• 03Jul

    I just read this great article by Joan Ryan on sfgate.com  

    It’s about a documentary filmmaker, Mickey Freeman, who relates the decline of the family meal as one of the causes of childhood obesity. The article also cites excerpts from Barbara Carlson, who co-authored “Putting Family First: Successful Strategies for Reclaiming Family Life in a Hurry-Up World.’’  

    The article brought back fond memories of our family table. We always had dinner together. My mom and sometimes my grandmother would help to make sure dinner was on the table the moment my dad got home. My job would be to set the table – setting out the rice bowls, soup bowls, Chinese soup spoons and making sure the chopsticks were placed just so to make sure they would not fall off the table – I was warned so many times a fallen chopstick was a calamity that would bringing on bad luck that I’m careful to this day. We (my parents, grandmother, two brothers and sister) would all sit around the table talking about our day – school, work, relatives, stories of my parents childhoods, local and world events and later as we neared the end of high school – debates on if, and then quickly, where we would go to college. And of course, under the watchful eye of the adults it was a surety that we ate a bit of everything thus ensuring we had a good nutritious meal.  

    The family table was one of the reason’s I started Tao de Kitchen – a personal chef service I firmly believe that the family table is deeply missed in our society today and it is such a great feeling to know I can help a few families build some fond memories of their own.

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  • 03Jul

    Tofu – a most popular soy product. These days most of us wonder…Is soy good for you or bad for you? One day the leading news story is that it’s good – the cure all…prevents osteoporosis…helps prevent hot flashes during menopause…lowers cholesterol…contains genistein, a cancer cell inhibitor…Asian women eat it all the time and they have lower incidence of breast cancer. Then the next day, the headlines broadcast ‘Soy is Bad! Bad! Bad!’ Yikes, soy can disrupt thyroid functions… soy based formulas are bad for infants…soy will shrink your brain and increase your chances of Alzheimer’s…soy can enhance some forms of breast cancer. All this contradictory information can make your head spin faster than Linda Blair’s!  Listen, in the end I think we just need to moderate. Sure, women in Asia (heck, men in Asia) eat more tofu than Americans but overall their diets are so vastly different than the western diet so what exactly causes all those great statistics those scientist come up with – how controlled are these studies anyway? Is it all hype funded by that corporation identified by it’s three initials? (oh, behave…) Hey, and remember, tofu and soy products are just part of the overall Asian diet. Asians don’t eat nothing but tofu so don’t you either!   I love soy products in all it’s unadulterated non GMO (whatever you do make sure the package states the soy is non GMO or non genetically modified) forms – dried sheets of bean curd, soy sauce, miso, soy nuts, tempeh…ugh, to be honest I think tempeh is yuck, soy milk and tofu in all it’s stages of firmness.So what about tofu and all it’s stages of firmness – this can get downright confusing – why, just the other day I was at Koreana, the local Korean grocery here in Oakland, and there was – I kid you not – ‘extra soft,’ ‘soft,’ ‘firm,’ ‘extra firm,’ and ‘extra extra firm’ – there was probably more but some of the package labels were only in Korean. Ok, that was a bit extreme so let’s just deal with the middle three. Well, wait – you have to indulge me here – I’ll have to spend a few words on the ‘extra soft’ – at least the Chinese version of extra soft, which is a yummy dessert. At Dim Sum houses you can sometimes find in the merry go round of carts – soft warm tofu – ‘DoFu Fa.’ Order it and the cart mistress will carefully scoop off thin layers (lest too much water oozes out of the delicate curd) and gently lays them in a bowl then pours ginger infused syrup on top. Ummm, so soft, warm and creamy. It’s a nice light dessert after gorging on dumplings. Ok, so back to the other three categories of firmness – one loyal reader, Sandra Ortiz, asked what to do with Tofu – what, when and how? Oh, but wait, let me tell you how tofu is made, shall I? First, soy beans are soaked in water then pureed and strained. The resulting liquid is soy milk. A coagulant is added to the soy milk much like rennet is added to animal milk to make cheese. Then the coagulated mess is strained. The longer the curds are strained the firmer and grainier the tofu gets. So, soft tofu basically has more water in it than it’s firmer forms. OK finally, here’s what I would do with each form:  Soft – blended in smoothies, made into a creamy salad dressing, as a binder in place of eggs with a touch of rice flour blended in, steamed with some soy drizzled on top garnished with slivers of ginger and scallion, diced and put into a chicken broth with spinach, pureed with fruit, some sugar and gelatin for a nice dairy free parfait dessert, etc  Firm and Extra Firm – a great low fat sub for meat in just about any dish. Cubed and sautéed in stir fries, in stews and soups. Oh, how about in place of paneer in the Indian spinach dish, Saag Paneer? Saag Tofeer anyone?  Extra Firm can be sliced into a cutlet, marinated and prepared like a steak with your favorite meat sauces like a piccatta sauce, a pepper sauce, a tonkatsu sauce, maderia sauce or topped with marinara and mozzarella for a ‘Tofu Parmesana’ – the possibilities are virtually endless. Ah, but wait, how can I forget with the Fourth – you can grill it with some good old fashion barbeque sauce on it. Heck, toss it between some of those buns while you’re at it. Just make sure your grill is good and hot and brush the tofu with a bit of oil before tossing on the grill. Lastly (not really, but lastly for tonight’s blogging) you can mash that nice fresh block of tofu (I like Wildwood or Sacramento Brand – both non-GMO and found at my fave grocery store the Berkeley Bowl) and make a nice Faux Meat Loaf or FauxTo Loaf as I like to call it.  

