Tofu Fried Couscous

If you've ventured this far into my post you must be intrigued. First you saw "tofu" and that didn't make you ignore it, and then you saw "couscous" and for some reason you're adventurous enough to check out what kind of dish can be made with the two of them. Think of it as a fusion of flavors that works so well you'll forget that they aren't usually on your plate.

Personally, couscous is something I'm still trying to conquer. I don't really like it without some kind of sauce because the texture is...funky. Anyway, this recipe came into being because I was trying to use some leftover couscous from my family's dinner. Strangely enough, I love tofu. Not something you hear very often - it's spongey and lacks any flavor on its own but its absorbent quality soaks up the flavors you prepare it with. First time tofu try-ers: don't eat plain tofu. Always eat with a sauce. And since I can't quite enjoy couscous without a sauce - this recipe is perfect for you!

It's a riff on Fried Rice, which I can't resist in any form. It's addictive and because its rice you can easily eat way too much without feeling full. Tricky stuff, that is. Sadly, when you order out at a lot of Chinese take-out restaurants, the fried rice is dripping with grease and only serves to contribute to feeling absolutely terrible about yourself after eating the whole container's worth...

Solution? Making it at home. Don't get me wrong, I order fried rice every time we get takeout from our local Chinese restaurants and eat it with total abandon. When I have the time and the ingredients on hand though, I like to make my own. It comes together so quickly since you always start with leftover rice. But I didn't have leftover rice...I had leftover couscous and a container of water packed diced tofu.

Tofu Fried Couscous 

with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Taming of the Roux Original Recipe

Serves 2-3

• tsp garlic, minced
• 1/2 small red pepper, julienned
• 1/4 c. yellow onions, sliced
• 2.8 oz container of cubed tofu packed in water - drain and dry on paper towels for 30 mins
• tbsp soy sauce
• tsp sriracha 
• tbsp Sake or rice wine vinegar

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• 2 tsps sambal oolek
• tbsp soy sauce
• tbsp creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp red curry paste
• tsp fish sauce
• 2 tsps Sake or rice wine vinegar

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• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 c. cold leftover couscous
• lime wedges for garnish
• cilantro for garnish
• green onions for garnish

First, prepare your onions and peppers while heating a pan over medium-high heat with a couple teaspoons of olive oil or if you have it on hand, Japanese sesame oil (it's expensive stuff so don't worry if you're using olive oil). After the pan is hot, toss your onions and peppers into the pan with a little salt and pepper and saute until the onions start to look translucent but the peppers are still a little crisp. Add garlic and a tablespoon of Sake or rice wine vinegar to the pan. (Careful with the Sake! It won't ignite but the pan should be hot and it will sizzle very loudly.) Saute until peppers look soft, remove and set aside in a bowl for the time being.

Add your tofu, sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with soy sauce (about a tablespoon) and a touch of sriracha. Give them a stir and set your timer for 2 mins.

While your tofu is in the pan, combine the second set of ingredients: sambal oolek through 2 teaspoons Sake or rice wine vinegar in a bowl. Stir until the peanut butter is completely mixed. Set aside.

Turn your attention back to the tofu. Give it another stir and add a little Sake if you want. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add your onions and peppers back to the pan. Add couscous to the pan. Stir (it's a stir fry; there's a lot of stirring involved.)

Scramble one egg and then add to hot pan. Stir! Make sure your egg mixes in with the rest of the ingredients. There will be pieces of scrambled egg - that's traditional. Keep stirring until egg is cooked through. Remove pan from heat.

Heat your peanut butter mixture in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. (I've done it in a sauce pan before but I was whipping this together quickly when I made it. I didn't bother with the stove for the sauce and the microwave worked just as well).

Dole out a serving of the tofu fried couscous and drizzle with the warm peanut sauce. Garnish with lime and other fixings!

While the name makes it sound like some weird concoction that's only missing the kitchen sink, it certainly doesn't taste that way. The spicy peanut sauce gets soaked up by the tofu and the couscous gets a nice coating. All the flavors make for one great Asian fusion dish that you'll definitely want seconds of but won't feel half as guilty for having if you'd had your typical take-out fried rice.

Wanted to make sure I got a post in for April! I have an interesting summer ahead of me so we'll see how much time I'll have for cooking and sharing what I've cooked. :)

Soooooooooo much better than takeout.

Easter Pizza Rustica

HAPPY EASTER! 

(To those of you who celebrate it).

I didn't want the month of March slip away before I had a chance to post about my foodventures. School is grueling and takes up most of my computer time. I have been doing a lot of vegetarian cooking since Ash Wednesday but staging and then taking pictures of my food would have taken me away from my studies for longer than I could afford. Expect to hear about Indian Veggie Curry and Buffalo Style Cauliflower in the future!

Allow me to present my Easter offering. Pizza Rustica! 

