Still oaring through the bog of cancer treatment. “I can’t complain about it, just gotta keep my balance/ And just keep dancing on it/ We getting funky on the scene/ And you know about it, like a star on the screen/ Watch me tip all on it. Baby whether you’re high or low, baby whether you’re high or low, you got to tip on the tightrope.” I’ve been humming and twizzling my toes to Janelle Monae’s Tightrope (for years, but of late, daily). It is a daily balancing act, with feel-good level and energy and nausea unpredictable.
We have had these weird little gecko lizards in New Orleans all summer flitting across the sidewalk from one grassy bourne to the other side, some ecosystem balance has tipped in their favor down here and we, the sidewalkers, are left to dance around them to avoid a sad crunch. Kermit the hound is particularly unnerved. Constant vigilance; you never know when a lizard might decide the grass is greener. Or when a white blood cell might choose immortality. Wouldn’t you, though, too?
Just got back from Minnesota for an infusion of reassurance and rest. Always wonderful to see the family up North!
Back down South, hitting round three of chemo this week and feeling love and well-fed, literally, by the dozens of porch guests flooding our stoop with casserole pans and tupperwares of deliciousness.
This latest installment of spicy Sichuan tofu with eggplant was gifted by Chelsea and JP who have had the most incredible eggplant harvest this fall, and snuck it into this recipe, which they so graciously shared.
Here they are featured on the left corner, with beautiful kiddos, and Chelsea next to me at our last Med/Psych Homes Tour—which happened to coincide with a Saints game. Woot.
Vegan Mapo Tofu
Adapted from The Food Lab at Serious Eats, prepared for Bake this Day by Jean-Pierre
4 whole dried woodear mushrooms (about 1/6 ounce)
1/4 ounce dried morel or porcini mushrooms, or a mix
1 (2-inch) piece of kombu
1 1/2 cups boiling water
6 ounces white button mushrooms, stems trimmed, quartered
1-2 diced medium sized eggplants
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns, one tablespoon left whole, the other toasted and ground in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle
2 whole dried Chinese hot chilies
3 garlic cloves grated on a microplane grater
1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated on a microplane grater
4 scallions, whites finely chopped, greens thinly sliced, reserved separately
12 chives, cut in 1/2-inch segments
3 tablespoons minced yacai (Chinese preserved mustard root)
2 tablespoons fermented chili broad bean paste
2 tablespoons roasted chili oil
1 1/2 pounds medium to firm silken tofu, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Combine dried mushrooms and kombu (if using) in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup and cover with water. Place a paper towel or kitchen towel directly on surface of water to keep mushrooms mostly submerged. Set aside for ten minutes to rehydrate.
Meanwhile, place button mushrooms in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until chopped into rough 1/4-inch pieces, about 6 to 8 one-second pulses. Combine chopped button mushrooms and oil in the bottom of a large wok. Heat over high heat, stirring constantly, until mushrooms are shriveled and well browned, 6 to 10 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer set over a small saucepan. Transfer fried mushrooms to a medium bowl and return oil to wok.
When dried mushrooms are rehydrated, strain through a fine mesh strainer set over a small bowl. Discard kombu. Discard all but 3/4 cups soaking liquid. Add cornstarch, wine, and soy sauce to liquid. Transfer drained mushrooms to a cutting board. Remove and discard hard central stems from woodear mushrooms, then finely chop all the mushrooms. Add to bowl with fried mushrooms.
Add whole Sichuan peppercorns and both chilis to oil in wok and return to high heat. Cook until fragrant and peppercorns have stopped sputtering. Do not overcook, or they will burn. Immediately strain through a fine mesh strainer, discard peppercorns and chilies, and return oil to wok.
Heat oil over high heat until lightly smoking. Add garlic, ginger, scallion whites, chives, and yacai (if using). Stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chopped mushrooms and stir-fry to combine. Add fermented chili broad bean paste and eggplant and stir until all the vegetables are well coated. Stir mushroom liquid mixture to incorporate cornstarch, then add to wok. Cook, stirring constantly, until lightly thickened and reduced, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add tofu and carefully fold in, trying not to break it.
Cook until tofu is heated through. Transfer to a serving platter, drizzle with chili oil, and top with scallions and ground Sichuan peppercorns. Serve immediately with white rice.
With my hound dog playing nurse these days, he is getting extra couch time. He sheds and so we are constantly vacuuming the furniture and Roombaing the floors to keep ahead of the fur blanket threating to bury the house. We love the couch cover strategy (in particular for the odor component, easy to wash!) and we were gifted these from The Slip Cover Company and the chevron is such a fit with our living room.
While couch bound, I love the company of tea and cocoa. Have been sampling gifted Moodbeli Bliss Booster, which is a cacao, cayenne and maca root powder—no added sugar—which I like best added to ginger green tea.
The maca root I was less familiar with, and from my reading, it is a Peruvian medicinal root that has been used in the Andes for three thousand years for all kinds of malaise. I’m more excited about the cacao for being a natural source of iron to help my sad little marrow. I can use all the Boostering I can get.
Another important tool to have around the house is a scale to monitor weight stability.
This scale gifted by Eat Smart Technology has an app that goes with it to remind you to weigh in and is synched to the scale through Bluetooth to generate charts for tracking.
And apparently there are hospital gowns for divas now. Tres Chic. Nice to have on hand for when you want your nurse to know you take being a patient seriously. Haha, thanks GiftGowns.
I’m drinking much less caffeine now, mostly lattes for the caloric density benefit! My mother and I LOVED these Nespresso-fitting Woken pods! So smooth, and with great flavor. And the pods are biodegradable, a must!
Products featured here are sponsored, thank you, thank you!