Cape Cod-induced seafood cravings solved…. Fabulous Beer-Battered Tempeh “Fish” with vegan Tartar sauce

The hubby and myself recently returned from a beautiful long weekend on Cape Cod. We shared a rental house with a whole bunch of family. We did a lot of pre-planning with food for the weekend, did a big grocery shop at home and brought a lot of easy meals to keep us full and happy. The rest of our family's food plan was to pretty much eat out every meal. Well… we’re broke so that’s definitely not an option, and looking online, the vegan options out on the Cape are a bit minimal. When we got onto the Cape, we saw lobster shack after seafood stop after clam shanty, etc.. and really not much else. We ate very well with the food we brought and didn’t go hungry at all. (We made lots of Tabouli and hummus sandwiches for the beach!)

I had done a bunch of online searches before we left, and the only interesting vegan eating-out options I found were in Provincetown, so we did head out there one day to shop and go out to eat for a romantic date. We checked out this restaurant Karoo Kafe in Ptown, it's website boasted it as vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free friendly. By the time we were done looking around in funky shops and enjoying the positive energy of all people in Provincetown, we found the Kafe and were super hungry. Well, the menu is really big and has lots of options, something I am definitely not the used to as a vegan. I went for the "Cape Town Stew" with tofu and the hubby got a Falafel wrap, we shared some deep-fried Pakora's for an appetizer. The service was friendly, food came out of the kitchen really fast and was quite delicious. The atmosphere was upscale fast-food, order at the counter, not really drawn out-romantic-dinner-type of place. We even tried some Cape Cod-brewed beer there. Yum! We are going to remember the name of that restaurant and try to get out there again.

My hubby had some serious seafood cravings while we were on the Cape. It is really the one non-vegan food that “still sounds good.” He didn’t cave to his cravings (his tummy thanked him for good judgment), and on upon our return home, I dug out a recipe we tried about a year ago that I knew would make him happy and satisfy those cravings.

Veg News had a recipe for Beer-Battered Tempeh “Fish” and tartar sauce in the April 2011 issue. I don’t do any sort of frying/deep-frying very often, but this recipe looked so good that I had to try it when I saw it in the issue. When I made it last year, I remember it came out good, but the batter didn’t quite stay on the tempeh and I had made big tempeh chunks... Looking at the recipe again, I hadn't cut the tempeh nearly as small as called for.

The day after we got home from the Cape, my hubby had to go back to work, but I had an extra buffer day off. He was super bummed to be back at work, so... I decided to extend the vacation to dinner that night and made a Fried “Fish”/Cape Cod feast.

I followed the recipe much more closely this time... making two whole packages of tempeh worth of beer battered/fried deliciousness (for only the two of us lol), I also made some tartar sauce, some coleslaw, picked up some Cape Cod Salt and Vinegar potato chips, little soft potato rolls the perfect size for one “fish” tempeh stick and even found some Massachusetts’s brewed beer at the beer distributor (I couldn’t find any brewed on the Cape, boo!). One change I made to the recipe was steaming the tempeh about 2 hours before dinner and letting it marinate in the fridge until it was fry time.  Veg News marinated only briefly before frying. The frying didn’t even make that big of mess! Yay!

When my hubby got home and saw the spread on the table, he was so happy and appreciative. And I was too when I started eating, this recipe came out even better than last time, the beer-batter was right on, the tempeh had a great tangy, flakey, fish-y texture, the tartar sauce was yum yum yum, the rolls were good, and of course  the chips and beer were awesome!!! I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have to show these off... they were too yummy to resist and I enjoyed eating them instead of documenting them. To create this dinner was definitely a bit of work, but I had lots of fun doing it on my last day off.

Disclaimer: I am completely aware this is the essence of a “sometimes food.”

Here are the recipes mostly as printed in Veg News:

for the beer-battered tempeh "fish":
ingredients-
2 packages tempeh, in 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup malt vinegar
2 Tb agave 
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning

2 c AP flour
1 Tb baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 tsp cayenne powder, divided (I used Indian chili powder)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 bottle organic pale ale (I used 20 oz of Rolling Rock)

