10.17.2011

Vegan MoFo - Day 17

Day 17: V-Eggs Benedict
Finally, the MoFo post I've been waiting for! Actually, I've been yearning to make this next dish for months, and I can't fathom why I've waited so long!

Tofu Benny's from Vegan Brunch
Bit o' History: For the longest time, I thought eggs Benedict were named after that treasonous flip-flopper Arnold! Actually, most historians acknowledge two different versions of the original eggs Benedict, neither of which include ole Arnold. My favorite of the two involves Lemuel Benedict, a Wall street broker from the late 19th-century. Lemuel was suffering from a hangover and supposedly ordered some buttered toast, crisp bacon, two poached eggs, and a hooker of hollandaise sauce” at Waldorf Hotel in New York. The chef, Oscar Tschirky, was really impressed (by the guy's ability to fabricate such a magnificent meal whilst suffering a hangover - I'd be pretty impressed, too), and decided to put the dish on his permanent menu, after subbing an English muffin and Canadian bacon. Version 2 of this story is a bit less entertaining. Some rich lady, Mrs. LeGrand Benedict, was bored with her favorite restaurant's menu and demanded something new! I hope her tantrum was as wild as the one in my imagination.

For a vegan version of this breakfast classic, I looked to one of my favorite cookbooks of all time - Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Her recipe for Tofu Benny's marinates and lightly fries tofu circles (save the scraps for a scramble later on!) and she subs thick beefsteak tomato slices for the bacon. I used whole wheat English muffins and Isa's recipe for Hollandaise sauce (also from Vegan Brunch), and garnished with julienned basil. Super!!

3 comments:

  1. Ok, I've got to admit, I own Vegan Brunch but have used it maybe once (sad, I know). But now that I know there's a recipe for tofu benny's, I am cracking open that book and getting to work!

    Beautiful photos, by the way.

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  2. I've been meaning to make that tofu benny recipe for ages, it looks so good that it might have to be sooner rather than later!

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  3. tofu benny photo = food porn - YUM!

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