Sesame Tofu (or chicken) and HLSR BBQ Cookoff

Another Friday without meat for me. It's a good thing I ate myself full last night at the HLSR (Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo) BBQ Cookoff. This is the most insane event I've ever been to and I'm surprised I'm able to function this early! We usually go the first night because it's less crowded and it's also sponsor night so they have a couple extra tasters they normally wouldn't on the weekend.

Here's a picture from the HLSR website of an overview shot to show you how many BBQ teams there are:

Here's a couple pictures from last night:

Jack Daniel's booth is a booth we go to every year and these tickets are golden to get your hands on:

After eating and drinking a few drinks we walked down to Holy Cow Cookers which is ran by friends of ours.

They did a really cool thing by putting a wagon from Randy's grandmother up above the band and dance floor.

After we said hi to everyone and tasted their BBQ we walked around to check out some of the other tents layouts. We saw a water wheel turning a whole hog over a fire, unique pits in all sorts of designs and then a huge pit on the back of an 18 wheeler:

For today's dish I made tofu. I had been teasing my husband he was gonna eat it and like it then decided to be the good wife and make some chicken for him. He tasted it and didn't know it was chicken till I told him. hahaha He did try the tofu and didn't hate it, but didn't love it at the same time. I thought it was good. I didn't get to try the chicken, but he said it was tasty. We did have to add a little extra spice (couple dashes of cayenne), but overall we really liked the flavor.

Don't be scared of tofu! The one thing that comes to mind when I hear tofu is to-furkey. Never had it and have no idea of it's taste, but I can asure you tofu's not nasty it really doesn't have any taste at all, and it's good for you.

Better-Than-Takeout Sesame Tofu (or chicken)

(Adapted from Love & Olive Oil)

1 package extra firm tofu
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup peanut or canola oil
sesame seeds
8 stalks broccolini

Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup water
1/8 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon chili paste
1 garlic clove, minced

Cut tofu into 1/2 thick slices. Place in a 9×13″ baking pan lined with a tea towel, top with another towel followed by another baking pan. Weight with something heavy (soup cans or something), and let press for 20-30 minutes. Cut into cubes.

Coat tofu cubes in egg, then toss in cornstarch until coated and dry. Shake off extra cornstarch.

Combine sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes, until thick.
While sauce is cooking, heat oil in large non-stick skillet or wok. Carefully place tofu in hot oil, spacing evenly so the pieces don’t stick together. Cook (without touching!) for 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom, and then carefully turn and cook other side. Continue to turn until cubes are golden on a few sides. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate.

Chicken:

Wipe out tofu pan and heat a drizzle of oil. Sautà broccolini, turning once, for about 2-4 minutes or until bright green and tender. Remove from heat.

Return tofu cubes to pan, and pour over sauce. Stir until well coated. Serve with jasmine rice and sprinkled with lightly toasted sesame seeds.

Chicken:
Tofu:

Praline Yams

Another favorite side dish of mine is candied yams. This time I tried a different version of it and made them more southern like pralines. They're super easy to toss together ahead of time and great for any meal. It's the holiday's so your allowed to have all the sweets you want!

Praline Yams

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons flour

3 tablespoons melted butter

29 ounce can yams, drained

marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine all ingredients except yams and marshmallows. Spread yams out in baking dish and sprinkle combined ingrendients on top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Top with marshmallows the last 5 minutes then return to oven.

Spicy Cornbread Stuffing

I wanted to go back and share some recipes I made at Thanksgiving that I ran out of time and didn't get to post. This was a huge hit at our table and I'll be making it again for sure. It's a little different then the traditional stuff, but that's what helps your special meal stand out.

Spicy Cornbread Stuffing

(Adapted from Martha Stewart)

Makes about 10 cups, enough for a 16- to 18-pound turkey.

3/4 cup pine nuts
1 recipe Jalapeno Cornbread, day old (SEE RECIPE BELOW)
1 pound cured chorizo sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small onions, coarsely chopped
6 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup homemade chicken or turkey stock, or low sodium canned chicken or turkey stock
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 bunch cilantro leaves, washed well, dried, and roughly chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread pine nuts in one layer on a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown and fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a shallow bowl, and set aside. Cut cornbread into 3/4-inch cubes, and spread evenly on a baking sheet. Bake, shaking pan periodically, until golden brown on edges, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, and set aside.

In a food processor, pulse sausage until coarsely chopped; do not overprocess. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.
Add celery and garlic, and cook until celery is soft, about 5 minutes more.

Add sausage and pine nuts, and cook for 1 minute more. Add stock, and cook until absorbed, about 2 minutes.

Pour sausage mixture over cornbread, and mix well. Add butter and cilantro, and mix to combine. Let cool completely before stuffing turkey.


Jalapeno Cornbread
Makes 1 eight-inch square

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup buttermilk
2 medium jalapenos, diced, with seeds
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup sugar

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly butter an 8-inch square pan. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and pepper.

In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, jalapenos, egg, sugar, and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Add to dry ingredients, and stir until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Sushi Rolls

This Friday kicks of Lent and it's usually a tough time of year. First off it's on a Friday when we usually go out and second there's the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo BBQ cook off next weekend (do you know how hard it is to eat just sides and bread while everyone is eating BBQ?)and third it's all during rodeo when instead of eating food out there I have to swing by McDonald's for a fish sandwich. Sigh... Well it all turns out ok and I live through it every year. I think this year I'm giving up complaining. Oooppps uuhhh wasn't complaining before just making a statement. :) On a serious note I do try really hard to give something up and stick with it. So on top of eating things I don't usually like I can't complain about it now!

We love sushi and often people won't even give it a try because of the misconception that it's all raw fish. The meaning of sushi is one bite. Another thing is people won't try making them at home. I do have a bamboo mat to help rolling, but not sure where it went. I simply used a sheet of plastic wrap and it worked just fine. Once you've made a couple you easily get the hang of it and remember it doesn't have to look perfect.

Allison's California Roll

Makes 5 rolls

1 1/2 cups sushi rice

3 cups water

couple dashes of rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

5 sheets roasted seaweed

4 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup matchstick carrots

1 cup imitation crab meat

jalapeno, if desired

Bring rice and water to a boil over high heat. Cover pot and reduce heat to low; cook for 25 mins. Once it's cooked add the rice wine vinegar and sugar and stir. The best way to let this cool is keep stirring while you have a fan blowing on it to cool. I put the pot in the fridge and stirred every couple of minutes until it was more of a room temperature.

Meanwhile, slice cream cheese in long slices. Turn slices on side and slice in half lengthwise.

Lay a piece of cling wrap out and top with a sheet of sushi nori.

Spoon some rice on the sheet leaving a little boarder around the edges.

Top with a slice of cream cheese, some carrots and crab meat.

I also added some jalapeno slices on another roll.

Start rolling the end where your toppings are. You want to make sure you wrap it tight otherwise your roll will fall apart when you cut it. Pretend you are rolling a jelly roll cake. Once the plastic rolls up to the rice pull it back and continue to roll.

Cut your roll into the desired thickness.

I got about 5-6 pieces from each roll.

Sushi is easy to make and is filling so I hope you give it a try. Don't be afraid to experiment and add in your favorites.