Crispy Tofu on Udon Noodles

I made my version of tofu pakora and served it to my daughter and her friend that came over to watch America's Next Top Model. Her friend said this was the first time she's had tofu....they finished the plate like an appetizer. I thought I would try breading tofu with chickpea flour, it is super easy this way no need to dust with flour, then dip in egg, then dip in coating. I just mixed the pressed* and cubed tofu with some garlic ginger paste, pinch of chili, a little cumin, and garam masala. *To press I used firm tofu, drain and place between several sheets of paper towels and set something heavy on top, just to get the moisture out. Of course use a tofu press if you have one. Then added some chickpea flour and rice flour (3 to 1 ratio) until it was coated enough and stuck to the tofu, and salt to taste. Pan fry it until nice and crisp just the way you like it. I served some to the girls like this with cute little picks, and they finished it so quickly I didn't get a photo of that plate, nor did I get a chance to make a dipping sauce for it. So they both ate their udon noodles with out the tofu, and they both loved it anyway.

I was able to save some tofu for my husband and myself, so I set the tofu aside and fixed the udon noodles.

INGREDIENT: fresh udon noodles fresh greens I think I used Chinese broccoli, you can use baby bock choy or U-choy whatever you like 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce 1 tablespoon tahini 1 clove garlic chopped 1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar (optional, I like to use this if the greens are bitter) 1 teaspoon sambal oelek (optional ,or add more depending how spicy you like it) Cook noodles according to package directions, don't add the seasoning packet if it came with one. Heat oil on medium and cook greens until soft, add garlic and cook for about 1-2 minutes keep stirring, careful not to burn it. Add noodles and the rest of the ingredients and heat through. Toss on the tofu last to keep it crisp.

Maranda's friend was saying she's never had udon noodles before either and she likes coming over here to eat because she gets to try new things. Her brother won't eat vegetables, so she said this was a treat having it with noodles. It's so nice hearing that, it's better than some friends that might turned up their nose at it. You know how kids are. :D

This has been added to My Meatless Mondays

Parmesan, Goat Cheese and Spinach Flan?

In keeping with the French theme, I made this for a nice weekend lunch. It would be perfect for a breakfast or brunch. Since I already had the goat cheese...and Maranda wanted me to make something "French" when I searched I made sure I could use it. Why not? I found a recipe at French Cooking for Dummies it confused me a little because it's called a flan. This is so similar to the Spinach Frittata recipe that I made for Martha Mondays awhile ago. That one confused me because it wasn't what I would call a frittata. It reminded me more of a souffle, except using the whole egg instead of egg whites. As always, I made some changes to the recipe and made it the way I liked it.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 cup fresh spinach leaves - washed and a coarse chop - 1 small shallot - minced - 1 teaspoon fresh chives - chopped - 3 oz goat cheese - diced - 2 oz Parmesan cheese - grated - 2 eggs 2 tablespoons heavy cream - salt and pepper - 1 tablespoon butter

Saute shallots in butter until soft, add spinach and cook until soft, let cool a bit (just so the heat won't scramble the eggs). Preheat oven to 350 degree F or 180 C. In a large bowl whisk eggs, add cream, Parmesan, and chives. Add goat cheese, and the spinach/shallot mix if cool enough. Salt and pepper to taste and whisk again. Pour into buttered ramekins and bake for 20 minutes. Serve right away while still warm.

Mmmm...tasty! This recipe made two ramekin size portions, I am sure you could double it and it would work just as well.

I really don't care what you call this it was fantastic! I loved the flavors and I don't know if it is a French flan, or Italian frittata! I glad I made this simple and elegant dish.( It would be perfect with a glass of champagne ) Ha! Then it must be French!! :D

It was a treat nice and creamy, and the spinach and tang of the goat cheese...

...good to the last bite.

I linked this toLet's Do Brunch

I noticed last week that a pineapple is staring on one of my pineapple plants. I have a hard time throwing away the top of a pineapple when I eat one, so I plant them. I have had a few now that have produced tiny pineapples, and it is still fun to see the process as it grows.

