edibles

I've pretty much shelved my food blog but that doesn't mean I haven't stopped loving food. Oh no. I still love cooking it in my spacious kitchen and I still love trying out new restaurants.

My brother really stepped it up for my birthday this year: he purchased for me a private cooking lesson with a personal chef. 'Twas amazing. We made a shrimp, cod, and veggie kielbasa gumbo (which included making our own seafood stock -- and I loved making the dark roux in my new Crueset), dirty basmati rice, and cauliflower with Indian spices. A bit of Cajun-Indian fusion, yes? I still have a good portion of the gumbo (sans seafood) frozen, and I'm thinking about throwing it in an 8x8 pan and topping it with cornbread batter and baking it. A Cajun tamale pie of sorts.

On Wednesday, I made a trip to the Hong Kong Supermarket, two blocks from work. Having more items than you can shake a stick at (and most in a language I couldn't read), this place filled me with awe. I settled on purchasing some lemongrass, ginger, tofu, shitake mushrooms, Thai chilies, and coconut milk and whipped up my vegan version of tom yum soup to enjoy during an hour-long date with Jack, Sayid, and the rest of the cast of "Lost".

10 cups vegetable broth
2 stalks lemongrass, minced
2 thumb-size pieces ginger, minced
5 cloves garlic, minced
4 small chilies, minced
4 carrots, chopped
1 package tofu, pressed and cubed
2-3 handfuls mushrooms, sliced
1/2 can coconut milk
3 tablespoons tamari, or to taste
Sliced scallions
Chili sauce
Lime

Place broth in a soup pot along with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, and chilies. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium.

Add the carrots. Allow to simmer 2 minutes.

Add tofu and mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes longer.

Turn down heat and add coconut milk and tamari.

Serve with sliced scallions, chili sauce, and a squeeze of lime.

Serves 6-8.

Next time I'll add kaffir lime leaves and garnish with cilantro.

I used Big Tangerine to whip two egg whites and a half-cup of superfine sugar to stiff peaks and then piped them onto a Silpat. I baked at 225 degrees for 60 minutes and then left the oven door ajar and let the cookies cool for another hour. Voila! Meringues.

Sunday brings another cooking class, this time at ICE, thanks to a gift certificate from Mom & Jim that I received as a Christmas present. We'll be making Hot and Sweet Sesame Nori Fins; Watercress Salad with Cucumber and Green Mango in a Lime-Peanut Vinaigrette; Galangal, Lemongrass, and Kaffir Lime Leaf-Baked Tofu Medallions; Baked Salmon with Fresh Thai Curry Paste; Spinach-Thai Basil and Yellow Pepper-Coconut Milk Sauces; Red Bhutanese Rice with Roasted Vegetables; Indonesian Sambal; Crispy Rice Noodles; and Mango-Lemongrass Ice Cream Parfait with Lemon Tuiles.

Oh, yummy yummy yummy.