July 4th, 2009, Almarr, Sam H., Zoe

mole madness!

- teloloapan red mole (rick bayless' mexican kitchen)
- homemade corn tortillas
- mole enchiladas with enchilado cheese, sweet potatoes, and nopales
- fresh roasted tomatillo and chipotle salsa (rick bayless)
- "mexican crema" (sour cream mixed with heavy cream, so it was pourable)
- jamaica margaritas and jamaica sours (margaritas with hibiscus-ginger syrup)
- sour cream and basil ice cream

July 3rd, 2009, Pieapalooza

http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/?p=715

- Triple Cherry Pie (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lattice-Topped-Triple-Cherry-Pie-238820, with cooks illustrated crust)

June 25th, 2009, PT and Allyson

http://www.thesweatshopoflove.com/blog/?p=641

- they brought guacamole!
- truffled goat cheese flan on bed of arugula salad (entertaining for a veggie planet)
- chilled beet-orange soup with goat cheese (cafe brenda cookbook)
- mango slaw (which was superfluous, entertaining for a veggie planet)
- strawberry rhubarb pie (cooks illustrated) with basil ice cream (perfect scoop)
- sangre de fresa cocktails (strawberry basil cocktail with balsamic syrup, art of the bar)
- "sensation" cocktails (gin, lime, mint, maraschino liqueur, art of the bar)

June 23rd, 2009, Nora and Bill Moore

- salad with balsamic vinaigrette, blue cheese, cranberries, pecans
- homemade papardelle with asparagus and herbed cream
- strawberry-rhubarb pie with sour cream ice cream
- red wine

the basic tenets of successful baked tofu

Oh, hells yes, Dear Reader, we are now about to talk seriously and long (not THAT long) about baked tofu. Though i cannot see you, I trust you by your IP address to be a tofu lover, or at least liker. I eat that stuff raw. Fresh. Love it. Quick, satisfying. But when I need to make a sandwich, I bake it.

To prepare the tofu, squeeze some water out by wrapping it in a paper towel and squeezing until water drips out, but please, take care not to get it too far out of shape. Slice the tofu into little filets (I cut the block in thirds, then cut each of those thirds lengthwise into four pieces. But triangles or whatever are also on the table.) Then you want to get some sauce onto that stuff.

From what I can tell, to make a nice baked tofu sauce, one must mix about a tablespoon of oil with about 1/2 a cup of other things. The oil can be canola, sesame, chili, or whatever you kids are into these days. And as for the other things? The sky is the limit. Soy sauce is pretty standard, but also please take a moment to consider other speadables. I made a highly delicious batch using my classic stir-fry sauce: sesame oil, dijon mustard, maple syrup, and soy sauce. Just now I made a batch that was sort of Thai-inspired: a tiny bit of sesame oil, chili oil, peanut butter, shrimp paste, fish sauce, and soy sauce. I wish I had added some Sriracha sauce. Alas! But thus is baked tofu: even with regrets it's still pretty totally awesome. Making a baked tofu sauce is a follow-your-heart type situation. Dijon mustard is terrific. Also I think it would be good to use barbeque sauce.

Dip the filets of tofu into the sauce, thoroughly covering both sides. Finally, put it onto a baking sheet or something and pop it into the oven for a while. I recommend: an hour at 400 degrees. 425 for a crunchier exterior. And then? And then you've got some baked tofu on your hands, my friend.

Quinoa Salad with Tempeh

While this dish isn't much to look at, it's totally yummy and tastes like the best kind of comfort food. As with most Mark Bittman recipes, we had to modify it quite a bit, and this recipe reflects an entirely different kind of dish - it probably shouldn't even be called a salad, it's definitely got more of a porridge consistency. It's just as good, though different, without the scallions and cilantro.

1 cup raw quinoa
1 or 2 T. vegetable oil
8 oz. (1 package) tempeh, crumbled
1 T. minced ginger
1 T. slivered garlic
1 can diced tomatoes
2 T. rice wine vinegar
1 T. dark sesame oil
1.5 T. soy sauce (or more, to taste)
.5 T. sriracha or chili-garlic sauce (or more, to taste)
1/4 c. chopped scallion
1/4 c. chopped cilantro

- cook the quinoa: boil quinoa with 2 c. water and a pinch of salt for about 20 minutes.

- heat the oil in a skillet over medium high heat. when hot, add the tempeh and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 10 minutes. stir in the ginger and garlic and cook for another minute or two, then add the tomatoes, stir, and turn off the heat. stirr in the vineagar, sesame oil, sriracha, and soy sauce. Toss with quinoa, scallions, and cilantro.

classic sickness-fighting hot toddy

yeah, it is now getting to be that time of year when people get real sick. colds, sore throats, the flu; nasty times are ahead as the seasons start to change. luckily all these conditions have a cocktail that goes great with them! the hot toddy. yum.

not just for warming up at the ski lodge, hot toddies have... medicinal properties. yeah... medicinal... properties. i guess there's some vitamin C in the lemon, and honey is healthy for vague reasons, i've heard. (antioxidant?) no, j/k, it's totally an old-school quack thing. tell yourself whatever you want, it's the alcohol makes you feel better!

the hot toddy is simple. i feel stupid blogging about it at all but the picture turned out nice so here we are.

in the bottom of a mug, place:
1 T. honey
one lemon slice with two (2) cloves stuck into it
as much brandy as is necessary to make you forget what ails you (1 1/2 oz. is standard)

then you just gotta pour some really hot water on top of that, stir it up a bit, and drink it down. it has a really nice soothing flavor because of the cloves. now drink yourself well!