Those Fruity Vinegars

Dear Turkey,

Remember when you gave me these fruity vinegars?

I know, it was probably for Christmas, but I was saving them. You can stop judging me now because I finally used them:

I cooked some scallops in some butter, oil, salt, and garlic (enough so that you can flip them, but not so much so that they don't stick at all, since you want them to get all crispy), flipping them once, until they were nice and brown and their middles were 135 degrees. Then I removed the scallops and the fat and deglazed the hot pan with white wine, lime juice, and the blood orange fruity vinegar (again, just enough of each so that there is a centimeter or two of liquid in the bottom of the pan). I scraped the browned umami-sensation-fat off of the bottom of the pan for a minute or two, and poured the sauce over the scallops. Deglazing the pan makes delicious sauce and makes you feel like you really know how to cook every time you say it. 

I served them with a risotto kind of like this one and asparagus. 

For dessert, ice cream from where I got married topped with balsamic/blackberry fruity vinegar sauce/caramel. I know in my head that vinegar is really just sugar, but it's still fun to cook it down (slowly!) until it turns into a sauce/caramel/rock (depending on how long you cook it). I didn't add any extra sugar or fat or anything:

So you can feel free to buy me some more presents, now that you know I'm not saving them,

Tofu

What Dinner Tastes Like at 9 PM

Dear Turkey,

On my birthday, I pretended to be one of those hip European people who eats dinner at 9 PM. Actually, I decided that I wanted to go running at 6 PM, so that meant that we didn't eat until the time formerly known as my bedtime.

Once I looked in the mirror and said, "Mama's old." Now my son says, "Mama's old," whenever I look in the mirror. Or whenever he fees like it, whichever happens sooner. Now that I am Old, I am working on going with the flow and enjoying life and all of those cliches. So, instead of stressing about how late it was, I lit a candle on the picnic table and enjoyed my dinner. (If you don't think this is a big accomplishment, you don't know me).

Unfortunately for you, the person who prepared my dinner firmly believes that I should only post pictures of food that I actually cook, and not pictures of food that he actually cooks (good thing you don't believe that, Mom). So, here's what I actually did:

I washed this beautiful arugula and these beautiful non-local cherries. 

And then we had hummus that you make in the microwave from Minimalist Baker, grilled cod with this rub from Budget Bytes, and grilled chickpea salad with red onion and sourdough. If you are trying to decide if you're too lazy to click on these links or not, I promise you, it's worth it.

Enjoy,

Tofu

What to Eat When It's Zero Degrees

Dear Turkey,

Here is some more of my famous free advice. 

Adoring Fans: Tofu, what are some good things to eat when it's zero degrees and you can't get out of your driveway because the town is supposed to plow it but the truck that they usually use is "broke?" [Direct quote from the town.]

                                      

Tofu: well, Adoring Fans, first, I would recommend things that will give you a lot of calories per bite, since nothing burns as many calories as sitting at home in front of your fire worrying about when you'll be able to go running. 

Like, maybe some scalloped potatoes and sweet potatoes:

Followed by smoked trout dip:

And some crab cakes [scroll down -- thank you fellow blogger]:

Still hungry? What are you, me? Have some soup:

Roast some butternut squash, onions, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks (remove before blending), oil, salt, and pepper. Add it to 3c veggie broth and 1c cider. Puree.

I moss you,
Tofu

Look, I Made Something Else With Seafood

Dear Lt. Veggie Nugget,

Thank you for watching my baby while I write this, especially since you think that I'm making hummus for you right now. Instead, I'm going to tell the world about how to make cheap/healthy/fast/delicious mussels marinara.

First, make a broth of water, white wine, salt, and lemon juice (don't be afraid to use a lot of salt, like the ocean). Put it in the bottom of a pot with a steamer basket on top. While that's heating up, melt some [like, maybe a tablespoon or two] butter/oil/salt/pepper/dried basil/dried oregano/garlic/onion [okay, well, more than a tablespoon of butter, onion, and oil]. Sautee it for a bit and then add a can of tomatoes, a few small fresh tomatoes, a cup or so of red wine, juice of one lemon, and cook until the wine doesn't taste like alcohol anymore -- five or ten minutes. Meanwhile cook some pasta and toss it with plenty of oil and salt. When the mussels broth boils, dump the mussels in the top of the steamer and cook until they open. If you're not sure if they're fully open, they're not. It will take five or ten minutes.

To plate it: pasta, sauce, cheese, mussels, lemon.

