Homemade Tempeh: An Illustrated Guide

After waiting for about three weeks, I got a little package in the mail.  

 Return address: Gem Cultures, OH YES.

It’s my Powdered Tempeh Starter (P.T.S.)!! 

And I love the packaging and the graphics of a tiny tempeh burger and two tiny tempeh skewers, OH YES. 

I also found this note of apology inside the package and thought it a very nice touch since I was about to email them to check on my order. But, instead, I followed the directions on their website.  They clearly tell you to wait THREE weeks and if AFTER three weeks you haven’t received your order, then you may contact them. I got my order exactly three weeks after I figured they received it.  Even though it was still within their time frame, I really liked the note.  Nice touch.  

 And some cheesecloth for more, upcoming fermenting adventures.

OK, should we get started making this tempeh or what?? I'm going to do this pretty much like a picture based tutorial, because there are so few online resources available on actually MAKING tempeh.  Lagusta's wonderful post is the only detailed, online tempeh making guide I know of, and thank goodness for it (and for her help with my tempeh questions in the last few months to prepare myself for this day!).  She also details making the incubator I replicated, but I'll put my notes about making that here (or in a separate post) as well.  I had to make some minor modifications to my incubator, so it isn't exactly like Lagusta's but I'll explain that later.  The recipe I used is the same recipe the PTS kit gives you in their booklet, and the same recipe as Sandor uses in Wild Fermentation (a great book!), and 1/3 the size of Lagusta's recipe.

What you need: 

An incubator to keep your tempeh between 85 and 90 degrees F for 20-30 hours 

Dry beans (soybeans or chickpeas, I'm sure other kinds work, too)

Vinegar

Powdered Tempeh Starter 

That's it.  The incubator is the real bear, then, doing the process for the first time is a bear, too :-) But now after doing it once, I can see it will flow quite easily.

First, the recipe.  It's 2.5 cups of whole, dry soybeans (I used soybeans this time since they are cheap and I didn't want to mess up organic chickpeas on my first tempeh attempt.  Next time, organic chickpeas!)

2 Tablespoons of vinegar (I used unfiltered apple cider vinegar) 

1 tsp of Powdered Tempeh Starter (P.T.S.) for each pound of dried beans

This recipe yielded me four blocks of tempeh (that fill a small "snack" sized zip lock bag).  I'm sure I lost some bean volume in the "skimming" process as you will soon see :-)

First, soak your 2.5 cups of beans (I used soybeans, but next time I am using chickpeas) in unsalted water 6-8 hours or overnight.  Next, "dehull" the beans by chopping the soaked (and still uncooked) beans up in a few batches in your food processor until the beans are broken up "in three to four pieces."  The soaked beans started to shred on me, so I got some teen tiny pieces and some whole beans, but I guess on average, it was correct.  

 This is what my soaked and then chopped up soybeans looked like after coming out of the food processor.

Now, you are going to cook the chopped up beans for about an hour, until barely cooked (you will be able to bite or cut through them but you wouldn't want to eat them).  This is probably about 30% of the normal cooking time.  During that time, you are going to do some serious foam skimming, OH YES.

 As you cook the chopped beans, tons of foam will rise to the top, loaded with, you guessed it!  Hulls. Skim them off.  I used a spoon with holes in it.

 After you skim quite a few batches of foam off, a skin will start to form (because now, essentially, you are making soy milk!). Skim that skin off, too.

 Here is that "skin" with my skimmer spoon.  You can see I accidentally got some beans in my skim.  I think I lost some tempeh volume this way, but wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

 Once hulls, foam and skins stop rising to the top of the pot and you have nice looking soy milk with beans in it, you are done. This took me about an hour of cooking time.

Now, strain your beans, and save the milk if you want to (it's soy milk!).

 This was my system.  

 Here's the milk you are left with!

Add some sugar or agave, a little salt, some vanilla or other flavoring and you got yourself fresh soy milk! P.S. Don't you love this glass pitcher? It's hermetically sealed.  The Italians really know what they are doing.

Now, take those cooked, well-drained beans, and spread them out on a baking sheet.

 We are going to let them air dry vs. towel drying them (no, thanks).  

