Cornmeal-Crusted Tempeh with Orange Ginger Sauce- Vegan MOFO Day 18

I got the vegan table out of the library weeks ago and this is the one dish that I have made so far. I was a bit dissapointed with the tempeh, it tasted quite bitter from the polenta or maybe the gf flour and wasn't what I expected but the ginger orange sauce was awesome and really easy to make. I've made several orange based sauces in the past but this one is my fave. I will try it with other stir fry dishes and makes a great weeknight dinner sauce. Any other dishes I should try to make from the vegan table before I return it?

 

For Tempeh:

2 packages (225gr) tempeh

1/2 cup unbleached flour (I used a packet orgran gf flour)

1/2 cup coarse cornmeal (polenta)

1 t thyme

1 t basil

1 t oregano

1 t paprila

1/2 t salt

1/2 pepper

1 cup nondariy milk

2 T dijon mustard

1 T olive oil

2 cups cooked quinoa

For the Sauce:

1 red onion, cut lengthwise into thin crescents

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups fresh orange juice

1/4 cup tamari soy sauce

1/2 t red pepper flakes

2 T fresh ginger

2 T cornstarch or arrowroot mixtured into 2 tablespoon of water

1 mandarin orange or 1 can of 280 gram mandarins peeled and cut into quarter (I left this out)

To make the tempeh, cut tempeh into strips and steam for 10 minutes.

Mix flour, polenta, herbs, salt and pepper. In another bowl mix milk and mustard. Coat tempeh into milk mixture and then dry ingredientta. Cook tempeh in frypan over med-high heat until brown on both sides.

To make the sauce, mix all of the ingredients (except for orange segments, ginger and cornstarch mixture). Simmer for 15 minutes, add ginger and cornstarch mixture to thicken. Remove from heat, add orange segments.

Serve tempeh on quinoa with sauce. We added some spinach too. 

I got the vegan table out of the library weeks ago and this is the one dish that I have made so far. I was a bit dissapointed with the tempeh, it tasted quite bitter from the polenta or maybe the gf flour and wasn't what I expected but the ginger orange sauce was awesome and really easy to make. I've made several orange based sauces in the past but this one is my fave. I will try it with other stir fry dishes and makes a great weeknight dinner sauce. Any other dishes I should try to make from the vegan table before I return it?

 

For Tempeh:

2 packages (225gr) tempeh

1/2 cup unbleached flour (I used a packet orgran gf flour)

1/2 cup coarse cornmeal (polenta)

1 t thyme

1 t basil

1 t oregano

1 t paprila

1/2 t salt

1/2 pepper

1 cup nondariy milk

2 T dijon mustard

1 T olive oil

2 cups cooked quinoa

For the Sauce:

1 red onion, cut lengthwise into thin crescents

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups fresh orange juice

1/4 cup tamari soy sauce

1/2 t red pepper flakes

2 T fresh ginger

2 T cornstarch or arrowroot mixtured into 2 tablespoon of water

1 mandarin orange or 1 can of 280 gram mandarins peeled and cut into quarter (I left this out)

To make the tempeh, cut tempeh into strips and steam for 10 minutes.

Mix flour, polenta, herbs, salt and pepper. In another bowl mix milk and mustard. Coat tempeh into milk mixture and then dry ingredientta. Cook tempeh in frypan over med-high heat until brown on both sides.

To make the sauce, mix all of the ingredients (except for orange segments, ginger and cornstarch mixture). Simmer for 15 minutes, add ginger and cornstarch mixture to thicken. Remove from heat, add orange segments.

Serve tempeh on quinoa with sauce. We added some spinach too. 

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Creamy Corn-Crusted Tempeh Pot Pie - Vegan MOFO Day 14

Tempeh is a totally awesome ingredient to cook with.  I have used it to make the famous tempeh "bacon", my Cantonese style "steak" and Masterchef pressure test stroganoff.  

Last week, I made the Creamy Corn-Crusted Tempeh Pot Pie from Terry Hope Romero's Viva Vegan.  I made a few substitutions and omitted a few ingredients but it still tasted very yummy!  

