Veggie Sausage!

Tonight we launched our first full-scale veggie sausage attempt. Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorite meals (especially when I take naps after work until dinner) and we spend about $6/package for vegetarian sausage (esp. Field Roast's apple-smoked sage, yum). So tonight, we endeavored to transform Joe's famous "Hot Morning Jumble" from mashed beans in a clump, to beautiful little sausages, using our new meat grinder!

Veggie Sausage went something like 2 cans of black beans, 2 cups TVP (soaked) and 3/4 cup of cooked brown rice. We added a pinch of cornstarch, and a bunch of sage, salt and pepper. It went through the grinder once, and then again on the smallest setting and with the sausage stuffing attachment. It was actually pretty painless and quick, despite employing a hand-crank machine, because nothing has to cook (except the rice obviously, and it's great to use leftovers here since the process calls for so little).

It cooked up really nicely, and had a fair amount of flavor (though we might add vegetables or something next time to give it umph). I think maybe they were too heavy on the black beans though, because the mixture was very gummy. We might add a different type of thickener next time, and more of it, because they were sort of easily broken, and didn't hold shape that well under heat.

almond-ella and nectarines

Tonight I made a crazy dinner. As I was throwing together some red curry and rice, I came across some unsweetened baking chocolate powder. I almost wanted to throw some in the curry, that's how much I was craving chocolate in the moment when it caught my eye. But I restrained myself, remembering that I had gotten Joe a nectarine from the public market as a present. It would make a great desert somehow. And because the nectarine was battered and bruised by a couple novels in the tote bag I carried it in, I knew I wanted to cook them up a little. I never measure when I start throwing something together for the first time, so basically every ingredient should be added to taste, and with desired end consistency in mind.

Nutty Chocolatey Sauce

1/2 c soy milk
3 tbsp unsweetened baking chocolate
a bunch of brown sugar (2 tbsp? 3?)
1/4- 1/2 c almond butter
dash o salt

Put the soy milk in a saucepan and turn the heat to low.

Add the baking chocolate. Taste here because most soy milk has some sweetener in it, and soy milk is naturally a little sweet. Then add as much brown sugar as you want. I added some sea salt here because of a recent episode of Modern Family which featured chocolate milk (I think that show is kind of hilarious, but I'm not sure if I should), and it really brought out the rich chocolatey flavor.

Add the almond butter. The sauce should thicken up as the almond butter melts, and it will thicken more after you take it off the heat, so keep a close eye on consistency.


Meanwhile chop some nectarines, and put a frying pan on low heat. I sauteed my nectarines in butter (starting when the almond butter begins melting in the sauce) with ginger powder and nutmeg. I think nectarines are juicy enough you could just fry them in their own juice, esp. on a non-stick pan.

I also toasted a piece of French bread while the fruit cooked. I put the bread on the bottom of a bowl, added the nectarines, and drizzled sauce over. It was reminiscent of a cobbler or a waffle-style set-up. The chocolate sauce was a million times better than nutella, and made with stuff I always have lying around.

Take this Urban Hot Dog Stand!

We recently moved to Seattle. It's changed the way we eat forever (more on that in posts to come). One thing that I know I've always wanted (but have never enjoyed because I've never lived in a big enough city) is a Hot Dog Stand hot dog.

Seattle is no New York. There are not stands just any place. But the ones we do have are "surf party USA" as Tracy Jordan would say. Off the hook! We really like to stand outside of places like Cha-Cha Lounge and The Unicorn smoking, and dancing to music that is happening inside, but which our claustrophobia prevents us from listening to up close. When we've worked up a serious appetite dancing and watching strangers decked in plastic pants and costume jewelry, we head down to Comet Dog and get a vegetarian dog with cream cheese, thin-cut onions, and all the fixins: ketchup, relish, kraut, mustard. Well, Joey and I have been working on a DIY version of this late-night classic. And we managed to make it with (almost exclusively) locally sourced ingredients. Check it out:

Field Roast Apple-smoked Sage "Sausage" (Seattle)
Buns from Essential Bakery in Fremont
"Olives of Love" from PCC
Local Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes, Onion, Garlic
Some crazy-rind French Goat Cheese
Grace Harbor Farms Cream-top yogurt from Custer, WA
Blackberry Honey from High Country Honey, Burlington, WA

Cayenne Powder, Cumin, salt
First I caramelized some onions in butter. Drizzled a little honey on them (just a touch!) lots of salt, and a little cayenne and cumin. When they were golden with burn-y edges (that's how I like them, although I think the Capitol Hill style is more of an unseasoned, non-crispy thing, and it is also very good).


