I got up early to finish cutting out pajamas for my great nephew Emmett, in anticipation of a big day in the kitchen cooking for 10 guests who will arrive in about 2 hours! I just had to write about today's project though, so crazy enough, while Barry is up a ladder getting the Pilgrim hats down from the attic, here is my account.
Since our Pilgrim numbers are down this year, I decided to make veggie turkey drumsticks instead of the whole tofu turkey. As I researched making a veggie turkey roll (presumably dressed with stuffing) which I could adapt to make drumsticks, I saw a video of a woman in what looked like Amish attire adding tofu drumsticks to the top of her tofu turkey. Inventively, she stuck a parsnip in her tofu thighs to resemble the bone!
But the seitan/tofu roll recipe I decided upon calls for one hour of steaming, and I worried that the parsnip bones would soften too much. As with all things technical, I consulted with Barry and after a breakfast of oatmeal to ward off potential grumpiness, he went off to his studio to make temporary bones out of a wooden dowel which we could use to preserve a hole on the tofu thighs while they steamed. As I made the tofu/gluten "dough", Barry got to work on carving the parsnip bones for insertion later. Fabulous!
We coated the "bones" with the seitan mixture and a bit of wild rice/hazelnut stuffing I'd made yesterday. Then we wrapped them in moistened cheesecloth and tin foil and set them in the steamer for 45 minutes.
Barry made us a quick lunch with the parsnip shavings and beaten egg, fried up like pancakes... we named them "Flapnips" and enjoyed them with a nutritional yeast and miso mayonnaise!
Now that the drumsticks were steamed and cooled enough to handle, Barry twisted out the dowels and replaced them with the parsnip bones (which I decided to chill in the freezer to help ward off the oven heat so they'll stay stiff enough to (maybe) hold like King Henry the 8th or Fred Flintstone meets Thanksgiving.
Bones inserted, next is the beancurd skin (Yuba) to resemble crispy skin. But how to affix the skin? Here Barry and I diverged.... I choose to wrap the beancurd skin around the drumstick and then tie it with black linen thread I have from the days my Mom used it to truss the Christmas goose. Barry decides to try tapering the bean curd to make "darts" around the drumstick so that the skin is more form-fitting. We tried gluten and water to make the darts stick, but then I remembered the old kindergarten glue we used to make from flour, salt and water. It worked! A little oil-tamari-orange juice marinade swiped on top of the skin and those babies are ready for the oven! I'd better go.... 1 hour and 45 minutes to show time and I'm still in my pajamas!
Happy Thanksgiving!!! We have so much to be grateful for...
Since our Pilgrim numbers are down this year, I decided to make veggie turkey drumsticks instead of the whole tofu turkey. As I researched making a veggie turkey roll (presumably dressed with stuffing) which I could adapt to make drumsticks, I saw a video of a woman in what looked like Amish attire adding tofu drumsticks to the top of her tofu turkey. Inventively, she stuck a parsnip in her tofu thighs to resemble the bone!
But the seitan/tofu roll recipe I decided upon calls for one hour of steaming, and I worried that the parsnip bones would soften too much. As with all things technical, I consulted with Barry and after a breakfast of oatmeal to ward off potential grumpiness, he went off to his studio to make temporary bones out of a wooden dowel which we could use to preserve a hole on the tofu thighs while they steamed. As I made the tofu/gluten "dough", Barry got to work on carving the parsnip bones for insertion later. Fabulous!
We coated the "bones" with the seitan mixture and a bit of wild rice/hazelnut stuffing I'd made yesterday. Then we wrapped them in moistened cheesecloth and tin foil and set them in the steamer for 45 minutes.
Barry made us a quick lunch with the parsnip shavings and beaten egg, fried up like pancakes... we named them "Flapnips" and enjoyed them with a nutritional yeast and miso mayonnaise!
Now that the drumsticks were steamed and cooled enough to handle, Barry twisted out the dowels and replaced them with the parsnip bones (which I decided to chill in the freezer to help ward off the oven heat so they'll stay stiff enough to (maybe) hold like King Henry the 8th or Fred Flintstone meets Thanksgiving.
Bones inserted, next is the beancurd skin (Yuba) to resemble crispy skin. But how to affix the skin? Here Barry and I diverged.... I choose to wrap the beancurd skin around the drumstick and then tie it with black linen thread I have from the days my Mom used it to truss the Christmas goose. Barry decides to try tapering the bean curd to make "darts" around the drumstick so that the skin is more form-fitting. We tried gluten and water to make the darts stick, but then I remembered the old kindergarten glue we used to make from flour, salt and water. It worked! A little oil-tamari-orange juice marinade swiped on top of the skin and those babies are ready for the oven! I'd better go.... 1 hour and 45 minutes to show time and I'm still in my pajamas!
Happy Thanksgiving!!! We have so much to be grateful for...
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