Tips for pan-frying tofu and a new game: Name that dish...

My kids invented a new game tonight: Name that dish.

I threw together a mid-week meal without really thinking about it, just some tofu and black beans. And after ho-humming my last few big kitchen productions, tonight, my kids acted like I’d served up some kind of masterpiece of culinary wizardry.

(Yes, I really do love my kids. And I am writing this post so that next time there is not an inch of floor space to be seen because it is covered with toys and tiny pieces of cut-up paper and little nubs of broken crayons, I can read it and remember why it is that I really do love my kids. What’s that…Oh, yes, yes, I guess you're right, that is what my house looks like right now. But, as I was saying, I really do …)

My kids were full of questions about my one-pan creation.

How did you make this, mom?
Can I take a picture?
What’s it called?

I don’t know, I said. I’ve never made it before.

I guess a friend had mentioned black bean soup to me earlier in the day, and that got me thinking about my college days and all the black bean soup we used to eat. And that reminded me that my friend Eva used to make this great soup with black beans, scallions, a little butter and lime juice. And then when I got home, I saw the tofu just kind of hanging out, and I remembered that I’d once pan-fried tofu with cumin and adobo and it had been yummy.

So into the pan went the olive oil and two containers of soft tofu, cubed and coated with cumin and adobo. There are a few tricks to pan frying tofu.

1. Use a non-stick pan.

2. Don’t turn it too often, you want the outsides to get a nice coating and take the flavor.

3. Use a larger quantity of the spices than you would think.

4. Use ground spices so they coat the tofu.

5. Use small squares (no bigger than an inch cube), better outside-to-inside flavor ratio.

6. Cook it for a while (five-10 minutes) so the flavor can really take before adding other ingredients.

7. Use a big enough pan that the tofu can spread out in one layer, you don’t want it to steam.

8. Use as fresh a tofu as you can get. If it smells at all sour, forget it.

After the tofu was nicely pan-fried, I moved it over to one side of the skillet and tossed some diced onion and green pepper into the other side. A pat of butter, some lime juice, one crumbled cube of Knorr chicken bouillon, more cumin and adobo. Once the veggies were sweating, I added two cans of rinsed black beans. More seasoning. Then I tossed it all together and cooked it for another five or 10 minutes, squeezed a bit more lime and, although I didn’t have any, I imagined tossing on some fresh cilantro at the end.

I served it with some grated Monterey Jack, rice and baked sweet potatoes. My husband, son and I sprinkled a little Jalapeno Tabasco on top.

And this, my kids insist, is their new favorite dish. Go figure. They also think the dish should have a name. So here are the suggestions:

T: The scrambler
Bean: The Witch Hunt
Rae: She likes both of those names
Me: Mid-week mash up

And ideas?