The world's most underrated food......

Tofu. That wonder of nutrition and energy, is probably one of the blandest things this size of... well, grits. Now I love me some grits, mind you- add some buttery spread and salt and pepper, maybe some cheese, mmmmmmmm. They taste like whatever you put in them. So to our hero today, tofu. You can change it into a pretty good substitute for a lot of animal products, or just add goodies to make it taste yummy on it's own. My next few entries will be kind of an ode to tofu.
It is important to remember that if you expect meat free versions of your favorite meat dishes to taste exactly the same, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Whatever you make is never going to "taste just like chicken", or whatever. It is important to great flavor, in the style of the dish that you are trying to copy.
One of the first steps to transforming tofu into something wonderful, is to remove extra moisture. I use a lot of extra firm in most of my recipes, and after draining off all the liquid, you should press the block to remove more. The simple way to do this is between layers of papertowel, and under several heavy books, changing the towels and adding weight, for about an hour. Slightly more high tech and much more effective- use a vise, and pieces of plywood. Wrap the tofu block with papertowels, and sandwich between 2 pieces of plywood. Place in vice, and slowly tighten over about 30 minutes.
At this point you can season, cook, or for added texture, freeze. Freezing tofu gives it a chewy texture.
Case in point..... adding nori flakes and sea salt to crumbled pressed tofu will give it a sea food like flavor. Most yummy. Just food for thought for tonight.... recipes to follow!