Blackened Tofu-liciousness

There is the most annoying character on Project Runway this season (OK, there are multiple annoying characters, but this guys is the worst). Blayne makes everything "licious", except when he writes it down he always spells is licous. I'm so petty, but it so annoying. Anyway, his super crispy fakin' bakin' tan must have gotten me in the mood to blacken some food!

I recently snagged my dad's beautifully seasoned cast iron mega-skillet and haven't been sure what to make first. Had some hamburger buns and guac in the fridge, so knew it was time to try to copy Taco Loco's amazing blackened tofu burger. I grabbed Ole' Faithful, the Joy of Cooking, and flipping around came to their Cajun Dry rub recipe. I didn't measure exactly, but it was more or less a teaspoon of each: dried thyme, dried oregano, paprika, and black pepper. Plus a 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt, and a healthy sprinkling of ground chili peppers. I pressed the firm tofu for about 1/2 hour while I prepared the seasonings above. Cut the block of tofu into 3 "steaks", dipped them in a couple Tbsps of melted butter then dredged the tofu in the seasonings. Heated the pan up to 6 on my electric stovetop (this is really hot on my stove), turned on the exhaust fan, then let those little puppies hit the super hot iron skillet. I drizzled the tofu with the remaining butter (about a tsp was left) and cooked for 3 minutes on each side. Perfectly blackened, and didn't smoke up the house a bit! It turned out great, but was missing the noise of 101 traffic, sketchy parking, scarce seating and ocean breezes of Taco Loco. Sigh.

The Tofu

The Burger