I don't think I should post the recipe as the author hasn't shared it on-line. It is like the Chilean version of shepherd pie but tastier. We both like the crispy but smooth corn topping a lot!  K doesn't like olives, so I skipped it (and the fresh basil leaves that we don't have).  I also used dried cherries instead of dark raisins (as I couldn't be bothered to go to the shops again).

  

yum

shaved Cheezly for extra awesomeness 

Tempeh is a totally awesome ingredient to cook with.  I have used it to make the famous tempeh "bacon", my Cantonese style "steak" and Masterchef pressure test stroganoff.  

Last week, I made the Creamy Corn-Crusted Tempeh Pot Pie from Terry Hope Romero's Viva Vegan.  I made a few substitutions and omitted a few ingredients but it still tasted very yummy!  

I don't think I should post the recipe as the author hasn't shared it on-line. It is like the Chilean version of shepherd pie but tastier. We both like the crispy but smooth corn topping a lot!  K doesn't like olives, so I skipped it (and the fresh basil leaves that we don't have).  I also used dried cherries instead of dark raisins (as I couldn't be bothered to go to the shops again).

  

yum

shaved Cheezly for extra awesomeness 

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Tempeh Bacon Experiment-That Recipe Looks Familar

We went over our download limit this week so have not been able to blog about last weeks potluck til now. I'm not too sad about it though because I need to reserve my efforts for vegan mofo, where we (mostly I) will try to blog every day. In reality I will try to stick to 5 posts a week but will see how I go.  Anyway, back to the potluck and the that recipe seems familar blog event.  Both the event and the potluck was to celebrate  Planet VegMel's 2nd birthday.  Planet VegMel is a wonderful site where you can view all the Melbourne veg blogs in one spot. You can read about the first round of posts for the blog event here. There was also a cute zine created at the last minute.

The potluck was great, there was so much amazing food which resulted in me feeling super full and exhausted. You can read about some of the dishes online including Steph's caramel slice, Mel's tofu quiches and apricot delights, Emily's eggplant salad, Michael's enchiladas, Vicki's peanut butter balls, Johannas cake pops, Cindy's cookie sandwiches, Carla's mock crab cakes, Dannis' muffins and bread, Emily's gado gado and turkish truffles. There was more dishes too and thankfully most of the dishes were gluten free so I didn't have to miss out on much. Thanks everyone, it really means a lot! It was great to meet a few new people and to make friends with Johannas cute daughter Sylvia.

Toby wasn't feeling well and so wasn't planning on going til the last minute so he needed some quick to make. He decided on the tempeh not bacon from wheres the beef:

Tempeh, not bacon
(based on recipe at Get Sconed!)

300g tempeh
4 tablespoons soy sauce
~1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons tomato paste
vegetable oil, for frying

Slice the tempeh into the thinnest sheets you can.

Whisk the rest of the ingredients (except the oil) together in a bowl.

Spread some of the marinade on the base of a shallow tray, lay out the tempeh, and spread over more marinade. Let the tempeh soak up the yum for at least a couple of hours; pop it in the fridge and it'll last for days.

When the tempeh's ready, pour a little oil in a fry pan a heat it to medium/high. Fry the tempeh strips until they darken and crisp up a little.

He put it on top of some tofu 'egg'  and hollandaise sauce from vegan brunch. The tofu egg wasn't particuarly eggy because we didn't have black salt but I enjoyed the hollaindaise sauce:

 Despite being not the biggest fan of tempeh, I loved it so I decided to also try the tempeh bacon from easy as vegan pie:

Tempeh Bacon originally from Veg News TV
1 packet of tempeh, pat dry and slice thinly
1/4 cup of soy sauce/tamari
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tbsp of liquid smoke

1. Steam the tempeh slices for 8-10 minutes in vegie steamer. The tempeh will go a whiteish colour.

2. Mix up the marinade and soak the tempeh strips for an hour or over night if possible.

3. Line up the tempeh strips on a wire rack and drain the marinade off then line the little soldiers up on a baking sheet and grill them at 200 degrees (or high). I just fried mine for about 10 minutes on each side.

I served it for over brown rice, with roasted pumpkin, greens and the wonderful chickpea gravy from appetite for reduction which all made one super yummy and almost healthy dinner.

