A Very Special Brunch

I love brunch. It seems as though there are endless possibilities for brunch. It's more creative and daring than say lunch or breakfast, and can be just as complex and filling as a good dinner. Not to mention it makes it okay to have vodka, beer, or even champagne at around 10am. Spencer and I regularly go out for brunch on the weekend, generally to one of the pubs we frequent. This dish was inspired by a dish served up at The Royal Tavern, a tofu and tempeh scramble of sorts. I served mine wish some seriously mediocre blueberry pancakes which I won't even bother posting. Oh, and be warned... this recipe is for the patient, there's steps involved and you might just want to save this one for a nice dinner with that special someone if you're too cranky for all this prep in the morning hours.

for tofu marinade:
3 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
2 garlic cloves minced
1 t black pepper
1 t ground mustard
1/4 c. sundried tomatoes, soaked (save liquid)
1 package tofu, cubed

Combine soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, pepper, mustard and liquid from tomatoes in a shallow dish. Add cubed tofu and set aside.

1 T butter*
1 T oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1/2 package tempeh, cubed
salt
pepper
toasted sesame seeds

In a large skillet, caramelize onion in oil and butter. Add garlic and saute until soft. Remove from pan squeezing out as much oil as possible. Turn up the heat to high and in the same pan saute the marinating tofu until browned on either side. Add vegetables, including sliced sundried tomatoes previously soaked, tempeh, and a few tablespoons of the marinade to the pan. Saute until peppers and zucchini are soft but not falling apart. Season to taste, serve with homefries and top with toasted sesame seeds.

This was really good, I was pretty impressed with myself anyway. I think next time (once I get a box grater, hint hint) I'll make hash browns instead of fried potatoes to go with it. Also, I think chopping the zucchini into smaller pieces would have made for a little better texture and visual variation, most of my ingredients were the same size. I used the sundried tomatoes which were nice but there wasn't nearly enough of them. I think perhaps fire roasted tomatoes would make for better flavor and moisten this dish a bit more. Over all though, I could eat this again at any time of day. And trust me, if you're trying to make something special for a sexy guy or gal, they'll love it.