Tag Archives: shitake mushroom

Baked Tofu Steaks with Mushroom Gravy

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This is an easy, vegan thanksgiving main dish. The baked tofu is flavorful and chewy. And the vegan mushroom gravy has great meatiness, making this a very satisfying dish overall. Serve this thanksgiving entrée with some stuffing, and few vegetable side dishes.

I like to insert a few thin slices of garlic into the tofu before baking. I enjoy the little bits of garlic in the tofu. You could do this with carrots or celery as well, or just leave this step out.

I love chanterelle mushrooms and always use them in gravy. They have a nice meaty texture, and chicken like flavor. You could use a mix of whatever mushrooms you like. I’ve used buttom mushrooms, criminis, shiitakes and chanterelles.

The mushroom gravy with thyme and sage goes really well with the chewy baked tofu. You could easily make the gravy the previous day and re-heat it in the microwave. You could also marinate the tofu the previous day (flavor will be stronger), and throw it in the oven about an hour before you eat.

Some great baked tofu recipes..

Baked tofu recipe on Fat free vegan
Baked tofu recipe on the kitchn
Kalyn’s baked tofu recipe with soy and sesame
Simple baked tofu recipe on Vegweb
Smokey miso baked tofu recipe on vegan yumyum

Some great mushroom gravy recipes..

Mushroom gravy recipe on Epicurious

Martha Stewart’s vegetarian mushroom gravy recipe
Home brew chef’s wild mushroom gravy recipe using beer
Vegan mushroom gravy recipe on what do I know blog

Baked tofu steaks and Mushroom gravy recipe

serves about 2

One 14 oz block extra firm tofu, drained
1 tiny garlic clove, peeled

For the marinade
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
A pinch of dried Italian seasoning or poultry seasoning, optional
Cracked black pepper

Cut the tofu vertically in half. Then cut each half widthwise into two pieces. You will have 4 tofu pieces. Using a kitchen towel, pat the tofu pieces to absorb as much moisture as you can.

Make 2 small slits on top of each tofu piece. Thinly slice the garlic clove into 8 slices. Insert one slice of garlic into each slit on the tofu. Skip this step if you don’t like garlic.

Whisk together all marinade ingredients and pour into a dish. Place the tofu slices in the dish with the marinade. Carefully flip the tofu pieces so they are covered all over by the marinade. Let the tofu marinade for about 15 minutes.

Pre heat oven to 350f

Remove the tofu pieces from the marinade and place on a non-stick baking dish. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, flipping the tofu pieces every 20 minutes. Cooking times will vary depending on your oven and thickness of tofu slices.

Tofu is done when it is firm and browned all over.

Mushroom gravy with thyme and sage

makes about 3 cups

12oz  fresh mushrooms (a mix of white, crimini, shiitake, chanterelle etc)
2 tablespoons olive oil, butter or margarine
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
3 large sage leaves, chopped
3 splashes sherry or red wine

For gravy
½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 cups vegetable stock or water (I used water)
2 tablespoons flour
Salt & pepper

Clean the mushrooms using a paper towel. Then slice them into even sized pieces. If using shiitakes, remember to remove and discard the stems.

Heat oil, butter or margarine in a large skillet. Add onions and cook on medium-low. When onions are soft, add garlic, thyme and sage. Stir for 30 seconds. Add chopped mushrooms. Increase heat to high and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the sherry or wine and continue cooking another minute or till the alcohol evaporates.

Whisk together all the gravy ingredients (balsamic vinegar through salt and pepper). Make sure there are no lumps. Pour this mixture over the mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar if needed.

Spinach and Shitake Mushroom Soup with Crispy Baked Tofu Croutons

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shitake-spinach-soup1

I love soups and make versions of this recipe often in the cold months. Sometimes I add rice noodles to this soup to make it more filling but this time I didnt. The tofu croutons are wonderfully crunchy and make this otherwise thin soup rather satisfying. We had a huge bowl for dinner and I’m looking forward to eating the left over for lunch :)

tofu-croutons

I love these tofu croutons in the soup, they are crispy on the outside, meaty inside absorb flavors fabulously. I also love snacking on them with some hot sauce or sriracha to dip. Toss tofu cubes in some corn starch before baking, this makes the croutons extra crisp. You could add any kind of seasoning you like to the tofu cubes; I stuck with salt and pepper. Garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, paprika will all be great; add these to the tofu about 10 minutes before the end of baking to prevent the spices from burning.
 
shitake-spinach-soup2
 

Spinach and Shitake Mushroom Soup with Crispy Baked Tofu Croutons Recipe

serves 4-6

2 oz dried shitake mushrooms
1/2 tbsp canola oil
2 leeks, chopped thinly and washed
3 tbsp garlic paste
3 tbsp ginger paste
8 cups water, vegetable stock or mushroom stock
3-4 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar or lemon juice
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp sriracha or chili paste
1 large bunch of fresh spinach, washed
Salt (keep in mind soy sauce and stock are already salty)

Soak dried shitake mushrooms in 3 cups of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Heat oil in a soup pot. Add leeks and saute on high heat till leeks are soft. Then add ginger and garlic pastes and cook for about 2 minutes. Removed shitake mushroooms from the boiling water, reserve the soaking liquid. Squeze out some of the water and cut the larger mushrooms into half. Add the mushrooms to the leeks, ginger and garlic and saute on medium-high heat for about 1 minute.

Add 3 cups of the mushroom soaking liquid and 8 cups stock to the soup pot. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for about 6 minutes. Add the soy sauce, vinegar or lemon juice, sesame oil, spinach, salt and immediately turn off heat. The fresh spinach will wilt into the soup and doent need any more cooking. Taste and adjust soy sauce, vinegar or lemon juice and sriracha. Serve with tofu croutons on top. For a more filling meal, add some cooked rice noodles or vemicelli to the soup. If you like thicker soup, mix 3 tbsp of corn starch with a little water and add this to the soup at the end, but before adding spinach. Bring the soup with the corn starch slurry to a boil and then turn off heat. This will thicken the soup.

Tofu Croutons Recipe

1 block (19 oz) firm tofu
1 tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 tbsp corn startch
salt and pepper
other optional seasonings – garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, paprika

Heat oven to 375 f. Drain tofu and pat dry. Cut tofu into 1/2 inch cubes. Toss tofu cubes with corn startch, salt and pepper. Drizzle oil over the tofu cubes. Place on a non-stick baking sheet (or a baking sheet lined with silpat or parchment). Bake for 45 minutes or untill the tofu croutons are golden. If using any of the optional sesaoning listed above, remove tofu from oven 10 minutes before end of baking time and toss the croutons with sesaonings, return to oven. Let tofu croutons cool a little before removing them from the baking sheet. Serve with soup.

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