Stuffed Tofurkey

 

I’ve been vegetarian for over 10 years now and I’ve never made a tofurkey!  So I figured it was about time.  I looked at a bunch of different recipes, combining several but mostly followed this one; it has great pictures of each step.  It’s also an easy recipe to adapt depending on what herbs you have available.

This is a bit of a process, but after tasting the results I may be making it every year!

Basically you are making 3 parts; the “turkey”, stuffing and a marinade.  I started 2 days before Thanksgiving, because I had to drive to Columbus this morning, but you can make it work starting the day before.  And if you’re already out of time, there is always this fabulous beer can tofurkey idea!

 

 

TOFURKEY

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 14 oz containers of extra firm tofu
1-2 TBSP of each of the following herbs:
   Oregano
   Sage
   Rosemary
   Thyme
   Garlic Scapes (/Chives/Green Onions)
Salt and Pepper to taste

 

 
Let the tofu sit out overnight or at least a few hours so it’s at room temperature. 

 

With your hands, squeeze all the liquid you can get out of the tofu.  Then mix in the remaining ingredients.

 

 

Take a clean, wet piece of cheesecloth and drape it over a strainer.  I sprinkled some rosemary and chopped sage leaves down first.  Then scoop the tofu mix into the covered strainer.  Use the excess cheesecloth to wrap the top of the tofu and press any liquid out.  Put a bowl under the strainer and a plate on top of the cloth.  Sit in the fridge overnight and place something heavy (I used a juice bottle) on top of the plate so that the presser will continue to squeeze liquid out of the tofurkey. 

 

 

 

STUFFING

You can make this the day of your meal or before and refrigerate.

INGREDIENTS:

3 CUPS bread cubes
1 TSP or so olive oil
1 small red onion, finely diced
1 celery stick, finely diced
1 small apple, diced
3 TBSP herbs (I used sage, cilantro, rosemary and thyme)
Pinch of cayenne (crushed red pepper)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 TBSP maple syrup
1 TSP balsamic vinegar
½ CUP sunflower seeds or other nut/seed
¼ CUP dried fruit (I used dried goji berries from the garden but you can use cherries, cranberries, etc.)
½ CUP vegetable broth

 

First cut the bread into cubes and dry in the over for 20 minutes or so at 250°F.

 

Heat a pan with a little olive oil and sauté the onion for a few minutes until soft.

 

Add celery, cook another 2 minutes

 

Add apple, herbs and spices and cook 5 more minutes.

 

Add syrup and balsamic vinegar, mix and remove from heat.

 

Combine this mixture with the dried bread cubes, seeds and dried fruit.

 

Put the stuffing into a greased pan and pour the vegetable broth over the top.

 

Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes at 300°F.

 

MARINADE

I also made the marinade the day before and let it soak in all the flavors.

 

INGREDIENTS:

¼ CUP Braggs (/soy sauce/tamari)
¼ CUP olive oil
½ CUP chopped herbs (I used sage, chives, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and parsley)
1 TSP sesame seeds, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

 

 

 

 

Just mix everything together and keep in the refrigerator.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ASSEMBLY….

 

Scoop out the center of the tofurkey, leaving an inch or so on the sides.

 

Fill hole with stuffing, and recover with scooped out tofu.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then very carefully flip the whole tofurkey into a cooking pan (I just sort of picked up the whole cheesecloth, placed the baking pan on top of the tofu and flipped).

 

Baste with the marinade, and cook for 1 to 1 ½ hours at 350°F.  Baste the tofurkey as much as you want throughout the baking.

 

I had some extra stuffing, so I reheated it separately and added it in around my tofurkey!

 

Beautiful and tastes amazing!  Much better than eating something this cute…..

 

Lazy Sunday Ciabatta Bread

I love Sundays because I’m always off work and don’t usually have much to do other than create things.  I knew I would be spending most of today sewing so I decided to make a loaf of ciabatta bread in between projects.  This type of bread takes all day, that’s why a lazy Sunday is the perfect day for it.  I used a recipe from the book 200 Bread Recipes as my base and added lots of fresh herbs.   This book is made for bread machines, so I’ve improvised a little to do it by hand.   

First you make a starter by combining:

⅔ cup warm water

⅔ flour

¼ tsp sugar

½ tsp yeast

Mix it together very well.  For the first hour or two mix up the starter vigourously every 10-15 minutes, getting it bubbly and full of air.  Then let it sit covered for 4 hours or more (you can also make the starter the night before). 

Next step is to add:

1 cup water

2 tbsp olive oil

1 ½ tsp salt

2 ⅓ cup flour

1 ½ tsp sugar

1 tsp yeast

Stir it very well getting lots of air into the dough again.

Stir again in 15 minutes, then wait another 15 minutes and add:

½ cup fresh herbs (I used oregano, basil, thyme and summer savory)

4 cloves of garlic

Continue coming back to stir every 10-15 minutes for the next 1 hour.

Grease and flour a baking sheet then drop the dough on a well floured surface.  Divide into two loaves and stretch them out to about 11 inches.  Put the loaves on the baking sheet and let them sit for another 30 minutes uncovered in a warm area until they double in size.

Cook at 425° F for 20 minutes or until they sound hollow inside when you tap them.  Let cool and enjoy! 

This is the best bread I’ve ever made and although it takes all day it’s totally worth it.  I’ve brought it to several family dinners and parties and everyone comments on how awesome it is!  So when you have a day to relax just drink some wine, work on some projects and make amazing bread!