Update on the Tofurkey

After reading a comment that Susan wrote on the Tofurkey post below and checking out all the Chow.com comments, I wrote a lengthy comment on Chow and thought I would share it with you all.  I didn’t follow the Tofurkey recipe completely. In fact, I changed a lot of seasonings because I kept tasting the tofu mixture as I was blending it – recommended for all cooks.  If you taste as you cook (barring things with raw eggs, and I am guilty of that), then you hopefully won’t have the bland issue happen…ever.  Just don’t overseason and you’ll be OK!

Here’s the comment in full:

“I made this for Thanksgiving this year and it was VERY tasty.  Not sure what happened with sanlynn36’s version – I definitely upped the salt and spices in mine, which could explain it.  I blended the first batch of tofu with the recipe’s spices and then blended the second batch with spices as well before combining the two.  I then tasted the mixture and added more salt.  Since I couldn’t find miso where my folk’s lived, I just subbed some Teriyaki sauce they had in their fridge and kept tasting until the mixture tasted good to me.

I made everything the day before and assembled it Thanksgiving morning and baked it, using my own glaze mixture (threw some OJ, garlic, maple syrup, sage, thyme, salt and pepper and grated lemon peel in a food processor).  We also served it with vegetarian nut gravy, which was a rich counterpoint to the tofu.

Right out of the oven, it was good and the texture was OK, but it was even better the next day.  I would say you could make this and bake most of it for an hour, put it in the refrigerator and then cook through the next day for another 15-20 minutes, adding more glaze.  The tofu is moist enough that I think it could withstand this process.”

Homemade “Tofurkey”

I saw this recipe on Chow the other day and immediately wanted to try making it for Thanksgiving – a homemade tofurkey!  I made everything the day before and then combined the tofu mixture and rice stuffing the day of Thanksgiving.  I also adapted the glaze to include some maple syrup and herbs.  The recipe is great and easy to make ahead.  It actually firmed up in the fridge and I think you could cook it, leave it in the fridge, glaze again and heat through the next day for a super-sliceable entree.

Our Thanksgiving meal included the above-Tofurkey, a real Turkey, garlic/chives mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with some mini-marshmallows, stuffing, salad, homemade corn-muffins, Brussels sprouts, veggie gravy, regular gravy asparagus and cranberry/orange sauce…YUM!