The Secret of Mapo Tofu Sauce

 One of China's best known and most sought after dishes is mapo tofu sauce . This fiery blend , usually reserved for Szechuan restaurants can be made at home. It's a relatively easy mix that can have a lot of uses with other dishes. Once made it's sure to be a kitchen staple.

Andrea Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American food writer and chef wrote about it in yesterday's New York Times Food section. It's definitely on my must make list because of the promised flavor and how it can be used with other dishes like nachos (!) and even spaghetti. (!!) Chef Nguyen fi rst came upon it in a Chinese restaurant in Southern California where she grew up. She fell in love with the melding of meat and tofu , the sweet and savory along with the silky texture.  The fascination stayed with her. As an adult she visited Chengdu, the capital of Szechuan Province and the dish's birthplace.It's a relatively new recipe, compared to other Chinese ones, starting in the late 1800's. The originator, Mrs Chen, created the sauce in her family's restaurant and the dish is named for her.It's an unflattering nod to her pockmarked skin. Ma refers to pockmarks while po signifies old woman. According to the story, porters lugging oil to the market would frequent her eatery. One day they wanted an affordable dish made up of tofu and meat cooked up with some of the oil they brought in. Mrs. Chen obliged , also throwing in such Szechuan staples as Szechuan peppercorns and fermented bean paste.

Chef Nguyen has tried the dish at the original restaurant as well as trying ones here in the States. She has eaten it out and in Chengdu homes where she saw different variations. Mapo sauce has a lot of potential and can be used in so many dishes like lasagna and Mexican.Any home chef can make it. It's blending silken tofu until it's liquified and then heating Szechuan peppers in oil, preferably canola or vegetable until fragrant. Let the peppers cool and then grind them up. It's then preparing the rest of the ingredients which range from the all important doubanjang or fermented red bean paste  and douci  fermented black beans, along with fresh ginger, sugar, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Remember to add pork or beef (it's up to you to decide.  I would go  with tofu crumbles for a truly vegan dish). It's then adding the spices and meat , frying the mixture until it's a rich reddish brown. The next step is  reducing the heat to medium low and adding the sugar and soy sauce. Scrape in the blended tofu, cooking well for about three minutes. Orange oil will rise to the top. Don't fret. This is normal. This is also the time to taste and adjust the flavor. Add sugar to tame the heat or salt to add more flavor. You can even add the bean paste. Chef Nguyen adds scallions and a cornstarch  and water slurry to thicken the sauce. The Szechuan peppercorns are added for more fire. Again, this works for all sorts of dishes. I would used it as a sauce for ants climbing a tree, a tasty and classic Szechuan dish.

Mapo tofu sauce is a versatile dish that can easily be made at home. Use it on a variety of different dishes.It'll make any recipe sing.

Helping Regufees In A Sweet Way

 Everyone needs help these days. Refugees have it the hardest yet some are being helped in a very sweet way, They are providing treats while being treated themselves. It's something they long deserve.

The refugees are the Sahrawi women of Western Sahara and the New York Times Food section featured them in a stunning pictorial today. Italian photographer, Matteo De Maya captured pictures of the women who started bakeries in an Algerian resettlement camp. For forty-five years they've  lived with their families . They fled Morocco in 1975 after their political group Polisario Front fought for independence from that country. Sadly the conflict is still unresolved today. The settlement now is home to $150,000 people, and generations have relied on humanitarian relief as they wait for a permanent homeland.It's one of the the longest running refugee camp in the world.One thing about the Sahrawi is that they love sugar, even believing it can cure various illnesses. An average family consumes eight-eight pounds a month!! Type 2 diabetes is a big concern. Yet sugar was a necessary must eat in their community. They needed to consume a huge amount of calories to walking long distances. It's long figured into their cures. Hot water and sugar can supposedly cure stomach and intestinal problems. Barbecued camel topped with sugar is good for the liver.

