Tofu Grilled Cheese(ish) Sandwich

I was really craving a grilled cheese sandwich or tofu burger kind of thing, so this is what I came up with. It took a bit of time, but came out quite good. A friend gave me the idea to soak my tofu in sauce for as long as possible to give it more flavor, VERY good idea. The key to this sandwich was good stacking, hope this gives you ideas. Camambert cheese is hard to slice because it's so mushy and gooey, but I usually put it in the freezer for a few minutes right before I cut it and that seems to help. Then I toast the bread with the cheese before adding the rest of the stuff to melt it again.



Makes 1 sandwich (double ingredients etc. for more)

Ingredients:

2 slices of the least gargantuan bread you can find in the store
Butter, 4 small cubed pieces, for 4 sides of bread
Tomato, thinly sliced
Black pepper
Fresh mint or herbs, a bit
1/2 small wheel of camembert cheese, or cheese you like, sliced
Sesame seeds, to sprinkle on top of cheese 1/2 avocado, scoop out with spoon into slices when stacking
1 square thin block of agedofu (fried tofu), sliced lengthwise in the middle, soaked in soy sauce and chile peppers (or whatever you like) for a few hours
Hot sauce (I made my own, but Tabasco will work just fine)
Fresh spinach, or other leafy green

In a nonstick fry pan, melt (not burn) one of the pieces of the butter, and place a slice of bread on. Toast that side of the bread until it's nice and buttery. Do the same with the rest of the butter and sides of the bread to get a buttery toasty 2 slices of bread.

In the same pan, place the agedofu with a bit of the soy sauce and "grill" it on low heat, making sure it doesn't burn as you start making your sandwich. Be sure to flip it every so often.

Place the tomato slices on one of the the slices of bread, sprinkle with black pepper and top with the mint or herbs. Top with the cheese, and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top of the cheese.

Place this slice of bread in your fish grill or a toaster oven and begin toasting. Toast until the cheese is starting to melt a bit, turn the bread every so often to avoid burning any one side. You can put the other empty slice of bread in too to get it all toasty as well.

Take the bread slices out, and put the avocado on top of the cheese. Then using a spatula, carefully place the agedofu on top of this as well. Drizzle some hot sauce over the tofu. Place the spinach on top, and put the other slice of bread on top. Press down a bit, and using a sharp knife, cut the whole sandwich in half. Chow down!

Ochadzuke

Ochadzuke (or ochazuke) literally means to place or pour green tea onto something, in this case a bowl of rice, and is usually a simple dish. Great for cold weather, or when you have a cold, or just want a refreshing "ahhh" kind of meal. I like to add my own flavors to dishes, so this version has a bit more complexity in the rice. It was the perfect "I want a filling dish with few spices today" kind of meal.



Makes 2 servings (or 1 for a hungry person)

Ingredients:

Dried shittake mushrooms, about 5, soaked in a small amount of water for at least an hour, reserve the water
Konbu seaweed, small slice, soaked together with the shiitake
White rice, presoaked for at least an hour, rinsed
1 tiny packet of various grains that you put in rice
2 tablespoons canned corn
Shiso furikake, the purple rice sprinkly stuff
Black pepper

Topping:

Fresh ginger, about 1 tablespoon finely diced
Soft tofu, 1/2 block, diced into small pieces
Powdered Aonori seaweed
Black sesame seeds
Shaved dried seaweed, like the kind you sprinkle on okonomiyaki
Umeboshi, pickled plum
Fresh green tea

Place the rice in a rice cooker. Slice up the shiitake, and put in the rice cooker as well. Add the corn, the grains from the packet, and add the mushroom/konbu soaking water. Use the piece of konbu for something else later if desired. Add a bit more water to the rice cooker pot if necessary, mix well, and set the rice to cook. You can kinda kick back until the rice is almost ready.

Once the rice is almost done, boil the water for a fresh bit of green tea. Pour the hot water in a teapot with the green tea leaves and let sit while you prepare the other stuff. You can do this step last if you don't like your tea as strong.

Once the rice is done, add about 1 to 2 teaspoons of shiso furikake, and the black pepper to the rice. Mix well, but softly, with a rice paddle. Let sit while you get the other ingredients ready to top.

Place all the delicious mushroomy rice from the rice cooker into a large bowl. Top the rice with the fresh ginger and add the tofu around the edges. Slowly pour in the hot green tea to liking.

Sprinkle the middle with aonori, then with sesame seeds, then with the shaved seaweed, and finally place an umeboshi or two on top of it all.

Makes a perfect warm dish that is filling, rather easy, and delicious.