Tofu Tandoori Curry

A few weeks ago the freezer door was left open overnight + there was a need to use up the spinach + peas that had defrosted. Ugh.Totally bare cupboards. Or so they seemed. Went on pantry expedition + emerged with block of vacuum sealed tofu, an onion hiding behind the muesli, can of coconut cream + a packet of nuts. Now to the fridge. hmmn. I’m sure there was some tandoori paste* in there somewhere…

 

1 brown onion diced

1 tbsp oil

1 block of firm tofu diced

handful of nuts (almonds. cashews, whatever)

the last of that jar of tandoori paste that’s been hibernating in the fridge (approx 2 tbsp)

1 2ooml can coconut cream

1 pkt frozen spinach

 

First of all put your rice on to cook. Chuck spinach in microwave dish + defrost (if you have not had foresight to leave freezer door open overnight). Saute onion in pan with oil on medium heat until translucent. Add tandoori paste*, tofu, nuts + stir for a 5 minutes, making sure it doesn’t burn. Add coconut milk, spinach + nuts. Turn heat down + let simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with rice + whatever greens you’ve got hanging around.

*I am well aware that tandoori paste was never meant to be taken advantage of like this. It should be lovingly mixed with tofutti+lemon juice/yoghurt substitute + slathered over tofu chunks to bake for an eternity in the oven. But these were desperate times. Plus Dutchboy loves tandoori. You can substitute a curry paste of your choice. Anything would work here. Red, green, yellow thai curry pastes, or any indian ones. Its food. Mix it up.

Other ways with Mushroom Fluff

I CANNOT wait to take my M-fluff on an “outing, picnic, for all ages” with a legless-panda-ghost-man.

 

Mushroom FLUFF!

We went on a bit of a mushroom bender tonight. The food variety, that is. It started when I moaned that we had no food in the house. I wanted takeaway noodles. But it was raining. It was cold. Plus we had $1.35. Between us. Then I found some soba noodles in the depths of the pantry. Behind them was a glistening little packet of something I’d bought long ago + forgotten about.

Vegetarian Mushroom Fluff.

Seriously.

I was just as excited as when I found it in the asian supermarket (forgotten groceries have a way of eliciting that response. Just you wait). So that was that. I got out some dried shitake mushrooms, the faux “Oyster Sauce” (made from mushrooms), some wakame, a potato, some sesame seeds + some other crap + O.M.G there was a party. In my mouth. Dutchboy, who is a hideous aficionado of pork floss, said the fluff was “awschwooome” (which is what awesome sounds like with a mouth full of mushroom fluff noodles). See below triad of Mushroom Glory:

To recreate, you’ll need:

Soba noodles

1 tbsp rice bran oil

drops of sesame oil

2 cloves of thinly sliced garlic

2 tsp of minced ginger

handful of chopped up faux meat (I used the Sanitarium Deli Luncheon)

1 medium sized potato diced small

2 shakes of vegetarian ‘oyster’ sauce

small handful of dried shiitake mushrooms

few pinches of dried wakame

boiling water

sesame seeds to sprinkle

large pinches of crack MUSHROOM FLUFF!!!

This recipe requires a bit of mess + carefully calculated chaos (see mushroom-induced-chaos below). This could be avoided by having all your stuff chopped up b4 hand (I didn’t but I’m awesome + when you are a ninja like me you may attempt such dare-devilishness. Also, D-boy was on clean up duty).

You’ll need to keep an eye on a few things at once. Firstly put the kettle onto boil. Put a fry pan on medium heat. Put another saucepan full of water on high heat (this is for your noodles). Pour the oils into the fry pan. Chop up potato + put into microwave dish with a little bit of water + microwave on high for 6 minutes. Slice garlic + slap garlic + ginger into pan. Watch the pan because you don’t want to burn them. Now, the kettle should have boiled by now so combine the dried shiitake + wakame in a heatproof bowl/container with a lid + pour enough boiling water just to cover. Pop lid on. Set aside.

By now your garlic + ginger should be aromatic. Add chopped up faux meat + a few shakes of the ‘oyster’ sauce. Stir. The potato should be going “bing!” so take it out + add it to the pan. Add a bit more ‘oyster’ sauce if you want to coat the potatoes. You want to get a bit of a cripsyness happening. Nice + browned.

Your saucepan would be boiling now, so chuck in the soba noodles.

They only need 3 mins + then you can put them into the fry pan after you’ve drained them. Add reconstituted shiitake + wakame. You can add a bit of the liquid too – its full of flavour (reserve the rest of the liquid to add later if the noodles get dry).

Stir together + top with  sesame seeds + crack mushroom fluff.

The end.

This would probably benefit from the addition of something green like bok choi or gai lan. D-boy went out to get some (with the $1.35) but by the time he got home it was already finished + I couldn’t be effed to do the greens so we did ignored them. But you shouldn’t do that.

Eat your greens.

Campos Coffee, Fortitude Valley

You need to go to Campos. Take a friend. Take a stranger. Go by yourself. You just need to go. It’s in the alley behind James St Markets +  you sit under the huge leaf-like fans, completely forgetting where you are. Now, I don’t drink coffee as a rule because once you’ve spent the best part of your undergrad degree being a barista the lure completely wears off. The smell of burnt coffee is enough to make my stomach knot + give me that horrible pavlovian ‘oh no, I’ve arrived at woooooork’ feeling.

