly slicing the onions. I may have to improvise this coming weekend. For now, I made another big pot of beef stew which has somewhat hit the spot during this really cold weather.

Upcoming 2nd Annual H's Christmas Party

This Saturday night we're going to have our 2nd Annual Christmas Party. It will be a night of food, fun and friends. I'm definitely looking forward to it. I have so much vacation left at the end of this year, that I'm taking Friday off to get ready for it. I'm looking forward to baking lots of cookies and other goodies. I'm planning on giving each guest a goody bag of cookies before they leave. The menu will probably include dark chocolate fondue with orange sugar cookies, homemade marshmallows, pecan brittle and fruit as dippers. There will also be lit'l smokies in bbq sauce, interesting cheeses and olives. I'm still thinking about whether or not to make a few other things like meatballs, some type of bacon wrapped hors d'ouevres and other types of cookies. I'll let you know after the party what ends up at the buffet.

The Best Dessert EVER

MTH and I went to Eamonn's, A Dublin Chipper for dinner tonight. It's definitely a place that you don't want to eat at too often. Along with the traditional fish and chips and Guinness, we decided to have dessert too. The choices for dessert are: fried Snickers, fried Milky Way, fried dough and fried bananas. MTH decided he wanted to try the fried Milky Way. It comes out in the brown paper bag just like the fish and chips. The candy bar has been coated in similar batter as the other food. Then, when it's hot out of the oil, it's sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. When I first smelled the cinnamon, I was disappointed. I wasn't sure how the cinnamon would mix with the flavor of a Milky Way. I was wrong. It was the perfect complement to the gooey melted candy bar inside the crispy outer shell! I highly recommend this dessert at least once your in lifetime.

food for my life

That's the name of my new cooking blog. I'll still keep up with this one and will definitely still talk about food here. As the name implies, it will be food that I eat everyday which can include simple but tasty dishes but could also include fancy, hard to make ones. Hopefully you'll enjoy both types and might even get an idea or two for your own meals. Feel free to leave comments!

food for my life .

Enjoy!

Easter 2005

I know that was a while ago but I was just cleaning off my cookbook bookshelf (which I know that I cleaned since Easter 2005) and I found the recipe of one of the items that I cooked that day. I had decided to do an Eastern Orthodox menu instead of the normal American one. The certainty is that we would have lamb of some type. I decided to do a little research online and found this wonderful recipe for fresh cheese and honey tarts from Santorini.

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Pastry
2 - 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup light olive oil
1/4 cup safflower oil
1/2 cup beer
Filling
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese, drained overnight in a cheesecloth lined colander
1/3 cup honey, preferably thyme honey
About 1/2 teaspoon (2 pieces) ground mastic (I didn't have this in my pantry)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
Ground cinnamon for sprinkling

Make the Pastry
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour with the baking powder. Add the oils and the beer and mix briefly with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until soft, oily dough forms. If it is too soft, mix in a little more flour. Shape the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Flatten the dough with your hands. Place it in a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press it evenly over the bottom and up the sides. Line with aluminum foil, and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the foil, prick the dough with a fork and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, or until set but not colored. Let cool.
Make the Filling
In a food processor (or using an electric mixer), combine the ricotta, honey, mastic (if using) and cinnamon. Process (or mix) for 30 seconds to combine. With the motor running, add the eggs one at a time, processing (or mixing) until smooth.
Pour the filling into the cooled tart shell and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the filling is golden brown and set. Sprinkle with cinnamon and let cool before serving.

Variation
Instead of one large tart, you can make 30 individual tartlets. Divide the dough into 3 pieces and shape each into 10 1/2 inch long log about 1 inch in diameter. Cut each log into 10 pieces. Work with 1 piece of dough at a time, keeping the remaining dough covered with plastic wrap.

On a lightly floured surface, pat each piece into a 4 1/2 inch round. Put 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each round and pinch the rim to make a star-shaped crown around the filling. Bake on baking sheets in batches for about 25 minutes, or until light golden.
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As I said before, I was planning to cook lamb to go along with the pastries. Therefore, I bought some fresh rosemary since that's the perfect spice for lamb. I even went to a gourmet grocery store to get fresh meat. When I got home, I read the label of the package that I had been given after pointing to the meat counter. It was veal! Well, unfortunately, that's not the first time I've chosen the wrong meat but I'll tell that story another time. The issue at hand was what to do with this veal. The rosemary would overpower it. I didn't know anything about wiener schnitzel. I don't remember exactly what spices we used but I do know that we put the meat on the grill and it turned out quite nicely. And, those pastries were wonderful for the rest of the week (30 pastries is a lot for 2 people!).