Then I got started chopping up these olives earl tiny. I put some raw garlic on because the late-night hot dogs are spicy. I chopped the tomatoes up small and put them with the olives. It's a little unconventional as a relish, I can see you right now scratching your chin. But it was actually very good: salty and spicy, exactly what you need to counteract the cream cheese (rather than the cream cheese cutting down the spicy, obvs cream cheese is not negotiable, where spicy certainly is). I see this as a replacement for ketchup (gross) and relish (not gross but difficult to make in 20 minutes before dindin).
Ok so Field Roast Apple Smoke Links are my favorite vegetable-gluten protein of the mo. They are savory like sausage, and a little bit sweet, with a very heady, hearty texture. But there is no meat in them! I think this recipe would also go very well with the other varieties of Links, Chipotle and Italian (although I am not a huge fan of the Italian--too much eggplant).

Then I got some buns toasting.

Then I mixed about a quarter ounce of goat cheese with a half ounce of yogurt until they were fully creamed together. It actually created a dairy product almost the consistency of cream cheese. Maybe you are wondering why we didn't just get cream cheese. Well, the only grocery store we are within walking distance of (at 8 pm when we finally decide to make dinner) is PCC where all the food is super expensive because it's a pretend co-op. Cream cheese costs like $5 there, and I just can't justify that for one meal. Whereas we eat yogurt and goat's cheese separately almost every day. I would say this mixture would be worth trying with Greek yogurt because it is so thick. Cream top yogurt is good, but it is still too thin. Also, because the Grace Harbor Yogurt is made from Guernsey cow's milk, it's a little too sweet to pass as cream cheese. Definitely sour enough and salty enough, though.


Topped all that shit with my salsa-nade and we were ready to eat. It's such a quick meal! If you are fast at chopping olives and cherry tomatoes, which, I am not, because they are very slippery, and as you know, I'm very afraid of sharp objects.

summertime sammies

New Seattle favorite: Golden Gardens at sunset on a summer day. People playing beach volleyball, juggling in striped shirts and cutoffs, or drinking Rainier in red plastic cups. You know, just like a fucking Renoir.
This sammy consists of Essential Bakery Hoagie, mustardmayo, thinly sliced organic heirloom tomat, english cukes, fucking goat brie, and thai basil that i grew in my windowsill. And avocado. And sliced red onion. All that shit. And a view of the Cascades behind the Sound to boot.

cRAzy PAstA

Ah Summer! The arrival of Shark Week, Sunshine, and fucking SQUASH at the Wallingford Farmer's Market.

This is some crazy fucking pasta I made on a lazy summer afternoon:

1/2 Package of linguine (I hate linguine, no wonder 1/2 a package has been in the pantry for ages)
2 lil tomatoes (cut into sections)
Yellow summer squash (cut thin on a bias)
couple carrots (in half and then in half)
1/2 red onion (long, thin slices)
fresh thyme and basil
hard romano/pecorino cheese
garlic (2 cloves)

Chop all those veggies up and make sure the garlic is finely grated because there's no SAUCE on this pasta.

Get the pasta going.

Caramelize the onions in olive oil with a dash of salt. Add the carrots and the squash and cook only until they still have some crunch, making sure you add the garlic and herbs about 2-3 minutes before you've finished.

Pile the veggies on top of the linguine, add the fresh tomatoes and finely grated cheese.

Watch shark week and think about how nice it is not to have warm blood in a cold sea.

Buffalo haven't got wings!

Ok so, since we aspire to be from Western New York, and some of us have grown up on Anchor Bar/authentic Buffalo Wings, we secretly love hot hot orange sticky finger foods.  But we hate animal cruelty and ecological ravagement.  So we thought, there will never be any trashy bar food in our futures.  BOY WERE WE WRONG!

