Call me soppy …

… but it makes me smile. Some mornings I walk into the bedroom and find the bed made (that’s normal and good). Other mornings, I find the bed made and a convention of teddy bears (or ‘stuffed animals’ in American English, which always seems a bit too close to taxidermy for my liking,) engrossed in conversation. That’s just one of several reasons I make his lunch to take to work. And yes, I’m on a tofu kick again.

Chinese broccoli, tofu and ginger for a cheerless day
Chinese broccoli
firm tofu, cut into cubes
ginger, finely diced
garlic, finely sliced
3 or 4 spring onions (scallions), sliced
a dribble of peanut or sesame oil
soy sauce
a teaspoon of peanut butter
hot water

You could obviously substitute pak (bok) choy, Chinese cabbage, spinach, or any other leafy green vegetable you like for broccoli. It’s just what I happened to have kicking round the fridge. Bring a pan of water to a fast boil, drop in the Chinese broccoli, and parboil for a minute or two till it turns vivid green. Drain and run under freezing cold water to stop it cooking any further. (Alternatively, go and treat yourself to dim sum, order far too much broccoli and bring it home, which will mean you can skip that last step.) Put the tofu on a couple of sheets of kitchen paper to get rid of the excess water, and cut into cubes. In a frying pan, with the peanut or sesame oil, ginger, garlic and spring onions, stir fry the tofu until it begins to turn golden brown. Add in the Chinese broccoli and heat through. Finally, mix together the soy, peanut butter, and sesame oil with a tablespoon of hot water. Dress the tofu and broccoli with this concoction. Boot the other half out of the house and off to work so you can get on with something much more important, like taking daft photos of a teddy bears’ picnic with your iPhone.

Tofu or not tofu?

All my life I have churlishly and misguidedly thought that tofu was deeply suspect. It used to conjure up images of old hippies with floral patterned flares, dodgy sandals, and beat up camper vans. I also decided it was bound to be slimily tasteless. But now, having tried EN Japanese Brasserie’s made on the hour, every hour, freshly-scooped tofu, I know better.

An extremely waist-friendly stir fry
firm tofu, cut into little squares
a handful of mange tout or snow peas
a handful of fresh spinach leaves
finely sliced red and green peppers
some green beans, blanched for a minute
shelled edamame beans
4 or 5 spring onions (scallions)
slivers of ginger
a squirt of peanut, sesame or olive oil
a dribble of soy sauce

Over high heat, quickly stir fry all the ingredients, adding them in this order: peppers and onions; edamame beans, ginger, green beans and tofu; peas and spinach. This takes 5 minutes in total. Drizzle over some soy sauce. End of story. And for anyone who’s interested, this scores two points on Weight Watchers. Happy waistline …

A vegetarian comes to lunch – hurray!

I like having to cook an entirely vegetarian meal. It makes a change. Thanks, Michael, for coming to lunch.

Nigel Slater (Tender: Volume 1) has a brilliant recipe for a cold winter’s day: mushroom and spinach gratin. It goes more or less like this.

Choose some mushrooms you like the look of. Small brown ones are good, but you could pretty much use any you fancy. Buy spinach and wash it thoroughly if not already washed. Gritty spinach is foul. Then you also need a knob of butter, a glug of olive oil, the usual salt and pepper, and about half to three quarters of a pint of double (heavy) cream. And a large glass of white wine (one you would drink as well as cook with – I used Pinot Grigio last weekend).

 

In a large frying pan (assuming you’re cooking for five or six, or a small frying pan if you’re not), drizzle olive oil and add the knob of butter. Toss in the mushrooms, which you’ll have cut up into halves, or smaller if they’re big ones. Let them slurp up the buttery oil for a while until they get some colour. Splash in the wine and simmer for ten minutes or so while you dust the lampshades or something.

Tip spinach into a pan and wilt on high heat. I don’t add water but you can if you like – you’ll just have to squeeze it all out later. Drain in a colander until cool, then – whether you added water or not – squeeze out the inevitable brown water with your bare hands till it’s dry. Watery sauce is no good (see elsewhere on this blog).

Back with the mushroom brigade, add the cream and bring back to the boil. Season. I added some Cheddar I found in the fridge (sorry, Nigel).

Now tip the whole lot into an ovenproof serving dish and add the spinach. Make it even so the mushrooms and spinach aren’t segregated. Grate over some Parmesan cheese, stick it in a hot oven, wait till it bubbles and starts to go golden on top. Serve with baguette.