TOFU CURRY BIRTHDAY DINNER

A birthday dinner calls for something everyone can enjoy together - and in my family, that means it needs to be vegan.

Today we had curried tofu over Jasmine rice, hot herbed baguette on the side, a starter of burek and salad (see this here) and as dessert puff pastry dough, cut into squares and topped with apple sauce or orange marmalade and streusel.

For the baguette, soften ½ cup VERY good margarine, mix thoroughly with herbs of your choice (I used a mixture I have that goes well with a green salad - lovage leaves, garlic, onion flakes, dill) and granulated vegetable broth. Let rest for at least one hour before using, to allow flavors to mellow (can be made the day before and refrigerated. Allow to soften again before using).

Slice baguette diagonally, ¾ of the way through. Gently spread apart, slice by slice, and apply the herbed margarine generously. Bake at 350°F/180°C, tented with paper or foil, for about 15 minutes or till hot clear through. Serve hot.

For the dessert, cut puff pastry dough into squares (most of mine were about 10x10 cm / 2.5x2.5 inches). Spread with favorite jam or sweetened apple sauce (I used orange marmalade on some, apple sauce on some) and top with streusel made of 2 c flour, 2/3 c sugar and 2/3 cup melted margarine, with the zest of two organic oranges and one lemon as flavor. I also added the juice of the lemon, to cut the margarine taste. Mix gently to make large "crumbs."

Bake at 200°C/350°F till nicely puffed up and browned at the edges.

For the curry, cube 2 lbs firm tofu. Toss with Season All, granulated vegetable broth, black pepper and garlic. Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow flavors to blend and infuse the tofu.

Add a generous amount of your favorite curry powder, some granulated vegetable broth and a good teaspoon of turmeric to app one quart coconut milk. Let this simmer gently for 20 - 30 minutes, to allow all the flavors time to develop. While this is cooking, start the rice, fry the tofu and bake the burek.

Pour about ¼ c olive oil into a wide skillet, add cubed spiced tofu and dust generously with corn starch. Mix lightly with a spatula a few times as it fries, to make sure that all the tofu is being browned nicely.

When the rice is done, add 5 sliced bananas and a large can peaches (app 8 halves) drained and cubed (save peach juice) to curry/coconut milk. Heat through. Drain a small can of mandarin sections, catch juice. Mix the saved juices and add 3-4 tsp cornstarch to half of the juice. Mix well and add to curry. Heat through, stirring a few times. Last, add the mandarin sections and the fried tofu. No need to mix it in - it will drift down on its own.

Start this meal with the burek and a salad.

Then serve curry over rice, with a slice of the bread on the side. (This is good with the pepper jam too!)

Finish up with some pastry squares and coffee.

Do join us! This made enough to feed 7 people and leave plenty for you too!