Review: Morning Star

If there's anything we can't stand it's imitation meat.  Or so we say.  Somehow, after a few too many sub-zero nights and a few too many Labatt Blues/Genny Cream Ales, our favorite thing to do is to dance around a toaster oven full of steaming TVP. Morningstar Farms veggie Buffalo wings inspire a veritable ballet from freezer to plate.  They are spicy as all hell, a spice that not even cheap beer can overcome.  They have a bite--it's the sort of spring-back between the jaws that perhaps you thought only animal flesh could deliver.  But there it is--springy! full of protein! unnaturally orange!  And suddenly it's like ordering Mr. Shoes on a blistering summer day in Seabreeze!  Our complaints are few: 1. is that these wings aren't wet.  Alas, at Morningstar science has unlocked the secret to soy-based chicken wings, but not to the frozen-yet-wet food. 2. We don't know how to make TVP do that at home.  We can make fucking killer black bean burgers, breakfast "sausages" or basically whatever, but shreddy, fibrous, chickeny wings remain a mystery.

Japanese Salad Dressing

I just made this salad dressing in order to use up some fresh lime that was about to be not so fresh, and because I'm tired of my old standby, honey mustard.  It goes something like:

a cm of fresh ginger
the juice of 1/2 a lime
a  tbsp daikon, shredded
1 heaping tbsp miso paste
1 1/2 heaping tsb mayo
tsp soy sauce
dash of rice vinegar

Mix that shit together in a jar.

I blanched the ginger for about 3 minutes, but it was still so spicy and strong that I ended up using maybe as much as a mechanical pencil eraser.  I smashed and ground it.  Perhaps dried ginger freshly ground would be better, but certainly not ginger powder.  I also thought of using pickled ginger but was afraid it would be too cloying.  The daikon doesn't add much flavor but it adds a certain coolness and a nice weight and texture to the mixture.  My salad consisted of romaine, roma tomato, shaved carrots, red onion, red pepper, and an avocado that actually sent me to the emergency room (two stitches where my pinkie meets my palm, and thats why me da always told me to cut away).  Three hours after I started to make the salad (most of it spent in the waiting room), I finally got to try it and it was out of this world! My roommate Malcolm called it, "fucking delicious and I'm not just saying that" if I remember correctly.  If Joey brings any wasabi paste back from Mitsuwa in Chicago, then I would really like to try spicing this recipe up!

Leeks Risotto

I had my first risotto in Derry, Northern Ireland, so I think it was probably the furthest thing from real risotto ever. A note about NI cuisine: the food is charming, much like Americans find Italian food charming.  But it takes all of the bad of American Italian, like saucy, oily, covered in cheese, with none of the good, like flavor or herbs or freshness.  Nonetheless, it was one of the best meals I had in my six months in NI.  I've been craving it for two years, but was intimidated by the prospect of making it at home.  After searching a few recipes, here is how I adapted it:

Leeks Risotto
Leeks-2 large or 3 small (couldn't afford the nice, fat, organic ones)
1 red onion (I used 1/2 of a monstrous huge one)
2 cloves garlic
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup (1 oz basically) of dried wild mushrooms (I had about 1/4 of a 4 oz bag left, but I would definately use a half or even a full bag in future)
2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cups Chardonnay room temperature (no nasty swill wine, something you wouldn't mind drinking even if you hate white wine--I chose Wild Horse)
1/2 cup of cream (I would probably use heavy or whipping cream in future)
splash apple cider vinegar
tbsp butter
tbsp olive oil
dash basil
dash of thyme
salt and peppa

serves 2-4 (depending on if your seconds-types)
prep time: 2 hours (probably because it was my first time and I was pretty disorganized.  I think next time it will probably take me 45 minutes- 1 hour.

