11 YEARS, TIME FOR GOODBYE

Posted in Poultry, Vegetarian-friendly by

I guess it was bound to happen, sooner or later. Eleven years of blogging and all of a sudden I am forced to witness crowds and crowds of readers abandoning me. It hurts, but I feared that this post could cause it. Tofu. Has she gone nuts? Yes, now that you mentioned, cashews are also partners in this crime. If you are leaving me, I am sorry to see you go, and beg you to re-consider. I swear to you, this was one of the best things I’ve made in the past few months, and even “I” cannot quite believe how much we enjoyed it.  Soooo, will you stay? There shall be macarons soon…

JEN’S CURRIED TOFU WITH PEAS AND CASHEWS
(slightly modified from Jennifer Guerrero’s blog) 

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

1 pound extra firm tofu
2 Tablespoons peanut butter
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons honey
¼ cup water
2 cups vegetable stock or water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups peas (frozen is fine)
1/2 cup cashews (lightly toasted)

optional:
poached chicken breasts, sliced thin

Slice the tofu in a checkerboard pattern and then right across its equator as you see in my composite picture after the recipe. Wrap in plenty of paper towels and put a heavy pan on it to drain while you do the rest of the preparation of the recipe.

In a medium bowl, whisk the peanut butter with the soy sauce, then add the spices, honey and water. Toss with the drained tofu, coating nicely. Spray a baking sheet generously with cooking spray, tip the tofu on in a single layer,  and bake for 30 minutes, flipping them over at halftime.

Whisk together in a saucepan the vegetable broth and the cornstarch. Turn the heat to medium, and when the stock is simmering, add the tofu along with the peas and cashews. If using chicken, add it now.  Stir until it is all lightly thickened, and serve over rice or riced cauliflower.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I hope you stop by Jen’s blog to read her nice write-up about this recipe.  Interestingly, when I read her post about it, I had just bought some extra-firm tofu without any clear ideas of how to put it to use.  Serendipity. Don’t you love when that happens?

Now, I admit that I chickened out and added chicken (very sorry for this phrase, please don’t leave). I was unsure of how we would feel about the texture and taste of tofu, and decided that in case of a complete disaster, at least we could enjoy some animal protein with the peas and cashews. I used chicken breasts that I had previously cooked sous-vide, but you can poach it or saute with a bit of salt and pepper.

This was one amazing meal! It all works together nicely, the tofu gets a nice soaking with the spices and caramelizes a bit with the honey in that marinade. If you are vegetarian, you absolutely must make this. If you are not, you absolutely must make this, and go for the kill: omit the chicken. I guess that means going for the non-kill?  (very sorry for this phrase too, my apologies).

If you are anti-tofu, I hope this post will make you try it, just make sure you get the extra-firm. I know that tofu aficcionados like to use a special press to compact it before cooking, but I felt that the resulting texture was nice enough the way Jen recommended.

Jen, thank you so much for opening my cooking horizons, I love it…

ONE YEAR AGO: Salmon Tacos

TWO YEARS AGO: A Dream that did not come true

THREE YEARS AGO: Kaleidoscopic Macarons

FOUR YEARS AGO: Zucchini Noodles with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

FIVE YEARS AGO: In My Kitchen, July 2015

SIX YEARS AGO: Sous-vide Pork Chops with Roasted Poblano Butter

SEVEN YEARS AGO: Roasted Strawberry-Buttermilk Sherbet

EIGHT YEARS AGO: Amazing Ribs for the 4th of July!

NINE YEARS AGO: Baby Back Ribs on the 4th of July

TEN YEARS AGO: Blueberry Muffins

ELEVEN YEARS AGO: A Pie for your 4th of July

 

51 thoughts on “11 YEARS, TIME FOR GOODBYE”

  2. I nearly had a heart attack when I read the introduction of your latest blog as I assumed you were leaving us! Thank goodness my assumption was incorrect as I was, in a panic, wondering who I could turn to, to take your place! What a relief to learn it was not you leaving.

    Liked by 2 people

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  4. Sally -that heading may have been amusing for you to write but nearly stopped my day ! Ha ! Ha ! Indeed !!! Don’t you dare !! Another savoury recipe like this to make up fir my vapours during next month, please ! This one looks absolutely fabulous . . .I love, love, love tofu . . . and ALL the other ingredients and cannot wait to try . . . a million thanks !

    Liked by 2 people

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  7. Love this recipe and yes maybe for husband might add a little chicken till I can tell how he deals with it being vegetarian. It was nice to be introduced to Jen’s blog. Pinning a few very nice recipes this evening.

    Liked by 2 people

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  8. If only I cold digest tofu, I would use one of my annual allotment of 10 dishes involving cashews on this stuff. It does look good. At least my spouse tolerates cashews for 10 meals a year.

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. I’m so glad you are not leaving us! I love your writing as well as your recipes. I will definitely try this.

