Vegan Sauerkraut Balls. To die for.

It's been a while. So many things afoot in NFP land, it's hard to keep track. Here's the short list:

Launched a new business - Nourish - vegan/locally focused/healthy food delivery service
Gotten some AWESOME catering gigs, man oh MAN
Learning ridiculous things, like Excel, and how to actually be organized

Life is good. I hope it is for you too.

So, I know I've waxed lovingly on Harmony Valley's burger mix before - how it's the best slider base you'll ever use, how it performs beautifully on a grill, etc etc - but for my next trick, I'd like to point you in the direction of their sausage stuff. Man, is it tasty, and it means you can make this:

That's right kids, those are Sauerkraut Balls. Classic 50's party food. And they're totes vegan. I dare you to make these next time Beer and Nibbles night rolls around and have leftovers.

Sauerkraut Balls
makes 12 large or 16 small balls

1 cup Harmony Valley Breakfast Sausage dry mix
2 tbl olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 tbl toasted sesame oil
1/2 medium onion, very thinly sliced
1 14oz can sauerkraut, squeezed of some of its liquid
1 tbl whole-grain mustard
8oz vegan cream cheese, chilled
2 cups breadcrumbs
1.5 cups flour
Egg replacer equivalent for 4 eggs
4 cups Canola or refined Coconut oil, for frying
Yellow mustard, to serve

Prep your sausage by mixing the water and 2 tbl olive oil with the dry mix. Let stand 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the sesame oil in a medium saute pan and add the onion. Cook 8-10 minutes, until the onion starts to caramelize. Add sauerkraut and mustard, and stir. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove to a heat-proof bowl.

In the same pan, add the crumbled sausage mix and cook until just firm, about 4 minutes, turning often. Add to the sauerkraut mix, stir once, and put the bowl in the freezer to chill.

Set up three stations for dredging: a small bowl of egg replacer, a plate with half the flour on it, and another plate with half the breadcrumbs.

Remove sausage mix from the freezer and fold in the cream cheese. Grab a small handful of sausage/cheese mix and dredge it in the flour, rolling it until it becomes a well shaped ball. Dip in the egg replacer, then dredge in the breadcrumbs. Set aside on a clean plate while rolling the remaining mix.

Heat oil to 375f and add sausage balls in batches, 3-4 at a time. Turn them often with a fork while frying to retain their shape. Drain well on paper towels.

Serve, with mustard for dipping. ZOMG so good. Enjoy!

Sushi Napolean, for kicks

I'm not an accomplished sushi roller - avocado squishes out on me, the middles of my rolls have gaps and so, whoops, there goes the cuke. I'll get better at it, methinks. But I wanted to try something different.

This stratified sushi works with most anything - roasted veggies, greens, whole cloves of roasted garlic, cream cheese, fresh stuffs like cukes, blanched asparagus, avocado. Remember to keep your toughest veggies at the bottom, however, so the slicing of the rest of the layers doesn't flatten your avocado/soft fillings.

Kind of birthday-cakey. Awesome.

EDIT - my lovely pal Nick let me in on a little secret this morning - this is technically Oshizushi, and they even have equipment you can buy to make slicing your "cake" less gut-wrenching. So if anyone out there's wondering what to get me for my birthday....

It's asparagus season over in these here parts, so I went with your standard ACA + C - Asparagus, Cucumber, Avocado and Carrot. Feel free to change stuffs up, however.

Sushi Napolean

1.5 cups sushi rice, washed
2.5 cups water

1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar

4 sheets nori

15-20 think asparagus spears
1/3 cuke
1 whole avocado
Shredded carrots, small handful

Dipping ideas:

Avocado/Wasabi Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Sriracha/Nayo Sauce
Sesame Seeds
etcetcetc

Let's do this.

Cook your sushi rice for 20 minutes on medium low until all the water is absorbed (or use your awesome rice cooker, either way). Let steam 5 minutes, remove to bowl, and stick that sucker in the freezer for 15 while you assemble your fillings.

Slice your cukes thin, 1/8 inch or so, salt lightly, and set aside.

Scoop your avocado and slice thin, about the same as the cukes, salt lightly, and set aside.

Set some water to boil and blanch your asparagus for 3-4 minutes, until bright green and a little softened. Chill in icewater. Remove woody ends and set aside.

Take your rice out and toss with your vinegar and sugar. I rarely heat my vinegar and dissolve my sugar in it first - I'm so scandalous. If you'd prefer, feel free.

