Despite being Jewish, Christmas is a big deal in my family. Essentially, we treat it like a Jewish holiday: an opportunity to get together lots of extended family for tons of food, lots of wine, and the occasional, uhm, heated discussion. This year, my mother had decided that we were going to have beef Wellington for Christmas dinner, an option which certainly appealed to me.
The thing is, early on Christmas afternoon, as we were preparing the beef, it occurred that one of the cousins coming to dinner is a vegetarian, and banishing her to mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce just didn’t seem OK. So, vague schemes in mind, I set out to the grocer for inspiration and ingredients. There I purchased tofu, garlic, and Italian parsley; I’d wanted spinach, but they had none.

By the time I got home, my plan was hatched. This is what I had:

1 block extra firm tofu, well-drained and sliced in half (lengthwise)
5 cloves garlic
3/4 cup water and 1 cube veggie bullion (or 3/4 cup stock)
olive oil
sherry vinegar
Italian parsley
Cremini and shitake mushrooms (mostly cremini)
Half an onion
Garlic
Puff pastry shell
Eggs, beaten with a little water
Salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 425.

First, I minced 4 cloves garlic, added the stock/bullion with a a handful of parsley, some oil, and a splash of vinegar. I put the tofu (cut down the center to make two thinner blocks, side-by-side) in this and covered it to marinate at room temperature.

Next, I chopped the mushrooms and onion. I sautéed them in olive oil with salt, pepper, and some garlic. I set that aside in the refrigerator.
When the tofu had marinated a couple of hours (more might have been nice), I poured off the marinade into a large frying pan, and then added the tofu, which I sautéed over low-medium heat for about 15 minutes per side. When finished, I drained and placed it in the refrigerator.

While that cooled, I sautéed the remaining parsley in oil and more vinegar, with the remaining clove of garlic (minced), and put that in the fridge to cool.
Then, when everything was cool, I rolled out the pastry shell, layering as follows: mushroom mix, one half of the tofu, parsley, the second half of the tofu, and some more mushroom-mix. I wrapped it up, using the egg mix as paste, painted egg mix all over the outside, and cooked until pastry was golden – about 30 minutes.

The result was a hit with even non-vegetarian guests, and disappeared rather swiftly.

You can re-create the beef version of this in obvious ways, though I suggest dropping the parsley and adding a layer of Boursin, or something similar to it.

Inspired by Claudia Roden‘s gorgeous Moroccan/Lebanese/Turkish cookbook Arabesque, I turned the kitchen into a minor disaster last night, with completely worth-it results. Lamb Tagine with Apricots and Eggplant with Yogurt and Pomegranate may take three hours to cook if you have to reduce pomegranate juice into pomegranate molasses yourself, but I loved every second of it. Plus your kitchen will still smell amazing the next day.
It was this smell that inspired me to open up the same cookbook this morning in search of something sweetish and starchy for breakfast. I ended up adapting the recipe for “Sweet Couscous” into something a little less impressive (I didn’t, for example, shape it into cones or decorate it), but much easier to do first thing in the morning.
Boil 1 cup of water, and stir in 1 tablespoon of sugar. (You can skip the sugar if you have remembered to buy confectioner’s sugar–just sprinkle it on at the end in that case.) When sugar has completely dissolved, turn off heat and stir in 1 cup of plain couscous. Let it stand for about ten minutes to allow water to absorb, then stir in 1/4 stick of butter cut into small pieces. (If your couscous has gotten cold you can stick it in the oven to warm it up first.) Fluff it up a little with a fork, and serve with honey and cinnamon, and maybe dried fruit.

