Back to the UK tofu

Back from a great holiday in a little paradise location in Sicily, I feel really rejuvenated and the sun incredibly enough is shining in London too, even if it’s not really hot.
I have neglected my blog just as much as my little basil plant, that today ended up in the bin, but my resolution is to add lots of recipes in Aug/Sep
Hopefully I will have to cook for quite a few picnics so it’s going to be interesting..
On Monday, after my allucinatory journey home from Stansted, very few hours sleep and a full on day in the office, I was ready to make my own dinner again but nothing too complicated so here’s the recipe, quick and summery:


Back to the UK Tofu
1 cake firm tofu
½ a cucumber
1 piece ginger
some alpha-alpha sprouts
1 tbs mirin
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs rice vinegar
50 grams pistachio nuts

Peel and deseed the cucumber, cut the cucumber and ginger julienne, mix with the alpha-alpha sprouts.
Mix mirin, soy sauce and vinegar.
Place the vegetables on top of the tofu and pour the sauce over.
Grind the pistachio (leave them a bit coarse) and sprinkle on top.
Yummy!


It's so funny that I thought I share this.
It was 43°C in Palermo, Sicily last Sunday, too hot for anybody... even for these guys

Tofu and fresh herbs tart

I am getting really upset about the "English summer", this is becoming like a big joke, it seems like it's never going to stop raining and I almost got used to go to work by bike and get inevitably wet.
If we have to look at the bright side I could say that this weather gives me the chance to bake that is one of my favourite cooking methods.

Ingredients for the shell:
50 grams buckwheat flour
50 grams wholewheat flour
50 grams all purpose flour
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
4 teaspoon of sesame oil
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 teaspoon dried majorain
1 cup water (or less, add the water slowly till achieved the right consistence)

For the filling:
1 silken tofu pack
2 tbsp soy milk
Fresh herbs: Basil, terragon, oregano, chive etc.
1 bunch chopped spring onion
tamari to season

Mix all the ingredients for the shell and create a dough (elastic but not too wet). On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into a 3 mm thin pastry and fit into a 10- or 11-inch round tart pan with a removable rim. Prick dough all over with a fork.
Preheat the oven to 180 C°, bake tart shell for 10 minutes, or until almost cooked through but still pale.
In a food processor blend the ingredients for the filling and stir in the herbs at the end.
Pour the ingredients in the shell and bake for 20 minutes (the filling should set).

Sarah brought a slice to work today and she thinks that it could go well with chutney and salad.

The Ghost Soup

While my friends are emailing me saying how hot Italy is at the moment, we switched the heating hot for a couple of hour as the house was really becoming a freezer.
For the rule of yin and yang now I fancy only hot dishes, soups etc.. but being already summertime I quite like to include some raw greens in them.
Yesterday it was a rainy Sunday, a bit depressing really,so I thought I cook something stylish and tempting to lift the moral up. From the amazing “the best of tofu” I got this recipe that was warming and looked absolutely stunning.
You need:
1 tofu (I used a firm one but the silken is more appropriate)
1 pack shimeji mushroom a 1 enoki mushroom, they had them both at our local Vietnamese shop, but I think they are fairly easy to find in any Asian shop, waitrose has them as well (about 1.5£ each)
1 bundle chive
4 cups soymilk
Soy sauce

Note------ if you are not vegetarian you can add dashi stock to the broth and you can find it in Japanese stores

Dice the tofu, trim the end of the mushrooms and separate them.
Heat the soymilk, but be careful, it scorches really easily so you need have a low flame. When it comes to the boil add the tofu and the chopped chives. Reduce the flame again and cook till the chive is tender but still a bit crunchy. Serve hot.

To find the ingredients for this soup you just need to live near an Asian shop, but the great thing is tha those mushrooms are not even imported, they grow them in Britain! This soup is so easy to make and it’s so impressive that you can serve it even to the snobbiest of guests!

Scrambled tofu with enoki mushrooms

1 cake firm tofu
100 grms carrots
1 bunch enoki mushrooms
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp dark tahini
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp water
some basil leaves

Remove the base of the enoki mushrooms and break them into pieces.
Cut the carrots in 4 cm length batons.
Cut the tofu in cubes and boil for 2 minutes, transfer to a cotton muslin in a colander, wrap the muslin and break in small pieces while squeezing out the water.
Heat the sesame oil in a wok; add the carrots and the enokii mushrooms and stir-fry. Crumble the tofu. Keep cooking and stirring, season with soy sauce and with tahini sauce (1 tbsp tahini, 2 tbsp water)
Add the basil leaves.

tofu kebabs

Considering the sun is shining as if it were June, and that we are on
holiday, today I made a yummy holiday lunch!

Served with steamed bok choi and brown rice with toasted nori seaweed, these
tofu kebabs are delicious and easy to make.
We bought firm tofu (about 400 grams) and cut it into cubes. You can use
tofu found in organic or Asian shops; I prefer always the organic version.

1) Prepare a marinade with 1 tablespoon grated ginger, 4 tablespoon tamari o
shoyu (absolutely not the cheap soy sauce from the corner shop!), 3 garlic
cloves, 2 tablespoon umeboshi vinegar, 2 tablespoon apple juice, 2 fresh red
chillies. Blend all the ingredients to a smooth texture.

I went jogging and left the tofu in the marinade for about one hour,
obviously the longer you leave it for the tastier the result.

2) Bake for 30 minutes (180°C) in a baking tray, till brown on both sides. Set aside to cool.

3) Assemble the kebabs alternating a cube of cucumber and one of tofu.

Serve with a coconut sauce:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dark tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 fresh red chillie
2 tablespoons tamari
1 clove garlic

Blend until smooth.

Feel on holiday.

Today I played the last CD I bought, from Busdriver an excellent Hip Hop Album, with some incredibly catching rhymes, this has been a tasty Easter, I think this is a good candidate for album of the year...