As you can see, it doesn't look like the pizza you order out or make at home.

Nor does it look like the Rustic Pizza from Papa Gino's if you live near one.

This is a pie. A breakfast pie. And it is absolutely wonderful.

Full of three different meats (my inner half-starved carnivore has been dreaming of them), and ricotta, mozzarella, romano, and eggs, this is one hell of a pie. Move over quiche. There's a new (old) breakfast pie on the table.

Even though I'm half Italian, Pizza Rustica wasn't something that we had at Easter (or ever for that matter). I didn't encounter it until a few years ago while dating my ex. His stepmother would make it every Easter and lo and behold, I got to try it for the first time. Then I was scolded for not upholding my Italian heritage by having it every Easter. While it was good, I wasn't blown away by its flavor or texture which was a little too spongey from the eggs, nevertheless, I found myself fascinated by it. I set out to find the best recipes for Pizza Rustica, ones that were less egg and more dense, and to come up with my own family recipe for it. New Easter tradition.

Recipe researching commenced.

I decided that this year, since there was no way my ex was going to bring me Pizza Rustica, I would make it for my family to enjoy after the 7:30 mass this morning. This means making it ahead of time! Which you should do, because this pie is meant to be eaten at room temperature. It tastes delicious warm too, that was how most of my family ate it, but if you want to be traditional, let it cool or warm to room temp before serving.

Pizza Rustica

The Taming of the Roux Original Recipe

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 13oz whole milk ricotta
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 handfuls grated romano cheese
• 1 handful shredded mozzarella cheese
• tsp ground black pepper
• 3-4 oz pancetta, diced
• 4 oz boiled ham, diced
• 4 oz prosciutto, diced (ask the man or woman behind the deli counter to cut a 4oz block off)
• 1/4 cup sweet onion, diced
• tsp garlic, minced
• prepared pie crust (Yeah, I cheated. We don't all have time to make dough at home).

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375. Make sure your cooking rack is on the lowest rung.

While the oven is heating, saute your onions, garlic, and meats until onions are translucent. Set aside to cool.

Mix your ricotta and egg yolks, stir in romano and mozzarella cheeses, then add the onions and meats to the ricotta mixture.

Press your preferred pie dough into the bottom of the pie plate. (Our pie plate is 9 inches and prepared crusts are made to fit an 8 inch pie plate. If yours is like mine, you'll have to roll the pie crust out a little to make it fit.)

Fill the bottom layer of the crust with the ricotta mixture. Top with the second layer of crust, rolling out first if necessary, and fold edges over the bottom layer to press and seal. You can use your preferred method of dressing the edges of the crust. (I pinched mine.) Then use a fork to pierce the top of your pie all over. Sprinkle a little romano over the top.

Bake in the oven on the lowest rung for the first 30 minutes uncovered. Use foil or edge protectors to cover the edges of the crust then continue baking for 15 minutes. (Total oven time 45 minutes).

Allow to cool to room temp before serving (if you want to be traditional). If not, allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

P.S. Dad wants me to make this every morning so he can have 3 pieces for breakfast every day. It's really a tasty dish with a meaty and salty cheesy flavor but it's not the healthiest. I do NOT recommend eating it every day. :)

Italian Cream Cake

Happy Birthday, Mom!

It's my mom's birthday so I told her I would bake her anything she wanted. She chose an Italian Cream Cake from Cooking Light. While I've been wanting to try this for a long time, I've never actually made a layer cake by myself before. Please don't hold my shoddy frosting work against me or this cake for that matter because it is incredibly moist and lightly flavored with vanilla and touch of coconut. And those little specks you see in the cake, those are finely chopped toasted pecans. Oh this cake is so worth the extra work that went into making it.

When I say extra work, I really just mean the process of whipping egg whites then gently folding them into the batter. It's really not a big deal but this cake will take you longer to mix than to bake.

Cooking Light as their name explicitly implies, lightens the traditional Italian Cream Cake by a number of methods, one of which was to use Neufchatel (1/3 less fat cream cheese) to make the frosting. If I'm going to make Italian cream anything, I'm going to use mascarpone. That was my only change to the recipes since its my first time making it.

First time stacking and frosting a cake too. And man did it suck! I was so angry at the cake and the frosting that I was cursing up a storm while inexpertly spreading the frosting that was quickly becoming unspreadable! (Not a word). The F bomb was dropped a few times.

I only felt worse about my lack of cake decorating skills when I saw the cake dad ordered from his Italian baker friend...jerk. Look how perfect that damn cake is next to mine. I just want to smash the perfection out of it. 

Anyway: Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

There's nothing particularly special about these brownies. I had hoped to have time to do something but it just wasn't in the cards. A box of brownie mix and a bag of Cherry M&Ms later...

