Reheating Tofu Caponata!
I’m taking the opportunity here to congratulate our very own Chef Matt, who is about to become the best dad ever (again) in about a week! I met Matt while working at a restaurant in Concord, and since then, I’ve given him such a hard time… I mean seriously. Can you imagine working with me? He speaks my language though, and together, with the rest of this amazing team, we’re constantly pushing ourselves to achieve our personal goals, and push WECO to be the best it can be. Couldn’t do it without ya, big daddy. You probably won’t read this, but if you do, ONE. EGG.
Matt and I first collaborated on a dish very similar to tonight- and it happened cause I was all upset that we didn’t have tofu on the menu. The dish we did was way more in the style of mapo tofu (I called it Mapo Caponata… and I will always cringe… I thought I was so cool…), lots of roasty eggplant, some raisins and nuts, waaaaaay too much spicy fermented bean paste (and I wondered why people didn’t like it… it was waaaaaaay too spicy…), but it was a delicious. It’s back tonight- and better than ever. Sweet and semi-spicy marinated eggplant, crunchy celery, pine nuts, raisins, and fluffy, silken tofu. Freaking awesome. Matt opened my eyes to flavors and combinations that I just wasn’t paying attention to, and together, with the rest of our team in the kitchen, we hope to continue educating and inspiring each other through food, every day. The best part of working with your friends? Being able to rely on them for anything. We’re all friends at WECO, and we can all count on one another to step in and provide a helping hand if we see anyone struggling. That’s just the community we want to work in, and we are so lucky to be able to make it that way every day.
This tofu caponata is the next version of that original collaboration, tweaked and simplified a bit, but the result is more cohesive and concise than ever. I’d eat it cold- just drizzle the dressing on there, and go at it. But feel free to pop it in the microwave if you’d like it to be hotter, totally fine. You do you. Just remove the ramekin before you nuke it!
If you got some shrimp tonight!
First of all, good call. Can never go wrong with sweet chili shrimp, especially with silken tofu and eggplant. Sounds like a perfect match. I would definitely still go for cold shrimp here. But like I said, I like cold food. If you’d like hot shrimp, and hot tofu caponata, just scatter the shrimp on top of the bowl, and pop the whole thing in the microwave till it’s hot enough for ya! Probably 2-3 minutes. Then, drizzle the dressing on top, and get after it! Enjoy- and send Daddy Matt some love! <3 WECO
