Tag: Summer

Tofu Jelly

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Do you like aspic? Do you like gelatin? Do you enjoy smooth, gelatinous textures? Then you’ll love tofu jelly, my friends. And no, I’m not being sarcastic. I fiend for these textures, so when I made this chilled tofu concoction, I realized I’d hit the jackpot.

This savory and cooling dish is perfect as a snack or appetizer on a hot summer day and takes only about ten minutes to prepare. Even if you don’t crave jelly-like textures, give this a try. You might end up hooked, just like I did.

Tofu jelly

Ingredients:

1/2 block silken tofu, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/2 red bell pepper (fresh or jarred), finely chopped
1 2/3 cups dashi stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon mirin
1 envelope unflavored powdered gelatin (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 teaspoons)

1. Over medium heat, bring the dashi broth to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the soy sauce, sugar, and mirin to the broth and remove from heat.

2. Put three tablespoons water and the powdered gelatin into a heat-resistant cup until soft. Place the cup in a microwave oven and heat for 30 seconds to dissolve the gelatin.

3. Add the peppers and the dissolved gelatin to the broth mixture and mix well.

4. Divide the tofu between six individual serving cups and pour the gelatin-broth mixture over each cup to cover. Chill in a refrigerator for at least three hours to cool until solidified. Serve chilled.

Bourbon Peach Shrub

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I think of shrubs as the cousin of sharab. It turns out there’s a reason why: today’s shrubs (vinegared syrup with spirits, water, or carbonated water) are a variant of sharab, which means “syrup” or “wine” in Persian, Hindi, and Arabic. Shrubs may be the base for the trendy cocktail of the moment, but its history is ancient.

Etymology aside, this peach and bourbon shrub is my favorite version to make. Peaches go with bourbon like waffles go with fried chicken, like palm trees with California, like Kamran with Hooman. You get the point.

Bourbon peach shrub

Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 pounds peaches
3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
6 ounces bourbon
2 ounces lemon juice

1. Bring sugar and 3/4 cup water to a boil in a saucepan. Slice peaches into medium pieces. Reserve a few pieces for serving and add remaining to pan. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 30 minutes. Strain syrup into a bowl; stir in vinegar. Cover and chill shrub.


2. Set out 4 ice-filled cocktail glasses. For each cocktail, shake 2 ounces shrub, 1 1/2 ounces bourbon, and half an ounce of lemon juice in an ice-filled cocktail shaker until frosty. Strain into glasses and top with reserved peaches.

Blistered Shishito Peppers with Miso

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Sometimes I don’t have time to cook, but the desire to create something delicious wins so I end up turning on the stove and thinking to myself, okay, I have twenty minutes. Let’s do this.

Adapted from a simple Food and Wine recipe, I made these salty, earthy peppers one afternoon when I wanted to bring something to a family picnic but was short on time. Fresh peppers aside, you probably already have most of these ingredients in your pantry. These little bites are perfect with a cold drink or even as a side dish.

Blistered shishito peppers with miso

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoons white miso
1 1/2 tablespoons sake
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 small dried red chile
3/4 pound shishito peppers
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

1. In a small bowl, stir the miso and sake until smooth.

2. In a large skillet, heat the oil with the chile until shimmering. Add the shishitos and ginger and cook over high heat, tossing, until tender and blistered in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the miso sake mixture and toss well. Transfer to a plate and serve.

Khiar Shoor (Pickled Cucumbers)

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Khiar shoor literally translates from Persian to English as “salty cucumbers,” but it is so much more than that. Shoor are a category of Iranian pickled vegetables, be they cucumbers or cauliflower or carrots or nearly any other vegetable. There’s also torshi, but that’s a whole other classification of pickled vegetables that we’ll save for another post.

Every summer while I was growing up, my mom and all the Iranian aunties would gather in someone’s home and spend the day peeling vegetables and peppers and onions, making the next year’s batch of shoor and torshi. The air would be ripe with the smell of vinegar and garlic and the kids would be enlisted to help. The shoor would be ready to eat a few weeks later; the torshi would need to wait months, sometimes even years.

Nowadays you can buy shoor or torshi at any Middle Eastern market but nothing comes close to the homemade version. I made this version when I found myself with too many Armenian cucumbers from my parents’ garden. Once ready, these cucumbers go wonderfully with sandwiches or kotlet.

Pickled Armenian cucumbers

Ingredients:

2 red or green chili peppers
2 pounds Persian or Armenian cucumbers
5 cloves garlic, peeled
7 sprigs tarragon
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
kosher salt

1. Wash, clean and drain the vegetables and herbs. Sterilize canning jars, drain and dry thoroughly.

2. Fill each jar almost to the top with cucumbers, garlic, tarragon, and bay leaves.

3. Bring 6 tablespoons salt, 12 cups water, peppercorns, sugar, vinegar, and chili peppers to a boil. Remove from heat and fill each jar within 1/2 inch of the top with this hot liquid. Let cool and seal jars. Store the jars in the refrigerator for at least 10 days before using.

Sichuan-Style Cold Sesame Noodles

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This is one of the earliest recipes I learned to cook and more than fifteen years later, it still remains one of my favorites. This spicy, peanuty noodle salad is easy to make and is perfect for picnics or lunches on the go. It’s worth seeking out Sichuan peppercorns for this dish, as they add a unique, tingly spice that can’t be replicated.

Sichuan-style cold sesame noodles

Ingredients:

1 package (about 12 ounces) fresh Chinese egg noodles
4 teaspoons sesame oil
1 Persian cucumber, julienned
1/4 pound fresh mung bean sprouts
2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast
1/3 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground, toasted Sichuan peppercorns

1. Cook noodles in a pot of boiling water according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Place noodles in a bowl and add two teaspoons of sesame oil and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

2. In the meantime, prepare the dressing: in another bowl, combine broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, remaining sesame oil, chili garlic sauce, sugar, and whisk until blended.

3. Add cucumber, mung bean sprouts, chicken, and dressing over noodles and mix well. Serve cold.