Dinner 3: Tofu Kin Tastic!

Hello Readers!

Birdman here.  Giggles and I are back for dinner number three!  Woo!!

Have you ever tried tofu?  Before becoming a vegetarian, ‘tofu’ used to be sort of a dirty word, hehe.  It was a weird mystery substance that came from some classified vegetarian research facility located somewhere around Area 51. 

But you know what?  Once I tried it, it was actually pretty good.  Not as tasty as meat, or scrumptious as fresh baked bread, or bursting with flavor as strawberries, but it certainly isn’t bad.  On a scale from 1 being ‘this makes me puke,’ 5 being ‘sure I’ll eat it,’ and 10 being ‘orgasm in my mouth,’ I would rate tofu at 6.87259 (repeating 9 digit).  And part of the reason why I enjoy tofu is because I know it’s healthy: it’s vegan friendly, low in fat, and high in protein.  Plus it’s relatively inexpensive.  You can buy a standard package of tofu (serves about two) from the grocery store for around $3.  If I had a choice to add tofu to a meal, like stir fry and rice, I’d definitely do it.

Tofu by itself has no taste.  It really is like a sponge that just absorbs the flavor of whatever sauce you put it with.  Which means there’s so many creative things you can do with tofu.  Just like shrimp (Forest Gump J).  Tofu stir fry.  Tofu with rice.  Tofu with beans.  Spicy buffalo tofu.  Teriyaki tofu.  Sweet and sour tofu.  Tofu with zesty herbs.  And the list goes on and on.

One of the things I miss most since becoming a vegetarian is BBQ chicken.  The last time I had meat (besides salmon) was with Giggle’s family.  Her dad made BBQ chicken and it was absolutely, incredibly delicious!  It sure gave me second thoughts at the time about going vegetarian.  And every now and then I’ll get this craving for BBQ chicken.  But no fear now!  I just discovered BBQ tofu!

This week’s recipe selection was up to me and I ended up going with BBQ tofu, cornbread, baked potatoes, and asparagus.

BBQ tofu: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=7427.0
Cornbread: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=5729.0

Birdman’s Reflection
I’ve had different types of tofu while working at a boy’s camp this summer.  And earlier this past summer, Giggles and I made tofu together.  But I’ve never made it on my own.  And I’ve never had BBQ tofu.  So it was time for another new experience!  Yea!

Baked potatoes and asparagus, easy, no problems there.  They were both baked and cooked the perfect amount of time so they turned out as they should.

The cornbread turned out well also.  I used an 8 x 8 glass pan and was a little surprised that it wasn’t all that thick, only about 1 inch high, if that.  If I make it again I might double the recipe.  I didn’t use any corn kernels or pimentos in it.  I think it’s kind of weird to have whole pieces of corn in bread.  The only other change I made to the recipe was using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose unbleached flour.  For the cornmeal, all I had available was a medium grind.  I’d recommend a fine grind, unless you like a little crunch in your bread.  The bread turned out to be quick and easy to make and tasted pretty good.  I’d give it 8 out of 10.

The BBQ tofu!  Half of it turned out great!  Hehe.  The other half fell apart.  I doubled the recipe to have enough for my parents (who were open-minded about trying it for the first time and liked it).  So I had two packages of tofu, both extra firm.  But one was the silken type, which the recipe says not to use.  I used it anyway because it was what I had and I was curious to see what would happen.  Well, the silken tofu just fell apart as it was sautéing.  That may be alright if you’re serving it over rice, but not so much if it’s by itself.

I usually dislike taking the tofu out of the package.  It’s just gross, haha.  It’s a white sponge dripping with water.  Before you do anything with it, you’re supposed to press the water out.  I do that with paper towels.  And once the water is out, it doesn’t seem too bad.  The worst thing was having my parents watch me do this, hehe.  I think, “Don’t look at this nasty crap now.  Just close your eyes and wait for the finished product.  It’ll look good then.”  Though if you think about it, meat can look fairly disgusting before you cook it too.  Slimy, pale chicken breasts, hamburger meat that looks like packaged brains.  I didn’t marinate the tofu, but you can marinate it in soy sauce or something ahead of time to let it absorb the flavor.

Once I had sautéed the tofu for awhile, it turned a light brown color and looked really good.  Like chicken!  It took awhile to brown, maybe 25 minutes.  And the BBQ sauce turned out great.  Once I added it to the tofu in the pan, it took about five minutes of stirring for it to thicken.  Then it tasted pretty good, at least the tofu I was supposed to use.  Some pieces were a little chewy, but it tasted, well, like BBQ sauce! 

The overall meal was delicious!  9 out of 10

Giggles Reflection

haha so it took me a while to actually retrieve the ingredients... I went to Rainbow foods here in Bloomington and actually forgot my method of payment! I had all the groceries and I was so hungry.. I had to run home... jump over theodore... run back to Rainbow... wait in the longest line ever at customer service (seriously) and then finally get back. 


I will admit that I wasn't too thrilled to make BBQ tofu... but I said what the heck! I'll do it for Birdman who is the best friend ever! You should see the awesome Christmas gifts he gave me:). Not only that but I can talk to him about anything and everything. SWEET! 


So there I was in my kitchen.. .I decided to start the bread first. I used the whole wheat flour as well in place of the white flour with the nutritional value of wall paper paste. hee hee that's what my mom always told me. I did add the can of whole corn kernels! It took my bread about 30 minutes to cook all the way through but the result was fantastic. Best corn bread I have ever tasted! I put honey ontop too! 5 out of 5 for cornbread!


Meanwhile I was working on my BBQ tofu... I opened the soy sauce and ... yes of course... it went all over the wall, counter, floor and me! HAHA what a day. It didn't take my tofu too long to brown... I had it on a high setting hee hee. Then I added the sauce and it looked ALIVE! A bubbling mess of brown goo with weird spongebobby chunks. lol! To my surprise it was delicious! 


So at rainbow they didn't have asparagus... must be out of season. So I bought some mashed potatoes (yes the already made kind... give me a break! I WAS CRAVING MASHED POTATOES... I WANT MASHED POTATOES AND I WANT THEM NOW!!!). I also sauteed up some spinach to put in with my bubbly goo. 


Altogether this meal was perfect! Everything complemented each other to my heavenly delight. I would give the meal a 5 out of 5! I'm already looking forward to my leftovers tomorrow! 


After re-reading my post I realized that I had typed tofo instead of tofu throughout the entire script... haha tofo... its actually a small town in southeastern Mozambique... and here I thought I made the darn word up haha. Apparently a great place to see whale sharks.. intriguing.
  

haha sorry about this picture.. it doesn't look that appetizing.. I just wanted you to see the "mess of bubbly brown goo with spongebobby chunks." 


Until next time!
Peace and Love, 


Giggles:)