Ellwood Thompson’s Blog

        Well, the 6th Annual Veg Fest in Bryan Park was a resounding success.  The weather was the best ever except perhaps for the torrential downpour right around 3:45.

       Thanks to everyone who came by our booth and sampled the delicious Field Roast, wraps, baked goods and the adventurous folks who tried the new raw meal — Zucchini basil noodles with raw marinara and portabello salad. Yummy!

     Here’s the recipe for the tempeh dish folks sampled at my demonstration.  Most folks seemed to like it a lot.  One lady told me that she was going vegan but didn’t like tofu but she loved the tempeh but had never had it before. So she was happy to find a alternate source of high quality soy protein.

    For those of you  not familiar with tempeh, it is made from whole soybeans, so it’s nutritional profile is different that tofu.  Tempeh  is higher in dietary fiber, protein and vitamins. That being said, the texture is denser and the flavor more pronounced than tofu.

    In fact, tempeh is a cultured, fermented soy product that originated in Indonesia. To make tempeh, whole soybeans are soaked and dehulled. Then a mild acid is added to lower the pH so the culture will grow well. After the beans are inoculated with the culture, the resulting cakes are wrapped in leaves then left to ferment.  I have a book that shows people placing the wrapped tempeh packets on the roofs of their huts and leaving them to ferment.

    Fermenting the beans makes the beans more digestible by breaking down the long chain starch molecules (oligosaccharides)  and the protein is absorbed by the body more easily. Lots of folks promote tempeh as a good source of B12, however not all isomers of B12 are bio-active, so even if you are eating lots of tempeh, I would recommend still supplementing your B12 intake.

     The key to making delicious tempeh is to simmer the tempeh in broth or steam before using.  This cooks the beans and opens to cake up so that it can absorb more flavors.

    So here goes! Happy cooking!

Grilled Tempeh with Orange-Chipotle Barbeque Sauce

 2 packs Twin Oaks Tempeh

1 quart veggie broth, or 1 quart water, 1 small onion quartered, 1 small carrot halved and one rib celery, salt to taste

 1 tablespoon oil

1 medium onion, diced,

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 cup orange juice

¼ cup lime juice

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

¼ sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Half of a chipotle chile, seeded

1 teaspoon garlic chili paste (available in Asian markets)

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

 Prepare the tempeh: Heat the vegetable broth or water with added vegetables to boiling. Reduce heat and keep at a simmer. Cut tempeh pieces in half to for triangles. (This decreases the likelihood of breakage after poaching) Add tempeh to the broth and simmer for 30 minutes.  Carefully remove tempeh and allow to cool completely.

Make the sauce: Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the juices, vinegar, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the chipotle, chili paste, and cornstarch mixture Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is slightly thickened. Add the cilantro.

On the grill: Heat the grill to medium-low.  Lightly brush the tempeh with the sauce.  Cook the tempeh on each side for 5 minutes.  Brush with additional sauce and grill again for 3 minutes.  For a thicker coat of sauce, brush again, place tempeh on medium-high spot on the grill again until the sauce is caramelized and the tempeh is slightly charred. 

In the oven:  Generously coat the tempeh with the sauce. Place in a greased casserole. Bake at 400° for about 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, adding sauce as desired.

On the stove: Place a cast-iron skillet or heavy saucepan on medium-high heat.  Coat the tempeh with a little sauce.  Add a small amount of oil or cooking spray to the pan. Immediately add the tempeh. Allow to sear for about 1 minute. This will caramelized the sugars in the sauce.  Turn tempeh and sear for another minute.  Reduce heat to medium low. Add more sauce to pan, to your taste, and cook until sauce is bubbling and tempeh is glazed.