Thanksgiving 2010, Part 2

Here are a couple more recipes from Thanksgiving 2010, Cornbread Stuffing and Tofu-turkey with a smoky rub. And a bonus recipe for Pumpkin crepes, which will be great for the leftovers.

I found this recipe via The Community Mercantile in Lawrence, Kansas.  They credited the recipe to Central Soyfoods.  I found many sources for this same recipe on-line so I am not sure who deserves credit for the original recipe.  What follows is my variation of this recipe.  There was a bit of a scuffle this year to decide who would get the last slice of the tofurky.  It was delicious and I’ll make it again soon, totally not waiting for Thanksgiving 2011 to have this again!

Tofu Turkey and Stuffing
4 bricks of firm tofu, 18 oz. each (I used Melissa’s organic)

Cornbread Stuffing
1 box of 1-2-3 Gluten Free cornbread, baked according to package instructions (we used eggs this year, however last year we made this Ener-G egg replacer and I think it might have been better), cut into 1/2 inch cubes, 4 cups needed for stuffing recipe
(Any cornbread recipe would work fine)
2 T. sesame oil
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1 cup celery, diced
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 T. poultry seasoning
1 t. sea salt
1/4 cup wheat free soy sauce
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

Smoky Rub
1T. smoked paprika
2 t. onion powder
1 t. dry mustard
1 t. coarsely ground pepper
1 T. honey
1 T. poultry seasoning
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt

Basting Liquid
1/4 to 1/2 cup sesame oil
2 T. to 1/4 cup wheat free soy sauce

Mash tofu well.  Line a large colander with a single layer of moistened cheese cloth.  Transfer mashed tofu to colander.  Press to flatter and fold edges of cheesecloth over it.  Place a cake tin or other flat object over the surface of the fou and weight it down with 5 pounds (I used canned goods  in the cake tin for weight).  This will press liquid from the tofu.  Let sit at least one hour.

To prepare stuffing, heat oil and saute onion, mushrooms, celery and garlic.  Sprinkle 1 T. poultry seasoning over vegetables.  Dissolve salt in wheat free soy sauce and add to pot.  Stir, cover and continue to cook until vegetable are done, about 5 minutes.  Add bread cubes and parsley, mix well.

Hollow out tofu to within 1 inch of colander, placing the removed tofu in a bowl to the side.  Pack in stuffing and cover with remaining tofu.  Pat down so surface is flat and firm.  The tofu turkey is sort of loaf-shaped.  Oil a baking sheet and flip filled tofu onto the sheet so the flat surface is down.  Remove cheesecloth.

Prepare rub and cover exposed surface of tofu turkey.  I did this the night before and refrigerated it to allow the flavors to really soak in. 

Thanksgiving day heat over to 400 degrees.  Mix basting liquid and brush the tofu lightly.  Place in oven for one hour, covered with foil.

After one hour, remove foil, baste with remaining basting liquid and return to oven for another hour.  It will begin to form a bit of a crust and take on a deep reddish-brown color. 

Allow tofu turkey to rest for at least 15 minutes.  Carefully slide onto a serving platter.  We sliced ours directly down the middle, creating two equal halves and then sliced each half.  Our guests commented that the wedges reminded them of Chicken Kiev. 

Pumpkin Crepes
The next day we made these crepes from Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea.  While this is not a gluten-free blog, the recipe required absolutely no modification to make it gluten-free.  I did not have cow milk and used soy milk with no problem.

I had never made crepes before and found this really easy.  We didn’t make the maple butter sauce in the recipe.  We stuffed the crepes with leftover tofu turkey, stuffing, a drizzle of gravy and then topped it with cranberry sauce.  These were almost better than Thanksgiving dinner!

I made an extra batch of the stuffing and baked it in a 9 x 13 pan.  I did drizzle it with a bit of vegetable stock as it got too dry during baking.  We love stuffing here, so we had to make extra.

Next up, recipes for cranberry sauce and creamed spinach, Boston Market style!