Mango Bread mmm mmm mmm

For the Pa'a board meeting, we had a potluck. This is what I brought. Unfortunately, I didn't have macadamia nuts, but still mmm mmm mmm 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoons cinnamon 3 eggs, well beaten 3/4 cup canola oil 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 2 cups peeled and diced fresh mango 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped 1/2 cup grated coconut Directions Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon into a small bowl. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil and sugar and mix with dry ingredients until well blended. Fold in mango, raisins, nuts and coconut. Pour into loaf pans and bake 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 10 to 15 minutes, unmold and let completely cool on baking racks. From http://www.food.com/recipeprint.do?rid=30296

Herb Rolls
Hopefully I haven't posted these already, but last night we had to suffer because I couldn't find the recipe. Oh well, Jesse made his famous cheese scones and life was good. Did I say we suffered? I guess I was wrong.

 2 Tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon sugar
 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter
 3 cups flour
 1 teaspoon oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons basil leaves
 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
 1/4 teaspoon hing (whatever that is)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin pans.
In a large bowl add yeast to water and let sit for 30 seconds.
 Add melted butter, spices, buttermilk, salt and sugar.
Gradually stir in flour and knead for 8 minutes.
 If too wet add a little more flour.
 Grease large bowl with a little butter and add dough. Cover and let rise in warm kitchen area until double in size ( about an hour).
Fold dough over , punch down and knead.
Make 36 small balls about 1 inch in diameter.
 Fill greased muffin tins with 3 balls each. Cover and let rise for one hour.
 Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
 Serve hot. Makes 12 rolls.

 From The Higher Taste

Salt and Pepper Tofu

Vegan Chinese Salt and Pepper Tofu
 serves 2 as an entree or about 4 as an appetizer
1 block (14 oz when drained) extra firm tofu
 4 tablespoons corn starch as needed
 1/2 teaspoon or to taste freshly cracked black pepper
 Freshly ground Salt
Vegetable or canola oil for frying

Pat dry the drained tofu.
Let it stand with paper towels over it under a weight for 30 minutes.
Cut into 1x1x1/2 inch cubes.
Place the tofu cubes in a large bowl.
Add corn starch, salt and pepper.
Gently toss till the tofu pieces are very well coated.

In a frying pan, pour oil so that it comes up 1/2 inch (I did much less than this).
 Heat the oil.
Make sure oil is hot.
Add tofu cubes a few at a time. (If you fry too many at once or if the oil is not warm enough, they won’t crisp up.)
 Fry the tofu pieces, flipping them around, so that all sides are golden brown.

 Drain onto a few layers of paper towels. Add the fried tofu cubes to whatever dish you want.

We put it over chilequiles instead of boiled eggs.

 Serve vegan Chinese salt and pepper tofu with your favorite chili sauce and garnish with celery leaves or green onions.

 For a quick appetizer, serve the fried tofu with chili sauce.

 Notes: - Instead of tofu, try button mushrooms, parboiled cubed potato, baby corn or paneer.
The only change you will make is to make a batter out of the cornstarch and dip the vegetables or paneer in the cornstarch batter before frying.

Hints
- fry one piece of tofu first and taste it. Adjust the salt the pepper in the batch if needed and then continue frying the rest
- try using some coconut oil that can take higher temperatures
 - the tofu can be fried about an hour ahead of time and placed in your oven in the lowest temperature. simply toss the tofu in the sauté in the last minute
- Here is a suggested saute that could be added to the tofu, but fried rice would work too for the sauté 1/2 tablespoon oil 2 medium leeks, white part only, washed and grit removed (1 cup when chopped) 1 celery rib (1/2 cup when chopped) 1 small green pepper (1/2 cup when chopped) 1 tablespoon finely minced garlic 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger 1 tablespoon light soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar Chop the leeks, celery and green pepper into a fine dice. Heat oil in a wok on medium-high heat. Add chopped leeks, celery, and green pepper. Sauté on high heat for about 2 minutes. Add ginger and garlic. Cook another 1-2 minutes. Add soy sauce and brown sugar and cook 30 seconds. Set this mixture aside.

http://www.veggiebelly.com/2010/07/restaurant-style-chinese-salt-pepper-tofu.html

Black bean avocado bowl

2 servings Ingredients 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 eggs, fried 1/2 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed guacamole: 1 avocado, 1/2 tomato, lemon juice, garlic, cummin, cayenne, S & P mashed 1/4 cup chilaquile salsa salt and ground black pepper to taste tortilla chips left over refried beans 1/2 onion Directions Heat olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Saute onion. Add beans and salsa 3 to 5 minutes. In a separate pan, start frying eggs. Divide warmed bean mixture between two bowls. Top each bowl with eggs, guacamole, and salsa. Season with salt and black pepper. Adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-breakfast-bowl/detail.aspx Living with Leftovers

Spinach and Feta pies (crustless)

