Last month, my husband and I took a quick trip into Chicago and we ate at the Chicago Diner and Veggie Bite. Both were delicious and amazing! I highly recommend both places if you're ever in Chicago. The diner was fantastic and we ate there for dinner and breakfast. Veggie Bite was a lunch stop when we first got into the city. I had my fill of vegan junk food (hot dog and chili cheese fries), but the diner was filling delicious satisfying much healthier food. :)
For quite some time now, I've been a tofu scramble snob, basically only using minor variations of my own recipe. For breakfast at the Chicago Diner, I had the tofu scramble, and it was different than what I was used to, but it was pretty tasty. I thought I could make a similar one at home if I tried, and then I remembered Vegan Dad.
Vegan Dad has a scramble recipe that's gotten rave reviews online, and this morning I had a scramble and sausage craving. OH MY GOODNESS, this is better than anything! I don't think I'll ever make another tofu scramble! Seriously, you must try this: clicky clicky clicky!
I don't have any adequate photographs, so you'll just have to check out his blog and his post. Honestly, it was a little creepy how much this resembled semi-runny eggs. I got over that pretty fast, though. :)
In case you're curious, for sausage, I made the tempeh and white bean sausage patties from "Vegan With a Vengeance" with minimal modifications. (I mash mine up really well before turning into patties, though, and use matzoh meal for bread crumbs.)
Stainless Steel Cooking Tip!
I have one non-stick pan left (mentioned in another post). I have every intention of not buying another teflon/non-stick pan once this one wears out (the coating flakes off), because of the reports about the questionable safety of these coatings. Cast iron can be a great nonstick substitute, but I don't feel comfortable using it on my cooktop. I've read this magic trick with stainless steel (which we use regularly) and I finally tried it today, and I've GOT to share it with you!
Basically, you shake some salt onto the stainless pan, and put your oil on top of the salt, and heat as normal. Somehow this makes the stainless function almost like a non-stick pan. (I'm sure a high-fat food wouldn't stick, but tofu still has to be gently worked off. But it's MUCH neater than the tofu messes I've made in that stainless pan before.)
My scientific hypothesis regarding how this works is that the water-soluble salt gets coated with the oil, and then "rolls" around the pan (since salt won't dissolve in oil), like little ball bearings if you will (nerdiest cooking analogy ever? perhaps), and the food kind of skates around the pan on these oil-salt beads. even once everything was stirred together, nothing stuck to the pan.
My hypothesis requires further testing, however.
One word of caution: because you're heating oil that seems to be more "mobile" than ordinary oil, and adding wet tofu, this oil splashes a LOT more than any other time i've put tofu in oil. So just be careful. :)
Maybe I'm the last person on earth to discover this, but here it is, documented for all eternity. Make fun of me if you must. :)
Showing posts with label tofu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tofu. Show all posts
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
All About Tofu
Tofu gets a bad rep. People fear it. People judge it. People make fun of it. After talking to a friend of mine about her sad experience attempting tofu taco "meat" I decided to talk about tofu here, because I have lots to say about it.
I used to joke about tofu, too. It's sort of a boring block of flavorless... jello. It's mysterious. And I haven't had much luck in finding tips and tricks all in one place, so I hope I can fill in the gap a bit.
Tofu's a great food. It's made from soybeans, and as far as prepared foods go, it's one of the least processed foods of all processed foods. You can even make your own, if you're so inclined. It's low in fat, free of trans fat, cholesterol free, low carb, high protein, and is a decent source of iron and calcium. (nutritional info)
There are rumors that tofu will cause men to grow breasts, women to ovulate constantly, (hormone imbalances), thyroid problems, and a host of other scary things. These are scare tactics, and I highly suggest people do their own research before listening to anyone who says a food will cause men to grow breasts. Check out The Safety of Soy. Go on, I'll wait.
So now that you know tofu is nothing more than a bean (a soybean, to be specific), and is nothing to be feared, let's talk a little about how to make it not suck. Tofu is great! Tofu is healthy! Tofu is fun! Tofu is flexible, versatile, and awesome.
Types of tofu. I'm going to abbreviate this, because I'm a simple girl. There are two distinct types of tofu: fresh, and not fresh. Fresh tofu is packaged in water and is sold in the produce/refigerated section of the market. There are lots of brands, like China Rose, Nasoya, and House. Not fresh tofu is packaged in an aseptic container (much like a juice box), and is shelf-stable. The only brand I've ever seen is Mori-Nu. Mori-Nu tofu resembles custard, doesn't have air holes (no spongy texture), and is really only good for pureeing in sauces, puddings, cakes, and so on. Fresh tofu is the type of tofu that's best for marinading and eating in chunks, slices, and crumbles.
