Garlic Lemon Shrimp Pasta

These are really the last few nice days of the year... Even if there is great stuff about the fall (like my birthday, scarves, leather jackets and Doc Martens being tolerable again, etc.), I still resent the cold. What can I say, I am happy in the summer, even the really weird ones like the one we've had this year. It was rather rainy, and besides that unbearable heat wave in early July, it's been pretty chilly... but it was summer!

Oh well, all good things come to an end, I suppose. But it's not because the days are shorter and less sunny that I can't enjoy a little sunshine on my plate!

My boyfriend brought home a shape of pasta I had never seen before: cute little curly cues!

I decided I would use them along with a classic summer-y combo of ingredients: garlic, lemon and shrimps. I've made a gorgeous risotto with those glorious flavors once, and it was little plate of sunshine. Exactly what I needed to cheer me up from looking at the weather forecast...

1 package dry pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound medium or shrimps, peeled and deveined
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan, grated (optional)
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts (optional)
Lemon wedges, for garnish

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions, or until al dente. While the pasta is cooking, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp in a single layer.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. After 2 minutes, turn the shrimps over, add the remaining tablespoon of oil, the garlic, and red pepper flakes.

Stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the lemon zest and white wine to the shrimp. Stir to reduce the wine slightly. Stir in the lemon juice.

Drain the pasta and add to the skillet with the shrimps, along with the Parmesan and pine nuts. Toss well to mix everything together.

Serve with extra lemon wedges, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Just like my risotto, this dish tasted just like a summer evening by the beach should: briny, lemony and garlicky. I have a feeling I will keep this little recipe handy every time the weather will get grey, rainy and generally miserable. It will be the perfect way to cheer up when the sun won't show it's face through autumn clouds!

Southern Barbecue Shrimps

I think one of my favorite things about home-cooking is the part where you get to sit down and share it with awesome people. Never has that been more true than Friday night, when I had dropped by my (now infamous) friend Paul's house to gossip (it happens), and his boyfriend Richard spontaneously invited me and my man for dinner. We quickly grabbed a few ingredients from the grocery store and Richard lit up the barbecue. Before you know it, we were all cooking, eating, drinking beer and having a great time! It was truly a moment of awesome urban-family time.

The recipe we made is quite simple, and a little tweaking of the spices could give it a whole other tone, but Paul has a thing for Southern cooking. Also, who am I to say no to shrimps marinated in garlic and butter? If you keep the marinating to a minimum, this meal takes less than an hour to make, and the results are wonderful! We kept it moderately spicy, but you can play with the quantity of cayenne depending on how sensitive your tongue is to heat.

about 60 medium shrimps, heads removed and deveined
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon tumeric
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted, add the garlic and cook for 3 more minutes, until the garlic is fragrant.

Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice, paprika, cayenne, tumeric, a touch of sea salt and ground pepper and mix well.

Place the shrimps in a large freezer bag or bowl and pour in the marinade. If needed, add a drizzle of olive oil and a little more lemon juice to make sure the marinade has an oozy consistence and covers the shrimps well. Shake the bag around (or mix everything well in the bowl) so that the marinade covers the shrimps well and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes up to overnight.

When ready to cook, remove the shrimps from the bag or bowl, and pour the marinade in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat and reserve. Put the shrimps on wooden skewers (5 shrimps per skewer makes for 4 brochettes per helping).

Preheat a grilling pan (or barbecue, of course) over medium-high heat and spray with a touch of non-stick cooking spray. Cook the brochettes about 2 minutes on both sides, until the shrimps are pink and firm, basting them with the marinade.

We also grilled sliced ciabatta bread on the barbecue, brushed a bit of the deliciously zesty marinade on the crunchy croutons, and served the whole thing with a spicy rice pilaf.

What an incredibly tasty meal that was! Simple, and bursting with garlic and lemon flavors. The firm chewiness of the spicy shrimps on those croutons: my god!

You could be more reasonable than we were and grill yourself some bell peppers or corn on the cob, if you must have more veggies in there. Just don't forget to generously brush your veggies with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt as it grills!

It was Friday (in Verdun, no less), so we washed all that deliciousness down with some Sleeman beers, but if you feel fancy, a fruity white wine would rock those shrimps.