French Bread (bread machine)

Okay you know how I feel about baking, it's a lot of trial and error, and sometimes things turn out right. Since it was spring break and we had a week to play around with food, and try new things. I asked Maranda what cuisine I should try next. She chose French, and wanted French bread. I also will post another later on that is a little more French than just French bread. Of course I made the dough in the bread machine.

4 cups flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/3 cup warm water
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons yeast
Add ingredients the order the bread machine instructs you to do. Mine has you add the liquids first and end up with the yeast in a little well made in the flour. Set the bread machine in dough cycle. Remove the dough on a floured surface and form into two loaves. (I made one loaf, so it is bigger than baguettes would be) Let rise for 40 minutes in a warm place. On your stoneware or baking pan toss down some corn meal and carefully place the loaves on pan. Brush with egg wash (1 egg and 1 tablespoon water) slice down the center for baguette or several slits diagonally across for a loaf. Bake at 375F 30-35 minutes.

Guess what? It turned out! Wahoo! It was like what they call a crusty bread, the outside was nice and crisp and crusty and soft and tender inside. It was a nice size for sandwiches and to toast it you had to turn it around halfway through.

It worked great for us! I made this again since and formed two loaves instead of one. Next I'll form longer thinner baguette style, this is great. I let the loaves rise right on the the stoneware bar pan and then popped it right in the oven so I didn't have to transfer it after it had the last raise. Make some in time for the weekend!

Microwave Chocolate Cake in a Cup

I know this recipe has been going around for awhile and I've always been meaning to try it. So this is another recipe we tried over spring break. Maranda made the whole thing, I put her to work. I figure if we are going to eat cake it might as well be one that I know all the ingredients that are in it. I used unbleached flour, organic sugar, organic eggs, and organic chocolate chips and my homemade vanilla extract. So we can splurge once in awhile...

Microwave Chocolate Cake in a Cup
Ingredients :
coffee mug
4 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons whisked egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil (you can replace some of the oil with mashed banana)
3 tablespoons chocolate chips
a splash vanilla
a dash of cinnamon or instant coffee)

Method:
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well .
Add egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix again.
Stir in chocolate, vanilla.
Microwave for 2½ to 3 minutes for a 1,000 watt oven.

Remove from microwave.
Allow cake to cool a little, then tip out onto a plate.

Of course you can add toppings, like whipped cream, chocolate syrup(for those chocoholics) or powdered sugar. I couldn't find my powdered sugar so we just at it as is, and it was plenty for two..

I cut the sugar in half from what the original recipe called for, but it was plenty sweet with the chocolate chips. It was a little dense, maybe 2½ minutes would be fine. It was very good, but reminded me more of a chocolate muffin, than cake.

Arepa Reina Pepiada ~ Arepa Sandwich with Chicken and Avocado

When we were on spring break I had time to play around with making arepa for breakfast. I have both kinds of masarepa flour, and like them both. I made some with both white and yellow, with and without oil or butter, stove top and baked or both. I will show you one version today, and I'll later post some of the other's. I also got my waffle iron out for the first time (not to make arepas though).

Arepas are a simple bread made from precooked corn flour, and is popular in Columbia, Venezuela, and the rest of Latin America. These corn cakes can be thick, thin, stuffed, topped or made into a sandwich. You can find them on the breakfast table in many Colombian homes. I won't go into the differences of the Colombian and Venezuelan arepas and who was the first to come up with them. I'll just show you one way to make them.


I have both the white and yellow corn masarepa, supposedly you have to have this flour to make an arepa. I found it in our local grocery store in the Latin foods section. If you can't find it in your store I'm sure a Latin market will carry it.

Simply mix 2 cups masarepa flour, 3 cups warm water, and a 2/4 tsp of salt. Mix until well absorbed and the dough is not sticky (I used my hands to mix and you can get a better feel of the dough. Let set for 5 - 10 minutes. Wet your hands before you start and form into a ball, then flatten into a patty, about 3" across and 3/4" thick, if it cracks add some water to smooth it out. Some recipes call for oil or butter, but I found you really don't need this.