Both types come in different densities, from soft to extra firm. In general, soft tofu is best for pureeing, or when you don't care if it keeps its shape. Firm or extra firm tofu is best for slicing, dicing, and serving whole. I always buy the firmest tofu I can find. Keep in mind that extra firm tofu in one brand might not be as firm as another brand, so there's some experimentation and experience that happens, too.
For ease, when I talk about tofu, I'm talking about fresh tofu, unless I specifically state Mori-Nu, or tofu an an aseptic package.
Texture of tofu. There's nothing wrong with busting open a package of tofu, and using it the way you bought it. Tofu is great as-is, and it has nothing to be ashamed of. However, something magical happens when the whole package gets thrown in the freezer, it's allowed to freeze solid, thaw, and be used in recipes. Freezing tofu changes the texture so it's more chewy, and it increases the size of the little holes in the tofu, which helps it absorb more of that awesome marinade you're using.
When I get home from the store, I throw most of the tofu right into the freezer, which keeps it longer, and when I want tofu, I take it out in the morning and leave it on the counter/in the sink (a LOT of condensation happens), and it's ready for dinner. I prefer un-frozen tofu for tofu scramble, but for almost anything else, I like my tofu frozen. If you lack forethought, like I often do, you can defrost the tofu in the microwave for 4-5 minutes. Just be careful that it doesn't get too hot to handle. And don't try to cut frozen tofu: your knife and the ice crystals will just tear it up and break the tofu.
Getting ready to cook tofu. Tofu needs to be pressed. This means the water needs to be expelled from the little holes in the tofu (think of tofu like a big sponge), to make room for marinades and sauces. There are lots of instructions out there about how to properly press tofu, but I'm impatient, so I'll tell you how I do it.
I get out two small plates, sandwich the tofu brick between the flat sides (the sides you eat from), and gently press evenly over the sink. Lots of water will come out, and eventually it'll slow down. Don't squash your tofu (frozen tofu can handle squashing a lot better than unfrozen, just FYI), and take care not to break the block up, but just gently press evenly with your hands until the bulk of the water is removed (you won't get it all). Some people rig up elaborate tofu-pressing devices, with stacks of plates and cans and heavy objects, with a tofu block wrapped in towels, and leave it for an hour... but I'm much too impatient for that. I find this works just fine. Now the tofu is ready to be marinaded or otherwise cooked.
Cooking tofu. When marinading tofu, longer is better, but even just a half hour to an hour is enough to soak up flavor. Then it can either be baked or pan fried. When I bake tofu, I've discovered that my Sil-pat baking mat is fantastic: tofu never sticks! It's amazing. But if you don't have a Sil-pat or don't want to use one, any baking dish lightly sprayed with oil works fine. spray the tofu before you flip them, so the other sides don't stick! I bake tofu at 350f for about 10-15 minutes per side, depending on how crispy I want them.
For pan frying, I admit I have some trouble with this. We use stainless steel cookware, and tofu always sticks to it. I've destroyed so much tofu on these pans, that I tend to avoid using tofu in them at all, which limits my tofu flexibility. I have a background in chemistry, and after reading many articles talking about the potential toxicity of non-stick cookware (example here), I'm really really leery about non-stick cookware, as convenient as it is for tofu. So, I admit (somewhat shamefully) that I have one lone non-stick frying pan that I'm going to use until the coating starts to peel off, and then I will throw it out and never use non-stick again. In the meantime, I do use it for tofu (and not much else), because it gets a nice crispy outside and keeps the inside chewy. (Baking tofu makes the tofu crispy throughout.)
If you have cast iron cookware, I'm jealous, because cast iron makes tofu awesome. It browns the outside nicely, and well-seasoned cast iron can be just as non-stick as Teflon or other non-stick surfaces, without the cancer. I have a great new cast iron pan, but I bought it about a month before we bought a nice new cooktop stove, and I'm paranoid about destroying the cooktop, so I have not use my cast iron since the stove arrived. But I highly recommend cast iron for tofu!
Enjoying tofu. Well, that's about all I can think of for now! If you have any tofu tips, tricks, or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you. Tofu is a great food, and it should be celebrated, not feared!
I used to joke about tofu, too. It's sort of a boring block of flavorless... jello. It's mysterious. And I haven't had much luck in finding tips and tricks all in one place, so I hope I can fill in the gap a bit.