Despite Lagusta's sage advice to only leave your beans on the trays for "a few hours," I ended up having to leave my beans to dry for like 24 hours! I covered them loosely with AL foil at the 8 hour mark on Saturday night when I realized I wasn't going to make tempeh after getting home from a friend's house at like 9pm (I have a four year old, so tempeh wasn't happening until Sunday!).  The beans were drier than I would have liked on Sunday, but still seemed to have enough moisture to go forward.  

Onward!  

 Mix your beans, vinegar and half the spores thoroughly.  Add the other half teaspoon of spores 

and mix again.

Pack into containers (I love these snack sized zip locks for nice portions).  These bags were poked through with a fork every few inches to make air holes for circulation.  You'll see the fork marks later in the finished product.

Now, you are ready to load up your incubator!  Here's mine!

 You might notice that the incubator station is in the same location as the Triops growing station (RIP, T!).

 I had to make a freestanding lamp out of my lamp-kit bulb because I couldn't lay it down on the floor of the fridge where it would have fit best (the plastic floor started melting when I tried).  I also couldn't use the rack that came with the fridge because of the height of the bulb, so I measured and then hot-glue gunned some chopsticks together to make movable racks for the tempeh. Success! 

  

 Load it up with your tempeh.  Try to give enough room for plenty of air circulation.

Incubate at 85-90F (I did 88 degrees) for about 24 hours.  Crack the door of the fridge at the 12 hour mark (this is when the tempeh starts generating its own heat from fermentation and you need to accommodate for that).  Here's what happened to me, though:

I set my (new, untried and untested, obviously!) thermostat to 88 degrees starting the tempeh at 1pm yesterday (on Sunday).  I didn't bother setting the time or anything because I figured not setting the clock and setting a single temp would override any default functions. WRONG.  I last checked the tempeh around 9:30 pm Sunday night (last night) and it was going along fine at 88 degrees.  Fine, I'll go to bed and get up later to check it (around 1am), well around 1am, I didn't get up because I had a toddler in the bed with me :-) So, I couldn't sleep anyway this morning and got up at like  5:15 a.m. When I checked it at 5:30 a.m., it seemed to have turned totally OFF and was 62 degrees.  Hmmm...so, I re-set it to 88 and pressed the "hold" button.  Then, I checked the manual that came with the thermostat I am using and it apparently has a default setting when turned to "heat" that goes down to 62 degrees at 10:00 p.m. Oh, perfect, yeah, great.  Anyway, I just figured that I could tell if the tempeh were badly affected in the end product.  The tempeh got 9 hours of incubation at 88 degrees (1pm to 10pm) and needed about 11 more hours, so, I turned it right back to 88 degrees at 5:30 this morning and let it chug along all day until about 5pm tonight.  I checked it regularly, and cracked the door at about 12pm when I thought it would be hot enough to do so (and I saw signs of fermentation happening, so I knew it had internal heat at that point).  At 5pm (about 20 hours of fermentation) I got THIS!!!

Perfect looking (and really amazing and delicious smelling) tempeh.  I know because I had Lagusta's homemade tempeh and this looks and smells exactly like it.  OH YES.

So, there is an important lesson here: I had two potentially problematic issues: drying the beans for 24 hours instead of a few hours and losing eight hours of fermenting time overnight, but with adjustments, the process still worked just fine.  I remained calm and had faith in my cooking experience and my knowledge of biology and chemistry.  It worked.  Horay!  I wanted to share this with you guys in case you try it and it doesn't go perfectly.  It doesn't have to.  You can make adjustments and figure it out and IT WILL WORK.

Had my tempeh been pink or orange or smelled bad or I had ANY question about it, I would have started over.  But, I persevered, and here it is, all worked out and fine.  

I'm so excited to try my homemade tempeh! 

And the first recipe will be...

Something with three fermented foods, together in one recipe.  

Any guesses??

Pomegranate Molasses for your Valentine

For easy, yet sophisticated drinks: Put your Pomegranate Molasses in anything, about 1 tsp to start, up to a tablespoon per drink, depending on how strongly flavored you like it.  It's great in any kind of alcohol, really.  You could also make Pomegranate Kir Royals (put some molasses in champagne), mix with gin or with vodka (pomegranate martinis), etc. etc.  You can't go wrong.  