    Someone suggested I try freezing the extra firm tofu to help expel the extra tofu water. I’ve been doing that and it works! I use it to make Evelyn Athens Hot and Sour soup–so good! I take the tofu out of the freezer and put it in the fridge the day before. When I cut open the package the next day, I just squeeze it and the liquid leaves the tofu and all is well. The other side benefit is that the tofu is in the freezer so I can have a small stock pile.

    Liked by 1 person

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      • I made this today for my neighbour and myself–it is quick and lovely! Very tasty. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! She is a vegetarian who doesn’t like to cook but loves to eat well. I love to cook so we make a great team, particularly in these hard times.

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  11. As others have said, you can’t get rid of us that easily! I also was set back on my heels by your intro.
    Don’t let a couple of sourpusses put you off.
    I’m not sure I will ever attempt macarons, but I certainly love seeing your output.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Thanks for sticking around! 😉 Seriously, though – one can never please everybody all the time. I realize my blog now has more baking than savory recipes, but I need it to be a reflex of my real life and interests – I try to keep it varied, and bring recipes that might have some different twists – tofu is an example. Well, at least for me, since I had never cooked with it –

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  14. My heart skipped a beat when I read you were leaving. I love reading your blog and reading about your three little doggies. Please keep posting!

    Liked by 1 person

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  15. Aaack! Sally, I felt almost sick when I first started reading this post! You are baaad for putting us through that! (Just kidding.) So relieved you aren’t throwing in the towel.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • nope! I tell you a secret: I have SO MUCH stuff waiting to be on the blog that I could conceivably stop cooking for 2 months and rely on what is stored in the computer. Easily.

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  17. Jeez! I too almost had a heart attack. I just found you, and I’m loving your site. While, I can’t eat tofu (estrogen receptor positive breast cancer), I do love trying some of your vegetarian dishes. I have 3 kids that all decided to become vegetarians. And they’re gently “ootching” me along. Thanks for your blogs and thanks for your recipes!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • oh, how lovely! You are new to my blog, welcome! I will be posting more vegetarian dishes in the future, so I hope you find things to cook from my site. Check the index page too, and if you are using a computer instead of iPhone, the search function should work ok.

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  18. I’m leaving.

    But just to get a beer. I’ll be right back.

    Ok, there we are. Breakfast is served!

    Now then, where were we? Oh yes – TOFU! I love tofu, and make it in a myriad of ways. Done right, no one knows it’s tofu. And is there any better feeling than lying to someone you ostensibly love and having them believe it? Especially when it comes to something they otherwise would sooner bury than put in their mouth? No, there is not. So I encourage all readers to try this and any other bean curd concoction, secure in the knowledge that there will be no marital or other social repercussions.

    I hope.

    Thank you, Sally!

    Liked by 3 people

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  19. Like everyone said, whew, you are sticking around.
    If your numbers have been down perhaps there was another cause for it. For about 2-3 months I did not get your email to link to the blog and then it resumed again the last few weeks. And it was not my spam filter..I checked.
    Something to look into?
    Cheers, Peter

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Actually my numbers are not down – since Phil wrote the review on covid I got an influx of new readers, and I guess many decided to stay 😉 I have no idea about the email notifications, it is all good from my side, all my settings have remained the same for the past few years…. odd.

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  21. My formative years were spent as a hippy in Southern California, so i was more familiar with tofu than a steak. And I still prefer it over steak. Have you really lost followers? You know I don’t click on macarons, but I also don’t check out most posts on desserts, sweets, and treats. I also see the numbers go down when I post on liver! It’s kind of funny. I know that many people don’t like liver, but how can one actually hate tofu???!!!

    Liked by 2 people

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    • I don’t know how many followers I have (I guess one would have to add facebook to wordpress and I don’t know what else), but I have not received a notification to unsubscribe in 4 years! so I guess that’s ok 😉

      as to this particular post, it must have scared people enough that they clilcked on it, page views went through the roof!

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  24. LOL my first thought was “Whaaaaat??? Again???? These long-time bloggers always quit their blogs as soon as I discover them. Why does this keep happening to me????”

    Glad you’re NOT going away after 11 years.

    I love tofu so this recipe sounds yummy to me.

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  25. You scared me for a minute as I thought you were saying goodbye. This is a recipe I am saving for when my husband is out of town as he doesn’t like tofu. Me, that’s another story. But It’s difficult to find it in the store right now. It seems like everyone is turning vegetarian. Anyway, pinned as I think I will love this one.

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  26. I made this dish yesterday and it was delicious indeed! My 7 year old was very critical though: “It’s squishy like mozzarella, but it’s not mozzarella. It looks like chicken, but it’s not chicken. Mama, did you buy factory stuff?” She was not that impressed, but the cashews made up for it. Glad you will stay with us, btw!

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    • oh, how cute!!!! Well, I hope she forgives me for the tofu trick I played on her…

      I say triple the cashews next time! 😉 Thanks for coming back with a review, 7 year olds can be tough!

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