You may get a sense some familiarity with this dish. It probably reminds you of this or looking similar to this. Okay maybe the latter is a bit of a stretch but I tend to revolve my cooking around a couple of the same ingredients with a slight variation. Does this happen to you too?
But I have a good reason for this. I’m trying to keep a healthy and an NOT OBSCENE amount of stuff in my pantry and fridge. Similar to the Project 10-Pan for beauty products, I try to use up the ingredients which I already have before I go out and buy more. Since I’m heading to Sydney for Blogopolis this weekend (I’m so excited for my first bloggers’ conference!), I’m doing my “stocktake” early and this was what I came up with. Speaking of efficiency eh? 
Kale & Tofu Chow Mac
Portion for 2 to 3 people
What you’ll need:-
- 200g / 7 ounces of uncooked San Remo Macaroni
- 320g /11.2 ounces firm tofu, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp dried chilli flakes *optional
- A bunch of kale (about 10 to 12 medium-sized leaves), finely shredded
- 1/3 tbsp sesame oil
- 1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Indonesian sweet soy sauce (see here if you wish to make your own)
- Cooking oil
- Recently boiled water to cook the pasta
- 2 eggs *optional, if you want to top the chow mac with fried eggs*
(1) Cook macaroni according to the packet instructions until al dente. Drained and set aside. (2) In a dry pan, lightly brown the diced firm tofu and set aside on a plate. (3) If you wish to add fried eggs topping, add a little oil in the same pan and scramble the egg until just cooked. Set aside. (4) Add more oil into the same pan again, saute garlic and dried chilli flakes over medium flame until aromatic. Then add cooked macaroni and tofu and saute for a minute over medium flame. Add kale and saute until slightly wilted. Add one or two tablespoons of water to help cook the kale. (5) Add sesame oil, light soy sauce and Indonesian sweet soy sauce and saute until well combined. Allow the chow mac to cook for a minute or two over high heat and then serve immediately.
PS: If you are using a measuring spoon in Step 5, it helps to start with sesame oil first as it will grease the surface of the spoon and helps the sweet soy sauce (with caramelly texture) to slide off easily from the spoon.
Written on
June 27, 2012 by
Emily
This is a variation of strawberry crunch muffins which was posted a while ago. Similar to the strawberry post, these raspberries were an impulse purchase. A lady turned up to my office selling two large punnets of raspberries for $20 which normally would cost me almost double the price. Raspberries are quite expensive in Australia…and to me these were a bargain. With that being said, I still consider this to be a splurge when it comes to buying fruits.
Since we are heading towards the end of financial (fiscal) year, I wanted to celebrate this occasion with my workmates. And baking a delicious raspberry loaf for work seems to be appropriate. Did I tell you that I am an accountant by day? I can’t speak for all accountants in Australia but for me, a new financial year is like any new year….definitely worthy of a celebration with a sweet treat no?
Raspberry Muffin Loaf with Coconut Pistachio Crunch
(tweaked from Holly’s raspberry crunch muffins recipe)
This recipe fills up a 15cm x 9cm (6″ x 3.5″ /1 lb) loaf pan + 3 muffin cups or 16 medium sized muffins
What you’ll need:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3.5 tsps baking powder
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 100g butter, melted
- 1 cup yoghurt
- 2 -3 tbsps milk (moist enough to stir in the raspberries)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 200g fresh raspberries
Coconut Pistachio Crunch Topping:
- 25g / 0.88 ounces cold butter
- 1/8 cup (half of a quarter) all-purpose flour
- 1/8 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut
- 2 tbsps demerera sugar (coarse sugar) *which I have omitted simple to cut down my sugar intake
- 40g / 1.4 ounces pistachios, de-shelled
(1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (374 degrees F). (2) Line the loaf pan with a baking paper. Grease the surface which is not covered by the baking paper with some of the melted butter. (3) In a medium sized bowl, place eggs, butter, yoghurt and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine. (4) Sift in flour and brown sugar into the batter and stir until just combined. (5) Gently stir in raspberries. (6) Add mixture into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle topping (method below) over the mixture before baking. (7) Bake muffin loaf for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let the muffin loaf stands in pan for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack.
To make the toppings: Use a small processor, process all the ingredients until resembles rubbles.
PS: The baking time may vary depending on the size of loaf pan you use. The larger the loaf pan, the lesser baking time. I like the towering effect of a loaf so I used a smaller loaf pan (in order to fill the batter towards the brim of the pan). As a result it took me a considerable time to cook all the way through. If you use a muffin pan, it takes about 20 to 25 minutes of baking time.
Written on
June 26, 2012 by
Emily
fussfreecooking
fussfreecooking