Place the arepas on a griddle or skillet heated to medium - high heat. Cook on each side 5 -6 minutes until golden crust forms. Take them from pan and place in a 375 degree oven right on the rack, and bake 15-20 minutes, they will sound hollow when tapped.

(I made some small one for my bento box lunches)

The arepas Reina Pepiada: The Curvy Queen of Arepas was said to be named after a Venezuelan Beauty queen Susana Dujim - she was 1955 Miss World. For fun you might want to read more about this at Venezuelan food and drinks. This is my version of Arepa Reina Pepiada:

4 arepas
3/4 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 ripe avocado

1 shallot chopped
1 clove garlic (roasted and chopped)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1-2 tomatillos (roasted and diced - optional of course)
3-4 tablespoons mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste

I had some tomatillos so I thought I would use them, of course you can omit this. I roasted them and the garlic while the arepas were cooking/baking.

I put some lemon juice on the avocado slices just so they wouldn't turn brown. Shred or chop the chicken and cut everything in uniform size pieces, and mix together.

Slice the arepas in half or cut them almost all the way through so you can stuff them.

Fill them as full as you like...

Ahhh...the simple pleasure...enjoy them for breakfast or like we did with these for lunch

It is the 3rd Saturday time for Cultural Connections over at Our Krazy Kitchen, where I posted this recipe.

Ginger Sesame Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Since I just posted the recipe for the rice in this photo... I thought I would share how I made the shrimp. Now I don't eat shrimp, but I do make it for my family. I always get these skewers already cleaned and skewered when they are on sale at Publix. That way I can make my family happy and I don't have to clean shrimp. When I make recipes that call for shrimp I usually just replace the shrimp with scallops. This time I did the shrimp for them and bought a few scallops for myself, but them Maranda wanted to try a scallop...so I let her have one of mine.

I just marinade it all with a sesame dressing that you can use for a dressing or marinade.


Ingredients:
1 piece about 1" peeled ginger root (minced)
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped shallot
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons mirin
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce
sesame seeds
If using it for a dressing I add some pureed carrots and celery.
Whisk together ingredients and marinade the shrimp in a zipper baggie. It works well for scallops, and tuna steaks too. I usually sprinkle the sesame seeds on later. If doing a seared tuna I roll it in black and white sesame seeds before searing.

Grill the skewers on a hot grill for around 3 minutes per side until nice and pink. Grill or pan fry the scallops.


Just a few shots taken at the Ringling Museum grounds.

and another Gulf of Mexico sunset refection.

See you all tomorrow!

Cilantro Rice

My daughter loves to get the hand selected burrito at Chipotle's. They have the best cilantro rice and black beans, (which we both like) and the freshest guacamole that they make throughout the day. Since I figured out how to make cilantro rice I've made it several times. Maranda will always finish the leftovers for a snack the next day. It works great in a bento lunch too. I even made it in my rice cooker and brought it along with some black beans to the Super Bowl party. It was not on my mom's menu...so we had plenty of leftovers...which are great! Both the beans and rice.

Cilantro Rice:

1 cup long grain or basmati rice
2 cups water
1 tbsp oil or butter
1 bay leaf
2 tsp or more fresh cilantro, chopped fine
1 fresh lemon or lime or half and half (I didn't use all my lemon it was quite large)
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt

Rinse the rice. In a 2-quart heavy sauce pan, heat oil or butter over low heat, saute the rice in oil until almost translucent.Add water and bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the rice is tender and water is absorbed. Set aside and let is set for about 30 minutes to steam, or fluff rice with a fork.




Remove bay leaf and mix in salt, citrus juice, and cilantro, you may want to transfer rice into a mixing bowl for this step. You can add a little more oil at this point if you like. The cilantro is the last thing that I would mix in to keep it nice and green.

I used a fresh lemon just picked from my tree...just look how large this one got!

