I can't stop eating the cinnamon-raisin-walnut bread I made yesterday. It's light and airy, with a nice sweetness to it. Makes excellent toast. I didn't have any instant yeast, so I used active dry and activated it in part of the water called for in the recipe. The most delicious part is that I brushed the top with melted butter and sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar. Yum!

Tomorrow I'm going to Bed Bath and Beyond and will investigate pizza stones or ceramic tiles so I can make hearth breads like French bread and ciabatta. I also have to buy supplies at N.Y. Cake and Baking for my brother's rehearsal-dinner cake. He emailed me to tell me that my cake (yellow cake with lemon-strawberry filling) might be too similar to the wedding cake, so now I am re-thinking my plans. Maybe chocolate cake? I wish I wasn't doing it at all... and I am SO relieved that I didn't volunteer to do the wedding cake.

Chip and I are making ice cream with our new ice cream maker this weekend. We bought this one, but reconditioned. Only $19.99! Chip wants green tea ice cream, his favorite, but after I found relatively inexpensive vanilla beans at the Co-Op, I would be happy with vanilla. I think at BB&B, we'll also get an extra freezer bowl thingie, so we can make two batches, back to back.

Other than that, not much is new. I leave on Thursday and in a way I feel like I'm on top of my workload, but probably I'll be panicking next week. When I get back, I am going to pitch a little appetizer book to the company that I did the olive-oil booklet for. I'm also going to try to come up with some good story ideas for some consumer mags... maybe I'll find some good ideas in Santa Fe?

There have been some (well, one) requests for the miso-tofu dip that I made last night. So I thought I'd post it here for whoever is interested.

Miso-Tofu Dip and Vinaigrette
12 ounce package soft tofu

3 T cider vinegar

3 T fresh lemon juice

1 T miso

2 t garlic, minced (one large clove)

2 t ginger, grated

1 t honey

2 t umeboshi paste (optional)

fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, chopped, as needed for garnish


Blend all ingredients in a food processor or with an immersion blender until creamy. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Note
To make this recipe into a vinaigrette, reduce the amount of tofu to 4 ounces (1/2 cup) and after blending all ingredients, add one cup extra-virgin olive oil in a steady stream while whisking or blending the tofu mixture.

My dinner party last night went great!

When my guests arrived, I served them wasabi soy nuts, tamari almonds, and vegetable sticks with miso-tofu dip (basically tofu seasoned with miso, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, honey, rice wine vinegar, and toasted sesame oil).

The main course was tuna that I'd marinated in ponzu sauce, tamari sauce and a little ginger, then crusted with sesame and seared on high heat in canola oil. I accompanied it with bok choi that I blanched and then sauteed in olive oil with salt and pepper, and cold sesame noodles. The noodles were AWESOME, though I didn't think there was enough sauce. The sauce is easy to make-- just sesame paste (tahini), toasted sesame oil, a little sugar, vinegar and hot sesame oil. I tossed in and garnished with some diced cucumbers.

And for dessert, ginger creme brulee. HeeJai had given me a little butane blow-torch and I finally found butane for it. I couldn't figure out how to fill it, though, so it just kept running out of butane and the flame would die. But I got it to work long enough to caramelize the sugar on my brulees.

I'm reading The Man Who Ate Everything by Jefferey Steingarten, the food columnist for Vogue (who knew there was a food columnist in that magazine?!). The first chapter is about his obsession with making bread. I don't even come close to how fanatical he got about bread. Speaking of which, I think it's time to make another recipe. My multigrain is almost gone. Perhaps tomorrow I'll try one of Reinhart's other recipes. I'm thinking of cinnamon-raisin bread, perhaps.

Tonight is Girls Night. I decided to go with the sesame tuna steaks, along with sesame noodles and sauteed Bok Choi. For a starter, I'm going to make a miso vinaigrette that we can dip vegetables in, and also get some fun Asian snacks like wasabi soy nuts, etc. And for dessert, I'll make green tea creme brulee (or maybe ginger creme brulee? yum!). HeeJai bought me a little butane torch for my graduation, but I've been unable to find the cartridges for it.

I'm starting to panic a little... I leave next Thursday and have 3 or 4 stories that I need to get done before then. Not to mention all my personal stuff. And I have to take Chip to buy a suit for the wedding!