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!

Lessons in Love: V-day feast, Temp Tatts, Contest Win, Two Pies and a Tester

I love temp tatts, and I suggest you get 'em on for this post!  

Emory's Flaming Panther

 Daddy's Cobra

Mommy's BBQ Dragon

I love blueberries.  And lemon.

 Homemade Blueberry Lemon Compote

 Over Hoecakes!

Next...I really loved this recipe!

 DIY Bisquick from Betty Goes Vegan.  So useful! So fun to make!

I needed it to make the amazing...

Cheezeburger Pie (this is SO good).  I love savory pies!

A delicious, cheezy, doughy bite.

Onto another tester from Joni's upcoming book, 

The Sesame Sriracha Sauce:

I am in love with Joni's new book!  And, now I'm more into spicy stuff than ever (and that's saying a lot since I always loved spicy stuff).

Sesame Sriracha Sauce over Korean Fresh Noodles with Organic Baby Kale, "Heathy Food" Vegan Shrimp (:-) and Black Sesame Seeds.  SO GOOD.

I had never, ever seen baby kale before, but Wegmans had it last week in the pre-washed salad greens-in-boxes section.  It's DELICIOUS and super convenient.  I hope they will carry it on a regular basis.  I LOVE BABY KALE.  

A more traditional, Asian presentation.

And this year, I made a special Valentine's Day Dinner.  I used two recipes from The Inspired Vegan:

Beet Tapenade Crostini and (from scratch) Jerk Tempeh and Peppers over Coconut Lime Rice. 

Molded Beet Tapenade Crostini.

Unmolded! Served with a surprise olive oil (see below!). 

Jerk Tempeh:

This was a wonderful Jerk sauce, even though it had, like 1,000 ingredients!

For dessert, I was out of my Whoopie Pies, but, my friend had made a batch of her own (a GF version of the recipe in BGV!).  She had extras leftover and was nice enough to 

re-purpose some of them over to me :-)  

These were SO delicious.  She promises to give me her GF recipe for them, guys!

I love whoopies!

And, I got a big box on my porch earlier this week...

What could it be?

 Ah ha! My prize from winning The Urban Vegan's Colavita contest!  

I got both the Private Selection and the Argentinian Fruity Olive Oils. SCORE!

I love winning :-)

And here's an early birthday present to myself (to fill all those future whoopie pies I still want to make!):

I was a little tired of the pastry bag thing (they always have some kind of issue), so I thought I might try this gadget.  Got good reviews on amazon, so, we'll see...

My birthday is coming up (I love my birthday!!) and I'll have more exciting stuff to show you and recipes to share.  If you can't wait, here's my birthday post from last year! Gonna be hard to top that...

Anyhoo, have a great rest of your weekend, everyone.  

(I love Mondays off for President's Day :-)

XOXO

Sweet Chili Tofu, Korean Fresh Noodles and Betty Goes Vegan!

I made Joni's Sweet Chili Tofu tonight (but I pan fried it on my cast iron pan vs. grilling it) over Korean Fresh Noodles from my Asian Market haul with Broccoli and an Easy Asian Dressing.  This was an unbelievably delicious dish!

That tofu! Those noodles! That broccoli! OMG.

Marinating the tofu (it was already pressed in my TofuXPress) in the Sweet Chili Sauce: 

Pan Frying the tofu in one of my cast iron pans (the crepe pan, actually!). 

Served over Korean Fresh Noodles with Easy Asian Sauce, garnished with Scallions and Sesame Seeds 

My Easy Asian Sauce is EASY! 

This was one of my favorite Asian Noodle and Tofu dishes ever.  OMG.

And for those of you who know and love Annie and Dan Shannon and their Betty Crocker Project, their book came out yesterday (I received it yesterday because I had pre-ordered it on amazon months ago) and they were even on The Today Show! 

 There are so many amazing recipes in there, I don't know where to start, though I think Salted Caramel Apple Whoopie Pies is a good place!  Or maybe Inside-Out Peanut Butter Cup Whoopie Pies!  I may have just bought a heart-shaped whoopie pie pan, you know, for Valentine's Day Whoopie (Pies) :-)

XOXO!

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