My cousin recently told me of his cooking adventures. I remembered when I was first learning how to cook. I wanted to know the basic spices and ingredients for regional flair. The following is a simplified list of ingredients that helped me start experimenting and diversifying my flavors.

Hungarian

garlic

onion

green bell pepper

paprika

white pepper

sour cream

dill seeds

dill weed

caraway seeds

Cook with onion, garlic and or green bell pepper. Season with paprika and caraway seeds or dill seeds and white pepper. Finish with sour cream and/or sharpen with vinegar.

Middle Eastern

garlic

onion

turmeric

cinnamon

cloves

lemon juice

mint

ground cloves

cayenne

yogurt

Cook with onion, garlic. Season with turmeric and cumin or cinnamon and cloves. Spice up with ground red pepper (cayenne). Finish with yogurt and/or lemon juice and fresh mint.

Mexican

garlic

onion

green chilies

oregano

cumin

lime juice

cilantro

vinegar

allspice

cinnamon

chili powder

Cook with garlic, onion, fresh chilies. Season with oregano and cumin or allspice, cinnamon and chili powder. Sharpen with lime juice or vinegar. Finish with cilantro.

Italian

garlic

onion

olive oil

basil

oregano

rosemary

marjoram

sage

bay leaves

crushed red pepper

tomato

parmesan cheese

wine

Cook with garlic, onion in olive oil. Season with basil and oregano or rosemary and marjoram or sage. Spice up with crushed red pepper. Stir in tomato and or wine and bay leave. Flavor with Parmesan cheese.

Indian

garlic

onion

gingerroot

coriander

paprika

cumin

mint

yogurt

lemon juice

turmeric

cayenne

tomatoes

Cook with garlic, gingerroot, onion. Season with coriander and paprika or cumin and turmeric. Spice up with cayenne. Stir in tomato. Finish with yogurt and/or lemon juice and fresh mint.

French (the least vegetarian friendly of all….)

garlic

onion

shallot

thyme

rosemary

tarragon

Dijon mustard

bay leaves

tomato

bacon

butter

cream

Cook with garlic, onion or shallot in butter or bacon fat. Season with thyme and rosemary or tarragon. Sir in wine and/or tomato and bay leaf. Finish with cream and/or Dijon mustard.

Chinese

garlic

scallions

gingerroot

cayenne

hoisin sauce

dark sesame oil

soy sauce

rice wine vinegar

Cook with garlic, gingerroot, scallions in peanut oil. Spice up with cayenne. Flavor with hoisin sauce and toasted sesame oil and or soy sauce and rice-wine vinegar.

Japanese

garlic

gingerroot

chives

soy sauce

miso paste

dark sesame oil

rice wine vinegar

wasabi

honey or sugar

Cook with garlic, gingerroot. Spice up with wasabi and pickled gingerroot. Flavor with miso, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sweetening, and rice wine vinegar. Finish with minced chives.

Prepare the soybeans:

Soak 6 cups organic soybeans in 15 cups of cold water. 8-10 hours (0vernight)

After beans have soaked and doubled in size, rinse and drain them. Then grind 2 cups at a time in a food processor* to a gritty or sandy paste (roughly the size of raw quinoa).

Into about 2 gallons of rapidly boiling water use a wire wisk to add ground soybeans. Return to a boil then cook on medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Stir occassionally, watch carefully, the soybeans have a tendency to foam over.

*Blender alternative: blend 1 cup of beans to 3 cups water for about 1 minute, then boil for 15 minutes.

Strain the soymilk

Use a fine mesh nylon or silk (cheesecloth if doubled or tripled) to line a large colander over a bowl to catch the liquid soymilk. What remains from the straining process is Okara, which can be stored in the freezer and used in various recipes from baking to smoothies.

Transfer the soymilk back to the large boiling pot. You might like to reserve some soymilk to drink warm or cold with a touch of vanilla and sweetening.

Curdling Agents

Not to be confused with curling or cuddling…

A curdling agent must be used to produce the tofu from the soymilk. Select one from the list below:

• Vinegar 5% acidity
• Lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
• Epsom salts
• Nigari

For 2 1/2 cups dried beans use 1 cup warm water and 1/4 cup of Vinegar or Lemon Juice or increase the water by 1/2 cup and use 1 1/2-2 teaspoons of Epsom Salts or  Nigari.

For 2 pounds or 5-6 cups of dried beans use 1 1/2 cup of warm water plus 1/2 cup of Vinegar or Lemon Juice or increase the water to 2 cups and add 3-4 teaspoons of Epsom Salts or Nigari.

Curdling the soymilk

Gently stir the warm soymilk (about 185 degrees F.) and create turbulence with a paddle. Slowly add the disolved curdling solution. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. The curdling is complete when clear, yellow, liquid (the whey) surrounds  fluffy, white curds. For firmer tofu, boil the curds and whey for a few minutes.

Curds and Whey

Strain and ladle out the whey until mostly curds remain. Ladle the curds into a colander lined with fine mesh nylon or silk cloth, set over a bowl to drain. You now have an answer to what Miss Muffit ate on her Tuffet. Try the curds with a little grate of fresh ginger and sweetening.