1. First thing to do is prepare the leeks mixture, which can be done up to a day ahead.  Cut all but the dark green off.  Cut the leeks longways in half.  Turn them on the flat side and slice into 1/8 half-moon slivers.  Soak these in a bowl of water and drain.  They are hella sandy, so feel free to repeat the soak and drain cycle a few times.
2. Soak the mushrooms in a measuring cup with one cup of water for at least an hour so that you get a nice, dark, mushroom broth. Take the mushrooms out, chop them, and set them aside. Pour the broth in a saucepan.  Add veg broth and start cooking on low heat.
3. Put some butter in an iron skillet and throw the leeks in.  Sprinkle salt over the leeks and keep the heat med-low so that they caramelize.  Don't stir too much.
1. I wasn't sure how long it would take to caramelize leeks, so I did them in a separate pan from the onions. It worked out well that way, and did not create extra dishes, as you will see, although it might have saved some energy on my part.
4.  Do the same thing with the onions: slice thinly and caramelize in olive oil over med low heat in a giant pan.
5. Take the onions and toss them in with the leeks. Add garlic and rehydrated wild mushrooms, and probably some more butter to keep it from sticking at this point. splash in vinegar. Use the oniony oil left in the other pan to sautee the arborio rice for a few minutes.  Stir the rice constantly or it will burn.
1. Note: some recipes told me to sautee for 10 minutes or until translucent, others said only 1 minute.  My theory is that they get translucent right before they get white again, and the center never really changes color, so don't necessarily look for them to be see-through. I sauteed for 7 minutes.
6.  Add the white wine and keep stirring while the alcohol cooks off.  Right before the rice gets dry again, add a half-cup of your now steamy vegetable and mushroom broth (The broth has to be hot or it will shock the rice and stop it from absorbing more liquid).
7. Turn the heat down on the leeks and onions pan and add the cream.  Make sure it doesn't scorch, and when it is reduced, take it off the heat even if your rice is nowhere near done.  It will get hot again when you mix them together.  You could even do this another day and refrigerate it so as to cut the prep time down.
8. Keep ladling 1/2 cup broth as the rice absorbs the liquid.  When the broth is all gone, the rice should be al dente.
9. Mix the veggies and the risotto together.  As you are folding the veggies in, they should heat back up, and so should the risotto get a tiny bit softer (unless you love al dente rice, which I don't).
10. Top with shredded parmesan and fold until the whole thing becomes a coagulated mass of deliciousity.

Results
Risotto was a hit! I had Joe in tears!  I felt like the rice was a tiny bit underdone, and I'm not sure if that had something to do with not sauteeing it in enough olive oil or for long enough, or what.  Upon reheating for seconds, it was perfectly tender.  My other query is: should the Chardonnay be warmed like the broth?  I feel like if you bring it up to the temp of the rice, then you risk reducing the alcohol out before it has the chance to bring the rice to life.  Next time I will definitely be using fresh herbs, but all I had on hand was dried this time.  Still, I can't think of anything quite as delicious as fresh lemon-thyme in something like this.  I really wanted to use lemon juice and zest too, but I was out of lemons.  The acid from the vinegar was meant to substitute for lemon juice, and I bet balsamic would have been just as good or better in its place.

This is maybe the second time in my life that I've had leeks, and the first time I cooked with them and I couldn't believe how deliciously buttery they are!  Next time I think I will use heavy whipping cream to really bring out the creaminess.

Overall though, this was a super first try.  It wasn't even as hard as I make it sound either.  The most important thing is to get the rice steps in order, but do the vegetables however it will make it easiest and cleanest for you.

Baby's first pickles!

So neither Joe nor I have ever made pickles and sometimes we're just not really into recipes, so this recipe is still in development.

"BreadnButter" or Something Pickles
1.5 English Cucumber
1 red onion
1.5 square inch fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic
shit-ton of salt
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar

Actual prep time: 10 minutes
Wait time: 2 hours
Makes two jars worth of pickles

1. Slice the cucumbers into 4 large rounds, then julienne those (about the thickness of a slice of onion).
   
2. Slice the onion into long strips (about the same length as the julienned cukes).
3. Put these in a bowl and cover it with salt.
4. Crush and mince garlic and ginger and put it in the same bowl, adding some more salt.
5. Leave these in the fridge for like 30-60 minutes (I could barely stand to wait longer than 30 minutes).
6. When these come out, they will be about half the size by volume that they were originally.  
7. Mix the two types of vinegar and the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. 
8. Stuff the vegetable matter in a mason jar and pour the vinegar/sugar mixture over it. Lid it and put it back in the refrigerator for an hour.

January cleaning prompts separate pickle shelf (yes the labels are necessary)

Results: So I know that I didn't do the proper sanitation procedure for canning, but these pickles were gone within two days because they were so good. Another thing is that they were less crunchy each day.  I think maybe this had something to do with the fact that I used iodized salt instead of canning salt.  I'm not actually convinced that canning salt is any different than table salt, maybe someone can shed some light on that topic for me.  As for the taste of the pickles, the ginger infused the cukes and onions so thoroughly that it made me want to cry with joy every time I took a bite.  I think four cloves was just the right amount of garlic too, although these were pretty small cloves.

Sloppy Joes-in development

Tonight our very own Sloppy Joe made his first vegan sloppy joes. They were delicious, but the recipe is still in development. Here it is as we made it. We served it on french bread, which isn't vegan, so we didn't feel remiss adding a little colby jack, with a side of sweet potato fries.