Chana Masala

Being on vacation makes me hungry. I don't know why, but I feel like I can never wait for the next meal, and since I have plenty of time to cook on my hands, I hunt down new ideas and new recipes that I can play with at my leisure. That's my favorite way to cook: glass of wine in hand, with Gogol Bordello blasting in the background. THAT is the good life!

One of the recipes I couldn't wait to try was some chana masala. I love chickpeas: they are so cute, tasty and versatile! I also love Indian cuisine, so when I found some recipes for chickpea curry, I started to drool. My beloved beans in a spicy stew with ginger and tomatoes?! Heaven!

I combined elements from a couple of recipes I found. It's a bit of a lazy version: I used canned beans and tomatoes, because I am not nearly patient enough to soak and cook dry chickpeas, and because I was fresh out of local tomatoes. Damn. If you have the time and the tomatoes, by all means, use them! Also, some traditionalists call for the tomatoes, onions, ginger and garlic to be pureed together before being cooked. I personally like my curries to be chunky and rustic, so I simply cut everything really small, so that it would still be saucy, but I would get the lovely tasty bits of onion and ginger...

With dishes like this one, that require the adding of a large variety of spices at the same time, I like to measure all my spices and mix them together in a small bowl so that I can literally add them all to the pot of a flick of the wrist. No time wasted scrambling about with measuring spoons while the onions burn and stick to the bottom of the pan!

One last note! If you can find amchoor powder (dry mango powder), you need to do 2 things:
1- tell me where you bought it: I couldn't find any at my usual bulk spices haunts...
2- use 1 tablespoon of it in your spice mix, and only use the juice of 1/2 lemon: amchoor powder adds a citrusy taste so will you need less lemon juice if you use it.

Without further ado, here is the recipe I came up with (with a little help from Madhur Jaffrey and Smitten Kitchen)!

1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 medium onions, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 fresh chile, chopped small
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 (15-ounce) can of diced tomatoes, with their juice (or 2 cups of fresh tomatoes, cut small)
2/3 cup water
2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 4 cups of soaked and cooked chickpeas)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, juiced
1 tablespoon yoghurt, preferably Balkan-style (optional)
Lemon quarters, for garnish
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chili pepper and sauté over medium heat until the onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes.

Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, paprika and garam masala.

Cook the onion mixture with the spices for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes.

Add the chickpeas and carefully pour the water in so it just covers the other ingredients.

Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in the salt, lemon juice and yoghurt (if using). Serve with basmati rice, lemon wedges and a sprinkling of chopped cilantro.

The smell of this curry is amazing! And it comes together in a snap; the hardest part if definitely the chopping. Though I admit that not sneaking spoonfuls of the stuff out of the pot while it was cooking was a challenge. It just smelled so damn good...

And it tasted as good as it smelled! Hot and spicy, but not too much, with the lovely sour kick of the lemon. A good balance between the heat and the sourness is often the make-or-break factor of a good curry, and the proportions in this recipe are really flawless.

I enjoyed a nice glass of C'est La Vie rose wine with my plate, and it was a perfect refreshing match for the sharp flavors of the curry.

There is a Pakistani version of chana masala called aloo chole, which is essentially the same recipe, with the addition of 2 medium potatoes, peeled, boiled and diced, and added to the curry along with the chickpeas (some people fry the potatoes instead of boiling them... how naughty!). Who doesn't love potatoes? You can certainly add them if you want to, but personally, I prefer chana masala in the summer, and aloo chole in the winter, when a nice starchy root veg adds a "comfort food" vibe to a simmered dish.

This curry reheats very well, so the leftovers are perfect for the next day's lunch. If anything, waiting a bit makes the taste of the spices more defined and delicious!

Spicy Ginger-Lime Udon Stir-Fry

A few weeks ago, I made a lovely udon noodle stir-fry. It was very tasty, but it needed a side of protein to make a full meal. I was in the mood for a stir-fry, but I really wanted a one-bowl meal. I was also craving the intricate blend of spicy, hot, sweet and salty flavors that good Thai food never fails to deliver. In such circumstances, what's a girl to do but dig out a whole pile of ingredients from her pantry and throw it all together in a wok?

That's what I did!

