Prep Time: 30 minutes for the mound and 30 more minutes for the stuffing - Cost: $$
Servings: 8-12 - Difficulty Level: 3
Gathering the ingredients is more work than the actual cooking.
Ingredients
5 pounds medium-firm organic tofu
2 TBSP of Vegetarian or No Chicken (Superior Touch Better than Bouillon - purchased at most health food stores) mixed with 2 cups warm water
OR
2 cups vegetable or no chicken broth (Imagine or Pacific Brand)
1 cup nutritional yeast (purchase at the health food store)
2 TBSP or McKays Chickenless Seasoning (optional or you can use Granulated Onion instead)
Basting Sauce:
1/4 cup Toasted Sesame oil
1/4 cup Tamari (or soy sauce)
Directions
1. Crumble tofu into pieces and place layers crumbled tofu between clean towels and put a heavy object on top to squeeze out some of the water. Do this for 15-30 minutes.
2. While waiting, in a large bowl mix, place broth, nutritional yeast and McKays Chickenless Seasoning. After the 15-30 minutes place tofu into the broth mixture and mix thoroughly.
3. In a medium-sized colander, line it with a single layer of moistened cheesecloth, but ring it out before lining it onto the inside of the colander. Transfer tofu to colander. Press tofu so it flattens up against the cheesecloth inside shaping it to the bowl shaped colander. The tofu becomes 1-2 inches thick up against the colander. Reserve 1-2 cups of tofu mixture.
4. Press bowl that fits inside the colander to push up against the tofu (if you have one) or press your fingers up against the tofu until it looks even and flat.
5. Fill the empty cavity with your favorite stuffing. Gently pack in stuffing loosely (you want air-flow) and cover the base with 1-2 cups reserved tofu mixture. Pat down so surface is flat.
6. Oil or spray a cookie sheet or large baking pan with oil spray; place pan over colander and flip over so that the base of the filled tofu mound is down on the pan. Remove cheesecloth from the tofu mound.
7. Mix sesame oil and tamari to use as a basting liquid. Brush the tofu mound with the sesame oil & tamari.
8. Bake uncovered at 375F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Baste every 15 minutes, until top becomes golden brown.
9. Remove from oven and use two spatulas to slide the tofu mound onto a serving platter. Decorate with orange slices, cranberry sauce and serve with gravy and your Thanksgiving side dishes.
Recipe by Atma K. Khalsa 11/14/10