Braised tofu.  For some reason, the very concept terrified me.  In fact, despite doing some very good braised dishes in my life (if I do say so myself), the whole technique seems exotic and difficult.

Then again, sometimes you have a meal (like the Fire Bird from Blue Koi made with braised tofu instead of duck) that forces your hand and suddenly you find yourself trying a dish you never thought you would.  Like

Asian Braised Tofu

… and finding it’s actually really easy.

Braising?

For those who are not familiar with braising, it’s a wet cooking method (meaning there’s a lot of liquid).  The most often used wet cooking method is boiling where food is completely submerged in liquid.  This tends to be a harsh cooking method and is good for leeching starches and flavor compounds out of the food.

On the other hand, when braising, the food is usually browned first and then covered halfway in a flavorful cooking liquid.  Having one half of the food (usually meat) uncovered allows for different flavors to develop while the food absorbs flavors from the cooking liquid.

It’s a great technique for tougher cuts of meat or for slow cooking dark meat chicken.

Braising Tofu

However, in this case, I decided I was going to braise tofu.  Because tofu is essentially a soft protein, I knew that cooking it for a long time was going to result in a big soy mess.  So I did three things:

• Used firm or exra firm tofu
• Precooked the tofu
• Cut down the cooking time for the tofu

Ready for the recipe?

Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I was honored to sit down with Chef Emmanual Langlade, head chef at Aixois French Bistro, near the Brookside area in Kanas City, MO.  For those who live outside Kansas City or have just not been, Aixois is an experience. It’s elegant, yet not ostentatious.  I could take my wife on a romantic date there or I could just drop in for a relaxing bite to eat.  Plus, I really enjoyed talking with Chef Langlade.

During our chat, he shared his passion for food, his knowledge of the restaurant business, and his love for his restaurant.  He also shared with me his recipe for

Ruby Trout with Shallots and Lemon Sauce

Now, I know what your thinking.  French food = butter and cream.  French food is heavy and rich.  Not so my friend, not so!

Read on and you’ll see…

Read the rest of this entry »

Just wanted to give everyone the head’s up…

Over on SheKnows.com, I recently had an article published on

How to Make Your Own Sushi

Everyone check it out and then getting to sushi making!

I want to announce another Blog Well Done Live cooking event on StreamingGourment.com!  This time I’ll be making

Vegan Irish Stew

Just in time for St. Paddy’s Day!  The event will happen on Saturday, March 14th at 2:00 Central time.  (That’s pm, not am…)

If you are interested, click this link:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blog-well-done-cooks

And if you want to participate live can dial in:

Conference Dial-in Number: (218) 339-4600
Participant Access Code: 645838#

Also, if anyone wants to cook along, here is the recipe:

Read the rest of this entry »