There was a bag of shrimps in the freezer, just waiting to be turned into something tasty, so that's what I used, but chicken or pork, cut into thin strips would work very well here, as would some pre-fried extra-firm tofu, for those who swing that way. If you are going to use shrimps, you can definitely use pre-cooked shrimps. They won't need to be in the wok as long; just make sure they are nice and heated through. Mushrooms and bell peppers are some of my favorite veggies to use in stir-fries because they cook quickly. They are also wonderful immune boosters, which I really needed as I have been nursing a cold for the past few days (in June!! what the fuck?!), but if you have snow peas, baby corn or broccoli florets, they are all wonderful with stir-fried noodles.

I basically used the same technique I had used with the previous udon recipe, but with the sort of flavors I usually see in McDermott's "Real Vegetarian Thai". For the sauce, you have to taste and adjust: not everyone handles Sri Racha as stoically as my boyfriend (as I realized when I served my brother some General Tao tofu and he spent most of the meal blowing his nose... he loved it, but it was obviously too spicy for normal people), and since I am used to cooking for him, I can go a little overboard with it without even noticing. Just be careful!

Sauce:
1 1/2 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 to 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (or more soy sauce and a pinch of sea salt)
2 teaspoons Sri Racha sauce
1 teaspoon cane sugar

1 (8 ounce) package udon noodles
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 small yellow onion, finely minced
1 pound medium shrimps, peeled, deveined
1 small red bell pepper, julienned
1 container cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced

Sesame seeds, for garnish
Fresh cilantro, chopped, for garnish

Lime wedges, for garnish

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and adjust.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the noodles according to the package instruction. While the noodles are boiling, preheat the peanut oil in a large wok, over medium heat. Stir-fry the onion until it just begins to soften. Add the shrimps, and stir-fry until cooked and pink.

Add the bell pepper and mushroom and cook until the mushrooms have released their moisture and are shiny.

Remove the vegetables and shrimps from the wok and set aside. Remove the wok from the heat, add the sauce and let it get warmed up, stirring it for a couple of minutes until it thickens.

Add the noodles, vegetables and shrimps pan to the wok, put back on the heat and cook for a few more minutes, mixing it all up, until the flavors have blended well.

Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and cilantro leaves, with lime wedges.

Oh boy, did this ever kick ass! Hot, tangy, slurpy noodles with crunchy veggies and chewy shrimps. On a dull week night, what else could you want? I love this sauce so much that I just can't wait to try it with different veggies and protein. I bet it will be insane with chicken, red onion and baby corn, or with some tofu, sugar snap peas, grated carrots and scallions... Omnomnom!

This recipe would be perfect for those who want healthy lunches that can be eaten on the go. It tastes wonderfully fresh and light, so it's ideal even with hot summer weather, and can be played around easily depending on what you have in the fridge! Enjoy experimenting with it!

Green (Day) Thai Curry

O.K., so before the purists get their self-righteous panties in a twist, I confess for the record that yes, I do like Green Day. There, I said it. And I also happen not to really give a rat's backside about whether they are real punks or posers. Their music is fun: it makes me feel like jumping up on tables and kicking crockery to the floor. Glorious, mindless, somewhat infantile fun. We all need that every once in a while. Get over it.

Now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about food! And another, equally fun, but somewhat more "serious" punk band.

I had prepared a big pot of this curry not that long ago, when I came back from a long weekend in Toronto, but by some devilry, all the pictures I took of it inexplicably vanished from my computer AND camera... so I had to start all over again... *deep breath* Here we go!

It takes a lot to get me off the island of Montreal, but wanting to see my favorite band live is a huge motivation that will get me into action-hero mode. That's just the kind of crazy I am, so on May 23rd, I packed a bag and dragged my boyfriend to Toronto for the sole purpose of seeing Anti-Flag destroy the Hard Luck Bar two nights in a row. Yup, that's how much I love those guys!

I had a complete blast, pogoed like a maniac, hurt my ankle (still don't really know how I did that...), ate some awesome food, saw the Patti Smith exhibit: really good times! And of course, the two shows were mind-blowing! There is a reason I am willing to travel over 500 km (300 miles, for my American buddies) to see those guys: they are fucking awesome!

But I was less than impressed upon my return, to find my beautiful Montreal under a cold and rainy sky reminiscent of what you'd expect in March... Sigh...

Curries are my favorite comfort food when the weather is chilly, because they are stick-to-your-ribs chunky and the mix of spices is very warming, so I decided to play around with what I had in the fridge and make a Thai curry that would keep me from shivering too much as I unpacked. It got nicknamed the Green Day curry because everything I threw in it (except the tofu and mushrooms) was green.

