Tofu Mocha Brownies

Hi again, Foodiestudent readers! This is another guest post by Foodiestudent’s sister. (You can catch up on my past posts here and here.)

Foodie asked me to make a tofu recipe for this post. I said yes but I didn’t want to make a stir-fry or other dinner recipe. Unlike Foodie, I have a microscopic kitchen that is not conducive to cooking complex recipes (and by “complex” I mean “anything requiring counter space for things like chopping vegetables”). But I’m a trooper so I Googled some tofu recipes and found tofu-recipes.com and a super-easy recipe for Tofu Fudge Mocha Bars. I’m game for any recipe with fudge in the title! :)

For the taste test, I made two other mocha brownie recipes. Brownie “A” was simply a box of Betty Crocker brownie mix, made with 1/3 cup of decaf instant coffee crystals added.


Brownie “B” was Baker’s One Bowl Mocha Brownies from the Kraft website, made without nuts or icing.


And brownie “C” was the tofu recipe.


I was worried about one thing with the tofu recipe: the recipe calls for 12 oz of “silken” tofu. I couldn’t find anything called “silken” tofu, so I used “soft” tofu instead, hoping it would be ok. The first step in the recipe calls for you to beat the tofu with an electric mixer, so it would get smooth anyway. The brownies should be fine.

At least, that was the theory. Here’s what the tofu brownies looked like after being prepared and baked:


I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about what that looks like. I couldn’t serve that monstrosity to anyone else, but I tasted it for myself and… let’s see if I can spell this correctly… BLEAAAGHHH! It was BITTER. The recipe calls for lots of cocoa and coffee, but not a lot of sugar. And raw sugar isn’t nearly as sweet as white sugar, so double whammy of bitterness. Yuck, yuck, yuck! YUCK!

So much for the great tofu experiment. Sorry folks.

But… I still had two other mocha brownies for the taste test! I labeled them using a bottle of prepared white icing (unfortunately I bought “drizzle” icing instead of “decorating” icing, so the letters were a bit drippy – but yummy!). Witness:


I had 11 people rate the two non-repulsive mocha brownies: 9 of my coworkers plus my husband and me. The results:

Brownie A (Betty Crocker mix with coffee added):
• Average score: 4.1
• “Fairly sweet, good texture, stronger coffee taste”
• “Strong coffee flavour, nice texture, quite sweet”
• “OK, needs more chocolate”

Brownie B (Kraft recipe with no nuts or icing)
• Average score: 4.5
• “Texture was more cakelike and the coffee was more subtle”
• “Can’t taste the coffee, yeah! Not quite as sweet”
• “Moist, delicious, perfect combination of crunch and chew”

Overall, most people liked both brownies, and their preference was mainly dependent on whether they liked the coffee taste, which was definitely stronger in Brownie A. My personal preference was Brownie A for its taste and chewiness. It was also the easier recipe to make, although it made a smaller batch.

For anyone who likes brownies and wants to try something a little bolder than typical brownie recipes, I would recommend either of these two recipes.

And leave the tofu for stir-fries and smoothies.

Turkey Stuffing Divan

What do you do when you have extra turkey and a husband who likes broccoli above all other vegetables? Why, you use the ingredient search tool on allrecipes.com of course. The result of my search was Turkey Stuffing Divan.

The ingredients are simple.... diced cooked turkey, broccoli, cream of celery soup, butter, boxed stuffing, cheddar, and milk.

We start by putting 1/4 cup of butter in a bowl. Adding some boiling water helps to melt the better.

The packaged stuffing mix gets tossed with the butter/water combination....

... and spooned into a casserole dish. At this point I figured I needed a larger casserole dish but I decided to live dangerously and keep working with this smaller one.

Top the stuffing with steamed broccoli and diced turkey.

Top the turkey with a mixture of the canned soup, milk, and grated cheddar.

More cheddar on top and the whole shebang gets baked at 350 for 30 minutes.

Here are all the layers. It was quite good. My only real complaint about the dish was the carb to veggie ratio. 2 boxes of stuffing in future incarnations of this recipe will be cut down to one. And so many veggie options can be added here... I'm thinking a can of corn and/or some frozen veggie mix (peas, carrots, and green beans). Chicken could be substituted for turkey of course.

But the real joy of this dish is how fast it was to put together. It was assembled in just a few minutes and once it was put in the oven it left me free to do other things for 30 minutes. Then I just pulled it out and it was ready to serve :)

Caesar Salad - with your fingers

So Pioneer Woman posted a new recipe for Caesar Salad that you eat with your fingers. I have to admit that I've never eaten Caesar Salad without a fork. And since I'm all about experimentation here at foodiestudent I thought I'd give it a try.

I used a french baguette to make the croutons. I got this loaf from Walmart and it was surprisingly good. It was more dense than the ones from Safeway but was less crusty which made it much less messy to slice. It was perfect for making croutons.

