Blackened Tofu

Hi all,
1000 apologies for being rubbish and not posting for what seems like ages. For those of you that don't know me that well my job can get a bit busy at certain times of the year and this has been one of them. I put together the Argos catalogue, well about 150 pages and together with my colleagues we put together about 800 pages of it! at this time of year the book is starting to go to print so it has meant long days and weekends so I simply haven't been cooking that much of interest. Anyway, here I am again with a new recipe. I think Yotam Ottolenghi is my favourite cook at the moment and he should pay me for putting all his receipes on this blog or give me a signed book at the very least...! (Deano if you are reading this a meal at his restaurant for my birthday please?)
Tofu, that pesky stuff you get with your Chinese and tastes a bit bland...I like tofu, always have and love it in the Tom Yum or in a curry but I was pleased to find this new recipe where I could try something new. Its easy and would be great for the vegetarian option if you are cooking a meal for mates. I didn't have any spring onions...
You need a glass of water with this and my lips were burning for ages...

serves 4
800g firm tofu - cut into cubes
Veg oil for frying- fill the pan up to about 5mm height
Cornflour- for dusting the tofu
150g butter
12 shallots- finely sliced
8 mild red chillis - thinly sliced
12 garlic cloves - crushed
3 tbsp chopped ginger
3 tbsp sweet soya sauce
3 tbsp light soys sauce
4 tbls dark soya sauce
2 tbsp caster sugar
5 tablespoons crushed black pepper
16 sm spring onions cut into 3cm segments

Pour oil into pan, toss tofu in cornflour and deep fry until golden brown, if you have a small pan then do in batches to avoid stewing and mulching together. Once cooked transfer to kitchen paper to drain.
Melt the butter in a pan and add the shallotts, chilli, garlic, ginger and saute on a medium low heat for about 15 mins.
Add all the soya sauce and sugar and finally the black pepper.
Add tofu back to the pan along with the spring onions and cook for about a minute then serve with steamed rice. The rice is lovely with this as it's so bland. Yummy!

We are going camping this weekend so I'm hoping to post some cowboy food recipes

Pirate food

Mamas Pasta

Give me the badge, give me the badge!! I finally got the pasta maker out and it was easy! Blix and I made pasta, or rather I made pasta Blix made some weird mixture and then threw Spider Man in there for good measure!
Deano and I sat there quite cheesily saying 'mmm, tastes so good and so much nicer than the bought stuff' but for a first atempt my tagliatelle was lovely. I served with home made pesto and some courgette muffins. Deano did take a picture of the pasta making but it was sooo unflattering that I'm not going to show it...

The muffins were delcious and I used a receipe by Dan Leppert- check out the link below
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/10/courgette-mozzarella-muffin-recipe

Leek & Gruyerre Tart

Blimey, it's like the good life in these parts at the moment! Our good friend Sarah is a landscape architect (available if anyone has any positions at the moment!) but she's also a very good gardener and between her and another friend Iona I'm soaking up their green fingered knowledge. Sarah was coming to tea on Sunday and in exchange has brought me loads of lovely plants for the garden including a 50 year old peony from her granny's garden (better treat that one well). So in exchange I've made her some dinner. The tart is easy to make and I'm not going to apologise I used ready made short crust pastry and served with roasties and some pan fried courgettes which I marinaded in a little lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt then just fried on the griddle.

1 packet of short crust pastry
300ml single cream
3 x beaten eggs
Gruyere cheese (about 2/3 of a good wedge)
Sea salt and pepper
4 leeks

Head and tail the leaks, cut in half and then slice. Fry the leeks in olive oil with S&P and the juice from half a lemon until soft.
Line a flan dish with butter and place the pastry in, cover with grease proof paper and fill with baking beans then bake blind for 20 mins.
Mix the cream with 3 beaten eggs, season.
Place the fried leeks at the bottom of the tart. Cube the Gruyere and scatter over the top then cover in the creamy mixture. Bake for about 45 minutes. Check the tart with a skewer, if it's dry then the mixture is cooked. It was yummy, especially straight out of the oven and still warm and gooey.

Elsewhere this weekend, I went to a vintage fair in Headingley and bought Deano a great tiki bowling shirt, a car boot sale at Yeadon and got a great 'shabby chic' gilt mirror for 2 whole pounds and went for a good curry at Akbars with Mat and Emma. So all in all a great weekend.