During this Art of Vegetarian Cuisine course Week 9, we learned to work with Tempeh and produced some delicious dishes. Tempeh is a traditional soy product originating from Indonesia,  probably on the island of Java. The earliest known reference appeared in 1815. Different from tofu that is made by coagulation of soy milk, It is made by Tempeh is made from the whole bean so you get more protein and fiber. Plus, tempeh is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation which gives you the benefit of stimulating probiotics (the good bacteria in our guts) and binds soybeans into a cake form.

We used Barry’s Tempeh, a brand of tempeh made right here in Brooklyn. We used a variety of tempeh. Some were plain and others had an addition of different grains and beans to create a complete protein. A complete protein contains an adequate portion of all nine essential amino acids our diet needs.Tempeh has the same amount of protein as dark meat on chicken or tofu and is an excellent meat-like substitute.

These are the dishes each team produced:

Team A: Glazed Maple-Mustard Tempeh Strips w/Lacinato Kale & Sweet Potato Mash. The strips, in my opinion, really gave the impression of a barbecued “boneless wing”. 

 

 

Team B: Tempeh with Mole Sauce, Savory Winter Squash and Apple Mousse & Braised Green Beans. The mousse was a very well-balanced between the sweetness, from the Granny-Smiths and savoriness.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team C: Tempeh in Coconut Curry Sauce w/ Brown Basmati Rice n’ Peas & a Crispy Raw Slaw

Team D: Stuffed Poblano Pepper w/ Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Tomato sauce & sautéed Swiss Chard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team E: Tempeh Scallopini with Shallots and Mushrooms, Risotto & Asparagus. This was the crowd favorite. The tamari, garlic, mushroom and shallot sauce was delicious and  leaving the saffron in the risotto cooking process longer than instructed was a lovely mistake that gifted great color.