Tempeh Provenҫal

Tempeh is a fermented soybean cake that has its origins in Indonesia. And its much tastier than that sounds.


See? It boasts a higher protein, dietary fiber, and vitamin content than its cousin tofu, as well as a firmer texture and stronger flavor.

I made this recipe for Tempeh Provenҫal from Vegetarian Times, and its pretty good. A few changes I would make for the next time:

- Double the sauce recipe (at least!). Its tasty, but there was just about enough there for the two of us.- I don't know what tempeh they used, but mine did not turn out all pretty and golden like their picture. I think pan-frying rather than baking the tempeh would be good, to give it a crisper texture. And cut the tempeh into six thinner pieces instead of four.

- VT suggests serving it atop rice, but I used polenta instead and think it was a good choice. The soft polenta is a nice contrast to the crisped tempeh and slightly chunky sauce.

- I also sprinkled some blue cheese crumbles over the polenta to add an earthy flavor to the dish, which went well with the tangy sauce.

The recipe itself was straightforward, though I was doing a few different things all at one at the end:

Cut your tempeh and put in a baking dish. Bring 1/2 cup white wine, 1Tbsp. herbes de Provence, 1 Tbsp. oil, a couple cloves of crushed garlic, and a dash of pepper to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour it over the tempeh and stick it in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight to marinate.

When its ready, put the tempeh on a baking sheet (reserve the marinade) and bake in a 400°F oven for 15 minutes, then flip and bake for another 15 minutes.

While the tempeh is baking, strain the marinade into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and add a chopped red bell pepper. Simmer 5 to 7 minutes, until the pepper is soft and the liquid is nearly absorbed. Then add 1/4 cup tomato sauce, 2 Tbsp. drained rinsed capers, and a pinch of sugar. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for about 10 minutes over low, until the sauce is thick.

While the sauce is cooking, I whipped up some quick polenta: Bring 2 cups water + 1 cup milk nearly to a boil. Slowly add 1 cup polenta in a steady stream while whisking, so you don't get clumps. Cook for 10 minutes or so, stirring often, until thick and creamy. Polenta will set up quick, which isn't a bad thing. By the time I got our meal on the table, after plating and taking pictures, it was no longer porridge-like, but still yummy.

The pepper sauce and polenta should finish up at just about the same time. Add 1/2 cup chopped basil to the sauce (I didn't have any on hand), and plate.

I served mine with some roasted Brussels sprouts. This is a hearty meal!

Tools: Garlic Press

I've used a garlic press or two in the past, and have been woefully disappointed with them. They didn't seem to expel the garlic well at all, were difficult to clean, and just weren't worth the pocket change to me. However, that has all changed thanks to this Calphalon garlic press I picked up a few weeks back.

Simply put your garlic clove, with paper and all, in the cup of the garlic press. (This might be where I was going wrong before, since I always peeled garlic before trying to press it.)

And squeeze. There's some good leverage action here, so squeezing is easy.

The garlic is extruded from the perforated end.

Scrape off the extruded garlic, then open the press and remove the paper. If you don't press too hard when you're squeezing, its easy to peel off.

And you easily have a pile of minced garlic, ready for whatever you're cooking.

You can do this directly over your pot or pan, where the juices that are pressed out can fall right into what you are adding the garlic to. I think my fingers are especially thankful - I'm clumsy and have to be very careful not to nick myself when chopping, especially something fine like minced garlic. Love it!

365 Photo Friday

Sitting in mud... Throw the ball!

At the vet, watching the door

Brussels Sprouts

These birds were crazy loud!

Mac, on Gretel, on me - a veritable fuzzy fest

Shaggy mushroom family

Chocolate Hazelnut Affogato - I was underwhelmed by it, unfortunately

C is for Cookie

I was thinking of making these muffins, but then a craving for oatmeal cookies hit and I couldn't say no. These cookies are cakey and moist, and taste a lot like muffins. The lemon glaze gives just a hint of zingy tartness (and seems to have absorbed nearly completely into my cookies!). Be gentle when folding the blueberries into the cookie dough - the purple color bleeds into the dough and turns it grayish if you're too rough, but they'll still taste great and a thicker glaze would cover the color right up.

