Monthly Archives: September 2008

Light Chocolate Raspberry Pie. On a related note – Alton Brown, Marry Me!!

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The main ingredient in this pie is tofu.
Yes, tofu.
Take a moment to be shocked.
Now read on for a luscious, easy, and decadent recipe.

I’ve seen recipes on TV where people use tofu in dessert. I saw someone make a fruit smoothie with tofu. And my reaction was “Yuck”. And I’m someone that loves tofu. If you’ve been reading my blog, you probably know that by now! But tofu in dessert?! I wouldn’t have ever ventured in that direction if I hadn’t come across Alton Brown’s Moo-Less Chocolate Pie recipe. Now, Alton Brown can make wax taste good. I trust AB. So I tried this recipe; happily combining unlikely ingredients.

The result – a luscious mousse like chocolate filling and you’ll never ever know there is tofu in there! And the best part is, once you learn the basic method (which is super easy) you can create endless different flavors and variations. The original recipe is in the link above; below is my slightly modified version.


The above photo is my entry to the CLICK photo event hosted by Jugalbandi blog. This month’s theme is Crusts.

Pre-made store bought pie crust 9″- 1, I used a graham cracker crust.
Silken Tofu – 1 block
Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips – 1 cup scant, I used Ghirardelli.
Dark Chocolate Chips – 1 cup
Coffee Liquor – 1/3 cup, I used Kahlua.
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Honey – 1 tbsp
Raspberries – 1 cup
Almonds slivered – 1 hand full
Salt – pinch

Put both the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for about 2 minutes or until just melted. Every 30 seconds, stir the chocolate chips. Keep an eye on the chocolate, it will burn easily. If you want to melt the chips the traditional way, melt them in a double broiler.

Put the tofu, melted chocolate, vanilla, honey, coffee liquor and salt in a blender and blend till smooth. Stir the mixture well so everything is well combined

Pour the chocolate mixture into the pie shell. Decorate the top with raspberries and almonds. Or you could chop up the berries and add them to the chocolate mixture instead.

Refrigerate atleast 2 hours before serving. If you don’t have pie crust, simply serve as a mousse.

The chocolate filling tastes its best on the 3rd day and beyond. So definitely make this atleast 2 days ahead to get the best flavor!

Alton Brown, MARRY ME!!!


Some Tasty Variations

The structure of this recipe is Tofu + Flavour + Liquor + Sweetener + Vanilla/other Extract. By changing the flavor ingredient and the liquor, you can make hundreds of different fillings. Here are some ideas to start you off.

Mint Chocolate – mint liquor, chocolate chips and vanilla
Orange Chocolate – orange zest, triple sec, chocolate chips and almond extract
Strawberry Mousse – frozen strawberries, strawberry jam, sugar syrup, vanilla
Pumpkin Mousse – can pumpkin, sugar syrup, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, vanilla
Mango Mousse – mango pulp, sugar syrup, rum
Peanut Butter – peanut butter, chocolate chips and vanilla
Pina Colada – pineapple, coconut milk/dessicated coconut, sugar syrup and rum
Key Lime – key lime juice, sugar syrup and vanilla
Tiramisu – brewed espresso, chocolate, coffee liquor and vanilla
Irish Coffee – Irish cream, coffee, chocolate and vanilla
Banana Split – chopped bananas, sugar syrup, banana liquor and vanilla. Layer with banana filling, strawberry mousse filling and chocolate filling. Top with cherries.

If you dont want to use sugar syrup, try maple syrup, agave nectar or extra honey instead.

I haven’t tried any of the variations, so I cant give you exact measurements. If you try any of the variations, write in and let me know how it turned out!

Collards Greens Dal

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I usually make dal (also called dhal or daal) with spinach. But there was a bunch of collard greens hanging out in my fridge, so I used those instead. Unlike fresh spinach, collards have a better texture when cooked with the lentils. Sambar or Rasam powder adds a lot of flavor to this dish. For those not familiar with Sambar and Rasam powders – they are staples in every south Indian kitchen and made by dry roasting and grinding coriander seeds, red chillies, bengal gram dal, fenugreek and other spices.

Red Lentils (Masoor Dal) – 1/3 cup
Bengal Gram Dal (Channa Dal) – 1/3 cup
Green Gram Dal (Moong Dal) – 1/3 cup
Collard greens – 1 bunch
Tomatoes diced – 1/2 cup. I like Del Monte canned tomatoes with zesty jalapeno
Onion – 1 small
Garlic – 4 cloves
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece, optional
Sambar or Rasam powder – 3 tbsp
Asafoetida – 1 tsp
Turmeric – 1 tsp
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Oil – 1 tsp

Finely chop the onion and garlic. Peel the ginger, dont chop it so that you can pull it out at the end of cooking.