Press and Rinse the Tofu

Fold the cloth over the curds and press the tofu with a paddle, then set a bowl of water on top (for weight) as the tofu drains for about 20-30 minutes. Next, with a hand interrupting the stream of water so it doesn’t crash directly on the delicate tofu, rinse the tofu without unwrapping it, through the cloth with cold water (this washes away any bitterness from the curdling agent). Store covered in water in the refrigerator. Change the water daily.

Wash tools and tofu making pots and pans immediately.

I enjoyed some of the best tofu I have ever tasted and earned a healthy respect for the labor intensive product and complete protein. The process was made all the more enjoyable with family and friends learning with me.

Simple Tofu Salad

Juice from 1 lemon

1/8 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Soy sauce

toasted sesame oil

black sesame seeds for garnish

1/2 to 1 pound fresh homemade tofu

Gently mix the lemon juice with an equal amount of soy sauce, add sesame oil equal to half the lemon juice. Dice the tofu and place one cube thick on a shallow dish with a rim. Drizzle with the dressing, garnish with chopped cilantro and sesame seeds. Diced tomatoes, cucumbers and sliced mushrooms can also top the tofu. Make additional dressing as needed. Dressing should pool in the bottom of the dish and marinate the tofu for about an hour. Serve chilled.

I hope this experience inspires you to make your own Tofu and Okara at home.

I haven’t mentioned grandma yet have I? Well, it is hard. I look and the plum blossoms line the driveway today like popcorn and drift down like some big petals of snow. But, I can hardly get near the memory still without my own tears making their way down. It is January, the month she died. Passed away sounds so much softer. To say she stopped gasping for air like a fish out of water is so much more accurate.

“Have you ever seen anyone die?’ my father asked me as we drove together to grandma’s house, over the meadow and through the wood… I mean hospital, where she waited for us after breaking her leg in a fall the first day of the new year. Of course, I hadn’t ever seen anyone die, and I was in deep denial that I knew we weren’t going for that reason, we were going to help her “get back on her feet,” make it home, rehabilitate.

Which explains why I wanted to cold clock the Doctor who told us that “50 percent of patients who break their leg at this age don’t survive.” Don’t tell me her time is up- you don’t know her, this is my grandmother you are talking about you self-absorbed, pretentious…. Dad may have taken me away at that point kicking and screaming. Perhaps someone had to take us both away.

Grama was fine. Sharp as a tack, quick as a whip and all that hooey. She knew what was going on, she knew what she wanted her body to do, it just was having trouble cooperating. Eating, sleeping and having a BM. I learned a lot about those-  in the hospital, emergency room, rehabilitation center. BM, my grandmother’s very polite way of saying bowel movement. Oh… maybe things aren’t going so fine. She had another word for the color of the brown walls that closed her in with stuffy hot bad food smelly place. I will give you a hint, it comes from a BM.

She wasn’t getting better, contracted more bacteria in her colon, her lungs and her heart. Then, someone stole her hearing aides. I wanted to scream but she wouldn’t hear me. My brother and I took her to the hospital. It was more like breaking out of prison really. Nice clean white sheets, a window with a view of the mountains, caring nurses and staff. But that damn Doctor was still tapping his foot with I told you so.  He actually said, “if you don’t eat, you might as well just dig yourself a hole and lie down in it.” I wanted him to try drinking Boost, if he though it was that easy. Then I would dig him the hole… My brother might have had to take me away at that point.

Why did they change the color of the blanket on her bed to pink? Did they know it was her favorite color? Or did it somehow signal that this patient is near the end, the light at the end of the tunnel? I don’t know. I took a walk while they hooked her up to an oxygen therapy mask, filled with some crazy airway opening drug to help her breathe with pneumonia.

In the parking lot of the hospital, there were silver leaved olive trees and my feet curled in my shoes remembering the feel of the branches in her front yard, under my feet- I reached up a picked while she stood below me with a little tin bucket. The olives pinged and rung on the metal, and the silver shone like the leaves. I plucked a branch from the tree in the parking lot and brought it to her.

“Is this a peace offering?” She said.

“Sure Grama, please forgive me for not eating your homemade beef jerky anymore.”

Maybe things like Durable Power of Attorney and DNR, are nightmares. But when someone’s last wish is “don’t let them put me on a machine” and the next thing they do is put her on a machine, the game is up and Dad and I have the get out of this free card.

So they made her “comfortable” which means enough morphine drip to keep a drowning person from freaking out that one’s lungs are actually filling up with fluids. And we sat, and watched, and held her hand, and cried and tried to let her go.

I think of her red table in the kitchen, her yellow gloves stained red with pomegranate juice and her laughing, “I looks like someone died in here!” The red plate hung on the wall reads, “You are special today you are special today you are special today” around in a circle and it never ends.

