two ladies & a ladle: A's Herbed Tofu with Mushroom Marsala

This delicious recipe comes from The Farm restaurant in Portland, Oregon. I knew when I saw this that I had to try it. After all, there's a video that explains how to make it, which is fun. Plus, it has that hearty fall flavor that I crave this time of year. Plus, it stars fried tofu, which I heart.

This recipe seems complicated, but it's really not too hard to make. And it's delicious. Really, really delicious.

I mounded my tofu and mushroom marsala on a pile of cauliflower mashed "potatoes." They were super yummy. I'll post that recipe later this week, so keep your eyes peeled.

Total cook time: about 1 1/2 hours. Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients:

1 16oz container extra firm or firm Tofu
1 cup soy sauce
2 cups Marsala
Water to cover
1 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs
1 cup Panko (or 2 cups total of regular dry unseasoned breadcrumbs)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp fresh thyme course chopped
2 to 4 tbsp canola oil for frying, or more as needed
1 cup yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
2 cups sliced Crimini mushrooms
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp Herbs de Provence
3/4 cup Silk soy creamer
3 tbsp Canola or olive oil

Press the tofu for 15-20 minutes to squeeze out the extra water. I usually just pile plates on top of my tofu, but you can stack whatever you so desire on top.

Dump the excess liquid. Slice the tofu block into 4 slabs and then turn the slices onto their sides and slice them again diagonally to make triangles.
Place the tofu in a bowl and add 1 cup of soy sauce, 1 cup of marsala, and enough water to cover the tofu. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. I marinated for about 45 minutes.

While the tofu is marinating you can work on the Marsala sauce.

Add several tablespoons of oil to a skillet on medium heat. Sauté the onions about eight minutes, or until soft.

Add the mushrooms to the cooked onions and saute until browned, which takes another 10 minutes or so.

Add the herbs de provence on top of the mushroom mixture. Don't mix them in! Just let them sit there for a minute or so to reconstitute. Once your minute is up, stir the herbs into the mushroom mixture.

As an aside, if you've never cooked with herbs de provence, it's one of my favorite herb blends. I frequently use it when making chicken dishes. It's super flavorful and can be found in most grocery stores.

Add the remaining cup of marsala, salt and pepper, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. I used 1/2 cup of marsala and 1/2 cup of the leftover Marsala mixture that I'd been marinating my tofu in. The sole purpose of this was to be less wasteful.

Add the soy creamer to the mushroom mixture (or regular creamer, if you so desire) and continue to simmer until the sauce thickens and is reduced by half.

Remove the marinating tofu from the fridge. Mix together the breadcrumbs, Panko, salt, pepper, and thyme in a bowl.

Dredge each tofu triangles in the breadcrumb mixture. Just throw them in with the breadcrumbs and they'll pick the breadcrumbs up. You want them to be completely covered in crumbs.

Fry the tofu triangles in several tablespoons of oil over medium high heat until golden brown and crispy on bottom. Carefully flip the tofu and cook until golden and crispy on the other side. You want to flip them carefully because you don't want to lose the delicious crust during the flip.