Monthly Archives: May 2008
Pineapple Fried Rice with Tofu
| May 6, 2008 | Posted by LK under Asian, Quick Weeknight Meals, Thai |
The fist time I ate this it was an accident- someone at work ordered it for someone else who ended up not wanting lunch. Me, being me, decided to eat some. I was a little skeptical, since I’m not normally ah uge fan of tofu, but this stuff is SO good. I’ve since ordered it on my own, and I decided to try making it at home tonight. I made my rice as I was prepping and cooking the vegetables, but supposedly it will come out better if you use day old rice. Mine came out great though, so that part is up to you. if you don’t like tofu, I bet it would be really good with shrimp. But I promise, tofu is a lot less scary than you think it is! It kind of has the consistency of scrampled eggs.
When I buy nuts for recipes like this, I really like to get them from the bulk bins that are in the “natural” aise of my grocery store. That way, I can buy the amount that I need and not worry about having any left over. Much cheaper this way too- 1/2 cup of nuts usually runs me a dollar or less, depending on what type they are.
3 cups brown rice, cooked
1 tsp. high smoke point oil (I used grapeseed)
1/2 pkg. extra firm tofu, cubed
1 chili pepper, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1 egg
2 T. fish sauce (can sub soy sauce)
2 tsp. curry powder
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 can pineapple cubes, drained
1/2 c. unsalted cashews
3 green onions, chopped
1. Heat oil in a large wok or skillet. Add tofu and brown it a little. Remove tofu from pan.
2. Add garlic, shallot, and chili to pan. Cook until fragrant- about a minute.
3. Crack egg into pan. Mix around (like you’re making scrambled eggs).
4. Once egg is cooked, re-add tofu. Cook another minute or two.
5. Add fish/soy sauce and curry, peas, and cashews. Cook until peas are thawed.
6. Turn heat to high. Add pineapple and rice. Cook, stirring frequently, until rice starts to make a popping noise.
7. Remove from heat. Stir in green onions.
Makes about 8 servings.
Deconstructed Tamales
| May 5, 2008 | Posted by LK under Mexican and Southwestern |
I love tamales. A lot. But since all the recipes I’ve seen for them require about 2 full days of cooking, I’ve never made them. I decided to pay around a bit with the idea. My favorite mexican place makes they’re pork tamales with a mole sauce, so I decided to make the filling like that, and then just throw it on top of some polenta that was seasoned like tamale dough. They came out really, really good. And filling.
1.5 lb. pork loin, trimmed of fat
1 jar Trader Joe’s red mole
1 cup cornmeal
3 cups water
garlic, paprika, and chili powder to taste
handful shredded mozzarella
Cut the pork loin into small cubes. Put in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Forget about it for an hour.
Bring the 3 cups of water to a boil. Slowly add cornmeal and spices, stirring constantly. Continue cooking (and stirrng) until it gets really thick- about 15 minutes. Stir in mozzarella. Spread in a glass dish. Put in oven to stay warm (you’ll want it to hang out in there for at least a half hour so it solidifies. You can heat it up at 300 for 10 minutes toward the end if its cooled off too much).
Remove pork from water. Dump water down the drain. Shred pork roughly with two forks (if you get some bigger chunks, its fine). Add back to pan. Add sauce, plus about 1/2 cup water. Cook until the sauce is heated through.
Spread the pork mixture over the polenta. Enjoy!
Makes 6 large servings.
**I got a new stove this weekend and I’m pretty much obsessed with it, so I’ll probably be updating a lot. I’ve finally gotten my cooking inspiration back!
Sopapilla Ice Cream
| May 5, 2008 | Posted by LK under Cake and Pastry, Desserts, Indulge, Mexican and Southwestern, Special Occasions |
Yes, you read that right. Honey frozen custard with a dolce de leche swirl and sopapilla bits. I was a bad girl this weekend. This is definitely not healthy, but it sure is delicious. So delicious that we’re already out and I had to promise to make more tomorrow.
I’ll post how I made it, but I do have suggestions: 1) use fat free half and half to make it a tad healthier. I’ve done this with other ice creams, and it comes out good. It’ll get a little icy if you freeze leftovers, but nothing horrible. Definitely worth it to save on calories. 2) Making the sopapillas was a pain in the butt. Unless you really want to, I’d skip this part. Sub half of a cruller. Or just leave them out The flavors will be the same. Obviously all of these would be amazing on they’re own as well.
For the ice cream you’ll need a batch of honey custard, about 1/4 batch of dolce de leche, and about 3 sopapillas torn into very small piceces (like large bread crumbs). If you omit the sopapillas, you might want to add a little more cinnamon. Freeze the custard according to your ice cream makers instructions. Just before its done, add the sopapilla pieces. Follow up with the dolce de leche, letting the machien run just enough to swirl it through.
For the custard:
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup honey
dash salt
3 cups half and half (sub fat free)
1 cinnamon stick
Combine egg, honey, and salt. Set aside.
In a saucepan, bring half and half and cinnamon stick to a boil. Remove from heat quickly or it will boil over. Remove cinnamon stick.
Add a little bit of the half and half to the egg mixture, wisking constantly (so the egg doesn’t cook). Then add this back to the pot. Simmer, stirring constantly, until it gets thick enough to coat the back of a spoon- about 5 minutes.
Chill well- at least an hour.
Meanwhile, make the dolce de leche: Poke a tiny hole in the top of a can of fat free condensed milk. Set can in a pot. Fill about 3/4 with water (enough to almost cover the can, but not enough to that water will get into that little hole). Boil for about an hour. Remove from heat. it will thicken more as it cools.
For the sopapillas:
1 pkg. yeast
1/4 c. warm water
3/4 c. skim milk
6 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. butter
1 egg, beaten
3 c. flour
Approximately 1 inch cooking oil
Soften yeast in lukewarm water. Set aside.
Combine milk, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Allow to cool until lukewarm.
Stir in beaten egg and yeast mixture. Gradually add flour. Cover dough with a damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
Punch down, knead briefly until dough is smooth. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Roll to about 1/2 inch thick square and cut into approx 24 small squares 9they’ll be small but will puff up when fried)
Heat the oil to about 350. Cook the sopapilla in small batches, about 2-3 minutes on each side. They’ll brown and puff up. once they’re brown on both sides, they’re done.
Remove from oil with a slotted spoon (not plastic!!) Drain on paper towels. Toss in cinnamon and sugar (or splenda).
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