Super simple grilled Tofu

Some people are curious about tofu, but just have no clue where to start.  If that's you, give this recipe a try.

Ingredients:
1 block of firm or extra firm tofu, well drained/pressed*
Roughly 2 tablespoons olive oil
A shaker of your favorite seasoning blend (The first time I made this, I used a mix called Parisienne Melange, but what you're seeing here is actually Kroger's Original Seasoning, a saltless mix)

Directions
Warm up your grill, or electric grill (like I'm using here.  Got it for $10 at lowes, go figure.)

Cut the tofu in half length-wise, then in half again  width-wise.  If you want the triangles like I have here, cut along the diagonal for each piece. (Total of 8 pieces with the diagonal, 4 without)

Brush the top of each piece with your oil, then sprinkle with seasoning and turn oiled-side down on the grill.  If you're using an electric grill, go ahead and brush and season the top as well before closing the lid.  If you're using a regular grill, wait to oil and season until right before you flip them (otherwise the oil sinks in and they taste super greasy)

Grill for 8 minutes (per side, if you're doing it on the grill) or until the outside turns golden brown.

*There are tofu presses out there that you can buy, but unless you eat a lot of tofu I wouldn't bother.  Instead, wrap the tofu in a clean dishcloth, set it on a plate, and put another plate on top.  Weigh the top plate down with cans or books, and leave it at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Simply Shortbread

Shortbread is a fantastic basic cookie and a great basic dough to play with the flavors in.  If you're a food watcher like I am, you've probably seen a bunch of new flavors emerging: Rosemary Pistachio, Lavender, Lemon Calendula, and other wild things.  There's nothing wrong with it, they're all tasty!  But I recommend walking before you run. (See the end of the recipe for the best ways to modify)

Looking for something that's really hard to mess up?  Shortbread.

Something to ship for the holidays (or a birthday. Or a "get well soon". Or just because someone really likes cookies.)?  Shortbread.

Like cookies, but don't want something too sweet?  Shortbread.

Basically, it's just the best cookie ever.

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) of room temperature butter.*
1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (the better quality you can get, the tastier!)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional, but it's a definite bonus.  Try with and without to see what I mean)
2 cups flour

Directions:
Blend your butter and sugar together until creamy (easiest to use a hand or stand mixer, but a brave soul can do it with a whisk or a fork)  Add the extracts and blend again.  Add in flour** and blend well, making sure to get out any lumps.  Lumpy is not tasty!  Also: if you're using a mixer, be careful not to do this part on high when you first start or you will get flour EVERYWHERE.

For pretty flat cookies like the ones above, lay out a long piece of cling wrap (about the length of your forearm) and squish the dough into a log shape on it.  Try to get it as round as possible and squish your ends flat.  Then roll the log up in the plastic wrap (you can roll it on the counter at this stage if it's still not round enough for you) and stick it in the fridge for about an hour.

For "I don't care, I'm just going to eat it" cookies***, just stick your bowl in the fridge for about an hour with a plate or plastic wrap on top to keep the dough from drying out.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper^. 

If you're making the flat cookies, pull out the dough, unwrap (leave it sitting on the wrap: you just need to be able to cut it), and slice about 1/4 inch thick.  Place them on the pan with a little space between them.

For the "I don't care" cookies, scoop out about a tablespoon sized ball, roll or squish, and set them down with a little space in between.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until the edges are very lightly browned.  By the time they get dark or the rest of the cookie starts to brown they are burnt.  They will still give slightly if you gently touch the top of the cookie.

Let cookies cool completely on a rack before packaging or eat right away!

*Your butter should be soft when you poke it, almost like peanut butter.
**If you do decide to add in flavors, add dry "spice" flavors (any spices or flower flavors like cinnamon or lavender) when you add the flour and add "chunky" flavors after you've mixed all the dough together.
***These cookies crumble easier than the flat ones.  I wouldn't recommend them if you're going to try to ship them or try to transport them at all, though they're absolutely fine for eating!
^It has been my experience that cookie sheets that have that black grunge that older sheet have will burn the bottom of your cookies, even through the parchment paper.  Beware.

Coffee (And other flavors) Agar

Sometimes I like to make something a little weird and give it a go.  Sometimes that works out for me, other times it turns out really gross.

Agar Agar is a Jell-o like item from Asia (usually Japan) that can be all sorts of fun.  You name the flavor, you can make it.  Everything from the innocent orange juice to the darker coffee.  You can also put little chunks of fruit in it.  My favorite so far has been to make it with Mango Tango Odwalla smoothie and put bits of banana in it.  So here's how you do it!

Ingredients:
2 cups of coffee (or other liquid if you're changing the flavor)
3 tbsp sugar (adjust this for juices! They don't need as much because they're already sweet.  I do still recommend some sugar, though)
1 tbsp agar agar powder (find at your local health food or foreign food store OR online)

Directions:
In a saucepan (does not need to be large), sprinkle about two tablespoons of the coffe, then sprinkle the sugar and agar agar powder over it.  Stir to mix together, scraping the bottom.  Add in the rest of the coffee.

Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and pour into a 9x9 baking pan (no need to grease!  I have no idea why, but this stuff doesn't stick.)

Let cool to room temperature, then put in the fridge.  Ready to eat whenever you're ready to eat it!

Double Meat Meatloaf

I like meatloaf, but I'm so picky.  I want it to be meaty, but not just meat.  I want it to have some veggies in it, but to have a nice blend instead of tasting like peas.  I WANT MEATLOAF.

So here you are.  After tasting, testing, and trial, we have the Double Meat Meatloaf.