It got inspired by Nancie McDermott's method in "Real Vegetarian Thai", but the recipe is just as easily adaptable for vegans (use soy sauce) or carnivores (use chicken), but I kept this version vegetarian, mostly because it could be my culinary homage to Anti-Flag, who are vegetarians. By the way guys, if you are reading this and are ever in Montreal, I would be thrilled to whip up a big pot of this green wonder for you! (yes, yes: I am a hopeless fan-girl, piss off!)

1 (15-ounce) can coconut milk
3 tablespoons green curry paste
1 zucchini, cut into half-moons
1 bunch scallions, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon cane sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce
1 lime, juiced
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed, cut into small cubes
1 container shiitake mushroom, stems removed, and chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Shake the can of coconut milk. Open it and spoon about 1/3 cup of it in a large pot and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until it thickens, about 3 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook for 3 more minutes, mashing, scraping and stirring until the paste is completely combined with the coconut milk (this is where an angled stir-fry spatula comes in handy).

 
Add the zucchini and scallions, and stir to coat them well in the curry paste.

 
Add the remaining coconut milk, vegetable stock, sugar, fish sauce (or soy sauce) and lime juice, and stir well.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the zucchini is tender. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning. Add the tofu, mushrooms and bell pepper and stir gently. If you need to, add vegetable broth until the ingredients are just covered in liquid.

Let the curry return to a boil and remove from the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving on jasmine rice, sprinkled with the fresh cilantro.

By the time I was done chopping everything, the sun had finally managed to get through the big grey clouds that welcomed me back home, but a big plate of those delicious veggies in a spicy, creamy broth really hit the spot. It was the perfect meal to enjoy after the long train ride and the eventful weekend, because it's easy to make and ready super quickly, which is a huge plus if you are starving because train food is... questionable...

This recipe is great to use up any vegetables that are laying around in the fridge, lonesome and forgotten, so you can adapt it to whatever you have left before going to the grocery store; just remember to add the firmer vegetables first, and the softer ones at the end!

I should also give a spice warning: green curry is the hottest Thai curry (yellow is the mildest, and red is in the middle), and while it has a wonderful and exotic flavor, if you have sensitive taste buds, go easy on the curry paste! There is also no need to add garlic or ginger (or galangal, which is the Thai ginger) to a green curry, because there is already a lot of those (along with lemongrass, white peppercorns and lime zest) in the paste. The heat will be smoothed out by the coconut milk, but you can add a bit of cane sugar if you prefer a sweeter bite.

Enjoy the curry... and up the punx!!

Jerk Chicken for Sweethearts

I love my friend Paul. He is sweet, wise, funny and totally bad-ass. We call him the King of Imps, because I am sure fairies all over the world bow down to his awesomeness.

I wanted to make him dinner for his birthday, and he told me he wanted jerk chicken. I had never cooked jerk chicken before, so he knew he was going to be my culinary lab rat, but he was game, and so was I! I bought a beautiful, big organic chicken, and got to work!

Jerk spice is a Jamaican rub or pasty marinade that is used on chicken and pork. And it is SPICY! I often cook with scotch bonnets, those very, very hot chili peppers (and yes, they are often red... sorry, nerd of the 90's had to make that joke...) but this recipe actually calls for their volcanically hot seeds to be included in the marinade...

I usually stay away from the seeds, because, they are terribly spicy, so much so that they will irritate your skin, and contaminate everything they come into contact with. Always handle them with gloves (or sandwich bags over your hands, like I do, cuz I am too dumb to get cooking gloves) or live to regret it!

Besides scotch bonnets, the other traditional ingredients that find their way in jerk spice are garlic, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme and scallions. I added ground ginger to give it a slightly different kind of heat (and because I am a ginger addict), some lime juice, molasses and olive oil to get all these spices to "gel" together in a nice, thick marinade. The mixture made my eyes water! But Jamaican food is often extremely spicy, because, oddly, when you live in tropical climates, eating spicy food will reduce your own body temp, thus making the sweltering heat more tolerable. Weird, I know, but if it works...

This recipe can be cooked on a grill, but I roasted it in the over, because I do not have a barbecue on my balcony just yet (someday... someday soon!) and because it's quite simple and not too messy.