Some words of wisdom from the brokenhearted: When you're in love, every single day should be Valentine's Day for you and the one you love. Don't wait until February 14th to do something special for him/her. While today will probably always be an excuse to do something you might not make time to do any other day, remember to love wholeheartedly and show that love every chance you get.

Mardi Gras Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Mardi Gras! Fat Tuesday! Whatever you want to call it! For me, it's a great excuse to make creole and cajun food. It's also a great excuse to post something for you. I've started grad school meaning the amount of time I have for cooking and posting has greatly diminished. :( Very sad. Let's hope that after I get my degree, I'll have more time!

Back to Mardi Gras and gumbo. (Gumbo is such a fun word to say.) I did some research because the gumbo recipe we've made in the past is from Cooking Light and calls for okra. While I really enjoy okra in gumbo, it's not my sister's thing. She doesn't like jambalaya (another fun word) because our jambalaya has shrimp in it. (Which she promised to try this year, along with lobster, and sushi.)

I also wanted to do this in the Crockpot so I could be free to do other things (like study and work out and watch Game of Thrones while I work out). After looking around and reading recipes, I decided that I had to start with a classic gumbo roux. (Yeah, I named my blog The Taming of the Roux and this is the first recipe I share with you where a real roux is called for.)

What is a roux? It's a mixture of fat and flour that is used as a thickening agent in sauces and gravy.  In this case, I read about making traditional gumbo roux on GumboCooking.com (an excellent website, I highly suggest checking it out). While I prefer to make Crockpot recipes that don't require any extra steps beyond throwing everything in the slowcooker, turning it on, and forgetting about it for a few hours, I couldn't do that with this recipe if I wanted to make it with a real roux.

To make this recipe, you'll have to give yourself at least an hour and a half of prep as it takes the roux about 45 minutes to an hour to darken. According to GumboCooking.com, your roux needs to darken until it is the color of melted milk chocolate. It's a long process and requires constant attention and stirring. Use a spatula to make sure you don't miss areas of the pan bottom where it could burn.

Mardi Gras Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

The Taming of the Roux

Ingredients 

2lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

cooking spray

3/4 c. vegetable oil

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 lb andouille (or other smoked sausage) sliced

1 1/2 c. onions, chopped

1 c. bell pepper medley (I used half a red pepper and half a green pepper), chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 c. celery, chopped

1/2 tbsp. cajun seasoning

1/2 tbsp. Emeril's Bayou Blast seasoning or other creole seasoning blend

sprinkling of cayenne

2 bay leaves

1 tsp minced garlic

2 1/2 c. chicken stock

hot sauce to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Garnishes: green onions (scallions), parsley

Instructions

In a large cast iron pot coated with cooking spray and heated on medium high, brown the chicken thighs then transfer to crockpot. 

Pour vegetable oil and flour into the cast iron pot and stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, stirring constantly until the color of the roux darkens to a peanut butter shade as described by GumboCooking.com. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook and stir until roux darkens and looks like melted chocolate. This will take at least 45 minutes. Be patient and stir constantly. Don't forget to scrap the bottom of your pan or you'll risk burning the roux and having a giant useless waste in your pot.

Once the roux has reached the desired color, stop cooking and pour into the crockpot. Combine all your other ingredients in the crockpot except the hot sauce and garnishes.

If by some miracle you finish your roux by 9am, put the Crockpot on low for 8 hours. I wasn't so fortunate! High for 5 hours if you don't finish prep work before 11am.

Serve with white rice and the suggested garnished! Add hot sauce until you reach your heat threshold :)

Now, gumbo is really smoky. It's similar to having BBQ but it lacks a brightness of flavor that I think every recipe needs. I was really tempted to use a fresh acid like lemon or lime juice to cut the dark and dense flavors of the dish BUT I wanted to be traditional for Mardi Gras.

I go meatless for Lent so I won't be able to have any of the leftovers. However, I would definitely use lemon or lime juice on any day other than Mardi Gras. BTW: gumbo is NOT pretty!

Suggested movie for the night? Disney's The Princess and the Frog. 

"Hey, everybody! I made GUMBO!"

Spinach and Artichoke Manicotti

It's time for a confession. I hate lasagna.

I absolutely adore everything in lasagna but something about the way it bakes up together makes it unappetizing. I don't claim to understand this quirk of mine. Similarly, I hate Shepherd's Pie too. I even hate the way Shepherd's Pie smells. At least lasagna smells tantalizing.

Manicotti, though, now that's a different story. I can't get enough of it. First time I had it wasn't at home or at my Nonna's. It was at my elementary school cafeteria. Whaaaat? Imagine a little Renee, who hasn't quite developed too much food snobbishness yet, eating hot lunch at her tiny parochial school. They made manicotti once. ONCE. That was all it took for me to fall head over heels, desperately, devotedly in love with manicotti. They never made it again.

