Tempeh stir-fry with mushrooms, carrots, and broccoli

I want to talk about tempeh for a minute. As meat substitutes go, I place it far above tofu. Don’t get me wrong, tofu is fine, but it takes some work to prepare and it’s difficult to get the texture right. Tempeh has a nutty, slightly soft texture, cooks up quickly, and absorbs flavors readily. I’ve also found that people who are hesitant about meat substitutes like it better than tofu. It’s best if you marinate tempeh for about 20-30 minutes before you cook with it, but besides cutting it into pieces, that’s it for prep work.

I had some mushrooms in the fridge from last week’s Greenling box, and when I spotted carrots, green onions, and broccoli in this week’s box I knew I wanted to combine them all in a stir-fry. This one is salty and slightly sweet, and coated with a rich sauce that doesn’t need cornstarch to thicken. In fact, it’s really salty, so if you want to temper the sodium a bit, use low-sodium soy sauce instead of the tamari in the marinade. I served over quinoa.

Tempeh stir-fry with mushrooms, carrots, and broccoli

8-oz package tempeh (I like this brand)
1/4 cup tamari (or soy sauce)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tbsp. toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
1 tbsp. peanut or canola oil
1 cup thinly sliced carrots (1/8 in.)
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup small broccoli florets
1/4 cup sliced green onions (1 in.)
1/8 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup black bean sauce
1 in. piece ginger, minced

Dice tempeh into 1/2 in. squares or small, thin triangles. Combine tempeh with tamari, vinegar, sesame oil, and hoisin sauce in a zip-lock bag and marinate in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Combine soy sauce, black bean sauce, and minced ginger. Have this sauce and your veggies ready to go, as stir-fries cook quickly.

Heat peanut or canola oil over high heat. When oil starts to sizzle, swirl pan to coat evenly. Add carrots and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add broccoli, mushrooms, and green onions and cook 2 minutes. Add tempeh (including marinade) and soy sauce mixture. Reduce heat to medium high and cook 3-5 more minutes, stirring frequently, until tempeh is heated through and sauce is thick.

A new focus

I’ve been blogging a long time now. I tend to write about a lot of things, from my family, to food, to the occasional political post, etc. While that’s all well and good, I realized recently that this blog needs a focus. Not that I can’t write about all things, but that it’s better if I don’t write about all things all the time.

That said, I’ve decided to focus on food here. I spend a lot of time creating recipes and I’d like to be able to document them (so I don’t forget what I did) and share them (in case anyone else is interested). Also, as a recent convert to vegetarianism, I want to document what it’s like creating food in a house with a veggie and a meat-lover (and a toddler who eats anything). You’ll see vegetarian recipes, recipes with meat, and recipes with both veggie and meat versions.

This doesn’t mean I’m never going to post about Ryan again, or about how much I don’t like Time Warner Cable. It just means that most of what I share will be filtered through my love of food. I have a crappy camera, so you won’t get those awesome photos that come with most food blogs, but I’ll do my best to take decent pictures to accompany the recipes.

Hope you enjoy it!

We’re breaking up

Dear Time Warner Cable,

We’ve been together for a long time — 9 years or so.  When we first hooked up you were my only option (sorry to be so blunt), but things were ok! I saw my first American Idol episode with you. You brought me together with my favorite weatherman, Burton Fitzsimmons, whom I trust every morning to tell me whether I should wear a coat or short sleeves.

We got a Tivo DVR from Mason’s parents when we got married, and man, how we loved that DVR! We never had to remember when our shows came on. And we could pause them! And watch them over and over! It just made our relationship more secure.

Then we got an HDTV. Of course, we wanted to upgrade to an HD DVR. And you came through again, with a DVR that cost less than the HD Tivo version. I remember how happy that made me.

Sadly, this is when things began to go downhill with us. It started small, with you not recording the last minute or two of a TV show I’d seen before, like an episode of Scrubs. I’m pretty forgiving, so I got past it.

Then things got worse.

