Sweet & Sour Tofu

I'm always looking for meatless recipes. Now that summer is here, we eat grilled meat several times a week because that means my husband cooks! Tofu is usually my go-to meat substitute because my kids won't eat very many vegetables. This Cooking Light recipe is quick and easy, and has a pretty authentic sweet & sour flavor. The recipe only serves two, so keep that in mind if you're cooking for a family. Served over hot white or brown rice, this is a great way to change up your routine!Sweet & Sour Tofu
adapted from from Cooking Light
1 pkg (12.3 oz) extrafirm tofu
1 t canola oil
1/4 t salt, divided
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 t fresh ginger, minced
3/4 c unsweetened pineapple juice, divided
1 t corn starch
2 T lemon juice
1 1/2 T low-sodium soy sauce
1 t sugar
1/4 t chili garlic sauce
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 c hot rice
Cut tofu into 6 pieces. Arrange tofu on a single layer on several layers of paper towels. Cover tofu with more paper towels; place a cutting board on top and let sit 15 minutes. Remove cutting board and paper towels. Cut tofu into 1/2-inch cubes.
Heat oil in nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add tofu and sprinkle with1/8 t salt. Cook 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Transfer tofu to a plate. Add ginger and bell pepper to pan and saute 2 minutes until tender.
Combine 2 teaspoons pineapple juice and cornstarch in a small bowl. Set aside. Add remaining juice to pan; stir in remaining salt, lemon juice, soy sauce, sugar and chili garlic sauce. Add cornstarch mixture; stir well. Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute. Return tofu to pan, stirring gently to coat. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Serve over hot rice.

Happy Father's Day to the fathers in my life!
My dad:

and my husband:

Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant is something that, I think, if you didn't grow up eating it, is weird- it's bitter, it has weird seeds, it gets all brown. I can honestly say when I was growing up, we ate eggplant next to never. My mom is the best, but she worked full time and wasn't really the type to venture out in the cookbooks and make a variety of dishes. My husband's family, on the other hand, apparently ate it all the time. My mother in law is more prone to cooking the types of food in which eggplant would more commonly be found. They also lived in Italy for a few years when my husband was young, so that probably influenced her cooking as well. As such, my husband + eggplant = best friends. Me + eggplant = I have to think about it. But since he likes it so much, I usually cook it once a month in something. Or, if I'm lucky, he'll cook it in some pasta. The best eggplant recipe I've found so far is this sandwich from Cooking Light.
Until now.
Now, of course I've heard of eggplant parmesan and seen it at restaurants, but not being an eggplant fan, I was never one to try it. But I found a recipe on Simply Recipes (I'm trying a bunch of stuff on there now right now) and thought it sounded like something my husband would like. This recipe is straightforward, but a little time-consuming. Preparing the eggplant and frying it takes some time, so I did this on a Sunday. This recipe is wonderful! My husband said it tasted pretty authentic Italian. Even our 17 month old ate a ton of it (the 3 year old ate Apple Jacks, but 50% success is good for us).
I'm not really sure why you bread and fry the eggplant in oil, only to top it with cheese and tomato sauce, but hey that's what it says. Next time, I would probably just bake it instead of fry it. Also, make sure you slice the eggplant thinly so they're soft after baking. If you have small children, you may even want to skin the eggplants. I would NOT recommend skipping the initial draining step. Eggplants contain a lot of moisture. Salting them and letting them sit cuts down the moisture, as well as the bitterness.
Eggplant Parmesan Recipe
adapted from Simply Recipes
Ingredients
2 lbs (about 2 large) eggplants
Kosher salt
1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes (I used no-salt added)
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
4 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 lbs of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds (I used an 8-oz pkg of shredded)

1 cup grated high quality Parmesan cheese
1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
Method
1 Cut eggplants lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices. Arrange one layer in the bottom of a large colander and sprinkle evenly with salt. Repeat with remaining eggplant, salting, until all eggplant is in the colander. Weigh down the slices with a couple of plates and let drain for 2 hours. The purpose of this step is to have the eggplant release some of its moisture before cooking.
2 While the eggplant is draining, prepare tomato sauce. Combine tomatoes, garlic and 1/3 cup olive oil in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
3 When eggplant has drained, press down on it to remove excess water, wipe off the excess salt, and lay the slices out on paper towels to remove all the moisture. In a wide, shallow bowl, combine flour and breadcrumbs. Mix well. Pour beaten eggs into another wide shallow bowl. Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat, and pour in a a half inch of olive oil. When oil is shimmering, dredge the eggplant slices first in the flour mixture, then in the beaten egg. Working in batches, slide coated eggplant into hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once. Drain on paper towels.
4 Preheat the oven to 350°F. In the bottom of a 10x15 inch glass baking dish, spread 1 cup of tomato sauce. Top with one third of the eggplant slices. Top eggplant with half of the mozzarella slices. Sprinkle with one third of the Parmesan and half of the basil leaves.
5 Make a second layer of eggplant slices, topped by 1 cup of sauce, remaining mozzarella, half the remaining Parmesan, and all of the remaining basil. Add remaining eggplant, and top with the remaining tomato sauce and Parmesan.
6 Bake until cheese has melted and the top is slightly brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 8.

DB- Homemade Pizza

Ok, so I'm a little behind, but once you see what I've been doing, I think you'll agree that it's been a hectic week. This month's (October) Daring Bakers Challenge, chosen by Rosa of Rosa's Yummy Yums was for homemade pizza from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart. This was so great- I loved that you could make the dough in about 10 minutes and leave it in the fridge for a couple days, and then just pull it out, add some toppings, pop it in the oven for a few minutes and you're done! I just chose basic toppings- olives and artichoke hearts. Beansy and her sis don't care for anything too sophisticated. I'd love to try it with proscuitto, fresh mozzerella and basil.

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.
Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled -

1 3/4 Tsp Salt 1 Tsp Instant yeast 1/4 Cup Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with) 1 3/4 Cups Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C) 1 Tb sugar Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting
DAY ONE
Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).
2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.
NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.
3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper. 4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).
NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts. 5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.
NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.
6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.
7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.
NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.
DAY TWO
8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch and 5 inches in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours. 9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F).
NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.
10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.
NOTE: Make only one pizza at a time.
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.
11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches - for a 6 ounce), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.
12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.
NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.
13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.
NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pan to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.
14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.