3 cups oil, for frying (I used peanut)
1/2 cornstarch  

directions-
1) Steam tempeh for 7 minutes. Remove into bowl.
2) Combine malt vinegar, agave and Old Bay seasoning. Pour over tempeh, and stir gently to coat. Allow to marinade in fridge for an hour or two. (my marinade got completely soaked up by the tempeh)
3) Prepare batter: whisk together the flour and seasonings until smooth. Using whisk, slowly stir in beer until a smooth batter forms. Put in fridge for 10 minutes while you prepare frying stuff.
4) Heat up oil (med-high heat) in a large skillet (mine is cast-iron). Set up frying station: marinated tempeh, a bowl with cornstarch, the batter, and something to put the hot/cooked food in (w/ lots of paper towels).
5) Dredge individual tempeh sticks into cornstarch, shake off extra. Then dip into batter, and allow the big globs to drop off. Then into the hot oil!! Only cook a few at a time to keep the oil nice and hot and, prevent splashes and burning yourself, etc... Cook until you see the batter puff up and get a lil browned,  turn over with tongs, 2 minutes or so a side.
6) Drain on paper towels, then eat while they are hot!


for the tar-tar sauce:
ingredients-
1 1/2 c Vegenaise
5 slices of sweet pickle-minced or 2 Tb relish
5 stuff green olives- minced
2 tsp dried onion powder
1 Tb fresh lemon juice
dash of salt
pinch of chili powder

directions-
1) Combine together.
2) Slather all over tempeh "fish."





*Bonus/Exciting News*

So this recipe makes a ton (a TON!) of “fish”, definitely at least enough for 6 or more people. I was a bit puzzled with what to do with leftovers. I did some Google searches for “how to store fried food” “can you freeze fried food”, etc… Basically everything I saw online said that batter fried foods can’t be stored, eat them right away or they are gross. I was NOT going to waste all this yummy “fish”!! So I took the cooled “fish” put it in plastic freezer bags and hoped for the best.

Well, we were hungry for an easy dinner the other night and I took out some of the frozen “fish” and attempted to reheat in an cast-iron skillet, it worked awesome, the batter got crispy, the “fish” was hot and maybe even tastier than the first time. I used my well-seasoned cast-iron, (added no oil, this stuff is fatty enough!) heated it up on medium heat, then simply put the frozen pieces right in, I turned them and cooked on all four sides, until hot and a little browned.  (Take that Google, you don’t know everything!)

re-heated, previously frozen "fish" guys :) sooo yum

vegan foodie experiment: jackfruit

I have a dream of one day having my own food truck.. driving around and making yummy food for people, and having people love the food, then after eating it and loving it, realizing its vegan! Delicious food is delicious, regardless of what label you can smack on it. I've spent time researching vegan food trucks online and noticed that on the west coast, quite a few serve up jackfruit. Apparently its this magical tropical fruit, that when cooked up gets all shreddy and soaks in flavors, making it a convincing “pulled pork” substitute. Looking through vegan blogs.. most people who have attempted jackfruit have been really pleased with it. I’m always up for new cooking adventures, so I’ve been meaning to try making jackfruit “pulled pork” for a while now.

Well… guess what? The grocery store doesn’t stock jackfruit.. SHOCKING!

Every once in a while I wander around the local Asian grocery store finding cheapo spices, soy sauce and chili sauces. One of the problems I encounter is when looking for some random vegan items at the Asian market… the people that work there never have any clue what I am talking about, there is a serious language barrier. The word “jackfruit” has been on my radar for several years and I’ve spent time looking through all the shelves at the Asian market for it and have never found it before. (I have found canned “braised gluten balls” though… yum?) When I asked a store clerk one day, he showed me a fresh jackfruit in the produce section and it was super frightening looking, huge, spikey and intimidating..  I decided to hold out until I could find the stuff in the can.

Last week, I finally located canned jackfruit (on the bottom shelf, across from refrigerated tofu and below the condensed milk, duh Peggy!) for only $1.39 a can! The recipes I had found online made a point of saying don’t get the jackfruit in syrup, get either “in brine” or “in water.” I bought the “in brine.” I have to say I was super pumped to find it so cheap. I’ve done my share of trying recipes online and having to go buy the products to try the recipe and then having to cough over some serious dough (virgin coconut oil, oh my!).

I found a bunch of different recipes online for what to do with jackfruit.. Most that I found were either for taco filling or pulled pork sandwiches. I did notice a common theme of long cooking times, or cooking it one day then eating the next..

I mostly followed this recipe --> here

I decided to cook up 2 cans of the jackfruit, because I was really hoping it would be yummy and I love leftovers. The jackfruit is definitely a bit funky smelling out of the can.. probably the vinegary smell from the brine. I rinsed it well, and then tossed with the spice rub. Quite a few of the recipes I saw online differed on whether or not to trim the core of the jackfruit. I chose not to, as the “core” sections were quite large… and I didn’t want to waste so much of the fruit.

