Two Dilemmas

[Guest guest]

Hey all!

 

I have two dilemmas:

1) Freezing things like tofu (I saw the recent thing about freezing

tempeh). Does tofu freeze ok?

 

2) I LOVE BBQ! Before I turned veggie I used to eat a lot of BBQ (usually

cajun style) and am missing the flavor. Anyone have any good BBQ/Cajun

recipies??

 

Thanks!

Gina

[Guest guest]

>>>Anyone have any good BBQ/Cajun recipies??

 

Assault your tofu w/cajun seasoning & grill it? Beth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Gina,

I cut my block of tofu into 4 pieces, and wrap them individually to

freeze. The texture isn't the same after freezing, but I'd rather do that

then try and use it up in a few days.

 

Cyndi

>^. .^<

 

 

 

On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 00:09:14 -0400 Gina <webdyke writes:

Hey all!

 

I have two dilemmas:

1) Freezing things like tofu (I saw the recent thing about freezing

tempeh). Does tofu freeze ok?

 

2) I LOVE BBQ! Before I turned veggie I used to eat a lot of BBQ (usually

 

cajun style) and am missing the flavor. Anyone have any good BBQ/Cajun

recipies??

 

Thanks!

Gina

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Gina,

 

Freezing tempeh works just fine. We do it all the time since, when

I'm in the mood, I'll do 3 or 4 batches in a row yielding about 10

lbs. of tempeh. I always cut tempeh into 'cakes' and steam these for

about five minutes. See my posted photos, one of them shows the cakes

fresh from steaming on the cutting board.

 

Tofu is another matter. If you must freeze tofu, you need to cook it

first, deep fry, from my experience. Otherwise, after thawing and

cooking you sometimes get mush. We always have fresh tof so hardly

ever freeze. The one time wa when my wife and I both bought tofu

independently, simultaneously, and ended up with about ten packs that

evening. We froze half of it, and ended up tossing out the frozen

stuff.

 

Kevin

*****************

 

> Hey all!

>

> I have two dilemmas:

> 1) Freezing things like tofu (I saw the recent thing about freezing

> tempeh). Does tofu freeze ok?

[Guest guest]

Wow,

I never cook mine 1st! It works great if I fry it after its defrosted. I

only freeze the extra firm, tho. Maybe the silken is different?

 

Cyndi

>^. .^<

 

 

On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 13:58:46 -0000 " feline_rancher "

<feline_rancher writes:

Gina,

 

Freezing tempeh works just fine. We do it all the time since, when

I'm in the mood, I'll do 3 or 4 batches in a row yielding about 10

lbs. of tempeh. I always cut tempeh into 'cakes' and steam these for

about five minutes. See my posted photos, one of them shows the cakes

fresh from steaming on the cutting board.

 

Tofu is another matter. If you must freeze tofu, you need to cook it

first, deep fry, from my experience. Otherwise, after thawing and

cooking you sometimes get mush. We always have fresh tof so hardly

ever freeze. The one time wa when my wife and I both bought tofu

independently, simultaneously, and ended up with about ten packs that

evening. We froze half of it, and ended up tossing out the frozen

stuff.

 

Kevin

*****************

 

> Hey all!

>

> I have two dilemmas:

> 1) Freezing things like tofu (I saw the recent thing about freezing

> tempeh). Does tofu freeze ok?

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Freezing tofu will change the texture. Soft tofu will sometimes fall apart, firm

tofu will generally remain in a block, both will become chewier and spongy. This

is a good technique if you're trying to make your tofu more like a meat

substitute and if you like to maranade your tofu, since this tofu will absorb

the maranade like a sponge, getting all through the tofu, not just on the

surface. Frozen tofu is almost impossible to make smooth, so if you want your

tofu for a sauce or smootie, don't freeze it.

 

One of my favorite cookbooks is Simply Heavenly, written by a monk at an Eastern

Orthodox monestary in Nebraska. It's literally 1000s of tried and true recipes

for around $20. It tells you how to make seitan and then flavor it with various

broths. Those broths also work very well with tofu that had been frozen and then

thawed. There are some bar be que recipes in there too.

 

You can grill all sorts of vegetables, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants. Maranade

mushrooms and grill those. Tofu and tempeh are good grilled.

 

I have more to add, but right now I using a computer with limited time.....

 

 

 

Message: 6

Wed, 15 Sep 2004 00:09:14 -0400

Gina

Two Dilemmas

 

Hey all!

 

I have two dilemmas:

1) Freezing things like tofu (I saw the recent thing about freezing

tempeh). Does tofu freeze ok?

 

2) I LOVE BBQ! Before I turned veggie I used to eat a lot of BBQ (usually

cajun style) and am missing the flavor. Anyone have any good BBQ/Cajun

recipies??

 

Thanks!

Gina

 

 

 

 

vote. - Register online to vote today!

 

 

[Guest guest]

About freezing tofu: Many vegetarian cookbooks suggest pressing the firm

tofu first, to extrude as much water as possible, then freezing it. Then, on

defrosting, pressing it again. The idea is to give it a texture more suitable

for

faux me*t. For many vegetarians, marinating this before then slicing it into,

say, stir-fired dishes, works just fine, giving an acceptable texture and

appearance without being too convincing.

 

I have done this myself, but I must admit that I don't really like it as much

after

being frozen, no matter how many processes I go through. But of course I'm

not much one for me*t analogs anyway, not seeing the need for myself.

(Others of course enjoy the idea, and that's great!)

 

I am heartened, in a strange way, to find that there are others who really do

not like tofu after it has been frozen - it has a spongy texture if you're not

carefull to press it well. Nevertheless, there is some in my freezer now - it

comes in handy to be crumbled in some tofu dishes.

 

Best,

 

Pat ;=)

[Guest guest]

Gina, I think you could use defrosted squeezed tofu, or tempeh, or

seitan, or TVP/TSP, or vegan burger crumbles in your old recipes. Maybe

you should try one with a meat substitute and report back to us...

 

I have done seitan in bottled BBQ sauce and it went over well with

people (even meat eaters) sampling food at the Great American Meatout.

[Guest guest]

This is sort of off the subject, but I wonder how they make that delicious

frozen desert Toffuti? That obviously has to be frozen, but has a creamy texture

like ice cream

 

greenfury2004 <greenfury2004 wrote:About freezing tofu: Many

vegetarian cookbooks suggest pressing the firm

tofu first, to extrude as much water as possible, then freezing it. Then, on

defrosting, pressing it again. The idea is to give it a texture more suitable

for

faux me*t. For many vegetarians, marinating this before then slicing it into,

say, stir-fired dishes, works just fine, giving an acceptable texture and

appearance without being too convincing.

 

I have done this myself, but I must admit that I don't really like it as much

after

being frozen, no matter how many processes I go through. But of course I'm

not much one for me*t analogs anyway, not seeing the need for myself.

(Others of course enjoy the idea, and that's great!)

 

I am heartened, in a strange way, to find that there are others who really do

not like tofu after it has been frozen - it has a spongy texture if you're not

carefull to press it well. Nevertheless, there is some in my freezer now - it

comes in handy to be crumbled in some tofu dishes.

 

Best,

 

Pat ;=)

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

This is a very interesting topic for me too. If I could figure out

how to make this stuff at home, using Splenda in place of sugar, I

could approach what I would consider an example of food-nirvana; a

desert dish that has zero fat, zero [<5gm] cholesterol, nearly zero

carbs and actually tastes good.

 

Kevin

 

> This is sort of off the subject, but I wonder how they make that

delicious frozen desert Toffuti? That obviously has to be frozen, but

has a creamy texture like ice cream

>