Lay out a sheet of nori and press about 2/3 cup rice into the nori, leaving a 2 cm border around the rice. Press your thinly sliced cuke into the rice (or whatever thick, hard veggie you're using).

This works best if you have two sushi rolling mats, but if not, grab a plate, lay out another sheet of nori, and repeat the rice spreading step above. Turn over and press the riced nori onto the cukes, aligning the nori.

Gently press another 2/3 cup rice onto the 2nd layer of nori. You'll feel things squish around a bit underneath - just be gentle and don't worry too much about making it perfectly even. Lay your asparagus out in a flat layer. Press your carrots in and around them. On your other mat or plate, rice another sheet of nori with another 2/3 cup rice, then turn it over and press it onto the asparagus and carrot layer.

Another 2/3 cup of rice, gently pressed onto the nori, then add your avocado in an even layer. Once more, rice the last sheet of nori with 2/3 cup rice on the other rolling mat, turn it over, and lay it over the avocado layer.

Cover with a sheet of wax paper and a wide, heavy plate. Press the sushi for 10-15 minutes, using extra weight, if ya need:

(That, my friends, is a gallon-sized bottle of Frank's Hot Sauce. No, I'm not joking.)

Here comes the tricky part.

Sharpen your chef's knife. Trust me - this sucker is tough to slice.

Remove the weights and plate, careful - you might need to be gentle when removing the wax paper.

Wet your knife. Leave your water running a little tiny bit and grab a piece of paper towel.

Trim the edges of your napolean so that the border of plain nori you left on each sheet is gone, and the edges are clean.

Run water over your knife and clean the sushi remnants off with the paper towel.

Slice the napolean 4 times the wide way, drawing the knife through the cake and pushing gently down with eat cut. Wet and clean your knife after every cut. Make sure you feel your bamboo mat at the bottom at the end of each cut. Tough stuff, I know, getting through that last layer of nori can be tricky!

Slice 3 times the shorter way. Toothpick the pieces before moving them - you don't want to leave anything behind.

Really good as is, or dipped in sauce, soy, teriyaki, wasabi, et all. The sharper your knife, the smaller the squares can be - but don't go any bigger than I've described or there's no way you're fitting that sucker in your mouth.

I really dug on the geometry of this little dish. All lines, color, cross sections.

Enjoy!

Wanton Wontons - take one

I friggin' LOVE wonton wrappers. They make anything special - got some tasty black berry jam? Stuff 'em, fry 'em, dust 'em with sugar, hello tasty desert. How about some pimento cheese? Stick it in there, boil 'em, you got yerself some some pseudo-perogies.

Or you could do this - potatoes, mashed, coconut milk, curry powder, diced carrot/pepper, and some peas. And bring awesome vegan samosa-esque popovers to your next party.

Mini Malaysian Samosas

30 wonton wrappers, Cantonese style
5 small yukon gold potatoes
1/4 red pepper, minced
1 small carrot, peeled, minced
1/2 cup sweet peas, frozen or fresh
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1-2 tablespoons Malaysian Curry Powder Mix (I used the stuff I made this curry with)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Dash ground red pepper for heat, to taste

Vegetable oil for frying

The making of a good wonton takes a bit of practice - you need to use just enough water to get the edges of the dough to adhere, but no so much that the rest of the dough weakens from dampness. I set up over the sink on a cutting board with the faucet drizzling just a little and wet two fingers each time I made one samosa.

For the mix: Boil and mash your potatoes. While they're boiling, use a strainer to steam the carrot and pepper quickly, 3 minutes should do, then mix your peas in (if frozen). To your potatoes, add your coconut milk, mash to smoothness, then curry powder, salt, and sugar. Taste and adjust - you want savory, a little heat, and a little sweet. Add red pepper if needed, or more curry powder, if you want more of a punch.

Chill the filling for 30 mins in the fridge or freezer. You want it pretty solid.

To make the wontons: Wet just the edges of the wonton and spoon 1 1/2 tsp of filling into the center. Fold the far edge over diagonally and press to seal - work your way around the entire wonton, applying pressure, until its completely closed. Place on a dry cutting board. Continue until your filling is used up - I made it to 25 or so before it ran out.

Heat oil in a fryer or wok and add no more than 6 at a time, turning with a slotted spoon or other tool to fry both sides. They're quick - 30 seconds max on each side should do fine. Drain well on paper towels.

