sweet fry bread

The story:
This recipe is actually just an adaptation of my basic pizza dough recipe. The original intention was a Naan substitute which turned out pretty well, but this one is a little more versatile. This is very easy to make and extremely tasty, but its best to eat it when its still fresh and hot. Keep in mind that for this recipe I mostly eyeball measurements. You might just want to add things slowly till it reached the consistency of a good bread dough.

Recipe:

2.5-3 cups flour
1 TBS yeast
2-3 TBS olive oil
1 -2 TBS sugar
1/2 TSP salt
1/2 -2/3 cup water
1 stick of butter (you make not need all of it)

Add all the ingredients in a stand mixer, except the butter, and start it on low. Let the machine knead the dough for 2-3 minutes. This will let the dough be properly mixed and well worked. Grab a piece of dough about the size of two golf balls. Roll the dough out as thin as you can. Heat a frying pan to high and add a TBS of butter. When the butter is melted and starting to bubble, add the rolled out dough. Keep a close eye on it, and when it started to bubble and puff up you need to flip it. Just keep repeating this till all your dough is used up.

Thai Sweet Chili Noodles

The story:

Honestly there is not to much of a story behind this recipe. I just got in the mood for Thai and didn't want to go out or pay those prices. The sauce is the main focus for this dish, and that was mostly thrown together but it turned out wonderfully. The tofu in this dish is the similar to previous posts but with a few little tweaks. This recipe is aimed more at using what sitting in your fridge and freezer, rather than seeking out fresh ingredients.
* note: image is a stock photo
The Ingredients

1/2 block of extra firm tofu
1/2 pound of frozen Asian veggies
1/4 cup of frozen spinach
1/4 cup of cabbage
1 pound of fettuccine or pad Thai flat rice noodles
1/2 cup of corn starch
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
3 dashes of ginger powder
3 dashes of dried cilantro
1 dash of lemon pepper
5 -7 cloves of garlic (cloves, not heads)

Sauce ingredients

3 TBS of soy sauce
2 TBS of horseradish sauce
1/4 cup of Thai Sweet Chili sauce
1TBS of lime juice
2 TBS of creamy peanut butter
First step is to get a pot of water boiling if you are using fettuccine. If you're using rice noodles you can wait a bit longer in the process to get the water boiling. Take a Tupperware container and add in the corn starch, cilantro, ginger, and lemon pepper. Cube the tofu up to your desired size. Place the tofu in the container, put on the top, and give it the ol' shake an bake! To make sure that the tofu doesn't stick together you might want to do this in batches. Take a medium to large sized frying pan and add in the oil. Bring up the oil to a high heat. The best way to test this is to place a piece of the coated tofu in the oil and if it bubbles around it, its hot enough. Place the tofu in the pan, making sure you don't crowd the pieces. Keep an eye on them and flip them as they start to get golden brown. You'll be able to feel how crisp they're getting when you turn them in the pan.

Once the tofu is done take it out of the pan and place in a bowl to the side. Next you add the veggies, cabbage, and the garlic to the hot oil, stirring them often to let the oil coat the vegetables. The left over corn starch from the tofu in the pan helps thicken the oil and coat the vegetables. Once the veggies are done add the sauces and lime juice, stir, and let it simmer. After 3-5 minutes the sauce will be done. At this point you add the pasta directly to the sauce, in the frying pan. It's important to add the pasta before the tofu otherwise the tofu won't stay crispy as long. Adding some chopped peanuts is also a good way to go! Toss it all together and you're all set!

Eat and Enjoy!

The Cohen Bahn Mi

The story:

The story behind this dish is somewhat complicated. It didn't occur to me that I could combine two of my other dishes in this manner, but not knowing what you want for lunch and being hungry is a great motivator for innovation. The Thai cucumber salad is a somewhat recent addition to my culinary repertoire, but it has become quite the favorite. I have also worked on getting my fried tofu for a while too, and have only recently gotten the texture just right recently. Personally I feel that the salad is great fresh but its even better after having pickled for a week or so.

The recipe:
First element: Fried tofu
1/2 - 1 block of extra firm tofu
1/2 cup of bread crumbs (panko are best)
1/4 cup of vegetable oil

Drain the water in the tofu pack only about half way. You want to make sure that the tofu is moist when you bread it. Slice the block of tofu into 4-8 pieces. (think the shape and size of a Wendy's burger, square and 1/4 in. thick) Place the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Place the tofu slices into the bread crumbs one at a time and shake it about to completely coat the tofu. Don't put them all in at once or the bread crumbs will get clumpy. Heat the veggie oil to a medium heat in a shallow frying pan. Once the oil has reached to proper temperature gently place the tofu in the pan. Make sure not to crowd them, as it will lower the temperature and make the end product very greasy. Once the bottom is golden brown, flip the tofu. You might have to flip them a couple of times to get them to the dark golden brown that indicated the proper texture.

Second element- Thai cucumber salad
see previous posts for recipe
note: red bell pepper can be added in addition to jalapeno or in substitution for those who don't like the heat.

Third element - bread and sauce
a baguette of french bread or even hamburger rolls in a pinch
1-2 tbs of sweet baby rays BBQ sauce

Only instructions for this part is don't toast the bread. The soft chewy texture of the bread is the intended counterpoint to the crunchiness of the tofu and the cool moisture salad. Just spread the sauce on the bread, place the tofu on top of it, and then add a generous helping of the salad on top.

eat and enjoy!