Tofu Garlic Sesame Stir Fry

For years I have wanted to try tofu. Years! What stopped me, bad friends. Friends who, as it turns out, are not willing to step outside their fried food, fast food, pasta and meat laden meals. After reading too many blogs to count and watching cooking videos until my eyes hurt, I settled upon Pan Fried Sesame Garlic Tofu.

Modifications Made:

Tofu - For the cooking instructions I followed the Pan Fried Sesame Garlic Tofu recipe. Extra firm tofu was chosen, drained on paper towels for an hour, changing towels as they became soaked. Pieces were cut approximately into 1" cubes, tossed with cornstarch, and fried in single layer in small batches ensuring tofu did not touch against itself.

Sauce - instead of the sauce included in the Pan Fried Sesame Garlic recipe, I used my favorite stir fry sauce from Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

Scaled for Likability: Great

Giving my friends a break, I could see how bad tofu is bad. Not using the correct firmness, not draining enough, or not cooking it until edges were nice and crisp would all have less than positive results for the tofu experience. And if I have to be honest, there was a back up recipe in case the tofu totally bombed and I wouldn't tell the table counterparts what was scheduled for dinner as I was afraid they too would have negative preconceived notions.

Was it a meat replacement, not really. The same as lentils are not a meat replacement as the texture is wrong. Would tofu replace other meats in Asian foods, yes but with some limitations. Tofu takes forever to prepare and cook, almost a hour to be exact and this was just the frying time, not the prep time. Having had tofu fried, I would like to try soft tofu in lunch smoothies.

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add po...

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almos...

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese ...

Eating Waffles

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