Saturday, October 01, 2011

Vegan Mofo First Post

Apologies in advance, my photos are taken with an iPod touch and probably I'll learn from these and attempt to do my blogging cooking during the day to get better lit photos. Here we have Tempeh Helper with Easy Breezy Cheezy Sauce both from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz


This is my first attempt at cooking with tempeh and certainly won't be my last, so delicious! Tempeh apparently has a bitter taste, Isa likens it to the bitter taste of aragula aka rocket. I do not like rocket. No Sam I do not.

I steamed it as per the instructions for avoiding the bitter flavour. Wish I'd taken pictures of that now as well, because I was excited because I got to use my steamer for the first time.
Tempeh is a soy product similar to tofu for those of you not familiar with what it is, I've only just learned it even existed.

Compared to tofu, stir fried tofu isn't bad, I prefer it if it's been cooked up quite crispy and a bit chewey as opposed to some times when it's left in large pieces and still remains quite soft in the centre.
Tempeh has a certainly more meaty texture and flavour, eating this very much reminded me of eating a savoury mince dish my mother used to cook.


The Cheezy sauce? Less cheesy and more like a very addictive savoury white sauce. I'm hooked on the nutritional yeast now, apparetnly here in Australia we recently struck a shortage of it. I'm not quite sure how it came about, but I can understand the panic at the thought of a shortage.
I'll do a post before the month is over on nutritional yeast, this was something else I've only just recently discovered.

Will I make this recipe again? A resounding yes! Actually I can't stop thinking about the left overs in the fridge. Will I cook more with tempeh? I think October is dangerously close to becoming tempeh month.

Alright that's my first post for Vegan Mofo, just a little taste to start off. This post was a bit of a rush so hopefully the future ones will be more planned and contain better photos.

3 comments:

2paw said...

Your pictures are fine!! It looks quite tasty, I think I may have seen the word tempeh before, but it just makes me think of "Bones' right now!!
I have had quorn and that is quite nice.
I agree, I like tofu to be crispy and not soft!!

Bobbie {thevegancrew} said...

Your tempeh helper with the cheezy sauce looks pretty good! I *love* tempeh. It makes for a fabulous bacon as well (my favorite recipe is from The Vegan Table). Hope you find lots of ways to enjoy it in the future. Happy MoFo-ing :)

Clare said...

Nice to see another mofoing knitter. Especially a tempeh eating one