Author: Julz

Believe it or not, Marty and I have never visited a Japanese restaurant. We never went when we lived in Jersey, and until a few years ago, there wasn’t one where we lived in Vermont. 

We did try sushi when someone served it at their house, which they picked up from a restaurant. I ate it because that was how I was raised, but I didn’t like the nori or seaweed which is used to make a sushi roll.

We watch many travel food shows and like when the hosts visit food stalls in various countries. That’s when I started craving chicken yakitori.

Every country has its own version of yakitori, which means roasted bird on a stick. It started hundreds of years ago as a poor man’s food since off-cuts and organs were used. 

When yakitori became more popular with tourists and businessmen, better cuts of chicken were used. Today, behind sushi, yakitori is one of the most popular Japanese foods.

Traditionally, chicken yakitori has bite-size cuts of chicken on a skewer with pieces of spring onion in between. The skewer is cooked over a charcoal fire and basted with a special sauce called tare.

The ingredients in tare sauce are simple; soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, and sake or Asian cooking wine. Super simple and very delicious.

After researching the dish, I made my first batch of chicken yakitori and haven’t stopped thinking about it since we had it on Monday night. 

I used chicken thighs for my skewers and followed how to cut the pieces and fold them in half, forming a downward C on the skewer.

I alternated with the spring onion whites; however, I’ll use more next time since the grilled scallions were so delicious. 

I made the tare sauce and marinated the skewers with half of the sauce. The rest I used to baste the skewers as they cooked. 

I used a veggie grill tray that I sprayed with pan spray, and the skewers did not stick or cook too quickly.

I kept turning the skewers like I saw the food stall vendors do; I basted them after every turn. 

I checked the temps and took them off the grill when they were at least 165 degrees. I was super careful not to overcook those babies.

I served the yakitori with thinly sliced flat iron steak and Japanese sweet potatoes with a garlicky, sweet lime compound butter to melt on top. The combo of the two is amazing.

When I tasted the yakitori, a loud mmmmm sound came out of my mouth. It was as good as it looked on tv! 

The skewers were moist and tasty. The sauce was perfectly balanced sweet, salty, and sour with lots of umami flavor. The grilled scallions, forget about it; they were spectacular.

Here is the fantastic, easy-to-follow recipe I used to make the Yakitori.

Trimming the boneless chicken thighs and cutting them into pieces took a little time, but can be done ahead. 

Threading the chicken and scallions on the skewers was fun and didn’t take long at all. The total cook time on the grill was about 8 minutes. 

What else can I say about yakitori? I already purchased two packages of chicken thighs and put them in the freezer so I can make them again whenever I want to. 

I know many folks like to grill but get stuck in a rut of making the same things repeatedly. Yakitori is delicious food to grill and serve, along with other skewered meats and vegetables. 

Guests will love it; eating anything off a stick is always fun, from salads to desserts. My favorite is caprese skewers dipped in a balsamic glaze.

Fruit salad skewers are also light and refreshing, with endless possibilities.

Caesar salad skewers are easy to make and fun; surprising people, such a thing can be done. Here’s a link to how to make them.

My writing buddies this morning soaking up the early morning sunshine.

That’s it from here. We are in summer spätzle mode and using our spare time to enjoy the pool. The water is in the 90s; yes, it’s still refreshing, trust me. 

We are also enjoying the flowers and veggie beds, having coffee cocktails on the front porch, grilling and eating on the deck, and most of all, we are all head of heels in love with Nelly.

The week of dry hot days and cool nights has been wonderful, but we desperately need some rain. 

Happy Friday & have a great weekend!

I don’t usually write about what I make for lunch, but I started thinking about lunch this morning while making spätzle batter. There was a salad recipe I’d been wanting to try, and today was the day.

We have been eating our main meal at lunchtime and having smaller, lighter dinners. We go to bed earlier now since Nelly joined the family and would rather digest heavier foods like meats for the rest of the day instead of an hour before shut-eye.

I saved a recipe for a beet salad that sounded delicious. I had all the ingredients for the salad except for the arugula, which was no big deal.

