Orange Blossom Chili Glazed Tofu Hush Puppies with Cilantro Cashew Pesto

Hey Everyone! I have a really simple recipe to transform tofu. Hush puppies are a cornmeal fried sphere often accompanying cat fish. Though I am only using cornmeal or semolina for the exterior of this recipe, we're going to call it a hush puppy. Clearing the air for the politically correct bored guys out there.
Fishing as a kid, I was in charge of scaling, and gutting. I was never a huge seafood fan, I just wanted the hush puppies. The plain ones too! I have a fun vegetarian friendly recipe using tofu for "hush puppies". I glazed them with an orange blossom chili, and topped them onto a cilantro cashew pesto.  Very simple, and fun dish to serve as an appetizer, topped with stir fry veggies. Fun Asian vibe.

Ingredients:
14 oz firm tofu (not extra firm)
6 oz All Purpose flour
3 eggs
Semolina flour or Cornmeal
Orange blossom water (Asian market/Ethnic food section at grocer)
Sugar
Serrano chili
Kosher salt

In this recipe, it's all about the technique. I tried defrosting in different variations in order to get the right consistency, since defrosting plays a huge factor with tofu. Yes, freeze and defrost tofu. This way, it expands, and when you drain it, you'll have an easier time expelling that water, which will allow your tofu to absorb flavor more efficiently, and maintain a non rubbery texture

1. Defrost tofu overnight in fridge. Do not nuke it in microwave unless you want rubber balls for dinner.
2. Gently expel water from tofu. Press down and gently squeeze. When most water is expelled, place tofu on a lined plate with paper towels. Place a plate on top of tofu, with added weight, and let the rest of the water gently escape.
3. Take room temperature tofu, flour, salt to taste, and room temp eggs, combine.
4. Shape into golf ball sized bites.  Roll onto semonlina or cornmeal.
5. Set in freezer. YES! If you fry them now, they're going to fall apart. Chill for about 20 minutes to set up
6. In a large, always deep pot, oil should be around 350-375. If you do not have a thermometer, no problem, test out a tofu ball.
7. Deep fry for about 4-5 minutes. Tofu balls should be golden brown, and crisp.
8. Place on paper towel lined platter/plate.

Orange Blossom Chili Glaze

1.Take your orange blossom water, heat up in sauce pan.
2.Score serrano pepper (cut little marks into it) This will help infuse heat.
3.Heat and reduce
4. Add equal part sugar.
5.Cook until dissolved.
6. Kill heat.
7. Baste Fried Tofu "Hush Puppies"

Cilantro Cashew Pesto 

Cilantro
Roasted Cashews
Peanut Oil  (Be sure guests do not have a peanut allergy)
Minced shallots
Kosher salt
Kaffir lime

1. Blanch cilantro for 5 seconds in boiling water.
2. Transfer to iced water to stop cooking
3. In food processor, pulse cilantro, minced shallots, roasted cashews
4. Season with salt and kaffir lime (regular lime is fine to use if you cannot find kaffir)
5. Drizzle in peanut oil until all ingredients are combined into a nice pesto.

There you go! A few components to make a really memorable snack, or meal. Have fun with the flavor combinations, just remember that techniques are significant. Recipes, guidelines! If you don't like cilantro, use another herb, or a combination of some.

Enjoy!

Amber~











                                                                                 

Ginger Honey Chili Tofu w. Jasmine Rice & Sweet Potato Confit

Hey guy! YES! Another tofu post. It's really simple too, which I find readers and followers on my Tumblr love the most. So here you go!!! 

                                                           

You will need: 

For Tofu:

1 brick of firm tofu

1/4 cup of honey 

2 TBS grated, fresh ginger

1/2 TBS chili flakes

1/2 TBS grated garlic 

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

sea salt to taste

1 cup cooked Jasmine rice

 For Sweet Potato Confit

Neutral flavored oil such as canola or vegetable

1 Sweet Potato super small dice or "brunoise"  pronounced "broon woh"

1/4 yellow onion also brunoise

sea salt to taste

 Have your rice cooked and set aside. Follow the directions on the bag. Only tip I could give is to rinse your rice a few times to get rid of the starch. This makes the grains of rice fluff up easier without causing it to turn into paste. 

 For Sweet Potatoes: Add a little oil to your pan. On low heat, add in onion, and sweet potato at the same time. We usually add our onion first, since it infused a lot of flavor into our food. However, by the time the sweet potato is cooked, our onion will be nicely caramelized. To confit is to cook in fat at a very low temperature. This gives a gem like look to our food, and cooks it evenly. You get the ingredients full potential this way, in my opinion. Add in remaining ingredients and don't forget to season! I love using sea salt since it is so mild, but feel free to use what you have! Cook for about 15 minutes. Since we have such tiny dices, it is a quicker cooking time. Drain your yummy sweet potatoes and set aside. 

 Don't throw out that oil. Save it for later. It isn't broken down since it was cooked at such a low temperature, and it is FULL of flavor!

 For Tofu: Prep tofu as I've shown you guys on my previous post: Tofu Manipulation Use the dry heat method I mentioned for braising. Even though we are sauteing today, it will help absorb lots of yummy flavor. 

