Tofu Fajitas

Here we have Tuesday night's dinner - Tofu Fajitas from cool food once again. The recipe looked interesting so I thought I'd give it a go. There are a few componants to the dish.

1) Tofu - in the pic they look like fish sticks. These are marinated in a mixture of crushed garlic, soy sauce and black pepper. They they are fried in a little oil until crisp and placed on some paper towel to prevent sogginess.

2) Tomato relish - the recipe calls for tinned tomatoes but we had the equivalent in fresh, slightly soft ones which I used instead. I diced these with a small red chilli (seeds removed and chopped finely) and 1/2 a large onion diced. These were blitzed in the food processor until reasonably smooth. Season and transfer to stove, bringing to the boiling and then simmering for 10 mins or so.

3) Guac - 2 avos, a couple of spoonfuls of leben, a good squeeze of lemon and a large pinch of salt & mash together.

4) Vegies - slice some yellow capsicum and spring onion (from our garden - very easy to grow).

Assembly: While the book recommends 15cm tortillas, the best I could find was 30cm flatbread/pita. I placed fillings down the centre and wrapped it like a burrito.

It was extremely filling - possibly because there was twice the amount of bread than what was called for. A really flavoursome, enjoyable meal.

Note: We use leben - an unflavoured natural yoghurt in place of sour cream in most recipes. It has a nice zing and doesn't taste too rich.

Salmon Patties and Mango Salsa

This was Monday night's dinner care of Cool Food. Salmon patties with mango salsa. I altered the recipe slightly to suit what I had on hand. The patties were very easy to make. Finely dice half a red onion and place in a food processor along with a peeled clove of garlic and 415g tin of red salmon (skin removed, bones can stay - a very good edible and non dairy source of calcium). Blitz until everything is mixed. Add 1 egg and 1/2 cup cornflake crumbs. Blitz again. Scoop out tablespoonfuls, shape into patties with clean hands. Cover with glad wap and place in fridge for 30 mins to firm up.

Salsa: Peel and dice 1 mango. Peel and dice half an avocado. Squeeze over half a lime.

Fry patties until browned (3-4 mins each side, but you can tell when they're cooked.) Serve with last night's leftover rice (reheated), chopped coriander and sweet chili sauce. A fresh, light dinner.

Christmas Cupcakes

Here we have my version of xmas fare - minty xmas cupcakes from family fun. I was actually quite impressed with how these turned out. The base is a white cupcake made with mini milk choc chips and sour cream - very rich indeed. It did not follow the ordinary method for cupcakes - ie using an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar, but rather it was a muffin method (mix wet, mix dry and combine). This made it so easy.

The icing is where the mint comes into action in the form of peppermint essence. Butter is beaten with a wooden spoon until soft, then icing sugar is sifted in and beaten into the butter. Mint essence and milk are added and then spread onto cooled cup cakes. The decorating is done with gel pens from the baking section at the supermarket. The close up is meant to be holly berries and leaves but looks more like a pair of cherries.

Side note: These cooked quickly as they were baked in mini muffin pans. The pan is very important. I do not recommend just using the patty paper in a baking dish as you will end up with boot shaped cupcakes (which is fine if that's the look you're going for...)

Behold the Tofu Roast!

Okay, first blog of 2009, but this was made Oct 2008. Here we have tofu roast from La Dolce Vegan. Two and a half packs of tofu crumbled into a large sieve lined with clean unused chux cloths. The tofu bowl is then filled with delectable homemade stuffing, some remaining crumbled tofu is placed on top and pressed down with some tins. After a good while in the fridge to firm up, it is placed flat side down into a foil lined baking dish and basted with a soy based sauce. Roast until brown, basting during cooking and served with roasted potatoes and a green salad. This was so delicious and far more filling than your average roast.

Miscellaneous

These photos, as the title suggests don't really fit anywhere. But here's an explanation anyway.

The first is a veggie burger (admittedly a burger so small it is invisible under its bun lid - not so, the plentiful greens and pickles) served with oven heated spicy fries.

The second is my venture in to cereal candy - a dollar serve oftrix has cured any desired for the stuff ever again (I even had to "dilute" them with rice bubbles).

The third in Freedom French Toast from La Dolce Vegan. The silken tofu didn't do it for me - but it was delicious served with day old challah. Which cancels out the vegan. Oh well.

You're looking at a winner!

Speaking of great Australian traditions, the Royal Melbourne Show has come to town yet again and this time it brought some blue ribbons. Here I am pictured with some of my first and second year 11 place-getters for the zucchini carrot loaf category. Woo-hoo!

Also featured is the cupcake design brief (we do love cake baking in Unit 2). The chosen theme was Sesame St - a step up from The Wiggles theme last year. It may just be coloured icing, sprinkles and mini marshmallows, but the students did a great job of bringing the puppets to life (in cake form).

THE PIE (An Austra-American Tradition)

This post is devoted to pies. First, is the portabello pot pie (recipe from La Dolce Vegan. The crust was so easy to make using a food processor and so silky to handle too. Surplus supplies of portabellos made it a hearty dish. Served with Israeli salad featuring kumatos. Needless to say, there were no leftovers.

The second pie is a vegan coconut cream pie, from the everyday vegan. There is something about coconut cream pie that conjures up a Hawaiian luau - for me anyway.

Side note: I haven't blogged for a while and looking back at this picture I thought "When did I make rhubarb pie?" but that's just the cheery tablecloth peeking through.