Campos is the only place that doesn’t give me that feeling. I would go as far as to say it’s the only coffee house I’ve entered that has never smelt of burnt coffee. I’m assuming this is because they *gasp* never burn their coffee? I don’t want to jinx them but seriously…

Campos. The place where sworn off non-coffee drinkers drink coffee again.

11 Wandoo St,
Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006

bubble + squeak

This is why you should always steam more potatoes than you need for dinner; so in the morning you can fry them up with onion, mushrooms, tomato, peas + have yourself some bubble + squeak on toast. To be true b+s it should have some cabbage but I didn’t have any this time + there is no way you should have to leave the house to buy ingredients for b+s. I think its a rule. Use what you have. Sometimes I throw in a small tub of tofu at the end to act like scrambled egg + soak up the yummy burnt tomatoey juices.

Mushroom Stroganoff

Mushroom Stroganoff

oil

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 finely diced brown onion

at least 500g sliced mushrooms (try swiss brown, button, portobello*)

100ml red wine

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 large tablespoons of Tofutti

large squirt of lemon juice

lots of chopped parsley + chives

cracked pepper

Saute garlic + onion until translucent. Add mushrooms + cook until just sweating (the mushrooms…er…not you). Add wine. Stir for a little while. It should smell fabulous. Add tomato paste, tofutti, lemon juice + stir for another 5 mins. Crack some pepper all over + stir. This is the bit where I usually get distracted, so I turn the heat down, put the lid on + go off doing something only to smell something amazing wafting in…then I realise I’ve left the stroganoff on the stove. Crap. Get back to the kitchen. Check that the bottom is not burnt. No matter if it is. The crusty bits are sort of my favourite…

If your sauce is too liquidy add a tablespoon of plain flour + stir quickly. It should thicken up. If it’s too dry, add a little bit of water + stir.

Serve with steamed baby potatoes, rice or pasta, + a serving of green stuff (ie. snow peas, beans, peas, salad…just make sure its green). Garnish with lots of herbs + cracked pepper.

*on second thought, the sauce is quite strong so I guess there is not much point going all out with your mushy choice. Button will do.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Spread

This is friggin amazing. I missed Nutella like crazy when I stopped eating dairy. It was my “magical study paste”. I used to eat it by the spoonful during exam weeks…gross but incredibly necessary. I mourned it’s stupid use of dairy.  So it’s safe to say when I discovered this I pretty much peed my pants. It’s not the same. Its BETTER.

The recipe is from here, I think. It’s meant to be a frosting for cakes but it is so much better spread on toast, or eaten with a spoon at your desk. Make it, put it in an old jam jar + never look back.

3 large tablespoons of peanut butter

2 large tablespoons cocoa powder

3 large tablespoons of icing sugar

Blend with stick blending until its a smooth paste. Spoon into jam jar + keep in the fridge.

* you can also buy cashew spread, hazelnut spread etc. that would totally work. But they’re a bit $$$ so I’m sticking to peanut

Spinach Dip

I love this dip. It reminds me of nights when kids used to run around everywhere hitting each other with sticks, adults had music blaring + bad dancing, everyone brought a plate of food + we would  always make a beeline for this. I’ve heard some people think that dips like this are unhygienic due to the propensity of double-dipping that occurs + that they should be avoided. Those people are stupid. They obviously went to the wrong parties. This dip is awesome.

One crusty round loaf of bread (size of a football)

drizzle of oil

1 finely diced brown onion

2 packets of Logan Farm frozen spinach

1/2 tub of Tofutti

1 packet of Continental French Onion salt-reduced Soup*

Salt + Pepper

Remove spinach from freeze + defrost. Slice the top of the loaf about 2/3 of the way up so it forms a lid. Pull out all the soft fluffy bread + place all pieces on a baking tray. Put in the oven on 180 degrees C for about 20 minutes (make sure you’re watching it though…no burny)

In a saucepan, saute onion in oil until it’s translucent. Add remaining ingredients + stir for 5-10 minutes. The spinach should release a lot of water to make the dip gluggy enough but if it doesn’t + you think it’s getting too dry, just add some water.

When dip is cooked through + bread bowl + dippers are sufficently warmed + crisp, pour the dip into the bread bowl.

Serve at cool parties, daggy parties, as a snack after footy, or on tuesday nights when you only have frozen spinach, half a tub of Tofutti + a date with bad television.  You don’t really need the bread bowl then, just use toast (although the bread bowl IS the main attraction…)

*I’m not keen on Continental for any reason except that it’s one of the only vegan packet soups. Feel free to use another brand if you find it doesn’t have milk solids or beef extract.

Bircher Muesli

A cup of tea, Bircher muesli + fruit salad would impress the most discerning of overnight guests. Hot fried breakfasts after a big night are indispensable but sometimes there is a need to be pure + simple. You just need to know how many you’re feeding the night before as it requires overnight prep. But I suppose slopping it together + chucking it in the fridge at 3.50am would still work?

Pour cup of muesli into a bowl for each person.

Cover with apple juice.

Refrigerate overnight.

Take out of fridge the next morning, pour soy milk over + add fruit.

Done.

Say satay?

Satay Sauce

Oil

Crushed garlic

1 finely diced brown onion

big tablespoons of peanut butter

splash of soy sauce

squirt of lemon juice

dollop of sweet chilli sauce

small can of coconut cream

sprinkling of sesame seeds
Saute onion + garlic in oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add peanut butter + stir. Add remaining ingredients to taste (meaning however much you like…keep tasting as you go).

Dollop over hot oven-baked potato chips, tofu, freshly steamed greens, plain brown rice or just eat with a spoon whilst watching Australian Idol.