We’ve reached that time of year again: when it gets really cold outside and the daylight ends really early. It’s that time when you look out the window at work, and even though it’s only five o’clock, it feels like nine o’clock, and all you can think is “I gotta get the hell out of here!” When it gets this cold outside, I usually think about two things: getting a job in Arizona, and cooking comfort food. So since there are no job postings on this site, I thought I’d post some good recipes in the coming days that are really simple to make at home, have great taste and flavour, and comfort you on these Arctic nights we’ve been having. Call it the musings of the Five Ingredient Bitter Winter Chef (with all apologies to the Five Paragraph Bitter Food Critic).
Generally, I like to make some good soups and braises in the winter, so that’s what I’m going to start with. Today’s recipe is for a Curried Squash & Apple soup. I was bored in the kitchen one day, and kind of threw it together, and ever since then, the fiancée orders me to make this about once every month and a half. So here we go. First, the ingredients:
One fresh butternut squash or pumpkin
One medium-sized onion
One or two tart apples (Granny Smith, Braeburn, etc.)
Stock of your choice
Thai Curry Paste (I recommend Mae Ploy Brand)
There are three kinds of curry pastes – red, yellow, and green. The green is the spiciest, followed by the red, and then the yellow. You can usually find it in the Asian food aisle of your local grocery store, especially if that store happens to be Whole Foods, Wegmans, or oddly enough, the Giant near the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station. These are your five main ingredients, but you’ll also need some salt, pepper, a little cinnamon, and some cream (or half & half) to finish with. Once you have what you need, here’s how you do it.
First off, cut the butternut squash (or pumpkin) in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds & “strings.” Put the squash (or pumpkin) halves cut side down on a sheet pan, and put in the oven for about forty-five minutes at three hundred seventy-five degrees. While the squash is roasting, peel and dice the onion and the apples in a small dice. To keep the apples from browning, you can put them in a bowl of water with a little bit of lemon juice until they’re needed.
Once the squash (or pumpkin) is finished roasting, remove it from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes. Scoop the squash out of the skin, and put it in a bowl temporarily. Heat some butter or oil in a heavy saucepan and sauté the onion until translucent but not brown. Once the onions are sautéed, add some curry paste, squash, and the apple, and mix thoroughly. Add the stock of your choice, and bring the whole mixture to a boil. Once the mixture has come to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer it until the apples, squash, and onion are tender (about fifteen to twenty minutes).
Using a blender (immersion or regular), blend (or purée) the soup until it is a uniform consistency. Add some salt, pepper, a little cinnamon (little is the operative word here, as you don’t want this to be a sweet soup) and some cream (or half & half). The cream will add some body, and also lighten the soup’s colour. Taste and adjust seasonings, curry paste, etc. to taste. That’s all there is to it – very simple, and very satisfying. My next recipe will be for a dynamite braise that uses Manischewitz wine (yes, I know, I know – most people would rather drink motor oil, but you won’t be drinking it, and trust me, you’ve never had anything quite like this before). Stay tuned!
Do you have a particular ingredient that you’d like to figure out a way to use? If so, drop me a line and let me know, and I’ll put a tested recipe up in this column.

I must confess that Chile has been on my mind lately. Not the food. The distant string bean-shaped country where I spent my study abroad. Maybe it’s because I’ve taken up Latin dancing again. Maybe it’s because I’ve been serving up my Chilean favorites at my parties and my guests have been, well, eating them up.
One of them, DCFUD’s own Mad Rambler Jason, encouraged me to take on a daunting culinary task (at least for me): write out the recipes for my Latin creations. One of my specialties has always been tomaticán, a traditional, spicy Chilean dish. Tomaticán –and just about any other Chilean dish – is often paired with pisco sour, a concoction made with pisco, the Chilean national drink. I’ve come up with my own twist for both food and drink and am printing them the first time for DCFudies.
PORTER SIRLOIN TOMATICAN
(makes six – eight servings)

• 17 Roma tomatoes (chopped)
  
• 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes (approximately 28 oz.)
  
• 3 cans of whole kernel corn (approximately 15 oz)
  
• 1 heaping tbsp pepper.
  
• 3 large yellow onions (chopped)
  
• 1 ¾ lb of porter sirloin steak (chopped)

Start by tossing the chopped tomatoes in a large pot. Add the whole peeled tomatoes and pepper. Tomaticán is supposed to be hot and spicy. So if you don’t get enough of a hot foot when tasting it, add more pepper to your liking. Let the tomatoes simmer on medium for about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the corn and onions. Let the pot simmer for about five more minutes and continue to stir. Add the chopped sirloin and lower the temperature to low. Heat the tomaticán for 15 minutes (or until the sirloin is cooked), then remove from the stove. Voila … now it’s onto the pisco sour.
PISCO SOUR MAPUCHE
(makes eight servings)
The Mapuche were known to the Spaniards as the fierce Indian tribe that inhabited Chile during the Age of Discovery. The Mapuche more than gave the Spaniards a run for their money, they held them off and the Europeans never defeated them. You could say the Mapuche really gave the Iberians a kick in the – well you get the idea. This drink is a homage of sorts to the Mapuche, who still may be found in Central and Southern Chile. Most people make pisco with lemon juice. I make it with lime. Before you get grossed out by the idea of using egg whites in a drink just remember that it’s not much different idea than eggnog. If the thought of putting raw eggs in your drink grosses you out. Then use Egg Beater egg whites like I do).

• 12 oz pisco
  
• 6 oz limejuice
  
• 8 tbsp egg white
  
• 8 tbsp sugar
  
• 1 lime flavored cherry (per glass of pisco sour Mapuche, after drink is poured.
  
• 13 chocolate chips.
  
• 15 ice cubes
  
• 6 oz Code Red Mountain Dew

To make the drink add all ingredients to a blender. Blend until the ice is chopped and white foam is floating to the top. Pour six to eight ounce of the pisco mix in a glass and add one lime-flavored cherry. You’re all set for a Chilean dinner party. Dinner is usually served close to 8 PM in Chile, but I usually can’t wait that late. Dine when your guests arrive.
This post is by Guest Bogger Jay D. Krasnow. Thanks Jay!

