Coffee & Pistachio Crusted Tofu with Espresso Beurre Blanc

Coffee, Coffee! Buzz, Buzz!! Eat your coffee, yum.
Good day, Friendly Humans! Thanks for stopping by. I’m Penelope Chi, the vegan minded, not so vegan Chihuahua. I am a blogger…a Chihuahua blogger. My Mumsie and I are cooking up a storm. This is a great lunch recipe to make when you are having friends over. It could also be groovy for a light dinner, if you don’t mind being jacked up from all that coffee, boing!

Because of the nature of a Beurre Blanc sauce, I must let you know in advance that this recipe is best made “a la minute”, meaning NOT made in advance but made “to order”. The tofu can be made ahead of time, but do make the sauce right before serving, please & thank you. Beurre Blanc sauce does not hold up very well and tends to break (or separate) if it sits too long. You can always think of this as a great opportunity to show off your sauce making skillz in front of all your peeps.

Ok, press the tofu for about an hour. Here is my homemade tofu press.

Cut your Myoko’s “butter” into small cubes ahead of time and return it to the refrigerator to chill. The butter needs to be very cold to make this sauce. Then I get to sniff it, thanks.

So, here is your Not So Standard, Standard Breading Procedure (yes, that’s what it’s called!):

Usually it is flour, icky eggs and breadcrumbs. Since we are awesome, we are using a sticky glaze and a mind-blowingly yummy crust.
Make sure to brush your tofu generously with the glaze. Don’t be a cheap-o, Dang!

Now we are gonna get all technical and cheffy. When you press your glazed tofu into the crust mixture, you must press down using 5 pounds of pressure. This is a rule or whatever. Mumsie is paying Tens of Thousands of Dollars to have learned about this stuff in culinary college. Rocket Science, I tell ya!


Bake these tofus, then when they are about half way finished, you can start the Espresso Beurre Blanc. How thrilling!

Once your shallot, parsley stems, peppercorns, apple cider vinegar and 1/3 cup espresso liquid have reduced to 2 tablespoons, you can whisk in the 1/2 & 1/2 and start slowly adding your “butta”, a bit at a time. Have patience, all the while looking cool, like a Famous Rock Super Star in front of your friends as you whisk away!

By the way, it is so totally fun looking Cool, I should know!!!

Ingredients for the Tofu:

• 1 pound extra firm tofu, pressed (wrapped in a kitchen towel & weighted for at least an hour)
• 2 Tablespoons organic, vegan catsup
• 2 teaspoons date or agave syrup
• 2 Tablespoons grape seed oil
• 1/3 cup pistachio nuts, fine ground
• 1/3 cup Chickpea Crumbs or Panko style breadcrumbs
• 3 Tablespoons packed vegan brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons instant, fair trade espresso
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons pink salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin

Ingredients for the Espresso Beurre Blanc:

• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 6 stems of parsley, cut in half (stems only!)
• 6 whole black peppercorns
• 2 & 1/2 Tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 1/3 cup of very hot water
• 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of Ripple 1/2 &1/2 or Soy Delicious Culinary Cream
• 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
• Himalayan pink sea salt, to taste (we used 1/2 teaspoon)
• 4 ounces of Myoko’s vegan butter, cut into small cubes & refrigerated to be super cold

How to make the Tofu:

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. While you are waiting…& waiting for your tofu to exude a lot of it’s liquid, mix together in a small bowl the catsup, date syrup & oil.
3. In a wide, shallow bowl, mix together all of the remaining dry ingredients.
4. Cut tofu into 8 pieces.
5. Brush tofu generously with the catsup, date syrup & oil mixture.
6. Press your glazed tofu into the crust mixture using 5 pounds of pressure. Yup, press!
7. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes, until it’s all crusty n’ crispy.

How to make the Espresso Beurre Blanc:

1. In a small saucepan, add the shallot, parsley stems, peppercorns, apple cider vinegar, and the 1/3 cup of espresso liquid. Bring this all to a simmer over medium to low heat and reduce the liquid until there is only 2 teaspoons remaining. This will take about 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Whisk in the culinary cream, then start to add in your very cold cubes of butter, 2 or 3 cubes at a time, each time waiting until the butter has melted to add the next couple of cubes. Make sure you are always whisking, whisking, whisking – thank you very much!
3. Once all the butter is incorporated, remove from the heat, add coconut sugar and salt to taste.
4. Through a fine mesh strainer, strain the sauce into a bowl and then return the finished sauce to the saucepan and keep warm over very, very low heat.

*serves 4 titillating, buzz inducing plates

Lay your tofu atop a puddle of the sauce or drizzle the sauce on top of the tofu, or both, whatever floats your boat. I really don’t care anyway because I’m not getting any. Serve with a simple green salad with daikon radishes tossed in olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Stunning!

All that food and this is all I get to eat?

No Coffee Crusted Tofu for me? Hey Mumsie, I wouldn’t mind getting all wired & buzzed.

I never get anything!!!