Fried Tofu and steamed artichokes

Tofu is not Dave's favorite, but he lives with it because I make this recipe about twice a year. He loves the artichokes however. They remind me of France, they remind David of his childhood, dipping the stems in butter. This picture is for Michelle, though I only remembered to take it after I had already started eating. As with a lot of my recipes, it is a little bit of this, a little bit of that... The recipe orignally came out of a Tofu cookbook that was lent to me in Muncie from Gary Prater. Gary, I'm sorry I never returned this book to you, it's really unlike me. Gary was a vegetarian, eating Tofu before people even knew what it was. He raised 4 midwestern boys on tofu too. He would bring his little fat fryer into the break room, fill it with peanut oil, and make fried tofu for all of his employees at the Minnetrista Cultural Center. In an effort to help me learn to cook with tofu, he lent me a cookbook. This is the only recipe I ever made out of it.

Pan fried tofu

1lb hard tofu, cut into 4-5 slices
dijon mustard (1/4C?)
1/2C bread crumbs
2tsp thyme
1-2tsp garlic powder
salt
olive oil

Remove all moisture from the tofu slices by pressing with paper towels, or placing them flat inside a clean dishtowel and placing something heavy on top. (a toaster maybe?) Mix bread crumbs with spices and salt on a shallow plate. Slather each slice of tofu with dijon mustard and dip in bread mixure. Fry in a large skillet with olive oil until browned on both sides.