Ma Po Tofu is “a classic Szechuan dish,” says former Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl.Gretchen McKay /Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Tribune News Service

What do you do when it finally hits you you’re out of a job? If you’re Ruth Reichl, who’d been the editor of Gourmet for more than a decade when the magazine ceased publication in 2009, you start cooking.

“This classic Szechuan dish struck me as a perfect way to start fresh,” she writes in the just-published “My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life” (Random House, $35). “Blistered with chiles, it’s warrior food.”

Like most Chinese dishes, this dish requires a bit of prep work. But once you’ve got your ingredients lined up and ready, “it comes together in a fast flash of joyous heat,” Reichl says.

Think tofu is too bland? The hot intensity of the peppercorns brings it to life in this easy dish.