Tea, Bread, and Spice-Crusted Tofu

Drinking right now: Organic English Breakfast Black Tea, origin: India. $35.99/lb

I felt the first thing I should explain tonight was my tea habit. Anyone who has lived with me, or spent time with me, or maybe even just met me in passing knows I'm a nut when it comes to tea. I have been known to spend up to $30.00 an ounce for good tea, but that happens very, very rarely.

There are a lot of reasons I could list for using loose-leaf tea over bagged (don't get me wrong, I keep both around), but to keep in the spirit of the blog I'm going to focus on cost. You see up there where I say my current tea cost me $35.99 a pound? That's no reason to freak out; it's actually a very good price. You get a whole lot of volume per weight with most tea leaves, so you're ahead of the game to begin with.

To brew a good cup (or pot, as I prefer) of tea, you need only one teaspoon of leaves per "serving." So, about a teaspoon for every 6-8 oz of water you're planning on using. For good measure, most people suggest throwing in an additional teaspoon "for the pot." Notice that while you pay by weight for tea, you're measuring by volume. See? Ahead of the game.

What most people also don't seem to know is that good, full-leaf, loose tea can be used to brew more than once. Some teas are said to be better into the fifth or sixth pot! I generally steep my leaves twice, as I find it loses a little flavor after that; this is why you see me drinking the same tea tonight that I was this morning.

There are a lot of other factors to consider to keep the taste great every time, such as water temperature (if your water is at a rolling boil, you're generally burning your leaves) and steeping time (most teas only need 3-4 minutes at the most for full flavor; anything past that is bitter.) But when all is said and drunk, this $36/lb tea I bought turns out to be $2.50 worth of very nice tea that will last me two to three weeks. I can't get that kind of value from boxed and bagged tea, at least if you consider I'm making two pots of tea a day.

 And now, to my excuse for being up so late tonight.

I'm up far too late again, this time because of the little guy on the right. I was into the 10th stage and final proofing for breadmaking when I realized I have only one loaf pan. Brilliant me! Well, better to find these things out sooner than later.

Junior there is what happens when you have to leave one loaf sitting out while the other bakes. Transferring it to the loaf pan degassed it a fair bit, so I have a slightly smaller loaf. Hey, as long as it tastes good and I can get a second pan for next time, right?

As I'll show in my spreadsheets soon, baking bread is far more cost-efficient than buying loaves. This officially marks the beginning of my sandwich-bread-making; tonight, I put the last five slices of the last store-bought loaf in the freezer for emergencies.

I couldn't resist cutting into the first loaf after it had cooled down, and it's just amazing. I don't really attribute that to my baking--it's taken over a decade for me to get this right--as much as the incredible book I discovered two years ago that really explains the ins and outs of bread-making. I'm planning on devoting an entire post to the review of that book, if anyone is wondering (or even if you're not. Too bad for you.)

The biggest thing I look forward to trying with my own bread is French Toast. Regular sandwich bread seems to fall apart easily, but I think my bread will hold up better.

Finally, the moment at least one person has been waiting for 
(you know who you are.)

Dinner tonight was a new recipe and a smashing success. Among other things, I've really started to appreciate the flavors paprika is capable of providing. As with everything I cook, I change things on the fly every time; I also tend to go by instinct rather than strict measurement. That sounds really pretentious, but it's about 75% laziness, 15% doubting the original cook, and 5% pride from not wanting to copy people. Oh, and the last 5% is where I spill the spice (usually salt--it's always the salt!) and decide to go with it.

Spice-Crusted Tofu 

Like my monkey plate?

from The Essential EatingWell Cookbook: Good Carbs, Good Fats, Great Flavors

• 3 TBSP toasted pine nuts (I'm probably going to skip these next time. They were good, but costly. Sesame seeds would probably work better--cheaper and would stick to the tofu.)
• 1 TBSP+ paprika
• 1 tsp+ ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1 14-ounce extra-firm tofu
• 1/3 c boiling water
• 2 TBSP+ lemon juice
• 4 tsp+ honey
• olive oil

About 30 minutes before cooking, prepare the tofu by draining and slicing into 8 or so rectangular pieces, about 1/2 an inch thick each. Line a plate with a towel or paper towels, arrange the tofu, layer more towels on top. Place something large, with a flat bottom (without making "Yo Momma" jokes), on top and add enough weight to press the water out of the tofu slowly. Leave everything sitting for at least 30 minutes, and resist the urge to push down on the tofu yourself!

Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet, 3-5 minutes until golden and fragrant; set aside to cool. Mix paprika, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Gently rub the spice mixture into the tofu pieces, then mix boiling water, lemon juice and honey in a small bowl.

Heat about 1 TBSP olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu and cook on one side until brown and crusty, 4 to 5 minutes; flip and cook for another few minutes. Add the honey mixture to the pan (make sure the kids are watching, because the bubbling is the fun part!) I let it caramelize a bit and coat the tofu thickly, but I tend to play very close to the edge of "burnt" often. 

I chose to pair the tofu with a spinach salad (just baby spinach, olive oil, rice vinegar, and croutons.) After adding the still-very-warm tofu to the plate, sprinkle it all with the toasted pine nuts. You could probably even serve the tofu as bite-size pieces in the salad.

Buen provecho!

Also, Razi insisted I take a picture of his cup to share with you.