Herbed Tofu Scramble with Curried Apple Slices

Herbed Tofu Cakes with Curried Apple

http://veggiesonthecounter.com/2011/02/17/herbed-tofu-cakes-with-curried-apple/

(makes 5 cakes)

for the tofu cakes:

370 grams firm tofu, drained, pat dry and crumbled

1 ½ tablespoons shoyu

1 tablespoon vegan mayo

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

2 tablespoons flaxseed meal

1 ½ tablespoons lemon thyme, finely chopped

1 ½ tablespoons chives, finely chopped

2 teaspoons rosemary, finely chopped

zest of one lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

for the curried apple:

1 large apple, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

½ teaspoon curry powder

¼ teaspoon sugar

a pinch of salt

a good squeeze of lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

chopped coriander, for garnishing

1. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients for the tofu cakes, except the olive oil. Mix well until thoroughly combined.

2. Divide the mixture into 4 to 5 equal portions. With your hands, shape each portion into patties.

3. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan, over medium-heat. Shallow-fry the patties for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

4. Once the tofu cakes are done, transfer them to a plate and keep them warm in the oven. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same frying pan you used for cooking the cakes and, once hot – but not smoking – add the apple slices, sugar, salt and curry powder.

5. Cook for 5 minutes or until the apple slices are tender and slightly caramelized. Turn off the heat and add a good squeeze of lemon juice to the pan.

6. Serve the tofu cakes with the curried apple slices on top, and garnish each serving with plenty chopped coriander. Serve with basmati rice or any other grain of your liking.

I meant to make the cakes but since I elected not to use two ingredients- vegan mayo and dijon mustard, and these two happened to be essential ingredients for the sticking of the cakes, I ended up making a scramble. Lesson of the day: making food look pretty should not be taken for granted. But, eaten immediately upon its fresh preparation, the meal is delicious, a breakfast, brunch, or late-night meal (especially a late-night meal) fit for a king, or queen in my case. It's healthy, to boot!

I also made a carrot and leek frittata, but I will not post the photo here. It was not very pretty. :( For some reason, my frittata looked more like a scramble than a frittata, but there were still some layers of egg and veggies that looked reminiscent of a frittata. :) Next time I hope to get it better so that I can post a photo up here.

Here's the recipe, though.

Carrot and Leek Frittata With Tarragon

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/health/nutrition/24recipehealth.html?_r=1

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups finely sliced or diced carrot

1 1/2 cups finely sliced leeks

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

1/4 cup finely chopped tarragon

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a 10-inch heavy nonstick skillet. Add the carrots and leeks. Cook, stirring often, until tender, five to eight minutes. Stir in the garlic, season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds to one minute, and remove from the heat.

2. Beat the eggs and milk together in a large bowl. Stir in salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon), pepper, the cooked carrots and leeks, and the tarragon.

3. Clean and dry the pan, and return to the burner, set on medium-high. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet. Drop a bit of egg into the pan, and if it sizzles and cooks at once, the pan is ready. Pour in the egg mixture. Tilt the pan to distribute the eggs and filling evenly over the surface. Shake the pan gently, tilting it slightly with one hand while lifting up the edges of the frittata with a spatula in your other hand, to let the eggs run underneath during the first few minutes of cooking.

4. Turn the heat to low, cover and cook 10 minutes, shaking the pan gently every once in a while. From time to time, remove the lid, tilt the pan and loosen the bottom of the frittata with a wooden spatula so that it doesn’t burn. The bottom should turn a golden color. The eggs should be just about set; cook a few minutes longer if they’re not.

5. Meanwhile, heat the broiler. Uncover the pan and place under the broiler, not too close to the heat, for one to three minutes, watching very carefully to make sure the top doesn’t burn (at most, it should brown very slightly and puff under the broiler). Remove from the heat, shake the pan to make sure the frittata isn’t sticking, and allow it to cool for at least five minutes and for as long as 15 minutes. Loosen the edges with a wooden or plastic spatula. Carefully slide from the pan onto a large round platter. Cut into wedges or into smaller bite-size diamonds. Serve hot, warm, at room temperature or cold.

Yield: Six servings.

Note: For four servings, use the same recipe but reduce the number of eggs to six.

Advance preparation: In Mediterranean countries, flat omelets are served at room temperature, which makes them perfect do-ahead dishes. They’ll keep in the refrigerator for a few days, and they make terrific lunchbox fare. They do not reheat well.