I love having a lemon tree, it was a nice juicy lemon. I don't care for Meyer's lemons, to me they taste like sour oranges instead of a lemon...but that's just my opinion. I know there are a lot of Meyer's lemon lovers out there.

Here with the grilled shrimp and scallops I did add a little vermicelli to make kind of a pilaf. This rice goes well with anything. I have served it with anything from seafood to black beans.

Irish Beef Hand Pies ~ Martha Mondays

Megan of Megan's Cookin' chose this weeks Martha Monday project Irish Hand Pies. How clever she picked a pie for Pi day! I was glad I got a chance to get it posted today. I was going to make it yesterday and have it finished in the daylight so I could photograph it nicely....but I didn't have the store bought pie crust and I had to make my own...and the day light got away from me. So I just made a quick soup and salad and made it today on PI day!

Our host Brette from Martha and Me is feeling under the weather and couldn't make it this week. Kudos for her though...she makes it every other Monday, rain or shine. I have to take a few Monday's off now and then, I don't know how she does it.

Here is the recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine.
Ingredients
Makes 8.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 head green cabbage, shredded
1/2 pound red potatoes, scrubbed and diced
1 pound ground beef sirloin
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Coarse salt and ground pepper
All-purpose flour, for rolling
2 piecrusts (9 inches each), homemade or store-bought
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium; add cabbage and potatoes. Cook until beginning to brown, 7 to 9 minutes. Add beef; cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, Worcestershire, thyme, and 1 cup water. Cover, and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Lightly mash mixture with a fork. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool completely.
2.On a lightly floured work surface, roll each crust into a 14-inch square; cut each into 4 equal squares. Place 1/2 cup filling on one half of each square, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the filling. Brush borders with water; fold dough over filling to enclose. Crimp edges with a fork to seal. With a paring knife or scissors, cut 3 small vents in each.
3.Transfer pies to 2 foil-lined rimmed baking sheets; bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.
4.To Freeze: Prepare through step 2. Arrange unbaked pies on a baking sheet (they should not touch); freeze until firm, about 1 hour. Wrap each pie in foil. Place in a resealable plastic bag; freeze up to 2 months.
5.To Bake from Frozen: Proceed with step 3, increasing baking time to 28 to 30 minutes.

I did make a few changes though (as always) I added some shallots and seasoned the meat with a season blend from Penzey's Roast Beef seasoning, and used beef broth instead of water. I also added some garlic, and on a few I put in some queso blanco fresco....I know, I know it's not Irish, but neither am I. :D


I did make my own pie dough, I had to call my mom to get her beloved recipe. So they are not the prettiest, but they did taste good.

Maranda had two and she didn't even have to put sour cream on it. She asked if it would go with it, I told her to at least try it without first. They reminded me of empanadas or pasties, maybe I should of used my empanada dough :)

I am going to freeze the others and warm them up when we want them....or maybe lunch tomorrow!

Thanks Megan, good pick, and it got me to make my own(or my mom's) pie crust again. Check out the other's that participated in Martha Monday's or better yet, come on and join us!

Jason's Deli Style Fruit Dip

Now I am not one for fruit dip, it is always way too sweet for me. My mother always likes to derve fruit with a sweet fruit dip. In my opinion, fruit is sweet enough it doesn't need anything sweeter. My friend Kristy sent me some sour plumb powder which is fantastic on fruit! I love the tart-sweet that compliments the sweet fruit. The only other time I served a fruit dip was a whole milk lemon yogurt...that's it...just the lemon yogurt. It was from a health food store and everyone liked it.

Then a little while back my daughter and I were at the north end of town, and ate lunch at Jason"s Deli for the first time. It was wonderful. Very healthy and reasonable priced. The wrap we got came with a choice of sides, and fresh fruit with a wonderful dip was one of the choices (well they didn't call it a wonderful dip). I loved it and had to rush home and see if I could find out what else was in it (I knew it had brown sugar).

Jason's Deli-style-Fruit Dip

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup light brown sugar
4 teaspoons Grand Marnier liqueur (I used Cointreau since I didn't have the Grand Marnier, I think you could use any orange liqueur)

Whisk together all ingredients in a medium bowl until sugar is dissolved.

