Frozen Tofu is Most Best

I bought two blocks of tofu right before I left town for a week on a work trip. I knew they wouldn’t go bad, but I decided to throw one block into the freezer so I could do fun things with it when I got back home.

When I got home from Pittsburgh, I looked at the block of tofu in my freezer and considered my options. I could

1. Plant it in my backyard and hope for a tofu tree
2. Dress it up in a cute outfit and have a tea party
3. Make it into grilled tofu sandwiches

I was pretty hungry, and didn’t really want to wait around for my tofu tree. Nor could I be rude enough to eat someone I’ve invited to a tea party. So I went with the sandwiches.

I started cooking tofu about five years ago. My first experience with it was a big mess of mushy tofu and five spice powder. Lessons were learned, including the difference between silken and firm tofu and that it has to be well drained and pressed. You don’t need to tell me more than four or five times.

So yadda yadda, I feel as if I’m experienced with tofu. The texture changes once you freeze and defrost tofu. It’s chewy and porous and much more firm. Perfect for sandwiches!

What I did was basic. It was just me eating, so there was no need for anything fancypants. I marinated the frozen, defrosted, drained, sliced, pressed tofu in barbecue sauce. Grilled it on my George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine. Caramelized some onions. Wrapped it in a flatbread. Made a simple green salad. Ate!

-Ellen

Chili Beans with Onions and Sweet Chili Sauce

My grandmother likes to give me fuckloads of food. If I go visit her I always seem to leave with a box full of mason jars and then inside those mason jars is food. The problem is that the mason jars always contain one type of very specific food. Once it was applesauce. Another time it was sauerkraut. Then it was pickled beets. This time? Chili sauce that my grandpa made.

So what the eff am I going to do with all this crazy chili sauce? “Put it on hot dogs!” my grandpa said. NO. NO TO HOT DOGS. I mean maybe I could get some of those veggie dog things but I figure like most mock meats they’re more expensive than they need to be and maybe they taste funny. I can do mock meats every so often but I’d rather do beans or fruit or veggies or soy.

Did I mention I’m broke? I’m broke. I bought an accordion recently and I’m really happy about that and I bought a t-shirt that has a shark high-fiving a gorilla on it and I’m happy about that too and I bought Electroplankton for the Nintendo DS and if Play-Asia ever ships it I’ll be happy about that as well. Buuut… now I’m broke. So! I made do with things I had on hand. Chili beans! Leftover shallots! Chili sauce! I did buy the potato but that’s okay.

Ingredients!

1 tablespoon oil

1 15 oz. can of chili beans of some sort

1/2 onion, chopped – I used two shallots and if you like shallots a bunch maybe you could too

1/4 cup of sweet chili sauce

red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper or maybe a habanero pepper

sour cream or your favorite sour cream substitute

Directions!

Okay, so this is a super-simple recipe that is barely worth talking about, but basically heat your oil in your skillet. Drop in your onions and cook them until they’re translucent. Now add your beans and your chili sauce and, if you’re feeling brave, a habanero pepper. If you’re not habanero brave (and I don’t always feel habanero brave) you can add cayenne or red pepper flakes to your taste. Let it cook and bubble until it’s nice and hot. Okay, now you can serve it! I ate it over a baked potato but I bet it would also taste good served over a crusty roll or rice. Add a dollop of sour cream-ish stuff! I need to work on my dolloping skills because the dollop in the picture? Not very pretty. But it tasted good!

I’m going to try to get the recipe for my grandpa’s chili sauce because it’s real good!

-Bret