Yet their love of sugar can be put to good use. They can bake cakes and pastries, bringing in money for themselves. This  started in 2018 when women of the Sahrawi Trade Union reached out to the Italian nongovernmental groups, Africa 70 and Nexus about organizing a baking workshop for the settlement. Those group turned to Maddalena Borsato,a pastry chef and researcher at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy located in  the Piemonte region. She's helped thirty women so far. Sara di Lello , a project manager for Africa 70 said that holding the workshops in the women's homes reinforced the sense of community and solidarity typical of the Sahrawi's. Yet there are snags. The women don't have access to the ingredients most bakers have at their fingertips. They have to rely on natural ingredients such as  the roselle flower, a type of hibiscus that has a red dye to color the pastries.Luckily  there is the moringa tree, a fast growing plant whose protein laden leaves can be milled into a greenish flour to make pastries and other foods. The home businesses are thriving and the women recently asked for refrigerators for their newest addition - wedding cakes.

The Sahrawi women are making inroads, financially and emotionally thanks to groups helping them. They can bring in money for their families while boosting their confidence. It's the best that can be done for them, and possibly a way out of life in the camps

Weddings Now

October was usually the time for lovely fall weddings however that's all changed. The pandemic has forced us to look at how we gather and throw parties.It's not a question of what shall we serve but rather how can we do it without getting guests sick. There are ways of maneuvering  around the restrictions. 

In the old pre-pandemic days there used to be wedding receptions full of endless courses.There was the sushi bar followed by the pasta buffet. Everyone took from bountiful trays of hors d'ouevres and appetizers. a fun idea would be different food trucks set up along the street or in the wedding venue's parking lot. This is a plus because everyone likes what food trucks produce, The bride and groom can have their favorite foods served, whether it''s pizza or tacos. Several trucks can be set up because they're not that expensive per person. have hamburgers and corn dogs along with pizza and bulgogi, if you want a truly international affair. As for dessert, ice cream trucks are fun but just a bit messy. People will be wearing relatively fancy dress and the last thing anyone wants is a drippy cone or Popsicle. A better idea is a cupcake truck that doles out mini wedding cakes. These can be a variety of flavors too or the happy couple's favorite ones. You can also have already made meals that have been boxed in fancily decorated cardboard containers or plastic tubs. Fill them with  filet mignon sandwiches or lobster rolls. For a side think a small cup of grape tomatoes with a side of dressing. As for the cake, it can be cut in front of everyone and then instantly boxed to take home.

Can there be a relatively normal sit down dinner? Yes but keep it very small. Limit it to the immediate family and the  bridal party. This is reminiscent of weddings of the past where only a few were invited. The family can become involved , especially if the reception is held in the parents' backyard. You could bake a large ham or roast beef and serve it cold, if you 're involved in the wedding. leave it to rest for thirty minutes  - about the length of the ceremony. Slice it right away so that not too many people handle it or are around the meat. As for sides , think scoops of potato or macaroni salad in individual ramekins to cut down on contact.If you want some kind of salad, think hollowed out Roma tomatoes filled with cottage cheese. The cheese be glammed up with the addition of chopped red, yellow and green peppers along with oregano. Decorate with parsley sprigs. Should you have a traditional cake  with just a small group? Yes!!!! Bake a simple two layer with just butter cream frosting and flowers. If you feel it's not enough . then go for a southern tradition and bake a groom's cake. as well. This is usually the groom's favorite flavor, namely chocolate but it could be any flavor - except the wedding cake's. It can be decorated with the groom's favorite team colors or reflecting his hobbies.

Weddings and how we celebrate them will be different for the course of the pandemic. Make the best and most of the day with delicious foods. They can be from food trucks or from your kitchen. What matters is that they celebrate a day full of love and hope.

Happy 100th year wedding anniversary to my grandparents, Joe and Rina Helble.

A Vegan Breakfast For Dinner

 One of the most favorite - and one of my favorite's is breakfast for dinner. It's  kind of hard when you're cooking for a vegetarian household though. Yet there are a lot of subs you can use to create more or less the same as what meat and egg lovers have.

I was able to get Lightife Smart Bacon  a mix of soy and wheat gluten. I haven't cooked this before so this was interesting to fry up.

It's clumped together in a plastic bag  .

It looks like the real thing however it's harder to separate than real bacon.