I’ve said it a million times not to shit-can a recipe if you don’t want to tackle something big or not have an insignificant ingredient.

These are the kind of beets I used that I found at a discount food store, but you can use fresh or canned as well. I used them straight from the package and didn’t roast them as the recipe suggests.

I cut the beets larger than the recipe calls for, then coated them with a balsamic vinaigrette. Next, I added chopped pecans, dried cranberries, and feta cheese. I cut the pecans too small; next time, I won’t.

Here is the link to the recipe I used to make the beet salad. This is a great place to start if you aren’t a beet person or don’t know what to do with them. It’s sweet, salty, sour, tangy, creamy, crunchy, and chewy from the cranberries.

Now for the burger that I chose as the protein to go with the salad. I thought about what I had on hand to put on the burger. The best part about burger toppings is there are endless possibilities. I came up with what I called a Frenchie Burger!

We had some mushrooms that needed to be used, and some leftover Swiss cheese. I sautéed the mushrooms and added some tarragon and cognac. I know that’s fancy for lunch, but why not? Honestly, it only took an extra minute.

Marty grilled the burgers, then we spread them with Dijon mustard and melted the Swiss cheese on top. Finally, we topped it with the tarragon cognac mushrooms. OMG! Yum!

The way I made the beet salad today is a perfect side dish, or you can make it like the recipe and have a delicious salad. Not a fan of arugula? Use different greens or lettuce of your choice.

It was an easy salad since I used ready-to-eat beets; I know I would not make it if I had to roast and peel them. Some recipes are worth the time and energy to follow, and some are not.

Have a good night and for fucks sake, cover up your plants and flowers tonight if you live around here; it’s going to freeze again tonight! Hopefully, this is the final FU from Mother Nature for gardeners and retail suppliers. 😜🖕

My own veggie bean burger topped with mushroom bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and In & Out Burger animal sauce.

Marty and I moved to Vermont back in 1989. We wanted to escape the rat race, traffic, too many people, and, most importantly, my mother. 

New Jersey was making me psychically sick. My gastroenterologist, Dr. Wolfman, told me I’d have a colostomy bag by age thirty if I stayed in such a hostile and stressful environment. 

We got this bacon from a pop-up vendor at the Troy Farmers Market. I was skeptical, but it tasted like bacon and had a great texture.

We moved to a place where transplants aren’t liked or accepted readily by Vermonters, especially in South Londonderry, where we first landed. We found that out fast. We lived there for four years, and the Vermonters still hated us. 

We began to work out like maniacs for something to do. Our landlords were lovely transplants but were in a different place than we were. They had a baby while we wanted to go out to a bar or dance. Yes, there was dancing in Manchester back in the day. 

Coconut-crusted tofu instead of coconut shrimp.

We quickly discovered that Vermont was a costly place to live. I made $5.05 an hour, a drastic, catastrophic pay decrease. Rent was the same price as Jersey, and so was car insurance, fuel to heat with, and food. It was crazy! 

We were broke and lived hand to mouth but in a beautiful, stress-free environment that agreed with my ulcerative colitis. I was homesick; I needed to keep reminding myself why we moved to Vermont in the first place.

Beans and rice.

Since we were workout nut jobs, we decided to eat healthier and become vegetarians. Not only would this be better for Marty’s hereditary high cholesterol, but also for our grocery shopping budget.

Going vegetarian was a great idea; the problem was neither of us knew how to be suitable vegetarians. I was new at cooking and had no clue what to make or buy. I worked when the local library was open, so taking out a vegetarian book was a no-go.

We wandered the grocery store aimlessly but came home with the same foods each week. I can’t remember what we had for our lunches at work for the life of me.

We lived on oatmeal, cereal, rice, and pasta. We burned off all those carbs in a snap by working out and having incredible metabolisms. 

Tofu Italian cutlets two ways. As a sandwich with roasted red peppers and fresh mozzarella cheese topped with basil aioli, and tofu parm for lunch the next day. Both were outrageously good!

We ate very little fat or protein. We ate veggie burgers, peanut butter, and egg white omelets with cheese. We ate no legumes and little to no vegetables or fruit except bananas. 