Chill for an hour, then stir once before serving.

Makes 1 1/2 cups.



Mmmm...I could eat the dip alone. This came so close to how it tastes.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Champandongo ~

I first discovered Kathleen and her blog Cooking in Mexico when she posted a comment on Steamy Kitchen . From her comment I had to check out her blog, and I love Mexican food so it was a win win for me. Kathleen is a delight and I love her blog with all the fantastic photos and her recipes are definitely worth checking out. When I first arrive on her blog this was the recipe I saw and just knew I had to make it. Living in southwest Florida we have easy access to Mexican and Latin foods. I used Mexican crema in the recipe instead of sour cream...I picked it up at Walmart, it was that easy to find. You can use sour cream, but I had this in hand so I wanted to use it up.

We can also get several brands of jarred Mole (pronounced with an accent on the first syllable: MO-leh)sauce, but she suggested this one Dona Maria. You can find this in the Latin section of your market, or I found it at Sav-a-Lot, they have a couple of aisles of Hispanic and Latin foods... I love it. I think next time I will check our Mexican Market to see if they have fresh made mole!

While I was doing some research on the recipe before I made it I ran across Hispanic Kitchen and a few others that all seemed to stem back to the book Like Water for Chocolate...where this recipe was from. Apparently this is a little known recipe, it is like a Mexican lasagna without the red sauce. Thanks to Kathleen's recipe I have discovered this new (to me) flavorful one dish meal. So like always... I made it the way I thought my family would like it, but stuck pretty close to the recipe. I skipped the dried fruit, I didn't think my daughter would like it.

Champandongo

1 lb. ground pork
7 oz. walnuts, chopped in small pieces (not ground)
7 oz. almonds, chopped in small pieces (not ground)
2 shallots, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup molé
8 oz. queso fresco (or manchego or Monterey jack cheese), grated or thinly sliced
2 tsp cumin (more if you like)

1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tablespoon orange juice

1 cup fresh spinach leaves (OK I strayed here, but I had some on hand and like to sneak some veggies in when I can)
1 lb. tortillas about 9
1/2 cup Mexican crema (or sour cream thinned with milk)
Oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet heat some oil and sauté shallots, and cook the meat and sprinkle with salt, pepper and cumin. Once pork is browned, add broth, molé,tomatoes and nuts and squeeze the juice of the orange on top (add more or less to taste). Add more salt and cumin if you like.

I left the nuts a little large kind of a rough chop...which was nice for Maranda since she ended up picking them out. The almonds were slivered, because that's what I had.

That's why I added the spinach (I had it on hand), and you couldn't even tell I snuck it in there. I added some cilantro too, I thought it might brighten it up.

Add tomatoes, nuts, mole, cumin and beef stock.
Stir and simmer 10 minutes over medium heat, add more broth or water if it gets too dry or thick.

Meanwhile, heat tortillas in a little oil in a non-stick pan.

Spread a thin layer of the cream on the bottom of a large, glass casserole dish (I used my lasagna pan). Layer tortillas on cream, cutting to fit if necessary, then a layer of the meat mixture, then a layer of cheese. Repeat layers ending up with the cheese on top.

Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and finish baking until it is bubbly and the cheese is a little golden or the way you like it.

Top with sour cream and garnish with some chopped parsley or cilantro...

...or you could top with some more mole. (I really don't like chopping cilantro) just saying...

I enjoyed this dish, it was so different, and if you know me... you know that's why I had to make it. I like the mole, it really gave it a nice depth to this hearty dish. Of course with the cream and cheese....yum! I think when I make it again I will skip the almonds and use just 8 oz. of the walnuts, and make sure they are toasted first.

I sprinkled mine with a little chipotle powder on top...just to add to my chipotle kick lately! Wade liked it, you know he doesn't like things too hot and spicy. Maranda ate it all...except the nuts she picked out, and of course topped with sour cream her favorite topping. I froze the leftovers, just like I do with lasagna.