Tofu's a great food. It's made from soybeans, and as far as prepared foods go, it's one of the least processed foods of all processed foods. You can even make your own, if you're so inclined. It's low in fat, free of trans fat, cholesterol free, low carb, high protein, and is a decent source of iron and calcium. (nutritional info)
There are rumors that tofu will cause men to grow breasts, women to ovulate constantly, (hormone imbalances), thyroid problems, and a host of other scary things. These are scare tactics, and I highly suggest people do their own research before listening to anyone who says a food will cause men to grow breasts. Check out The Safety of Soy. Go on, I'll wait.
So now that you know tofu is nothing more than a bean (a soybean, to be specific), and is nothing to be feared, let's talk a little about how to make it not suck. Tofu is great! Tofu is healthy! Tofu is fun! Tofu is flexible, versatile, and awesome.
Types of tofu. I'm going to abbreviate this, because I'm a simple girl. There are two distinct types of tofu: fresh, and not fresh. Fresh tofu is packaged in water and is sold in the produce/refigerated section of the market. There are lots of brands, like China Rose, Nasoya, and House. Not fresh tofu is packaged in an aseptic container (much like a juice box), and is shelf-stable. The only brand I've ever seen is Mori-Nu. Mori-Nu tofu resembles custard, doesn't have air holes (no spongy texture), and is really only good for pureeing in sauces, puddings, cakes, and so on. Fresh tofu is the type of tofu that's best for marinading and eating in chunks, slices, and crumbles.
Both types come in different densities, from soft to extra firm. In general, soft tofu is best for pureeing, or when you don't care if it keeps its shape. Firm or extra firm tofu is best for slicing, dicing, and serving whole. I always buy the firmest tofu I can find. Keep in mind that extra firm tofu in one brand might not be as firm as another brand, so there's some experimentation and experience that happens, too.
For ease, when I talk about tofu, I'm talking about fresh tofu, unless I specifically state Mori-Nu, or tofu an an aseptic package.
Texture of tofu. There's nothing wrong with busting open a package of tofu, and using it the way you bought it. Tofu is great as-is, and it has nothing to be ashamed of. However, something magical happens when the whole package gets thrown in the freezer, it's allowed to freeze solid, thaw, and be used in recipes. Freezing tofu changes the texture so it's more chewy, and it increases the size of the little holes in the tofu, which helps it absorb more of that awesome marinade you're using.
When I get home from the store, I throw most of the tofu right into the freezer, which keeps it longer, and when I want tofu, I take it out in the morning and leave it on the counter/in the sink (a LOT of condensation happens), and it's ready for dinner. I prefer un-frozen tofu for tofu scramble, but for almost anything else, I like my tofu frozen. If you lack forethought, like I often do, you can defrost the tofu in the microwave for 4-5 minutes. Just be careful that it doesn't get too hot to handle. And don't try to cut frozen tofu: your knife and the ice crystals will just tear it up and break the tofu.
Getting ready to cook tofu. Tofu needs to be pressed. This means the water needs to be expelled from the little holes in the tofu (think of tofu like a big sponge), to make room for marinades and sauces. There are lots of instructions out there about how to properly press tofu, but I'm impatient, so I'll tell you how I do it.
I get out two small plates, sandwich the tofu brick between the flat sides (the sides you eat from), and gently press evenly over the sink. Lots of water will come out, and eventually it'll slow down. Don't squash your tofu (frozen tofu can handle squashing a lot better than unfrozen, just FYI), and take care not to break the block up, but just gently press evenly with your hands until the bulk of the water is removed (you won't get it all). Some people rig up elaborate tofu-pressing devices, with stacks of plates and cans and heavy objects, with a tofu block wrapped in towels, and leave it for an hour... but I'm much too impatient for that. I find this works just fine. Now the tofu is ready to be marinaded or otherwise cooked.
Cooking tofu. When marinading tofu, longer is better, but even just a half hour to an hour is enough to soak up flavor. Then it can either be baked or pan fried. When I bake tofu, I've discovered that my Sil-pat baking mat is fantastic: tofu never sticks! It's amazing. But if you don't have a Sil-pat or don't want to use one, any baking dish lightly sprayed with oil works fine. spray the tofu before you flip them, so the other sides don't stick! I bake tofu at 350f for about 10-15 minutes per side, depending on how crispy I want them.
For pan frying, I admit I have some trouble with this. We use stainless steel cookware, and tofu always sticks to it. I've destroyed so much tofu on these pans, that I tend to avoid using tofu in them at all, which limits my tofu flexibility. I have a background in chemistry, and after reading many articles talking about the potential toxicity of non-stick cookware (example here), I'm really really leery about non-stick cookware, as convenient as it is for tofu. So, I admit (somewhat shamefully) that I have one lone non-stick frying pan that I'm going to use until the coating starts to peel off, and then I will throw it out and never use non-stick again. In the meantime, I do use it for tofu (and not much else), because it gets a nice crispy outside and keeps the inside chewy. (Baking tofu makes the tofu crispy throughout.)