M&C #6

1 cup extra firm tofu

1/2 cup baba ganoush dip

2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

2 Tablespoons Creole seasonings (I like Konriko best)

1-3 Tablespoons Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

soy milk to aid in blending ingredients

1/2 bag whole wheat 1/2 bag regular penne pasta (I use Trader Joe’s organic)

Puree all sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor until creamy smooth. Cook pasta according to package directions. Serve sauce warmed over pasta. Garnish with fresh minced parsley and lemon thyme. Also tasty with soy parmesan or grated vegan cheese on top. Version 6 has a slightly smokey spicy flavor thanks to the roasted eggplant dip and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

Tal Ronin’s book, The Conscious Cook, has two recipes for a vegan version of cheese, using New Chapter All-Flora, and cashews or macadamia nuts.

Now, making my own homemade cheese would not have entered my mind had it not been for the hilarious chapter on cheese making in Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle where she describes an adventure with Ricki the Cheese Queen of New England Cheese Making Supply Company. I had always hoped I might find a vegan way to do it, and I experimented last week.

The result? A very tasty, slightly intimidating sharp tasting herb cheese. I served the Herbed Cashew Cheese version with heirloom Cherokee Purple tomatoes and fresh basil from the garden.

Welcome back Caprese Salad!

Insalata Caprese (salad in the style of Capri) is a simple salad from the Italian region of Campania, typically made of sliced fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Viola Vegan Insalata Caprese

Cashew Cheese from Tal Ronin’s Conscious Cooking Book

Fresh Heirloom Cherokee Purple Tomatoes

Fresh Purple Basil

Layer cheese, tomatoes and basil leaves, repeat for a tri-color presentation.

Holland Days Sauce over Baked Tofu, with Pan Seared Sweet Potatoes

Holland Days

1 box Organic Silken Tofu (12 oz)

1 cube Vegan Vegetable Bouillon I use Rapunzel With Sea Salt and Herbs

1 cup fresh Lemon Juice

1 cup Vegan Butter substitute I like Earth Balance

1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

salt and pepper, to taste

Blend tofu, bouillon and lemon juice in a blender or food processor until creamy. Warm butter substitute in a saucepan over low to medium heat (or use 1/2 cup of flavorful extra virgin olive oil and 1/2 cup of butter substitute). Add the blended tofu mixture and heat through. Serve over toasted sourdough bread, Baked Tofu, with avocado and asparagus (in season). Top with fresh grated nutmeg. Combines well with Pan Seared Sweet Potatoes.

Pan Seared Sweet Potatoes

3-5 medium orange fleshed sweet potatoes baked

1-2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)

dash of cinnamon or nutmeg

Slice the potatoes into 1/2 inch rounds. Cook over medium heat 10-12 minutes on each side. Color should be carmel and the flesh slightly crisp. Serve with a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg, if desired.

Oh, and I must give credit where credit is due: I have this recipe thanks to an avid cooking friend for whom I am organizing holiday recipes. This comes from an adapted “Chocolate Covered Purim Halavah” recipe in her collection.

Chocolate Covered Halavah

1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste)

1/3 cup raw honey or brown rice syrup

1/2 cup unsweetened graded coconut

1/2 cup wheat germ (toasted)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

2-3 Tablespoons coco powder

8 ounces grain-sweetened chocolate chips, melted (I like Suspire)

In a food processor, blend coconut, wheat germ and sunflower seeds. Add tahini and sweetener, blend well. Add cocoa powder and blend until mixture forms a ball. Roll into 1/2 inch rounds. Dip each round in melted chocolate and place on wax paper or in decorative mini paper cups. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm.

Here is the secret:

Crispy Curly Leaf Kale

1 bunch curly leaf kale, de-veined, washed and torn into 1 inch pieces

1-2 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon of sea salt or other seasoned specialty salt ( I used fancy truffle salt)

1 Tablespoon of sesame seed or gomasio (ground sesame seeds, seaweed and salt)

Rub the oil into the kale leaves with your hands, top with salt and sesame seeds or gomasio. Bake for 10-15 minutes until bright green and crisp in a 375 degree Farenheit oven.

Enjoy!

Tal Ronnen has a new book called The Conscious Cook I just got a look at it and wow! Great layout, easy to read format, informative sections, delightful photos. If you are looking for just the right gift for a vegan this one looks hard to beat. Another favorite book of mine is the Teen’s Vegetarian Cookbook by Judy Krizmanic. (Since she doesn’t have her own website, I included the link for her book sold at an independent bookstore called Powell’s Books).

She can be found at the farmer’s market finding the perfect beets- sometimes they are Golden beets, bright magenta (Bull’s Blood) or even targets when sliced (Chioggia beets). She scrubs them, steams them, and then dices them with fresh herbs, salt and fresh squeezed lemon juice. When I asked her how to make it she said, “You can figure it out, beets, some fresh herbs, garlic, lemon juice.”

Here is one version with fresh cilantro, parsley, green onions and mint.

6-8 large beets, scrubbed, steamed and cubed
1/2 teaspoon fresh crushed garlic
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
3-4 green onion stalks, chopped fine
1 cup mixed herbs cilantro, parsley and mint (after measuring chop the bunch finely)
3-4 Tablespoons of high quality extra virgin Olive Oil
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Toss cooked cubed beets with the herbs, lemon juice and oil. Chill. Serve over a bed of greens.