Panko Crusted Tofu with Lemongrass Broth, Noodles and Poached Eggs.

I've had a weekend of solitude and of relaxation, mix that with the return of Masterchef the Professionals and I start cooking - a lot! I had some smoked tofu to use up from earlier in the week and on researching tofu recipes, I came across this interesting Japanese influed recipe frmo Bon Appetit (all recipe credit goes to them, of course). This is a very nourishing and healthy recipe with a lot of interesting flavours and textures. I have changed the text in the recipe a litte bit as well as teh ingredients to match what I had to use on the day.

Panko Crusted Tofu with Lemongrass Broth, Noodles and Poached Eggs.

I have tried to organise this in sequential order for you to follow.

Serves 1 


Radishes and Tofu

• 5 small radishes, trimmed, sliced
• 50ml organic cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 packet of firm tofu - sliced thickly
•  2 tablespoons cornstarch
•  2 large egg whites
• 1/2 box of panko breadcrumbs 
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon  sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• Vegetable oil

• Mix radishes, cider vinegar, and 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt in small bowl. Cover; leave to absorb for 1 hour.
• Stack several layers of paper towels on work surface. Arrange tofu on towels; drain 30 minutes, patting tops dry occasionally.
• Whisk cornstarch and egg whites in shallow dish until cornstarch dissolves. Put panko breadcrumbs into another shallow dish. Mix salt, sugar, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder in small bowl.
• Working with 1 piece at a time, sprinkle tofu on both sides with salt mixture. Dip tofu into egg-white mixture, then crumb mixture to coat on all sides. Put to one side.

Lemongrass Broth

Ingredients

• 500ml water
• 1 handful of coarsely chopped cabbage
• 1 large white onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 fresh mushrooms
•  2 large whole lemongrass stalks, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
• 1 large head of garlic, cut crosswise in half
• 1/3 cup (packed) chopped fresh basil
• 1/3 cup (packed) chopped fresh mint
• 1/3 cup (packed) chopped fresh tarragon

• Combine first 6 ingredients in large pot. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 30 minutes.
• Turn off heat under broth. Add basil, mint, and tarragon. Steep for 15 minutes. Strain into another large pot, pressing on solids in strainer. Boil until reduced to enough for cover your portion of noodles. Season with salt and pepper.
  Noodles, Garnishes and Poached Eggs
  • Soba Noodles (enough for one portion - personal preference!)
  • 1/2 tablespoon hoisin sauce 
  • 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • Lemongrass Broth
  • 6 Radicchio leaves coursely chopped
  • Cook noodles in large saucepan of boiling salted water until just tender, about 4 minutes. Drain. Rinse with cold water to cool quickly and drain again. Transfer to large bowl; mix in hoisin and oil to coat.
  • Add enough oil to a pan to reach depth of 3/4 inch. H. Fry tofu, 4 pieces at a time, until golden brown and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
  • Bring Lemongrass Broth to simmer in large pot. Add radicchio. Add noodles; simmer 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Poach your egg (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/technique/how-poach-egg)
     Transfer each egg to small bowl. Add broth, noodles, and vegetables.  Top with 2 tofu pieces. Serve pickled radishes and eggs (eggs should be added to soup so yolks will enrich broth).
  
  
  
  
  
  

Halloween at the Wishart-Whites

Halloween is a weird one. I enjoy fancy dress, I enjoy holidays in general... But there is a very British part of me that think it is ridiculous and commercialized. This year we are living in a big family neighborhood,  so the prospect of trick or treaters was high. Rob and I unfortunately disagreed on how to deal with trick or treaters. Rob would rather scare the living daylights out of any approaching customers, whereas I would love to pander to little kids in cute costumes. I would never let my own children go trick or treating as I would ask myself 'Why should strangers be required to provide sweets for my children?!'. In any case, a holiday is a holiday and that means an excuse for including food in some way. So I cooked a menagerie of halloween treats, we turned out the lights and partook in a blu-ray viewing of Cabin in the Woods.

Firstly, I baked a batch of devil's food cake cupcakes. The recipe for which can be found here. To make them halloweeny, I scooped out a hole in the middle of the cake and filled it with chocolate buttercream. I then covered the cake in buttercream for frosting. I then crushed a packet of bourbon biscuits (or you could use oreos) and dipped the cakes into the mix. This created an earth like texture. Finally I stuck a gruesome but tasty worm in the top! 

Continuing the theme, I created a spooky halloween cocktail consisting of red grape juice, apple juice, ginger beer and black food colouring.

For the main course, we enjoyed a 'Cauldron Curry'! A scarily healthy take on the thai green curry with chicken and loads of green veggies. This was a Martha Stewart recipe that can be found here! 

