Crispy Tofu with Red Curry Sauce

This tofu recipe is cooked in the same way as the previous crispy tofu recipe; this one uses some different ingredients and is a smaller serving size. The sauce idea came from searching our barren kitchen for ingredients (It is barren purposefully since we are going to British Columbia for a week).

Ingredients:
6 oz of extra firm tofu
2 tbs brown rice flour
2 tbs quinoa flour
1 tbs flaxseed meal
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp red pepper (cayenne)

Pour enough oil into a large skillet to cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer, and place on medium heat.

 Once the oil is heated place the tofu strips in the skillet, allow to cook for about 3 min on both sides until golden brown and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

Sauce:
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp raw coconut aminos sauce
1 tbs red curry paste
2 tbs water
1/3 cup agave nectar

Add all ingredients to a sauce pan and simmer on low heat until all the flavors combine and the sauce is hot. Serve alongside the tofu.

This dish has more Asian flavors than we tend to experiment with, so it was enjoyable to attempt to make a delicious sauce with foreign flavors; the sauce is a great balance between sweet and spicy. It can taste sweeter at first, but then comes the punch of spice!

Food Trucks: Los Angeles

Today we stopped by the Food Truck Festival in Santa Anita, which featured many Los Angeles food trucks. Neither of us have encountered a food truck to eat from in LA so this was a first time for the both of us.

First we went to the back of a long line for the Grilled Cheese Truck since we had seen it on an episode of Eat Street on the Cooking Channel. The wait was over an hour so as we waited we ate a deep fried banana pastry which was delish, an iced coffee, and Chana Masala from an Indian Food Truck (Spicy but not flavorful).
The Lovely Line: 

From the Grilled Cheese Truck we ordered the Brie Melt (double cream brie, fig paste, and smokehouse almonds, on black peppercorn potato bread & we added sliced apples). It was pretty good; gooey cheese, balanced flavors, and toasty bread- maybe not over an hours wait good, but I didn't mind.

The most wonderful experience came after the Grilled Cheese. We went to get ice cream sandwiches from Coolhaus since we read an article about them in a magazine. They were the most incredibly delicious ice cream sandwiches either of us have ever encountered. And we don't even like ice cream very much, we are more gelato people. But their homemade ice cream and cookies cannot be beat!

On the left is a Snicker doodle cookie with Balsamic Fig and Mascarpone ice cream (it had a perfect balance between sweet and even a bit tangy, do not shy away from this strange sounding flavor!)
& on the right is a Chocolate cookie with Dirty Mint Chip Ice Cream ( a wonderful combo, the cookie was moist and the ice cream is refreshingly minty with actual bits of mint scattered throughout). 

Coolhaus also uses edible wrappers made out of potato, so there is no trash once you finish your delectable treat. And they put a heaping scoop of their ice cream between the cookies. We highly recommend tracking them down when you are in the LA area, they will also soon have a shop in Culver City! 
Attending the festival was worth it purely because of the ice cream sandwiches.

Four Petite Pies

There are so many different types of pie filling in this world. Since I had extra butter almond crust from my last pie and have been longing to experiment with not so typical fillings this was the perfect opportunity! These flavor ideas have been mingling in my mind for a while now and by using 4 small ramekins I was able to bake a small amount of four different flavors.

Crust: Recipe on previous post (Butter Almond Crust)
Roll out the dough and use a circular object to cut round pieces of crust (I used a small bowl) and line the ramekins (you can use small glass jars or a muffin tin as well).

All of the pies cook at 375 degrees & use a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. 

Pear Ginger Pie: A spicy pie- the pear and ginger work well together, I would recommend less grated ginger than I used since it is a strong flavor.
1/2 of a pear (peeled and cut into bite sized pieces)
1/8 tsp tapioca
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp grated ginger

Apple Paprika Pie: My favorite combination out of the four. I would use more paprika next time since the flavor is more subtle. With the amount I used it tastes like apple pie with something more that you can not quite pinpoint.
1/2 apple (peeled and cut into bite sized pieces)
1/8 tsp tapioca
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp paprika

Beet Almond Mint Pie: For beet lovers only! I love beets and it does have a nice flavor, but I do not necessarily want to keep eating it.
2 small beets (I used precooked beets from the refrigerated section at trader joes)
1/8 tapioca
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp minced mint

Berry Almond Rosemary Pie: Flavors combined nicely. The rosemary gives it a little something extra.
1/2 cup berries (I used a frozen mix- blackberry/blueberry/raspberry)
1/8 tsp tapioca
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp chopped rosemary

 

Directions for all pies:
In a small saucepan over low heat mix together the sugar (you can use less than 2 tbsp, mine was a tad sweet), tapioca, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and the flavorings (herbs & extracts). Combine thoroughly, then add the fruit. Stir together so that all of the flavors have the chance to combine and the mixture begins to become liquidy.
Scoop the filling into a ramekin and pour the remaining liquid over the top.   

Topping: Since I cared more about the filling and less about the topping I did not think about it too much. I recommend using less sugar, adding flour, and butter. The pies were a little too sweet and I believe it was mainly from the topping.
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl and cover each of the pies with the mixture.
Place the ramekins on a cooking sheet and back in a 375 degree oven for 10-20 minutes. (mine took 20- I recommend setting for 10 and checking on them). The apple took a bit longer to cook than the others.

All in all I would consider this a successful attempt at unique petite pies: considering I did not use any type of recipe and I am lousy at math=amounts.