Don't be scared of fancy.

It seems like nowadays the trend in most kitchens is rustic and basic food. Now I'm all for that but I am not one of those people who have decided to shun haute cuisine or "fancy food" as one my friends like to call it. When it comes down to it, we first eat with our eyes and our nose. Then we taste the food. I like to think of food as art. It's such a powerful medium that gives us pleasure, makes us think, and keeps us alive. I feel that way about art in general. Why wouldn't you want to surround yourself with as many beautiful things as possible (and no I'm not necessarily talking about possessions)? So the on-going fight seems to be this. Is cooking a craft or an art-form? I say it can be both. Or does it really matter, as long as we get pleasure from it and are able to to provide other people this pleasure. All I know is that I love to cook, and even more than that, I love to eat.

So in the spirit of stacking food, I decided to take something not so fancy and make it look fancy. I made Broiled Sour Tofu with Sweet Pickled Walla Walla Onions. I marinated the sliced tofu a few hours in ponzu (Japanese citrus), soy, and garlic. I made some quick pickled Walla Walla onions that were sweet and spicy with a hint of ginger. I love the flavor these sweet Washington onions get when they are soured. All stacked on a fluffy mound of steamed calrose rice. The ingredients don't have to be fancy to make a fancy meal.