The Kitchen Club
 at the Church of the Incarnation


RECIPES FROM KC#2: Tofu!

Preparation: Blotting or Draining Tofu
Preparation: TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)
Marinade 1
Marinade 2
Onion Soup and Tofu Dip
Chili with TVP
Mandarin Chocolate Pudding Pie (made with Tofu)

Wednesday, June 22, 7:15pm at the Parish House

KC#2 is all about tofu and how to cook with it. We'll present a dinner showing several different types of tofu (noodles, soft, firm, medium) and different types of cooking, including how to marinade, soup, grill, pan-fry, stir-fry, and make a no-cook refrigerator chocolate pie with tofu! We'll also talk about cultures which use tofu as their main source of protein — the hows and whys, economically, practically, spiritually. And Brian Lamb promises to make some cold tea — not with tofu, but you know his tea will be delicious! Please join us! For more information and to let us know you plan to come, please inquire by e-mail or call the church office at 212-689-6350.


R E C I P E S


PREPARATIONS: "Blotting" or Draining Tofu
If you intend to grill of fry or broil or bake firm tofu, you must blot it first to remove the water inside ... or else it will prevent the tofu from cooking ... and will leak water so that you end up steaming or boiling the food.

  • Firm or Extra-firm Tofu (can't blot anything softer)
  • lots of paper towels or clean dishtowels
  • two baking trays (ones that can nest inside each other are best)
  • about 4 (or more) big cans of food, any type (you won't be opening them, you need them for weights, so make sure they are about the same weight as each other)
Put about 6 layers or more of paper towels onto one baking tray. Slice your tofu into equal depth slabs and lay them down on the paper towels. Be sure to distribute them evenly around the tray. Lay 6 or more layers additional paper toweling over the laid-out tofu, then put the other baking tray on top of that. Place the big cans evenly around the top tray so that the tofu is forced to give up the water it soaked up while being stored in water (that's the only way to store tofu, by the way.) Leave for about an hour before putting away the cans of food and baking trays and throwing away the paper towels (or tossing the formerly clean dishtowels into the washer).

Your tofu is now ready to be cut down further, or breaded and fried, or sliced up for stirfry, marinated, etc. Most of the time, you will want to make sure there is some liquid for the tofu to soak up, like a marinade, or a sauce, or even in a soup or stew. Unlike meat, it doesn't need to be cooked through, so put it in near the end of the recipe for those types of things.


PREPARATIONS: TVP

  • dried TVP nuggets
  • warm water
In a large bowl, cover the TVP with three times more water than it's volume and set aside for 20 minutes. Drain and squeeze the water out of the TVP and add directly to recipe.

This is a good meat substitute in chili or other thicker, soupy recipes.


Marinade for Tofu

 Since tofu is bland/neutral tasting, it can soak in any flavor of marinade. You can use anything that is liquid-y (as opposed to creamy like a thick salad dressing) — vinaigrette, bottled sauces, thin gravies, etc. Here's a very simple one from Alton Brown of Good Eats:

  • 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • Few dashes of hot pepper sauce
Combine the sherry vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and hot pepper sauce and place the blotted, sliced tofu into the marinade. Marinate for 15 minutes on each side.

And here's a quick one we used at the Kitchen Club meeting. Sorry for the lack of real proportions; we make it based on what's around, but here's the general formula:
  • soy sauce — start with a cup
  • sesame oil — a few drops or a teaspoon, depending how much you like it (this is a condiment, not a cooking oil)
  • garlic, crushed — 2 or more (we use 4)
  • ginger, fresh, crushed — a piece the size of your thumb
  • sugar — about a tablespoon or so
  • red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper or hot paprika — ½ teaspoon, more or less
Place all ingredients in saucepan and simmer till the sugar is dissolved. Taste and add more of anything you wish. Allow to cool completely before using as a sauce or marinade.

This can be stored refrigerated in a clean, lidded jar.

Onion Soup Mix Dip

A substitute for "Lipton California dip" but much lighter.
  • 1 block silken tofu (about 19 oz or 2 cups)
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 package dry onion soup mix
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • salt, to taste (about ¼ teaspoon)
Mix all the ingredients and chill. It'll look nicer if you do this in a food processor or blender. Makes 2 cups of dip. Serve with crackers, chips, fresh veggies.

Nutrition Information
Per 2 tablespoon serving:
calories: 29
protein: 2 grams
carbohydrate: 3 grams
fat: 1 gram
cholesterol: 0 milligrams

Chili with TVP

This is a "open cans and dump into a big pot" recipe. Be sure you use a pot that's bigger than you think you need — the volume increases fast! Also, the bigger the pot, the less likely the stuff on the bottom of the pot will scorch.
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • one onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 4 x 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes (58 oz total)
  • 2 x 16 oz cans beans (any type) (31 or 32 oz total)
  • 1/2 x 13½ oz can chipotle peppers in sauce, chopped up or not (abotu 7 oz total, depending how hot you like your chili)
  • 2 tablespoons oregano
  • 1 teaspoon seasoned salt or bouillon powder, or to taste
  • 2 x 6 oz cans tomato paste (12 oz total)
  • hot water, to rinse out tomato paste cans
  • 2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
  • 8 oz TVP, soaked and squeezed
In a large pot, heat the oil and sweat the onions (cook without browning them). Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the tomatoes, beans, peppers, oregano, seasoned salt. Stir to mix, then add tomato paste. Rinse the cans out with hot water and put the water into the chili. Stir again to blend in the tomato paste. Cook for abotu 30 minutes, then taste and adjust flavor with sugar and salt.

Drain the TVP and put the protein nuggets into the chili, stirring it in. Cook for another 10 minutes. Serves 6 as a full meal.


Chocolate Orange Tofu Pudding and/or Pie
  • 1 package (14 oz.) Soft or Silken Tofu, drained if necessary
  • 2 x 11 oz cans mandarin oranges in light syrup, drained — reserve the syrup
  • enough milk or water to make up the syrup to 2 cups liquid
  • ½ teaspoon orange extract (or vanilla or almond extract)
  • 2 x 3.4 oz packages INSTANT chocolate pudding & pie filling (or butterscotch, if you prefer), regular sugar or sugar-substitute
  • 2 graham cracker crusts (or chocolate cookie crust), optional
Blend tofu, syrup + milk, extract in a food processor bowl or blender for 2 minutes or until very smooth. Add pudding mix, close the lid (the powder will puff out at you and make a mess) and process 45 seconds longer. Pour into a serving bowl or cups, OR into the cracker crusts. Decorate the top with mandarin orange sections (note, if you prefer, you can carefully stir the sections into the pudding instead). Chill at least 5 minutes (overnight is optimum), and serve. Yields 16 slices of pie or 8 servings of pudding.

Nutrition Information for PUDDING only (using regular instant pudding), 1/8th of this recipe

Calories 198
Calories from Fat 8%
Carbohydrates 42 gm
Protein 6 gm
Total Fat 2 mg
Cholesterol 1 mg
Sodium 417 mg
Dietery Fiber 1 mg
The Reverend J. Douglas Ousley
Rector
The Church of the Incarnation
209 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
telephone: 212-689-6350
fax: 212-689-7311
e-mail: info@churchoftheincarnation.org
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