Wingdings and tofu

America's love of chicken wings has grown during the pandemic. At the chain Wingstop, sales went up 60% this year.  No wonder. Wings are great for home delivery, not to mention feeding families sitting around watching television.

I made the classic Frank's Hot Sauce wing recipe last week.  No marinating, no basting, so simple. Just roast the wings naked until crispy and tender, then dip them piping hot into a mixture of Frank's Hot Sauce and melted butter. Serve up the delicious mess.  I think the ratio was one part butter and three parts sauce. The recipe is all over the Internet. 

Honestly, I've tried complicated wing recipes and this one beats all if you're in the mood for some comfort food.  Just don't substitute another hot sauce (like Tabasco) for the distinctive, vinegary, just-spicy-enough Franks.

Upping my game a bit, I found a recipe for "Crispy Tofu with Cashews and Blistered Vegetables" in the New York Times section "What to Cook this Week." Hint: the NYT food editors have a different notion of simple, one pan, weeknight meals.

 

 

The first step involves frying tofu slabs to a nice golden brown. This takes patience and much longer than the 4 minutes stated in the recipe.

Then, sear the fresh vegetables in the same super hot pan, salt and drizzle with rice vinegar, chopped scallions and fresh mint. Set that aside and tackle the reduction sauce. 

Reduction sauce, on a weeknight?

Anyway. Saute finely minced garlic, ginger (thanks, John) then add soy sauce, a touch of molasses (!) and can of coconut milk. You can imagine the richness of a coconut milk reduction. All this extravagance for a slab of humble, healthy tofu!

Finally, when the sauce turns thick and creamy, stir in the tofu and cashews. Serve with the vegetables and some sort of grain, like rice. Oops, that's a second pot to wash.

I had the leftovers for lunch. It was good, although maybe not worth all the trouble.

Oh, I had a nice day yesterday, so busy and enjoyable, just like an ordinary day in the Before Time. A haircut to last another couple months, a walk along the beach with a friend in the waning sunshine, then a new battery installed in my car at Les Schwab in 30 minutes flat. All good.

Today it is raining and I mean raining.  Seattle should get an inch or so from this Pineapple Express.  The first full day of fall, and it sure feels it.