I came across my bottle of liquid smoke and have been so into putting it in everything I’ve been making this week and calling it Smoky _____. Smoky Chocolate Pie, anyone? Well, not really. But I did use it in my Thanksgiving entree.
My Thanksgiving dinner was a frantic last minute thing. I was spending all morning on Thursday, and the night before, baking cookies until I realized, ohshit, I don’t have anything made for dinner yet.
This is creeping me out because the tofu really looks like meat in this picture. It is SMOKED cranberry and kale stuffed tofu atop a bed of roasted yellow squash, onions, sweet potato, and spinach.
I don’t have a recipe, but it kind of went like this: the tofu and kale were marinated in a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, sage, rosemary, black pepper, soy sauce, liquid smoke, hot sauce, and salt. I cut a slit in the side of each piece of tofu and stuffed it with kale and dried cranberries. Cooked fresh cranberries or cranberry sauce would be really good too! I ended up topping this with cranberry sauce at dinner. Baked the tofu at 450F for 15-20minutes, flipped them, and baked for another 15 minutes. Finally, broiled for 5-10 minutes to brown them and make the kale crispy.
The veggies were just roasted in the oven til nice and golden, in a mixture of the same ingredients as the tofu, minus the smoke, plus balsamic vinegar and a drizzle of agave.
When both trays were out of the oven, the tofu went on top of the pan of veggies. I dressed it with a little more balsamic, black pepper, and hot sauce. MMM.
Dessert was Rum Balls from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur and Oreo Caramel Pudding Pie.
The pie was kind of an experiment. It was really good, but I wasn’t entirely happy with how it turned out. It was basically a cookie crust, a layer of oreo vanilla pudding (then baked), a layer of cream cheese frosting, then topped with caramel sauce and cookies.
The caramel sauce is fucking awesome though, so here’s the recipe!
Cream Cheese Caramel Sauce
1/3 cup soy milk
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cream cheese
3 tablespoons agave nectar
2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon soy milk
1 tablespoon margarine
¾ teaspoon vanilla
Combine the soy milk, brown sugar, cream cheese, and agave nectar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook the mixture, stirring frequently, until the sugar dissolves, 3-5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the soy milk. Add it to the sauce, and stir until it thickens up. Remove from heat and stir in the margarine and vanilla.
Serve immediately, then store any remaining sauce in the fridge, and reheat when using again.
What do you like to use liquid smoke for?