I pestered the lunch ladies to no avail. Now I can make it for myself and others. Those damn lunch ladies will never determine when I'll have manicotti!

Now, I made a classic red sauce style manicotti for Christmas because the thought of lasagna was too much to bear. I gave it some thought and decided that a Spinach and Artichoke stuffed manicotti would be excellent with a white sauce. Not alfredo that would have been utterly detrimental to all these New Years Resolutions to lose weight. I borrowed and adapted from Giada De Laurentiis again. She really does have some excellent recipes that I can easily adjust to be more suitable for a shrinking waistline. The original recipe, Swiss Chard and Sweet Pea Manicotti, is delicious and available on the Food Network website. Click the name to go directly to the recipe.

This is NOT Spinach and Artichoke dip stuffed inside a manicotti tube. While that is an interesting idea, I am not sure how it would turn out so maybe I'll experiment with that some other day. Nevertheless, this recipe is delicious and that's not just my opinion on my own recipe. My family enjoyed it a great deal. My sister ate it despite the artichokes so I consider that an amazing accomplishment.

Spinach and Artichoke Manicotti

The Taming of the Roux Original Recipe

12-14 manicotti shells

15oz part skim ricotta

14oz can of artichoke heats in brine or water, drained and chopped

9oz package of frozen, chopped spinach, defrosted and thoroughly drained

2 cups shredded mozzarella 

1/4 cup grated romano

2 eggs

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 and get a large casserole pan out, at least 13X9. Lightly coat with the cooking spray.

Combine all the ingredients for the filling and mix thoroughly. Put the filling in a pastry bag with a large plain tip or use a large 2 quart plastic bag and snip off a corner to make an inch sized opening. Set the filling aside.

Cook the manicotti shells according to package directions. When they are done, carefully strain and drizzle with a little olive oil to keep them from sticking. Be delicate as the shells are prone to splitting if manhandled. 

Using the pastry bag/plastic bag fill the manicotti tubes to the best of your ability. This is a lot easier if you have a kitchen helper. Nestle the filled manicotti in the casserole pan. Set aside.

If you want to make this with red sauce, feel free! You can use your favorite recipe or favorite jarred sauce. You just want to have enough sauce to evenly coat the filled manicotti to keep them from drying out in the oven.

Lower-Fat Cheesy Fonduta Sauce

adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

3/4 c. 2% milk

1/2 c. Half and Half

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp chopped thyme

1/2 tsp chopped rosemary

5oz fontina, shredded

2 cups Six Cheese Italian Blend, shredded

In a medium sauce pan with a heavy bottom, heat the milk and half & half over medium. Once it comes to a simmer, small bubbles around the edges, reduce heat to low and add the cheeses stirring constantly until completely melted.

When making the fonduta, you want to keep stirring and cooking on low until you can pull your spoon away without cheese stretching from the pan to the spoon.

Pour and spread the fonduta over the manicotti. Cover with aluminum foil, bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and add extra cheese if you so desire and return to oven for another 10 minutes.

Allow to cool for at least five minutes before serving. Top with parsley!

I'm proud of this one but I will definitely continue to tweak it until its even better.

P.S. It feels so good to write about something that isn't a cookie.

25 Days of Cookies: Vanilla Sugar Cookies

Merry Christmas!

The cookie countdown is over! Somehow, I made 25 different types of cookies. I won't be doing it again! :) I'm gonna take a break from cookies and maybe baking for a while. The thought of pulling out the cookie sheets, parchment paper, scoops, and measuring cups and all that damn butter that had to be at room temp is painful.

The 25th cookie: the good old classic sugar cut-out cookie from Fine Cooking which you can find the recipe for right here. The fun part about it is that this recipe gives you instructions on how to change the flavoring up to make them more interesting. I stuck with vanilla because it's honestly my favorite flavor. There's nothing boring about it!

Let me tell you how much I hate making cut-out cookies. They are such a process! There are so many other tastier cookies in the world but cut-out cookies are cute. That's really all they've got going for themselves. I complained about these the entire time I was making them. Here's why:

First you make the dough.

Then you divide the dough into thirds. Create 3 thick 5X5 inch squares. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Then you take one square out at a time and roll between two pieces of parchment paper to about 1/8 inch thick, and then you stack them in the refrigerator and chill for 45 minutes.

After they've chilled, you need to take one sheet out at a time and cut them with your shapes of choice. I was disappointed to find that we don't own a snowflake but I digress. Moving on. After cutting your shapes, you have to roll the cuttings back up and repeat the chilling and rolling process.

And once you have all your shapes cut and you've used all the dough that you possibly can, you have to freeze them for at least 20 minutes! What!? GAH! 

By the time you get to decorate these cookies, you're just over it. You don't want to look at them ever again. So you'll just have to eat them all up or give them away to your friends and family. Save a couple for yourself because after all, these are pretty damn tasty for a cut-out sugar cookie.