Yotam Ottolenghi's Black Pepper Tofu

This is a serious dish. Serious as in taste. And serious as in heat. OMG it's hot! And I like spicy food. But it's hot in the right way. It doesn't just blow your head off, it builds up the heat intensity and leaves your lips numb at the end. I've made some tweaks, based on what I had available and what I thought we could cope with. I think the thing that blew me away the most was the fact that Lex adored this dish. It was nearly too hot for me, but he scoffed loads down. Go figure. And go make... The original recipe is on the Guardian website.

For 4 generous portions you need:
400g tofu
Cornflour, to dust the tofu (make sure you sieve this to get rid of the lumps)
Vegetable oil, for frying
75g butter
2 onions
2 red chillies
6 garlic cloves
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
3 tbsp sweet soy sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 bunch spring onions, cut into segments 3cm long

Begin by cutting the tofu into cubes about 1.5cms square, then dust the tofu with the cornflour. Deep fry in oil till golden and crispy and then drain on kitchen paper.

Blitz the onion, chillies, garlic and ginger till a lumpy puree then fry in the butter for about 15 mins (I guess you could use a couple of tbsp of oil if you want to make it vegan but the butter does add a richness that might need to be replaced by vegan marge).

Add the soya sauces, pepper and sugar and then place the tofu in the pan to heat through. Serve garnished with the spring onions and lots and lots of plain rice. And water. But make sure you eat the rice to lessen the effects of the chilli and pepper!

Rose Scented Rhubarb Syllabub

I've been meaning to make this for a while. I did the rhubarb base a while back and froze it, but haven't had a chance to combine the two components until today. The syllabub base is an adaptation of Nigella's turkish delight syllabub from Nigella Bites. I think this tastes pretty darn good. But then I would say that. Make it and see what you think!

For 8 generous portions you need:
175ml of good quality sweet dessert wine
4 tbsp vanilla sugar
1 large tub double cream
400g trimmed and washed rhubarb
6 tbsp vanilla sugar (or more to taste depending on sharpness)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tsp each rose water and orange flower water

Begin by roasting the rhubarb with the sugar. Place in an ovenproof dish and roast at 160 degrees for about 30 mins. Remove from the oven and add the vanilla paste and flower waters. Taste to check sugar and then leave to cool and chill till completely cold.

When the rhubarb is cold (fridge cold, or it will split the cream), make the syllabub. Place the sugar, wine and cream in a large bowl and whisk till it forms "billowing clouds" to quote Nigella. Taste to check sweetness and then add the rhubarb. Fold in carefully and then spoon in to serving glasses and devour.

Old Fashioned Rice Pudding

As requested by a blog follower :)

This is piece of cake to make, and tastes delicious.

For 4 portions you need:
50g pudding rice (or use risotto rice if you can't get pudding rice
1 large tin evaporated milk
normal milk to make up the liquid to 1 pint
2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar

Mix everything together in an ovenproof dish, then bake in a moderate oven (130 degrees) for about 2 hours. Stir every 30 mins or so and leave a lid on the dish if you want less of a skin.

Lily's Scones (by Nigella) (v)

I thought I had blogged these already, given that they're my fave scone recipe, but apparently not. So here it is. Enjoy. And don't blame me when you get fat ;-)

For about 16 scones you need:
500g plain flour
2 tsp bicarb
4.5 tsp cream of tartar
125g cold butter, cut into lumps (or vegan marg)
300ml cold milk (or soya milk)
1 egg (for egg wash) (or more soya milk)
2 tsp vanilla sugar

Lob the flour and raising agents into a food processor along with the butter. Process till the butter is thoroughly mixed in. Then add the milk and keep the motor running till the dough comes together. Tip onto a floured surface and then roll out. The dough needs to be about 2 cms thick. Stamp into scones, re-rolling the dough till it's all used up. Place onto floured baking sheets, well spaced, and brush with the egg glaze. Sprinkle the sugar over the top. Bake for about 25 mins till risen and golden. Serve warm with lashings of clotted cream and strawberry jam, remembering to always ALWAYS put the cream on first and the jam on second ;-) I guess if you used soya marge and soya milk you could make these vegan. Instead of the egg wash use soya milk and serve with just jam or vegan cream cheese and jam.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Truly delectable and decedent. But also deeeeeeelicious...

For about 12 portions you need:
900g cream cheese
190g vanilla sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g dark chocolate, bashed to smithereens
300g dark chocolate digestive biscuits
2 tbsp cocoa powder
100g butter, melted

Begin by melting the chocolate in a double boiler. Meanwhile smash the biscuits into powder (use a food processor!) and then add the cocoa powder and melted butter. Tip this into a lined, 23cm springform tin. Place in the fridge to chill for a bit whilst you make the filling.

Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs and melted chocolate and then pour into the prepared tin. Cook at 190 degrees for between 45-90 mins till set. It should wobble in the middle but be set on the outside when it's done. Serve in small portions!

This recipe is from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook.