penitentkulak [none/use name]

I freeze all my tofu, have about 20lbs in my freezer right now as it was on sale at Costco last week. I don’t have an issue with it crumbling

Yeah I think I’ve only ever seen it in a latin american grocery store once years and years ago, I got turned on to it by a friend who had spent time in Costa Rica traveling. there’s an online grocer up here in Canada that I recently found that stocks it, I got incredibly excited to find it again. it is an incredibly unique taste!

“quesadilla” that’s just these beans in a tortilla, a couple slices of toast, and if I’ve got the time fried potatoes/plantains. I’d guess that’s my breakfast about 320 days a year

Just to clarify, you don’t rehydrate the beans in any way

that’s right, I just rinse to remove the dirt on the beans. the long pressure cook completely cooks them. kenji lopez-alt thinks they actually taste better unsoaked

This recipe looks very useful. I like using our instant pot style cooker for making bulk things

exactly what I’m going for with this recipe. I make this huge batch once a month or so and freeze mason jars of it because I eat it for breakfast every morning lol.

My refried bean recipe:

Instant Pot (I have a large 8qt so you may have to scale this down, if you don’t have one you could do this all in a slow cooker or pot on the stove it’ll just take longer):

• 1250g (~2lbs 12oz) dried pinto beans (or your bean of choice)
• 1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes (add these at the end if you’re doing stovetop/crockpot).
• 1 1/2tsp BBQ rub/smoked paprika
• 1/2tsp onion powder
• 1/2tsp garlic powder
• 1/2tbsp oregano
• 2halved onions
• 6-8 cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 bay leaves and/or or 1/2 sheet dried kombu
• 3.75L/16cups water (or to max fill line on IP)

Fry:

• 1/3cup light olive oil/canola oil
• 3 medium onions, diced medium
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (adjust for spice tolerance)
• 6-8 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2tbsp tomato paste
• 1 1/2tbsp guajillo chili powder
• 1 1/2tbsp pasilla chili powder
• 2tbsp other mixed mexican chili powders (new mexico, cascabel, etc, or more guajillo/pasilla)
• ~1tbsp chili powder (the american kind)
• 1tbsp cumin
• ~1/4tsp ground black pepper

To finish:

• 1 tbsp oregano, mexican style preferred
• 1/2tbsp epazote (or 1/2tbsp more oregano)
• 1-1.5tsp MSG/Accent
• 1tbsp bouillon powder, or better than bouillon, or adobo seasoning, or 2 sazon packets
• Salt to taste if needed

Rinse/sort beans (no need to soak), add to instant pot, add ingredients then add water to max fill line. Pressure cook high 45min, wait at least 15min then pressure release. Remove onion halves, garlic, bay leaves and kombu. Don’t worry if you don’t get all the garlic/onion.

While they cook, fry onion/jalapeno on med-high heat until onion is very browned almost burning, then turn down to medium and add garlic/tomato paste and fry another 2-3min. Add the chili powders/cumin, fry 30 sec then shut off heat.

Add remaining ingredients and fried onion mixture to beans after pressure release. Use immersion blender to blend to desired texture.

if you can get your hands on some Salsa Lizano from Costa Rica, gallo pinto is super easy and tasty. https://stripedspatula.com/gallo-pinto/

This mushroom/tofu sandwich recipe is outstanding, I’ve made it prob twice a month since I saw it posted here. A bit pricey to make unless mushrooms are on sale, and I used dried herbs and normal better than bouillon veggie stock to keep the cost down.

I also have a recipe I use for air fried tofu bites (freeze/thaw or boil in salt water for texture, add a few spices/soy sauce, drench in corn starch) and then have an easy sauce recipe that you can make in a few variations (honey garlic, lemon/orange, thai basil, etc etc), served over rice.

Can also make a thai curry with the above air fried tofu bites.

Lastly I have a recipe that marinates slices in almost an italian dressing and then baked, I use them as a replacement for deli meats on sandwiches.

I have a “quesadilla” but with just refried beans for breakfast nearly every morning. Super easy to make and I can cook it while I prep tea/coffee, and any sides I might be adding like potatoes/toast/etc. I make a large batch of refried beans every few weeks and then freeze them in mason jars, and just always keep one of those in the fridge.

Smoky Chipotle Tofu Sandwiches with Quick Pickled Slaw and Sweet Plantains

saw this today, immediately added it to the tofu recipe pile

I don’t think the customs is gonna bat too much of an eye at an industrial grade 10" roller bearing Type H3B and other such bullshit if you only bring in handfuls of each.

You are severely underestimating how shitty CBP is lol. I’ve had a few especially shitty border cops over the years question shit like basic tools I had in the trunk of my car. I had friend who ran conferences, on a trip down for personal stuff he brought a pretty standard DSLR and a tripod to shoot an interview with someone who was gonna be at one of these conferences while he was there anyway. He didn’t admit that and just said it was for taking pics of the trip, but they didn’t believe him and said that he was smuggling in equipment to do work in the country, and detained him for like 4-5 hours, during which they scoured social media and found a youtube page for the conference stuff. They didn’t have any proof but that didn’t matter because they have a right to refuse entry, turned him around and banned him from the country for something like 3-5 years?

If you have a car full of brand new luxury goods going into the US, customs and border patrol are absolutely going to pull you in for further inspection and questioning, and they will make you pay the tariffs. They were incredibly shitty to me every time I crossed as part of my job a decade ago, I can only imagine now.

Also if/when they catch you, you’re now on American soil and dealing with their legal system, they’re not going to just turn you around and let you go back into Canada.