Crispy Baked Tofu with Ginger Peanut Sauce

Tofu is like a blank piece of paper, like a thirsty sponge, so if you love ginger and peanut butter this dish is for you.

Plain cut up tofu is just blah… But if you press it and then bake it until golden crisp is gets soooo much better. If you have a tofu press go for it, but if you don’t, like me, simply place the tofu on a deep dish, between paper towels and put a couple of heavy books on top and let it get pressed for about 15-20 minutes.

Cut it to desired shape and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes until light golden brown. Make sure to spread them out making sure also to bake them in one layer, no overlapping. Flip them half way through the baking process so the get crispy evenly. Once done remove from oven and let cool slightly.

While they bake, get going with the easy ginger peanut butter sauce. It literally takes a minute to make.

Super simple ingredients make this sauce very authentic, and you can also use for dipping Thai spring rolls. Delicious!

Ginger Peanut Sauce Ingredients

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 inch peeled and grated ginger

2 tablespoons soy sauce (you can also use low sodium version)

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon honey or brown sugar

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

hot water if needed to get desired consistency

Mix all the ingredients together until a nice and creamy consistency is reached.

Dip the tofu pieces in the sauce until your heart is content! ❤️❤️

Enjoy!

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Guava Juice with Thai Basil Seeds

I love the smell of guavas (guayabas in Spanish), don’t get me wrong, they are very tasty, but there’s something about their sweet tropical smell that I can’t resist… So when my husband brought a container of super ripe, yellow, delicious, smelling guavas I had to make juice with them. There’re also pink guavas, prettier, but these surely made the trick.

I also added the Thai basil seeds cause when we went to “Bun-ker” A Vietnamese restaurant in Queens and tried their home made limeade, I loved the texture of the basil seeds they added!!! They gel up like chia and flax seeds. Love it!

Super simple, quick recipe! Here is what you’ll need to make 2-3 servings.

4 medium guavas washed and chopped up

2 – 3 cups of water, depending how thick you like your juice

sugar to taste

Thai basil seeds

Place ingredients using just half of the water in a blender and blend until just liquified (we don’t want to break up the seeds)

Seeds really don’t bother me at all, (as you can see in the pics) but by all means if you don’t like them, like most people, use a strainer and then add remaining water till desired consistency is obtained.

Guava Thai basil seed juice

Add the seeds, stir and place in refrigerator until cold. Serve chilled and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Wild Chives Picking Day

Simple and quick post on a rainy cloudy day… Drizzling here today in the Hudson Valley, so it’s a great day to go out there get a little wet and dirty too, the ground is soft so the first Allium Schoenoprasum of the season, wild chives that is…  are super easy to pull out of the ground.

The whole thing is edible even their purple flowers, perfect for salads, (didn’t find any with flowers though… maybe next time) Very mild in flavor, delicious in soups…

So go out there, get wet, get a little dirt under your nails, explore… Now, I cannot wait for the fiddle-head fern to come out… MMM delicious!

Enjoy!

Summer Squash Tart

Summer Squash Tart.

Moving!!!

Hi everybody!!! I moved and changed my name too!!! Well… the blog moved and changed, but it will all be the same, only the name and looks will be a little different.  You can read a little bit about why I chose the name in the about section of the blog.

After years of blogging with the old name, I thought if was time for a change, to make this blog a little bit more “mine” . In the beginning I was not really sure where this would take me (I first started the blog like a prolongation of my etsy shop), but now it simply doesn’t have anything to do with it, now I’m really sure where I want to go, that’s why I decided to change the name of it.

Hope you still like reading it as much as I like writing it!

Thanks for coming along and for being a part of this!

Quick and Simple French Vanilla Custard

Custard is one of my favorites desserts, it’s simple, quick, easy to make and you can dress it up in so many ways… today I decided to garnish it simply, only using blackberries to make this winter day feel a little more summery and fresh. I also like this recipe because it doesn’t have any eggs (then it’s not technically a custard, but who’s being technical here?), so it’s lighter and also great to have when you don’t have eggs handy.

French Vanilla Eggless Custard

Here is what you will need:

1/4 cup of sugar

1 french vanilla bean pod

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups of heavy cream or half-and-half, depending on how rich you like your custard. Another idea is making it with one cup of eggnog, you can also add any other flavoring that you like (bailey’s, anisette, etc…)

Preparation:

In a medium saucepan whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Split open the vanilla bean pod and carefully scrape the precious and flavorful tinny seeds and add them to the mix. Add 4 tablespoons of the heavy cream or half-and-half and whisk to form a smooth paste. Whisk in the rest of the liquid and using an spatula, stir constantly over medium heat, making sure you scrape the bottom, sides and corners of the saucepan to avoid any lumps, stir until custard thickens and begins to bubble. Keep cooking it and stirring it for 1 more minute so the cornstarch cooks fully. Immediately pour onto desired bowls and refrigerate, although it’s also delicious served warm with any fruit coulis. Serves approximately 6 people, depending on the size of the bowls you use. Enjoy!!

For a Cold Afternoon

I know it’s only January 26th and it’s supposed to be cold, but today the maximum temperature has been only -4C… so when a day like today comes nothing makes me feel warmer and comfier than a hot cup of spanish chocolate… the kind you almost need a knife and fork to cut… LOL.. we like out chocolate really thick.

Larrea Bakery Chocolate a la Taza Bar

This bar is from my hometowns best artisanal bakery: Larrea. So I treat this kind of chocolate like pure gold… and only share it with people that really appreciate it… not like my husband that likes his hot chocolate watery… 🙂

This kind of chocolate is traditionally served all over Spain alongside churros… I love them! Soon I’ll make them and I’ll post some more picks! Enjoy and keep warm!

Food Photography

I’m obsessed with food… Nothing new though…!!! LOL. But now I’m getting obsessed with food photography, Looove it! So, there’s going to be a lot of picture taking and posting. Hope you like them as much as I love making the food, and also eating it! Although these pictures right here were part of an order that went to a returning customer from NJ. I didn’t get to eat them… not all of them at least. Enjoy and hopefully drool too! 😉

Delicious not too sweet and citrucy Lemon Madeleines

Buttery Berry Raspberry Linzer Cookies

Something weird, curious, strange? All the above? Yeap!!!

I just wanted to share something… Look at what one of my chickens is doing to me!!!! LOL
Yes, that’s right: Mini eggs, but not just any kind of mini eggs, these cute guys are also yolk less, so I guess these are cholesterol free eggs right?? And she’s not genetically modified… 😛

Have fun looking at them!!!

Natural & Organic Gourmet Chocolate Hawaiian Kona Coffee Butter Cookies

It’s been a while since I added a new member to our family of cookies, but here it is… These are just perfect, the chocolate butter cookie is not to sweet so the white chocolate with Kona coffee granules make it just the perfect combination. Take a look and drool!!! LOL…. 😉

Chocolate and Kona White Chocolate dipped Butter Cookies