I still find it amazing that so many vegetarians and vegans do the same thing as we did. It’s an oxymoron, for sure! 

We were in great shape, and our bodies were terrific, but we weren’t eating as healthy as we thought and didn’t drink any water except during our workouts.

Soft scrambled eggs with chives and avocado and a French omelet with a toasted bagel.

Eventually, we made friends and started making a little bit more money. We got on a fuel plan for heat and saved up each week to go out for drinks and bar snacks with friends. 

At some point, neither knew how badly each was craving meat. I would drool just thinking about it. I always thought about eating beef, pork, chicken, and shrimp.

Finally, I fessed up and told Marty, and he said, “Hallelujah!” We went to the Sirloin Saloon that night and ordered steak. It was the most delicious piece of meat we ever ate.

We were both sick after eating meat that first night. That was it for being vegetarians, and since we were both working many hours and had friends to hang out with, we stopped working out. 

Eating and working out became our unhealthy obsession, and we were relieved to stop. We gained a bit of weight back, but we were happier. 

For the last couple of years, I’ve been trying to introduce more meatless meals and vegetables into our diet. 

Learning how to cook with cauliflower made meatless meals easy and delicious. I wrote a blog piece all about cauliflower a couple of years ago. Here is the link if you are interested in checking it out. 

It’s different this time, eating vegetarian meals. We are eating vegetables and other sources of protein like beans and tofu. We love apple slices with peanut butter as a snack. I can’t wait for summer fruit to be in season!

Becoming a great cook has allowed me to be creative and explore the vegetarian world with fantastic results. I research recipes and read blog posts to educate myself.

Crostini topped with garlic-whipped ricotta and blistered tomatoes, garlic, basil, and crushed red pepper. Our favorite!

The vegetarian food I am experimenting with makes us not miss meat on those meatless nights one bit and look forward to them. Don’t let me fool you; Marty and I still indulge in our favorite meats, but only about 50% of the time. 

We find it much easier to eat lighter and healthier during warmer weather. I am very good about staying hydrated during the day, which I found is better for my skin, and I am not tired. 

We are eager to plant our raised vegetable garden beds in the next week since it’s still cold at night here in Vermont. 

Every year, I planted everything on Mother’s Day, and I ran around like a fucking idiot covering everything due to frost. I’ve finally learned that lesson.

I look forward to trying more vegetarian dishes this summer, plus there are a hundred to make during fall and winter. As soon as I nail down these recipes and write them, I’ll share them with you.

Have a great week, guys!

When you read the title, “Chocolate Cream Pie,” and see the photo, you may be thinking about a blog post l wrote less than two weeks ago.

I wrote that Marty and I had a goal to eat healthier. We want to introduce more vegetarian dishes, and salads for dinner. Like how I learned to use cauliflower to replace meat in some of our favorite dishes, I want to do the same with tofu.

Many of the recipes I am making and writing are vegetarian but can be easily adapted for vegans. If you are vegan, I am sure you already know what substitutes you can use.

It all started with a gluten-free graham cracker pie crust I bought and some silken tofu. All the recipes I looked at were vegan, so I adapted my version to fit our eating lifestyle.

Some of the recipes were lengthy, and some were simple. Some had to be baked; some were no-bake. Many recipes were for vegan cheesecake; I’ve written many times not to go out and buy special ingredients for one recipe; either adapt it or don’t make it. That’s how I roll.

I began looking at chocolate cream pie recipes using tofu. I took ideas from some recipes and made my own. Luckily, I wrote it down.

The no-bake chocolate cream pie was to die for; I’m not kidding. I am not a huge dessert eater, but I thought about this pie all week; it was that good.

I was skeptical while making the filling, but when I tasted it before pouring it into the pie crust, I knew I had a home run!

I was shocked at how delicious it was and how few ingredients I used. I topped my pie with whipped cream but coconut whipped cream can also be used.

I remade the pie again, making my gluten-free graham cracker crust. I wondered how good it would be to use gluten-free cookies of your choice, like chocolate chip or sugar cookies?Of course, you can use a ready-made crust too.

