Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Schnitzel-mania

One of the first recipes we've made from my new cookbook, Wild Morsels, is the Crumbed Tofu Schnitzels. By "trying this recipe" I mean following it's methods but changing up the ingredients, because our pantry was low on the required attributes to follow exactly.

So, the idea behind this recipe is to marinate tofu and then to flour it, "egg" wash it, and the crumb it before frying.

Andy made a marinade out of soy sauce, orange juice, herbs, and some other mystery ingredients. We let the tofu sit overnight to absorb maximum flavour.

I forgot that we had breadcrumbs in the freezer, so I crushed some corn flakes instead. Then we set up a bit of a production line and I got to schnitzelling.

Step 1: Coat tofu in flour.

Step 2: Dip floured tofu in batter.

Step 3: Cover floured and battered tofu in crumbs.
Step 4: Set aside. Andy reckons it's best to leave the schnitzels for at least 20 minutes, so the egg equivalent can harden up and the crumbs are less likely to fall off.
We had batter left over from the tofu, so we schnitzelled some zucchini slices as well.
After your schnitzels have rested up properly, and you've gotten all the gunky batter/crumb mix off your fingers, it's time to start frying. Heat up the pan, add a thin layer of oil and then the schnitzels. Cook until the crumbs are golden, and if necessary keep them warm in the oven while you fry the rest of the schnitzels.

We had ours served on a bed of spinach with a small salad.

And the next day, we enjoyed them cold in sandwich form.
I've never schnitzelled anything before, but this was actually much easier, and much more rewarding than I expected. (Plus, the word schnitzel is really fun to say, which is why I've made it into a verb and adjective as well as a noun.) I'll definitely be schnitzelling again in the future!

13 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

This was your first time making it?? You're a pro!!

Unknown said...

wow those look great! it seems pretty easy too...and yes..schnitzel is a pretty great word haha ;)

Amy said...

I love schnitzel, but I hate making it, feel free to come visit and do some schnitzeling (there's a new word!) for me anytime :P Yours look super yummy!

Anonymous said...

those look yummo! I will give those a try over the weekend I think. :)

I think I will be borrowing the word 'schnitzeling' too (if that's ok)

I found your blog though a few different links, and enjoying reading through the back posts. As a relative newbie to vagan living, it's great to have a such a wide array of blogs to read and get hints from!

Anonymous said...

it seems so yummy! and by the way I love the new verd schnitzelling here is called empanizar ... :D! happy new year!

DJ said...

Glad you popped your schnitzelling cherry - EVERYTHING gets much tastier once you batter and fry it! Happy New Year!

UndergroundCooking said...

That looks so gooood! Can you please reveal how you made the bater?!

Trying To Heal said...

wow, those look so good!

Theresa said...

Underground Cook--I don't remember the proportions of the top of my head, but the batter is just soy flour + soy milk. More milk than flour, probably by twice as much....

The Vegan Snorkeler said...

Looks great! That's a really good idea to marinate the tofu overnight first, then let the breaded tofu sit for a while before frying. I'm going to try that the next time I bread and fry some tofu (or should I say the next time I schnitzel?).

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

I love your new word! I want to use it all the time now!

Anonymous said...

thanks for sharing the batter, and the rest of the recipe! i'll try this right away!

Gina said...

Schnitzel is such a fun word!! And it looks like it is tasty too, yum :)