If you have cast iron cookware, I'm jealous, because cast iron makes tofu awesome. It browns the outside nicely, and well-seasoned cast iron can be just as non-stick as Teflon or other non-stick surfaces, without the cancer. I have a great new cast iron pan, but I bought it about a month before we bought a nice new cooktop stove, and I'm paranoid about destroying the cooktop, so I have not use my cast iron since the stove arrived. But I highly recommend cast iron for tofu!
Enjoying tofu. Well, that's about all I can think of for now! If you have any tofu tips, tricks, or suggestions, I'd love to hear from you. Tofu is a great food, and it should be celebrated, not feared!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Manicotti
I've been somewhat MIA because I haven't been feeling well and it's kept me out of the kitchen. I have a back problem that causes me lots of pain (especially when standing), and I also found out I have fibromyalgia. Now I have better drugs, and I'm able to stand for longer, and hopefully that will lend itself to more kitchen experiments.
Also, in terms of new news, my husband and I have decided to move out of state, so we're busy freecycling, selling, and packing things. We normally keep a well-stocked pantry, so at this point we're not grocery shopping and we're having whatever's in the pantry. It should make for some interesting recipes. I hope.
So today I found a box of manicotti noodles, and one lone box of Mori-Nu tofu. So I tried to make it not suck:
ingredients:
manicotti noodles (1 lb)
1 box Mori-Nu tofu
1 cup (roughly) cooked kale or spinach
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Put the noodles on to boil and ready the food processor. In the food processor, put the tofu, kale, nutritional yeast, spices, and lemon juice, and puree until no tofu chunks remain (you may want to puree the tofu first and then add everything else).
Put a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9"x13" glass baking dish.
When the noodles are done, rinse them with cool water so they can be handled. Using a fork, stuff some filling into each noodle. When all the noodles have been stuffed, cover the noodles with the remainder of the sauce. (Rinse the jar with a little water and add that to the pan too.)
Cover with foil. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before devouring!
Also, in terms of new news, my husband and I have decided to move out of state, so we're busy freecycling, selling, and packing things. We normally keep a well-stocked pantry, so at this point we're not grocery shopping and we're having whatever's in the pantry. It should make for some interesting recipes. I hope.
So today I found a box of manicotti noodles, and one lone box of Mori-Nu tofu. So I tried to make it not suck:
ingredients:
manicotti noodles (1 lb)
1 box Mori-Nu tofu
1 cup (roughly) cooked kale or spinach
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Put the noodles on to boil and ready the food processor. In the food processor, put the tofu, kale, nutritional yeast, spices, and lemon juice, and puree until no tofu chunks remain (you may want to puree the tofu first and then add everything else).
Put a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9"x13" glass baking dish.
When the noodles are done, rinse them with cool water so they can be handled. Using a fork, stuff some filling into each noodle. When all the noodles have been stuffed, cover the noodles with the remainder of the sauce. (Rinse the jar with a little water and add that to the pan too.)
Cover with foil. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before devouring!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
tofu scramble
i don't have any photos of this, but it's probably my favorite breakfast food, along with a good waffle and some sausage. it's a great weekend breakfast, and the leftover scramble is awesome when reheated for breakfast the next day. it's great in tortillas too for breakfast wraps. there's a ton of variations, so i'll post some at the bottom. here's the bare bones recipe:
ingredients:
one block drained and sorta pressed firm/extra firm tofu
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp olive juice
2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast
spice mix:
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika (i like hungarian best)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
dash of pepper
directions:
over medium heat in a large skillet, sautee the garlic for about a minute, then add the spice mix stirring well for about a minute. crumble the tofu into the skillet (i prefer larger chunks, they'll break as you're cooking anyway, but do what you wish). try not to mash the tofu up, but give it a good toss and stir to coat it all with the spices, garlic, and oil. depending on how much water was left in your tofu, you'll need to cook it for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. if it looks really dry or sticks too much, add a splash of water to deglaze the pan a bit.
once cooked, add the lemon juice, and nutritional yeast.
i'm from new england, so i prefer my tofu scramble smothered with ketchup. feel free to do something classier, like salsa, or minimalist, and eat it plain.
variations:
i hate onions. you probably don't. add half a chopped onion to the garlic, and caramelize the heck out of it. alternately, you could add onion powder to the spice mix.
i love peppers. add half a washed, seeded, and diced bell pepper of your favorite color to the garlic, and continue as usual. live dangerously and use more pepper if you're into it.
