These marinated tofu steaks have a chewy texture, and the wine sauce gives it a nice strong flavor.
Ingredients
Serves 4-5
Marinade and Tofu
- 2 lbs extra-firm tofu – frozen and thawed (see note below)
- 8 oz lemon juice
- 8 oz olive oil of marinade plus olive oil for frying
- 1 whole bulb of garlic – you could substitute a 6-7 tablespoons of minced garlic from a jar
- 1oz each rosemary and thyme
Wine Sauce
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 2-3 shallots
- olive oil
- 8 oz red wine
- 8 oz vegetable broth – you can use bouillon or soup base to make this
- 1 oz soy sauce
Instructions
Marinade and Tofu
Note: The tofu needs to be fully frozen and thawed in advance. Freezing a 1 lb block of tofu in the freezer will take about 12-18 hours. Thawing it in the refrigerator can take several days. You can speed this up by taking it out of the fridge and leaving it on the counter for a few hours, or you can throw it in the microwave for short increments.
Start by squeezing the water out of the tofu. Your goal is to remove as much water as possible without crushing the tofu or breaking it into smaller pieces. Cut the tofu into 8 pieces, starting by cutting it in half along the long axis, then cut each half into 4 pieces. At the banquet we served each person 3 of these pieces, but if you are making a meal with fewer courses, you may want to serve 4 per person.
Chop the garlic, and mix it with the lemon juice, olive oil, rosemary and thyme. Lay the tofu out in a baking dish in a single layer, and cover it with the marinade. Try to distribute the marinade evenly over the tofu.
The tofu should marinate for about 2 hours.
Once it has marinated, pan fry it in olive oil at a medium-high heat. Cook it on each side until it is a medium golden brown.
Wine Sauce
Chop the garlic and shallots, then sautee them in olive oil until they are soft. Then add all of the liquid ingredients and bring it to a simmer. You need to cook this for a while and reduce the volume. You can taste it to see if it is ready. If it still tastes very strongly of red wine, it's not ready. Basically, when it tastes good, it's done.
Serving
Simply plate the tofu and spread about 2 tablespoons of sauce over the pieces.
Variation
If you make a much stronger marinade, you can leave out the sauce entirely. One option is to add red wine and soy sauce to the marinade itself. You can also try different herbs or herb mixtures like basil, sage, herbs de provence, and so on.