Spice rub:

2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp Mustard powder
1/2 tsp Red pepper flakes
1 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp indian chile powder

dash onion powder

dash garlic powder

dash Cajun seasoning mix

In a pan, I cooked some sliced red onion (the recipe called for minced onion, but I thought the long strings of red onion would be sweet and the texture would assist with the whole pulled-idea), and added in a couple cloves of smashed garlic. I then added in the jackfruit (which I rinsed the heck out of, then tossed in the spice rub).

Sauce mixture:

2 Tb concentrated tomato paste
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp tamarind
2 Tb maple syrup
2 tsp canola oil
1/2 cup water

I added in the sauce mixture, then simmered this on the stove for about 15 minutes. At this point, I took two forks and shredded up the jackfruit, I was really surprised how stringy and meaty it was.  Even the cores of the fruit shredded, or atleast broke apart, so I don’t think the core was a problem. I transferred the mixture to a cookie sheet and baked it in the oven at 400 for 15 minutes.  This was supposedly going to firm up the jackfruit and make it meatier… I tasted before and after the baking process and didn’t see a noticable difference at all, other than most of the sauce drying up.

extra sauce:

2 Tb BBQ sauce
1 Tb steak sauce
¼ cup water

I then transferred the whole mixture into the crockpot, and added in some more sauce for extra moisture and let it cook on low all afternoon (6 hrs probably). Our original intent was to eat sandwiches for dinner with the jackfruit, but we ended eating dinner at the hubby’s dad house.. so when we finally got home, our house smelled amazing, but we were too stuffed, and put the jackfruit in the fridge.

So, last night we pulled the cooked jackfruit out of the fridge and decided to make a taco feast, with the jackfruit as “taco meat.” Although the jackfruit is “meaty” in texture… it’s still a fruit and not a great source of protein. So, I also made up some refried beans to add some protein to dinner (black beans, mixed with a lil oregano, onion powder and cumin.. then smashed) We also picked up some guacamole at the store to top our tacos (our neighborhood grocery store didn’t have any ripe avocados, boo! So pre-made guac was our only option).

damn damn damn

These were completely awesome! So satisfying, spicy and yummy. I had the leftovers for lunch today and the filling only got yummier. I will definitely be picking up jackfruit again soon and cooking with it. I think this is something you could contribute to a potluck with some rolls, or bring to a family party and omnivores would dig in.

Next time, I don’t think I’ll go quite as overboard with the long cooking process… I bet the only cooking necessary would be in crockpot, or only on the stove, then eating the next day. 

Have you attempted jackfruit? :)

still cooking... still eating

Here's a recent yummy dinner. Cheezy cabbage (steamed cabbage mixed with cheezy sauce from Uncheese cookbook), BBQ sauce tempeh (steamed tempeh, marinaded with braggs + hotsauce, then topped with BBQ sauce and baked) AND curly fries!

just talking 'brout bread..

shorty is trying to sneak out the backdoor!

awww!! hi georgie-marfleberg

So... I'm feeling alive again, and focusing on being less stressed, and being happy. There are many things that make me happy and I live with these cute lil furry ones that make me SO happy.  I thought I'd share their adorable faces with you.. I have another kitty too, she was hiding behind a curtain, and utterly unphotogenic when I was in the mood to take pet-pictures.

I'm trying to post more.. and thought I'd share more recent food.. :)

serious salad and spicy peanut spirals

This here is a nutritious dinner with a salad made by me, and spicy peanuty spiral noodles made by the hubby. He used my standard peanut sauce recipe and combined that with some whole wheat rotini noodles.

I made little side salads with shredded cabbage, avocado, shredded carrot, cucumber slices, red pepper with homemade scallion balsamic-vinaigrette dressing.

I'm always happy with tasty peanut noodles, and felt full of goodness from all the raw veggies.

 

The other day I made some tempeh cakes.. I was going for a "crab cake" type creation. They kind of fell apart while cooking, but tasted really good. Steamed, crumbled tempeh combined with red pepper, celery, scallions, breadcrumbs, vegenaise and Old Bay seasoning. Formed patties, then fried. 

Ugly, but yum.

tempeh crabby cakes (the only photogenic ones of the batch) and coleslaw

yum healthy bread! whole wheat-spelt

With all that yummy food in my life, the thing that made me the most excited was this loaf of Spelt-Whole Wheat bread. I found the recipe on one of those forums I posted the other day. The recipe called for oatmeal flakes, but I didn't have any... I did, however, have recently acquired Spelt flakes that I've been wanting to use, so I substituted those.  This bread took the same amount of work any other bread in the breadmachine takes... MINIMAL! but the outcome was really satisfying.

The bread is nutty tasting, soft in texture, super high in protein and fiber,  and still firm enough for slicing and sandwich making. This is definitely keeper of a recipe.