Food Network Monthly Cookalong: Memphis-Style Hickory-Smoked Tempeh Ribs

Alright it's probably not what The Neely's had in mind when they developed this recipe but I think tempeh makes an excellent stand in for ribs. Is it on a bone? No (and yuck anyways) but it is easy to pick up each one and delicious when covered in BBQ sauce after being smoked with some hickory wood chips!

It all started with the thought "I wanna smoke something in that BBQ" so I went out and found a smoker box (HomeSense strangely) and some hickory smoke chips (Home Hardware) and then went searching through Food Network's website for something that I wanted to try to veganize. I browsed through and found that The Neely's (recipe here) had exactly what I was looking for. The switch to tempeh was an easy one for me since I have made BBQ sauced tempeh sticks before inside and always thought they made a good replacement for ribs. I cut mine into little riblet sticks by halving the whole cake of tempeh then cutting into one inch wide pieces. I mixed up the dry rub and (warning) it makes a lot that you will not need unless you are making a bunch of tempeh riblets. I used two packages of tempeh and still have a large ziploc bag full of the rub up in the cupboard. It will keep so not a bad thing at all but if you are planning on just making this once maybe scale it down to a 1/4 of the recipe. They suggest rubbing it on the ribs and leaving it for 8 hours or more. I didn't have that kind of time so I just rubbed it on the tempeh and let it sit at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour and found it worked just fine.

I made 1/2 the sauce only because ketchup is a precious commodity in our house and I didn't want to use up most of a bottle. It was just enough for the two packages of tempeh with a little left over for dipping. It is a good but not great sauce in my opinion. It needs a little something...a little oomph! While we were eating the tempeh riblets I grabbed the bottle of Carolina-Style BBQ sauce from Vegan Diner that I keep on hand and gave them a few squirts, it really helped up the flavours.

As for the smoking process, I soaked the hickory chips for an hour in some water then loaded them into the little smoker box I bought. It is V shaped so it fits on top of the heat deflector plate inside the grill. I put it in there and started up the grill. Once it had heated up, I turned the two burners off on the side that didn't have the smoker box and put the dry rubbed tempeh pieces on the cool side. I turned the smoker box side down to medium-low as well (they suggest around 250 so use that built in thermometer to find which temperature setting works for you). After about 15 minutes I flipped the tempeh riblets over and then brushed a little bit of olive oil on each one. Since tempeh doesn't have a lot of fat in it I figured they needed a little something to keep them moist. After another 15 minutes, I flipped them again and basted that side with olive oil as well. By this point the chips in the smoker box had given all they had so I decided to turn that side off and turn the heat on the side with the tempeh riblets to get them a little browned on the outside. I used med-high heat and once they were nicely grilled, I slathered them with the BBQ sauce and let it get caramelized a bit. I took them off and put some more sauce over each before serving as well. I served them up with some roasted potatoes and grilled corn on the cob and they were quickly eaten up with lots of MMMs around the table! You could definitely taste the smoky flavour in them so I would definitely venture into smoking on the grill again. It's so much faster to smoke tempeh as well, definitely no need for three hours on there which makes it great for a quicker supper option.

Food Network Friday: Reuben Meatball Sliders

This Food Network Friday I got to pick! I simultaneously love and stress out about picking. I want to pick something I think is tasty, that I think everyone else will enjoy, something that is a little tricky but not impossibly hard. Then I came along a recipe by Jeff Mauro the self-proclaimed Sandwich King for Reuben Meatball Sliders and knew it was "the one"! I had never had a Reuben pre-vegan but during sandwich testing with Tami and Celine, I tested a few and loved them! I know Tami and Liz both love a Reuben so I knew this one would be a hit.

In preparation for this Food Network Friday I watched a few episodes of the Sandwich King which just recently started airing up here in Canada and I gotta say...I'm not a big fan. My husband can't understand why I keep watching it since all I do is talk smack while it's on. I wasn't a fan while he was competing on The Next Food Network Star but I do like his show idea of making any sandwich into a meal and any meal into a sandwich. That's something I can get behind because I seriously love me some sandwich action! Now if he can just stop leaning on the counter talking to me as if it were completely natural and describing everything like he just got a new copy of the Oxford English Thesaurus that would be great marvellous spectacular wonderful perfect!

And on to the recipe itself...We loved this one for sure! It wasn't insanely hard, came together pretty quickly, and most importantly tasted amazing. Tami was originally worried that we would all go with seitan for the meatball base so I made sure to mix it up. I decided to try (for the first time) a tempeh meatball. I love tempeh (as you might have noticed having read previous blog posts) and most of the Reubens I have loved so far have been tempeh based so I thought I would give it a go not really knowing what to expect. I started out by grating the tempeh with a box grater. I did half on the larger holes and half on the smaller side and I think that was a good idea. I liked the larger pieces for texture but the smaller side I think helped them hold together better. In the original recipe there is shredded Swiss cheese in the meatball which I decided to replace with a homemade Swiss-ish spread (recipe below!) that also helped pull it all together while adding a little zing. For breadcrumbs that were supposed to be rye bread I went with Glutino gluten free pretzels. I really love these pretzels despite their high price tag and they make an excellent stand in for breadcrumbs in just about anything. I fried the outside of one little meatball to check the seasoning and it fell a bit flat. I added some minced onion, upped the caraway and cheese spread and tried again and they were much tastier. I also reduced down some "beef" style veggie broth while I was making the meatballs and threw a splash or two of it in the pan once they were evenly browned to try to add a little "beefy" flavour to them. It worked to add the flavour but did soften the outside of the meatballs if only just slightly.

I took a peek at Liz's summary this morning and saw that we both used Tami's Reuben sauce from American Vegan Kitchen. I guess we both know who to look for Reuben advice. I had originally planned on baking up a batch of slider size rolls for this but then remembered the hundreds of other things I had to do this week so I went with some store bought hamburger rolls and cut them to size with a biscuit cutter. They did look really cute! Ryan decided he wanted more meatball per sandwich so he went with a full sized bun with a few meatballs all smooshed into one sandwich, more like a Reuben burger than slider but still delicious he said.

I definitely will be experimenting more with tempeh meatballs because they really did hold their shape well and the texture was perfect. I did write down what I did this time to share with you so let me know if you do try them!

Looking forward to next Food Network Friday!! Don't forget to check out what everyone else did with this one on Tami's blog and maybe next time you can cook-a-long with us!

Finished product!! 

Tempeh Reuben Meatball Sliders

Swiss Style Cheese Spread
1/2 box of Mori-Nu Extra Firm Silken Tofu
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tbsp yellow miso
1 tbsp lemon juice (I used bottled)
100g whole blanched almonds
1/4 tsp salt

250g pkg of tempeh, grated
1 tsp ground caraway seeds
1/2 tsp salt
pepper
1/4 cup finely ground gluten free pretzels
1 small onion finely minced
1/2 cup swiss style cheese spread
splash of Kitchen Bouquet
2-4 tbsp olive oil, as needed to fry the meatballs

2 cups sauerkraut, drained
1 cup of your favourite 1000 Island type dressing (my I recommend the recipe in American Vegan Kitchen if I haven't already!)
Dill Pickles on the side (absolutely necessary)
12 slider buns, toasted

1. Make the swiss style spread first by combining all ingredients in a high speed blender and blending at highest speed until smooth. (You can soak the almonds ahead of time to make this easier/faster but I tend to just throw them in and hope for the best. It also helps to add half of them at a time.) Set aside.

2. Combine grated tempeh, caraway, salt and pepper, ground pretzels, onion, swiss spread and splash of Kitchen Bouquet in a large bowl. Mix together with your hands until everything is uniformly mixed and it sticks together nicely when shaped into a meatball. You should be able to get 12 slider sized meatballs from this. Lay on a sheet pan lined with waxed or parchment paper until you are ready to cook.

3. In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and add the meatballs. You may have to do these in batches depending on the size of your skillet, adding more oil if needed. Make sure to flip them around so all sides are evenly browned.

Optional step: Once they are browned, drain the oil in the pan and return to heat adding a few splashes of reduced "beef" style veggie broth to the pan and let it reduce down even further while flipping the meatballs so all sides get a bit of the flavour.

4. While your meatballs are browning, add the drained sauerkraut to a small saucepan and gently heat. Turn the heat to low and add the 1000 Island dressing, stirring to coat.

5. Once everything is warmed, assemble your sliders! Place one meatball on each slider bun bottom, top with dressed sauerkruat and finish by adding the top bun. Skewer with a toothpick to hold together until you are ready to eat! Enjoy!

Supper Tonight - Test Recipes for Terry Hope Romero

Tonight I made three different recipes from Terry Hope Romero's test recipes for her upcoming book full of International recipes. I made a batch of preserved lemons (another test recipe) which required waiting two weeks and today was the day so I couldn't wait to break into them to make Braised Tempeh with Preserved Lemons and Green Olives. I saw that SaraJane over at Vegan Chicks Rock had tested this one already and served it with another of Terry's recipes, Fluffy Spiced Couscous. Her pictures and description convinced me this was the way to go so I made that as well. And apparently I was feeling fancy because I made Kale Salad with Preserved Lemon and Pomegranate as a starter (on a weekday no less!).

