Gourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker - Lynn Alley [19]
In a blender, combine the onion, garlic, ginger, chile, ½ cup of the cilantro, sugar, and coconut milk. Blend until it forms a smooth green paste, then add salt to taste.
Once the squash is tender, pour in the sauce and continue cooking just until heated through, 20 to 30 minutes.
Serve garnished with the remaining ¼ cup cilantro leaves and the Thai basil.
SUGGESTED BEVERAGE: A nice crisp, off-dry white wine would be lovely here.
JAPANESE-STYLE BRAISED TOFU
Serves 4
Even my meat-eating friends, quietly polite when invited to a dinner featuring tofu, rave about this one. It is easy and delicious and contains flavors traditionally considered typical of both Japanese-and Korean-style cooking. Serve over brown rice.
¼ cup white miso paste
¼ cup tamari or low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon honey
1 pound extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into ½-inch slices
½ pound fresh spinach leaves
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted, for garnish
1 green onion, thinly sliced, for garnish
Combine the miso paste, tamari, sesame oil, water, and honey in a soup bowl or shallow dish.
Carefully coat each slice of tofu in the sauce and then lay it in the slow cooker insert, being careful not to break it. Pour the sauce over the top of the tofu.
Cover and cook on low for about 4 hours, or until the tofu is hot all the way through and saturated in sauce.
Just before serving, add the spinach to the slow cooker insert, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes more, or until the spinach is thoroughly wilted.
Carefully remove the spinach and slices of tofu from the slow cooker and place a few slices on each plate. Garnish with the sesame seeds and sliced green onion and serve hot.
SUGGESTED BEVERAGE: Some delicious, light, aromatic white like a Sauvignon Blanc or a Gewürztraminer would be nice. Or something with bubbles. Or the standard beer.
Italy
CRACKED WHEAT BERRIES WITH HONEY AND RICOTTA
RISOTTO WITH LENTILS
POLENTA LASAGNA WITH TOMATO-MUSHROOM SAUCE
BARLEY, MUSHROOM, AND ONION SOUP
POLENTA GNOCCHI IN TOMATO SAUCE
TUSCAN WHITE BEANS WITH SAGE AND GARLIC
FONDUTA PIEMONTESE
RED WINE AND CHERRY RISOTTO
Italy, like France and Greece, has a wonderful repertoire of hours-long, oven-baked dishes, many of them based, like all peasant cuisines, on grains, fruits, and vegetables. There are two Italian specialities in particular that lend themselves well to the slow cooker: polenta and risotto. Made the traditional way, both dishes require that the cook stand over the pot and watch, stirring fairly constantly for long periods of time, making sure the dish comes out smooth.
However, thanks to the gentle, even heating provided by the slow cooker, polenta can be put in the pot with an appropriate amount of water and walked away from for 6 to 7 hours. Maybe you’d like to stir it once or twice, but basically, it prepares itself. To my mind, polenta is such a versatile food that it can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and sauced with any number of sweet or savory ingredients. Using it as a component in the Polenta Lasagna recipe is only one of many ways it can be served. Try using it as a breakfast cereal topped with milk and honey. Or try mounding it on a plate and topping it with some of the Tomato-Mushroom Sauce and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Risotto, too, when made the traditional way, takes careful watching. However, the slow cooker makes the preparation of risotto a snap. Place the rice and water in the slow cooker insert, set on low, and walk away for a couple of hours. Put your feet up. Have a glass of wine. Watch a movie. Come back and enjoy a delicious, nourishing plate of Risotto with Lentils.
Another of the slow cooker’s strengths is the gentle melting of cheese and wine for fondue, as in the Fonduta Piemontese. And cleanup is a breeze.
WINE WITH ITALIAN FOOD
My first introduction to Italian wines came from master sommelier Edmund Osterland, the first American to qualify in France as a master sommelier.