The Icecreamists

You may have heard of The Icecreamists, they're the controversial ice cream parlour that released breast milk ice cream upon the world. When it comes to breast milk ice cream, people will generally fall into one of four camps. Firstly, there's team breast milk - they can't see anything wrong with the idea, after all it's not as though we haven't tried it before. Secondly there's the 'that is completely disgusting, unnatural and sick' group, who recoil at the concept and will look you in the eyes and ask you to think about whose milk it is you're drinking. Although drinking milk from a cow, an entirely different species, is fine. The third group are effectively shrouded in catholic guilt. The ones that are curious to the idea but would be too uncomfortable and ridden with shame to genuinely enjoy the product. The fourth group is Lady Gaga, and she will sue you. Poor little ice cream shop, what were you thinking naming the most controversial ice cream product ever created after one of the world's biggest pop stars? After much media attention and sleepness nights for The Icecreamist's owner Matt O'Connor, the ice cream was renamed 'Baby googoo'. They're also famed for their sex pistol concoction, containing ingredients such as ginkgo, biloba, arginine, guarana and a dash of Viagra for good measure. It's served with a shot of absinthe.

The Icecreamists also sell "normal" ice cream flavours such as white, milk and dark chocolates, vanilla and strawberry. All of which look incredible, despite their lack of adventure in flavour. But there's nothing better than a simple, classic ice cream done well. Now, they've taken that skill and their to die for recipes and are sharing them with us mere mortals. 

You can buy their book here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Icecreamists-Creams-Recipes-Pleasures/dp/1845337069/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340641952&sr=1-1 

With the birth of this bible came the all important book launch, and who better to attend than myself, all-knowing, super famous Georgie. They couldn't ask for any better PR. On a serious note, I was extremely lucky to be attending their launch. I counted down the days from the moment my friend Caitlin offered me her spare ticket. I was giddy like a school girl. 

So what do you wear to the book launch of a trendy ice cream boutique? What should I wear to my first ever exclusive food event?! This was pondered upon for hours. "What about hats? Hats are trendy right? We can't both wear hats because we'll look like the blues brothers. You're wearing heels? I can't wear heels, I will literally die. We need to look like we're meant to be there and not like we won tickets from Facebook." In the end I settled for a floral tea dress, biker boots, leather jacket and trilby and Caitlin went for skinny jeans, a cute ice cream crop top and sky high heels. When I met her at the station, the lack of heels on my part was a big mistake. I looked like her child. I had to spend most of the evening stood on a step so that we didn't look ridiculous together and neither of us hurt our necks when chatting.

Arriving at their compact boutique in Covent Garden's piazza, we were greeted by two girls with clipboards to ensure no one who wasn't on 'the list' could venture inside, along with a burly bouncer for back up. Our names, of course, were on the list and we did our best to keep our composure through the overpowering pulse of excitement. Two hostesses were working the door, one with green martini style cocktails and another with glasses of prosecco. It was a school night, better stick to the cocktails. For the price of cocktails in London, we were going to make sure we made the most of this generous bounty. My favourite on the cocktail menu was the Steve Jobs Apple Martini. Tart, refreshing and it went down very, very nicely. Perhaps just 5 more... 

After a few drinks and an al fresco chinwag on the patio, we ventured inside for the main event. Ice Cream Heaven. We both went straight for the breast milk and the sexual stimulant treats. For those of you that are too afraid to try breast milk ice cream, I can tell you that it was absolutely delicious. I could compare it to a very rich, creamy and sweet vanilla ice cream. I could have eaten an entire tub to myself. The stimulant ice cream left a little something to be desired however. I can't comment on it's biological effects as I didn't have a particularly substantial portion, but the tangy flavouring held a citrus undertone, which felt a little unusual for a product so creamy in texture. We finally settled on a cone of Dulce de Leche and Smack, Crack and Pop (popcorn flavour) ice creams, to enjoy. 

The Smack, Crack and Pop was the highlight of my evening. I'm a real sucker for toffee popcorn and this beauty had chunky, crunchy pieces running through it's creamy veins. Until this point in time, the best ice creams I had ever eaten were in Austria, where every cafe had an all-out ice cream sundae menu that I took full advantage of on my visit. But now, I can put my hands up and say I was wrong - The Icecreamists know how to do ice cream, and they do it with bells on.

One of the most anticipated parts of the evening was the sample of their new 'vice lolly', an absinthe and holy water concoction in the shape of a gun. There's no stick on this creation, and you are given a latex glove in order to hold it without obtaining frostbite. Absinthe generally isn't my drink of choice, but this was delicious - sticky, sweet and humming with aniseed. With the unlikely partner of holy water, this is clearly their latest attempt to drum up some whispers and cause a bit more of the controversy they're so well renowned for.

Flicking through the book on our home journey, I pledged to buy an ice cream maker and recreate every single recipe. But if my 1996 debacle with Mr Frosty was anything to go buy, I have a feeling that my home made attempt would only end in tears, frustration and a broken snowman. Best leave it to the professionals.