I tried something new with the parmesan. I opted to go with chunks instead of the usual medium grate. I like the texture but I am going through a $14 block of parmesan way too quickly.

Here's the final result. Now, I have to say that the dressing was very easy to make and the croutons were incredibly tasty.

However, I was not a fan of using the full lettuce leaf and eating with my fingers. The issue was with balancing the croutons on the romaine leaves as they were picked up. If the lettuce was cut or torn and eaten with a fork then a balance of lettuce, dressing, crouton, and cheese could be enjoyed with every bite. And I'm all about the balance :)

West African Peanut Sauce

I was intrigued by this recipe for West African Peanut Soup and decided to make it but with a twist. One of the comments on the recipe said this was typically served in Africa on a bed of rice with chicken instead of all mixed up in a hearty soup. This sounded intriguing so I thought I'd give it a whirl.....

Ahhhh, a common image on the foodiestudent blog. Hello onion. I peeled you, cut you into manageable pieces, and sliced you in the food processor. Now I'm sauteeing you.

After adding some red and green peppers we end up with something I like to call "Christmas in a pot".

I added diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and some spices. That simmered for a while before I added the key ingredient....

Peanut Butter! Say what? Peanut Butter! Oh yeah.

I was skeptical... peanut butter with veggies in a sauce? Let's see what happens....

I whisked in the peanut butter to get it blended in. The peanut butter gave the sauce a richness and texture.

Some wild rice, a salad, and some peanuts for garnish completes the meal.

Honestly, the first bite or two I didn't know what to think. I had never tasted those flavors in combination before. But then I got into it and dove in with gusto. It turned out to be a great meal.

There is one thing I would change... I'd cut back on the chicken stock just a little as it made the sauce too thin. This is to be expected as the recipe was originally a soup recipe. However, the end result was far too thick to be considered a typical soup.

As served above, this is a vegetarian recipe (if desired, vegetable stock could be substituted for chicken stock in the recipe). I served leftovers the following day with chicken which was also a big hit. This will definitely be made again in the foodiestudent kitchen.

Caramel Apple Sticky Buns

I defy anyone to take a look at this recipe for Caramel Apple Sticky Buns and not start drooling. Even though I don't really like apples, a little voice told me I had to make them or I would forever regret it. Always listen to those little voices.

Diced apples with a sprinkling of lemon juice cus, you know... brown bits are yucky.

Remember this bread/cinnamon roll dough? Well, now is the time to use it. Don't worry, although the blog posts are like a week apart, the making of the sticky buns only happened the day after the cinnamon rolls. The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days so I was within the safety zone.

The caramel sticky sauce starts by melting some butter in a saucepan.

Then I added some brown sugar, white corn syrup (instead of dark), and milk (instead of cream). Trust me, the substitutions made no difference in the final product.

When the caramel sauce starts to boil set it aside to cool.

I won't go over the step by step process of rolling out the dough and making the cinnamon rolls as they are the same for this recipe as for the other cinnamon rolls.

Divide the caramel sticky sauce into two well greased 9 or 10 inch round cake pans.

Top with the diced apples.

Place the cut cinnamon rolls in the pans on top of the apples. Let them rise for about half an hour and then bake.

Ahhhh, baked yumminess :)

Flip the bunch of them over onto a plate and watch the ooey gooey goodness overflow. I covered these with plastic wrap and took them into the office. I was worried that with so many sticky buns I'd be taking some home at the end of the day. However, I went to check on them at lunch time and they were all gone. They were, most definitely, a huge hit.

Lessons learned were exactly one..... that is to divide the rolls into three pans, not two. Two pans were just too full and caramel sauce overflowed during the baking process which resulted in the following.....

Burning and smokiness. Didn't affect the buns but made the kitchen smoky-stinky.

Would I make these again? TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY YES! I only had one but it was very yummy and, judging by the speed by which the others were claimed, the others were yummy too.

Shintangle Bed & Breakfast

This post will be a departure for me as I'm not featuring food that I made myself. Instead, all food featured in this post was made and consumed here....

My dear husband and I recently spent a weekend at this bed and breakfast. Our wonderful hostess (with the mostest), Heather, made us delightful breakfasts on each of the 3 mornings we were there.

Each morning we were greeted with the following...


There's orange and apple juice. We had the choice of coffee (medium or strong) or tea (various flavours) with cream and sugar but there was also milk and sweetener if those were our preferences. That little dish in front contains a curl of butter.

Every breakfast starts with this wonderful fruit plate. The quality of fruit here is outstanding... nothing is under or overripe. I'm not a big fruit eater but I cleared by plate every day.

