Text 27866, 103 rader
Skriven 2012-08-02 18:40:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: :td: 56
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 JW> I'm doing the yogurt thing today, even though I dislike the stuff.

Yesterday I went with my brother to the Lebanese Taverna, whose food
is pretty decent but which is one of the most horridly overpriced
middle eastern restaurants around. I'd asked him why this place, and
he sort of shrugged. I asked, is it the chicken wings, and he said
yes. The chicken wings are marinated in olive oil, oregano, salt, and
lemon, and you could make them at home for a buck a serving, which
here goes for $8 or so and consists of about 6 wings, er, segments.
Surprise - he ended up not getting the wings but rather the sausage
starter, sweet-spiced meat marinated pretty much like the wings and,
at about 50c a bite, a tasty swindle, followed by a $20 half chicken,
ditto. There are several mezze samplers, and I got one that
specifically excluded tabbouleh and labaneh. What was served of
course included both. The good things were a tiny spinach pie (no
cheese, yay); a tiny meat pie (no cheese, yay); "broad bean salad"
that was actually made with Italian flat beans, which I hate, but
it was actually pretty good; "eggplant salad," whose dominant
flavors were garlic and olive oil, so though conflicted about it
I really liked it; that nasty Arabic panzanella thing, which was
okay; baba ghannouj, excellent. The tabbouleh was actually
edible, but the most generous thing there was labaneh, which as
all the other servings were teensy, I tried, and guess what, it
was effing nasty. That funny puffed Arab bread came with, but
as Jonathan took a lot of it, I needed a refill, and what came
was whole wheat, which was nasty nasty nasty. Luckily there was
beer on tap, the Lebanese Taverna lager and the Lebanese Taverna
ale. The former tasted like stale Sam; the latter tasted like
fresh Sam. I had one of each but still being hungry had a refill
on the ale. Hallelujah, he said we'd split the meal, so we had
separate checks - $27 for him, $29 for me, as beer is not cheap.
I left five bucks tip, fairly standard. Guess what he left? Nine
and change, a 35% tip, for mediocre service. The only reason,
that comes to mind is that the waitress was sort of cute.

 -=> Jim Weller said to Dave Drum <=-

 DD> Title: [ch] Ma Po Tofu
 JW> A wonderful dish. This is the sort of thing that tofu was made for,
 JW> not phony mayonnaise and vegan milkshakes.

The two things that make mapo tofu good: pork and hot
peppers. Sesame oil, Szechwan pepper, and scallions of
course do not hurt, but the essence is in the first two
ingredients. No pig, no go ma po.

 DD> Nor have I ever visited a vegetarian restaurant.
 JW> Then you are missing out on some good eats.

Faced with the choice of a good vegetarian meal and a
good meatarian one, if one chooses the latter, one misses
out on nothing. 

M's note: the following dish is okay only if one substitutes
for the mushrooms 1/4 lb or more ground pork previously
sauteed with garlic, soy, and some hot pepper.

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.01

      Title: Vegetarian Ma Po Tofu
 Categories: Vegetarian, Chinese
      Yield: 2 servings

      6    Dried Chinese blk mushrooms     1 1/2 ts Cornstarch
      2    3 x 2 x 1-inch pieces tofu          1 ts Soy sauce
           - cut into 1/2-inch cubes         1/2 ts Oriental sesame oil
      8 c  Water                             1/2 ts Sugar
      1 tb Canned preserved vegetable        1/2 ts Ground white pepper
           --(Szechwan, minced)                2 tb Vegetable oil
           -- rinsed                         1/4 c  Finely chopped green onions
      5 tb Cold water                      1 1/2 tb Minced garlic
      2 tb Seasoned Vegetable Broth            2 ts Finely chopped fresh ginger
      4 ts Chili oil                         3/4 c  Fresh or frozen peas;
thawed
      1 tb Brown bean sauce                  1/4 ts Szechwan Peppercorn Powder

  Cover mushrooms with hot water and let stand 1 hour.  Drain; cut off stems.
  Rinse caps well; squeeze dry.  Cut into 1/8-inch dice.  Set aside.

  Place tofu in large sieve.  Bring 8 cups water to boil.  Pour into metal
  bowl just larger than sieve.  Place sieve gently in water.  Let tofu soak
  30 minutes.

  Drain tofu.  Mix mushrooms and preserved vegetable in medium bowl.  Mix 5
  tablespoons water and next 8 ingredients in small bowl.

  Heat vegetable oil in wok or heavy large skillet over high heat 1 minute.
  Add green onions, garlic and ginger and stir-fry 1 minute.  Add mushroom
  mixture and stir-fry 1 minute.  Stir broth mixture.  Add to wok with peas
  and stir-fry until sauce boils, about 1 minute.  Add tofu and toss gently
  to coat with sauce.  Cook 2 1/2 minutes, tossing gently.  Divide between
  plates.  Sprinkle Szechwan powder over (recipe follows).

  SZECHWAN PEPPERCORN POWDER:  (Makes about 4 teaspoons) Heat heavy frying
  pan or wok over medium-low heat 1 minute.  Add 1 tablespoon whole Szechwan
  peppercorns and stir until aromatic, about 4 minutes. Transfer to blender.
  Cool 10 minutes.  Blend to a fine powder. Store at room temperature.

  Source: Bon Appetit, November 1988. Typed for you by Karen Mintzias

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