Liz Gets Organized, and a Recipe for Tofu Cutlets Marsala

by Liz on November 2nd, 2010

I will be the first to admit that I was not born with the “organizing” gene. So a few years back when we put an addition on our house and I got my very own home office, I figured that finally the mile-high piles of magazines, school forms, and recipes — lots and lots of recipes — would make their way into file drawers and folders. Well, in addition to completely kidding myself, the extra office space actually backfired, providing even more places to deposit those pesky piles.

Look at my closet now! It’s jam packed with my favorite magazines — Bon Appetite, Kiwi, and Eating Well — and our new cookbook, No Whine with Dinner, printed by FRP (which stands for Favorite Recipes Press).

Recently, I decided to clean up my act. Motivated by blogger extraordinaire Laura from I’m an Organizing Junkie and motivated by a professional organizer who I hired to help me de-pile, my office and closet are now in tip-top shape. Moving forward, I’ll be organizing all my ripped-from-magazine recipes in one tidy notebook organized by many tidy categories. And, as you can see from the photo below, the recipe notebook will have it’s own special place on its own neat shelf.

The first recipe I cooked from my new recipe notebook was something I found in a 2005 issue of Eating Well magazine. Somehow this recipe for Tofu Cutlets Marsala resurfaced after languishing in a pile for half a decade, and I’m sure glad I found it. I remember loving this dish way back when, so I made it for my boys last week after a busy afternoon carving pumpkins. The verdict from my tween and teen taste testers: Awesome!

Tofu Cutlets Marsala

Makes 4 Servings

This recipe is from Eating Well magazine. I made a few minor tweaks which I outline at the bottom of the recipe.

  • 1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • One 14- or 16-ounce block extra-firm tofu, drained, rinsed and cut crosswise into eight 1/2-inch-thick slices
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 2 large shallots, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 6 cups sliced cremini, or white mushrooms (about 10 ounces)
  • 1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
  • 1 cup vegetable broth, or reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Whisk 1/4 cup cornstarch, flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Pat tofu with paper towel to remove excess moisture.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge 4 tofu slices in the flour mixture, add them to the pan and cook until crispy and golden, about 3 minutes per side. Place the tofu on a baking sheet and transfer to the oven to keep warm. Repeat with another tablespoon of oil and the remaining tofu, adjusting the heat if necessary to prevent scorching.

3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, shallots and thyme to the pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until the shallots are slightly soft and beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until tender and lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in Marsala and simmer until slightly reduced, about 1 minute.

4. Whisk the remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch with broth and tomato paste in a small bowl. Stir into the mushroom mixture, return to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly, until thick and glossy, about 4 minutes. To serve, spoon the hot sauce over the tofu.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 334 calories, 18 g fat (3g sat, 12g mono), 25g carbohydrate, 11g protein, 2g fiber, 256mg sodium

Print Recipe

Liz’s tweaks:
> Used 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped thyme instead of dried.
> Used regular button mushrooms.
> Made the sauce first, transferred to a bowl, and reheated before serving over the tofu.
> Used less olive oil than called for in the recipe, but it still tasted great!

Mushrooms, shallots, and fresh thyme cooking in vegetable broth and Marsala wine.

Tofu, breaded in a mixture of flour and cornstarch, sizzles in the skillet.

I plan to make this recipe again, and from now on, I also plan to stay organized. Call it wishful thinking, but you have to start somewhere! If you have an organizing story or a tofu recipe you’d like to share, leave a comment here. For other Meal Makeover Mom tofu recipes, check out our Veggie Patch Tofu Pie and Crispy-on-the-Outside Coconut Tofu. These two recipes are also in our new cookbook, No Whine with Dinner!

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6 Comments | Filed Under Dinner, Vegetables, Vegetarian 

6 Responses to “Liz Gets Organized, and a Recipe for Tofu Cutlets Marsala”

  1. Danielle on November 3rd, 2010

    Good luck with staying organized!! I am working on getting my office put together too.. Also excited to try the tofu recipe!

  2. nancy@skinnykitchen.com on November 3rd, 2010

    Staying organized is always a struggle when you have a blog. I´m good for a while and then poof, papers everywhere again!
    Your tofu recipe sounds delish and very healthy too! Thanks for sharing…

  3. Laura on November 4th, 2010

    Ahh so awesome girl, congratulations on getting it done!

  4. Rachel/CoconutCrumbs on November 10th, 2010

    Liz, it was nice to meet you at FNCE! Glad I could stop by the booth : )

  5. Denise Michaels - Adventurous Foodie on November 10th, 2010

    Why does tofu scare me so much? It makes no sense at all. I’ve bought it in different forms at Whole Foods and there it lies – forlorn and alone – pushed to the back of my frig. Ignored. I even bought a cookbook for tofu a few years ago. Just couldn’t bring myself to cook any of the recipes. I think I finally donated it to the Goodwill a few years ago. The mushroom marsala sauce here looks good – but wouldn’t it be even better on top of a nice piece of chicken?

  6. The Meal Makeover Moms on November 15th, 2010

    Denise, trust us when we say that this tofu recipe rocked! Give it a try … we think you’ll like it as much as chicken!

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