Thanksgiving 2013: Thanksgiving Casserole

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all had a wonderful day with your loved ones. We had a wonderful time in Tracy, thank you so much Lori and James for having us! 

I have a lot to be thankful for this year:

• I am thankful to have married the man of dreams two months ago. Thank you for taking care of me this past few months, I know I have not been the easiest pregnant lady. 
• I am so thankful for my unborn son (I keep forgetting to make a gender reveal post....). This pregnancy has not been very fun so far, but I know he will be worth it. I can't wait kiss his sweet little face in April. 
• I am thankful for my amazing parents. Thank you for always supporting me and loving me. We all might be crazy, but at least we can be crazy together! 
• I am thankful for all my amazing in-laws.  Thank you to my wonderful parents-in-law for being so kind and supportive through these crazy few months. And thank you to my wonderful sisters-in-laws for being so open and accepting from moment Michael brought me home. 
• I am thankful for my cats. Penny makes me smile everyday with her antics (Did you know a cat can be condescending?). And, I am grateful for Zoey's snuggles. I am so happy my kama'aina kitties came to California. 

So, as I said in my menu post, I made a layered casserole thing. I wanted baked tofu, stuffing, and mashed potatoes---but I did not want to bring 3 separate dishes. So I just combined them into one. It's not that complicated to make, but a little time consuming.  

Thanksgiving Casserole

Tofu Turkey Layer:

28 oz (2 blocks) of firm tofu, frozen then thawed

7 oz (1/2 block) silken tofu

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbs herb de Provence 

1/2 tps pepper

Stuffing Layer:

3 cups vegetable broth 

1 cup fresh cranberries

2 tbs celery leaf 

1 tbs herb de Provence

1 tbs sugar

4 cups vegan stuffing mix (just check the label, it's not that hard to find)

1 medium carrot, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

3 stalks of celery, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

1 cup onion, chopped finely

Mashed Potato Layer:

5 medium russet potatoes, peeled and quartered 

1 tbs vegan butter

2 tbs vegan cream cheese

1 cup vegetable broth

Salt and pepper, to taste

 

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Coat a dutch oven pot or a deep casserole pan lightly with olive oil.

Tofu Turkey Layer:

In a colander, drain the firm tofu very well. I mean get it as dry as you possibly can. Squeeze it out with your hands. Don't worry about crumbling it. 

Drain off the liquid the packaging liquid from the silken tofu, but leave this tofu still moist.

In a food processor, all the tofu, soy sauce, garlic, herb de Provence, and pepper. Blend until smooth. 

Pour into the dutch oven and smooth so the top is even. It will only cover an inch or so on the bottom. 

Cover with foil and bake for one hour.

In the mean time...

Stuffing layer:

In a small sauce pan, bring the vegetable broth, cranberries, celery leaves, herb de Provence, and sugar to a boil over.

Reduce to a simmer. Cook until the cranberries burst open and soften. 

Remove from heat. 

In a large bowl, add the chopped stuffing mix, carrots, celery, and onion. Pour the broth/cranberry liquid in slowly, stirring gently. 

Once the tofu has cooked for an hour, remove from the oven and spread the stuffing over top (without burning yourself on the hot pan). 

Cover with the foil again and bake for 45 minutes.

And while that cooks....

Mashed Potato Layer:

Once your potatoes are peeled and quartered, add them to a large pot of cold water. 

Cover and bring to boil.

Remove the lid and let them boil until tender (when a fork can be easily inserted).

Drain and return back to the pot. 

Add the butter and cream cheese. Mash very well.

Slowly add a little bit of vegetable broth at a time until the potatoes come to a creamy but firm consistency. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Once the stuffing layer has cooked for 45 minutes, remove the oven and spread the mashed potatoes on evenly (again, be careful).

Turn up the heat to 425 degrees.

Cover with foil and bake for another 30 minutes. 

I served this with some simple gravy. I also had some cranberry sauce and corn. It was so delicious, all the flavors of Thanksgiving all rolled into one. Everyone else tried it too and said it was good! I would totally make this again next year.