Recipe: To meat or not to meat. That is the question.

Two recipes today. Neither one is mine but both are fantastic. I am always ready to give credit where credit is due. I routinely search Food.com to see what I can make for dinner with what I have in the fridge without having to buy too much (search by ingredient) or to see what other people think is good for certain occasions. We have a vegetarian friend that we have over for dinner (not often enough) and it's always nice to serve something tasty and surprising.

For the meatatarians: "Corn Your Own" Corned Beef

Corning your own corned beef is not a difficult task. This recipe is from Food.com, posted by "evelyn/athens". Important note - it takes 2-3 days. The following recipe is verbatim. When I did it, my beef was only about 2 1/2 lbs, so I halved everything. It still worked great.

Thanks go out to her for posting such a great recipe. Actual link is
http://www.food.com/recipe/corned-beef-corn-your-own-85332

4 1/2 lbs beef brisket

1/4 cup salt

16 cups water

2 cups salt (the sea salt is better) 

or 3 cups sea salt (the sea salt is better)

1/2 cup sugar

4 bay leaves

16 peppercorns

4 teaspoons pickling spices

4 garlic cloves, halved

Trim all but ¼ inch of fat from meat. Wash and pat dry. Rub with ¼ cup salt.

In large saucepan, heat water, salt and sugar and stir to dissolve. Place beef in large glass bowl and pour salted water over. Add 2 bay leaves, 8 peppercorns, 2 tsps pickling spice and 2 garlic cloves. Place weighted plate over so meat is completely immersed.

Refrigerate 48-60 hours. Remove meat and rinse thoroughly.

Place in large saucepan and cover with boiling water. Add remaining bay leaves, peppercorns, pickling spice and garlic. Cover and simmer for 4 hours, or until meat is tender.

Serve hot with boiled potatoes and cabbage or cool the brisket and slice thinly to serve with rye bread and mustard.

For the vegetarians: Amazing Tofu Parmesan

image from eatingwell.com

This recipe was posted on Food.com by "Reggie's Mom". Wow. Try this recipe to believe it. It actually tastes like Chicken Parmesan. I left the garlic in the marinade pan and added the sauce for more flavour. Next time I'll halve the flour and yeast. There was a lot of waste for the 350g of tofu, unless you did a bound breading (double dip). Kudos. This was fantastic - and I am not a vegetarian. Thank you to Reggie's Mom for sharing such a wonderful recipe. Direct link is

http://www.food.com/recipe/amazing-tofu-parmesan-428797

350 g extra firm tofu

4 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes

24 ounces of your favourite spaghetti sauce

1/2 cup canola oil (Docaitta note: I used 1/4 cup)

1 cup mozzarella cheese

parmesan cheese

Cut tofu into 1/4 inch slices. Lay out slices between several layers of paper towels or clean tea towels. Place a cutting board or other flat surface on top with some weight on it to draw the moisture out. Press for about 30 minutes.

Mix the soy sauce, olive oil and garlic together and place the drained tofu slices to marinate for a couple of minutes. (Docaitta note: I did ½ to 1 hour in the fridge)

In a shallow dish combine the flour and nutritional yeast. Dip each tofu slice in the egg and then coat in the flour/yeast. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook tofu slices on both sides until crispy golden.

Place a thin layer of sauce in an 8 inch square baking pan. Arrange tofu slices in the pan. Spoon remaining sauce over tofu, top with shredded mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve with a crisp salad or pasta.