Pub Tofu Fish N' Chips, Homemade Ketchup and spicy remoullade

Baby Holly decided to take a long nap today and this is what Jason and I came up with. Yes, it was a Pat and Gina Neely kinda afternoon. The depth of flavor was not deep enough in the tofu according to Jason, but I'm posting this recipe anyway. Why? Because the story is just too beautiful, not to mention that golden crust. First off, there's that ketchup. From a bottle? Nope. A friend of mine invited me to pick tomatoes from her grandpa's garden, and the respect I have for my adult ESL students got even higher. Nearly most of them work in some type of agriculture and many pick fruits and vegetables. I was out there for maybe 30 minutes tops and they do it day in and day out. It's hard not to get emotional about these people as this is my last year teaching them and next wednesday is our last night. Next year I will be starting a new endeavor as a tenth grade English teacher at the school in our district for those who may have made some mistakes or just need to make up some units. I am looking forward to being both firm and nurturing, but most importantly, not treating them like "bad kids."

So back to the ketchup. Just juice, simmer and add spices. It's that easy. Of course it doesn't taste authentic without a bit of sugar or vinegar, but the spices really take it over the top and make it it's own original thing. You can even not call it ketchup if you want-your prerogative. This is only something to do if you have bags and bags of tomatoes for free of course, and a juicer. People also add cornstarch to their ketchup but I just don't think it's necessary when you can reduce it down and get it as thick as you want. Since Holly's been born, I don't measure much and it's been pretty liberating, so here's what I have for you:

Homemade Garden Tomato Ketchup
2 big bags of tomatoes
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder
paprika

• Juice tomatoes and pour in huge pot. Bring to a boil on high, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 or more hours, depending on desired thickness. 
• Add salt and spices to taste. Paprika makes a huge difference!

Spicy Remoulade
Vegenaise
paprika
onion powder
pepper

• Mix ingredients to your liking.

French fries are from our CSA box, cut and fried.
Tofu batter was also used on zucchini from our CSA box which I devoured and did not take a picture of. I'll just tell you the slices were thin and crisp, with just the right amount of juiciness inside. The flavor for me was spot on with the deep flavor of the ketchup. I did not actually try the tofu but Jason says the slices should be thinner next time and it needed more salt. So here's what I think is a great start to some good Pub Tofu Fish N' Chips:

Pub Tofu Fish N' Chips
2 15.5 oz packs Extra Firm WildWood Tofu
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup AP flour
2 ts salt
onion powder
garlic powder
paprika
2-3 cups panko

• Slice tofu and drain excess water between paper towels
• Mix remaining ingredients except for panko
• Dip tofu in batter, then coat in panko. I use two huge tupperwares for each. Deep fry. 

What I will do next time: 3 ts salt (1 Tb). Also, I will make a buttermilk by putting 1 Tb lemon juice in the measuring cup, filling up the milk to a cup and letting it curdle. I think that will take it over the top.
Update: Later on last night I had some of this tofu and it was perfect-especially with the richness of the ketchup. Jason also agreed that it was way better after sitting for a bit to firm up and cool off, not to mention his propensity for salt is much too high anyway. So the recipe is a keeper for both of us. Oh, and it's tricky with zucchini as it doesn't always guarantee a crispy yield like tofu.

Vegan Super Bowl Party~Buffalo Lettuce Wraps and "Chicken"&Waffles

So our superbowl party was months ago, but these "Chicken"&Waffles and Buffalo Style Lettuce Wraps have been on my mind ever since! Perhaps I delayed the post thinking I'd make them again, getting a good picture of each in perfect outside lighting, but this blog is about real life, so here you go! What was special about this party was all the yummy vegan dishes that our amazing non-vegan friends brought! I'm talking homemade hummus with homemade taro chips, fruit salad with chili powder, and marinated mushrooms. Jason and I are lucky vegans to have such positive and open minded friends. Now about these two gems. I've been fascinated with the chicken and waffle concept for quite sometime, and when I saw these mini frozen waffles I knew I had to make mini sammies. The mustard-mayo has just a touch of mustard for that sun-kissed look. As for the lettuce wraps, I heard about the "wing shortage" leading up to the superbowl, and I wanted to honor America's love of buffalo wings, just for the sake of tradition. However, these have an Asian flare to them, because that's just me. So without further ado, the recipes are...