Thanksgiving is less than ten short days away. It’s a time for many of us to go back to our hometowns, eat a nice dinner with our family and sit down to converse with our loved ones next to a roaring fireplace.
Sure…if you were born in a greeting card.
Truth be told, most of us shove copious amounts of poorly-cooked food down our gullets, play some football with Uncle Mel and his 5 demon offspring in the front yard, sit in uncomfortable silence as Aunt Louise decides that now – during the halftime show of the Cowboys’ game – is the time to come out of the closet in front of a completely unshocked family, but much to the dismay of Grandma, who just thinks she hasn’t found the right man yet, and then plan on waking up at 5 in the morning to take advantage of the Black Friday specials at the mall.
OK, maybe that’s just my brood, but, let’s face it, lots of us have families less like the Huxtables and more like the Griswolds. And our Thanksgiving dinners have more in common with Paula Zahn than Paula Dean. So, here’s a quick survival guide for Thanksgiving `06.
1) Let the neighborhood grocery store do the cooking for you. Giant, Magruder’s, Wegman’s , Shopper’s, Bloom – they can all prepare a meal for you and your guests, ready to heat and serve on Thanksgiving Day. It’s often a little bit pricier than making it yourself, but, it’s also a lot less prep work and clean-up time. If you want something a little less traditional, try swinging by the local Asian market, like Great Wall off Gallows Road, for a roasted duck or crispy fish.
2) If the idea of Safeway cooking your bird frightens you, at least follow their recipe. The Two-Hour method of cooking a turkey is a fantastic way to ensure a crispy skin and juicy meat, and still make it thoroughly cooked. Gone are the days of slow-roasting a bird all Wednesday night to eat Thursday afternoon – just follow Safeway’s handy reference chart to match the cooking time with the size of your turkey.
My only suggestion would be to use a heavy-duty cooking bag. This will trap in the juices from the meat and will make your broiling pan a lot easier to clean.
Plus, don’t stuff your stuffing in the bird. It slows down the cooking process for both the stuffing and the turkey, and can spread bacteria. Simply use a baking pan separate from the turkey to cook your glorified Stove-Top.
3) Just go out for dinner. McCormick and Schmick’s locations serve a legendary Thanksgiving spread, as do several of the downtown hotels and restaurants. This might also be a great time to get prime seats in a hot ethnic eatery. Remember that Thanksgiving evening is a big going-out night, and that many bars will fill up with folks who’ve had about as much family as they can handle for the day. Get your grub early, and you should be fine.
And, if you need to go home and have zero control over the meal…
4) Remember that xanax is not just for breakfast anymore. Sneak a pack of Ramen noodles in your suitcase, and dress it up with some of the more edible leftovers.
When you get back to the area, stop off at Summer’s by the Courthouse Metro. Besides being a fine place to watch both football and futbol, they make one of the finest turkey burgers you’ll ever have. Perfectly seasoned, not over-cooked – when was the last time anybody gushed over a turkey burger? This is one seriously good sandwich, and should be enough to cure your turkey jones.

A couple of weeks ago, the boy and I attended a “Cooking for Two” class at L’Academie de Cuisine. I’ll be posting more on that later, but first, here’s the most important thing we learned; the highest and best use of your freezer….
Compound butter. It’s butter, bacon, garlic, shallots, and parmesan cheese, all mixed together. You can whip up a batch in ten minutes, then you stick it in the freezer and cut off hunks of it for literally whatever you want. So far I have had it on a baguette, and also mixed it with rosemary and stuffed it under the skin of a roasting chicken. The instructor at L’Academie also recommended we melt it and toss it in cooked pasta. I plan to never be without it again.
2 sticks softened, salted butter
At least half a cup of parmesan cheese
1 shallot, finely chopped
3 strips bacon, cooked until crisp and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic (use a press)
Mash it all up, then stick it all in a food processor if you like. I didn’t, and the texture was fine. Also, I didn’t use salted butter, so I had to toss some salt in later.

