Adventures in Tofuland

I have to admit that when it comes to food, I'm a little ADD. I love food and the cooking process to a fault. I tend to get bored with it quickly, which leaves me to experiment on my poor, unsuspecting husband. But honestly, he's a human garbage disposal, so I guess it's a win-win.

Of all the things that I have tried for the first time, there is one ingredient that never ceases to make me crinkle my nose.

Tofu.

Just writing the word makes me scowl. But in the interest of cooking science, I set my reluctance aside and bought a package of firm tofu. In all fairness it was 99 cents. If things didn't work out, then I wouldn't be out a ton of money. Now if they would only bottle time and put IT on sale so I could stock up . . .

Anyway, I'm headed on a tangent, sorry.

I have this great stir-fry book which obviously features tofu dishes. I decided on a citrus pineapple entree. Now, I know that tofu absorbs the flavors of any dish it's cooked in, but as we sat down to eat our first bit, I was overwhelmingly . . . disappointed.

marinating tofu watches half the batch get golden

everyone getting crispy

Not that I expected much, but man was it bland. And it felt like there was no substance to it. I think I ate two heaping bowls and still had this feeling of being hungry. I honestly don't know how vegetarians and vegans eat tofu and survive. Perhaps I'm did something wrong (like not make rice to go with it), but more power to those people. I'm not about to give up my carnivore status for soy products.

And so our adventure in Tofuland was quite disenchanting I think I will make this dish again, but definitely substitute the tofu for shrimp.

tada!

Fire in the Hole

Let me just start by saying, that I consider myself a competent, knowledgeable, and able-bodied home cook. So you can imagine my astonishment when I inadvertently tried to burn down the kitchen.

Here's the story: For our wedding, Eric and I received a wok as a gift. I'm a huge fan of Asian food and the wok soon became my favorite piece of kitchen cookware. However, I damaged the finish the first time I used it, because, like a dummy, I didn't read the cleaning directions. Oh well, I thought. The thing still works. This simple fact comes into play later.

Last night, I prepping dinner for a chicken and cashew stir-fry. While dredging the chicken in flour, I have the wok heating. After awhile, I notice black flakes in the bottom of the pan. I just attributed this to damaged interior. So I get my trusty oil and put in my hot pan (as instructed by the recipe). I turn to get my chicken, when I hear a "whoosh." I screamed as I was suddenly cooking a wok full fire. Now this is one of those times when having a good swear word would be handy and aptly appropriate. Then the scenario turned into a scene from a movie. Where one person is in the midst of chaos, while another party is oblivious to the carnage. I.e. . .

Eric: Nicole, is everything ok?

Nicole: (glancing between fire and back door, fire and sink) Umm, yeah.

Eric: You cut yourself did you?

Nicole: No (watches in panic-stricken awe as the ventilation hood gets singed and hopes they don't end up on the evening news)

Eric: Are you burning the food?

Nicole: Not exactly (turns for the fire extinguisher)

Eric: But you're ok.

Nicole: Uh huh (ready to pull the pin, when flames suddenly die)

Smoke alarm goes off

Here's what I think happened. I think the wok was TOO hot and this started to flake the damaged non-stick finish. When I put the oil in the pot, the flakes started to cook at a rapid rate and the excess heat caught the oil on fire in spectacular fashion.

Pride aside, everyone is ok. It took thirty minutes of open doors and fans to get he smoke out of the house. Eric said I did it on purpose to get a new wok (well, I actually want a new kitchen). I thought about asking Santa for a new one. But for the safety of all parties involved, perhaps he should just skip this one on my list.

Side note: Somehow, this picture looks almost exactly like my kitchen at the height of chaos. There has to be something said about flies on the wall.

Dinner in Sage City

David, Steph-Ann & Vicki

So as a conclusion to Vicki's visit, Eric and I hosted another get together. Eric's brothers, David and Jesse, and Steph-Ann (David's girlfriend) came over for dinner. We had a lovely meal which consisted of spinach and mushroom lasagna rolls, garlic bread and garden salad. For dessert, I tried my hand at funnel cakes, which suprisingly turned out well.
After dinner, Vicki entertained us with an Ireland slideshow (she went there in October).
We had a great time with the family and can't wait to have everyone over again.