I’ve been craving Mac ‘n Cheese for a few weeks now, so Sunday I ran a few extra miles to justify eating 1.5 pounds of cheese in one sitting. Some people workout to stay healthy, I workout so I can gorge and imbibe like a caveman. Yeah, cavemen eat a lot. Brontasaurus burgers and mead?
There is a buffalo mac recipe I saw in Bon Appétit last year, which I made and I thought was worth another try. One area of concern – the original recipe had fried chicken in it, which doesn’t bode well with holier-than-thou vegetarians. So I decided to change up the recipe a bit and use tofu instead of fried chicken.
The second part of the recipe is unchanged – cooking the mac, creating the roux, adding the cheese, etc. The only step I changed is that I didn’t use fresh oregano.
So below is my recipe for the veggie equivalent of the fried chicken – buffalo fried tofu. It was great. I actually preferred the tofu by itself, rather than mixed in with the mac ‘n cheese. The crispiness was lost a bit in the baking and I could really taste the tofu and the seasoning by itself.
Oh, and I didn’t take any pics of the mac prep, just a few poor shots of the mac after it came out of the oven.
Buffalo Fried Tofu
- One block organic tofu – drained and pressed
- 3 tbsp Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
- 3 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp cayenne
- 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp paprika
- 3 tbsp corn starch
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Press and drain the tofu. Take the block of tofu and put on top of a kitchen towel or paper towels and put something heavy on top for 10-15 minutes. Press on occasion to get out as much liquid as possible. Cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes.
- Mix the rest of the ingredients (except the corn starch) in a large bowl. If it is too dry, add more canola oil until the consistency is slightly thinner than a paste
- Mix the tofu cubes in with the seasonings. Fold in gently so it has covered the tofu on all sides
- Put the corn starch in a large plastic bag then put the tofu in the bag, close it up, and shake it so the corn starch covers the tofu evenly
- Fry the tofu in batches over medium heat using 1-2 tbsp canola oil for each batch. It should only take a few minutes for them to cook. Shake the pan and flip the tofu as necessary. Place the completed batches on paper towels so the oil can drain
Cutting the tomatoes thin. The first time I made these I cut them too thick and wasn’t happy with the result.
The prep “stations”. First the tomato goes into the flour with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Then it gets some egg, and finally some bread crumbs.
Into the pan on medium heat – careful not to burn. 2-3 minutes each side.
Plated and served with a relish of lemon and lime peel (and juice), corn, and jalapenos. I actually didn’t like this relish much. Having lemon/lime peel in it was a bit too much for me. It added a bitterness. Seasoning it with more salt helped balance it out a bit.
Extreme close-up. Whooooaaaa!!!!