It's been a while since we've posted to our blog. Too many things have happened since April so we'll just say that it feels like the year has passed by even though it's only August.
Anyway, over a month ago I had the most fortunate encounter with figs. Yes, figs. They don't natively grow in the Philippines as far as I know but I remember those fig bars when I was a kid. I thought, those were sweet! A while back, my aunt had a fig tree growing in her yard so one summer, she asked me if I would take a bag of it's delicious fruits. She felt bad that some had already fallen because they were so ripe. Anyway, once I got home I fired up the oven and popped all of them in there. I only spread a bit of olive oil on their flesh (after running them through running cold water) and made a cross like mark on top. Once they were out of the oven, I drizzled a bit of honey on top and had a feast with the missus.
So last month, I saw a bunch of green figs in the fruit section of our local supermarket. I bought about ten or so pieces thinking I could have them for dessert sometime during the week. It was over a week before I realized I have yet to taste the figs again! So out the ref they came and rinsed in water. I basically did the same as last time but I added some crumbled gorgonzola cheese within the figs. Boy that was tasty. Too bad though it wasn't as sweet as I expected. Here is a picture of my dessert.
Now let's talk about yesterday. I had a pretty full schedule yesterday. I don't believe I stopped working on something at the office until just before I left for the day. So I wasn't looking forward to cooking dinner. Well, after putting away my bag, taking care of my chores, I looked in the ref. There was a lot of plastic in the there and I felt that I needed to cook the vegetables before they rotted. It's not a good feeling to be throwing all that good money away.
So, after a lot of cleaning, shaving, cutting and chopping, I produced three dishes. The first was my favorite spargel soup. The second was roasted asparagus, sweet onion and mushrooms. Finally, I made a veggie and tofu stir fry.
Here is how I did it.
Spargel Soup
1 bunch of asparagus (thick green stalks)
1/2 liter good stock (chicken preferably)
carrot tops or whatever leftover veggies you have
salt to taste
1. Bring your stock to a simmer.
2. Wash your asparagus stalks. Break them into two and that will separate the tough part from the tender area. Works every time. Set the tender stalks aside.
3. Peel the tough remainders. Chop them coarsely and add them to the stock.
4. Add the remainder of the vegetables to the soup.
5. Add salt. Taste a bit and add water or more stock if necessary.
6. After about 30 minutes, remove the soup from the stove and pour it into a blender. Puree the soup. You can add a bit of cream or milk if you like.
Roasted Veggies
1 bunch of tender asparagus stalks
1 package of mushrooms
1 Spanish Onion
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1. Fire up the grill or place your cast iron grill on the stove. Clean all your vegetables and make sure they are dry before you chop them.
2. Chop the onion into whatever size you like. Halve the mushrooms.
3. Toss the asparagus stalks in extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Do the same with the mushrooms.
4. Place vegetables on the grill. Rotate them once in a while.
5. After the onion pieces turn translucent, the mushrooms and asparagus shrink and char a bit, remove from the grill.
Stir Fry Vegetables and Tofu
1 package firm tofu
1 bunch of green beans (about 15 to 25 pieces)
1 bunch of carrots (about five long pieces)
1 green/red/yellow bell pepper (which ever one you like but not all three)
1/2 jalapeno (optional)
1/4 cup oyster sauce
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1. Clean your veggies.
2. Make 1/2 inch cubes out of the tofu.
3. Chop your green beans into 3/2 lengths. Peel your carrots and use the tops for the soup above. Chop them into disks. Chop the bell pepper into whatever shape you fancy but discard the top and all the seeds inside. Cut the jalapeno pepper into strips.
4. Heat up a wok. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Fry the tofu cubes. Once they are golden brown on most sides, remove from the wok and set aside.
5. Add another tablespoon of oil. Toss the carrots into the wok. Cook carrots until they are soft or about 10 - 15 minutes (depending on how thick you cut the disks). Remove from the wok.
6. Stir fry the bell pepper and cook until somewhat soft. It shouldn't be too crunchy to the bite or too soft that it falls apart when you pick them up. Remove from the wok also.
7. Add the last tablespoon of oil and the green beans. Coat them with the oil and cook them for about five minutes. Add all the cooked veggies and the tofu. Stir fry the ingredients for about 3 minutes and add the oyster sauce. Cook for another 2 minutes then remove from the fire and serve.
Well I hope you like this post. Give me some feedback if you try any of the recipes above.
