BACON! (kinda)

I make TLTs (that’s a tofu lettuce and tomato sandwich to you) all the time. The last time I used more pepper than normal or something and it hit me like a mac truck. I WANT BACON. I never crave meat, hell I don’t even think about it unless I’m talking to a friend about it, but I simply could not get the idea of attempting to recreate the salty, sweet, smokeyness out of my head. That was my mission yesterday, and I must say (and so did my brother and Matthew) this is far and away the best tofu I have ever had.  But then again, an old bike tire would probably taste all right if it marinated in maple syrup for a few hours.

 

Tofakin

1 block extra firm tofu

3 T maple syrup

1 1/2 T molasses

2 T apple cider vinegar

3 T soy sauce

10 -15 shakes of liquid smoke

1/2 t cumin

1/2 t paprika

about a cup of water

LOTS of coarse ground pepper

salt to taste

 

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Slice the tofu in to thin pieces about 1/4 of an inch thick. Pat each dry and arrange on cookie sheet. Freeze for 1 -2 hours.

 

Once it has frozen, mix the rest of the ingredients in a shallow dish or large ziplock bag. Put the tofu in and allow to marinate for several hours, even overnight if you want. I had to let mine defrost a bit in the sink because it was getting close to dinner time and they were still kinda frosty.

 

Put a little oil in a non stick skillet and allow it to heat up to med high heat. Put more pepper on them and cook until they are golden brown and all caramelized on the out side. (I am so mad that I didn’t take another picture of what it looks like when it was done! You just have to believe me, it looked awesome lol)

I like veganaise aaaaaaaaaaand mustard on my sandwich. What can I say, I’m a rebel. They also tend to be more than half spinach lol. We ate these with some more sweet potato fries and cucumber and red onion salad. If you are interested in trying tofu, this would be a great starter recipe because the flavors are so familiar, and they are so thin that there is little chance you could have a texture issue lol. Also the process of freezing tofu changes the consistency of the tofu making it less mushy, more meaty.

 

As if the day needed to get better after a success in the kitchen, it was capped of with a fantastic night out with miss Katie!! ❤ I wish I had been hungry because the resturant we went to had tons of vegan options. >;(

Yeah, I eat carrots as my drunk food….wanna fight? ❤