"Chicken"&Waffles
1 recipe Tofu Nuggets
2 boxes Earth's Best Organic Mini Waffles

Mustard-Mayo
2 cups Vegenaise
2 Tb yellow mustard

Directions
Make the tofu nuggets as directed except slice the nuggets into squares instead of rectangular strips.
Wildwood Extra Firm Tofu in the double pack is the perfect shape and texture. Each block makes 8 perfect slices, for a total of 16 in one pack, and 32 in two.

Bake the waffles as directed. There are 32 pieces in one box, so two boxes will give you the perfect amount for 32 sammies. Its simple to cut the recipe in half for a smaller crowd!

Mix mustard and mayo. Does it get any easier?

Arrange the sammies.

Asian-Style Buffalo Lettuce Wraps
2 bunches butter lettuce
4 cups prepared white or brown rice, 2 cups dry
1 20 oz package Super Firm Wildwood Tofu
2 Tb white or whole wheat flour

Honey or Agave-Sriracha "Wing" Sauce
2 Tb olive oil
4 Tb lime juice
4 Tb honey or agave
2 Tb Sriracha (I use Trader Joe's)
2 ts soy sauce
1 ts salt
1 ts garlic powder
1 ts onion powder
Oil for deep frying

Directions
Mix ingredients for the wing sauce.

Dice tofu into bite sized pieces and place in a dish or container. Sprinkle the flour over the pieces and mix to coat. Heat oil on medium and wait until it's shimmering. Oil should sizzle when a piece of tofu is dropped into it. Deep fry tofu until golden brown.

Add pieces to wing sauce and mix to coat.

Arrange the lettuce cups with rice and tofu pieces.

Orange Juice Glazed Tofu

Another glazed tofu post, this one I made a long time ago but never got around to posting. The coconut milk, orange juice, soy sauce and mirin reduce down to a syrupy glaze that makes this tofu inhalable--and it must be eaten with rice! Now that I know what I do about GMOs, I'd buy an organic mirin, since the Kikkoman brand has high fructose corn syrup as one of the first ingredients. The recipe also uses a little Sriracha--I doubt its GMO free, but the good news is, OrganicVille makes one! See? There's a solution to every problem.

The recipe for this glaze is inspired by Dave's Party Potstickers on Food Network's Recipe Showdown.  I've used it several times with frozen veggie potstickers and everyone loves it.

The method is similar to my other glazed tofu, but there's a lot more glaze. Oh, and I always use fresh orange juice with oranges from farmer's market or the organic section at the grocery store. I stopped buying orange juice when I heard about flavor packets. And you could totally sub the mirin with more orange juice. Here's the recipe!

Orange Juice Glazed Tofu
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup organic mirin
2 Tb organic soy sauce
1 ts organic Sriracha
2 Tb chives
1/2 ts onion powder
1/2 ts garlic powder
1 15.5 oz Extra Firm Wild Wood Sproutofu
Olive oil for frying

Slice the tofu and press the water out using a heavy bottomed skillet and several paper towels.

Combine  the first eight ingredients. Heat the olive oil on medium heat and wait until the oil is shimmering, but not smoking. It should sizzle when the tofu hits it. Arrange the slices of tofu in the pan of hot oil and allow to sit, undisturbed, until tofu is golden underneath. Flip tofu and wait until the other side is golden underneath. When both sides are appropriately crisp, pour in the glaze and watch it sizzle. It will seem like a lot, but soon it will reduce down to the thick, dark syrup you see in the picture. Leave the heat on medium or turn it up to medium high to speed up the process. Cook until liquid is reduced.

