Pan-Fried Tofu

Tofu doesn't have to be a scary thing. I'm not afraid to admit that I like to eat it once in a while. It may taste bland to some people, but it all depends on how it's prepared. It's great paired with sauces, dips and veggie stir-fry. I purchased myself one package while at Whole Foods the other day. I remember in Trader Joe's, there's this ready to eat teriyaki flavored tofu that I would snack on sometimes. So I thought I make sometimes similar, but lightly pan-fried. I purchased myself the firm variety. Extra-firm works also as they keep their shape very well.

I used my usual Filipino BBQ sauce as a marinade, except instead of using yellow mustard, I used dijon mustard. One of the great things about tofu is that is absorbs flavors and marinades really really well. Marinated overnight, but you can make it the day of. The next day cook away. I lightly pan-fried these on my cast-iron skillet. A nice light crunch on the crust and soft BBQ flavor inside. Tofu is made soybeans, I served it with a handful of sliced mushrooms. See it doesn't look so scary. If I can cook with it, you can too.

I've got one other tofu recipe coming up, but that will have to wait as this weekend I'll be working on another production. Luckily, this one I don't have to worry about much.

Makes 4 tofu steaks.

Pan-Fried Tofu

1 14 oz package firm or extra firm tofu - water drained

Marinade
1/2 c soy sauce
juice of half a lemon
3 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
1 large garlic clove - fine chopped


Combine the ingredients for the marinade together in a shallow dish. Make sure the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

Remove the tofu from the package and carefully pat dry with a paper towel. Slice them into 4 or 5 3/4-inch to 1 inch steaks. Places the slices into the marinade.

Marinate the tofu steaks for at least an hour before cooking. Even better is done the night before for better flavors absorption.

Prepare your grill or skillet. Heat a little olive oil. Just enough to lightly cover the bottom of the pan.

Place the tofu steak and cook each side until it gets a slight char on the edges. roughly 3-5 minutes -- on medium heat. Be careful of splatters.

Serve warm with some of the BBQ marinade. 

Zucchini Cakes

One thing I've noticed is that when I'm writing I have the tendency to spell zucchini with two z's. I don't know why. Maybe it's because there are two c's or some other factor. Anyway...These are great. A type of veggie cake. Think the crab cake but with zucchini. Shredded some zucchini and set it aside with some salt. That helps take the moisture out of the vegetable. Easier to cook with. It's a neat little trick I learned a couple months ago. It good to use if you're going to roasting and baking with certain watery vegetables. It helps them crisp up during the cooking process.

After I strained all the liquid, I mixed in some binding agents like an egg, flour and my all too favorite panko crumbs. i really don't know where I'd be without that stuff. Then I did a quick pan-fry. I paired it with a simple garlic yogurt sauce.

With Christmas just a couple days away I'm scrambling to get everything done. And I mean DONE!!! I barely just finished baking my (now-a-tradition) giveaway treats, so I'm glad that's over with. They're all wrapped in lovely little gift boxes and ready to go to the recipient. Come Christmas day, I just want to be able to eat some honey baked ham and all the other foods i have planned and chill out the whole day through. Maybe light a fire in the fireplace.

Makes 6 to 8 cakes

Zucchini Cakes

4 small to medium zucchini
2 eggs - lightly beaten
3 Tbps all purpoase flour
1 1/2 c panko crumbs
salt
pepper
garlic yogurt sauce (recipe below)

Shred the zucchini and sprinkle some salt over and toss. Set aside in a strainer over a bowl or over some paper towel. This will take out some of the extra moisture from the zucchini. Toss out the liquid and squeeze out any liquid that remain with in the shredded pieces. Place in a separate and clean bowl.

Add the egg, flour and panko. Mix until a chunky mixture and divide it into 6 cakes.

Heat some canola oil in a skillet. Sear each side of the cake until brown. Roughly 3-5 minutes for each side. Place the finished patties on a paper towel to drain off any excess oil.



To bake place in a 400˚F oven on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes.

Garlic Yogurt Sauce

3 Tbsp plain greek yogurt
1-2 tsp hot sauce
1/2 Tbsp garlic powder

Combine all ingredients together.

Brown Sugar Glazed Chicken

Sometimes a salad is in order for a hot day. But they can be a bit boring with just the leafy greens. Don't get me wrong, I love those leafy greens. But I need some sort of protein in them every once in a while. So, in comes the chicken.

I had pan-fried these. Season the chicken with my usual suspects and brown sugar. I also made a couple of pockets on the sides to stuff some minced garlic into them. You need to keep an eye on these when cooking as brown sugar tends to burn quickly under certain temps. But at the end, it gave the chicken a nice sweet flavor and caramel-like coating. I served this over a simple romaine salad with sliced grape tomatoes and baby cucumber with a basic balsamic vinaigrette as well as half a small avocado.

I cooked 3 chicken tenders and one chicken breast. You can mix it up using 6 tenders or 2 breast.

Serves 2.



Brown Sugar Glazed Chicken

6 chicken tenders or 2 large chicken breast
2 garlic cloves - minced
1/2 c brown sugar
salt
pepper
paprika
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Butter or Margarine

Take the chicken breast and cut four small deep slits into the sides. Creating pockets. Stuff the pockets with the minced garlic.

For chicken tenders cut two deep slits and stuff with pieces of the minced garlic.

Season the chicken with salt, pepper and paprika. Then cover withe brown sugar.

In a large skillet, heat the oil and melt the butter on a medium flame. Pan-fry the chicken.

For chicken tenders. Cook for sides for 3-4 min.

For chicken breast, sear both sides for 2-3 min. Then lower the flame and cook for another 4 min. Constantly baste the chicken with the caramelizing sugar. You need to keep an eye as sugar will have the tendency to burn.

When cooked, let the chicken rest for 5 min loosely covered with foil.

Tuna Corn Cakes with Garlic Yogurt Sauce

This is my entry to BSI (Blogger’s Secret Ingredient). Hosted this week by Sophia from Burp and Slurp. The secret ingredient chosen was corn. It just so happens that I had a can of sweet corn from Trader Joe's in the cupboard, so it seem a perfect time to use it. Plus since summer is upon us and corn is in demand, I needed to do something with it as well. I figured why not add tuna into the mix. It gave me a chance to use up two more cans of tuna from the bulk I bought from Costco. Sweet!

I quickly did a pan-fry to seal the top and bottoms crusts, then baked it for a few minutes to brown the edges and cook the inside. I served this with a garlic yogurt sauce and a freshly diced tomato lightly tossed with some salt and olive oil.



Tuna Corn Cakes

2 5oz can tuna in water
2 can sweet corn
1 c Panko Crumbs
1 shallot diced
2 egg (beaten)

Preheat your oven to 400˚F

Drain all the water from the tuna as well as all the liquid from the corn. Make sure they are both dry. Pat them with a paper towel, if needed. Mix the two together in a medium bowl. Add in the diced shallot and mix in the 2 beaten eggs.

Divide into 6 cakes.

On med-high heat, coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil. When the oil is hot enough, sear the tops and bottoms of the patties until they form a nice crust. (roughly 2-3 min)

Transfer the patties onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake for another 5-8 min to crisp the edges.

Remove from oven and serve.


Garlic Yogurt Sauce
1 5oz cup plain yogurt
2 garlic cloves minced
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt

Combine yogurt, garlic and lemon juice. Season with salt to taste.

Drizzle over the tuna corn cakes and garnish with some seasoned diced tomatoes.