Macaroni & Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese
Serves: 4


Ingredients: 

1-2 cups elbow macaroni
3 T all purpose flour
1.5-2 cups milk, divided
2 T butter
2 cups grated cheese (fontina, or cheddar, or something else)
salt

Directions:
1. Start boiling water for the macaroni in a large pot.
2. Meanwhile dissolve 3 tbsps flour in half of the milk.
3. Begin heating up the remaining milk in a medium size saucepan over medium heat. Add in the butter along with the flour/milk mixture. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper.
4. Keep the mixture from boiling. Add in the cheeses and stir until you get a creamy sauce.
5. Once the water for the macaroni boils, add the macaroni and cook according to package directions. Five minutes before the macaroni is done cooking, add in chopped broccoli and let it cook. Drain everything and toss with the cheese sauce.

Serve immediately.

Carolina Living

off the Blue Ridge Parkway

Summer tomatoes

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a raised bed and pots

Khavanu kitchen

Torta & Refried Beans

Torta
For the love of all things Tex-Mex. A torta is like a refried bean sandwich. I'm not a Mexican food authority, but I did live in Houston for 8 years, and this is divine. The refried beans are toasted with or without cheese, and then topped with lettuce, salsa, avocados, onions, cilantro, and tomatoes.

Ingredients:
a few nice round french bread-ish rolls/bolillos (I used whole-wheat hamburger rolls)
a few pats butter
refried beans (1/2 cup should be good for 2-3 tortas)
lettuce, a few leaves, washed and dried
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 of a 1/2 of an avocado, into slices or dices. (I usually cut along the length of the avocado, and then make neat dices in the flesh, then push the skin inside itself to pop out the avocado.

Directions
1. Cut the roll in half. Butter the top side, and put about a 1/2" layer of refried beans on the bottom.
2. Cover the beany half with about 1 T of shredded mozzarella (I got out the box grater and gave it about 2 shreds)
3. Put in the toaster oven, to warm and brown.
4. Top with avocado slices, tomato slices and lettuce.

Some of the filling may spill out so get yourself some tortilla chips to get the rest. Canned refried beans are just fine, and perfect for a super-fast meal, but some homemade refried beans are worth the effort, so if you have time, make a vat, freeze the rest, and keep some on hand in the fridge for other meals (nachos, quesadillas, bean-queso dip, burritos, fajitas, etc.)

Refried Beans
1 cup dry pinto beans (I used 1/2 cup pinto, 1/2 cup kidney)
2-3 bay leaves (or epazote)
pinch asafoetida powder (skip if using epazote)
1 quart of water

First part:
Give the beans a good rinse, and soak in about 3-4 cups water for at least 6-8 hours. Either do this at night or in the morning. Once they have soaked, dump out the soaking water (like putting it in your garden, or that kind of thing) and rinse the beans. Soaked beans give off raffinose a complex carbohydrate that is harder for our guts to break down. Excess raffinose is gas causing, so this may make beans more digestible. Hence always rinse soaked beans with fresh water.

Next, the most common way for most people to cook beans is to cook them on the stove. This is a time-suck, but you can usually just put the beans on the stove with enough water, set over medium heat, and go about your business. Coming to check on them every so often. To cook the beans this way, add the beans to the pot, cover with 1 qt or so of water (you may want more or less) add in bay leaves, and asafoetida, and set over medium heat. Stir every so often. Test for doneness after 30-45 minutes. In this case, you want the beans to look as if they are falling apart. That takes about an hour on the stove.

Some lazier and smarter methods include:
1. cook them in a pressure cooker. Cover with enough water (fill to just below 2-3" of the top, set whistle for 3-4 whistles, over medium heat. This should take 20 minutes.
2. cook them in a crock pot and forget about them. Cover with enough water, and set on high heat and leave them be overnight or all day.

Either way. Reserve the excellent most precious broth. This is good, no superb broth for a soup base, can be re-used in cooking, whatever. Just save it. Put it in zip lock bags, throw in the freezer, and never be caught dead again, buying store bought broth. Ok I get (severely) carried away when it comes to cooking beans, but by golly, I'm a dietitian by training, so I must make you maximize the potential out of everything you eat.