Here it is in whiskey. 

For super easy, yet highly sophisticated dessert(s): Vanilla Ice Cream with Pomegranate Molasses.  

It's an unbelievably delicious combination.  Can't believe I haven't been eating this all my life.

If you are serving this for Valentine's Day, I highly suggest you do not serve it in a coffee cup. But, it's kinda chic, I guess, if done in a cute cup, not the one you normally drink out of every morning.

My favorite soy-based ice cream is Trader Joe's Soy Creamy Vanilla, made with mostly organic ingredients (definitely organic soy milk).

Also, you can make a Pomegranate Molasses Theme, and have more Pomegranate Molasses flavored things, like as a marinade for tofu/tempeh/seitan, or in a salad dressing, or anything else you can think of.  

To find it: try your supermarket's Middle Eastern section if they have one, or order it on Amazon.  It is used frequently in Middle Eastern cooking.  It's AMAZING.  And if you are local, yes, they have it at Wegmans! 

<3 Have a lovely Valentine's Day <3

Awesome Tofu Marinade & Trick

Let's talk about a great marinade.  You guys can figure out what to do with your tofu after it is marinated! Make a Banh Mi (or any other kind of sandwich!), use it as a main course over a grain, in salads, etc.

Here we have a quasi-banh mi.  Baked Tofu on Home Made, Organic Sourdough (bucket bread!) with Spicy  Organic Arugula and Vegenaise.  

Amazing Asian Marinade

Yield: One cup 

1/2 cup soy sauce and/or tamari

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/4 cup hot chili oil 

Lots of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced. 

Lots of fresh garlic, peeled and sliced.  

Put ingredients into a deep Tupperware or Pyrex container with a lid.  The container is going to hold all your marinade and all your tofu, so make sure it will fit.  Whisk well.  Add pressed, drained and sliced tofu (OR steamed tempeh or seitan--yes, any of the holy trinity are wonderful in this marinade, but I especially  recommend tofu.). Top up with filtered water.  The marinade should cover the tofu completely.  Give your container a few gentle shakes to re-mix the marinade and incorporate the water.  Store in the fridge.

That's it.  Allow to marinade for as long as you can stand.  Overnight for starters, longer for even better results, up to a week or even more (mine never lasts that long, so I'm not sure how long it's good for because I've eaten it all in the first few days)!  Then, I bake mine either in the oven or in the toaster oven (it's great for doing baked tofu) at about 375 for about 10 minutes per side, or longer, depending on how well-done you like your baked tofu.

Tofu Trick:  Once you are done using your tofu, leave your marinade alone! Do not dump it! Simply add more tofu, tempeh or seitan to the marinade.  You can also add more marinade ingredients to the marinade (but I never need to). These kinds of marinades last a long time in the fridge, like two weeks, or even more! I am usually done with it by two weeks, but I'm sure it would last even longer.

This is a lovely trick to keep super tasty plant proteins at the ready in your fridge.  You can just take some right out of the fridge for breakfast, lunch or dinner anytime.  

Have a great week, everyone!

Pepperoni & Meatball Stromboli

Holy Stromboli!

Home Made Almost Everything: Organic Bucket Dough, Vegan Pepperoni, Grandma Margie's "Meat"balls, Marinara and Daiya Mozzarella

Oh MAN.  I've been on a roll (haha) with making this "five minute" bread, so I had some in my fridge tonight from my second batch. 

AND, I HAD to have vegan pepperoni last night, so after getting so many lovely recipe suggestions for it from my friends on FB (thanks, guys!) I made a batch, and here it is:

I could have cut it much thinner, but I was hungry! It was stupendous.  I used sort of a combo of recipes, but check out Vegan Dad's Pepperoni recipe for a good approximation.  I have like six other recipes from my friends to try for vegan pepperoni, so I'm psyched!! 

So, vegan pepperoni, fresh bread dough, leftover GM's meatballs, marinara and Daiya mozz? Yeah, that equaled stromboli to me.

 Me, photographing the stromboli rising in the oven.

 Baked Stromboli. 

Sliced Stromboli. 

I used the stromboli recipe in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and just filled it with my custom, vegan filling.  It's so much fun to have access to fresh bread in your fridge!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 

The Tale of Supergingerbreadman!

