The T word

It always surprises me that TOFU isn't a superstar. (Among the non-veg/flex-itarians of the world, that is).

If I had to make a list of my Top 50 meals (home and away), tofu in its myriad forms would surely occupy more spots than duck and chicken combined. Cinnamon-braised tofu; Northern Chinese fried tofu; stir fried black beans with tofu; Kokyo sushi's age tofu; Buk Chang Dong's tofu kimchi stew. All so good, and that's just the beginning.

Some days, I just crave it, so I just fry up an onion, some tofu and some kale or spinach, douse the lot in soy sauce and Sriracha and eat the whole mess in front of the TV.

But frankly, I'm sick of bigging it up to people who scrunch up their noses in disgust at its mere mention, so I'm done with that. I'm just going to sit right down an enjoy myself a tofu-hummus-cucumber sandwich.

Mr. Pork Belly

Oh pork belly, how far you've come. You're the new darling of the restaurant world, and your resplendent fattiness is no longer spurned but adored. Look at all your lovely fat:

So much fat that we had to slice the crackling away and pan fry it in order to obtain the appropriate (addictive, eaten before the plates made it to the table) crispiness:

We serve your tender unctuous meat with roasted fennel, braised red cabbage, scalloped potatoes and roasted butternut. After a week of brown rice and kale, your awesomeness is balm (metaphorical and actual) to our own bellies.

A humble supermarket dessert

Take 1 tub Kozy Shack rice pudding (yum), 1 tub Liberte plain 10% mf yogurt (ga ga yum), 1 jar unsweetened applesauce and 1 apple. Mix however it floats your boat. At once decadent and yet somehow still virtuous.

Detox

As surely as a hangover follows a night of tequila and red wine, January is detox month. If I had a nickel for every time I'd heard that word this week, along with variations on "I'm not drinking til April", well, I'd have enough for a small coffee.

Truth is, I'm in the same bloated, too-tight-pants boat. Blergh. Although there was a distinct lack of boxed chocolates, frosted cookies and mixed nuts, the foie gras - goose -- pommes dauphinois - Champagne - whiskey extravaganza was over the top. And I drank enough booze and slathered enough bread with butter to be feeling the after effects. And it wasn't cheap either.

And so a few weeks of restraint have come into effect. To satisfy the duelling guilt trips of over-eating and -spending, step 1 involves eating less meat. I'm devoted to my luxury butcher, so even a pork chop is by no means a cheap meal. And his pork chops come with a respectable edge of fat.

So I returned to 2 favourites from my vegetarian days: Spicy Peanut Noodles with Egg and this, Chipotle Black Beans with Lime and Feta on Cornbread.

To celebrate a week of restrained eating, the Brit is roasting a very happy-looking wedge of pork belly for dinner tonight. That's ok, right?

New Christmas traditions

This year it was all about eliminating stress while increasing calories and pleasure.

1. eat Chinese take-out on Dec 24
Christmas eve usually involves some kind of blow-out meal like tourtiere, baked beans and ham or lobster and scallops in a creamy sauce followed by endless tins of shortbread and Florentines. The cook's exhausted and the kitchen's a mess. Someone inevitably croaks out a defeatist "I'll never eat again".

Chinese take-out tastes totally different from anything you'll be eating on the following day, leaves you very hungry for the next day's meals, and it requires no shopping, chopping or dishwashing.

2. enjoy a no-cook boozy breakfast on Christmas day
Much as I love my family's traditional eggs Benedict, a lazy holiday morning is no time to soft-poach a dozen eggs and make fresh Hollandaise. Good smoked salmon, cream cheese and rye toast provide a perfectly wonderful accompaniment to cold Champagne. And then everyone's happy.

3. roast beef for the family
It's so much less stressful than a goose or turkey. Or if gravy terrifies you, roast a ham.

4. then roast a goose a few days later -- just for yourself and your single best food-loving pal
A goose doesn't go too far, so save it for those who really care. Add some foie gras as a starter.  Use full-fat cream in the scalloped potatoes. Drink Champagne recklessly. Die happy...then turn the leftovers into Peking goose in Mandarin pancakes the next day.

5. make enough Christmas cake this year to last until next year
I found one of last year's cakes tucked away in my catch-all closet behind a suitcase and the humidifier. Still good.