Extra Strength Vegetarian Lard

My mom gave me her old Griswold cast-iron frying pan. I am quite honored. She got it when she was first married - in 1946. She says it is just too heavy for her to lift anymore.

I wonder how many meals I ate that were made in that pan. Pork chops, meaty spaghetti sauce that was cooked for hours, pineapple upside down cake...

The problem is that it has lost its seasoning and is a tad rusty. After consulting a bunch of online sources, it seems the best way to season cast iron is with a heavy fat. Most sites recommend lard or suet and cautioned against vegetable oils, which can apparently break down and become sticky.

My vegetarian soul rebelled at the thought of smearing pig or beef fat on my cookware. First, I would have to go buy some and end up wasting a lot, since I wouldn't have any other use for it. Then my kitchen would smell like cooked animal grease, which I find pretty revolting.

Finally I found a website that mentioned a perfect solution - palm oil! I knew they were selling it at Whole Foods, so I picked some up. It is the stuff that they used to cook theater popcorn in until some guy who had had a heart attack took out full-page ads in the NY Times claiming it would kill you because it was so saturated.

The dude is right about the saturated part. It makes beef fat look light and fluffy.

From the Pritikin website:

Jeff Novick, MS, RD, LV/N, Director of Nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Aventura, Florida: "All these tropical oils are highly saturated fats. Like butter, cheese, and meat, tropical oils raise LDL cholesterol and clog arteries with plaque, increasing your risk of a heart attack."


"In fact, tropical oils can have more cholesterol-raising saturated fat than even butter," emphasizes Jeff. Coconut oil is 92% saturated, making it more saturated than butter, beef tallow, or even lard. Palm oil, though it contain less saturated fat (50%), is full of a type of saturated fat, palmitic acid, which appears to be most conducive to heart disease.

I tasted it and it left a nice greasy coating in my mouth that rivalled the last time I ate a piece of bacon ( I did it to freak my friend Steve out - he was tormenting me about being a veg about 5 years ago and I just reached over and ate a piece of his bacon. It was worth it just for the horrified look on his face.)

I will go try to season the pan and let you know how it comes out.

A Cooking Public Service Announcement

Sharpen your knife.
It will improve your quality of life.

Angeli Caffe, Los Angeles

Here's the problem: I am a culinary adventurer who loves to try new things. I am partnered with a Capricorn who would go to Jerry's Deli every time we go out if he had his way. So we compromise. I choke down Jerry's every once in a while, (why does everyt dish on their thousand-item menu taste EXACTLY the same?) ignoring the food while enjoying the large comfy booths, and he indulges my forays into weirdness for the occasional gem I uncover.

After 3 years of going to Louise's Trattoria he finally consented to go to Angeli Caffe on Melrose. I had been wanting to go there for ages and now wonder why I waited so long.

The food was soooo good, and it has the added feature of being right across the street from the Groundlings improv comedy theater where many fine comedic actors like Mike Myers, Lisa Kudrow, Pee-Wee Herman and Phil Hartman got their start.

I didn't take photos. I still have a hard time with taking photos of my food in a public place. I love to look at others' photos of restaurant meals, so I suppose I should get over my reticence.

What we ate:
A perfectly thin-crusted pizza margherita
Minestrone (Jim & Greg)
A nice arugula salad with oil-cured black olives (Me)
Penne with sausage (Greg)
Risotto with clams (Jim)
Feather-light sundried tomato gnocchi (Me) - they were so gravity-defying they practically floated an inch off the plate.
Spinach and Broccoli rabe sauteed with garlic (all of us)

My version of Groundnut Stew

Yam Curry
Originally uploaded by suebobdavis.

Adventures with Black Cardamom

My friend Jack will never live down the time I asked him to dinner and he said "What are you cooking? More stewed vegetable matter?" I was pretty mad. I mean, I invite him to dinner and he insults my cooking? I had to remember that Jack really, really loves a nice slab of flesh food and didn't have the same fine appreciation for veggies that I have developed.

Tonight I made stewed vegetable matter for dinner, and if I must say so myself, it turned out pretty good.

I was determined to use some black cardamom pods I had gotten during my Penzey's adventure, and they said it figured in African curries.

Deciding to fly by the seat of my pants without a recipe, I made yam curry with tofu and almond butter. There is an African dish called "Groundnut Stew" that uses ground peanuts or peanut butter, depending on whose version you make, and this was my take on that.

One of the great annoyances of getting older is that you sometimes develop intolerances to certain foods. As of about 2 years ago, peanuts began to disagree with me. Not one of those life-threatening allergy things, just a certain queasiness...So I made this with almond butter, which added a nice smooth nutty richness.

Yam Curry with Tofu and Almond Butter
1 tsp cumin seeds, lightly crushed
1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
2 tsp black mustard seeds
3 Tbsp vegetable oil

In a heavy pot over medium high heat, heat oil, put in seeds and leave until the mustard seeds begin popping.

1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp turmeric
4 black cardamom pods, lightly crushed and contained in a tea ball
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1/2 tsp cumin
Add spices to pot and stir for a few minutes until they release fragrance and separate back from the oil.

2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
Add to pot and saute a few minutes

1 cake firm tofu, pressed with a weight on top for about half an hour to remove excess water and diced.
Add to pot and saute a few minutes

1/2 sweet red bell pepper, diced
about 3 cups yams cut in 1/2 inch dice
Add to pot and continue sauteing for another 5 minutes or so

1 15-oz can peeled and diced tomatoes
3 Tbsp almond butter
Add to pot, cook until yams are soft or until you feel like eating.

I served this with fresh corn cut off the cob and packaged frozen parathas (cooked, of course). The black cardamom adds just a hint of mysterious smoky camphor flavor. You might not notice it unless you were looking for it.