Like not recording the last few minutes of American Idol just when they were about to announce Jordin Sparks had won. Not that I’m bitter, but that was annoying. I guess you didn’t notice. You started ignoring scheduled recordings altogether. If I set up a recurring recording and decided to cancel one of the occurrences, you’d delete all of my scheduled recordings. Sometimes, you’d record an episode in chunks. So 22 minutes in the recording would suddenly stop and we’d freak out until we realized that the rest of the episode was there. Just in another file.

I’d call you and try to talk about it, but you’d blow me off or make hollow promises about things getting better, when they never did. That all sucked, but I kept telling myself things would improve.

Then you did the worst thing you could do. You messed with the season premiere of Lost.

23 minutes in we realized you’d chunked a recording again. Into FIVE PIECES. One was two minutes long. Really? Really?! It was then I realized that, despite all our years together, you had no respect left for our relationship. Things were never going to change.

So this is it. You forced my hand and I’m moving to AT&T next week. You are making me give up Burton, and that’s a big deal. Big deal. But sometimes you have to make hard choices, and I think this is for the best.

Yours,
Stephanie

Catfish Pontchartrain

Saturday was a sad day. We journeyed down to Geaux Burger only to discover a sign on the door saying that they were closed for business. I liked the place because they had an amazing veggie burger and you could choose from a variety of free toppings for your burger. I was partial to a combo of swiss cheese, mushrooms, and grilled onions. Mason liked it because their burgers were great and, on top of that, it was run by some Louisianans who were big Saints and LSU fans.

Anyway, we ended up at Phil’s Ice House instead, and afterwards headed to Quality Seafood. Mason was still in a Cajun state of mind and wanted to buy some fish. He got some catfish fillets and shrimp, and asked that I concoct a sauce for the fish that was creamy and used the shrimp. I immediately thought of Pontchartrain (PON-choo-train) sauce, which  usually involves white wine, cream, butter, and crab or shrimp.

While delicious, I knew I didn’t want to make something that fattening. Because I like how my jeans fit just fine, thank you. I came up with this variation that’s still rich and tasty, but a bit lighter. I served with dirty rice.

Catfish Pontchartrain
2 8oz catfish fillets (or 1 pound of another firm, white fish)
1-2 tbsp of seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay or Adam’s Reserve
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp canola oil
1.5 cups dry white wine (I used Fall Creek Chenin Blanc)
1 cup water or seafood stock
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and roughly chopped into about 1/4 in. pieces
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 c. water
Juice from 1 lemon (about 3 tbsp.)

To prepare sauce, combine wine, 1 c. water or stock, salt, pepper, and thyme in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil rapidly for about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium high and add shrimp. Cook 10 minutes, until sauce has reduced some.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large, nonstick skillet. Season fish with salt, pepper, and seafood seasoning. Add to skillet and cook about 6-7 minutes on each side, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and keep warm.

Combine flour and 1/4 c. water, mixing well with a fork until the mixture is thick and smooth. It should be as close to lump-free as possible. Add to shrimp mixture and cook about 5 minutes more, until mixture has thickened and drips off of a spoon with the consistency of maple syrup.  Turn off heat and add butter and lemon juice, stirring until butter melts. Adjust salt and pepper if necessary, and serve sauce over fish.

I served with a 2008 Martin Codax albarino, a bright Spanish white wine.

ETA: Yes, I call myself a vegetarian and yes, I ate this meal. I spent the day making dal, fajita fillings, and cracked wheat bread from my favorite bread cookbook, The Bread Bible. By the end of the day my feet hurt and I was hungry. So I ate.

I look away for one minute

And this happens:

Why I love Conan O’Brien

Ok, I don’t really have time right now to tell you all the reasons I love Conan. But I wanted to post this video of his Monday show only for the monologue, which you will probably find hilarious even if you haven’t been following the Tonight Show/Conan/Leno drama. Please watch it. I’m going to refrain from saying exactly how I feel about Jay Leno and the NBC execs because, well, the words I’m thinking aren’t fit for public consumption and people I work with read this blog.

My favorite line: “I could quit television altogether, and work in a classier business with better people, like hardcore porn.”

