3 posts tagged “tofu”
ingredients:
1 enoki bouquet
inari skins
cold seltzer
flour
salt & pepper
oil
1 lime
step one: prep work
i bought a package of inari skins at m2m on 3rd ave in mahattan. to prep the squid rings, i sliced the inari and opened them into rings.
then i rinsed the enoki bouqet and copped it into 6 long peices, trying to keep the bottom intact so the "tentacles would stay together.
the inari is already seasoned, but the enoki is not. so i sprinkled the mushrooms with salt and pepper.
step 2: the tempura batter
tempura batter is insanely easy to make.
in a large bowl, combine flour with cold seltzer until you get a light pancake batter consitency. that's it.
step 3: fry 'em up
drop the inari rings into the batter and coat them well. carefully place the inari into heated vegetable oil. fry until golden, then remove to a paper towel to drain. immediately out of the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
do the same with the enoki mushrooms. make an effort to spread the batter throughout the "tentacles" before frying. they will spread nicely in the oil. the goal is to get a crispy outside with a juicy inside. when you drain them, sprinkle with salt and pepper as well.
for garnish, i battered and fried up a few sage leaves as well.
step 4: the plating
arrange a few rings on one side, and mushrooms on the other side. garnish with a fried sage leaf and a wedge of lime. the lime matches really well with the mushrooms. enjoy!
ingredients:
olive oil
flour
red onion
carrots
celery
okra
baby spinach leaves
vegetable broth
pasta
hot sauce
salt and pepper
step one: making the roux
in a deep pot, heat some olive oil. add flour an cook it in the oil until dark brown. be careful that the roux doesn't burn. i found that the easiest thing to do was to turn off the heat when it got golden brown, and the roux continued to cook off the heat until it got the color of milk chocolate. this is perfect.
step two: the veg
turn the heat back on, and immediately add chopped onion, carrot, an celery to the roux. my roux had gotten a little tight, so i added some more olive oil before adding the veg. stir the stuff through and add salt and pepper. cook until soft.
i had picked up some nice fresh okra from the park slope farmer's market. i've never cooke with fresh okra before, which is why i picked it up at the market. it inspired me to make the gumbo in the first place.
step three: add some tofu
instead of chicken, sausage, or seafood, i used tofu. i cut the firm tofu in half long-wise, and then cut it into stips. first i added it to the roux-veg mix, and stirred it through. when the broth is added it firms the tofu up.
trim the ends off of the okra and cut into big pieces. add the okra to the pot, season, and stir through. cook the okra until it begins to soften.
step four: add the broth
i use a kosher, parve fake chicken powder. i mixed it in a pot of water on a seperate burner, and brought it up to a boil. when it was boiling, i turned down the heat and left it at temperature.
when the okra is ready, pour the broth into the gumbo pot. bring this to a boil. it is important to boil this because this activates the thickening power of the roux. i also added a few whole black peppercorns.
step five: pasta
i added sriracha for hot sauce, because that's what i had around.
traditionally gumbo is served over rice, but i didn't have any. instead i added corkscrew pasta. in addition to adding body to the gumbo, i figure the starch from the pasta will help thicken the stuff.
step six: finishing touches
when the pasta is cooked through, turn off the heat. add a handful of fresh baby spinach leaves. stir these through, and this will be enough to cook the spinach.
let the whole thing cool a bit -- it will thicken up really nicely.
step seven: eat!
this is one of the first really big cooking projects that i did. i got some really nice big zucchinis and squash from the park slope farmer's market, and some fresh tofu from a local market.
Ingredients:
2 large zucchini and or squash
eggs
breadcrumbs
tofu
fresh rosemary
parmesan cheese
olive oil
dried chili flakes
salt
pepper
step one: the prep work:
now for the bowl with the zucchini. add 2 eggs, salt and pepper, and finely diced tofu. mix well. add chili flakes, rosemary, and parmesan cheese. mix again. mix in enough breadcrumbs to bring the mixture to a paste.
step two: stuff 'em:
spoon the mixture into the zucchinis. don't be afraid to over-stuff, and really pack the filling in. i know it doesn't look too appetizing, but it will brown up nicely.
you will have some filling left over -- don't worry, we'll use that later.
step three: cook 'em:
in a large pan, heat a good amount of olive oil. when it's nice and hot, turn the zucchini stuffing side down into the oil. you can probably fit 2 at a time. after putting them into the oil, let them sit there browning. don't fiddle with them or anything.
when you see that the edges are browned, flip them over using a spatula. now we have to cook the zucchini bottom. let them sit again while they cook.
when done, use the spatula to remove them from the oil and place on paper towels to drain. while hot, season with parmesan cheese and chili flakes, and then some chopped rosemary. top with a little olive oil.
step four: what about the leftover stuffing?
no, i haven't forgotten. when i was cooking this, i was trying to figure out how to use it. then it hit me -- fry it too. so i made them into what the french call canelles and fried them in the oil too. drain them on paper towels and season them the same way as you did the stuffedd zucchini -- parmesan, chili flakes, chopped rosemary, and olive oil.
step five: eat!
that's it -- just eat them. no further preparation requires.
