Ma Po tofu

In my ongoing search for vegetarian dishes, I cooked this from Fuchsia Dunlop's brilliant book, Every Grain of Rice. Tofu itself is quite bland, so enjoying it is all about using it is a vehicle for other flavours, and appreciating the texture of the tofu itself.

Ingredients

500g plain tofu

4 tbsps of cooking oil

2 tbsps of chilli bean paste

1 tbsp of fermented black beans, rinsed and drained

1 tbsp of minced ginger

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

100 ml of vegetable stock

black pepper

2 tsps of potato flour, mixed with 2 tbsps of cold water

1/2 tsp of ground roasted Sichuan pepper

the green parts of 4 spring onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal

Method

1. Cut the tofu into 2 cm cubes, cover in very hot, slightly salted water, and leave to steep. Prepare the other ingredients. (When I'm cooking Chinese food, I tend to arrange all my dry ingredients on a plate, in their order of use.)  Remove the tofu from the water with a slotted spoon, and put it on a plate.
2. Heat your wok until it is nice and hot, add the oil, reduce heat to minimum, and add the chilli bean paste. Stir fry for about 30 seconds, add the black beans, and stir fry for a few seconds more. Add the ginger and garlic, stir for a few seconds more.
3. Add the tofu, stir gently to coat with the sauce, and add the stock and a few grinds of black pepper.
4. Bring to a boil, simmer for a few minutes, then add the flour and water mixture, and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens.
5. Transfer the tofu and sauce to a serving bowl, sprinkle the Sichuan pepper and spring onion greens over it, and serve.

Pock-marked old woman's tofu

Apparently this is what the Chinese name of this dish means. One can only admire the honesty - it makes a refreshing change from all the adjective-laden titles of restaurant dishes in the UK.

Falafel

Since I last posted, one of the members of my family has turned vegetarian. As a result, I've been on the lookout for vegetarian options, so falafel (little fried balls of ground chickpeas and spices) seemed like a good idea. I got this recipe from Tori Avey's Jewish food blog, with a couple of minor adaptations.

Ingredients
250g of dried chickpeas
30g water
1 onion, chopped
a bunch of parsley
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsps plain flour (or use chickpea flour)
2 tsps of salt
2 tsps of ground cumin

1.5 tsps of ground coriander
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
freshly ground black pepper
the seeds from 2 cardamon pods

1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of water
oil for frying

Method

1. Leave the chickpeas to soak in plenty of water overnight.
2. The next day, drain the chickpeas, and combine with all of the remaining ingredients apart from the baking powder. Chop in a food processor until you have a grainy paste. (Too grainy and it will fall to bits when you fry, too pasty and it will taste ... pasty.)
3. Cover and leave to sit in the fridge for 2 hours.
4. Mix the baking powder with the water, add to the mixture and stir well with a fork.
5. Heat about 3 cm of oil to a medium heat.
6. Shape the mixture into balls, slip them carefully into the oil, and fry for a couple of minutes until golden underneath, then flip them over and finish cooking on the other side.

Chocolate swirls

Sammy is a fan of all things chocolate, and when I asked him what he fancied as an alternative to the ginger crush in my ginger swirls, he immediately suggested these. The results were great. Adding chocolate to dough tends to be disappointing, as it makes the dough dry while also diluting the impact of the chocolate. But spreading chocolate across a layer of dough and then rolling it solves both of those problems, and the result is both light and chocolatey.

Ingredients
the dough
175ml warm milk
300g strong white flour
1/2 egg, beaten
2.5g instant yeast
12g demerara sugar
25g melted butter
2.5g salt

the filling
1/2 egg, beaten
100g dark chocolate

the glaze
25g demerara sugar
25ml water
caster sugar for sprinkling

Method

1. Combine all of the dough ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and mix well. With the dough still in the bowl, stretch and fold, leave for 15 minutes, then repeat the 'stretch-and-fold'/15-minute rest cycle three more times. Leave dough to stand for a further hour at room temperature.
2. Melt the chocolate in a bain mairie. Form the dough into a boule, then roll out on a well-floured surface to form a rectangle. Brush the surface with the remaining beaten egg, spread the melted chocolate over it, and roll it to form a swiss roll.
3. Cut the roll into slices, and arrange them next to each other in an oiled and floured flan tin or on a baking tray, and leave to rise for 1 hour.
4. In the meantime, make the glaze by heating 25g of demerara sugar in 25ml of water until all the sugar has dissolved. 30 minutes before you are ready to bake, set the oven to 200oC.
5. Once the swirls have risen, brush them with the glaze, sprinkle with caster sugar, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are golden brown.

Pot roast chicken

Gemma bought a big orange casserole dish the other day, and I have been rediscovering the joys of pot-roast chicken with vegetables.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
potatoes
carrots
onions
olive oil
bay leaves
garlic
butter
English mustard
salt
pepper
water

Method

1. Set the oven to 190oC. Peel and roughly chop the vegetables, and put them in the casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil, add salt and pepper, and a couple of bay leaves.
2. Finely chop a couple of cloves of garlic, mix with plenty of butter, some mustard, and some salt and pepper, and smear generously over the chicken.
3. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, add a little water, put the lid on and roast for about 2 hours.

Ginger swirls

These ginger swirls are sweet and spicy, and go brilliantly with a cup of coffee. 

Ingredients
the dough
175ml warm milk
300g strong white flour
1/2 egg, beaten
2.5g instant yeast
12g demerara sugar
25g melted butter
2.5g salt

the filling
10g melted butter
100g ginger crush

the glaze
25g demerara sugar
25ml water
caster sugar for sprinkling

Method

1. Combine all of the dough ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and mix well. With the dough still in the bowl, stretch and fold thoroughly. Cover dough and leave  to stand for an hour at room temperature.
2. Form the dough into a boule, then roll out on a well-floured surface to form a rectangle. Brush the surface with melted butter, spread the ginger cross over it, and roll it to form a swiss roll.
3. Cut the roll into slices, and arrange them next to each other in an oiled and floured flan tin or on a baking tray, and leave to rise for 1 hour.
4. In the meantime, make the glaze by heating 25g of demerara sugar in 25ml of water until all the sugar has dissolved. 30 minutes before you are ready to bake, set the oven to 200oC.
5. Once the swirls have risen, brush them with the glaze, sprinkle with caster sugar, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are golden brown.

Rolled, filled dough

Filled slices, waiting to prove

Braised sweet and sour red cabbage with chestnuts

Ingredients
olive oil
100g dried chestnuts
3 sticks of celery
2 rashers of back bacon
1 small red cabbage
1 cooking apple
3 tbsps cider vinegar
3 tbsps balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
salt
pepper
water

Method

1. Soak the dried chestnuts in hot water for 30 minutes. Wash and chop the celery, cut the bacon into small pieces, core and slice the cabbage, and core the apple and cut into chunks.
2. Gently fry the celery in olive oil. When it has started to soften, add the bacon and continue to fry until the bacon is done.
3. Add all the remaining ingredients, together with enough water to barely cover. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to minimum and simmer until the chestnuts and cabbage are soft.

Crepes

Crepes are back in fashion - and I don't even have to cook them.

Ingredients
200g plain flour
380g milk
2 eggs

Method
Whisk all the ingredients together, fry in a hot, lightly-oiled pan, flip and serve with the topping of your choice.