Black Pepper Tofu

This Black Pepper Tofu recipe was the last I made from the Ottolenghi books for the Jan/Feb featured cookbook "season."  I didn't post about everything I made, but I also didn't make as much as I would have liked, because being sick for 3 weeks can really ruin things for a person.  Next up is Melissa Clark - I already own In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite but I bought her new book, Cook This Now, last night.  I have slowed down my cookbook buying, but Melissa Clark's books are full of appealing recipes and I actually want to "cook this now" so I think it'll certainly be worth it.

Back to Ottolenghi, though - this Black Pepper Tofu was a spicy and delicious Asian meal.  We've all made stir fry, and it can be boooring.  This is the remedy to all that, and on top of being great, I learned a new technique - coating tofu cubes in cornstarch and frying them makes at-home tofu so much more delicious!  I find that tofu is not something I eat often at home, because honestly, it's not very good.  But this is a great treatment for it and I certainly will try it in other recipes in the future.

The recipe itself is fairly complicated, but can easily be simplified.  As an example, the recipe calls for three different types of soy sauce.  I used one kind of soy sauce (tamari), and at the suggestion of another poster on the 101 Cookbooks library, some molasses to replicate the taste of the "sweet" soy sauce that was called for, and I never would have known the difference.  If you slice and dice the shallots, ginger, garlic, and scallions in advance (and you could even fry the tofu in advance too), this dish will come together in minutes.

I ended up scaling the recipe down by half to account for the amount of tofu I had and the fact that only I was going to eat it.  I also omitted the chiles and reduced the black pepper, which I could have even scaled back a little further, and I ground it more finely than instructed.  I substantially reduced the butter (2Tbsp for half the recipe) and used a little additional oil which turned out to be unnecessary.  I'm not entirely sure but I think when measuring the soy sauces, I forgot that I was halving the recipe and I may have used the original amounts.  Either way, it definitely turned out delicious and I definitely intend to make it again.  With a little prep ahead of time, it's a doable weeknight meal, but it is also pretty impressive if you want to do an Asian-themed dinner party.

Thai Soba Noodle Bowl

This delicious Thai-inspired noodle bowl came to my attention through this list of "favorites." I had most of the ingredients on hand, needing to pick up only tofu and ginger (and a new bottle of soy sauce/tamari, because we had gotten regular-sodium last time and it was terribly overpowering).  A base of garlic, ginger, lemongrass, shallot, and chile is sauteed, then simmered with coconut milk and water.  To this broth, add mushrooms and cooked soba noodles.  Bake the tofu while this cooks, and top the bowl with the tofu cubes, cilantro, and (my delicious addition) chopped peanuts.  One note of caution: you will splash this on yourself while you eat.  Leftovers are great too.

Almond Soba Noodles

Since we wanted to experiment more with soba noodles (and maybe follow some directions this time) I decided to try the Almond Soba Noodles from 101 Cookbooks.  We had broccoli from our CSA and used that in place of the pea shoots.  Rather than bother with a separate pan (cooking tofu is enough of a struggle) I just tossed the tiny florets in with the soba noodles in the last minute of cooking - they came out perfect.  My rule for cooking vegetables is this: if you think they're going to be underdone, they are probably ready.  Only a taste will tell, but better a crunchy veg than a mushy one.  Broccoli undergoes an extreme personality change when overcooked, at which point we no longer get along.

The dressing for this recipe uses almond butter and Thai red curry paste.  I thought it was very good, but Ken wants to try it with peanut butter instead.  I think it just needs more of the curry paste.  I thought the basil was crucial - it complements the flavor of Thai red curry paste perfectly.

Since this was such a quick and easy meal (delicious too) I'm sure I will be making it again - the openness to variation makes it very inviting to me as well.

Otsu

I haven't been cooking lately.  Sometimes I just am not in the mood - this time it's lasted for weeks.  I haven't even baked anything.  I'll plan to, and then when the time comes I just don't feel like doing it.  Now it's time to break out of the rut.

Recently I went with my sister's Girl Scout troop on a few field trips.  They are learning about local and sustainable foods, so we visited Griggstown Quail Farm, Cherry Grove Farm, Whole Earth Center, A Better World Cafe, and the Highland Park and Rutgers Gardens farm markets.  I frequently go to the Rutgers Gardens market, but the rest of these are places I've meant to visit and hadn't had time (motivation?) to go.  At Whole Earth Center I was reminded by the wide selection that I had been meaning to try soba noodles.  One of my favorite recipe sources, 101 Cookbooks, has several recipes using soba noodles, but I chose the one that is also in her cookbook, Super Natural Cooking.

This was an interesting recipe.  We followed it pretty closely, except that we ignored the step of rinsing the soba noodles to cool them down.  We thought it would be better warm.  Well, we were wrong.  It would definitely have been better at room temperature, especially since the hot noodles warmed up the cucumber (yuck).  We also put in the amount of cayenne pepper called for in the recipe, which turned out to be way too spicy for me.  The tofu also kind of fell apart - definitely not what was meant to happen.

I think I would try this again, but do it right, and with a LOT less spice.  Soba noodles are yummy - I am looking forward to experimenting with them more.

Pan-Glazed Tofu with Thai Red Curry Sauce

I made this Deborah Madison recipe today for lunch. I made some rice and sauteed mushrooms to go along with it. It was pretty good. I like Thai red curry. (I bought the little jar for this slow cooker recipe, but I had to find some other ways to use it too, and this is one I stumbled upon.) I don't love tofu, but I should probably eat a little more protein. I liked how it tasted this way, although I might cut it into smaller pieces next time.

Fried Pineapple Rice

This is my fried rice version of last night's dinner, Pineapple Rice. The leftovers were already all mixed together so I kind of just dumped them in the pan with some of the toasted sesame oil (canola blend). I also made one quick scrambled egg and some pan-fried tofu (in the same toasted sesame oil blend).

The tofu was an interesting addition. It was good in little pieces, but I would like to make it again with thin slices so they crisp up like bacon. Yum!

I thought the rice was good. The sweetness of the pineapple dressing was really emphasized (and Ken didn't like it). It had the consistency of fried rice. I liked it a lot. I wouldn't make it just to make it, but I would make it with the leftovers again.

Spinach Rice Gratin

Ken requested something hot for dinner last night, and I had just seen a recipe for Spinach Rice Gratin while browsing 101 Cookbooks. It looked delicious and I wanted to try it.

I used Lundberg Countrywild rice blend instead of plain brown rice. It has three types of rice in it so it gave it a little extra flavor and texture. Cooking the rice took the longest - other than that, the recipe was pretty quick and easy. It calls for pre-cooked rice, so I had to make it myself, but I think next time I make rice for something I will probably make extra so that I can make this again.


This is basically a rice casserole, and it was delicious. It held together really well, which is probably due to the 3 eggs in it. It also contained tofu, but since it is crumbled and mixed it with everything else, you can't even really tell unless you know what you are looking for. This is a great way to sneak tofu into someone who refuses to eat it.


This was a delicious, warm comfort food kind of meal. I think it would be great for fall or winter, and maybe even Thanksgiving. I will definitely be making this again. I would love to try baking it in a muffin tin instead of a casserole dish to make individual and freezer-ready servings. It held up really well in the freezer so I think it would be a perfect go-to lunch.