comfort.

I went to college in Gainesville, GA. At the time, Gainesville was the poultry processing capital of the world. I once attended the Annual Poultry Festival. I stopped eating chicken when I lived there because of gut trucks. I still don’t eat chicken. My motto became: Fowl is foul. (I confess that I accidentally ate the turkey gravy at Thanksgiving, though, and it was pretty tasty…)

No more chicken noodle soup for me.

Gainesville is a 45 minute – 1 hour drive from Athens, GA. For various reasons I ended up spending a fair amount of time in Athens, though I never did learn to find my way around the town.

One of my favorite things in Athens was The Grit. The “indie-rock Moosewood.” One of my favorite things at The Grit was The Golden Bowl: browned tofu cubes sauteed with soy sauce and nutritional yeast served over brown rice. Now, you can get vegetables and in your Golden Bowl, but I always preferred them on the side, leaving a perfectly beige, perfectly delicious mix of the best tofu you have ever eaten, brown rice, and cheese. Umami and yet just bland enough without being boring. A perfect comfort food.

After I moved outside of easy driving distance to Athens, I was compelled to figure out how to make a Golden Bowl at home because the meal is an addiction. I succeeded. My home-made Golden Bowl hit the spot.

A couple of years later, The Grit published their cookbook. Sure enough, I had nailed the recipe and technique except for that second frying of the tofu that creates a little extra crispiness.

I make mine with tamari instead of soy sauce, and with mozzarella cheese. It is what I’ve been eating for the past couple of days. With veggies on the side, of course.

Here is the recipe:
The Golden Bowl

• 15 oz. extra-firm tofu
• Vegetable oil for sautéing the tofu
• Tamari, to taste
• Nutritional yeast, to taste
• 2 cups cooked short-grain brown rice
• Butter, to taste

• Cut the tofu into cubes smaller than playing dice. Lightly oil a nonstick skillet and place over high heat. Allow the oil to heat slightly, then add the tofu. Sauté, tossing with a nonmetal spatula, until evenly and lightly golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Sprinkle lightly with tamari (I use about a tablespoon here) and sauté briefly to further brown the tofu. Remove from the skillet, draining and discarding any excess fluid. Wipe the skillet dry.
• Add a tiny bit of new vegetable oil to the same pan and place over high heat. Once the oil is very hot, add the tofu again.
• Sauté, tossing with a nonmetal spatula almost constantly, until the tofu is nicely browned. Sprinkle with tamari to taste (another tablespoon for me). Sauté, tossing until the tofu and pan are pretty much dry.
• Sprinkle liberally with nutritional yeast, coating the tofu cubes and all the vegetables. Tossing vigorously, sauté for a few seconds. Repeat this step once and remove from the heat.
• Place 1 cup of hot cooked short-grain brown rice in each of two bowls. Add some butter to taste and stir into the rice to melt. Top each bowl of rice with 1/2 of the tofu. Sprinkle liberally with shredded mozzarella cheese, stir well to mix and melt the cheese.
• Devour.