Tofu - getting the texture right

The early 20's. At the time I was weighing pros and cons. My brother had gone veggie a little before but I hadn't thought much about it. I was pretty thick (and remain so these days.... ooooppppsss,) and had recently been pretty disgusted by the fact I was able to pound through multiple triple cheeseburgers at McDonalds. 

I'm not entirely sure why I chose to go vegetarian, but whatever the reason, it has not been a struggle to remain one.

However, one of the original selling points was the one could easily mimic “meat” tastes and textures with different ingredients, specifically tofu. So I tried... and I tried... and tried. Nope... didn’t happen.

Cooking tofu was one of my super frustrations when I was younger, and those frustrations gave way to a lot of Morningstar, Boca, etc.

A year or two back, Kams suggested freezing the tofu for a few days then defrosting it before you cook with it. This, along with a good press, eliminated the texture problems I had when it came to cooking tofu. While I generally prefer seitan to tofu, I have been having great success recently with most recipes for which I use extra-firm tofu. Here are some quick steps and a pic or two detailing freezing and pressing tofu. If you're a texture person, this is important stuff.

Ingredients/ Materials Needed:

1 lb. Package of extra firm tofu

1 large book

2 plates

1 fairly large piece of cheese cloth or paper towel

Process:

1. After purchasing tofu (the refrigerated kind,) pop it in the freezer for 2-3 days (longer if you don't need it right away.)
2. Defrost overnight for use the next day.
3. Slice open package and drain out liquid over a sink. Give it a firm squeeze, while still in the package, to get most of the water out.
4. Remove tofu from package, wrap in a cheese cloth. Place on a plate. Cover on top with another plate and rest a large, heavy, book and leave to rest for about 20 – 25 minutes.
5. Unwrap tofu and slice, crumble for whatever recipe you will use.

1. Tofu fresh from the freezer.

2. The great press.

Tofu Scramble - this is solid stuff!

Fear not “tofufobics”.... Here is a great breakfast (or anytime really,) Tofu Scramble recipe straight (well, changed mildly based upon available ingredients) from “Vegan With a Vengeance.” I've played with it a bit in the last few weeks to get it solid. I'm really loving it, as is my wife. For the big win though, I had my parents, who are both hardcore carnivores, over for breakfast today and each went back for seconds. The original labels salsa an addition – I would make it a staple. The salsa gives it just what it needs, a little kick which meshes nicely with the other flavors. This recipe serves 3 easily, especially if you are serving it up with other stuff.  I didn't have a chance to get a "serving shot."  The p's were HUNGRY.

Time: roughly 30 minutes, not including pressing the tofu

Difficulty: It looks rougher than it is

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 medium sized onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 package of extra firm tofu, defrosted* and pressed

¼ cup nutritional yeast

juice of ½ lemon

½ – 1 cup of water

1 cup of your favorite salsa

Spice blend:

2 t cumin

1 t thyme, crumbled

1 t paprika

½ t turmeric

1 t salt

Process:

1. Heat oil over medium heat in large frying pan. When oil is ready, saute onion for a few minutes. Add crushed garlic, heat for 2 minutes.
2. Add spice blend. After a few seconds, add ¼ cup of water and deglaze pan (scrape up anything sticking to the pan.)
3. Chop/ crumble tofu and add to the pan. You want small chunks of tofu for texture. Stir occasionally for the next 15 minutes. You will likely need to add water occasionally to keep it all from sticking.
4. Lower heat to medium low. Add lemon juice and nutritional yeast. Stir and mix. You may need a bit more water at this point.
5. Add 1 cup of salsa. Mix it up for a minute and serve.
6. I like to add a bit of heat to this. It works well with hot sauce if that is your thing.

*I will be addressing this in the next post, but freezing tofu after you buy it for a few days, and then defrosting it really helps a lot with texture and its absorbency abilities.

1. Onions, garlic, and spice blend.

2. Once the tofu has been added.

3.  The salsa has been added and it is ready to serve.

Cold Cave leaves me cold... and not in a good goth way

It was with a healthy dose of skepticism that I first checked out Cold Cave's debut album, “Love Comes Close,” sometime last year. N666 was pretty hyper about it and suggested I give it a few listens. The thing is, most of the throw-back post-punk/ synth-pop stuff has left me, eh, unintersted. Bands may have some great singles, but with the exception of the Postal Service (do they even qualify as a throw back?,) most bands are inconsistent at best, and none know when to stop (Interpol.)

However, the Cold Cave debut was pretty great. Vocals in the Ian Curtis style that work (I could dedicate an entire blog to bands with shitty mock-Joy Division vocals,) peppy rhythms mixed with dark tones, supplemented with just enough layers to keep it from being simplistic. “LCC” is a solid record which I would easily recommend to anyone with a passing interest in either post-punk or synth-pop.

Now, I wish I was just as skeptical when I bought Cold Cave's latest, “Cherish the Light Years,” (Matador) last week. I should have known getting 2 albums I was excited about in one day (see Maritime post) was too good to be true. Cold Cave's sophomore effort is not a horrible record. But, after a pretty intense opener, the lead single “The Great Pan is Dead,” and a decent track 2, the record begins to unravel. The third track sounds is a guitar/ synth hybrid, a mix between New Order's “Movement” and “Brotherhood.” That sounds tempting, and with passing listens it sounds better. But with this track starts an unnecessary over-reliance on guitars, and well, fairly uninspired dark-pop. The vocals have changed as well. While the Curtis influence is still there, there is an added “umphhh” to the energy, which does not work so well. The fourth track, “Catacombs” sounds like it was inspired by the “Friends” them song (wtf??? right? I know!) And the balance of the disc seems little more than background music, which is a bummer for a band which showed quite a bit of potential.

As Cold Cave searches for “their sound,” perhaps giving “Love Comes Cold” a few listens will get them from jumping someone else's (Depeche Mode's) train. They had it right the first time, and I appreciate them trying to do some new stuff – it just falls flat. Perhaps it will grow on me, but for the time being I'll stick to their debut – a solid dark, synthy gem of the 00's.

Here is "The Great Pan is Dead."

Oh, yeah, and if you are wanting a little Fat Bobby of the Cure in your life check this out: