45 posts tagged “brunch”

Thanks to Purplesque's thoughtful recommendation, I'm so ready to make my first sourdough starter now.  I just made my first sponge starter yesterday and now I am in the process of making my first Ciabatta.  When my hubby picks up some rye flour in our next grocery shopping, I will make my first sourdough starter and we shall see what comes next.  I am really excited about it, and hopefully I can participate in YeastSpotting very soon.  I have learned so much about the art of  bread making from Susan's Wild Yeast and Baking911 in the past two to three days.  When all is said and done, my favorite thing to do in the kitchen is actually to bake a loaf of bread.  Nothing beats that haunting aroma of the fresh baked bread right out of the oven.  So here is to more bread baking in 2009!

In the meantime, I have another awesome scrambled tofu recipe to share.  I probably should have made it during Christmas because of its festive colors.  I guess when I feel lazy, scrambled tofu is my ultimate comfort food.

Red and Green Scrambled Tofu

Red and Green Scrambled Tofu
(Makes 4-5 servings)

4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
8-9 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
1 1/2 cups portobello mushrooms, finely chopped
2 roasted red peppers (roasted or jarred), diced
1/2 cup sliced green onions
4 tsp. parsely
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garam masala powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. dill
1/4 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder
1 3/4 packages extra-firm tofu, cubed
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 tsp. red curry paste
1 bunch asparagus, rough ends discarded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces, tips reserved
4 cups baby spinach
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute onions, garlic, mushrooms, roasted red peppers and green onions over medium heat for 10-11 minutes, until onions are translucent and mushrooms have released the juice.
2. Add in the spices from parsley to Chinese five-spice powder.  Mix well and cook for another one minute.
3. Add in tofu and diced tomatoes and cook for about 4-5 minutes, until the tomatoes begin to release their juice.
4. Stir in red curry paste and mix well.  Add in asparagus and cook for 3 minutes.
5. Add spinach in by handfuls, and cook for just one minute to heat through.
6. Remove from heat.  Pour in nutritional yeast, and season with salt and pepper according to your taste.  Serve warm.

Before I have completely turned against "pan breads", I did make a loaf of beer bread - a real quick bread which gives you a buzz without getting you into trouble.  The recipe is by Eat'n Veg'n Vegan Food and Recipes.

Beer Bread

And I happened to make a batch of peanut butter jam thumbprints (recipe by Jonimarie of 'Just the food') right before the peanut butter recall sufficiently scared us.  I used creamy peanut butter and black raspberry preserves, which is a wonderful combination.  These cookies were so great that before they cooled off, one was snatched by my hubby.  My usual attitude towards peanut butter is very stern; I mean peanuts are not nuts.  Nor are they peas.  Why should they be called peanuts?  And so many people are allergic to peanuts.  But I figured this time, what the heck.  But then the peanut butter product contamination became bigger and bigger.  We ended up throwing out all the rest of the cookies and two jars of peanut butter that we just bought.  So here is the last photo that we can savor without possibly getting sick physically or emotionally.

Peanut Butter Jam Thumbprints

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We have been trying to entice more squirrels to come visit our yard more often by leaving mixed nuts on our lounge chairs and on the ground outside our lanai.  So far, the first batch of nuts were consumed by one single squirrel a week ago; I watched the little fellow eat most of them and bury some in different holes.  The second batch of nuts were mysteriously "stolen", on two consecutive nights, by some nocturnal animal.  I haven't found any evidence of a raccoon living in the neighborhood, but I have seen a few cats wandering in our yard every day.  Do cats eat nuts too?  The mystery is that whatever animal ate the nuts, it also left a lot of white powder around the site.  Since yesterday we had a lot of rain, unending.  Now that the white powder is gone, the nuts gone, and it is super wet outside, I haven't seen any squirrel out in the yard yet.  By the way, our nuts have a serious competition.  My hubby told me that there is a lady living a street down who has some squirrel feeders that attract at least a dozen squirrels every day.

While waiting for the squirrels to come, I concocted a dish that combines my two favorite staples: scrambled tofu and tofu paprikash.  So I named this Scrambled Tofu Paprikash.  It is by far the best tofu dish we have ever tasted, since it combines the sweet paprika and tangy tomato taste and lots of fresh vegetables like cauliflower and yellow squash.

Scrambled Tofu Paprikash

Scrambled Tofu Paprikash
(Makes 5-6 servings)

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
7-8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2/3 cup carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 cup sliced green onions
4 cups cauliflower florets, cut into bite size
4 small to medium yellow squashes, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3 tomatoes, chopped and juice reserved
1 block extra-firm tofu, drained and cubed
1 Tofurky Italian sausage, thinly sliced
5 tsp. sweet paprika
3 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1. Saute onions, garlic and carrots in olive oil over medium heat for about 7 minutes.
2. Add cauliflower, yellow squashes and tomatoes and mix well.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Uncover.  Add paprika, parsley, cumin and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute or two.
4. Add tofu and sausage pieces and mix well.  Cook for 5 minutes.
5. Remove from heat.  Mix in salt and pepper and nutritional yeast and adjust the spices if you want.  Serve warm.

I have been completely absorbed in reading lately, which is the reason why I haven't had much time for cooking.  I am currently reading the last volume of In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust) and To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf).  I just finished Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf) 2 days ago.  Marcel Proust and Virginia Woolf are my two favorite authors, and I can't read enough of their books.  So, I only have two food photos to share this time.

Marinated Italian Tofu (Veganomicon).  This is still one of my favorite ways of eating tofu.

Marinated Italian Tofu

Maple Snack Cake (recipe by Gretchen Noelle of 'Canela & Comino').  This is a must-try recipe for anyone who loves maple syrup.  And who doesn't love maple syrup?  It is a very dense and moist cake perfect for afternoon tea.

Maple Snack Cake

I have been cooking but it has become rather hard to keep up posting more often.  We always seem to have many things piling up onto the to-do lists.  "It's always something" has been such a cliche in our household now.  I didn't have time to come up with any new recipe.  Nor did I participate in any cooking contest like I planned.  I cooked from cookbooks and my recipe collection.  Alas!  'Tis life.  We ought to be grateful for what we have though.  My husband and I have begun our little "self-compliment" group, inspired by LaidOutInLavendar.  It is not easy at all.  Gosh, I never knew it could this hard to say a few nice things about ourselves without feeling weird or discouraged.  But we are trying.  It's much easier to compliment each other, but when it comes down to the self-compliment...  I guess we just don't know ourselves well enough.

Anyway, here comes the food porn, as usual.  The first thing is from VwaV, page 28, "Fronch" Toast.  It was great, but next time I will definitely add some cinnamon and nutmet to make it more traditional.

Fronch Toast

The second thing is Bryanna's Hunan Tofu.  I made this before, a long while ago that I can't even remember.  This time I didn't even fry the tofu beforehand because I wanted more of a soft and juicy texture.  It turned out even better than I remembered.  Surely a keeper!

Bryanna's Hunan Tofu

And I served the Hunan Tofu with Indian-Spiced Quinoa from Vegan Planet (page 229).  I skipped raisins because I generally don't like them in the savory dishes and used walnuts instead of pine nuts as I simply ran out.  It's the first recipe I have tried out of this vegan cookbook.  I loved the flavors and short preparation time.  I will definitely try some other recipes soon.

Hunan Tofu and Indian-Spiced Quinoa with Walnuts

Finally, a recipe from one of my favorite vegan cookbooks, Eat, Drink & Be Vegan - Monkey Minestrone (page 97).  I totally adored this soup, but my husband actually preferred my own minestrone.  How sweet!  I didn't use any corn, but added some potatoes and soy beans.  I think the soup was made more earthy and meaty this way.  I also added three tablespoons of tomato paste to make the soup thicker.

Monkey Minestrone

How was everybody's Thanksgiving?  I hope that you all had fun and lots of really nice food.  Did you overeat like last year and the year before last year...?  Here are a couple of things that you can eat when you're so sick of food or thinking about cooking anything.

Scrambled Tofu with Cauliflower and Green Beans

Scrambled Tofu with Cauliflower and Green Beans
(makes 3-4 servings)

1 large yellow onion, quartered and thinly sliced
7-8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 cup thinly sliced green onions
9 large button mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced
4 cups cauliflower florets, cut into bite size
4 cups green beans, ends discarded and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 1/2 blocks extra-firm tofu, pressed beforehand and cut into cubes
4 tsp. thyme
3 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute onions, garlic, green onions, mushrooms and cauliflower over medium heat for about 12-13 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften and mushrooms release some juice.
2. Add green beans and tofu cubes.  Mix in well and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add spices except for the nutritional yeast and salt and pepper.  Cook for another 10 minutes until green beans are fully cooked.  I like them crispy.  If you want them to be soft, cook for 15-20 minutes.
4. Remove from heat.  Add in the nutritional yeast and mix well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I bought a few too many sweet potatoes so I decided to finally hit the "Knish Madness" recipe (page 76) in Vegan With A Vengeance.  I have no idea what I got myself into.  I don't know why the recipe says the baking is altogether 70 minutes while I spent almost 4 hours baking the potatoes at a higher temperature too.  I mean I made other pies and baked other things so it seems that my oven is that off.  I really don't know what happened.  Then the kneading completely wiped me out.  By the time I put the knishes into the oven to bake, I was so glad that it was all over I didn't even care if I ever got to eat them.  And I didn't make any potato-spinach knishes after all that preparations.  But the final products were really good.  I think I still said that it was worth the effort - 6-7 hours of working in the kitchen.

Potato Knish

Sweet Potato Knish

I don't think I will make these knishes any time soon though.  It's a little too much work for one day no matter how good they have turned out in the end.