Ingredients:
1 onion, diced
1 medium bell pepper (I used orange, but red would do just as well) diced
1 box of chicken stuffing and the seasoning packet, if it happens to be seperate
1 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork (check your meat aisle)
2 eggs, beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Oil or butter a bread loaf pan.

Mix together your onion, bell pepper, stuffing (and seasoning, if separate), garlic, and pepper really well with your hands.  Squish in the beef and pork.  (At this stage, I found that a kneading motion did the trick.)  Make sure you've got all the dry stuff mixed through the meat.  It won't be very tasty if you suddenly hit a patch of straight up stuffing.  Mix in the eggs the same way.  Squish everything into the loaf pan.

Bake for 50 minutes.

Pull out and drain off the grease (there will be a fair amount) and serve!  Mmmmm

Creamy Corn Chowder

Sometime many years ago, probably ten or more, I made a corn chowder that I absolutely loved.  Being young and thoughtless, I never kept track of the recipe book I saw it in or what was in it and when the urge recently struck me to make it again, I couldn't find a single recipe that sounded similar.

So.  To the labratory.

This is a straight-from-the-lab, no recipe influence, "I just think it tastes right", SSwS recipe.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 small onion, diced (I prefer a finer dice to spread the flavor around better, but whatever works for you)
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken broth
3 cups (roughly) corn kernals, either stripped off the cob fresh or THAWED frozen corn.*  Purely a matter of how much work you want to put in.
6 springs of FRESH thyme**, plus more for decoration, if you like.
1/4 cup heavy cream
ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
Melt your butter over medium high heat and saute your onions until you can see through them (aka, transparent).  Stir in the flour until you can't see any lumps and the butter is all cooked into the flour BUT NOT BURNT.  If you have a gas stove, this may be tricky, so err on the side of underdone if need be.  The flour may stick to the bottom of the pan a bit: no worries.

Add in the chicken broth and stir well, dragging your spoon on the bottom of the pan to push up any flour that stuck.  Let everything simmer until it gets nice and thick like a thin gravy.  (This is, for the curious, a roux.)

Dump in your corn and your thyme.  Drop the heat to medium low and let simmer about ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

Fish out the pieces of thyme.  If a leaf or two escapes, don't worry, but you want to make sure you get the stems.  They don't taste good.

Stir in the heavy cream.

Season with black pepper to taste.

If you aren't serving immediately, drop to low.  The soup may form a skin on top, but just stir it back in before serving, it's better than having a burnt layer on the bottom.  You can keep it this way for about an hour.

Serve hot or cold, decorate with thyme sprigs if you like.


*Make sure you get a good brand.  I like to look for keywords like "sweet corn" or "niblets" (not sure what "niblets" have to do with anything, but they're sweet).  Bad corn makes bad chowder

**Leave it out rather than put in ground.  Ground thyme will make your chowder taste like floor polish.  Don't go there.

Enchiladas like a fat girl

I don't fix Enchiladas when I'm trying to be healthy, I just don't.  I know I'm going to eat more than I should, then eat it again for lunch the next day.  They freeze just fine but...so delicious!

The trick to making enchiladas that aren't rubbery is your sauce.  Not what's in it, but where you put it!  Make sure to have a nice thick layer on the bottom of your pan and another fairly thick layer on top.  Skimp at your own risk!

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef (or chuck, or whatever your beefy preference is)
Taco seasoning (I like Ortega Hot and Spicy)
3 small cans (or 1 large, 1 small) of your preference of enchilada sauce
10 burrito tortillas
1 can of good black bean refried beans (Again, I've got a preference for Ortega)
4 cups of shredded cheese (I like some mexican blend, but whatever you like works)

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400

Brown your ground beef and fix with taco seasoning according to the package directions.  Set aside.

Coat the bottom of a LARGE, sheet pan sized, cake pan with about 1/4 inch of enchilada sauce.  DO NOT SKIMP.  I'm not kidding you here.  If you don't have enough, your enchiladas will be completely stuck to the bottom of the pan and everything will come out sort of rubbery.  It will not be good.

Pour the rest of your enchilada sauce into a large bowl.  Open your can of refried beans and put a spoon in it.  Put your cheese in a plate or a bowl.  Open up your tortillas.

What you're about to do is messy.  If you have help, great.  If not...well, I usually do it by myself and just clean off the counter afterwards.  Whichever!

Take a tortilla out of the bag and smother one side of it with enchilada sauce.  On the opposite side, put a thin layer of refried bean down the center, top with a handful of meat, then a handful of cheese.  Roll into a tube, then set seam side down in your cake pan, smooshing enchilada sauce between the tortilla and the pan.

Repeat until your pan is totally full, then top it off with the remaining sauce, meat, and cheese.  Make sure you get sauce on the edges of the tortillas unless you like crispy edges.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese bubbles.

(Just so you know, they're almost impossible to get out neatly.  Who really cares though?  So delicious!)

Microwave Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 packed tablespoon brown sugar
A few drops of vanilla
1 egg yolk
Slightly less than 1/4 cup of flour (level or lower)
Chocolate chips to taste (I'd go with about 1 heaping tablespoon for a normal cookie)

Directions:
Mix together butter, sugars, vanilla, and egg yolk in a microwave safe mug, then beat in flour.  Stir in chips.

Microwave for about 45 seconds: check to see if the top is dry (a little dampness around the sides is fine)

Enjoy!


[Warning: Right after microwaving, the chocolate chips are hot as lava!  You might want to let the cookie set for a few minutes before eating or risk a scorched tongue.]