Spicy Sweet Popcorn

Okay kids you gotta try this.

Pop some plain popcorn. I do mine on the stove top but microwaveable would work too, as long as you get the plain or natural variety. I made enough to loosely fill a 9x13 cake pan. I let the popcorn cool and sprinkled it with salt. While the popcorn was cooling I heated my oven to about 400.

Then I dumped about a 1/3 cup maple syrup (the real kind) into a skillet. I added in a few sprinkles of cayenne powder and a dash of dijon mustard. I brought the syrup up to a boil and let it bubble for a few minutes. It should thicken.

Then, I carefully drizzled the syrup mixture over my popcorn while shaking the pan. I popped the pan into the oven for 5 minutes then blasted the heat for an additional minute.

I transferred my creation to an oven safe bowl shaking and separating the popcorn as much as possible. It was still a little sticky so I put the bowl in the still hot but quickly cooling oven for another 5 minutes. I was pretty concerned with burning the popcorn. There is probably a better technique for the cooking, but this worked for me. And the flavors. ZOMG. Sweet. Salt. Spice. Highly addictive.

Tofu Curry from Heaven

I finally got around to cooking in my new kitchen, and man, was this dish a excellent place to start. I still have no idea how to cook for one. I guess I'll learn to embrace leftovers. This would serve two.
Here's what I did.

Last night, I stuck a brick of extra firm tofu in my freezer in a zipped bag. This morning, I dunked the bag into a bowl of lukewarm water to let it thaw. I've heard good things about freezing and thawing tofu before cooking it to make it more sponge-like. It worked really well for me. It was also easier to press with its new texture.

I squeezed the water out of my tofu and sliced it in half. Half went back into the fridge for later and half became little tofu cubes.

I sliced up a green bell pepper and an unidentified red pepper from someone's garden. They had both been sitting in my fridge in green bags struggling, I imagine, not to rot. I investigated them thoroughly to make sure they weren't decaying. I tossed them in a pan. Added some oil.

I broke a chunk of that curry mix solid weirdness that you see in grocery stores. I put that in the pan and added some water. Maybe a 1/3 of cup for those who measure.

I dumped in some yummy fatty coconut milk. I used less than half of the can.

Then I assessed my spices. I sprinkled in cayenne powder. Curry powder. Garlic powder. Onion powder. Some garlic chili paste I found in the fridge. A touch of sesame oil. A touch of soy sauce. I stirred for a while, tasting, testing, sprinkling. I got the sauce to a flavor and thickness that had me weak in the knees. Then I added in my tofu cubes. I let them simmer, soaking up the deliciousness.

I added some oil to a second pan. I pulled out my tofu cubes, now ripe with curry goodness, and pan fried them until they were golden brown.

While I was at this, I remembered that I had some peanuts in the freezer. I pulled out a handful, chopped them up, and added them to the pan.

I added my tofu back into the pan, stirred, tasted, added a little more water and a little more coconut milk.

I can't wait to eat my leftovers tomorrow. It was sweet and spicy and the texture of the tofu was pretty much my personal best ever.

Sunday date with the boyfriend

While it's lame that I never have anyone to cook for anymore, Brad's weekend visits (and his new income) give us reason to celebrate with a date night pretty much every Sunday. This week we went to Hunan Lion for some of the best Chinese we've had in the city. I had the Hunan Bean Curd and vegetables, pictured above, and the ass kicking mai thai, pictured below. The service there was surprisingly good and the restaurant itself was much fancier than the outside suggests. Next time I'll dress up. I'm really enjoying my new neighborhood. Northern Columbus suits me far better than south campus. However, I'm within dangerous striking distance of fatty temptations like Honey Dip Donuts, whose 1970's-esque sign triggers a sugar craving in me every time I see it.