Mabo Tofu

I like to make Mabo Tofu with the firm tofu because it holds up really well in this dish.  I like the tofu in chunks, not mush. It is stored in water...

Drain and...

Diced.

There are three variation to this sauce, Hot, Medium and Mild.  I like the Hot, even though it is not spicy at all.

Ingredients

• 1 container firm tofu
• 1 pack Mabo Tofu sauce
• 1/2 pound ground beef
• scallion for garnish
• 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

1. Brown ground beef in oil and add sauce. 
2. Simmer for 5 minutes in sauce.
3. Drain, dice tofu into half inch and add to meat and sauce mixture. 
4. Simmer and occasionally stir the mixture gently for half hour until the sauce is cooked into the tofu.
5. Garnish with scallion and serve over rice.

Earl Grey Tea Pancakes, Eggs & Bacon

Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake Mix & Early Grey Tea 

I only added half a bag of Earl Grey tea.

Mix with water.

Pour batter into a hot pan, when it starts bubbling ...

Flip the pancake, I always lift the edge just to check the color of the pancake before flipping.

Sunday big breakfast on a Saturday!  I have every other weekend off so I just could not wait for my Sunday big breakfast.  I was introduced to Earl Grey Tea a few years ago and I found a recipe for Earl Grey flavored  cupcakes which I love.  So after making Green Tea Waffles, I wanted to jazz up my pancakes or waffle with other flavors.  Why did I not think of Earl Grey flavored pancakes?  I just could not wait to make them so Big Sunday breakfast came early.  

I only added half a bag of Earl Grey because this is the first time I was making this. The smell was wonderful after stirring water into the mix.  However the taste was mild, so I will add the whole bag next time.  So you should adjust the recipe to your taste.  Earl Grey Tea comes in both caffeinated and decaffeinated.  Some people said that the caffeinated cupcakes gave them a slight caffeine buzz so if you are sensitive to caffeine get the decaf version.  I, however is a caffeine-holic so the more the better.

I served the pancakes with scrumptious scramble eggs and bacon.  I recently bought 3 8 inch cast iron pans. One order from Amazon.com came with 3 pans, so it's not like I bought 3 pans at once. The price was amazing, it was around $10. If your order is more than $25, shipping and handling is free.  That is an amazing deal considering the fact that the 3 pans were more than 10 pounds in weight.  Cooking eggs in a cast iron pan is much different than cooking it in a non-stick or stainless steel pan.  The taste of the scramble eggs are AMAZING! I need to stress the fact that it is indeed AMAZING! That is the reason why diner's eggs taste so good, it is cook on cast iron.

My drink of choice was a ice vanilla latte since it is summer.  However, it is winter, this would be great with a hot cup of Earl Grey Tea with honey.