this and that

This and That February 2008

You don’t think of going to a spa and eating more than you ever have. But that’s exactly what happened to me in December at Rancho La Puerta, a fitness ranch just south of San Diego in Tecate, Mexico. I was invited to teach some healthy cooking classes, but ended up learning more than I could have imagined from the ranch’s chef, Jesús González. His dishes demonstrate that good food and healthy food aren’t mutually exclusive. You can experience his mole sauce and hot chocolate on page 10.

Nina Simonds demonstrates this as well with her healthy Asian dishes featuring tofu. On page 17, we show how to make Simonds’ barbecued tofu that will make a tofu convert out of anyone. And on page 8, we sneak silken tofu into chocolate tarts, perfect for Valentine’s Day. We’re also celebrating mustard with a hearty corned beef and cabbage salad with a mustard vinaigrette, perfect for St. Patrick’s day around the corner.

By the way, if you want to see my Rancho La Puerta cooking class menu, which included salmon with chimichurri sauce and a gratin of potatoes, go to relishmag.com/rancho

Perfect Mole
MOH-lay is a rich, dark, reddish-brown sauce that starts with toasted almonds, peanuts, chiles, cinnamon, sesame seeds and corn tortillas blended with Mexican chocolate and tomato sauce. It’s perfect with chicken, enchiladas or just chips. There are as many variations of this Mexican sauce as there are cooks, and recipes are generally passed down from generation to generation. For our recipe, click here.

Plum Good
The latest food to undergo an extreme makeover is prunes. In attempts to bolster their image, marketers changed their name from prunes to dried plums, which is, in fact, what they are. We’re not sure what effect this had on prune sales, but if it had anything to do with the new plum juice that came across our desks, it’s a good thing. Marketed as PlumSmart, it’s worlds different from the prune juice of our youth. It tastes and looks more like cranberry or cherry juice than thick, dark prune juice and is actually a mix of plum juice and grape juice. It also has some fiber added for 3 grams per 8 ounces. Look for it at your supermarket.

Five-Spice Powder
Used extensively in Chinese cooking, this spice consists of five ground spices: cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, star anise and szechuan peppercorns. It has a distinctive taste that’s slightly sweet. See our Five-Spice Soba Noodles on page 16.