Nutritional information per serving: 167 calories; 3 grams saturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 248 milligrams cholesterol; 7 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 123 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 9 grams protein

I'm actually on a healthy eating kick. Cheer me on. :)

Chocolate tart

From 101 Cookbooks: 

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/bittersweet-chocolate-tart-recipe.html

Bittersweet Chocolate Tart

This dough recipe will make two, thin 9-inch tart shells. I usually make use one shell, and freeze one, unbaked, for future use. The recipe makes enough filling for one tart. If you don't have whole wheat pastry flour, you can use unbleached all purpose flour, that is fine. If all you have is white sugar, that is fine as well. I was thinking an alternative crust might be 1 cup APF + 3/4 cup spelt flour, but I haven't tried it yet. Be sure to sift your sugar for this tart shell, any big clumps of sugar turn into sugar puddles in your crust - no good. Roll out any extra dough and stamp into 1/8-inch thick cookies - they're great for ice cream sandwiches, or dunked in melted chocolate.

Tart Shell:
1/2 cup + 1 T / 4.5 oz / 130g unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup / 2.5 oz / 75g natural cane sugar, muscovado, or brown sugar, sifted

1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1 3/4 cup / 8 oz / 225g whole wheat pastry flour

Filling:
scant cup / 225 ml heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons milk
7 ounces / 200g 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 large egg, beaten
flaky sea salt, cocoa powder

equipment: two 9-inch tart pans (or equivalent).

Start by making the tart dough. Use an electric mixer with the paddle attachment to cream the butter, sugar and salt until well combined. Alternately, you can do this by hand. Add the egg and mix until smooth. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple times along the way. Add the flour and pulse the mixer on and off, low speed, until the dough comes together and has a moist appearance. Divide the dough into two equal pieces, shape each into a ball, press into 1/2-inch thick disks, and wrap in plastic, or place in baggies. Chill for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C. Place a rack in the middle of the oven.

When you are ready to line the tart pans with dough, place one of the dough disks on a lightly floured surface and roll out until the dough is large enough to line your tart pan. I usually eyeball it - you can see in the photo the dough is about 1/6 - 1/8 inch thick. Dust underneath with flour to discourage sticking throughout the rolling process. Carefully transfer the dough to the pan. Don't worry too much if you get a tear or hole, you can patch those up later with scraps. Work quickly to ease the dough into place, taking care not to stretch the dough. Press it along the bottom of the pan, out to the walls, and against the sides. Trim any excess dough - I use the palm of my hand against the edge of the tart pan to cut off any extra dough, alternately you can roll a rolling pin across the rim of the pan for a clean edge. It should look like the second photo up above. Chill in the refrigerator for thirty minutes more while you roll out your extra tart shell. Double wrap that one in plastic and freeze it for future use.

You're going to partially bake the tart shell before filling it, so pull the shell out of the refrigerator, dock it with a fork, making small holes along the bottom of the shell - see photo. Line the shell with parchment paper and fill to the rim with pie weights or dried beans, bake for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the pie weights and finish baking for another 6 - 8 minutes, or until the crust is dry and just barely starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Make the chocolate filling by bringing the cream and milk to a gentle simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, add the chocolate, and stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture smooth. Let cool five minutes, add the egg, and whisk until completely blended. If the chocolate is too hot, you're going to scramble the egg, be cautious.

Pour the filling into the cooled tart shell and bake for about 15 minutes, give or take a couple minutes. The filling should be set around the edges a bit darker than the center in color. The center will be a touch jiggly, that's o.k. I baked this tart in a slightly smaller/deeper tart pan and it took longer than its wider, shallower 9-inch counterpart. Just keep an eye on things.

Let the tart cool completely, preferably in the pan on a cooling rack. Dust with a bit of cocoa powder, and sprinkle with touch of flakey sea salt. You can serve at room temperature or chilled - it's easier to slice when it's chilled.

Serves 8 - 10.

It has been a while since I've posted but I have indeed been up to my cooking adventures. One particularly memorable baking experiences I am grateful for was with my friend Tiffanie, with whom I made Bittersweet Chocolate Tarts.