i love mushrooms, too. add three or four good sized chopped white or crimini mushrooms to the garlic and sautee until they release their juices.
carrots rock. if you're not as lazy as i am, grate a large one or handful of baby ones in a food processor and throw it in towards the end.
if you have some vegan sausage on hand, crumble it in with the tofu, and make breakfast goulash. (i'm sorry i lack witty names for these things.)
serve it with tater tots-- or just cook some tater tots and throw them in with the sausage and toss it all together. this combo, along with peppers and mushrooms, is my personal favorite. with ketchup, of course.
ingredients:
one block drained and sorta pressed firm/extra firm tofu
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp olive juice
2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast
spice mix:
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika (i like hungarian best)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
dash of pepper
directions:
over medium heat in a large skillet, sautee the garlic for about a minute, then add the spice mix stirring well for about a minute. crumble the tofu into the skillet (i prefer larger chunks, they'll break as you're cooking anyway, but do what you wish). try not to mash the tofu up, but give it a good toss and stir to coat it all with the spices, garlic, and oil. depending on how much water was left in your tofu, you'll need to cook it for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. if it looks really dry or sticks too much, add a splash of water to deglaze the pan a bit.
once cooked, add the lemon juice, and nutritional yeast.
i'm from new england, so i prefer my tofu scramble smothered with ketchup. feel free to do something classier, like salsa, or minimalist, and eat it plain.
variations:
i hate onions. you probably don't. add half a chopped onion to the garlic, and caramelize the heck out of it. alternately, you could add onion powder to the spice mix.
i love peppers. add half a washed, seeded, and diced bell pepper of your favorite color to the garlic, and continue as usual. live dangerously and use more pepper if you're into it.
i love mushrooms, too. add three or four good sized chopped white or crimini mushrooms to the garlic and sautee until they release their juices.
carrots rock. if you're not as lazy as i am, grate a large one or handful of baby ones in a food processor and throw it in towards the end.
if you have some vegan sausage on hand, crumble it in with the tofu, and make breakfast goulash. (i'm sorry i lack witty names for these things.)
serve it with tater tots-- or just cook some tater tots and throw them in with the sausage and toss it all together. this combo, along with peppers and mushrooms, is my personal favorite. with ketchup, of course.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
breakfast sammiches!
honestly? i don't miss those fast food restaurant breakfast sammiches because of the nastiness that they contain, but i miss the warm squishy salty chemically-flavored yumminess, as well as the plain old fun and simplicity of eating one.
but no eggs, dairy, or pork, please.
the "eggs" and bakon here are the leftovers from a failed attempt at tofu benedict (or bernaise, i think), a sauce that i had no right serving to anyone, but my trooper of a man ate two servings. maybe if it's perfected someday, you'll get to subject your own partners to it. ;)
so here goes:
seitan bakon ingredients:
seitan, cut into rounds, counting on two slices per sammich
for the marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
seitan bakon directions:
preheat oven to 350f. spray a glass baking dish with oil, and lay the seitan rounds in it. mix the marinade well in a small bowl, and spoon half-to-two-thirds of it over the seitan. bake for 15 minutes, flip, add the rest of the marinade, and bake 15 minutes longer. it'll be firm and slightly crispy, but not brick-like.
note: i used very moist seitan from a batch that didn't come out so hot. if you have nice firm not-so-moist seitan, you may only need to cook this for 10 minutes a side. check after 10 minutes and see how crispy your seitan is doing.
tofu ingredients:
extra firm tofu, drained and pressed (if you like it chewy, freeze it first)
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
spices (mix in a little bowl):
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp turmeric
pinch of salt
tofu directions:
slice the tofu however you like, about 1/4-1/2" thick. i like to cut the block in half (the "short" way), and then slice the halves into bit square slices. figure one large slice or two smaller slices per sammich, so you can store unused and uncut tofu in fresh water for a week or two. spray a nonstick skillet with oil and heat at medium (or a little lower). lay the tofu slices in the pan, drizzle with a little soy sauce, and sprinkle with half-to-two-thirds of the spice mix. cook until they start to get crispy, or at least firm up, flip them, and sprinkle with the rest of the spice mix. (you don't have to, they'll have plenty of spice at this point, but i like the flavor). flip at will till they seem done. it'll probably take about 20 minutes.
sammich assembly:
if you like real food, toast your muffins to your preferences, stack two slices of bakon on the bottom, one or two slices of tofu on that, and top off with the half a muffin.
if you're like me, assemble the sammich on an untoasted muffin, and stick it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. smother tofu in lotsa ketchup and enjoy! :)
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