Sweet and Sour tofu and rice

I have several recipes to share. I got behind on blogging with lambing/kidding started now, time to myself is hard to find. It's hard to find normally but lately, I'm too tired for much else than critters and the basics.

So I'll just start posting as I can, maybe I'll get a few posted today... Starting with one of the quickest, easiest, yummiest dishes. Even if you are not a lover or tofu, or are cooking for someone who is not, I think this might be the way to get a little tofu into your diet. Tofu really does not have a taste, it takes on well the taste of whatever you cook it in or with. I think most people don't have a problem with the taste of tofu in dishes, but some people have a problem with the texture. I ate a lot of tofu in my lifetime, I was vegetarian for nearly 10 years and more than half of that I was vegan.

I still like tofu and I like cooking vegetarian dishes. And if I can get Kevin to enjoy tofu in this dish, I think a lot of people that might not think they will like it, will :)

So you need:

1 pkg FIRM tofu
Cornstarch
Olive oil
1 can pineapple chunks (reserve juice)
1/4 cup juice from the canned pineapple
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 orange bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks

Optional, white or brown rice. I use Jasmine.

I always double the sauce recipe and personally I use yellow and orange bell peppers because they are my favorites, but you could easily use red or green, or whatever mixture you like. Use them all!

For the tofu:



Drain the tofu and pat dry with paper towel. Then cut the tofu into small cubes. Toss them all in a large ziplock bag with some cornstarch, say about a cup, or however much you need to coat all the tofu cubes well with cornstarch.

Heat your olive oil in a frying pan, add enough to just barely cover the tofu. I never use the same amount and you are not completely covering the tofu like if you were frying them. Just add enough to coat the pan well.

Take your tofu cubes out of the bag and get all the excess cornstarch off them. Put an even layer in the frying pan, so they are all on the oil, you might have to do two batches. Brown on both sides of the tofu, this only takes a few minutes on each side. Until they are brown and crunchy, but just light bright, not dark or overcooked.

Put them on a paper towel lined plate to drain.

Now toss your peppers in a pan with some oil and let them get a little tender, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile mix your pineapple juice, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl. Toss your pineapple into the pan with the peppers and if you like, let it brown a little. Pour in the sauce and cook until it's thickened up a little bit and hot, only a few minutes.

If you mix the tofu in it will become soggy fairly quickly so I wait until I am ready to serve it and just put the tofu on top.



I pour the sauce over rice and top with tofu. It's really quite yummy! I use this as an alternative to chicken or pork, but with the same sauce recipe, this works for both of those as well.

Caribou meatballs

I love spaghetti and meatballs. But I wanted to do something different. I have had a package of ground caribou I've been saving up from Gene, one of our friends in Alaska. I thought this might be a good time to break it open. I made meatballs pretty much as I would with beef, but I made them a little bit more spicy. I broke up the ground caribou and added bread crumbs and an egg - I didn't measure. I just add it until I think the consistency is correct. But you just need the one egg. I then added, a palm full of garlic powder, a half a palm full of dried minced garlic, some paprika, salt, pepper, and a little oregano.

I baked the meatballs for about 10 minutes in the oven at 425 degrees, and then I pulled them out and just let them simmer in some homemade pasta sauce until I was ready for them.

The pasta sauce I made in the fall with fresh tomatoes and canned, is wonderful. I'll be making a double batch of it this year. It's fresh, tasty, so much better than stuff that comes out of a can, but it's also convenient since it's already made and I just have to open up a jar. Best of both worlds.

Of course you could make these meatballs with some spicy italian sasuage, or ground beef. But Caribou is a yummy treat and the flavour is much better than beef, and it's a lot leaner. They are spicy, so if you don't like spice, back off a little on the amounts.

Lemon pound cake and Sponge cake

This is a nice simple lemon pound cake. You can make an icing for it, or a simple lemon drizzle. I did neither. I found this recipe on recipezaar.com. It's just a simple light cake that's good for having with tea.



Easy lemon pound cake

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar


Directions
Mix together 1 cup sugar and butter.
Add eggs and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice; mix well.
Add salt, flour, and baking powder to mixture.
Add milk.
Bake at 325°F in a well greased loaf pan for 1 hour,or until golden brown.

Put on lemon glaze, or drizzle if you'd like.


Serve warm or cool.

NOW that real fun. I have found out how easy it is to make sponge cake, which happens to be one of Kevin's favorite things. It's very easy and it worked the first time. We ate the cake with fresh strawberries and some ice cream. I look forward to making this again in the summer when all the raspberries are ripe.... yum.

I got this recipe at recipes4cakes.com




Always the Best Sponge Cake Recipe


4 eggs, separated

1 cup sugar

4 Tb cold water

1 cup cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

Oven Temp 325° Baking Time 30 Min.

Beat egg yolks and sugar together until very light. Add water. Sift together flour and baking powder. Add to batter. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into batter. Pour batter into prepared pan.Bake. Cool completely and invert onto cake platter.




She has some good rules and information on making sponge cakes here : http://www.recipes4cakes.com/sponge_cake/funfood.htm



Happy baking!

Apple Cider pork tenderloin - crockpot

This was really yummy and makes for a nice dinner. We had it with boiled potatoes and green beans.



I tossed this all in the crockpot which made for a stress free dinner.

Ingredients:
2 medium onions, halved and sliced
1 -2 pork tenderloins, cleaned
4 to 6 carrots, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried leaf marjoram or thyme
2 cups apple cider
2 tablespoons cider vinegar

Preparation:
Arrange onions in the bottom of the slow cooker. Put tenderloins ontop. Arrange carrots around the roast; sprinkle the roast with the garlic, salt, pepper, allspice, chili powder, and marjoram or thyme. Combine the juice and vinegar and pour over the roast.


I cooked this on high for 6 hours.

Chocolate swirled Peanut butter cookies

My first post! I've been sharing recipes on my farm blog for some time now, but decided maybe my recipes needed a place of their own.

Don't make these unless you don't care how many you eat. You won't be able to stop yourself, so if you don't want to be eating a lot of cookies, I'd avoid these.

These are some of the best cookies I've ever had. How could they not be? Is it possible to go wrong with peanut butter AND chocolate? I think not.

You can find the recipe here http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/06/03/chocolate-swirled-peanut-butter-cookies/

They are worth the effort, trust me.