Herb Crusted Tofu With Mushroom Gravy

Submitted by Sharon123

"This is a recipe sent in to Vegetarian Times magazine from Suchitra Swift. I love crispy tofu and with this gravy it becomes comfort food!"

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package extra firm tofu

• Herb Crust

• 1⁄2 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I only use a pinch)
• 1⁄2 cup vegetable oil

• Mushroom Gravy

• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 5 button mushrooms, chopped
• 1⁄2 cup vegetable broth
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

directions

1. Drain the tofu and cut into 6 slices.

2. To Make Herb Crust:

3. Combine all the ingredients except the oil in a shallow bowl.

4. To Make Mushroom Gravy:

5. Saute the onion in olive oil over medium high heat. Stir it often for 5 minutes, or until it is browned. Add the rosemary, the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Add the broth, and simmer it until the mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat( be careful not to burn it). Then coat the tofu cutlets with the herb crust. Place in the oil, and fry 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
7. Heat the gravy over high heat.Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold water; whisk into the gravy until it's thickened, and remove from heat.
8. Spoon the mushroom gravy over the tofu cutlets. Serve and enjoy!

Reviews

[TasteTester]

This is a great recipe for frying tofu -- it stayed nice and firm, but I cooked it for 4 minutes over high heat and it came out with a dark crust. I lowered the heat to about medium/medium-high and cooked the other side for 4 minutes. That side was nicely browned and crisp. I cut away the dark side of the tofu before serving, and I could then taste the great seasonings in the herb crust. No bland tofu taste in this recipe, and the mushroom gravy was great over it. Next time I'll cook the tofu on the lower heat and double the gravy -- it was so good that everyone wanted enough to mix in with the rice I served alongside. I'm really glad I found a tofu recipe that is finally crispy, as my son and DH loved it this way. REVISED review -- we loved the taste of this recipe, so I made it again yesterday, cooking over medium heat on each side -- on our stove it came out perfect at that setting -- crunchy crust and great flavor!

 

[Outta Here]

Great recipe. I was serving with mashed potatoes, so I doubled the gravy recipe so we would have planty. Glad I did. I will be using this part of the recipe for other things, too. The tofu turned out crispy, though I personally find tofu to be a bit bland so might marinate it next time, say with a balsamic mixture. But as written, everyone else loved it. I will cut the amount of cornstarch next time also, but I used the some of the extra herbed cornstarch for the gravy and bagged the rest for later use.

 

[sofie-a-toast]

Tofu perfectly cooked! This was so crunch and then soft in the middle. Make sure to eat it when hot for the best texture. Very flavorful too - which I admit I was a bit skeptical of. I did decrease the cornstarch in the breading by half but kept the spices the same amounts. Otherwise, followed to a T. Thanks so much Sharon for a different way to make tofu!

 

[Wish I Could Cook]

This is the best tofu recipe in food.com! I've been waiting for a long time to find a tofu recipe that I could proudly serve to guests. This one is superb. I used smoked tofu and dry fried it using this recipe recipe #415903. Then to make the cornstarch mixture stick, I dipped the dry fried tofu in a mixture of soy sauce and a couple drops of liquid smoke. The end result was a deliciously crispy outside, and a softer (but not mushy) interior. Most people would be surprised to find out this wasn't chicken... As for the mushroom sauce, it was fantastic too and worth making on its own. Can you tell I loved this recipe? I did. And it's going straight into my "good enough for company" cookbook. YUM!

 

[COOKGIRl]

I replaced most of the cornstarch with flour to bread the tofu. The mushrooms were increased to about fifteen cremini mushrooms. Five mushrooms would not have been enough to make the gravy. Used fresh rosemary from our garden, too. Served over egg noodles and alongside a tossed salad. Homemade Italian seasoning. Reviewed for Veg Tag/September.