“From food all creatures are produced. And all creatures that dwell on earth, by food they live and into food they finally pass. Food is the chief among being. Verily he obtains all good who worships the Divine as food.” -from Upanishads

Ran across this on a post at Mahanandi, which is probably my favorite food blog right now. I’m back on a bit of an Indian food kick, when I’m cooking at all.

More often than not lately it’s peanut butter on crackers, or ramen noodle/tofu soup, or Warner whipping up some scrambled eggs with some sort of vegetable, etc. in them.

It has been the end of the semester, and I have a very big paper to turn in next Monday. So it has been a little busy/crazy. Plus, we’ve had several +80°F days already, and the heat always makes me lose my appetite for anything but plain yogurt, popsicles, and cucumbers.

• a big pot of brown rice
• a pot full of chole
• a stir fry full of carrots, green beans, celery, cabbage, and chewy twice-fried tofu
• Strawberry passionfruit banana lime sorbet
• New York style cheesecake

I also did a lot of dishes.

So the cheesecake is for Warner’s birthday, which is today. I used the basic New York style cheesecake recipe from Joy of Cooking. It is truly a monstrous, formidable concoction, calling for 2.5 pounds of cream cheese (of course I used full fat), 5 whole eggs and two yolks, and half a cup of heavy cream for good measure. It was nearly too much to fit into the springform pan. The top got too dark on one side, but it is nonetheless delicious. I think I like Ken’s recipe better, though.

The sorbet was because Warner got a bag of passionfruits on quick-sale reduced price, and something needed to be done with them. So I made up the recipe and it worked and is delicious.

It is such a good feeling when you know you have learned the skeleton of a certain type of food, so you can start being creative with the recipe.

Sous-vide now has an Library of Congress Classification number:

Home economics
- Cookery
– Cooking processes
— TX690.7 Sous-vide

One day I want a vacuum sealer and an immersion circulator. And then I make the perfect eggs. Yes.

Tonight was a simple dinner that doesn’t qualify as a mush, but feels much the same. It goes together easily in one pot, feels comforting to eat out of a bowl, and makes lots of servings.

I pre-soak beans of all sorts, drain them, and then freeze them in bags. Then I can pop them out of the freezer, bring them to a boil on the stovetop, and them pop them into the over @ 250°F for 40 minutes or so. This isn’t actually quick, but it requires next to no effort. And I’m now spoiled on home cooked beans and canned ones don’t seem as good.

Drain the chickpeas.
Into the now empty chickpea pot, put olive oil.
Heat oil and then add chopped onion and garlic, sauteeing until softened and starting to become translucent.
Dump in .5 lb of frozen okra. Cook until it mostly thaws out.
Add the chickpeas and a big can of diced tomatoes.
Bring to a simmer.
Crumble in a generous amount of feta.
Eat.

So, in modern life in the food world, we have many more opportunities for pleasure, and many more perceived opportunities for harm. Food is both a pleasure and a poison. In the balance of these beliefs lies much of the quality of life, and something of the quality of health, as well. It is my perception that the American upper and upper-middle classes have gone too far toward the poison end of the dimension, in their excessive worries about body weight, calories, the presence of toxins in foods, and the proper diet to maximize health. Every bite, for some people, is fraught with conflict. Many Americans, especially women, would seem to be willing to give up eating, one of our greatest pleasures. rather than face the battle between pleasure and poison with every bite. This is less illustrated by the explosion of anorexia and bulimia among American women, than by their “normative discontent” (Rodin, Silberstein, and Striegel-Moore, 1985) about weight, body image, eating, and food. Thus, for example, in a recent survey of college students on six campuses across the United States, over 10% of women claim that they would be embarrassed to buy a chocolate bar in the store, and about 30% say they would be willing to opt for a nutrient pill, safe, nutritionally complete, and cheap, as a substitute for eating (Rozin, Catanese, and Bauer, 1999). These American phenomena are primarily expressed in individuals of upper-middle and upper classes, and serve to further increase class differences among Americans; we are creating a health as well as wealth aristocracy (Leichter 1997).

And in the Just Part of Why I Love the French Dept., the same paper reports some preliminary results of a survey on food attitudes conducted in four countries: U.S., France, Flemish Belgium, and Japan. While the Americans led the pack in concern about food and health and modifying their diets, the French reported themselves as healthier eaters. They are. And their food is better. Oh, yes their food is better… Also interesting:

Another interesting difference between French and Americans emerges from an analysis of medical practice (Payer, 1988). French medicine conceives of disease as some kind of internal imbalance, as a weakness in what is called the “terrain.” American medicine is more inclined to think of disease as caused by harmful external influences, such as germs or toxins. As a result of this distinction, American medicine prescribes more antibiotics, while the French are much more inclined to suggest rest, vacations, or a stay at a spa.

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Leichter, H. M.,”Lifestyle Correctness and the New Secular Morality,” In Morality and Health, Brandt, A. and Rozin, P., eds. (New York: Routledge, 1997), pp. 359-378.

Rodin, J. Silberstein, L. R., and Striegel-Moore, R. H., “Women and weight: A Normative Discontent,” In Nebraska Symposium on Motiva- tion: Vol. 32. Psychology and Gender, Sonderegger, T. B., ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1985).

Oh hi. I’m still here and have some things to post, but on Monday my advisor and I set tentative dates for my comprehensive exams and dissertation proposal. This has me a bit nervous, so I’ve been in workworkwork mode.

