Sonntag, 17. November 2013

Party Food or why Silken Tofu is Awesome!

Our friends know that we always serve food when we invite people. Yes, if they spontaneously drop by, I may not have anything prepared, but when actually invite people, they know they shouldn't eat before showing up.

Yesterday, we had some friends over for a whisk(e)y tasting and of course, we needed something to go with that. Sorry for the poor picture quality.



The boyfriend and I made Frikadellen (meat balls), roasted peppers with a herb/dried tomato cream, some small tomato rolls with a herb "butter," and mousse au chocolat.

The Frikadellen recipe originates in Jérôme Eckmeier's blog, but of course, we always make our own little adjustments.




Frikadellen/Meatballs

  • 200g of dried soy granules (if you're not sure what this is, check out my vegan kitchen staples blog!)
  • 1l of veggie stock
  • 100g of breadcrumbs
  • 1 medium sized onion, finely diced
  • Salt, Pepper, paprika, majoram, fresh chives
  • 2 table spoons of mustard
  • 2 table spoons of soy sauce
  • 2 table spoons of tomato paste
  • 4 table spoons of powdered gluten
Cook the soy granules in the veggie stock. Drain them. As soon as they've cooled down sufficiently, press out the excess liquid.
Throw all of the ingredients into a big bowl and mix everything until you get a nice big blob.
Form meatballs (or burger patties!). 
Fry meatballs in vegetable oil (for example sunflower oil) from all sides.
Place meat balls on baking tray (lined with parchment paper). 
Bake at 180°C/350°F for 15 minutes. 
DONE! :)

They taste great hot and cold and this mixture also makes excellent burger patties! 



Roasted peppers with herb and tomato cream

Probably the easiest thing in the world! You'll need:
  • 1 pack of (firm) silken tofu
  • fresh peppers
  • a handfull of dried tomatoes (I use the anti pasti type in oil)
  • fresh herbs of your choice (I used chives)
  • salt
  • 1 tea spoon of yeast flakes (optional)
  • any other spice that you want
Run the tofu through a blender until it gets a nice and smooth creamy texture. 
Cut tomatoes in small bits. 
Cut herbs. 
Add salt, yeast flakes, herbs, and tomatoes to the creamy tofu. 
Cut peppers in generous pieces. You don't want small chunks that can't hold any cream. 
Briefly fry the peppers in a hot pan to make them a bit softer and add a nice roast. 
Let the peppers cool down and then fill each piece with a bit of the silken tofu cream. 
Top with some extra herbs or tomato pieces for decoration.



Tomato rolls



Whenever I serve this, people ask me for the recipe. It's incredibly simple and still so tasty! Basically, these consists of nothing but a very simple yeast dough (the type you would use for a pizza crust), but the water is swapped for tomato paste.
You'll need:
  • 450g of regular wheat flour
  • a table spoon or two of gluten (entirely optional)
  • 15g salt
  • 2 tablespoons of canola oil 
  • dried or fresh oregano and/or basil (optional)
  • 1 pack of dry yeast (or a cube of fresh yeast)
  • 200g of tomato paste.
Mix flour, gluten, salt, herbs, oil, and yeast. 
Add tomato paste and turn into a nice soft yeast dough. You may have to add a bit of water. 
Once you have a nice dough, roll little individual rolls, a bit bigger than a large walnut. 
Place small dough pieces on a parchment paper lined baking tray, cover with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place for about an hour. 
Then place baking tray in cold oven. Now set the temperature to 180°C/350°F and bake the rolls for around 15-20 minutes. Once the outside browns, you can take them out. 

DONE! :)



I like herb "butter" with freshly baked rolls. Another easy recipe. 

Herb butter

Chop up all the fresh herbs you want. Parsley is great, so are chives, basil, maybe some very finely diced onions, some garlic. Mix all that with salt and softened vegetable butter. Done. :)



Mousse au Chocolat

You'll need:
  • 1 pack of (firm) silken tofu
  • 100g of dark chocolate
  • 4 tablespoons (or more if you like it sweeter) of sugar

Run the tofu through a blender until it's nice and smooth. If you're not sure if it's smooth enough, do blend a little longer. The mousse tastes much better when there are no small blobs with silken tofu consistency left.
Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. 
Add the sugar to the tofu and blend until the sugar dissolves. 
Add molten chocolate and blend a little more. 
Fill into small cups or bowls and set in the fridge until you want to serve it. 
Done! :)