Tag: recipes

recipes

Some Kind of Potato Stew

tlkitchen

I don’t know about you guys but I have been having some serious Fall feels lately and all I want to do is dive head first in pumpkin flavored everything, while wrapped in a comfy sweater and holding a Starbucks latte. I don’t have much longer until my favorite season comes around but with yesterday being Friday the 13th and the weather being gloomy, windy and below 80, I needed SOMETHING to help me curve my Fall cravings until that day comes. I called this recipe Some Kind of Potato Stew because it was a very random “let my grab whatever I have in the fridge” kind of crock pot meal. It actually came out amazing! It was warm, comforting and gave me just what I needed to hold me over until Fall time arrives.

What you need:

  • 1 Small butternut squash, peeled and chopped
  • 5 Potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1 Yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 Medium carrots, chopped
  • 1 Large Zucchini, chopped
  • 1 TSP of salt (you can add more to taste)
  • 1 TBS Garlic powder
  • 1 TSP Cumin
  • 1 TSP Ground clove
  • 1 TSP Crushed red pepper
  • 1 TSP Paprika
  • 1 TSP oregano
  • Fresh Rosemary stalks
  • 6 Cups of water
  • 2 TBS of flour

Method:

  • Peel and chop; butternut squash, potatoes, onion, carrots and zucchini and put into the crock pot
  • Add seasonings and water and give it a good mix
  • Add rosemary on top
  • Cook on low for 8 hour or on high for 4 hours (Give or take depending on your crock pot.) You know it is done when your potatoes are tender!
  • Before serving, take a few large spoon fulls of the broth and a few of the cooked veggies and place into a blender. Add flour and blend until smooth.
  • Add mixture back into crock pot and mix well…this will help thicken your stew and give it a nice creamy texture.
  • Enjoy!
food blogger, recipes

General Tso Tofu

tlkitchen

Tofu is definitely one of my favorite things to cook with. For the most part it is tasteless, which makes it a blank canvass and gives you the opportunity to create whatever flavor profile you want. A lot of people hate tofu because of the texture but over the years, I have learned that it doesn’t take much to get a good (enough) texture on tofu to make it more enjoyable. This recipe is one of my favorite ways to enjoy tofu and hopefully you all will love it too. Try it out and let me know what you think!

What you need:

  • 1 Pack of your favorite brand of extra firm tofu (recommended brands: Nayosa, House Foods or Trader Joe’s organic sprouted tofu).
  • 1 Jar of General Tso Sauce
  • 1 Cup all purpose flour
  • 1 TBS garlic powder
  • 1 TBS black powder
  • 1 TBS Paprika
  • 1 TPS Ground Ginger
  • 1 TPS Crushed red pepper
  • 1 Green onion stalk, chopped
  • Olive oil

Method:

  • Pour water off of tofu and wrap in a few paper towels. Gently squeeze water out of the tofu and let sit in the the paper towels for a few minutes to drain.
  • Once drained, cut tofu in 1 inch thick cubes.
  • In a small bowl, mix together flour and all the seasonings minus the crushed red peppers
  • A few pieces at a time, cover each cube of tofu with flour and place on a baking sheet. Make sure to have your oven per heating at 375 degrees by this time as well.
  • Now that all the cubes of tofu are floured. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the top and place in the oven.
  • After 10 minutes, flip the tofu and allow to back for another 10-15 minutes or until the tofu is golden brown and has a crispy texture.
  • In a pan on medium heat add general tso sauce and crushed red pepper flakes. After the sauce starts to warm up add in the tofu and mix until all the tofu is covered in sauce.
  • Chopped 1 green onion stalk and add to the top of tofu
  • Enjoy!
Optional to add broccoli!
food blogger, recipes

Perogies with Tofurky Sausage and Peppers

tlkitchen

If you don’t know what a perogie is, they are small dough dumplings stuffed with potatoes and cheese. I first had perogies years ago while in college. A friend of mine, bought some from the store and it was love at first bite. I pretty much stuck with the store bought brand for years because it was all I knew but one day I decided it would be fun to make them homemade. Now I don’t think I can ever go back to store bought because they were amazing!!! When I did some research on perogies, I discovered that there origin is Polish and commonly served with sausage and peppers. Of course you can get very creative with how you make them but for my first time I “kept it simple.” Give the recipe and try and let me know what you think!

What you need:

For the dough

  • 4 cups of all purpose flour
  • 1 cup of warm water
  • 1/4 cup of milk
  • 2 TBSP of sour cream
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 TSP of salt

For the filling

  • 2 lbs of peeled and chopped potatoes
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1 stick of butter
  • 2 TSP of salt
  • 1 TSP of black pepper
  • 1 TSP of garlic powder
  • 8 oz of shredder extra sharp cheddar cheese
  • 2 chopped green onion stalks

Others

  • 1 pack of tofurky Italian vegetarian sausage
  • 1 orange or yellow pepper
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 2 chopped garlic cloves
  • Optional: olive oil for the Pan searing option
  • Optional: extra butter for top of dough

Method:

Filling

  • Peel and chop potatoes and boil until tender. You want to make sure you chop them in small cubes to make it easier to mash.
  • Drain potatoes and add to a large mixing bowl along with milk and butter
  • Use a whisk or a fork to mash and mix together
  • Once mixed add seasonings, cheese and green onion and mix well

Dough

  • In a large mixing bowl whisk together water, milk, sour cream and salt
  • Start by adding just 2 cups of flour at a time and whisk until dough forms (You can also use a mixture if you have one handy but a whisk or you hands work just fine)
  • Once all the flour is added and mixed start kneeing the dough adding in just a sprinkle of flour at a time until dough no longer sticks to the bowl.
  • On a floured surface, continue kneeing dough for a few minutes and form a ball
  • Using a rolling pin, you want to roll out your dough until it’s at 1/8th of an inch thick. (You can guess here…there is no way of really knowing for sure, just make sure its not thick)
  • I used a regular glass cup to cut of the circles for my individual perogies!
  • Once you used all the space you can to make circles you can grab the extra dough, re-roll it out and get a few more circles

Continuing on

  • Now to stuff your circles, you want to stretch out the circle going along side the diameter. Then add 1 to 1 1/2 TSP of filling into each circle
  • Use of fork to help close the ends and add to a baking sheet
  • If baking the perogies, brush the outside of each one with a little butter
  • NOTE: You can pan sear them instead of baking*** I have tried both ways and I loved them both! If pan searing just add a little olive oil to your pan and sear of each side until crispy
  • If baking, place in oven on 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes
  • While perogies are baking, chop peppers, onions, tofurky sausage and garlic cloves.
  • Saute mix all together
  • Once perogies are out of the oven, add sausage pepper mix on top
  • And ENJOY!!