1 (5-to-6 pounds) whole chicken, cut in half down the middle (I got my butcher to do that for me; he rocks!)

Marinade:
1/2 cup malt vinegar (or white vinegar)
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 Scotch bonnet peppers (or habaneros), with seeds, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoons dried thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
4 teaspoons ground allspice
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons molasses
1 lime, juiced

6 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

Put the vinegar, rum, hot peppers, onion, scallions, garlic, thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, molasses and lime juice into a blender. Pulse until mostly smooth.

Poke the chicken with a knife to nick the skin a few times. Place the chicken in a large freezer bag, or in a large roasting pan or baking dish. Pour the jerk paste onto the chicken pieces and coat well. Seal the bag or cover the chicken in the pan with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the marinade bag or pan. Put the remaining marinade into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of the reheated marinade with the ketchup and soy sauce and set aside. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chicken halves in a rimmed baking pan, skin side up.

Roast until the chicken halves are cooked through, about 60 minutes, basting with the marinade occasionally. The chicken is done when the juices run clear when a knife tip is inserted into both the chicken breast and thigh (for those with meat thermometers, that's about 165-170°F for the breast and 180-185°F for the thigh). Transfer the chicken to a platter. Tent loosely with foil to keep warm and let stand 15 minutes. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve with rice and the sauce.

While the strength of the marinade scared me a little as I was making it, I was very happy (and relieved) to discover that once cooked, the meanness of the scotch bonnets' bite was gone, leaving behind a spicy (but not overwhelming) and complex flavor. The chicken was very tender and juicy, and the sauce made from the marinade was lip-smacking good! For a first-timer at jerk chicken, I was very pleased with the results, and so was the birthday boy!

I am not very good at carving whole chickens and always need help with cutting the damn thing into portions. If you are like me, you could simply use the equivalent quantity of prepared (and already separated) chicken breasts and legs: marinate them just as you would with the whole chicken, but be very careful not to overcook it when you proceed to the roasting. Meat with the bone in takes longer to cook, so de-boned chicken will only take 30 to 45 minutes to cook through. You could also use the marinade on pork or lamb roast!

Enjoy this delicious, spicy chicken with some super-cold light beer, or a well-chilled white wine, to prevent your mouth from catching fire. And don't be afraid of giving it a shot: it's wonderful and not spicy enough to make you cry as you eat. Which is always a good sign ;-)

Kung Pao Tofu

Ah, week night dinners. How unpleasant you can be to prepare when one get back from work tired and grumpy, and yet that poor body still needs to be fed! That's why I love stir-fries: with the exception of pasta, nothing beats a stir-fry when you want a quick, healthy and filling meal that doesn't take too long and doesn't require too much effort and thinking. This dish is simple, delicious, with minimal chopping duties: exactly what one needs for a dull Wednesday evening!

Kung Pao is a traditional Sichuan recipe with the wonderful blend of sweet, salty and spicy tastes that make my taste buds very happy. I had wanted to try it for a while, but I was quite gung-ho on finding actual Sichuan peppers: not an easy feat! No grocery store near my apartment carried it; even my trusted exotic bulk store failed me! Lucky for me, my best friend shops in Chinatown all the time, and she got me a big bag... Woot-woot!

Many food writers specialized in Asian cooking swear by the little red peppercorns, and I was determined to use them in my Kung Pao! Their flavor is described as numbing hotness, and now that I have used them, I confirm that there is something that just makes your mouth feel... well, numbed! They are not spicy in the burning way some chiles (such as my dear scotch bonnets) are: it's really more of a building heat with a very exotic and peculiar flavor.

You gotta taste it to get it, really, but I think it might be an acquired taste for the palate used to Westernized Chinese food. It took a bit of experimenting with the recipe below until I found a way to infuse the dish with the very unusual Sichuan pepper taste, but make it subtle enough that it would not be completely off-putting. I found balancing it with the other more typical flavors of chile, ginger, garlic and scallion to be the best way to integrate it to the dish.

