Tempeh in Horseradish Gravy
I saw this in the grocery store and knew Mark would find it amusing. (He did.)
It is, of course, fresh horseradish. I’m a fan of horseradish, fresh or prepared. I like the sinus-clearing bite it gives to food. I did a little googling and decided to make this recipe, using tempeh instead of the unspecified meat. If you use vegan stock, it’s vegan as written. I made it pretty much exactly as directed, although some of the measurements are a bit vague, so I’ll clarify what I did.
1 package tempeh (no time to make my own recently, alas)
1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 small to medium horseradish root, or about 1/4 cup prepared horseradish
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp brown sugar (I used 3)
2 Tbsp cider vinegar (a bit less if you use prepared horseradish)
2 bay leaves
2 cloves
1 to 1/2 cups vegan “beef” stock
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Chop the tempeh into 3/4″ cubes. Fry lightly in a skillet and set aside.
Peel the horseradish.
Grate the horseradish. I highly recommend using a food processor if you have one because freshly-grated horseradish fumes are quite noxious.
Heat about a tablespoon of olive or other oil in a skillet, then add the onions and brown.
Add 2 tablespoons of the grated horseradish and the flour, and fry for a minute or two.
Add the broth, cloves, bay leaves, brown sugar, and vinegar and bring to a boil.
Allow the gravy to thicken up a bit, then add the tempeh and the rest of the horseradish (you may want to taste it before dumping all the horseradish in), seasoning with salt and pepper as well.
Leave the burner on low until thickened to your likeness. Adjust seasonings if necessary. (I added an extra tablespoon of brown sugar.)
I also made some roasted mustardy potatoes.
I whisked together equal parts olive oil, German mustard, and white wine vinegar.
I tossed this with some teeny tiny potatoes, then spread them on a toaster oven-sized baking sheet. Whenever possible, I like using my toaster oven for small roasting and baking jobs. Then I roasted at about 400 degrees until everything else was done, about half an hour. Larger potatoes will take longer.
For the green counterpart of the meal, I made Elise’s Sautéed Kale with Smoked Paprika. I blanched the kale for 5 minutes …
… then drained, remembering (for once) to save the kale nutrient-filled water (I used it in the gravy above).
I gathered the spices:
Sauteed the onions, then added the spices.
And finally added the kale and sauteed a few more minutes.
And here it is all together:
Any Nabokov fans out there? I got The Original of Laura!
I was so excited about it I actually had to buy the December Playboy to get a preview, but the real thing makes for a bit classier of a read:
Each page is printed on heavy card stock with a scan of the actual index cards on which VN wrote the incomplete novel. The pages are perforated so you can re-order them. That’s how VN wrote all his novels: on index cards that he would rearrange until the story formed itself in the correct order. Because he died before the book was finished, we don’t know for sure in what order the cards would have ended up.
Josiane Said,
November 18, 2009 @ 10:46 pm
This tempeh recipe sounds unusual, and very interesting. The first time I’ve had horseradish, I had a terrible cold and was hopelessly congested – needless to say, it felt like a miracle remedy! I haven’t had it since (and that was, hm, over 15 years ago…), but your recipe sounds like the perfect way to try it again.
The Original of Laura sounds like a fascinating book. I was trying to come up with gift ideas for my gentleman friend, and that would be a great one! He’s a writer, so I guess the way Nabokov’s writing process is exemplified there would be interesting to him. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Josiane Said,
November 18, 2009 @ 10:46 pm
This tempeh recipe sounds unusual, and very interesting. The first time I’ve had horseradish, I had a terrible cold and was hopelessly congested – needless to say, it felt like a miracle remedy! I haven’t had it since (and that was, hm, over 15 years ago…), but your recipe sounds like the perfect way to try it again.
The Original of Laura sounds like a fascinating book. I was trying to come up with gift ideas for my gentleman friend, and that would be a great one! He’s a writer, so I guess the way Nabokov’s writing process is exemplified there would be interesting to him. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
Melisser Said,
November 19, 2009 @ 3:45 am
I still can’t get past the horseradish.. hehe! The looks like an awesome meal!
Melisser Said,
November 19, 2009 @ 3:45 am
I still can’t get past the horseradish.. hehe! The looks like an awesome meal!
trinity Said,
November 19, 2009 @ 10:31 am
the food looks awesome. the horseradish startled me a little. 😉
trinity Said,
November 19, 2009 @ 10:31 am
the food looks awesome. the horseradish startled me a little. 😉
Jes Said,
November 20, 2009 @ 1:57 pm
This whole meal looks perfect–I’m a huge horseradish fan too so I’m definitely going to have to make that sauce soon. And what cute tiny potatoes!
Jes Said,
November 20, 2009 @ 1:57 pm
This whole meal looks perfect–I’m a huge horseradish fan too so I’m definitely going to have to make that sauce soon. And what cute tiny potatoes!
Boris Said,
February 19, 2010 @ 2:07 pm
Looks scrumptious! I hope to be making this recipe the coming week. Unfortunately, tempeh is incredibly difficult to get here and since I’ve never yet had it I don’t know whether it could be subbed with tofu/seitan. Oh, and amen to prepping the horseradish in a food processor – I speak from experience.
renae Said,
February 19, 2010 @ 5:42 pm
Hi Boris! Seitan would probably work great in this recipe. Tofu might be a little too fragile for it, unless you used baked tofu.
Boris Said,
February 19, 2010 @ 2:07 pm
Looks scrumptious! I hope to be making this recipe the coming week. Unfortunately, tempeh is incredibly difficult to get here and since I’ve never yet had it I don’t know whether it could be subbed with tofu/seitan. Oh, and amen to prepping the horseradish in a food processor – I speak from experience.
renae Said,
February 19, 2010 @ 5:42 pm
Hi Boris! Seitan would probably work great in this recipe. Tofu might be a little too fragile for it, unless you used baked tofu.
Boris Said,
March 11, 2011 @ 2:40 pm
So, I’m finally going to make this dish – probably tomorrow – because I recently found out that one of the local Asian supermarkets occasionally stocks tempeh. And that it tastes awesome! The only question that now remains between me and a delicious meal is: How much is a “package” of tempeh. In the present case, this would be 400g. Really difficult to make out from the pictures how much you’re using – I’d guess less. Help, please?
Thanks!
renae Said,
March 11, 2011 @ 3:14 pm
Hi Boris, sorry about that; I hate it when I’m imprecise like that! A package of tempeh is 8 ounces, or 226 grams. So I’d use half or a little more of your 400g for the horseradish dish, and the rest of it for tempeh reubens! (Probably my favorite use of tempeh.)
Boris Said,
March 20, 2011 @ 5:06 am
So: I finally did end up making this recipe and it went completely without a hitch (as was to be expected as per your step-by-step instructions). I’m sad to say that the end product, although certainly tasty, didn’t have the wowing effect I’d hoped for. This may have been due to a) exaggerated expectations and b) the fact that my horseradish wasn’t the freshest (I had preserved it a while ago). If I make this again I’ll certainly use fresh or wasabi.
Thank you again for your help and your great recipes!