Sloppy Joes
2 cups dry TVP
half a block of extra-firm tofu
1 can of black beans, rinsed
half a yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 packet of Meijer sloppy joe powder
3 tbsp olive oil
2 oz tomato paste
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp beer
1 tbsp cumin
a pinch of rubbed sage
1.5 tsp ground mustard
a pinch of onion powder
1 tsp hot togarashi powder
a pinch of salt
a pinch of pepper
Prep time: 30 minutes

Sweet potato fries
1 sweet potato cut into fries
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of curry powder

pinch of nutmeg

1. Pour boiling water over the TVP and let it soak until soft. Oven should be preheating at 425.
   
2. Brown the diced onion in olive oil over med. heat. Salt generously.
   
3. Add the TVP and tofu. Mash the tofu until it's in tiny crumbles. Add the seasoning packet.
4. Add black beans.
5. Toss sweet potato with olive oil, nutmeg and curry powder. Throw them in the oven when it's up to temperature. Cook for 10 minutes before turning and cooking for another 10 minutes.
   
6. When the things in the skillet are hot but not cooked all the way through, add ketchup, mustard, and spices.
7. Add beer and let that cook down a bit.
8. Add tomato paste, vinegar and a little more olive oil. All the while keep mixing the stuff until it's sticky and holds together, but still wet and sloppy like a Manwich.
   

Results: that shit tasted like a meaty sloppy joe. Next time I don't think we'll be using the Meijer brand spice packet. For one thing, there was hardly enough to cover all the proteins, and for another it wasn't very strong. The ketchup, beer, and dijon mustard made it all a touch too sweet. Eventually we added enough vinegar and cumin to make the sweetness unnoticeable. Also the togadashi powder made it spicy, in a good way, but not in an all-american way. Leave it to Joe, that pinko.

The sweet potato fries kicked ass as usual.

Holy SHIT healthy Spinach and Artichoke Dip

We made this dip for our playoffs party.  Colts shred Ravens like Joey and Jocey shred cheese!  We served it with blue and white corn tortilla chips and it was a huge hit.

Spinach & Artichoke Dip
1 cup finely grated gruyere
1 cup finely grated parmesan
.5 quart of plain whole yogurt
a bunch of fresh spinach, chopped or a bunch of frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and chopped
1 sweet yellow onion, diced
3-5 cloves of garlic, minced into paste
2 tbsp olive oil
almost a whole jar of artichoke hearts in olive oil

paprika 1/2 tsp
coriander to taste (I use a pinch)
cumin to taste (I use at least a tsp, probably more)

Prep time: how fast can you grate cheese?  No seriously it takes like 10 minutes to make, but a while to bake.

1. Heat up some olive oil and toss in the onions, cover with salt and sautee on low heat.  After several minutes of cooking, add the coriander and cumin.
   
2. Preheat the oven to 425. Mix the yogurt and cheese in a glass loaf pan.
3. Chop the spinach and toss it and the minced garlic in when the onions are getting tender.  Since it takes like 2 minutes to wilt spinach, just make sure the onions are mostly cooked but with a little bite left to them.  The garlic should be a paste: mince the garlic, sprinkle sea salt on it, and drag a knife over the salt until it grates the garlic into mush.  Because it is so fine, it needs very little time to cook, so be careful it doesn't brown.
4. Meanwhile rough chop the artichoke hearts, and mix the hearts and everything from your skillet into the yogurt mixture.  Add the paprika, and more cumin if you feel like the onions didn't get enough.
5. Bake at 425 for 45 minutes (it will not be hot through, it will be more like warm.  If you want it hot, like I did but could not wait for, bake for at least an hour).

 
Results: I call this dish healthy because I use yogurt instead of sour cream.  Yogurt has about 150 calories per cup, whereas sour cream has about 60 calories for 2 tbsp.  2 tbsp is only like a handful of chips worth of dip.  That's ridiculous, kind of like the Ravens losing 3 to 20 in a playoff game.  I'm not sure that parmesan and gruyere are very healthy, but they seem healthier by virtue of being European, rather than American cheeses.  One thing is: don't forget to chop the spinach.  Think about how wet spinach sticks together: once it's wilted, it's going to be in a clump.  Next time I think I might add some fresh tomato on top.