Stuffed Tofu... Again.

Yep, third appearance now, but this time with recipe and tutorial, yay!


Stuff you'll need for the filling:

• 4 tbsp margarine
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 4/5 cloves garlic (I like my food really garlicky, reduce this amount if you don't share my passion)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• Handful basil leaves, chopped.
  

Stuff you'll need for the coating:

• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard

And obviously you'll need a block of tofu! You'll want a really firm tofu, with no cracks or holes in it. This is the kind I use:

What you do:

1. First make the filling by mixing together all the filling ingredients in a bowl. Simple as. This is what mine usually looks like:
2. Now drain your tofu and pat it dry. Cut block of tofu in half like this:
3. Now, using your sharpest knife score a rectangle into one of the sides. Keep scoring deeper and deeper. Go quite far into the tofu, but not too far, as you don't want the tofu to split open.
4. Scoop out the insides of the tofu. Set aside some of the scoopy out bits.
5. Put filling in tofu. Don't overfill it, you don't want the filling to explode the tofu.
6. I sometimes put a little basil leaf on top of the filling, it probably doesn't do anything, but I'm strange like that. Put some of the scooped out tofu in the end.

7. Brush some of the remaining filling onto the outside of the tofu and cover in foil. Leave to marinate, anything over an hour is great, but it tastes fine with no marinating too.

8. Now it's time to bake. I've baked it standing up, and on it's side. It's okay on it's side as long as it's tightly wrapped in foil. This time I baked it standing up. I leave the top of the tin foil open, and wrap and excess round the back of the pan to keep it upright. This probably isn't making any sense, so here's a picture:
9. Bake at around 200 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Keep an eye on it to make sure it hasn't fallen over.

10. Take tofu out and leave it to rest until it's cooled down a bit. Why? Well the easiest way to do the next bit is with your hands, and right now, that filling is like molten lava. I did it with tongs tonight, but I wouldn't really recommend it.

11. Right, now put the remaining mustard on a plate, and mix the flour and nutritional yeast together (on a separate plate if you like, I just use a big plate)

12. Turn on your frying pan and put some oil in it. You want to let it get really hot before you put anything in it.

13. Dip tofu in mustard, and then dredge in flour mixture.

14. Fry for a few minutes on each side. Should be nicely browned.

Eat!
Got any leftover filling? Cook your vegetables in it!

Seems like a lot of instructions, but most of it involves waiting for things to happen so it's not too bad.

Some Stuff What I Eated Recently

Yeah, that was me trying to do lolcatz speak. I fail at life sometimes.

As I anxiously await the arrival of my Veganomicon, I thought I'd make something from Vegan with a Vengeance that I'd never tried before. So, I give to you, Tempeh and White Bean Sausage Patties. I had four of these babies in some lovely organic pitta bread. Then I went to bed and when I woke the rest of the patties had miraculously disappeared! Funny how that happens sometimes.

Sometimes Gary cooks. When this happens it's always chilli. Sometimes I complain that I get bored of chilli. Sometimes Gary listens and makes things other than chilli. This was one of those times. He took some gorgeous ciabattas and scooped out the insides and stuffed them with roasted vegetables, cheezly, and probably all sorts of other lovely stuff. As I didn't make it, I'm not sure. He also roasted some tomatoes, and toasted the scooped out bread and served it with some garlic olive oil. It was all highly delicious.


I made this soup today and it was the best tomato soup I've ever eaten (even if I do say so myself). It's lovely and rich, and chunky, and flavourful. It also has some cannelini beans in it for some protein (coz you know, none of us are getting enough). It's served with some toasted organic bread I got at the health store, which is spread with lovely garlic and herb butter.

So, I Perfected That Stuffed Tofu Recipe...

... but I'm being a total tease and not posting the recipe yet. Why? Well because I have a tendency to not measure anything when I'm cooking, but I promise I'll measure stuff next time I cook it. In the meantime, here's a picture of it, in all its oozy glory.
Gary says it's the best thing I've ever cooked and offered me 50 quid if I would surrender my portion right then and there. I politely declined.

So, on Sunday we had a small vegan brunch at our flat. It was fun. So, I give to you... brunch food!
Balsamic Bruschetta
Tomato Tarts
Aubergine Pomodoro