The main difference with this recipe was the steaming, which does result in a slightly superior flavour and texture. We will certainly stick to steaming from now on.

I do have one more post for the recipe looks familar blog event, but might save it for vegan mofo. See you in a weeks time!

We went over our download limit this week so have not been able to blog about last weeks potluck til now. I'm not too sad about it though because I need to reserve my efforts for vegan mofo, where we (mostly I) will try to blog every day. In reality I will try to stick to 5 posts a week but will see how I go.  Anyway, back to the potluck and the that recipe seems familar blog event.  Both the event and the potluck was to celebrate  Planet VegMel's 2nd birthday.  Planet VegMel is a wonderful site where you can view all the Melbourne veg blogs in one spot. You can read about the first round of posts for the blog event here. There was also a cute zine created at the last minute.

The potluck was great, there was so much amazing food which resulted in me feeling super full and exhausted. You can read about some of the dishes online including Steph's caramel slice, Mel's tofu quiches and apricot delights, Emily's eggplant salad, Michael's enchiladas, Vicki's peanut butter balls, Johannas cake pops, Cindy's cookie sandwiches, Carla's mock crab cakes, Dannis' muffins and bread, Emily's gado gado and turkish truffles. There was more dishes too and thankfully most of the dishes were gluten free so I didn't have to miss out on much. Thanks everyone, it really means a lot! It was great to meet a few new people and to make friends with Johannas cute daughter Sylvia.

Toby wasn't feeling well and so wasn't planning on going til the last minute so he needed some quick to make. He decided on the tempeh not bacon from wheres the beef:

Tempeh, not bacon
(based on recipe at Get Sconed!)

300g tempeh
4 tablespoons soy sauce
~1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons tomato paste
vegetable oil, for frying

Slice the tempeh into the thinnest sheets you can.

Whisk the rest of the ingredients (except the oil) together in a bowl.

Spread some of the marinade on the base of a shallow tray, lay out the tempeh, and spread over more marinade. Let the tempeh soak up the yum for at least a couple of hours; pop it in the fridge and it'll last for days.

When the tempeh's ready, pour a little oil in a fry pan a heat it to medium/high. Fry the tempeh strips until they darken and crisp up a little.

He put it on top of some tofu 'egg'  and hollandaise sauce from vegan brunch. The tofu egg wasn't particuarly eggy because we didn't have black salt but I enjoyed the hollaindaise sauce:

 Despite being not the biggest fan of tempeh, I loved it so I decided to also try the tempeh bacon from easy as vegan pie:

Tempeh Bacon originally from Veg News TV
1 packet of tempeh, pat dry and slice thinly
1/4 cup of soy sauce/tamari
1/4 cup of maple syrup
1 tbsp of liquid smoke

1. Steam the tempeh slices for 8-10 minutes in vegie steamer. The tempeh will go a whiteish colour.

2. Mix up the marinade and soak the tempeh strips for an hour or over night if possible.

3. Line up the tempeh strips on a wire rack and drain the marinade off then line the little soldiers up on a baking sheet and grill them at 200 degrees (or high). I just fried mine for about 10 minutes on each side.

I served it for over brown rice, with roasted pumpkin, greens and the wonderful chickpea gravy from appetite for reduction which all made one super yummy and almost healthy dinner.

The main difference with this recipe was the steaming, which does result in a slightly superior flavour and texture. We will certainly stick to steaming from now on.

I do have one more post for the recipe looks familar blog event, but might save it for vegan mofo. See you in a weeks time!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Revisting My Childhood

My father and his siblings grew up in a Public Housing Estate in Hong Kong called So Uk Estate (蘇屋邨). My late grandparents were still living there after my father & Co. married, moved out and had children. They knocked most of the buildings down because they are way too old and the 6 remaining buildings will go in 2012.

In the 80's/90's and maybe the early millennium, we often went back to So UK Estate to visit my grandparents and sometimes have dinner at Lily Chinese Restaurant (百合酒樓). The grand kids, who are all in their 20's/30's now, would sit around a special table and eat children-friendly food. My favourite were deep fried fish fillets with corn sauce, sweet and sour pork, Cantonese style steak fillets and lemon chicken.

