This Fukien Week

This has been a fukien shitty week...

the perfect occasion for some Fukien Cooking Wine!

Oh, pardon me, I mean Fuking Cooking Wine. 

Ok, then.

Before giving that party a kick-start, consider these appetizers:

This charming frozen duck, for example.

Surprise! She's Vegetarian Imitation...so, she's meat? lol

Not your style? Then make your own appetizers.

You can never go wrong at the Asian market.

 Want to make some Bao?

 First, find a good recipe! Neo liked this one!

Don't forget the hoisin. You always need hoisin.

And the dried mushrooms! 

I just spin them in a food processor to make...

Magic Mushroom Powder. Make powder and then put it in stuff.

 I made the bao filling from Mary's recipe for Superbowl breakfast, but my back wouldn't hold up to make the bao dough from scratch. 

I had even bought Bao flour! lol Anyway, I used frozen buns from the Asian market:

Oyster Mushroom and Tofu BBQ Bao-co! 

Get it? Bao + taco = Bao-co. 

We had these for breakfast on Superbowl Sunday.

Lastly, don't overlook the produce. My Asian market usually has really good prices on produce like cilantro. Give a bunch or two of washed cilantro (with or without stems, your call) a spin with some olive oil and salt and call it a day. You can make a whole, elaborate pesto if you really want to, but I like it plain like this, just olive oil and salt added, as just a sandwich spread or on the side of Israeli fare as a "cilantro salad.."

A Day (aka Cilantro Salad Spread)

Cover it in a little olive oil and store in the fridge. Lasts a while, but I bet you'll eat it all first.

This was our game day food. I used the Cilantro Salad Spread (above), hubby made my Zu Zu Ghanoush, and then we made the Kafta Kabobs from Joni's Fusion Food book (which I was a tester for!) to make:

an Israeli Superbowl super-platter of tastiest proportions!

Kafta Kabobs with Cilantro Salad and cucumbers, Side of pickles, olives, Zuzu Ghanoush and Sriracha. 

 Poo log-a-rama:

I don't suggest you serve these at a Superbowl party (or any party, lol). Obvious reasons. They are for private consumption only! lololol.

Maybe, though, they were the secret key to the Eagles unbelievable victory!

My son and Neo celebrating the big win.

No idea what I'm going to make this weekend...Kinda want these cupcakes...we'll see how I'm feeling. 

Valentine's Day is in the middle of the week this year so I don't know if I should celebrate it this weekend or next weekend...hmmm....thinking this weekend. 

 I mostly do Valentine's Day *early* check out all my past Valentine's Day posts, lol.

Have to finalize some ideas for the weekend and get shopping. 

See ya'll lata!

Testers: Spicy Korean BBQ Jackfruit and Pull Apart Buns!

Here are three more testers from Joni's new book, Vegan Fusion!  This is an amazing Pull Apart Bread filled with Spicy Korean BBQ Jackfruit. I made all three recipes (the BBQ sauce, the Jackfruit and the bread itself) yesterday!

BBQ Bun Pull Apart Bread from Vegan Fusion

This was made from three recipes...

The Spicy Korean BBQ Sauce:

Delish!

The BBQ Jackfruit Story:

This was my first time working with jackfruit, it is very hard right out of the can.

Here it is just starting to cook with the sauce, etc.

 I couldn't really begin to break it up until it had been cooking a good while, though I got some of the pieces apart a little using two forks at the beginning.  Next time I may chop up the jackfruit with a chef's knife before adding it to speed up cooking a bit (I was a little impatient last night, if I had more time I wouldn't have worried about it, it gets soft as it cooks).

After 45 minutes and a bit of effort (with two forks as well as cutting it up with my spatula--I wanted to make those buns!) to break apart the chunks of jackfruit, here is the finished Spicy Korean BBQ Jackfruit! It was delicious!

And, I needed a snack while I was making all this, so I put some of Joni's Sweet Chili Sauce on my tofu from the Asian Market (the homemade tofu, which is always amazing) and had it over some organic "marathon" bread from Wegmans.

A super tasty snack!! That gave me enough energy to finish the buns!

And here are pictures of the bun making and baking and eating:

 This dough is so smooth and silky, a joy to work with!

 Bun Assembly Station.

 A second filling: Sweet Chili Seitan and Tofu with Lime!

Raw buns ready for the oven! The center ones are the BBQ Jackfruit, the outer circle are the Sweet Chili Seitan & Tofu ones.

Curious passersby! 

Baked Buns!! Aren't they gorgeous? 

 Time to eat!

Sweet Chili Seitan in the Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce. YUM.

BBQ Jackfruit, YUM. 

 We jammed these!

Para llevar!

Now, what to make next...

Pantry Stock-Up and Testing for Joni!

My pantry was hurtin' and I needed groceries, so today we did a monster Wegmans run (a mistake on any Sunday, but unfortunately necessary today) followed by an Asian Market run.  I just signed on as a tester for Joni Marie Newman's new book, Vegan Fusion, and I needed to replenish my sauces, vinegars, canned goodies, Asian noodles, frozen things, and to find some Jackfruit in brine!

I'm ready for you, Joni!  So psyched! 

Canned Jackfruit in brine: check!  Now I'm gonna do some gournet cooking, yeah, baby!

 Got some more agar powder, both for Joni's recipes and to make more vegan cheese from Artisan Vegan Cheese.  This agar powder is from Thailand, "Telephone" brand? We'll see about that...

Here is an interesting soda that has regular sugar and not corn syrup.  It's going into Joni's Spicy Korean BBQ Jackfruit!

Saw these Fresh Korean Noodles in the refrigerated section of the Asian Market and couldn't resist.  They look so gorgeous!  

Other finds...

Two kinds of "Vegetarian Mock Duck" (which is vegan, of course).  

I was looking for this last year and couldn't find it, but it was above the canned jackfruit!  I also got Chinese Roast Duck Mix, a spice mix to flavor that mock duck you see before you (also vegan, don't worry!).

  Who knows what will happen when I actually combine these entities, but I couldn't resist!  

A local tofu, Nature's Soy, which is made in Philadelphia, and another local tofu, made in Cherry Hill, NJ (the store's own homemade tofu).  I LOVE that homemade tofu.

These are frozen, vegan shrimp and they are REALLY good.

They are called "Healthy Food," I love it.

Because I bought SO many heavy things like cans and bottles, I got an awesome, free canvas bag!

And a free packet of these little envelope/pouch things...

I guess it's just an ad for the store?  What are you supposed to put in there??

Does anyone know? I can't read the writing on the front of the envelope (obviously), but I think that would help.

Oh! And I already tested Joni's recipe for Sweet Chili Sauce!

Ta-da! It's delicious.  I may make the Sweet Chili Grilled Tofu next, or start on the BBQ Jackfruit recipe...oh the choices! 

Hope you all had a great weekend.

BTW, here's what I made this morning, before all this shopping:

White Lightning Blend (I'll post the recipe soon) Isa and Terry's Basic Chocolate Cupcake with vegan Betty Crocker frosting ("Rich and Creamy Vanilla" appears to be vegan!). I think it worked to keep me going all day.

Go forth and prosper.

XOXO