 For Honey Ginger Sauce: Take your honey, and simmer on a low heat setting. The honey should have a diluted consistency. Add in your grated ginger and garlic. Let simmer for about 5 minutes, then add in your chili flakes. Kill the heat and add in your rice vinegar. This will cut the sweetness from your sauce, and give it dimension.

Heat up your pan and add that confit oil. Just a little bit. Now we are going to do a quick saute. Remember, saute means high heat, low fat! 

 Add your previously cooked tofu to a pan, give it a few tosses in the pan, and about a minute later, add in your sauce. Toss, so it is completely mixed. 

 I garnished mine with green onion. I cut it open, and sliced it into thin strips or, "julienne". Get creative! If you want to garnish, use what you'd like. Cilantro/coriander, green onion, leeks, whatever it is you love! Add or omit ingredients from this recipe! If you decide to make this at home, PLEASE share!!! I'd love to see what you did! Link your blog post, photos, etc. 

You're done! 

Remember, recipes are a guideline! So taste your food! If you like your food super spicy, by all means, add as much or  as little as you'd like! My way isn't perfect. YOUR way is! 

Have fun!

Amber~

Tofu Manipulation

As a woman who eats a vegetarian diet, I have become fascinated with tofu. Not because of all the hype and bs, but because it's a challenging ingredient, and more often than not, it's viewed as a simple substitute. I don't do substitutes. I only eat food.

 Unfortunately, so many people I know are either vegetarians/vegans who are hyped up about how amazing tofu is, when they hardly know how to cook it properly, or they're NORMAL people, with a diet consisting of chicken, pork, burgers, etc. etc., and have never had tofu before, but automatically hate it. On one hand, you have the Jr. high school syndrome struck vegetarians, (need I explain?) and on the other, you have the toddler syndrome struck.

I like tofu. It isn't the super best protein source on the planet, but it is excellent when prepared properly. So, how DO you prepare tofu properly? Depending on the method of cooking, i.e braising, frying, sauteing, you should keep in mind a few tips that will make tofu enjoyable to eat, and much more diverse than just cutting it into squares, and adding it to stir fry.


Deep Frying: Freeze it first. When something is frozen, it expands. This will make manipulating tofu much easier, as shown in the photo above. It will have a light, airy texture. Expelling water will be much easier. Please, continue reading.

Do not defrost in the microwave. I tested this out, simply for the sake of seeing for myself if I would be right about the consistency change. It was drastic. Because you are taking your expanded tofu, and nuking the shit out of it, you're not only releasing the water from the tofu quickly, you're cooking it, which results in a very dense, rubbery ball of horror. That is, if you can even form a ball with that giant rubber brick!

I don't believe in defrosting anything in the microwave. I actually don't like microwaves. I would never have one in a professional kitchen, and any time I see a microwave in a professional kitchen, I cringe a little lot.

Defrost your tofu in the fridge. Yes, this takes some time, but it's not only going to give you a consistently defrosted product, (instead of it heating up too quickly on one side, remaining frozen on the other), it is much safer. Just because it is plant based, doesn't mean contamination doesn't exist. Treat tofu the way you would treat any cut of meat. Better yet, treat it like chicken. Growing up, most of us witnessed our moms tossing in a brick of meat ice into the sink. This isn't recommended, even with tofu.

Keep weight on top of your tofu to expel water. It's a delicate product. In the past, I have impatiently strangled the hell out of an innocent brick of tofu. I ended up with confetti. You don't want confetti right now. Trust me!
 

Braising: Just as we did previously, you want to freeze, then properly defrost. The key to this method of cooking, is to carefully slice your tofu when most of the liquid is drained out, then at your lowest heat setting possible, dry cook it. I suggest a non stick pan. This will take some patience and time, just as all good things do.
Cooking to me, isn't all about quick, easy, super dooper sounding ingredient profiling mixed together. Techniques take time, but if you are the type of person who grows bored in a kitchen by yourself, I pity you... kidding! Cook with a loved one, family, best friends, etc. Cooking together has created so many memories with memorable food to enjoy. I am not trying to sound cliche. I'm keeping it real. I've had amazing experiences cooking with very inspiring chefs, but it isn't the same as prepping a family meal together. It gives you time to bond, teach, learn and clear your mind.

We want to dry cook our tofu, so when we braise (cook in a broth, fat etc), we can re-hydrate it fully with tons of flavor. How many times have you gone to a restaurant, and ordered braised tofu? Do you remember how only the exterior received all of that love and goodness? Respectfully, I find it a little repetitive. This inspired me to test a few methods on my own. The one I am sharing with you, has by far, been the most successful. Your tofu wont fall apart during a slow braise, and your absorbing all of that flavor like a sponge.

By the way, when dry cooking at a low heat, you're looking for the exterior to be a consistent, light blonde in color. This way your not crisping it up too much, which can alter the finished product's consistency. It would be like eating a piece of fried chicken, that was soaked in buttermilk too long. The skin turns a bit rubbery. If you abstain from over cooking the exterior, your tofu will have a very tender, moist, and buttery texture.


I have no fancy conclusion to this blog entry. I'm not trying to convince you that tofu is the best ingredient on earth. However, it's underestimated in my opinion, quite too often.

Amber