I made lemon tofu chicken last week using the amazing Health Wise gluten free batter mix from Absolutely Gluten Free. K thinks it taste a lot like batter from fish and chip shops.

The tofu chicken part is damn simple:

- Cut tofu to bite size.
- Marinade the tofu in a bit of salt (and/or gluten free soy sauce), white pepper (I use black pepper), paprika and dried thyme.
- Dip them in the batter mix.
- Shallow-fry (or deep-fry) them!

With the Lemon sauce, I used this recipe from Christine's Recipe. It is a bi-lingual omni home cooking blog. Christine is a Chinese mum in Queensland.

When they are ready, pour the lemon sauce and serve!

I did the dish again, two big packs of tofu worth, at the gluten-free flour testing party at Cindy and Michael's home and five of us finished the whole thing in a blink of eye.

If you are too lazy to make the sauce, you can just sprinkle Chinese five spices or salt and pepper on it. Enjoy it with Cooper's Pale Ale or Gypsy Pear Cider. La Dolce Vita!

I also made the Cantonese Style Steak, combining different traditional omni recipes online.

What you need is two packs of tempeh.

- Halve tempeh lengthwise, then halve each half crosswise, then halve each portion crosswise again so you will get 8 thin "steak fillets".
- Boil them in water for 5 to 7mins.
- Marinade them in gluten-free few splashes of gluten-free soy sauce, a tablespoon of sugar, a dash of rice wine vinegar, some white/black pepper and few drops of seasame oil.
- In the mean time, slice 2 medium onions. Fry them but remove it from the pan/wok before they turn brown. Put it aside.
- Fry the tempeh til they are brown on both side.
- In the meantime, mix 2 tablespoons of Tomato Sauce and Spring Gully Gluten Free Worcestershire Sauce (vegan-safe and available at Coles), 1/2 tablespoon sugar and salt and dash of rice wine vinegar together in a bowl.
- Add cooked onions and sauce to the tempeh fillets and gently stir fry it on low/medium heat. Add in corn flour water mixture (1 tablespoon of corn flour with 4 tablespoons of water) and cook til the sauce thicken up.

Here you go:


On my walkman:
The North Wind Blew South by Philamore Lincoln

My father and his siblings grew up in a Public Housing Estate in Hong Kong called So Uk Estate (蘇屋邨). My late grandparents were still living there after my father & Co. married, moved out and had children. They knocked most of the buildings down because they are way too old and the 6 remaining buildings will go in 2012.

In the 80's/90's and maybe the early millennium, we often went back to So UK Estate to visit my grandparents and sometimes have dinner at Lily Chinese Restaurant (百合酒樓). The grand kids, who are all in their 20's/30's now, would sit around a special table and eat children-friendly food. My favourite were deep fried fish fillets with corn sauce, sweet and sour pork, Cantonese style steak fillets and lemon chicken.

I made lemon tofu chicken last week using the amazing Health Wise gluten free batter mix from Absolutely Gluten Free. K thinks it taste a lot like batter from fish and chip shops.

The tofu chicken part is damn simple:

- Cut tofu to bite size.
- Marinade the tofu in a bit of salt (and/or gluten free soy sauce), white pepper (I use black pepper), paprika and dried thyme.
- Dip them in the batter mix.
- Shallow-fry (or deep-fry) them!

With the Lemon sauce, I used this recipe from Christine's Recipe. It is a bi-lingual omni home cooking blog. Christine is a Chinese mum in Queensland.

When they are ready, pour the lemon sauce and serve!

I did the dish again, two big packs of tofu worth, at the gluten-free flour testing party at Cindy and Michael's home and five of us finished the whole thing in a blink of eye.

If you are too lazy to make the sauce, you can just sprinkle Chinese five spices or salt and pepper on it. Enjoy it with Cooper's Pale Ale or Gypsy Pear Cider. La Dolce Vita!

I also made the Cantonese Style Steak, combining different traditional omni recipes online.

What you need is two packs of tempeh.

