The Tofu Experiment

Tofu can be tricky. While it’s a most convenient and versatile source of protein for vegetarians and vegans, it can also be tasteless and spongy unless prepared correctly.  A creamy white curd made from cooked soymilk, it is sold in blocks as firm or silken varieties. Firm tofu is generally preferred for frying, baking or grilling, while the silken variety lends itself beautifully to creamy mousses, sauces, dips, mayonnaise and scrambles.

Freshly made, plain or smoked tofu are sold for a few rands a block in oriental or health food shops, so avoid if you can the eye-searingly expensive imported stuff in upscale supermarkets. (You don’t really want all those food miles, do you?) Fresh tofu doesn’t freeze well, and once bought you’re best advised to used it quickly or keep it refrigerated, covered in fresh water in an airtight container. However, deepfried tofu squares freeze just fine, since the spongy texture of the cubes is desired in stirfries and soups anyway, and make a handy last minute addition to an aromatic bowl of brothy noodles.

According to a friend of mine, making tofu at home isn’t all that difficult, yet time-consuming. So if you’ve got the patience, why not give it a bash?

Marinating tofu prior to cooking is the best way to make it palatable. Once cooked, you can return it to the marinade if you don’t intend eating it straightaway. On its own, tofu has a bland, slightly tangy taste, but greedily sops up whatever flavouring medium it’s surrounded by. Be careful, though, with soy sauce-based marinades, as I find it can make the tofu too salty. A splash of sesame oil, some oyster or mushroom sauce and a little grated fresh ginger is a simple but successful basic marinade.

One of my favourite companions with tofu is a peanutty version of Indonesian sate sauce, with generous sploshes of sesame oil added to bring nutty warmth to the dish.

I’ve used silken tofu to make a very creditable mayonnaise, and even salad cream, and some die-hard vegans swear it makes a delicious scrambled ‘egg’ – but since I’m not that mad about eggs anyway, I’ve never seen the point in attempting the recipe.

My favourite way to eat tofu is in agedashi tofu. Traditionally served in a lidded soupbowl, it’s a square of deepfried tofu, quivering and barely set,  nestled in a pool of warm, sweet fish stock (dashi), garnished with bonito flakes . The bonito flakes ‘dance’ above the tofu once the lid is removed, a thermal trick that lends great charm to what is essentially a very simple dish.

To prevent spoiling I usually marinate a whole sliced block of tofu for anything between 1 hour and a day, then panfry or grill the slices until nicely caramelised on both sides. Once cooled, I keep it in the fridge in an airtight container, ready for a quick snack.

And today was just such a day. Waking with a ravenous appetite but not in the mood for any of the usual breakfasty things, I assembled a fine,  hearty sandwich. There are some beautifully juicy, crimson beefsteak tomatoes to be had now, so a few slices went into the sandwich, drizzled with lemon-infused olive oil and scattered with shredded fresh basil. On top of that went the sliced marinated tofu, topped off with a few slivers of home-made preserved lemon and thin slices of cucumber. The preserved lemon turned out to be an inspired addition, and somehow the juiciness of the tomato and cucumber made the tofu taste more succulent. Texture and contrast is important when composing a dish, and in this regard my simple sandwich scored high with its basily-lemony-sweet-and-sour-smoky-tofu crunchy nutty summery goodness. The tofu tasted suprisingly like chicken this way, which immediately made me think the next Tofu Experiment will be along the mayonnaise line…Could grilled marinated tofu in tofu mayonnaise ever emulate chicken mayonnaise? I guess we’ll have to try and find out!

Rosy C-soother

Rosy C-soother

A refreshing tonic against summer blazes – chill the fruit and semi-freeze the juice for a slushy effect.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

Juice of two limes or 1 lemon

2 cups (500ml) cubed watermelon, seeds and all

1 x 400g punnet strawberries, hulled

2 cups (500ml) diced fresh pineapple

3 cups (750ml) cranberry juice

2 t (10ml) grated fresh ginger

Method:

1. Liquidize the fruit, juice and ginger together until smooth and serve chilled.

 

Yogi-honey-nana smoothie

Yogi honey-nana smoothie

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

250ml cold low-fat or soy milk

250ml cold Bulgarian or flavoured yoghurt

200ml cold orange or apple juice

2 small ripe bananas

1 T (15ml) honey

1 T (15ml) wheat germ

2 t (10ml) carob powder (optional)

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients into a blender and whiz until smooth. Serve in tall glasses and drink while frothy.

Energy muffins with apple, carrot and raisins

Energy muffins with apple, carrot and raisins

Muffins are the ultimate no-fuss bake. Dry and moist should just meet before baking – overstirring makes for heavy muffins. Pop a few in your lunchbox to stave off mid-morning pangs.

Makes twelve

250g self raising flour

1 ml each of cinnamon, mixed spice or grated nutmeg

½ t (2,5ml) salt

2 t (10ml) baking powder

1 T (15ml) wheat germ or bran

5 T (60ml) soft brown sugar or 2 T (30ml) molasses

1 small apple, peeled and grated

1 small carrot, peeled and grated

½ cup (75g) sultanas or seedless raisins

2 large eggs

1 cup (250ml) buttermilk, Bulgarian yoghurt or milk

1/3 cup (80ml) oil

Handful of oats for topping

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Line the hollows of a muffin tin with paper cases and spray with nonstick spray.
3. Sift the flour, spices, salt and baking powder into a large bowl and stir through the bran.
4. Mix the grated apple, carrot and sultanas or raisins with the flour.
5. Whisk the sugar or molasses, eggs, milk and oil until smooth and stir into the dry ingredients until just blended – the mixture should be lumpy.
6. Fill the cases ¾ full with the batter and sprinkle some oats over each.
7. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a metal rack until ready to serve.

