Day 96- Challenge!

Food First.

I had the fried tofu (again). it was yummy. I have definitely fixed the "breading doesn't stick long enough to cook" problem. I used

• About 1/3 to 1/2 C flour
• 1/2 lb tofu (in ~1cm to 1/2" squares)
• A whole heck of a lot of spices. Srsly- cajun, paprika, garlic
• Too much salt.
• 1/2 smallish onion, chopped and "flaked"

Into a gallon (for those in non-imperial countries, that's the one about 4x the size of the liter bag) ziploc (R) brand freezer bag I then toss everything but the tofu and onion, and shake it around until it's all mixed up. Toss in the tofu and onion and shake some more. There'll be a bunch of seasoned flour mix left. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of water over the coated tofu in the bag, close the bag, and shake again. Repeat this step until all or almost all the flour mix is attached to the tofu. Try not to get the water directly on the walls of the bag- it makes a mess.

Then, with a totally spotless, totally un-sticky wok or frying pan (if you have one that you can make omelets in without oil or sticking, that's the one to use here) add about 3 or 4 T of veggie oil. Or lard or bacon grease, if you eat that stuff. If you use something salty, though, cut back on the salt in the flour seasoning. Now here's the strange bit. This *never* works for me unless the burner is turned up as high as possible. I've tried the other levels, but they just about all stick. So super high. Dump the tofu in and shake the pan around so that oil gets on all the cubes. If you can "flip" the stuff in the pan like a TV Chef, this is a good place to use that skill. Keep flipping until most sides of most cubes are browned and crispy, or until they start burning, whichever happens first.

Then, later I made cupcakes.

It's been a while since I've done something totally decadent and full of sugar. Mainly because I eat it all in one go, then get a nasty sugar crash, sore throat, and headache. No Fun!

I used the basic golden cupcake recipe fromVegan Cupcakes Take Over the Worldwith a couple changes. It's really just a basic cupcake recipe except for the no egg, no animal milk parts, so I won't write it down. It *is* super sweet, though.

Which brings us to

The Challenge!

I got this idea, actually, because of Ruby Leigh's homemade pizza crust and JL's amazing dinner from my pot stickers and fried rice.

So what's the challenge already?!

I challenge anyone out there (and interested) to make something you've only ever bought. You don't have to go any closer to scratch cooking then you're comfortable- if your normal cooking routine goes freezer to microwave to table or drive thru window to passenger seat to stomach, try it from a mix instead, maybe.

If you hit up your friendly neighborhood coffee shop for chai 3 times a day, try making it at home- either with pre-spiced tea bags, or spicing your own. There are tons of recipes on teh interwebs.

If you normally have a pretty high made-at-home rate, maybe try something different. I did it today, actually.

The cupcakes? They called for soy milk. I don't have soy milk. It's like $3 per half gallon on sale near my house. The book said I could sub rice milk (also $3+ at the store/ half gallon). Now, you can make rice milk at home, but it tastes like... well, rice. It didn't matter to me that I could make 5 gallons for less than a dollar, I had no interest.

What I had was almonds.

Anyone who's gone out and tried to buy fake milk in the last couple years, and I mean *really* tried, knows there are a couple types- soy, rice, and almond are the most common. There's also oat, some ultra swish coconut stuff, and I think hemp. I'm pretty sure you can make all but the last two at home pretty easily, with soy being the most difficult.

So those almonds. I tossed enough (blanched, chopped) almonds into my grindingbeaker (not really, but wouldn't that be cool? I just use the plastic cup-thing that came with the blender) to hit the 50ml line, then topped it off with water to 8oz (and yes, I know I'm mixing measurements). Some quality time with the stick blender and I had almond "milk" with some thick almost whipping cream stuff on top. Pretty nifty.

But now I can't use that, so I'll have to come up with something else. Maybe tortillas.

Ok, some rules-

• Made at home (dorm rooms too, if you can manage it)
• No more than $5 worth of extra stuff brought in- if you can't make it with what you've already got and $5, try something else.
• You can't have made it from *that* level of homemade before, but it *can* be something in your normal food rotation.
• Share (or don't) by this coming Wednesday- that'd be May 26th, 2010.

Invisible extra points for-

• Getting other people you know to try it too (not the food, the challenge- but sharing food is good, too)
• Photos/ blog posts/ e-mails
• Trying more than one thing (but the $5 is a one-time add in, so shop carefully)
• Having something turn out horrible but sharing anyway
• Sharing an estimated price breakdown- one for how you usually make (or buy) it, and one for the more homemade version.

Ok, any questions?

Edited to fix links