Gluten-Free Tofu Nuggets

It sure has been a while since posting. I had to walk away for a while, but it feels so good to be back. It was like a part of myself was missing without blogging. I think a lot of it might do with my anxiety about perfection. But hey, at least I can admit it. I want this to be an authentic place where you, the reader, can see what I feed my family. I might not be able to blog about everything I make, but I really, really, really want to blog about a lot of it. So, forgive me if its not always the perfect picture or setting! These nuggets made me a star at last night's Halloween party, along with my BBQ sauce inspired by The 30-Minute Vegan. I have some very open minded meat eating friends who I love to impress, and they love being impressed=) First, the recipe for the nuggets...

Gluten-Free Tofu Nuggets
1 3/4 cups bread crumbs (I like Real Foods Corn Thins pulverized to a powder in the food processor. See my review of these here. You could also use corn flakes or panko bread crumbs)
1 Tb salt
1/2 ts each onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and mustard powder
2 15.5 oz packages Wildwood Extra Firm Tofu (it comes in a double pack, so you should have a total of 4 blocks of tofu. Trader Joe's brand is basically the same thing.)

1/4 cup mustard
3/4 cup filtered water
1/2 cup brown rice flour

2-3 Tb Olive oil (For the sheet pan)

Directions
First, slice your tofu into nuggets. Lay the pieces on a couple of paper towels over a large cutting board. Top with a couple more paper towels and press to get the water out. You could lay a heavy pan over it to make sure the water is pressed out well.

Now, mix your mustard, water, and brown rice flour. Of course you could use regular flour if you are not gluten-free.

Prepare mixture of crumbs, salt and seasonings. I put mine in a large tupperware so I can shake the tofu around in it.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Oil a large sheet pan with the olive oil.

Dip a nugget into the mustard mixture, shaking off excess. Then drop it into the crumbs, shaking it around to coat. Shake off excess and arrange on the sheet pan. Proceed with the rest of the nuggets.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown underneath. Flip, then continue baking for about 15 minutes longer, or until they are appropriately crispy.


Oh, and I can't forget about the BBQ sauce! Jason says its our only barbecue sauce from now on, which is great for me because its so easy to make!

Quick and Easy BBQ sauce
1 cup organic ketchup
3 Tb Molasses or 2 Tb agave or 2 Tb honey
2 Tb soy sauce
1/4 cup filtered water
1/2 ts each onion powder and garlic powder
1 ts paprika
1/2 ts liquid smoke
1 1/2 ts apple cider vinegar
1 ts dijon mustard
2 Tb olive oil

Mix and enjoy!

Glazed Tofu

This is something I was addicted to for a while. I love it cold the next day for lunch! I also like to chop it up and put it in a salad with apples and candied walnuts. Here is how to make it a la carte. Oh, and I used a 15.5 oz package of Extra Firm Wildwood SprouTofu. It comes in a double pack. The recipe makes just enough for my husband and I.

Step 1: Press water out of the tofu. 

The sliced tofu is actually underneath this pan, between the paper towels. This is how I  get the excess water out. 

Step 2: Make the glaze

Ingredients

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

3 Tb agave nectar

1 ts salt

1/2 ts garlic powder

1/2 ts onion powder

1/2 ts mustard powder (optional)
lots of pepper

Step 3: Pan fry the tofu

Heat enough oil to cover the pan on medium heat

Wait till oil is shimmering and hot. It should sizzle when tofu touches the oil

Allow tofu to fry until golden underneath. Don't play with it too much. Just let it get crispy.

Flip and continue to fry the tofu until golden underneath.

Pour over the glaze and watch it bubble, bubble, toil and trouble=)

• Allow to deglaze for another ten minutes, until a sticky syrup forms.