JagerTofu

  

One of my more outlandish food hobbies is that of adapting German meat 'n' potato dishes to tofu. I'm not sure how this complex originated, but my love of German food may extend back to my my travels in Germany at the tender age of 17, where I ate countless schnitzel sandwiches. But more likely it comes from growing up in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The town was established in 1753, after the British eradicated the hundred year old Acadian/Mi'kmaq settlement in the area and brought in a whole bunch of "Foreign Protestants" from the bordering areas of France, Switzerland and Germany. As an intact example of "planned British colonial settlement", Lunenburg was declared a ... deep breath.... United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site in 1995. All of this I learned just now from Wikipedia. Neat, eh? Click on the link and look at the pretty picture.Aww.... home. Anyways, as well as having lots of cool architecture and fishin' boats, the Lunenburg area has two sourkraut factories, and its own unique "Lunenburg sausage" and "Lunenburg (meat) pudding" which you can find at some local restaurants and grocery stores as far as Halifax. There is a German restaurant in a very unlikely spot on the old highway between Mahone Bay and Lunenburg that I just fell in love with as a teenager. This is what has inspired me to make my own spaetzle and buy big cartons of sourkraut and adapt German dishes to tofu.

When you "adapt" a recipe, it isn't exactly creating your own recipe, but at the same time it kind of makes it yours. I certainly didn't invent Jagerschnitzel, nor am I the first person to think about making tofu schnitzel, but to my knowledge, I am the only person to combine the two. And when you come up with your own recipe, even if it isn't 100% original, or is partially adapted, you still have the right to prance around your house shouting "I am so awesome, I am so awesome!"

Now you're wondering if I really did that.

My last visit to Halifax, I enjoyed the Jagerschnitzel served at the Colby Ale House in Cole Harbour. Ever since, I've been wanting to re-create that lovely sauce and slather it on some tofu schnitzel. I had made tofu schnitzel a few times already, but didn't really know what to do with it other than splash around with some mushroom gravy. Jager sauce is also a mushroom based sauce, and no.... I've explained this countless times already, it doesn't have anything to do with Jagermeister. That would be disgusting. "Jager" simply means "hunter" in German. So this is "Hunter Sauce", if you prefer. And it is awesome.      

I browned some onions and mushrooms in a metal skillet. I added a few drops of liquid smoke, since some recipes seem to like bacon. I then deglazed the pan with a splash of Brandy. If you plan on doing this, remember that 80 proof alcohol is flammable, and should be used with caution. Take the pan off the element and hold away from you. It has never flamed up on me before, but you see it all the time on the Food Network. After the splash of Brandy, (which is actually optional but I love cooking with it), I splashed in some red wine. When you "deglaze", you are removing the caramelized food from the bottom of your frying pan and incorporating it in your soon-to-be-sauce. That's where the flavour comes from. 

And the booze helps with that too. So you should stir things up a bit, while you let some of the booze simmer off. Then it's time to add equal parts cream and beef broth. Stir to mix and let it simmer for a couple more minutes before adding a pinch of paprika and a pinch of nutmeg, as well as some salt and pepper. It's okay to play the saucier and take little tastes and nod your approval. Just don't reuse your tasting utensil if you have guests, as some people don't want your cooties or particular strands of bacterium (it's okay if they're not looking).  I didn't follow a particular recipe, but browsed a few versions before settling on certain aspects of each one that were to my liking. That's what makes this MY recipe - sorta. Some recipes called for a roux, as if making a gravy, but I decided to just let it simmer down to a desired thickness.

The tofu schnitzel is easy enough, but let me quickly say a few things about tofu. 1) Freeze it - not only can you keep lots of tofu on hand, but freezing changes the texture to make it seem more "meaty". 2) Squeeze it - after the tofu is thawed, you should squeeze it over the sink to get rid of excess water. I'm sure you've been told time and time again that you should press your tofu between two plates with weights and paper towel, or some other elaborate contraption, but really, you just need to give it a squeeze. Be gentle, of course; you want your tofu to keep its shape. 3) For tofu "steak" dishes, as I call them (and you will see a lot of them on my blog) you want to slice your tofu to achieve the longest widest cut possible, but don't make it too thick. Nobody wants an overpowering taste of soy curd, not even soy curd enthusiasts. Mmmm... soy curd.

  You can further press some water out of each tofu steak, being even more careful not to destroy it. Keep your unused tofu in a tupperware in your fridge, submerged in water that you aspire to change daily. Dredge each steak in flour, coat in beaten egg gunk, and then press each side, including the edges if you're diligent, into a mixture of breadcrumbs, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Simply fry these up, as shown above. Now they are ready to be topped with the delicious Jager sauce, and garnished with fresh parsley. I served mine with some simple red potatoes, boiled and slightly crushed. But any kind of potato will do, as well as spaetzle or even pasta I suppose.

JagerTofu

1 or half a block tofu, pressed and cut into steaks
1-2 eggs, beaten
flour, spread out on plate
breadcrumbs, spread out on a plate
thyme, sage, salt and pepper... a pinch of each

3/4 cup onion, diced

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

Liquid smoke, a few drops

Brandy, splash of (optional)

1/3 cup red wine - or whatever looks good

1 cup beef broth
1 cup cream
generous pinch paprika and nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste
parsley

1) Dredge tofu steaks in flour, then beaten eggs, then breadcrumb mixture. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Keep warm.

2) Sautee mushrooms and onions in a metal skillet. Add a few drops of liquid smoke if you wish.

3) When vegetables are browned, deglaze pan with brandy, or skip the brandy and go straight to the wine.

4) After most of the booze has simmered away, add the broth and cream. Stir and let simmer for a couple minutes.

5) Add the paprika, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

6) Simmer until desired thickness is achieved. (My sauce is too thick).

7) Serve the tofu, topped with this Jager sauce, and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.