Zing! Tell ‘em, Conan.

This week’s menu: Coq au vin and pizza di spaghetti

So, God bless Greenling, but I was tired of eating butter lettuce and turnips so I stopped getting their local box. I still get local produce and meat from them every week, but it’s all stuff I select, and we are definitely wasting less. I’ll probably stop listing the veggies I get until I go back to the local box, but I want to highlight the meat. Now that I’ve stopped eating it, I can afford to get meat from local farms for Mason and Ryan. It’s definitely more expensive, but, I think, worth it. This week I got a whole cut-up chicken from Dewberry Hills and hamburger patties from Betsy Ross.

This week’s menu includes:

For Mason and Ryan:

Coq au vin on egg noodles: This is so incredibly delicious. I know because I’m the chef and the chef has to taste what he/she cooks. I’ve made Tyler Florence’s recipe before, and while I do love me some Tyler, Alton’s was better. I skipped the marinate overnight part and it was still rich and delicious. Definitely a weekend recipe, because it takes a while to make, but absolutely worth it. You could probably do a good version of this in the crock pot, adding everything to the crock after you’ve browned the chicken. You’d still need to reduce the sauce, but it doesn’t take that long.

Cheeseburgers with cheddar on onion buns with baked chips

Sweet and sour shrimp w/brown rice — the chicken version is great, but I’m using shrimp this time.

For me:

Pizza di spaghetti (with leftover red wine spaghetti) and spinach salad — If you do this, don’t skimp on the olive oil. It won’t come out of the pan if you try to use less. Trust me.

“B”LT (with Smart Bacon) and baked chips

The best lentil soup ever

Chipotle bean burritos

Merry late Christmas, and I finally met an olive I like

After several days of traveling across Texas and Louisiana, we are finally back home. Here’s a pic of Ryan in his Christmas duds:

In the interest of full disclosure, I took this yesterday, Dec. 30. I forgot to pack his Christmas outfit when we left to visit family, but gosh darn it, I was going to get a picture of him in it.

Anyway, about the olive. This is news, as the two foods I cannot stand are olives and mayo. It happened on our date night Tuesday. Instead of buying gifts for each other for occasions like Christmas and birthdays, Mason and I pick a nice restaurant to visit and have a date night. This year, for our Christmas date, we went to Restaurant Jezebel.

Now, I don’t know how I’ve missed this place in my 10 years in Austin. It’s at 9th and Congress, right by the Capital and the Paramount Theater, and I’ve spent a ton of time on that block. It is Zagat rated and has been around for at least three or four years. Anyway, it was fantastic. I was attracted to it because, while their menu only mentions one vegetarian entree, they make a point to say that you should ask your server for their other vegetarian dishes.

I was intrigued. I recently stopped eating meat, and while it’s not hard to be a vegetarian in Austin, the options on some menus are pretty limited. So, Mason and I made reservations (their meaty entrees were impressive) and showed up at 8 pm.

The olives were our appetizer. It’s one of those restaurants where everyone gets a complimentary amuse bouche. These kalamata olives had been soaked in a citrus-balsamic marinade. Mason and I stared dubiously at the tray (he doesn’t do olives or mayo either), but didn’t want to insult the waiter by sending it back. Finally, not wanting to just leave all those olives wasted, I stabbed one with my fork and ate it.

Much (and I mean, MUCH) to my surprise, it was delicious! Citrusy, balsamic-y, and salty. Yum! I ate the whole tray. Mason even agreed that they were good (I guess I ate the whole tray minus one). I liked them so much that I bought a jar of kalamata olives today, which are currently soaking in my own balsamic-citrus marinade in the fridge. I’ll break them out in a few minutes and see how they compare.

So, about the rest of our meal. Sam, our French waiter, was fantastic. He asked me several questions about food allergies, likes/dislikes (I mentioned the olives and mayo, before the amuse bouche arrived), and the level of spiciness I can handle (7 out of 10, if you’re wondering). He brought this info to the chef, who made me an off-the-menu entree of fried eggplant in a poblano-caper cream sauce, with smoked long beans on the side. Fantastic! Mason had a surf-and-turf dish involving osso bucco and scallops. Towards the end of the meal, after I’d cleaned my plate, the chef walked by and asked if I’d had my fill. I was stuffed and told him so. He said, no joke, that he’d go back and make more if I wasn’t full, as he didn’t want to be one of those restaurants where people leave hungry.