I cooked it for three minutes on each side on my mini griddle. I brushed vegetable oil on the griddle first and placed the pieces.

As you can see the slices crisped up like real bacon.

Of course with bacon comes egg. I had the Vegg fake egg yolk. This was an easy make, with three teaspoons of the powder mixed with half a cup of cold water.It's then blended with an immersion blender and cooked for two minutes in the microwave.

It has a nice yolk consistency , thick and runny at the same time.

Of course you have to have bread with this and I has an artisinal rye from Stop & Shop. This was a great dinner. The bacon and egg tasted like the real thing, made even more perfect with dipping the bread in the yolk. The bacon was crispy and flavorful, while the yolk was the perfect texture and very eggy tasting. It was filling and best of all easy to make. You can also create variations with Vegg;s power scramble and Lightlife's sausage patties and links.

A vegan breakfast for dinner is easy to make. All you need is the Vegg egg substitute and Lightlife Smart Bacon. Add a thick hunk of bread to toast to finish off this great meal.

A Tasty Homemade Celery soup

 What do you do with a lot of celery?Make soup.  There's nothing like a homemade one , made with fresh ingredients. Best of all it was a vegan one and one I'll be making again.

I got the recipe from The Simple Veganista website. It's a relatively easy one  with the labor lying with cutting up all those celery stalks.

Since these were eventually going to be pulverized with an immersion blender.This was the most work.

It was then chopping up one yellow onion. The recipe said that you can use leeks but I felt they might be too strong in flavor. 

Then it  was four cloves of chopped garlic.

Afterwards the veggies were sauteed in about five to six tablespoons of Earth Balance spread. I like this one because its' taste is the closest to butter.

What's soup with out the stock?  Two Not Chick'n bouillion cubes  were stirred in along with about five cups of water.

These are great because they do add a real chicken taste to the stock. It was then adding the potatoes. The recipe called for Yukon Gold.I went the easy route and used  two cans Del Monte sliced potatoes.

It was then simmering everything for twenty minutes until the celery became tender.

The chunks got pureed thanks to using the immersion blender until the soup becomes smooth and creamy, th e last thanks to the potatoes.  Add a pinch of sea salt and a grind of fresh ground black pepper.There were some celery and potato chunks but I like the occasional chunk.  They added to the texture. This is one of my new favorite recipes. The taste was perfect and I love how the garlic and onion zinged up the celery's flavor. It was also good reheated.

Celery soup is the  perfect soup for fall or for any time. This one was delicious and flavorful. Make this vegan gem for the cool days ahead.

Stuffed

 Stuffed meats and veggies are a nice change up from the usual lunch and dinner fare. The family will get a kick out of breaking into them for a flavorful surprise. Stuffed main courses also a great way of using leftovers and repurposing them into something tasty and fresh. 

One of the easiest stuffed dishes to make is stuffed tomatoes. These are a diner favorite but easy to make at home.it's just hollowing out a beefsteak tomato and filling it with tuna salad. You could sub in egg salad if you want to but tuna is the usually preferred one. This filling is just a simple mix of tuna mayo and celery. You can decorate the top with dill or parsley leaves or just put the tomato top back on. Chopped avocado can be added for color and flavor. It also gives the stuffing a creaminess too.  You could also turn this vegetarian by subbing the tuna with leftover cooked rice, vegan cheese and a variety of different vegetables. A popular mix are peas, chopped peppers and chopped onions. You could add a tablespoon of the faux mayonnaise  Nayonnaise to make it creamier. Of course stuffed tomatoes can be hot too. Stuff them with a savory mix of breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and various herbs. One of the most classic stuffed dishes is stuffed pepper.  These are everyone's favorite and , again, simple to make.  It's using any color bell pepper and scooping out the middle. What is great about them is that the stuffing can be anything. You can use leftover chicken or turkey or fresh ground beef. Stuffed peppers can also go vegetarian. Add beans and spiced rice for a meatless version. You can also stuff onions in the same manner.

