Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

Slices of Sundried Tomato/Garlic/Basil/Artichoke Gourmet Tofu drizzled with a peppery extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar

I hope I won't bore you with my tofu adventures! Since I tried making the fresh sage, leek, and dried wild mushroom tofu two blog posts ago, I have talked to various other cooks about it, and wanted to try it with dried porcini mushrooms not soaked beforehand, so that the mushroom taste was more concentrated than in my first version (I soaked them the first time, then chopped them and added them to the soymilk). The originators of this recipe, on the wishwewerebaking blog, did not soak them first, but they used dried champignon mushrooms, which are not as strong as porcinis. Another friend used them without soaking, but did not specify the type she used-- she thought the results "screamed" mushroom on the first bite!

So, I had to try it myself. I also wanted to try adding the chopped leeks and sage raw, without sauteing, as I had done before. I figured that this would save time and effort, and that the leeks would cook in the hot soymilk, anyway.

NOTE: There are explicit directions for making tofu, written by my friend Brenda Wiley, at this link. Just follow those directions, with my additions below. If you don't want to make your own soymilk, and you have access to fresh unflavored soymilk , you can use that instead. But make sure it is fresh and unflavored!

To the two soymilk maker batches (3 qts.total) hot, fresh unflavored soymilk this time I added:

about 7/8 cup dried porcini mushrooms, crumbled, so that the pieces wouldn't be too large
3 cups chopped leeks
18 fresh sage leaves
(I chopped the leeks and sage more finely in the food processor)

I added these to the hot fresh soymilk in a large pot BEFORE adding the coagulant, let it come up to over 180 degrees F, and added the coagulant (2 tsp. nigari powder dissolved in 1 cup boiling water) slowly, covered the pot and let it sit 10 minutes. Then I stirred gently again and began ladling out the curds as instructed.
(See that last blog post for pictures of the process, and some of the ways I used the results.)

BTW: I made this batch with 1 Tbs. (3 packets) nigari powder for coagulant, but I think I will use only 2 tsp. (2 packets) again next time. The extra nigari made the curds smaller, and I don't think that makes as nice a tofu.


Version #2 of the Mushroom/Leek/Sage Tofu

I thought the tofu was good, the mushroom flavor stronger in a subtle way, but I think I would saute the leeks and sage again next time. I think the leek and sage flavor came through better with the sauteed version, and the leeks did not "crunch".

We just had some for a snack with real tamari (the liquid that drains off miso) from our local miso maker-- a treat!

ANOTHER VERSION:

I made this early last week, just 1 block using 1 batch (1 1/2 qts.) soymilk. I added (for 1 1/2 qts.) :

1/2 cup sundried tomatoes in oil (I rinsed the oil off with hot water and chopped them small after measuring)
1/2 cup marinated sliced artichoke hearts (also rinsed and then chopped pretty finely after measuring)
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. dried basil (didn't have any fresh-- if you do, use 2 Tbs. chopped)

One thing I noticed was that the acid from the tomatoes (and any residual marinade on the artichokes, I guess) started curdling the soymilk before I even added the coagulator. But I added it anyway. I also noticed that the curds were smaller as a result. The tofu was a bit fragile from all the stuf I loaded into it, but tasted great! I might cut the tomatoes and artichokes down to 1/3 cup each next time.



We ate this cold drizzled with a very peppery extra-virgin olive oil and just a dash of balsamic vinegar. Yum...

As I mentioned before, I did not store the tofu in water, as I don't want to destroy the flavor, and we ate it all up within a day or two. I just placed it in the fridge on a plate, covered with plastic wrap.

Enjoy!

Fresh sage, leek, and dried wild mushroom tofu, just made, drizzled with a bit of soy sauce

Last week I came across this very cool blog post (UPDATE June 2015: The blog doesn't exist anymore, unfortunately) about making homemade tofu with vegetables and herbs added. The authors called it "tofeta", but, since that name conjures up a salty, fermented taste for me, I just call it "gourmet tofu". Whatever you call it, it's a brilliant idea.