Here is the recipe for our favorite cookies for dessert.

Thanks, Veggie Nugget,

Tofu

Look, I Made Something with Seafood

Dear Turkey,

So we've had this bag of frozen shrimp for about three months. We were doing a good job of grilling it until winter happened. It's not that I mind eating shrimp, but after thawing it, peeling it (meaning, asking someone else to peel it, and then having that person ask me to bleach the sink afterwards), and making sure it's done (but not overdone!), I always conclude that tofu would have been just as tasty (but maybe that's why I'm called Tofu and you're not [or maybe I'm just that good at cooking tofu]). Last night I made a stir-fry with leftover veggies (some of them we'd had since Thanksgiving!), the shrimp, and bottled sweet and sour sauce (topped with Siracha). I made the rice really salty and lemony, and everyone liked that.

See how not overcooked my veggies are?

This is what my mom made for dessert. I asked her if this was the kind of thing people ate in the seventies, and she said, "yes, but we didn't know to call it Panna Cotta then. Did you know that Panna Cotta is Italian?" Yes, Mom, that's why you spent all that money for me to study abroad in Italy.

This is the recipe page from Family Circle magazine. You can kind of see that my mom added orange marmalade and amaretto (of course she did) to the sauce, and she doubled the sauce (of course she did). Yesterday she made raspberry, but she said that this version was better. 

I moss you,
Tofu

Bday Flan

Dear Turkey,

Remember when my mom had a landmark birthday and she wanted flan? And it was so hard to make and the ramekins were impossible to wash (you probably don't remember that part, since I washed them)? Apparently we didn't know how to cook then.

This time, my mom wanted this one, by one of your favorite local chefs. It was pretty easy:

I reduced 1 c maple syrup by half on low heat.

I whisked together 1/2 c maple syrup, 2 c heavy cream, 5 eggs, a pinch salt, and 1 t vanilla (I simplified the recipe slightly here).

I poured the reduced syrup into the bottom of six ramekins.

I poured the "batter" on top and placed them in a pyrex dish with an inch or so of very hot water in the bottom.

350 degrees, 45 mins. Then I turned the oven off and let them sit for about 45 more minutes, while I gave my mom her birthday massage. 

For dinner, we had seasonal veggies roasted with sweet and sour sauce (from a jar), angel hair, and scallops that I pan fried in olive oil, butter, garlic, dried parsley and basil, a little salt, lime juice, and white wine. I topped the pasta with olive oil and parm; we also had salad.

Ta da...flan.

They even turned out, releasing the delicious sauce on the bottom. Easy washing! I guess we know how to cook now, lucky for my mom.

I moss you,

Tofu

I Ate Anchovies

Dear Turkey,

Greetings from the land of

trees with snow on them

and more trees with snow on them

Last night I had a big culinary adventure: anchovies. I have always wanted to like anchovies. They are good for you. They are low on the food chain. They are cheap ($1.99!). They don't spoil. But I was never sure, especially after studying abroad in Italy where, if you tell them you are vegetarian, they put anchovies on everything (don't ask me why; maybe they are trying to fatten you up).

Over the holidays we organized our pantry (romantic, and our baby loved chewing on all the Tupperware). We found a jar of roasted red peppers that expired a while ago (but more recently than 1983). So my husband decided to make a pasta sauce out of them. He asked me to buy cream, feta, and anchovies when I got groceries.

these are the ones I tried; that Oscar guy looked trustworthy

Last night, he cooked some angel hair. Then he sauteed the red peppers with some onions, garlic, cumin, and oregano. Then he added sherry vinegar, lime juice and the dreaded anchovies. He blended it all up and added some cream. Then he served it on the pasta with fresh basil, currants, and feta (and he would have used pine nuts but they were out at the grocery store).

When I tasted it I realized:
1) It was delicious (and I know he thought so too, because he wrote it in our cookbook), and not too fishy (my fear).

2) I have eaten anchovies before, and not just in Worcestershire sauce. I immediately felt like I was at one of our favorite Italian restaurants, even though I have never ordered anchovies there before (see 1st paragraph).

I would print the recipe (and a photo) here but my husband said that it is proprietary ("you can put your recipes on the blog"). So, honey, if I left something out above, I leave it up to you to correct the public. I threatened to make a new category on the blog called: Things My Husband Made and Doesn't Want Me To Put On Here, but, since he subscribed, I'd probably have to protect it with a password.

So, anchovies, maybe you and I will be friends. And now my husband wants to try sardines.

I moss you,
Tofu