Like Borat says, “In my country, we have a problem…” That problem is that people seem to think that pumpkins are only for Halloween, and even then only for Jack-o-lanterns. People make ‘pumpkin pies’ with canned processed pumpkin-product too, but that doesn’t count and is not anything I will address today. I make a killer pumpkin pie from scratch, but have not done so recently. I am lazy.
I love pumpkin as a food, and today at the Dekalb Farmers Market, possibly aka ‘Valhalla,’ I could resist neither the $1.29 ‘pie’ pumpkins, nor the on-sale stewing beef at $2.00 a pound. I also had at home a box of S&B Golden Curry mix (Hot), which I’d been itching to try out. Loosely following the directions on the box, I did the following:
To a large saucepan add:
– One large Vidalia onion, chopped.
– One Serrano pepper, chopped. Actually, I would have preferred more heat: use three.
– One and a half pounds of stewing beef. Next time I may use goat, as its stronger flavor may benefit this dish.
– A drizzle of sesame oil.
Sautee all that until the meat is browned – about 3 minutes. Then, add:
– the meat of one medium ‘pie’ pumpkin (cubed)
– five cups of water
– one cup of beer (I used Kirin Ichiban)
– Some celery salt,
and turn up the heat until the liquid boils. Reduce to a simmer, and stir occasionally until the meat is done and pumpkin is tender (about 13-15 minutes).
Now, remove the pot from the heat, add the curry paste, and stir until it dissolves. Put it back on the burner, and simmer 5-6 minutes more, at which point add a few tablespoons of tapioca starch (or your thickener of choice), stir, and simmer a few minutes more.
Serve over rice…I used brown jasmine, which was lovely.
As I suggested, I think I would have liked this spicier, but that’s a matter of taste, and overall the mix works really well. Using pumpkin this way is exceptionally tasty, and may surprise diners not accustomed to the gourd outside of pies and without candles inside.

Well, it’s getting to be that time, during the dog days of summer, when the temperature drops below 350, and it’s worthwile to get grilling again. Instead of the usual barbecue fare (not that there’s anything wrong with that), I thought I’d share a recipe that’s very simple, yet very exotic at the same time. I first encountered this at my best friend’s place in North Carolina. My best friend’s wife is Vietnamese, so a lot of Vietnamese food is made down there. The dish is called Bún Thịt Nướng, and while it is usually made with pork, I do it with beef because I think it’s a better flavour (ingredients are listed at the end of this article).
The first step to preparing Bún Thịt Nướng, is to have your best friend’s wife and her mother argue for several hours about how the dish should be made. You see, we have a “two Vietnamese/three opinions” scenario here.
Once that’s done, you will want to cut the beef roast into one inch strips, mix them with the onion, garlic, and marinade, toss everything to ensure an even coating, and let the beef marinate overnight in the fridge.
The next day, you’ll need to prepare a few things before the meat is grilled. First, you’ll want some rice noodles (the bún in the name of this dish refers to a form of rice vermicelli). These noodles will be boiled like normal pasta, then run under cold water to chill them (in this dish, only the beef is hot). If you’d like, you can roll the noodles into little “nests” to make them easier to take off the serving platter.
You’ll also want some salad fixings. This is pretty flexible, and you can put whatever you’d like in there. I usually use cucumber, carrots, and basil (if you can get it, Thai Basil is authentic to the dish, but if not, regular Italian Basil will also work). Skewer the meat on some wooden or bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water for some time (the soaking ensures that the skewer will not catch fire). When skewering the meat, put some of the onion pieces onto the skewers as well. Grill the meat and onion skewers until the meat is done (approximately eight minutes per side over high heat).
Once the meat is done, bring everything to the table, and make a bowl for yourself. Use some rice noodles, salad fixings, deskewer your desired amount of beef and onions, and top the whole thing with the dressing (instructions are below). It’s light, yet filling, and perfect for this time of year. This dish also works well for hot weather, as it’s surprisingly refreshing.
For this recipe, you will need:

• 3 Lbs Beef (I use a mix of London Broil & Chuck Roasts)
  
• Onions (cut into chunks large enough to be skewered)
  
• Garlic (To Taste, Minced)
  

For the Marinade, you will need:

• 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
  
• 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
  
• 1/4 Cup Sugar, Dissolved in 1/2 Cup of Water
  

These ingredients should all be mixed in a bowl (separate from the beef), seasoned to taste with salt & pepper, and poured over the beef, onions, & garlic.
The dressing will be made from nước mắm, which is a Vietnamese fish sauce (any fish sauce will do, and they’re usually sold in the international aisle of your local supermarket). Most fish sauces are made from anchovies, but, it’s possible that some of them are made from shellfish. If you’re allergic to shellfish, read the ingredients. When finished, this sauce will not taste fishy at all, it will be a perfect balance of sweet, savoury, salty, and spicy.
To make this dressing, mix the following ingredients together:

• 1 Cup Water
  
• 1/4 Cup nước mắm (fish sauce)
  
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
  
• 1/3 Cup Sugar
  
• 2 Tsp Chili Garlic Sauce (found in the Asian Food section of your supermarket – I use Lee Kum Kee brand)
  

I mix all this together in a jar, and it will keep up to a week in the fridge.
Wine Pairing:
I would pair this dish with a crisp refreshing white wine. A nice Riesling would go very well, as would a good Spanish Albarino.