Wednesday, October 01, 2008

No Title Is Forthcoming

What We Had For Dinner Last Night

Dry Fried Tofu with Caramel Sauce and Sweet Peppers
based off of this recipe but also using Vegan YumYum's dry fried tofu technique

1/2 block extra firm tofu, sliced long ways into thirds and then diagonally across these three rectangles to make 6 triangles total
2 shallots, sliced thinly 'across the grain'
1 sweet red pepper, deseeded and sliced thinly into long strips
1/4 C sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t Trader Joe's ginger paste
1 T soy sauce
1 t apple cider vinegar
1/2 C water
1 T cornstarch dissolved in 1 T water

Slice up your tofu, then place it between two tea towels and press it with your cast iron pan.
Start your rice.
Chop up your shallots, mince your garlic, slice your sweet peppers.
Get out your soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, corn starch, sugar amd ginger.
Mix the cornstarch with water, set aside.
Now, on med high heat, in a medium saucepan, dump in the sugar and let it sit. When it starts to melt, start stirring, and don't stop until it's all melted and golden.
Remove from heat, add shallots and return to heat. Cook for one minute. Then add garlic and ginger and sweet peppers and cook for another few minutes.
Add water, soy sauce and vinegar and mix well, scraping down sides as needed.
Simmer for a few minutes, then add the corn starch, mix well, cover and turn to low.
Get your cast iron pan off of the tofu, get it on the stove and get it hot (med high).
Place your tofu on the skillet and lower the heat a little. Cook until golden, about 5m, pressing down with your spatula to get out all the water you can.
Flip and cook the other side for approximately 5m.
Serve your tofu over rice with the peppers and sauce over the top.

This was very good! I halved the recipe and used less vinegar and more sugar. The dry fried tofu was pretty dry- I would marinate this some after frying it, or just go ahead and use a tablespoon or two of oil and actually fry it.

Well, we had a great time up at Lake Superior, always makes me want to live up there!

Read "The Wee Free Men" and "Hat Full of Sky" by Terry Pratchett - very good!! I tried reading the Discworld series at one point, and just could. not. get. into. it... so I was surprised that I liked these so much!!! Whee! I'm a sucker for a good fairy tale.

Also reading "Maps and Legends" by Michael Chabon which is really fun non-fiction, a book about books and writing. I'll have to get ahold of his "Adventures of Kavalier and Clay", I think.