Even though we had takeaway for dinner on Sunday night, we didn’t completely slack off on cooking. While Michael was picking up our spicy dinners in Fitzroy, I was spicing up a tofu marinade for Monday night’s dinner. The recipe was our first test of “The Bold Vegetarian Chef” and the recipe did promise bold flavours, as I mixed together caraway seeds, fenugreek, lemon juice, tamarind paste, coriander, garlic, mustard, turmeric, sugar and Tabasco sauce with yoghurt and a bit of olive oil.
This concoction got smeared all over some firm tofu cubes and refrigerated overnight. In the morning I rotated the tofu bits to make sure all surfaces were flavoured.
The sauce, which we prepared on Monday night, was a raita-like mix of cucumber, coriander, red onion, garlic, salt and pepper with lots more yoghurt.It was a simple but messy job to line up the tofu cubes on skewers, then fry them. I guess the point of the skewers is to make turning the tofu a bit quicker, but Michael found it no more convenient than tossing the remaining cubes around in the fry-pan. There was a lot more marinade glugging up the pan than necessary, but we did use some of it to flavour our carrot, capsicum and beans, which were quickly stir-fried separately in a wok. We served it all up on a plate of leftover green leaves, with yoghurt sauce dripping over the kebabs. The super-firm tofu is not my favourite texture, but it does hold together reliably when being tossed around in marinade and then a frying pan. Next time I’d like to slice it in smaller cubes or perhaps thin rectangular ‘patties’ to maximise the marinating surface area (I know it’s not the global maximum, but some kind of three-dimensional fractal really isn’t practical…). The flavours had heightened the next day, and my lunchbox received a few interested eyeings-off. The downside was the lingering aftertaste of garlic and red onion throughout the afternoon, reigning over the feeble chewing gum I threw at it. For private enjoyment only, perhaps.
Cindy I have been keeping an eye on your blog and this is the first time you have truly let your inner geek loose. I've only got your very best interests at heart when I say this... As one geek to another, you need to be very careful. The ice is thin. You Have Been Warned. :)
ReplyDeleteI suppose it was only a matter of time before I showed my true colours!
ReplyDeleteIf you want to see some nerdy cooking, check out the awesome diagrams at the end of every recipe at www.cookingforengineers.com .