"Fish " Cakes & Gorilla Bread

This night of Chicas Cuisine was inspired by a recent cooking class I attended at Sur La Table. I am usually not a fan of tofu but after tasting the "fish" cakes my mind was opened to its possibilities. And the night was ended with another tasty favorite Gorilla Bread from one of my faves Paula Deen.

Cocktail Sauce

Source: Sur La Table Vegetarian Delights Cooking Class

Ingredients:
1/2 cup ketchup or chili sauce
1 TBSP dice Vidalia sweet or sweet type onion
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
2 TBSP horseradish sauce (optional, to taste)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (to taste)
1 dash Louisiana Hot Sauce of Tabasco sauce, if desired
salt, to taste
1 TBSP granulated sugar

Directions:
Combine all ingredients. Chill at least 1 hour before serving.

Comments:
I chose not to add horseradish sauce because I don't care for the taste. All other ingredients I combined in a bowl and mixed together with a spoon.

Old Bay Tofu "Fish" Cakes

Source: Sur La Table Vegetarian Delights Cooking Class

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup onions, diced
1 carrot, diced fine
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds firm or extra firm tofu, combined
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/8 cup dry white wine
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
juice from one lime
1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs, finely ground
3 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups soy milk (unsweetened is best)
oil for frying

Directions:
Saute the onions and carrots in olive oil until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one more minute. Allow to cool.

Add the tofu, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, Old Bay seasoning* and wine, one teaspoon of salt, pepper and lime and combine well. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Old Bay seasoning and 1 teaspoon salt. Pour the soy milk into a separate shallow bowl.

Using about 1/4 cup of the tofu mixture at a time, form small patties. Gently coat the patties with flour, then dip in soy milk. Next coat well with the seasoned breadcrumbs. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Saute tofu patties in a thin layer of oil until golden brown on each side. Serve with cocktail sauce.

Comments:
The chef who taught the course explain that the Old Bay seasoning is key to this recipe. Tofu requires a lot of seasoning to give it taste. I followed her instructions and altered the recipe by adding Old Bay Seasoning to the tofu and allowing it to marinate. I also added Old Bay to the flour used for dipping before frying.
Firm tofu is a must for this recipe or the patties to form properly. If the tofu patty is not firm add additional breadcrumbs to create a firmer patty.

Green Bean and Celery Salad

Source: Food Network Magazine

Ingredients:
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
pinch salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1 minced shallot
2 tbsp capers
handful chopped parsley
handful chopped celery leaves
pinch of pepper
3/4 lb of halved green beans
few thinly sliced celery ribs

Directions:
Whisk lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt and olive oil in a bowl. Add shallot, capers, parsley, celery leaves and pepper. Boil green beans until crisp-tender, 4 minutes; drain and add to dressing along with a few thinly sliced celery ribs.

Comments:
You may substitute frozen green beans for fresh green beans.

Garlic Herbed Vegetable Bake

Source: Visitor Magazine

Ingredients:
2 zucchini thinly sliced
2 large tomatoes thinly sliced
2 baking potatoes thinly sliced
10 garlic cloves thinly sliced
1 whole garlic bulb with outside skins removed and clove tops cut off
10 fresh basil leaves chopped

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400. Arrange vegetables in a lightly oiled, shallow, 12-inch, circular casserole dish. Position the whole garlic bulb in the center of the dish and alternate slices of vegetables around it in overlapping circles. Sprinkle with the thinly sliced garlic and basil.

Brush the vegetables with olive oil and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Sprinkle with salt or garlic powder to taste. If desired, garnish with whole, fresh basil leaves. (Note: If you prefer the garlic to be soft enough to use a spread, wrap them in foil and cook an additional 20 - 30 minutes. Taste great on toast!)

Comments:
The picture in the Visitor magazine made this dish look very appealing but looks can be deceiving. First, I was unsuccessful in finding a 12-inch circular dish. I improvised and used 2 smaller circular dishes but was unable to form successful rings. The dish tasted very bland and the potatoes having to be cooked longer caused the other vegetables to be overcooked. This recipe could use some tweaks.

Gorilla Bread

Source: Paula's Home Cooking

Ingredients:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a sauce pan, melt butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar, pout half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 of the nuts.

Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 of the nuts.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.