- Halve tempeh lengthwise, then halve each half crosswise, then halve each portion crosswise again so you will get 8 thin "steak fillets".
- Boil them in water for 5 to 7mins.
- Marinade them in gluten-free few splashes of gluten-free soy sauce, a tablespoon of sugar, a dash of rice wine vinegar, some white/black pepper and few drops of seasame oil.
- In the mean time, slice 2 medium onions. Fry them but remove it from the pan/wok before they turn brown. Put it aside.
- Fry the tempeh til they are brown on both side.
- In the meantime, mix 2 tablespoons of Tomato Sauce and Spring Gully Gluten Free Worcestershire Sauce (vegan-safe and available at Coles), 1/2 tablespoon sugar and salt and dash of rice wine vinegar together in a bowl.
- Add cooked onions and sauce to the tempeh fillets and gently stir fry it on low/medium heat. Add in corn flour water mixture (1 tablespoon of corn flour with 4 tablespoons of water) and cook til the sauce thicken up.

Here you go:


On my walkman:
The North Wind Blew South by Philamore Lincoln

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Pressure Test Tempeh Stroganoff

As you might know, Kristy and I are big fans of Masterchef Australia. Although season 2 is way too melodramatic (Contestants can't stop bringing up unrelated personal stories and the three judges constantly try to make them cry) and lack of show stopping dishes, I still enjoy the show as I am passionate about food.

I saw the recipe card of the Pressure Test Beef Stroganoff at Master Chef's official supermarket and decided to make it for dinner. Conveniently, they sell Spring Gully Gluten Free Worcestershire Sauce which was labeled "suitable for vegans". The recipe ask for 500g piece of beef, so I grabbed two packs of 400g Simple Soy original Tempeh from Asian supermarket as my "core ingredient" (we doubled the recipe).

Kristy suggested Tastebook's Vegan Heavy Cream/Creme Fraiche Substitute recipe, which is basically Tofuttii Cream Cheese, soy milk and lemon juice.

vegan crème fraiche

Sweet paprika flour coated Tempeh

Browned

caramelizing sliced mushroom

I did a few sets of Russian Kettlebell Goblet Squat when the Stroganoff were simmering. Yes, I'm a hard living comrade.

no handmade fettuccine

The end product tasted very nice, even though I sort of burnt the tempeh and mushrooms. Matt Preston might say it is disgusting..........(insert Ad break) ....................ly delicious.

Talking about Master Chef Australia, ex-vegan ex-contestant Skye is selling some raw vegan sweet treat at the Northey St organic markets in Brisbane (check out her website). Marion and Adam (my favourite!) were both food bloggers. I still haven't got the time to read all of old entries but they both look very nice.

On My Turntable:
On Fire (Remastered LP) - Galaxie 500

As you might know, Kristy and I are big fans of Masterchef Australia. Although season 2 is way too melodramatic (Contestants can't stop bringing up unrelated personal stories and the three judges constantly try to make them cry) and lack of show stopping dishes, I still enjoy the show as I am passionate about food.

I saw the recipe card of the Pressure Test Beef Stroganoff at Master Chef's official supermarket and decided to make it for dinner. Conveniently, they sell Spring Gully Gluten Free Worcestershire Sauce which was labeled "suitable for vegans". The recipe ask for 500g piece of beef, so I grabbed two packs of 400g Simple Soy original Tempeh from Asian supermarket as my "core ingredient" (we doubled the recipe).

Kristy suggested Tastebook's Vegan Heavy Cream/Creme Fraiche Substitute recipe, which is basically Tofuttii Cream Cheese, soy milk and lemon juice.

vegan crème fraiche

Sweet paprika flour coated Tempeh

Browned

caramelizing sliced mushroom

I did a few sets of Russian Kettlebell Goblet Squat when the Stroganoff were simmering. Yes, I'm a hard living comrade.

no handmade fettuccine

The end product tasted very nice, even though I sort of burnt the tempeh and mushrooms. Matt Preston might say it is disgusting..........(insert Ad break) ....................ly delicious.

Talking about Master Chef Australia, ex-vegan ex-contestant Skye is selling some raw vegan sweet treat at the Northey St organic markets in Brisbane (check out her website). Marion and Adam (my favourite!) were both food bloggers. I still haven't got the time to read all of old entries but they both look very nice.

On My Turntable:
On Fire (Remastered LP) - Galaxie 500

reade more... Résuméabuiyad