Rosemary roast mushrooms

Rosemary baked mushrooms on wholewheat toast

Baking at high heat really intensifies the flavour of mushrooms. This makes a brilliant filling for omelettes, or with a bit of mascarpone and parmesan, melted into hot pasta.
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 T (30ml) olive oil
1 T (15ml) chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
4 large field mushrooms
10 oyster mushrooms
8-10 portabellini mushrooms
10-12 button mushrooms
4 slices buttered wholewheat toast

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Mix the olive oil, rosemary and seasoning in a bowl.
3. Slice all the mushrooms and stir lightly through the oil.
4. Spread the mushrooms in a single layer on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes. Serve immediately on hot buttered toast.

Fresh – Detox and recharge with easy recipes for everyday vitality

Most people seem to think healthier eating entails suffering and self-denial.

I beg to differ! Besides providing fuel for energy, food should be good, and every mealtime a celebration.

Little adjustments along the way mean more in the long run than radical regimes, and you’re more likely to stick to the changes if you enjoy your food.

Try to lessen your dependency on animal protein, and cut back on saturated fats, refined sugars and salt. I use lavish amounts of fresh and dried herbs and spices to flavour my cooking, plenty of olive oil, ginger, chilli and garlic, and try to make the most of colour and texture to add plate-appeal.

Grains are good for you, as are fibre-rich beans, juicy fruits and vegetables, with plenty of leafy greens, nuts and seeds for necessary mineral content.

Alcohol and caffeine give false energy, so you’re better off without them.

Pretty soon you’ll discover that without artificial additives, colourants and preservatives your food tastes like never before: fresher, lighter and positively sparkling with vitality.

It’s worth the expense of investing in a juice extractor and food processor, some non-stick pans and natural, organic produce where at all possible. The time saved leaves you free to use your new-found energy elsewhere!

Read all about it in my new cookbook Easy: Simple and Delicious, just published by Random House Struik

Good and Natural: The Luscious Vegetarian

Becoming a committed vegetarian halfway through life is a bit like having ridden a bicycle all your life, and suddenly switching to a canoe. Everything’s different, apart from the fact that you’re still moving forwards…

I’ve dabbled with vegetarianism previously, and although I could honestly say I’ve enjoyed eating meat from time to time, I can also just as easily go without, and frequently have done so. There have been times that I craved it, and there have been times I couldn’t bear it anywhere near me.

If  I’d had to label myself, it would have been as ‘passionately omnivorous with occasional meat-free episodes.’

So why make a permanent switch now?

A variety of reasons, really. For starters I am about to start writing my fourth cookbook, titled ‘Good and Natural: the Luscious Vegetarian’, and since I am going to be cooking vegetarian almost every day, I might as well make a lifestyle out of it.

Secondly, as both a professional chef and home cook, I wouldn’t want to prepare meat dishes – any kind of dishes – unless I am 100 % certain of the provenance of my ingredients. Sadly, the current state of affairs in South African meat production leaves much to be desired. Shocking revelations in the press  about unethical and downright dangerous practices in the meat industry have started appearing with alarming regularity, and if you’ve never worried about where your food comes from, you should jolly well start to by now.

I haven’t bought or served non-free range chicken and eggs for as long as I can remember, and where possible I’ve cooked only free range, naturally reared beef,  lamb and game, free from antibiotics and steroids. (Game is a very clean and ethically sound meat, anyway.)

Contrary to popular opinion, ‘grass-fed’ does not automatically denote clean and ethically prepared meat, however, since grass-fed animals, like grass-and-grain fed, are frequently herded into feedlots prior to slaughter to fatten up. (This is common practise to increase profits. Where do you think those affordable steaks in your supermarket fridges come from?) Overcrowding in these feedlot pens leads to high stress levels for the animals and, naturally, to hugely increased disease levels, which in turn requires massive amounts of medication. These chemicals remain lodged in the flesh of the slaughtered animal and are delivered directly into your human body via your kitchen.

I wouldn’t want to consume these chemicals from my bathroom cupboard, why would I want to consume them via my food?

The affordable meat in your supermarket fridges thus comes at a staggeringly high cost to your health, and I for one have made the decision that consuming the flesh of abused animals is tantamount to abusing my own body, something I simply cannot countenance.

It doesn’t stop there, either. Food purveyors and merchants steadily exploit the shady margins of legislation and governmental apathy by tampering with ingredients to increase profitability. One supermarket chain, for instance, treats its raw famously free-range chicken portions with a blend of phosphates, mechanically stresses the meat to break down the muscle fibres and then applies water. The first two steps cause the muscle fibres to absorb and retain the water, which means that you, the consumer, pay through the nose for up to 35% added water with your packet of free-range chicken breasts.

Finally, having shared close quarters with a butcher who also ran a business from the premises was enough to turn me off meat for a long time, perhaps forever. The putrefaction of blood, organs and animal flesh is a singularly unpleasant element to have near one under any circumstances, and it has subsequently become more and more difficult for me to dissociate the succulently grilled chop on my plate with the memory of the carnage in the butchery’s interior.

I’m far too hedonistic to resign myself to a life of spartan abstinence, though – my first requirement from food is that it should be GOOD, as well as do you good.

In the next year, then I’ll be exploring vegetarian cooking and living, posting frequent recipes, menus and musings as well as photos and reviews. Please join me on the journey and share your ideas and recipes with me!

I consider my year of not eating meat an experiment, not only in conscious living but also in conscious consumption.

And since every lifestyle choice has its drawbacks and benefits, in the next post I’ll examine some of the pros and cons of vegetarian living from my personal experience.