While we improvised the cooling times (e.g., sped up the process by placing the tarts in the freezer and an ice box rather than in a refrigerator for a longer period of time as noted in the original recipe by 101 Cookbooks), the tarts were fine to taste. 

We also added shavings of 85% Lindt Cacao to the top of the tart at the end.

Then we served it to our friends from Cornerstone Bible Church as a dessert after a meal at Rasraj in Little India. A meal that's spicy and a little bit sweet and tart. These qualities also make for good conversations and friendships.

 

Banana Cream Cake

Paula Deen's Banana Cream Cake

Makes 1 (13x9 inch) cake

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp whole buttermilk

1 (3.4 oz) box instant banana cream-flavored pudding mix

2 cups whole milk

1 (12 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Garnish finely grated chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.

In a large bowl combine butter and sugar. Beat at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add mashed bananas and vanilla, beating until combined.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes. With handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes halfway through cake in half inch intervals.

In a medium bowl combine pudding mix and milk. Whisk until sooth and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Pour over top of cake. Loosely cover cake and refrigerate 2-4 hours. Spread whipped topping over top of cake; sprinkle with grated chocolate if desired. Cut into squares to serve.

Comments: I'm enjoying the merits of being a fourth year. I loved making this cake! The batter smelled delicious and the textures are just so rich and thick in the mixing. When I brought it to work, the residents, attendings, and MAs were happy. They were celebrating Friday like it should be celebrated. Thanks, Paula Deen. :P I guess it's also a time to celebrate being a fourth year- yay, I made it!

Kim Chi Stew and Curry Apple Couscous

It's been a great culmination to my peds rotation, and my third year of medical school. Woohoo! It's true what they say, that celebrating the end of a rotation is sweetest if you worked hard and pushed yourself to be the best that you could be. So these good thoughts inspired two dishes this weekend.

1) Kim Chi Stew

Ingredients: 

1 lb kim chi 

1 lb tofu

1/2 lb assorted fish    

balls

1/4 lb spinach 

1/4 lb shitake mushrooms

1/4 lb baby bok choy

Water

Instructions:

In a large pot, place kim chi and water and bring to boil. Then add cubed tofu (of any consistency you like, we used medium firm) and shitake mushrooms and let cook until they soften. Then add sliced spinach, baby bok choy, and fish balls to the pot and cook until the veggies are cooked thoroughly and the fish balls rise to the top of the liquid. Enjoy!

Notes: This was enjoyable to make, fills the kitchen with the warm, spicy aroma of kim chi. Makes you think of home, even if you're not Korean. You can adjust the degree of spiciness of the soup by removing some soup as it cooks and replacing it with fresh water. If you use soft silken tofu, you more closely recreate soondubu, the traditional Korean soft tofu meal that you put BCD Tofu House on the map. Definitely eat this with rice, brown or white, to give your belly a comforting cushion to the spicy soup.

2) Curry and Apple Couscous

Ingredients: 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 medium apple, cored and chopped

3 green onions, washed, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 cup whole wheat couscous

1 3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

small handful of mint, chopped

Instructions: 

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat add 3 tablespoons of the butter, the curry powder and a couple generous pinches of salt, and cook for a minute or until the spices are fragrant.  Stir in the chopped apples and cook for about 3 minutes, enough time for the apples to soften up a bit and absorb some of the curry.  Scoop the apple from the pan and set aside in a separate bowl.

 

In the same pan, again over medium-high heat, add the remaining table spoon of butter.  Stir in the green onions, let them soften up a bit and then add the water and salt.  Bring to a boil, stir in the couscous, cover and remove from the heat.  Steam for 5 to 10 minutes and then use a fork to fluff up the couscous.  Stir in the apples, pine nuts, and shopped mint.  Season with more salt and curry powder to taste.

Notes: This is a recipe that my mom shared with me from her ladies cooking group which focuses on making healthy whole grain meals. My mom made this for me once and I loved it so much that I needed to make it. Absolutely no regrets. The couscous was light and aromatic and the apples gave a nice crunchy sweet contrast to the fluffiness of the couscous. It was my first time cooking with couscous, such an interesting grain. According to Wiki, it's a grain derived from semolina wheat that originated in Northern African countries such as Algeria and Morocco. Although some people confuse couscous with quinoa (another sand size whole grain), it is very different. Couscous is actually a very small pasta and it is processed. Quinoa is the preserved, natural state of the grain from which it is derived. Hope you try this recipe soon!

