Recipe Reduction 88-86

Red pepper white bean hummus
by Yup, it's Vegan

    For some reason the camera failed to capture the true color, which is a deep carrotty orange. It tasted as pretty as it looked--but I think I can make some improvements.

For one, it called for tahini but I'd failed to copy out the amount. I used 1/4 cup, then added a little more. But I can't tell that it improved the flavor--it just added calories. (Tahini, if you don't know, is sesame seed butter. Just like peanut butter or almond butter: fat, fat, fat.)

For two, it could use about a half-cup onion. Or better yet--roast the onion along with the bell peppers!

For three, their method of roasting bell peppers stinks. One hour and fifteen minutes in the oven. Even after all that roasting, they weren't all that roasted. The broiler method is faster and much better.


Eggplant sauteed with miso
from Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat

Oh, what a lesson I learned!

First step is to deep-fry cubes of eggplant. Some idiot (me, myself and I) used the wok instead of a tall, narrow pan. I heated the oil to 350 and then threw in all of the cubes at once. Immediately the temperature dropped to less than 200 and the eggplant soaked up the oil. If only I'd done them in batches and kept the oil hot!


Lesson part two: I poured on the sauce (miso, mirin, sugar and white wine) while the wok was still really hot. It immediately caramelized. One might even say, burned.

I'm going to have to do this recipe again and do it right the second time. I kind of liked it, but it was clearly too greasy and burnedy.


Stir-fried Beef With Chiles and Basil
Adapted from Matthew-Amster Burton and Thai Street Food, by David Thompson

Simple and surprisingly good. Stir-fry ground beef with garlic and bird's eye chiles. Add fish sauce and a little sugar and chicken broth; turn off heat and add a lot of basil. After that you were supposed to top with a soft-cooked egg; I skipped that step but it would have been fabulous.

NOTES: I'm not a big beef eater, but if I ever make this again, I'm going to drain the grease off the beef before adding the fish sauce. And make sure to use plenty of basil.