Mmm... mmm... I like this recipe. It's pretty simple, and is actually an adaptation from a recipe for white fish (halibut, sea bass, etc) that I learned from work.
You know, I'm not sure I've really given enough attention to tofu on a lot of these recipes. Probably the most frequent of questions I receive are.... WTF DO I DO WITH TOFU!? quote n' stuff.
The basic answer is... anything, but I will try to go more in-depth in more recipes. In this recipe (and any where tofu is used as the... main-focus, or "protein" or "faux meat", you want to use firm, or extra firm (or super firm!) tofu. Take it out of the package and press it between two plates, with a weight on top. Anything will do... heavy is good as long as it does not break the block. Oh, and keep an eye on it, because the tofu may begin to slope on one side, causing whatever you have on it to fall off... possibly break when it hits the floor :(
So, for this recipe, that is all it _really_ takes to prepare the tofu. Just press it for... hell, over night if you have the time; the longer you press it, the more dry (and ready to soak up flavor) it will become.
Now your tofu is ready. w00t!
So, the 'herb-crusted' part of the recipe is straight-forward. Get yerself some fresh herbs. Dry herbs will not do at all for this.
Basil
Sage
Oregano
Thyme
dry, ground ginger (well, dry won't work... except for this one! :))
I don't really measure, but I know I use more basil than anything else. Basically... nearly half of the end-result should be finally minced basil, and the other... 60% we'll say.. is a mix of the other fresh herbs - all minced. Toss is about... a tsp or 2 of the dry ginger and mix it all up.
Coat the tofu in olive oil and salt & pepper it thoroughly. Once done, pat one side of it with the herb mix and put in to a hot and oiled non-stick pan. Saute it for... I dunno... until it's done? :) About 5 mins or so, you just want to give it a golden color, and release some of the fragrance of herbs. This also helps "lock" the herbs on to the tofu.
Once sauteed, slide a spatulator under it and flip it on to a lightly greased oven pan and bake it at 300 degrees for about... 35 mins, or so. Another tip with tofu is that it is often best to cook it at a low tempt for a long time, versus meat or fish, where a high temp for a short time can yield the same affect.
So, that's your tofu. If you're patient, you can cook it at an even lower temp for longer, but I'm lazy and I usually read to distraction until I absolutely have to start dinner (which I actually need to start right now :P)
Part II:
Citrus Beurre Blanc.
So, a Beurre Blanc is basically a sauce made from white wine, or white vinegar (though that sounds nasty to me). Anyone familiar with my older post on making a picata sauce should find this recipe familiar and simple.
*a good tip is to make more than you need; this sauce can be frozen, or used in any-odd desire.
1 bottle of a decent white wine. You're cooking here, so... well, you can spend whatever you want. I use a decently priced box of chablis.
2 shallots
2 sprigs thyme
~12 black peppercorns.
add thsoe ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce by 3/4s.
Strain the shallts, thyme & pepcorns, then add:
4 cups veg. stock (or chicken if you... really want to.)
bring to a boil and reduce by half.
add... probably about 1 cup of fresh, cold butter (In the vegan-sense, I recommend Earth balance brand vegan butter spread. This is _not_ margarine, and it is more healthy than butter or margarine could ever hope to. There are other brands that have come out that make this also, but their names escape me. Basically it's an expeller-pressed canola oil, flavored to be butter, but nothing terrible was added. The same process goes in to vegan mayonnaise, which I... well, I'm kind of a junky.)
and add the juice of 2 lemons - or even a combination of lemon/orange/lime, as your tastebuds prefer.
Serve with a wild rice pilaf and some veggies, and you're ready to eat. Fuck yeah.
Oh - if you're curious, my recipe for rice pilaf is:
1 onion
2 stalks celery
1 med. carrot
(all small diced)
saute in oil with 2 bay leafs for like.. 5 minutes or so, until the onion are translucent, then add 4 dry cups of rice. mix the rice around for about... 1 minute in the oil, then toss in 8 cups of veggie broth. Cover, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cook for like... 20 mins on a very low simmer.
This, of course, makes a lot of rice pilaf, but you can always use the extra for fried rice, for tofu & rice soup, for... whatever.
That's regular rice pilaf. You can also get some wild grains for a wild rice pilaf, but you want to cook them seperately from the pilaf and add them once the regular rice is nearly done. Basically 1 cup of wild grains cooked with 4 cups of veg. broth. Like rice, bring to a boil, then bring to a low simmer and cook un-covered until the broth is gone.