That article inspired me (as the authors intended) to think of other flavors, and quite a few combinations came to mind. However, I decided to try it more or less according to their directions for a start. They did not specify the amount of soymilk they started with, so I used 2 batches from my soymilk maker, which is 3 quarts, un-flavored. (PS, June 2015:  the soymilk makers I have are Soyquick, but that brand is no longer in business-- too bad, they are great and have lasted a long time. You can check the reviews on amazon.com of other brands [or amazon.ca or the one for your country]).

NOTE: There are explicit directions for making tofu, written by my friend Brenda Wiley, at this link. Just follow those directions, with my additions below. If you can't or don't want to make your own soymilk, and you have access to fresh unflavored soymilk from an Asian soy product store (most big cities have such a store), you can use that (but make sure tha the milk is fresh and un-flavored). OR you can use unsweetened, un-flavored commercial soymilk from an un-opened carton, or (preferably) from a shelf-stable UHT carton, you can use that instead.

They added dried mushrooms, dried leeks, and dried sage to the soymilk before coagulating. Since I had some fresh leeks and beautiful sage growing in the garden, I decided to use those, plus some dried mixed wild mushrooms, which I soaked in some hot water. I also decided to chop the sage and leeks (green and white part) in the food processor and then sauté them briefly in a little olive oil, to bring out the flavors and chopped the drained, soaked mushrooms (the directions from the blog mentioned were a bit vague).

I used:
1 cup dried mixed wild mushrooms, soaked them for 15 minutes in boiling water
3 cups roughly chopped leeks
18 fresh sage leaves
(I chopped the leeks and sage in the food processor)
1 Tbs. olive oil for sautéing

I used 1/2 cup of the hot mushroom soaking water instead of plain water to dissolve the coagulator (I used nigari). I added the prepared veggies and herbs to the hot soymilk when it got to just over 180 degrees F, then drizzled in the dissolved nigari, stirred gently and briefly, covered the pan and let set for 10 minutes.

The tofu curds and flavorful sauteed vegetables

I stirred the curds briefly again and then scooped them into two of the little plastic tofu boxes you often get with soymilk machines, but which  you can purchase separately. If you have a nice wooden tofu mold  (or in Canada here) you can do the whole batch in that.

Curds in the tofu molds before pressing

I use a kind of jury-rigged pressing system. (An aside, just for fun! Jury-rigged or Jerry-rigged? Jury-built or Jerry-built? Although their etymologies are obscure and their meanings overlap, these are two distinct expressions. Something poorly built is “jerry-built.” Something rigged up temporarily in a makeshift manner with materials at hand, often in an ingenious manner, is “jury-rigged.” “Jerry-built” always has a negative connotation, whereas one can be impressed by the cleverness of a jury-rigged solution. Many people cross-pollinate these two expressions and mistakenly say “jerry-rigged” or “jury-built.” See also http://www.word-detective.com/2012/01/jerry-rig-jury-rig/).

I used 5/ 28 oz. cans of tomatoes and stacked the last 3 on a wooden cutting board placed over the first two cans to make the pressure even. That's about 9 lbs. and I pressed it for about 15 minutes. It's pretty firm tofu. It made about 1 lb. 2 oz. after pressing.

There are various types of more efficient tofu presses available, such as this one, the TofuXpress:


This press, and others shown on the same page (some of which hold more product) are available on amazon and various other sites. 


This tofu is fantastic! We ate some fresh and warm, just drizzled with a little soy sauce, as the Japanese do.

Last night, as a starter, we had small pieces coated lightly with nutritional yeast flakes, pan-fried in just a little olive oil with a few drops dark sesame oil, and served with soy sauce. Divine!


This morning, I scrambled it with a good sprinkle each of nutritional yeast flakes and soy sauce to eat with toast. Lovely! (I apologize for not being very inventive-- it tastes so good in these simple preparations. I do want to try marinating, deep-frying, etc. at a later date.)


I did not store the remaining gourmet tofu (which is the way you would normally store fresh tofu), because I didn't want to destroy the flavor, and we plan to eat it up soon, anyway.  I just refrigerated it on a plate, covered with plastic wrap.

Enjoy!