Table Thymes: Asian Sautéed Tofu and Ribs for Lloyd

OK, so this is the first attempt at Tofu and I have to admit, it was pretty good – tasted like an egg omelet. Everyone keeps telling me that Tofu is a lot like chicken so I decided to approach it like chicken. Made sense to me. It worked out well, you even marinate and cook it a lot like chicken and to top it off I felt better today. I know, it is probably all in my head but as long as it is working who really cares, right?!?!

Ingredient List is as follows:
1 pkg. Extra Firm Tofu
1 Cup Orange Juice
1/4 Cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
2-3 T of Back Strap Molasses (it equates to one big glob from the jar)
3 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
4 Pork Ribs
Salt
Pepper
1. Prepare the Tofu by opening the package and draining the water, place the tofu on a plate and place another plate on top of it with something heavy to add weight – I used canned veggies. Let the rest of the water be pressed out of the Tofu for about 10 – 15 minutes and then drain the remainder of the liquid.
2. Mix the orange juice, soy sauce and molasses and garlic together in a bowl.
3. Pour 3/4 of the mixture in a sealable container or plastic bag and the remainder in a shallow dish.
4. Salt and pepper the Ribs – go light on the salt as you are going to marinate in Soy. Add the ribs to the 3/4 of the liquid and marinate for at least 30 min. possibly over night (if you have time – I never plan that well.)

5. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees if you have an electric oven. I have to be honest I have a gas oven so I didn’t preheat unless I am baking. While the ribs are marinating prepare your cookie sheet by folding two pieces of aluminum foil and then lining the cookie sheet, I like to take a cooling rack (oven safe) and place that in the cookie sheet to keep the ribs out of the fat – it makes them kinda crispy – yummy!
6. Oil your cooling rack with olive oil and remove the ribs from the marinade, place the ribs on the rack but make sure they don’t touch.
7. Put the ribs in the oven and LEAVE THEM ALONE for at least 45 minutes maybe even an hour – you are just going to turn them and check them until the meat starts to pull away from the bone.
8. Once the ribs have been in the oven for about 30 minutes go ahead and get the Tofu marinating. I only used two 1/2” slices as I was the only one eating my delicious experiment. :)
9. After the ribs have been in the oven about an hour it is time to start cooking the Tofu. Heat up your skillet (cast iron of course) with a little Canola oil and let the skillet get hot about on medium heat – you want it to just start smoking before you add your Tofu.
10. Take the Tofu out of the marinade and discard (you could use this for marinating the ribs if you wanted to), place the Tofu in the skillet and cook until it is a beautiful golden brown color. Now I prepared sautéed onions prior to cooking the Tofu – because, well, I like onions.

11. After eating the wonderful Tofu I can tell you that it seems that the Tofu is done when it feels like a steak that is medium in doneness ( I know – horrible reference but I’m used to cooking meat)

So we have below Lloyd Asian Ribs with my Tofu vegetarian version – enjoy either!!!