Ah, my adoring
public. How I've missed you. Don't think
I haven't appreciated your silent protests demanding the return of some Food
Baby blog posts. Much like Pussy Riot in the face of Putin, I'm here to speak
the truth. In place of political prisoners and anti-gay laws, my repertoire
revolves more around smoked meats and where to find the best dumpling. The long
cold winter is nearly over though. And I'm hungry.
It's been a hectic
couple months with the wifey recovering from hip surgery and us spending most
of that time living with her parents in Bucks county. Not a lot to report on
the Philly restaurant scene just yet, but we did manage to find a few gems up
in Newtown. There's good Italian to be had at Vecchia Osteria and La Stalla - and not just chicken
parm. I'm talking legit dishes of antipasti, homemade pasta and some crazy good
tiramisu. Stuff that could hold it's own in the city. My favorite suburban find
though has to be Oishi - a Japanese/Korean
place with some extremely good sushi, nice kimchi influenced appetizers and
some of the best yakitori skewers I've had anywhere. We also did quite a bit of cooking at home.
My mother-in-law taught me how to make knishes and I showed her how to make
Thai style salmon. Everybody wins!
Since we've just
recently entered the Lenten season I thought I'd reference some of our favorite
meatless dishes over the coming weeks. The past couple years I've gone meatless from Ash Wednesday to
Easter Sunday. I still do fish & eggs (don't worry, I'm not wasting away)
but I have to admit it feels good to cleanse
a bit for 40 days and hopefully even drop a few LB's. I'm not what you
would call a practicing Catholic - but it's as good an opportunity as any to
get more seafood & veggies into your diet.
So over the next couple weeks I'll post recipes for some choice non-meat
dishes. These are all Food Baby approved
- so you won't see any rice cakes or tofurkey.
First up is Thai
Lettuce wraps. I know it doesn't sound especially hearty, but it's more filling
than you think without leaving you ready for a nap afterwards. The flavors are incredibly bright and there's
zero carbs. This is a slight adaptation from a recipe we got from our
Greensgrow CSA a few years back. I'm
using tofu here, but you could easily substitute ground beef, chicken or
pork. It's a really quick dish to cook -
most of the time is spent preparing the ingredients. Don't be afraid of the tofu - if you know how
to season it, you won't even know it's not meat.
For the tofu:
1 lb extra firm tofu
2 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
(try to find TIPS brand, with a yellow
label)
Fresh ground pepper
to taste
Slice the tofu into
8 equal thickness slabs. Place these on top of 3 paper towels then cover with
two more paper towels. Place a heavy pot
on top to squeeze out the moisture from the tofu. Leave this to sit about 10 mins.
Remove the pot and
paper towels. With your hands, crumble up the pieces into a consistency that
looks like ground beef. Season with the cumin, Worcestershire, soy sauce, fish
sauce & cracked pepper. Mix with your hands
to make sure the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Set aside.
For the filling:
1 head boston/butter
lettuce, quartered and core removed
2 tbs olive oil
4 garlic cloves,
minced
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs fish sauce
2-3 thinly sliced
Thai chilis, stems removed
1/4 of a red onion,
sliced thinly
1/4 cup chopped
peanuts
1/4 cup each basil,
mint & cilantro - finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbs long grain
rice
Toast the rice in a
small frying pan - non-stick if you have it. When it just starts to turn brown
pull it off the heat and let cool. Place into a clean coffee grinder (a mortar
and pestle will also do) and grind into a powder. Set aside.
Heat the oil over
medium heat. Add the garlic & sugar
to the pan and saute for 1 min. Add the
seasoned tofu and stir to break up.
Fry the tofu in a
non-stick pan until there is no moisture left and it starts to brown up a bit.
You want a bit of texture, but not burnt.
Add in the fish sauce and season with salt & pepper. Remove the pan from the heat.
Stir in the sliced
chilis, red onion, peanuts, herbs & rice powder. Keep stirring until the
onion softens and the herbs wilt, then add the lime juice. Serve warm, scooping into the lettuce cups with a couple of cold Singha beers.