Day 1: Pancakes, ham, hash brown potatoes, and scrambled eggs. As you can see, there are no eggs on the plate in the picture above. That's because Heather, the aforementioned "hostess with the mostest", knows I don't like eggs so she gave my portion to Vince. Vince did not complain :)

My syrup of choice that day was saskatoon berry syrup. Heather puts out three choices of syrup (see pic below). On the left is Canadian Maple, center is saskatoon berry, and on the right is butter maple. Oh yeah, and they're WARM! Talk about spoiling us!

Day 2: Waffles, bacon, syrups and.... get this.... maple flavoured creme fraiche! Is there anything yummier? I tasted it and determined that no, there is nothing yummier than maple flavoured creme fraiche. On this day I opted for butter maple on one of my waffles and saskatoon berry on the others. And creme fraiche was on all of them ;)

Day 3: Texas french toast with bacon and mandarin oranges. Once again, everything was cooked to perfection.

I was drinking my juice on the final day and, much to the confusion of those dining around me, I started laughing. That's because I saw this....

Anyone who watches LOST will recognize the Dharma Initiative logo on the bottom of my glass :)

Thanks Heather! You're the best!

If you are interested in spending the night at Shintangle B&B you can get more information at shintanglespring.com

Baked Beans - messing with the canned stuff

Beans have always been a heat and serve proposition in my life. I never realized there were possibilities beyond that. So something funny happened to my insides when I saw this baked bean recipe on PW's website. Beans, veggies, bacon... all good for the foodiestudent.

So what have I got to lose?

Green peppers and onions. These were done in the food processor. The food processor slices but it does not dice. So inspite of the recipe specifically calling for diced peppers and onions.... too bad! I've been in the kitchen cooking and baking all day and I'm taking the easy route.

Bacon is a rarity in my house. It's not that I don't love the taste... cus I do. It's not that I'm concerned about the sodium and nitrates... cus I'm not. It's because I don't like the bacon grease film that coats the stove top, counter, and me after I cook it.

But the recipe calls for bacon and I suffer for my art ;)

This bacon is WAY undercooked. But the recipe said to way undercook it. I'm obedient :)

I drained off a little of the bacon grease and added the sliced onion and green pepper.

Fast forward 5 minutes and they are nicely sauteed. Time to add the key ingredient.....

... BEANS!!!! These are Heinz, straight from the can. I added the remaining ingredients... barbeque sauce, dijon mustard, brown sugar, and cider vinegar. After a minute or two it started to simmer which was my cue to pour the mix into a greased casserole dish. Then it was topped with the undercooked bacon and baked at 325 for 2 hours.

Yup, 2 hours. This baked for a looooooooong time. When all was said and done, it was very yummy. A little sweeter than expected (with BBQ sauce and sugar, I should have guessed) and the sauce was very thick as much of the liquid had evaporated. The peppers and onion are a minor component to the dish and you can't even taste them. The bacon on top was absolutely perfect though. Definitely cooked but not burned.

Overall, I'm glad I tried it. But given the 2 hour cooking time I'm not sure I'd make it again. Who has that kind of time for a side dish except at Christmas? So unless someone requests beans with their turkey this year, this recipe will be passed by many many times.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Weeza has requested my recipe for cream cheese frosting. I got this recipe when I first made Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls but wanted a more Cinnabon-like frosting. So I did what every good foodiestudent would do... I googled Cinnabon frosting :)

Here are the ingredients. Icing sugar, margarine, cream cheese, vanilla, and lemon juice. I was only making 1/2 the recipe so I used just 1/2 a bag of icing sugar and a cup each of margarine and cream cheese.

Very important step.... wait for the margarine and cream cheese get to room temperature. I have tried mixing them right out of the fridge and now I'm in therapy.

The recipe I found was absolutely adamant that margarine, not butter, be used in this recipe. I didn't fully understand why but there was no doubt that in this case butter was to be avoided and margarine embraced. However, I have seen similar recipes that call for butter instead of margarine. So who are we supposed to believe? That's a question for another day. Today we are using margarine.

See how nicely the cream cheese and margarine mix together? That's because they are room temperature. :)

It's time to add the icing sugar. Please learn this lesson from foodiestudent.... turn the mixer down to low. The lowest possible setting. Add the icing sugar to the bowl one spoonful at a time. It will mix together quickly but won't explode out of the bowl in an icing sugar snowstom which is what will happen if the mixer is on a higher speed. This I have learned. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides when needed.

When the icing sugar has all been added turn the mixer on medium or medium-high and let it do its thing for 12 minutes. This will make the frosting super smooth and......

...strangely, it's a lighter colour. The frosting is much whiter now. Weird!

Once again, learn a lesson from foodiestudent, when the 12 minutes of high speed mixing are done, turn the mixer down to low. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and lemon juice and barely mix until they have incorporated into the frosting. If you overmix or mix at a higher speed the frosting becomes curdled. And curdled is bad.

Grab the two cinnamon buns closest to you and top with a dollop or two of the frosting. Enjoy :)