Crustless Spinach and Feta Pies From Food Network Kitchens Making it Easy, Meredith, 2004 Prep Time: 20 min Cook Time:25 min Serves:4 servings Ingredients Pies: 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed 4 scallions, thinly sliced(I used onion that I sauted) 3 large eggs 3/4 cup half-and-half (or literally half milk and half sour cream) 1 tablespoon plain bread crumbs (I used spicy buffalo wheat thins crushed) 2 teaspoons crumbled dried mint 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt (Lots of people complained about too much salt. Pretty much skipped the salt. Maybe just ground some rock salt Freshly ground black pepper Pinch cayenne pepper Pinch Arbol Chile Powder Freshly grated nutmeg 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese sun-dried tomatoes Greek Tomato Salad: 12 ounces mixed small tomatoes 2 to 3 pepperoncini, stemmed and chopped 2 tablespoons pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Directions Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Squeeze excess water out of spinach. (Didn't really squeeze. The spinach seemed pretty dry)Add spinach and scallions and cook, stirring, until dry, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a colander and press with the back of a spoon to remove the last bit of moisture. Brush 4 (6-ounce) ramekins with some olive oil and put on a baking sheet. Put spinach mixture, eggs, half-and-half, bread crumbs, mint, salt, black and cayenne peppers, and nutmeg in a food processor and pulse until spinach is finely chopped. Remove blade and stir in feta cheese. Divide mixture evenly among ramekins. Bake until set around the edges but still slightly soft in the center, about 20 minutes. Turn oven off, leaving pies inside to set, about 5 minutes more. Run a knife around edge of each pie and invert onto plates; spoon some tomato salad around each and serve. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_115113_RECIPE-PRINT-FULL-PAGE-FORMATTER,00.html I skipped the salad, but I had black bean salad from the other night with plenty of tomatoes to break up the spinach. Greek Tomato Salad: Toss tomatoes with pepperoncini and olives in a salad bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, and salt and black pepper to taste. Toss again. Shopsmart: Deep into summer, we stock up on heirloom tomatoes. Grown from the prized seeds of nearly forgotten varieties, these sweet, succulent beauties are a treat in a salad or simply sliced and sprinkled with salt. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_115113_RECIPE-PRINT-FULL-PAGE-FORMATTER,00.html

naughty chocolate cake- gluten free

http://www.dishoftheday.com.au/dish/cook-Gluten_Free_Naughty_Chocolate_Mud_Cake-recipe/726 Going to try this for Mum's 80th

Jambalaya

Happy Mardi Gras.I'll write this recipe the way it is written, but we have a vegetarian home so I will () the veggie version. It is my favorite meal of all.

1 tsp salt 1 tsp Dried Thyme
1 tsp cayenne 1/4 tsp rubbed sage
1/2 tsp black pepper 2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp white pepper

2 tbs butter (olive oil)
1/2 lb ham (3 Morningstar Farms grillers (original))
1/2 lb chicken (6 Morningstar Farms Sausage Links)
(4 Morningstar Farms Original Sausage Patties)

1 cup celery, medium diced
1 cup onion, medium diced
1 cup green pepper, medium diced
1Tbs garlic, pared, minced
28oz can tomatoes, whole or chopped
2 1/2 cups chicken (vegetable) stock
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice cooked( brown rice and wild rice are also great)

1. Combine spices
2.Heat pan, melt butter
3. Add ham, stir 5 min
4. Add chicken, cook 5 min
5. Stir in seasonings and 1/2 celery, onion, green pepper and garlic for 6-8 min.
6. Stir in tomato juice
7. Add rest of veggies and tomato
7. Remove from heat. Add stock and rice, mix well
8. Put in 8x8 pan (11x13)
9. Bake for 30 min. at 350 degrees F (uncovered)

Jesse's Stuffed Shells

More Jesse Supremo Stuffed Shells Recipe
You can make the components for this a couple days ahead of time if needed - i.e. sauce, filling. Also, you won't be able to fit 25-30 shells in your pan, but a few are always casualties of the boil, so I call for more than you'll likely need.
zest of one lemon
Sauce:
1/3 cup / 80 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
scant 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
4 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed red tomatoes
1 14-ounce can crushed red tomatoes
Filling:
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup / ~5 oz grated mozzarella
1 bunch of chives, chives
25-30 jumbo dried pasta shells
Oil a 13 x 9-inch / 33 x 23-cm baking pan, or equivalent, and sprinkle the zest of 1/2 the lemon across it. Set aside. Get a big pot of water boiling, and preheat your oven to 350F / 180C with a rack in the middle.
To make the sauce, combine the olive oil, red pepper flakes, sea salt, and garlic in a cold saucepan. Stir while you heat the saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute just 45 seconds or so until everything is fragrant - you don't want the garlic to brown. Now stir in the tomatoes and heat to a gentle simmer, just a minute or two. Remove from heat and carefully take a taste (you don't want to burn your tongue)...If the sauce needs more salt add it now. Let cool.
To make the filling, combine the ricotta, egg, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until combined, then stir in the mozzarella and 3/4 of the chives. Set aside.
Cook the shells according to package instructions in well-salted water - until al dente. If you overcook, the shells will tear as you attempt to fill them. Drain and let cool long enough to handle with your hands - see photo.
Spread 1/3 of sauce across the bottom of the prepared pan. Fill each shell with ricotta, and arrange in a single layer in the pan. Ladle the remaining sauce over the shells, cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until the shells are cooked through - uncover for the final 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining chives and serve hot.
Serves 4 - 6.
Prep time: 30 min - Cook time: 45 min

Drunk'n Noodles by Jesse

Drunk’n Noodles

· 2 14-ounce packages 1/4-inch-wide flat rice noodles

· 2 tbsp cup olive oil

· 6 garlic cloves, chopped

· 3 chopped fresh Thai chiles

· 1 packet tofu (extra firm)

· Small Onion sliced in strips

· Red pepper cut in strips

· Green pepper cut in strips

· 2 cups chopped Mushrooms

· 3 tbsp black soy sauce

· 3 tbsp Golden Mountain sauce or light soy sauce

· 2 tablespoon palm sugar

· 4 plum tomatoes, each cut into wedges

· 1 1/4 cup fresh Thai basil leaves

· Crushed peanuts



Cook noodles in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring frequently. Drain.

Meanwhile, heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté onions until translucent, then add garlic, mushrooms, peppers and Thai chilis; sauté for additional 2 minutes. Add tofu and sauté for another 4 minutes. Add noodles and tomatoes; toss to coat. Transfer to large platter, sprinkle with basil leaves and crushed peanuts, and serve.