      

    Here’s a recipe for a Chipotle FauxTo Loaf:  

    1 lb extra firm tofu, crumbled
    ½ cup rolled oats
    ¼ cup corn meal
    2 large eggs, beaten
    2 T scallion, sliced
    2 T celery, finely diced
    ¼ cup carrot, grated
    ¼ cup diced red pepper
    1 cup corn
    2 T chipotle chile canned in adobo sauce, finely chopped
    2/3 cup tomato puree
    1 teaspoon oregano, dried
    ½ cup smoked gouda cheese, grated
    1 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, medium, grated
    1 teaspoon chili powder
    1 teaspoon salt  Put all ingredients in a medium (or if you’re extra messy and need the extra room a large) bowl – we let Mochi the dog clean up so we use a medium bowl. Use a large spoon to mix up all the ingredients, use a chopping motion if you need to break up big chunks of tofu. The tofu should still have some texture – so don’t get carried away mashing it to mush. Taste the mix for seasoning – adding more salt if necessary. If in an especially cheesy mood toss in some more cheddar too. Put the mix into a well-greased loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until the center is firm to the touch.  

    Serve with a side of mashed potatoes (with a few finely sliced scallions tossed in while mashing for a nice change to regular old mashers) and your favorite veggie – how about some of that great sweet Brentwood corn?  Well, that’s it for this round – have a Happy Fourth!

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  • 01Jul

    Got to spend a bit of time in my slightly neglected garden this afternoon. I must say the plants love it that I am not out there hacking away at them – they have a chance to stretch and grow any which way the wind and sun coaxes them.   

    I suppose a wild garden can have its charm…not really. Ah, but that’s nature – always tumbling towards chaos while we mere mortals try to bring some sense of order to it. Well, that’s my excuse for my over grown garden and I’m sticking to it. 

    After cleaning up a few wildly overgrown plants I discovered that I will soon be up to my eye balls in lemon cucumbers. So called, not because they taste like lemons but because they look like lemons. They are so delicious and crisp but you have to wear thick gloves to pick them because they have prickly thorns all over them. Contrary to popular belief, gardening can be a dangerous thing…it’s not for the delicate. Gardeners need to have a thick skin and strong backs yet I think all gardeners have soft hearts.   Luckily we love pickles, so I’ll be making a few batches of Chinese Style Refrigerator Pickles with said cucumbers, along with carrots, daikon radish and ginger. Here’s my favorite recipe:   1 c water
    1 c white vinegar (or you can use cider vinegar)
    2 c sugar
    1/4 teaspoon tumeric (optional for color)
    4 carrots, peeled and sliced
    1 lb daikon radish, peeled and sliced
    1 lb cucumbers, peeled and sliced
    4 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
    3 Tablespoon salt
    pinch or two of chili flakes (optional)   

    Combine first four ingredients in a non-reactive pot (stainless, enamel coated, or glass). Heat to a boil, stirring from time to time to dissolve the sugar. Cool to room temperature.   Put the veggies in a colander and sprinkle with the salt. Let sit for 20 minutes to draw out the water. This will ensure that your pickles are crisp. Rinse with cold water and drain well. Squeeze the veggies to get rid of the remaining water and place in a clean jar or jars. Pour brine over the veggies, cover and put in the refrigerator. They taste best if you let them sit for at least 2 days but I usually can’t wait and start munching after a few hours.   

    These pickles are great as a side with sandwiches or my favorite is in veggie sushi rolls. Yum!   

    see ya!

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