Our hero, Supergingerbreadman!

When the first snow of the season struck...

Supergingerbread man was making his usual rounds, especially in the developed nations, because no one knows how to drive in a little bit of snow.  After dealing with thousands of close ones all winter long, he finally made his way to the other side of the world.  When he reached Tibet, it was spring!  

And wouldn't you know it? An inexperienced American climber was stranded on Mushroom Rock near the summit of Mt. Everest, with a storm quickly approaching! He had been given plenty of warning to turn back, but refused, for he had summit fever.  At this point, the expedition leader instructed his sherpa to return to high camp and leave the climber to fend for himself.

Supergingerbreadman flew through the storm to rescue the stupid American.

The stranded climber was in rough shape.

Supergingerbread man made a single rescue attempt, and was successful!

The End. 

Or is it?

Bucket Bread!

So, I'd seen these folks, an M.D. and a professional baker, hawking their wares on daytime T.V.: a "five minute" artisan bread recipe that you mix in a bucket and leave in your fridge for up to two weeks, swiping some every time you want to pop a loaf in the oven.  It marinated in my subconscious for months.  

Then, a chef I adore blogged about making their pizza dough from their newest book (which focuses on pizza), AND she shared that she used an amazing kitchen tool to mix the dough.  

*Subconscious trigger pulled, firing wildly in the conscious* 

OK, it's high time to give this a try.  The early birthday present to myself arrived on Friday.  My son was sick, so he napped all afternoon, and even though I'd been up since 5:00 a.m. with him I couldn't help myself.  

I opened the boxes.

Book, Danish Dough Whisk (this thing is awesome) and Big Buckets with Lids. 

 Danish Dough Whisk, Made in Poland :-)

I (quietly!) scrubbed the new buckets and the whisk, and readied the ingredients to make the "Master" dough, a Boule (artisan free-form loaf).

It only involves FOUR ingredients: warm water, yeast, salt and flour.  The Master recipe is here on the author's website!  

Put everything in your bucket (warm water and yeast first, followed by flour and salt) and stir with your Danish Dough Whisk (really, this is one of the best kitchen tools I have ever used!) The dough whisk really incorporates the dough so well with minimal effort and minimal sticking (if you used a plain wooden spoon, this very wet dough would have stuck all over it).

Mix dough until dry and wet ingredients are well incorporated.

This gloppy mess is correct! It is how you want it to look.

Now, cover and let it rise for 2-5 hours at room temperature.  The dough will rise high up!  Mine went up to the five quart line, which I think is standard.  It is really fun to watch it rise.  Here it is at about one hour:

It will come back down to this level once it's in the fridge for a while, too.

Once it's done rising, put it in the fridge.  Now you can make bread anytime you want, for up to two weeks!

So, since we got an inch of ice last night instead of snow, we were stuck in the house.  Time for a trial loaf of Bucket Boule!

You must let the loaf "rest" (this is basically your second rise, the first rise being the bucket rise) before baking.  This can be a long time depending on the loaf (min is 20 min, max is somewhere near 2 hours).

Both crumb and crust were excellent.  Tasted exactly like Whole Food's boule which costs $6 (or used to, I haven't shopped there for a long time! I'm engaged to Wegmans and gettin' some on the side with Trader Joe's.).  We ate the whole thing this morning! And, I have dough for three more loaves in the fridge.

The book will pay for itself in three loaves :-)  Or, it will be free from the library if you can find it!

P.S. Baking these breads obviously does NOT take five minutes (and I didn't expect that it would since I am familiar with traditional bread recipes, but other folks would have no idea!).  No part of it takes five minutes.  Mixing it was extremely fast, maybe about 10 minutes, and then you have that initial rise for the 2-5 hours.  But THEN when you want to make your bread, you still need to give that loaf time to rise once you form it.  And you still need to bake it (however long the recipe says).  The time you save with this technique is to remove the first two steps of bread making: mixing the dough and the first rise.  After you make the initial batch, you no longer have to do these steps, you just start with the bucket dough.  It's fantastic, but not five minutes.  At all.  Ever.  Just had to say that.

Oh, and I also made some other stuff today. 

XOXO