Mustard tofu in a creamy leek sauce

August 20, 2012

   

Leeks are lovely in creamy sauces - including vegan ones, as demonstrated by Appetite Affliction. We made her mustard tofu with our leek, plus a few fridge-friendly tweaks, this week. (Eek eek...) We got off to a slow start, prepping the cashew sauce and plucking a gazillion thyme leaves before we were ready to heat the frypan. Then it got more lively, coating the tofu coated with mustard powder and herbs and frying them up in two pans at once with sizzling, blackening bits of thyme everywhere. The tofu's cashew-creamy, leek and white wine sauce is cooked in the same pan. Marvellous!

Where AA used rosemary, wholegrain mustard and white wine, we used thyme, Dijon mustard and sherry. I think the sherry was a minor mistake, lacking the bite that the sauce needed but we otherwise got away with it. We took a another cue from AA and served our tofu with quinoa and a handful of rocket.

   

Mustard tofu in a creamy leek sauce
(slightly adapted from a recipe on Appetite Affliction)

cashew sauce
3/4 cup raw cashews
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon stock powder
1/2 teaspoon savoury yeast flakes
2 teaspoons margarine
salt and white pepper

mustard tofu
2 tablespoons mustard powder
2 tablespoons thyme leaves
700g firm tofu, sliced into 'steaks'
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 leek, chopped into circles
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon wholegrain or Dijon mustard

In a food processor, grind the cashews to a powder. Gradually pour in two-thirds of the water while the processor is running, so that the cashews for a smooth paste. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and set it over medium-low heat. Stir through the stock powder and yeast. Stir in the margarine until completely melted, and add salt and pepper to taste. Set the sauce aside and add extra water, a tablespoon at a time, if you find the sauce too thick.

Mix together the mustard powder and thyme, then rub the mixture over the tofu 'steaks'. Heat the oil in a frypan over medium-high heat (we actually spread it across two frypans to cook all the tofu simultaneously). Fry the tofu pieces for several minutes on each side, until they're thoroughly golden and even blackening in parts (see photo above). Push the tofu to one side of the pan and throw in the leek and garlic. Stir the leek and garlic as they cook and soften for a couple of minutes. Add the wine, allowing it to cook and evaporate for a minute, then stir in the mustard and the cashew sauce. The sauce may get very thick, so add a little more water if you want it thinner, and serve it all up!