2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 fresh chiles, sliced in long, fine strips
1 tablespoon whole Sichuan peppercorns, or chili flakes
1 pound extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
2 to 3 gloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
1 bunch scallions, roughly chopped, plus some thinly sliced scallions for optional garnish
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 large handful raw peanuts or cashews

Marinade:
2 tablespoons dark rice vinegar

2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
Sauce:
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons dark rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
4 tablespoons water

Cube the tofu and mix in the marinade ingredients. Let stand while you prepare the other ingredients. In another bowl, mix together the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

Heat a wok with oil over high heat. Before the wok begins to smoke, add the chiles and Sichuan peppercorn. Stir-fry briefly until the chiles are slightly blistered and oil is fragrant.

Add the tofu and stir-fry 5 to 7 minutes, until crispy.

Add garlic, ginger, scallions and bell pepper, and stir-fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Pour in sauce and mix to coat the other ingredients. When the sauce is thickened and shiny, stir in peanuts or cashews.

Transfer to plates, garnish with thinly sliced scallions, and serve with jasmine rice.

Kung Pao generally is a vegetable-free stir-fry, and while I did not want to over-crowd my wok with veggies, I felt the dish needed a minimum of vitamin, and red bell peppers seemed just perfect with the other ingredients and flavor. If you want more veggies, I suggest steaming some carrots or broccoli to add a burst of color to the plate.

The mix of chewy tofu, crunchy peanuts and bell peppers is great, and while the Sichuan peppers might take a bit of getting used to, the spicy, sour and sweet taste of the dish is really delicious. The sauce is meant more as a coating than as something to drown your tofu in, but you can always double it if you want a saucier plate. Who am I to argue against saucy?

If you try the Sichuan peppers and can't get used to their funny sour-spicy taste, you can always substitute them with a tablespoon of good old chili flakes. You'll keep the heat in your dish without the funky aftertaste.

As a side note, I am finally getting more comfortable with Twitter and Instagram, so if you are curious to see what else I ramble about besides food, you can find me there as @punkygabz.

Thai Eggplant Curry

I just love trying out new recipes, especially when they turn out to be fantastic finds! This little recipe (which I had shamefully overlooked for the past few weeks) is amazing for several reasons. Here they are in no particular order:

• Its super easy and quick to make. Once the chopping is done, you'll hardly need 20 minutes to get your meal on the table. Perfect for week nights!
• Its so tasty and flavorful, with the ginger, garlic, curry paste and coconut milk. Not too spicy, not too sweet; just awesome.
• Its a gorgeous, colorful plate of vegetables. A bright dish can cure the kind of winter blues that afflict so many of us at this time of the year, and we can all use a bit more veggies in our plate!

Eggplant is great in curries because it absorbs the flavor of the other ingredients, turning into tasty and tender little bites as it simmers. You could use any type of eggplant for this recipe, but I prefer the long Japanese kind here. Pick them smooth-skinned and as brightly purple as you can find! Unlike regular European eggplant, there is no need to salt them before you cook: they do not have the occasional bitterness you find in the larger eggplants.

3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 1/2 pounds Asian eggplants, cut into half-moons (3 or 4 eggplants)
2 orange or red bell peppers, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 or 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen)
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk (or coconut cream, for a luxurious, richer curry)
2 tablespoons fish sauce (substitute soy sauce if you want to keep it vegan)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/4 cup Thai basil leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Lime wedges, to garnish

Heat the oil in a large, deep pan over medium heat. Add the eggplants and bell pepper and sauté until the eggplant has begun to soften all around, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, ginger, and curry paste. Mix well until the paste covers all the other ingredients, and cook until aromatic, another 1 minute.

Pour in the coconut milk and bring the liquid to a simmer. Stir in the fish sauce and brown sugar. Cook for another 5 minutes, until the eggplant is very tender.

Stir in the Thai basil leaves and cook for another minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with rice and lime wedges to squeeze over the curry.

You can bulk it up a bit more by adding 1 container of cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced, along with the other vegetables: their earthy flavor goes very well with the spicy, creamy sauce.

This recipe serves 4, but if you want to make it for a crowd or a pot-luck, double the coconut milk, garlic, ginger and curry paste, and add 1 pound of extra-firm tofu, drained, pressed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces, and add it to the pot when you set the curry to simmer. If you think there isn't enough liquid, add 1 cup of water or vegetable broth.

If you prefer green or yellow Thai curry to red, you should feel free to use those instead of the red curry paste. Just watch out because the level of heat varies from one "color" to the other, green being the hottest, and yellow the mildest.

It's the perfect quick dinner for those cold and damp February evenings!