All three were so delicious and it was all tied together by the preserved lemons which are my new favourite thing! The salad was tart and crisp and I loved the pomegranate in it with their little bursts of tart juice that paired really well with everything else in the salad. The tempeh and couscous made for a delicious supper. I actually don't usually like green olives but in this dish they really worked and I actually found myself trying to find one for each bite. The tempeh was juicy and the sauce was citrusy and spiced. Again the preserved lemon was in this dish and it really made it something different than anything I've had before. It was all so healthy too but didn't taste like it, if you know what I mean. I am really loving this testing experience because it is definitely taking my palate places it's never been before, places it wants to go again!

Up next for tomorrow is Pho Noodle Soup with Bok Choy! I made the broth this afternoon and it smells out of this world good so I am really looking forward to it! Pre-vegan, I loved a good bowl of Pho and haven't had one since I went vegan so tomorrow we will be reunited!

My First Tempeh Tacos

So by now, maybe you've figured out I'm in love with tempeh! (And maybe tacos too!) I want to use it everywhere now and definitely have been going back through all the ideas/recipes I had seen before where people used it and I turned up my nose. One way I had heard over and over for tempeh to be used was tempeh tacos so now I had to try it!

Once a week my husband's parents come over for supper and when we asked them if they were up for trying tempeh, my mother-in-law said she was definitely in just based on how much I was raving about it on this blog! Too sweet and supportive! I knew they were in but I knew my mom would not want to try them so I decided I would make two kinds of tacos for supper, one batch of tempeh tacos and one batch of bean taco filling.

I started each with the same base of sauteed onions, then added some diced cremini mushrooms to both (more in the beans since the tempeh already has so much flavour on it's own) and browned those as well. I added the tempeh to one pan as well as some tomato paste and homemade taco seasoning and let the tempeh brown slightly to really get that delicious brown, toasty flavour and once it browned added some water and let it simmer and really absorb the flavours of the now sauce. For the beans, I added a mix of navy beans and black beans to the other pan, with the tomato paste and seasoning but immediately added water to the beans since they don't need to brown at all. I let them both simmer until the liquid had reduced down and thickened up and added just a tiny bit of tamari to boost the flavours a bit. I served them in hard shells with toppings (lettuce, diced tomato, homemade tomatillo salsa, homemade guacamole, diced onions, julienned radish, taco sauce and Tofutti sour cream).

My in-laws both went with one of each kind and liked both! My mom of course went with the beans and really enjoyed them as well! Ryan went with two tempeh ones, then a taco salad made with a mix of both so I think he liked them too...haha! I had the tempeh tacos and again...I love tempeh! It makes such a great taco since it has a bit of crunch/texture, nutty flavour and really absorbs the flavour of the seasoning. We had leftovers which I am so looking forward to today! I think this may be my new go-to taco!

I would love to share the tastes of this one with you so here's the recipe for the seasoning I used and the salsa I made which was really simple!

Taco Seasoning

2 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tbsp oregano

1/2 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

2 tsp - 1 tbsp salt (it's totally up to you how much you add)

Mix all the seasonings together in a small bowl, stirring until well combined. Add to your beans or tempeh by generous pinch and keep tasting until you find the right level of seasoning for you.

Tomatillo Salsa

10-12 medium sized tomatillos (I got super lucky at the local market last weekend)

1 medium sized white onion

3 large cloves garlic, peeled

1 jalapeno pepper, washed and left whole

1-2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and Pepper

1 cup vegetable broth

Preheat the oven to 425F. Quarter the tomatillos and the onion and place on a large sheet pan. Add the garlic and jalapeno to the pan and drizzle the olive oil over all of it. Spread the oil onto all the ingredients with your hands, it's the best way! Place in the hot oven for about 45-60 minutes, until the skins of the tomatillos and the onions are browning a bit. Once this happens, remove it from the oven then add the tomatillos, onions and garlic to the jar of your blender. Since jalapenos are never consistently hot, I only added about half of the pepper at first without seeds. Blend on high until mostly smooth but make sure you leave a vent for that steam to get out or you might have a mess on your hands! Taste it...this is the most important part of cooking I think. I add some of the vegetable broth at this point to thin it out a bit without watering it down flavour wise. Blend again to combine and refrigerate it covered if you are making it ahead of time.

BBQ Tempeh

Here's my yummy supper from last night. It was so fricken good! I am so glad that through my testing experiences I have fallen in love with tempeh because I never would have made this otherwise. I just made a quick BBQ sauce from pretty much any condiment from my fridge door that sounded like it would work (apple butter, vegan Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, tamari, apple cider vinegar, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, onion powder) and marinated it for about an hour. I pan fried it until it was all yummy and caramelized on the outside, reapplying some sauce as I cooked. Served it up with some local corn and peas. Such a quick and delicious supper that will definitely get made again and again!