Second part: once you cook the beans, and you've saved the broth, you are ready for re-fried beans.

finely dice 1 small onion
finely dice 1 clove garlic
optional: 1 jalapeno, deveined and deseeded, and finely chopped
2 T vegetable oil (now true refried bean aficionados will use lard, so if this is your thing, do it)
all of your beans and broth, with bay leaves discarded.

1. In a cast iron skillet, or other wide skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat, until shimmering. I like cast iron, because you can use a potato masher in the pot without worrying about scratching the bottom of the pan.
2. Add in onions and brown nicely. Next add garlic and jalapeno. Stir around until aromatic.
3. Add in 1/2 of the beans with 1/2 of the broth. Stir around, and begin mashing with a potato masher. It may appear as if the broth will never disappear, and you now have skillet soup, but it will thicken up, so keep on mashing.
4. Add the rest of the beans and broth and continue to mash. Add some salt and adjust for taste. Continue cooking until it thickens nicely without becoming too thick.

You now have some excellent, healthy, delicious refried beans. Next time, it will pain you to open a can of them, but now you know.

How to Cook Tofu

I think tofu can be tricky to cook with sometimes. Here are a few basics: I have been most successful using a high-quality extra-firm tofu that has been processed with calcium sulfate (increases the calcium content). I like to "quick drain" the tofu to help expel the water out of it, so that it can pick up the flavors or seasonings of the dish you are trying to create.

Quick-drain: drain water from package, and wrap tofu in light cloth or paper towels. Squeeze or press gently to expel water and let sit in a colander for up to 10 minutes. Place a heavy object on top of tofu (but don't smash it), like a cutting board with a glass or plate on top of it.

Here are the different types of tofu and what they can be used for:

Silken-Style
extremely "silky"
used in blending, smoothies, frosting, miso soup etc
Breaks apart easily, not recommended for stir-frying

Soft Tofu
Can be used steamed, in soups, breaks apart very easily
Can be scrambled like "eggs" or tofu scramble

Firm
Can be used in stir-frys or soups
Holds together better than soft styles

Extra-firm
Best used in stir-frys, grilling, baking, roasting and bbq-ing.
Holds together well; can be frozen, then thawed for chewier, meatier consistency.


This recipe is ubiquitous-it can be used to top pasta, salads, added to fajitas, enchiladas, or anything you can dream up.

Basic soy-cumin pan-roasted tofu

1 package extra-firm tofu, quick-drained and cubed into 1-2" cubes
1/4 cup peanut oil, divided
1-2 tsp cumin
1-2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

Directions
1. Heat half of the peanut oil over medium-high heat in cast iron skillet or large saute pan. Tofu soaks up the oil, but it also has a high water content and this amount really browns the tofu without it sticking to the pan. Peanut oil can be heated to a higher temperature than olive oil without smoking.
2. Once oil is hot, spread tofu out in even layer and allow to simmer and brown until golden along edges. The tofu will crackle and begin to sizzle. It will turn yellow to golden to golden brown (usually about 10-12 minutes).
3. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp cumin on top of tofu once even in color. Flip tofu over and continue cooking on other side. You can add the rest of the peanut oil.
4. Sprinkle with cumin again and turn once more.
5. When both sides of the tofu are golden-brown. Add about 1-2 tbsp of low-sodium soy sauce, it will smoke slightly then evaporate.

Turn heat off and serve alongside any dish.

Note: If you don't quick drain the tofu, the water comes out during the cooking process and it will be harder for the tofu to brown. It will, in effect, stay soggy. You can do the same thing with any marinated tofu also. Or throw it on the grill. The extra fat helps the tofu to not stick to the grill or saute pan or baking dish

Marinated Tofu (in this case BBQ-tofu a la Tex-Mex style)

1 cup or more prepared chipotle bbq sauce
1 package extra-firm tofu, quick-drained and cubed
1-2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup white onion, chopped and diced
1-2 cloves, garlic, smashed

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 F
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together bbq sauce, olive oil, onion and garlic.
3. Fold in tofu cubes, being careful not to break the pieces
4. Spray baking dish with cooking spray.
5. Place tofu mixture on baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 35-45 minutes. Stir and rotate for even cooking. This method allows you to forget about what is baking, and go on and do other things. Alternatively, you could broil over high heat for 10-12 minutes, checking every few minutes to rotate the tofu for a nice even golden broil.

(you could also make an Italian style baked or broiled tofu with a balsamic vinegar, some Bragg's liquid aminos and some fresh rosemary, cooked the same way.)