A new thing I’m doing, however, is skimming/reading a “fun” article while eating breakfast. This issue of Social Research is all about food.

Upon waking, I started the “Fast White Bread” recipe which appears to have turned out wonderfully. It’s not completely cooled yet, so I haven’t tasted it. *taps foot impatiently*

Tonight I’ll use the red beans and rice recipe for dinner. The kidney beans are soaking and Weaver Street Market had andouille sausage.

If I’m very productive today, I might then use the lemon sorbet recipe. But that’s iffy. And I’d have to zest lemons–something I’ve not yet gotten the hang of. I have a zester but either it is of negligible quality, or I don’t have a clue what I’m doing because it is always just an exercise in frustration.

Anyway. As I recently Twittered: “the english muffin is a challenge to those of us who like to spread our butter and jam precisely and evenly.”

But it still tastes good. A lesson? Perhaps.

But recently, my medication dosage was halved and Warner started making coffee at my house occasionally. Strange, coffee smelled and sounded almost good again.

I tried some Warner made using my Mr. Coffee. Blech. Mr. Coffee just can’t make the kind of coffee I actually like, even when set to Brew Strength: Strong. Nope. Mr. Coffee won’t do.

I’ve wanted a Bialetti Moka Express since Will and I went to Paris and there was one in the apartment we rented. Here’s me using it for the first time in the tiny kitchen:

A Southern Season sells them for some ridiculous price (as per usual), but every time I saw them there I was reminded that I wanted one.

Then, I recently saw a 6-cup model for sale at Target for $25. I almost impulse-purchased it, but came home and did comparative shopping online instead. That seemed to be the going price, so I ordered one at CutleryAndMore.com because I also needed a decent springform pan, which Target didn’t have and A Southern Season would over-charge me for. I was pleased with CutleryAndMore as far as shopping and shipping go.

Somehow I avoided spending more money than I have on a nice knife on sale to replace my Chef’s knife with the cracking handle. (Henckels Professional S 8-inch Chef Knife on sale for $89.95 from $129.95 — drool) I reasoned that I needed to handle a knife before I bought one (logical, true), so I should go to A Southern Season or elsewhere and spend a while fondling and taking notes on knives to shop for them online later.

Anyway, yes, coffee.

My Moka Express arrived yesterday and I made coffee in it. The only coffee we had in the house was some Decaf Espresso Roast that Warner got on Ocracoke (and then asked “Why did I get this decaf?”) and the coffee was still satisfyingly thick and good.

So I am happy. Tea in the morning, coffee in the afternoon.

No more chicken noodle soup for me.

Gainesville is a 45 minute - 1 hour drive from Athens, GA. For various reasons I ended up spending a fair amount of time in Athens, though I never did learn to find my way around the town.

One of my favorite things in Athens was The Grit. The “indie-rock Moosewood.” One of my favorite things at The Grit was The Golden Bowl: browned tofu cubes sauteed with soy sauce and nutritional yeast served over brown rice. Now, you can get vegetables and in your Golden Bowl, but I always preferred them on the side, leaving a perfectly beige, perfectly delicious mix of the best tofu you have ever eaten, brown rice, and cheese. Umami and yet just bland enough without being boring. A perfect comfort food.

After I moved outside of easy driving distance to Athens, I was compelled to figure out how to make a Golden Bowl at home because the meal is an addiction. I succeeded. My home-made Golden Bowl hit the spot.

A couple of years later, The Grit published their cookbook. Sure enough, I had nailed the recipe and technique except for that second frying of the tofu that creates a little extra crispiness.

I make mine with tamari instead of soy sauce, and with mozzarella cheese. It is what I’ve been eating for the past couple of days. With veggies on the side, of course.

Here is the recipe:
The Golden Bowl

• 15 oz. extra-firm tofu
• Vegetable oil for sautéing the tofu
• Tamari, to taste
• Nutritional yeast, to taste
• 2 cups cooked short-grain brown rice
• Butter, to taste

• Cut the tofu into cubes smaller than playing dice. Lightly oil a nonstick skillet and place over high heat. Allow the oil to heat slightly, then add the tofu. Sauté, tossing with a nonmetal spatula, until evenly and lightly golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Sprinkle lightly with tamari (I use about a tablespoon here) and sauté briefly to further brown the tofu. Remove from the skillet, draining and discarding any excess fluid. Wipe the skillet dry.
• Add a tiny bit of new vegetable oil to the same pan and place over high heat. Once the oil is very hot, add the tofu again.
• Sauté, tossing with a nonmetal spatula almost constantly, until the tofu is nicely browned. Sprinkle with tamari to taste (another tablespoon for me). Sauté, tossing until the tofu and pan are pretty much dry.
• Sprinkle liberally with nutritional yeast, coating the tofu cubes and all the vegetables. Tossing vigorously, sauté for a few seconds. Repeat this step once and remove from the heat.
• Place 1 cup of hot cooked short-grain brown rice in each of two bowls. Add some butter to taste and stir into the rice to melt. Top each bowl of rice with 1/2 of the tofu. Sprinkle liberally with shredded mozzarella cheese, stir well to mix and melt the cheese.
• Devour.

A wonderful time for strawberry/balsamic vinegar sorbet.

Next time, I’ll use a little less sugar, but overall it is amazingly yummy. And pretty.