Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Baked Tofu!

Baked Tofu in the store can be quite pricey and not nearly as good as home made. We used about.com’s method [http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/maindishes/r/bakedtofu.htm] with Veganomicon’s Italian marinade to make baked tofu at home, and it turned out crispy, light, and delicious. It had that perfect Umami protein flavor and a lovely firm texture.

First you squeeze the heck out of the little tofus that you have cut into rectangles. You mush them with books and get as much liquid out as possible. Then you marinate them for about an hour in the Veganomicon recipe (or any others that suit you)



Afterward, you bake them at 300 degrees for about an hour and a half to two hours.
Then you get lovely golden brown tofu cutlets!

We incorporated them into a pasta dish in an olive oil sauce with mushrooms and asparagus.

By itself this tofu would probably be overwhelmed by a red wine. I would suggest a white wine with some nice acidity and some citrus notes, perhaps a California Sauvignon Blanc. Since the marinade isn’t very strong, a light Pinot Grigio would probably go well too. If you do something like we did and add asparagus, I would suggest a more herbal Sauvignon Blanc with grassy notes or maybe a Viognier to to contrast and cut the herbal flavors. Basically there are two schools of thought with pairing. One is to complement the flavors with a wine that mirrors the food. The other is to cut the flavors in the dish with a wine that has apposing flavors. You can do either here.