Ha! No worries about that. I was full at that point, but Mason and I gorged on their honey-lavender-goat cheese-stuffed French toast.

All in all, it was a great night. A specially made entree, the discovery that all olives are not the height of disgustingness, and an evening out with my hubby. Here’s hoping that your Christmas and New Year were/are just as wonderful. Happy 2010!

This week’s menu: roast duck and a festival of greens

I chose not to get a Greenling box the week before and the week of Thanksgiving, since we’d be out of town during that time. However, I’m back in full force with the box that showed up this Friday. In addition to the produce, I also ordered a bottle of Texas Olive Ranch’s balsamic vinegar. The ranch is out in Dripping Springs (south of Austin), and Mason and I were lucky enough to visit there a few years ago and sample their olive oils and vinegars. They can be hard to find unless you shop at Whole Foods all the time, so I was glad to see that I could order their products through Greenling.

Anyway, the produce we got this week included: turnips with greens, broccoli rabe, green onions, French breakfast radishes, green tomatoes, butter lettuce, tangerines, escarole, apples, and cilantro. This week I’m making:

Wick Fowler’s chili, topped with chopped green onions and cheese (yeah, yeah, I know there are tons of great chili recipes out there, but this is the mix my parents used when we were growing up, and honestly, it’s hard to top. Delicious every time and a good choice for a football-watching party)

Meatball subs (made with leftover meatballs I warmed in the crockpot with a large bottle of bbq sauce mixed with a jar of red plum jam)

Turnip greens sauteed with olive oil, onion, and garlic over cornbread

Glazed turnips, potatoes, and carrots (roasted and glazed with butter and sugar)

Roast duck with chestnuts, prunes, and armangnac — Ok, I have to talk about this one. HEB had geese on sale this week, and I was intrigued so I dug up a roast goose recipe. However, goose is kind of pricey, so I ended up buying two 6-lb ducks and roasting those instead. Took about 2 hours, 15 minutes. This recipe was DELICIOUS. The next time I host Thanksgiving or Christmas, I’m making it. I wasn’t about to buy a bottle of cognac for it (not that I could, seeing as it’s Texas and today is Sunday so all liquor stores are closed) so I used some Maker’s Mark we had in the pantry. I also forgot to buy prune juice, so I just used extra red wine and beef broth. I hate cooking with a nice bottle of wine, so I get the mini-bottles (sometimes called picnic bottles) and use those instead. Much better than the “cooking wines” they sell, but I don’t feel like I’m wasting a bottle I would rather be drinking.

Escarole and butter lettuce salad with pomegranate seeds and hazelnuts

Ryan has a favorite song

You should know that we have made a point not to play kiddie music around Ryan. No Wiggles or any of the other kid musical acts, the idea being that if he never hears it, he will instead grow to love classic rock and the like, like Mason and I. Even in the womb, we played him The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and other stuff we liked. Brilliant planning, if I do say so myself.

Well, the best laid plans…yeah. Tonight Ryan repeatedly made his Fisher Price piggy bank sing its song. Over and over again. I know he was purposefully playing the song because the pig does multiple things when you hit its nose, including sneeze, oink, and sing. Every time, he would hit it quickly so it would get to the song, then kick his feet and grin. When I danced to the song, the grin progressed to laughing. Oh, it was incredibly cute. The only thing is that now I foresee these lyrics being stuck in my head for quite some time:

Oh-oh I’m a piggy bank

With coins big and small

There’s lots of colors, you can learn them all

We’ve got red and yellow, we’ve got orange and blue

It’s your favorite colors, we’ve got green ones too.

Let’s count the coins from one to ten

When we’re all done, we’ll count again!

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven

Eight, nine, ten!

Oh, Ryan. You got mommy and daddy good.