Meats can also be farci or stuffed. One of the most famous and most loved is braciole, stuffed Italian beef roll. It's a bit labor intensive but worth it. The filling is a tasty blend of breadcrumbs, Pecorino Romano cheese, basil ,Provolone cheese and parsley. The hard part comes next.It's pounding flank steak to the desired thinness. This requires a meat mallet but you can use a rolling pin if you don't have the first. The bread crumb mixture is sprinkled evenly over the steak and then rolled up. You'll need toothpicks or twine to fasten them. it's then cooking until done in a Dutch oven. Stuffed pork is a great fall dish. Again you can change up the fillings. You can try a sausage and apple one redolent with flavorful onion and celery There's also bread that's been pulsed in a food processor with rosemary, thyme and sage. These are then lightly toasted in butter for more flavor and crispness. Remember to use a mild sausages because hot ones will overpower the pork. The entire roll is made similar to a jelly roll with a boneless pork shoulder. Another filling is made with artichoke hearts and mushrooms mixed with parsley and an herbed stuffing mix. Beef tenderloin is another cut that can be filled, usually with a tasty mix of spinach and mushroom, with a bit of flour added for thickening.

Stuffed veggies or meats make for  a nice main course. They're bursting with the surprise of flavor and color. Try them for a different change of pace.

A Harvest of Cookbooks Part Two

Baking is one of the mainstays of the fall kitchen, whether for holidays or just dessert. There's nothing like whipping up a cake or pie. Luckily there is a whole range of new cookbooks that center on the different sweets and treats that are hot off the presses right now.

The New York Times Food section reviewed an entire array of them yesterday. The savory ones were written about yesterday  and they covered  a wide range of interesting cuisines from East African to Ina Garten's comfort food recipes. Contributors to the New York Times Food section also reviewed these baking themed cookbooks.Julia Moskin, Pete Wells, Melissa Clark and Kim Severson along with Emily Weinstein and Margaux Laskey critiqued all sorts . Pie lovers will go mad for Pie For Everyone : Recipes and Stories From Petee's  Pie, New York's Best Pie Shop (Abrams) is by Petra Paradez who owns the pie shop. She is a whiz at creating pies and tarts for all sorts of pie lovers, from the vegans to the buttery crust lover. She even has a way of sneaking more butter into her crusts for  a melt in your mouth bite. Chef Paradez includes a classic and almost forgotten New York favorite, the chestnut filled Nesselrode pie. Another book that features classic recipes is The Good Book Of Southern Baking :A Revival of Biscuits, Cakes and Cornbread, (Lorena Jones) features the chef of New Orlean's famed Willa Jean, Kelly Fields. She elevates classic recipes such as angel food cake flecked with two kinds of shaved chocolate and airy pancakes made with egg whites.

Fun cookbooks also are here as well. Snacking Cakes : Simple Treats for Anytime Cravings (Clarkston Potter) by Yossy Arefi a contributor to the Sunday Times T magazine, is the perfect book for any one who loves a good hunk of cake. The book is full of such mouth watering recipes as gingerbread and powdered sugar doughnut cakes. For more adventurous bakers there is A Good Bake : The Art and Science of Making Perfect Pastries, Cakes Cookies, Pies Breads at Home (Knopf) by Melissa Weller,a former chemical engineer and Carolynn Carreno.Ms, Weller shows how to make a sugar cookie top extra crackly and how to make toppings stay on focaccia. Advanced home bakers will love reading through Claire Saffitz's Dessert Person : Recipes and Guidance for Baking With Confidence (Clarkson Potter) Ms. Saffitz' is a pastry chef who has contributed to The NY TImes along with being contributing editor to Bon Appetit  magazine. She has detailed recipes with step by step how to recipes on almond butter banana bread and salted halvah blondies. Fans of San Francisco's 20th Century Cafe will love Baking at the 20th Century Cafe: Iconic  European desserts From Linzer Torte to Honey Cake (Artisan). Author Michelle Polzine puts' fresh spins on staid classics and allows home bakers to try their hand at elegant cookies and sweet and savory strudels.

Fall is the season for baking. Any of the cookbooks can give the recipes perfect for the cooler months ahead. They have a plethora of treats and desserts for home bakers looking for something new to create.