I made the pie for Cinco de Maya last Friday night. I add cinnamon to the crust for a more Mexican feel. I should have added a bit of cayenne pepper, but I didn’t. Oh well, it was still sensational!

We were having our friend chef Martin and his lady friend Alexandra over for dinner; I was eager for Martin to try it without telling him what I used. I never saw Martin eat much dessert, but the slice of pie was gone in three bites!

He kept saying how light and creamy it was. It was a textbook-perfect chocolate cream pie. I told him what the ingredients were and he was surprised and impressed. He never would have know it was made with tofu.

While I was researching for this blog post, I looked up the nutritional values of whipped cream vs coconut cream. The nutritional values are very similar. The only real difference is, one is vegan.

I also researched the nutritional values of a traditional chocolate cream pie vs the tofu version. I am not going to tell you the actual numbers, just the number differences.

Why? For the same reason why I hate going to Five Guys and seeing the calories for the fries I ordered starring me right smack in the face on the menu board.

I love french fries but gluten-free ones are hard to find. Five Guys are one of the only chain restaurants that have gluten-free fries, which is why we go when we are on the road, but seeing the calories makes me feel guilty, even if it is a treat.

Back to the pies, the difference between the two pies comes in as follows, with tofu scoring lower in all categories. Here are the most important numbers for me. The tofu pie for one slice has 95 fewer calories, 10 grams less fat, 10 grams less cholesterol, and 6 fewer total carbs.

What can make a healthier version of this pie would be to not top the whole pie with either whipped cream or coconut cream. You can just add a small dollop to each piece with a little shaved chocolate on top when serving.

I like the dollop idea and will make the pie that way the next time I make the tofu chocolate cream pie. I’ll never make a chocolate cream pie the traditional way again since this recipe is so much easier and healthier.

Ok, guys, here’s my recipe. I will include the whipped cream and coconut versions at the end of the recipe. I hope you guys try it; I already know you’ll love it. ♥️

No-bake tofu chocolate cream pie

Ingredients

For the cookie or graham cracker crust

2 cups of regular or gluten-free graham crackers or cookie crumbs
1/3 cup sugar if using graham crackers (sugar is not necessary if using cookies)
6 tbsp melted butter

For the chocolate filling

1 package of 15-16 oz package of silken tofu.
1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
A pinch of kosher salt

Directions

Crush the graham crackers or cookies in a food processor or using a rolling pin and a zip-lock-style bag. Measure 2 cups of the crumbs and add to a bowl. Add the sugar if using graham crackers, and mix with the crumbs. Leave out the sugar if you wish.

Melt the butter and add to the crumb mixture. Stir until all the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs into a 9-inch pie plate, going up the sides as well. Place in the refrigerator while making the filling.

Melt the chocolate chips in a double-boiler or a bowl over a simmering pot of water. Add the tofu, melted chocolate, vanilla, and salt in a blender.

Blend until the tofu and chocolate resemble chocolate pudding, ensuring all the specs of tofu are gone.

Pour into the crust and place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. It isn’t necessary to cover it with plastic like pudding; no skin will form.

Toppings

For the whipped cream

1 cup of cold heavy cream
2 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream, confectioners sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until medium-stiff peaks form. Do not over-whip, or you’ll end up with butter.

Immediately spoon the whipped cream onto the chilled and firm chocolate filling. Shave or grate any chocolate of your choice if you wish.

For the coconut cream

1 can 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
1 tbsp of confectioners sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Place the can of coconut milk into the refrigerator for 2 days. Chill the mixing bowl and beater or whisk for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Open the can of coconut milk and scoop out the hardened coconut cream into the chilled mixing bowl. Discard, drink, or do whatever you wish with the coconut water.

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whip the coconut cream on medium speed for one minute. Add the confectioners sugar, and vanilla. Whip for an additional minute until it’s smooth and creamy. Do not over-whip.

Immediately spoon the coconut cream onto the chilled and firm chocolate filling. Shave or grate any chocolate of your choice if you wish.

Makes 8 servings