Friday, May 08, 2009

Muster-Dee Tempeh

I've been in such a cooking rut. I'm getting to believe that Goods is a picky eater- as he puts it "I'll eat pretty much anything", which he will, but I also want him to enjoy what he is eating.

The other night I was in the mood for tempeh, thank goodness that isn't on his list of "texture foods" that "bother him"- So perusing some cookbooks I saw a recipe for "honey mustard crispy tempeh" (from the Bold Vegetarian, I think)- Since I don't do honey, I winged my own recipe borrowing a few of his listed ingredients. So with no further a do...here is what I did.....


Cut on package of tempeh in 5 pieces, then sliced each of those pieces in half (thickness wise) then I cut that piece in half (length wise) - wow, lets just show you a photo to clarify that mumbo jumbo I just wrote!
Then I put them on a plate and sprayed them with a touch of veggie oil. Sprinkled them with some powdered mustard, garlic powder, pepper, and onion powder. Did it to both sides. Then I fried them in a garlic olive oil blend that I still had in fridge, but you can use any kind of oil. Here it is frying...

After they browned (5 mins each side)- I put them on a paper towel lined plate then transferred to a serving dish. Wipe out the pan to make the sauce.

Then for the mustard sauce:
1 Tbs Veggie Soup Powder
1.5 Tbs. Yellow Mustard Powder
1 C. White Wine
2 Tabs. Maple Syrup
1-2 Tbs. Arrowroot Powder

Combine the first 2 powders and add a little water to make a paste. Pour the wine into the pan, and bring to boil. Add the paste, stir and simmer. Then add the arrowroot, enough to make it into a thicker sauce (you can add some of the hot liquid into the arrowroot before you add it into the pan to make sure it doesn't get lumpy.) Once you get it to the thickness you desire, remove from heat and add the maple syrup. Pour over tempeh. Lookie how pretty.....

I served with baked sweet potato and steamed broccoli. Was a very good combo, and aren't the colors pretty together???

Verdict:

Sauce - LOVED, maybe next time a little more maple syrup? Not necessary, but a thought.

Tempeh - The sauce differently complimented the tempeh. This tempeh, for some reason was strong, next time I will pre-boil the tempeh before preparing it. Also, I think some marination of the tempeh would be good. Maybe in the wine/mustard sauce mixture before it gets fried. I'll let you know when I figure it out. I must say the leftovers are awesome since the sauce covered the tempeh for a couple of days.

I'm giving this 4 out of 5 forks,
just because the tempeh was a tad strong, everything else was great.

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