Tofu in Green Peppercorn Sauce – A Flexitarian Dream
I believe in flexitarianism. I like the idea of eating a variety of foods and wading deep into vegetarian and vegan cuisine. When done right, I think vegan and vegetarian dishes can taste great. By applying solid cooking technique and classic culinary thinking, there is nothing stopping vegan and vegetarian cuisine from being excellent. When I cook ingredients like tofu, I think it is even more critical to apply as much culinary prowess as possible because a blank slate like tofu will taste like a blank slate without tons of help. Although some in the vegan and vegetarian world won’t like it, I like to take a page from meat cookery when I prepare tofu. I want to make sure my tofu is well seasoned and I want to make a pan sauce that is bold. When I am on the meat side of flextiarianism, I love a good steak with green peppercorn sauce. A juicy steak paired with a creamy, rich and very peppery sauce is a delicious classic that is easily transformed to vegetarian or vegan fare.
An Easy Green Peppercorn Sauce.
To make a green peppercorn sauce is easy. To make a green peppercorn sauce vegetarian or vegan is also very easy. For the most part, it is a matter of using a rich vegetable stock instead of beef or chicken stock and, if you desire vegan, a soy cream. With a dash of brandy and some shallots, you can have a beautiful sauce that takes only a few minutes to prepare.
And The Tofu?
More often then not I cube my tofu, but for this recipe I like to slice it. Making sure to squeeze as much water out of the tofu as possible is important because this helps develop both a nice crust and a stronger flavor. Seasoning it with salt and pepper is fine for this dish, but using a Montreal steak seasoning brings a lot of extra flavor and still keeps the dish vegan or vegetarian. Firm or extra firm tofu is best for this dish. If you weren’t going vegan or vegetarian, but still didn’t want beef, this would be a fine sauce for salmon.
What To Serve With Tofu with Green Peppercorn Sauce?
There are lots of side dish options. A roasted vegetable like asparagus or just a nice salad is fine. Some sautéed mushrooms would certainly be delicious, too. Even some crispy french fries would be a delicious addition. Heck, some plain white rice is nice, too. It soaks up the sauce nicely!
- 1 block of firm or extra firm tofu – about 1 lb
- A jar of your favorite Montreal steak seasoning
- 1 small shallot
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 cup of cognac or brandy
- 1-1/2 cups of salt free vegetable stock (see note above)
- 1/2 cup of cream or soy cream
- 1 tbsp of green peppercorns in brine
- A pinch of fresh thyme
- salt and pepper
- butter, olive oil or margarine
- Preheat the oven to 250F
- Drain the tofu. Wrap the tofu in clean paper towel and place a plate or 2 on top to squeeze out as much water as possible.
- Slice the tofu in 1/2 inch slices. Season with Montreal steak seasoning.
- Thinly slice the shallot and finely chop the garlic.
- In a medium sauté pan over medium high heat, using 3tbs of the butter/olive oil/margarine, cook the slices of tofu until they are golden brown and a crust is beginning to form on both slides of each slice. Remove the tofu from the pan, place the tofu on an oven proof dish and place the dish in the oven to keep warm.
- In the same sauté pan the tofu was cooked in, over medium heat, add another tbsp of butter/olive oil/margarine. Sauté the shallot and garlic until soft and fragrant.
- Off the heat, carefully add the cognac or brandy. Flambé the cognac or brandy and let the liquid reduce to a syrup.
- Add the vegetable stock and bring the contents of the pan to a simmer, reducing the stock by at least half. Add the cream and continue to reduce. Reduce by about a 1/2 again or until the sauce is thicker and coats the back of a spoon.
- Add the peppercorns. Simmer another 5 minutes.
- Add thyme to taste. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- On a warm plate, fan out a few slices of tofu over rice or other grain. Spoon some of the sauce over the tofu making sure to include some of the green peppercorns.
- Serve hot.
- Be sure to squeeze as much water from the tofu as possible. The extra water will only be a flavor killer.
- Any seasoning for the tofu will be fine. If you don’t have Montreal seasoning, try a cajun spice or just leave it with salt and pepper and a dash of garlic powder. You can spice it up with some red pepper flake, too.
- If you are using homemade, salt free vegetable stock, reduce to your heart’s content. The recipe uses a fair amount of stock, but expects a lot of reduction to enforce the taste of the vegetable stock. If you are using canned stock, be careful when reducing as it could become too salty. To thicken without having to reduce, sprinkle the shallot with 2-3 tsp of flour, stir well, cook 2 minutes then continue on with the recipe. Reduce the amount of stock needed to a half cup. If you are using beef or chicken stock, use 1/2 cup instead of 1.5. Unlike vegetable stock, a chicken or beef stock should have gelatine in it which will reduce nicely and add richness to the sauce.
- You can also add mushrooms to the sauce. Slice them and cook them with the shallot then flambé. Do be careful when flambeing! Add the booze off the heat! Don’t let the flames go too long as they can burn the sauce. Have a lid on hand in case you want to put the flame out. Flambeing is optional. Whisky, wine or port would be a fine substitute, if needed. You can add the booze and just reduce it without the fireworks or skip the booze all together.
- Can’t find green peppercorns? Try capers instead. No, it won’t be the same, but it will be tasty.
- Want to Cheat? Making the stock fresh is a great way to go, but a canned broth will do in a pinch. Go low sodium.
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
How do you make your green peppercorn sauce? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook.
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