Sauteed Asparagus and Snap Peas

See? There's proof that I AM a med student- it only took me a month to write a second post... given, I did cook up some decent pasta tofu salad from the Whole Foods recipe archive, but tonight, I'm making something even more exciting. 

Sauteed asparagus and snap peas. Ina Garten-style. Who doesn't like her calm and soothing voice and cute blunt bang hairstyle?

Ingredients

1 pound asparagus

3/4-pound sugar snap peas

2 tablespoons good olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Red pepper flakes, optional

Sea salt, for serving

Methods

Cut off the tough ends of the asparagus and slice the stalks diagonally into 2-inch pieces. Snap off the stem ends of the snap peas and pull the string down the length of the vegetable. Warm the olive oil in a large saute pan over a medium heat and add the asparagus and snap peas. Add the salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste, if desired. Cook for approximately 5 to10 minutes until al dente, tossing occasionally. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve hot.

Explanation for the quips: I'm just in a good mood. Almost half-way through peds rotation (which I'm loving). This is my fourth week on outpatient. Next week, I start inpatient. Yay. :)

Anyways, I'm diligently following Ina's fresh and simple recipe. It is quite therapeutic as a break in between studying. The greens of the asparagus and snap peas look so great swirled together in olive oil. With the heat, the intensity of their green livens up to a deeper, more verdant hue. :) Then I add a twist of my own- soft tofu- to contrast the al-dente veggies and, more importantly, to provide an excuse to try out the new sweet ginger chili sauce that Paul just brought me from the shhhhh...Stanford farmers market. :)

Just for fun, I also use up some of the other ingredients in the fridge that I've been meaning to put to use- eggs and green onions. I fried these up like my mom makes them.

The end product was simple and beautiful. I crushed some roasted cashews to sprinkle on top of the dish as a finishing touch. It added a little crunch to contrast. Contrast was definitely the theme of this dish. And the ginger sauce added a nice kick to boot.

After eating this, I felt quite satisfied that I had done something healthy.

Savory Tofu Lettuce Wraps

Happy New Year to me and all who are reading. Inspired by the Julie/Julia Project by Julie Powell, I am also committing to a year of cooking through the online Whole Foods Market recipe archives. The first stop is Savory Tofu Lettuce Wraps.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1906

Ingredients

1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil* 
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion 
1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini 
1/2 cup chopped carrot 
1 (8-ounce) package baked tofu, oriental or teriyaki style, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint 
1/2 cup chopped green onions 
1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained* 
1/4 cup hoisin sauce, plus more for dipping* 
1 head butter lettuce 
Lime wedges

Method

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions, zucchini and carrots and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tofu, mint, green onions and water chestnuts. Add 1/4 cup of the hoisin sauce and let simmer 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and serve tofu mixture with lettuce leaves for wrapping, lime wedges for squeezing and additional sauce for dipping, if you like.

This is a fresh, easy and delectable dish which was perfect for my boyfriend and I on New Year's Eve. I recommend a substitution of persian cucumber for zucchini to give the dish a more juicy and crunchy texture. I also recommend a substitution of dried bean curd for fresh tofu for a unique, savory flavor. Dried bean curd is a simple way to kick this dish up a notch. It's one of my favorite Chinese ingredients and can be found in any Asian supermarket. One final substitution I recommend is cilantro for mint, which gives the dish a more zesty instead of cooling character. I just sprinkled the top of the onion, carrot, persian cucumber, green onion, and dried bean curd mixture with the cilantro. Then I used a mixture of fresh organic peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and garlic salt to create a hoisin-like dipping sauce for the lettuce wraps. We ran out of butter lettuce leaflets so you should buy an extra head of lettuce just in case to avoid running out when you serve this dish. Also, the butter lettuce leaflets tend to be quite soft so if you desire a crunchier wrap, you can use iceberg lettuce.

Last notes- this dish is fun to prepare as it requires lots of fine chopping and mixing ingredients, so prepare to have fun. It is even more fun to eat. The crunchiness of the water chestnuts contrasts the savoriness of the dried bean curd, and the juiciness of the vegetable mixture and lettuce wrap. Paired with four-cheese blend quesadillas, the lettuce wraps are a great, upbeat dish perfect for a romantic dinner at home or a party. I hope you try it out!