Heat a large pot with the oil. Add all the lentils and fry on low heat till the lentils are very slightly brown. To the lentils, add 5 cups of water, salt and turmeric increase heat and bring to a boil. Stir constantly to prevent the lentils from foaming over.

Once the water is boiling, reduce heat to medium low. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and sambar or rasam powder. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

While lentils are cooking, wash the collard greens. Remove the tough talk and veins. Stack up the leaves, roll them tightly and chop into strips.

After 20 minutes, check to see if lentils are done. I dont like them too mushy so I dont let them go more than 20 minutes.

Add the chopped collards into the lentils and cook another 5 minutes until the collards are just wilted. Turn off heat. Pull out the ginger piece. Taste and adjust for salt. Depending on how tart the dal is, add lemon juice accordingly. Sometimes the tomatoes alone will do the trick and you wont need the lemon, so taste first!

You could mix in some chopped cilantro at this point. I prefer not to because they take the attention away from the collard greens.

Serve with rice or rotis.

Sticky Orange Tofu Thins

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I used the orange, ginger, green tea marmalade I made last month for this recipe. Store bought orange marmalade will work well too. The sugar forms a delicious sticky glaze. You’ll be scraping the gooey goodness from your pan! I do every time!
Tofu - one 18 oz box/package
Oil – 1 tbsp or non-stick spray
Soy sauce – 4 tbsp
Orange Marmalade – 4 tbsp
Lemon juice – 1 1/2 tbsp
Chili sauce – 1 tbsp, I use sriracha. Use less if you dont like it spicy
Chopped cilantro or green onion for garnish
To prepare the tofu, first drain and squeeze out excess water. Wrap the tofu in several layers of paper towel.
Then wrap the tofu with paper towels tightly in an absorbent cloth. Place the tofu on a flat surface, put a plate on top of it and put 3-4 cans (canned tomatoes, beans etc) on top of the plate. Let the tofu weigh down and compress for atleast 2 hours.
Then, remove the cloth and paper towels and slice the tofu. Slice it thin, using a sharp chef’s knife.
Heat a large, flat nonstick pan. Add the oil. Or use non stick spray for more even coverage. Place the tofu in a single layer on the pan and fry on medium heat. Dont move the tofu around.
When the tofu is golden, turn the pieces over and cook the other side till golden. This will take about 6 minutes.
Press the tops of the tofu slices to squeeze out any remaining water.
Whisk together the soy sauce, marmalade, lemon juice and sriracha.
Reduce the pan to low and pour the marmalade mixture over the tofu. Make sure all the tofu is evenly coated. Cook on low heat for about 1 minute, turning once.
Make sure the heat is on low, otherwise the sugar in the marmalade will burn!
The tofu will quickly absorb all the sauce and will be coated with a nice sticky glaze. To serve, garnish with cilantro or green onion.
Some Tasty Variations
 
Try adding a tsp each of minced ginger and garlic to the sauce
Instead of cutting the tofu thin, cube it and shallow fry in oil till all sides are golden
Saute the tofu with some peppers and onions and toss the whole thing in the sticky sauce!
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Homemade White Pizza

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White Pizza

There is a little Italian restaurant near my house. Its owned by a Pakistani, so we call it Pakistani Italian. The food is homely and wonderful. We particularly like their white pizza. Their white pizza appeals to me because its garlicky, thin crust and has no tomato sauce.

My husband came back from a trip to Ohio and I wanted to order the white pizza, but it was too late and the restaurant had closed. So I decided to make the pizza myself. It was quick, easy, and I don’t think we’ll eat pizza out anymore! Besides, you could have so much fun with the toppings!

Pillsbury Pizza dough – 1 can
Alfredo Sauce – 3/4 cup
For toppings:
Mushrooms – 1 box, green pepper – 1 and thyme
or
Broccoli – 1 cup , frozen spinach – 1/2 cup, nutmeg – pinch and Italian seasoning
or
black olives, basil and pine nuts
Garlic – 1 tsp minced
Mozzarella cheese – 2 cups

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Lay out the pizza dough on a non stick cookie sheet or baking pan. Press and stretch the dough to fit the pan. Pour the Alfredo sauce over the dough and spread evenly. Then sprinkle the garlic and cheese on top. Then add the toppings over the cheese. Bake for about 17 minutes.

To prepare toppings

For mushroom green pepper pizza – slice the mushrooms and peppers. Saute mushrooms on high for 2-3 minutes. Add the thyme and green peppers.

For broccoli spinach pizza – cut the broccoli into small florets, blanch in salted boiling water. Drain and sprinkle Italian seasoning. Saute the spinach and squeeze out any water. Sprinkle some nutmeg over the spinach.

For black olive basil pine nut pizza – bake the pizza with only the black olives. While pizza is cooking, toast the pine nuts in a non stick pan. Chop the basil. In the last 1 minute of baking, add the pine nuts and basil to the pizza and return to oven.

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