Blueberry Oat Cookies with Meyer Lemon Glaze

Makes about 30 cookies

2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 c. golden brown sugar, packed
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. Meyer lemon zest
2 large eggs
2 c. old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. frozen blueberries

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. Meyer lemon juice
1 Tbsp. Meyer lemon zest
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 c. water (if needed)

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy (about a minute). Add the lemon zest and eggs and beat until combined. Add the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and mix on low until blended. With a wooden spoon, gently fold in the frozen blueberries until distributed.

Drop by heaping tablespoons (I use my trusty cookie scoop) onto greased cookie sheets, 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for about 15 minutes, turning sheets half way through, until the cookies start to turn golden brown. They will be soft, but firm up as they cool. Let rest on baking sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool.

While the cookies cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla extract. If the glaze is too thick add the water; if its too thin add more powdered sugar. When the cookies are completely cool use a fork to drizzle the glaze over the tops.

Related recipes:
Cherry, Almond, and White Chocolate Biscotti
Harvest Cookies
Marbled Biscotti
Choclate Chip Banana Cookies

Boozy Mushrooms and Fresh Pasta

I bought myself a pasta machine. I've made fresh pasta once before, using a rolling pin and a pizza cutter, and didn't make it thin enough. Now I can make it extremely thin, and I can't wait to make a truly homemade lasagna.

The dough recipe I used this time comes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman, which is a great compendium of all sorts of useful information. Its basically the same as the previous recipe, but I used fresh thyme and his food processor option to make it even easier: Put 2 cups flour, 1 tablespoon minced thyme, and a teaspoon of salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add 3 eggs and process until a ball begins to form. Add some water or flour, if your dough is too dry or too wet. Sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic, and let rest 30 minutes. Then roll, roll, roll, and cut with the pasta machine.

The rolling was a very cool process. You start on the largest setting and run a chunk of dough through, twice on each setting and sprinkling with flour if its sticky, until you get to the smallest (only once then). A few things I learned: Use a small chunk of dough, because it will get very long in the thinner stages, and difficult to deal with if you're doing this by yourself. And the thinnest setting, 9 on my machine, was too thin for me. The noodles came out soggy even after less than two minutes of cooking the first time. The second time I stopped at 7 or 8 and was much happier with the result.

Once you have your dough to the thickness you want, run it through the cutters, et voila! Fresh pasta. My machine has tagliatelle and angel hair, and you can use the uncut sheets for lasagna. You can then let it dry and store it, or cook it right away in boiling salted water.

I topped mine with Jaden of Steamy Kitchen's Whiskey Mushroom Cream Sauce. And oh my goodness, is this ever good! She uses it atop a steak (and manages to take a mouthwatering picture of it to boot!). I used regular button mushrooms and a ton more garlic, 'cause that's how I roll. This stuff is magic, and it is imperative that you go make this and pour it over whatever you want. Just get it in your pie-hole pronto! And go on over and say hi to Jaden while you're at it; she has a fantastic blog.

Related recipes:
Wine Sauteed Mushrooms
Stuffed Mushrooms

Soyrizo

Have you tried SoyRizo? If you haven't, and you like chorizo, you definitely should. It is much healthier and doesn't contain all of the fun random piggie parts, such as lymph nodes and cheeks if I remember correctly, that chorizo has. And it tastes nearly the same!

You should be able to find it at most supermarkets, and I believe Trader Joe's carries its own brand. It cooks up just like chorizo, and while I often put it in veggie tacos I also love having soyrizo and eggs on a lazy weekend morning.


This time I fried up some diced red onion and a diced potato, then added the soyrizo and let it cook down a bit. The I added four eggs with a dash of milk, lightly beaten, and scrambled them as usual. By the way, I found it very difficult to take pretty pictures of scrambling eggs and soyrizo... not really a beauty food, is it?

Serve topped with shredded extra sharp cheddar and fresh salsa.

365 Photo Friday

Rainy weather leads to dramatic pictures

Berries

Little flowers

A little flour

Gretel kitty

Homemade pasta with cream sauce and Parmesan

I found what's at the end of the rainbow... I think its a Ford