The day I made these, I ate 15 of them. They're really good, and a little unpredictable - they look like baby samosas but the flavors are slightly skewed. Dip them into this, for a little extra tart/sweet:

Tamarind Tomato Chutney

3 tablespoons tamarind concentrate liquid
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste, or 1 medium tomato, chopped
1 tsp salt
Water, to thin

Put the tamarind, tomato or tomato paste and garlic into a blender and whirrrr until well blended. If you used a tomato, you won't need to add water - if you used paste, add a little at a time until the sauce has the consistency of thin ketchup. Taste and add salt if need.

Yay vegan finger food. Stay tuned for more wonton shenanigans! I'm totally obsessed!

A little retro, a little weirdo - Waldorf Salad Quesadilla

Happy New Year my dears!

This is totally one of those things I'd never make for myself, but that my clients LOVE. Sweet, tart, slightly creamy. Desert for lunch, a little.

Of course, my ability to love Waldorf Salad goes up exponentially when it's sammiched in between two quesadillas and a bunch of sharp cheddar. Mmmmm hmmmm. If you'd prefer to preserve the illusion of healthy lunch, however, eat it atop lettuce or in a wrap. The addition of tofu makes it a super-complete meal.

Tofu Waldorf Salad

1 block firm tofu, diced to 1/2 inch sized pieces
Vegetable oil, to fry

1 granny smith apple, cored, diced
1 small bunch grapes, destemmed, cut in half
2 ribs celery, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
2/3 cup candied pecans, cut in fourths
Parsley, chives, scallions - about 1/4 cup fresh herbs, minced
Black pepper, lots
1/3 cup dried cherries or cranberries, rehydrated a bit with boiling water for 10 minutes
1/2 cup mayonaisse
1/4 cup sour cream
Dash lemon juice

Heat vegetable oil to fry in a a large pot or wok - fry tofu in batches to golden-crust land. Drain well on paper towels and chill in the freezer for 20 minutes or so. 

The rest is easy peasy. Mix everything but the mayo, sour cream, and lemon juice in a large salad bowl. Mix the remaining three ingredients in a small bowl and using a scraper, add to salad, toss, and serve. Best made the day before to let the flavors meld a bit.

This is kind of like the Club Sammich Quesadilla I posted last month - a weird quesadillafication of a classic salad sandwich. I figured it'd be hella delicious since apples and sharp cheddar are soooo tasty together, and it was. This is a thick quesadilla, so we're going to do this with an oven broiler instead of the skillet, so you don't lost filling when you flip.

Waldorf Quesadilla

2 10-inch burrito tortillas
1 cup Tofu Waldorf Salad
2/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar

Lay one tortilla out on a pizza pan and sprinkle half the cheddar over. Spoon the salad over the cheese, spreading, until it uniformly covers the tortilla. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar over the salad and press the second tortilla onto the stack firmly. 

Use the top rack position in your oven and broil the quesadilla on high for 2-3 minutes, until the tortilla starts to brown in spots. Using a plate to flip, cover the quesadilla with a plate, flip the whole thing over, and carefully slide the quesadilla back onto the pizza pan. Return to the oven to broil the over side.

Let cool 5 minutes and slice. Deeeeelicious!

Hummuslove

For me, hummus is a staple. It's always almost in the fridge somewhere. It makes its way onto sammiches, into rice bowls, over pasta, inside baked things. In school, once, I built an entire turkey (loose description) out of tri-colored hummus and left it for my sculpture class to find the day before thanksgiving. What I'm saying is, I'm serious-casual about the stuff. It's complicated.

As my love for chickpeasesamebutter ages, tho, I'm noticing a lean towards a more spartan approach. The dip, over time, is simplifying and distilling the basic tastes into a relatively inflexible balance of proportions. And with this paring-down comes baroque accompaniments, as if I can't help but love how awesome hummus tastes with fried egg or onion, but don't want to taste it every time I take a bite. Because really, all you need is c-pea, tahini, olive oil, garlic, lemon, salt, a teeny bit of sugar, and an even teenier bit of toasty cumin (and even that's nonessential).

The recipe below is what I've finally settled on. I make it this way each and every time I go at the peas and 'hini. I'm going to try and pry every accessory from the recesses of my legume-addled brain in a list below that recipe. If you've got any others, I'd love to hear 'em.

Basic Hummus

2 cups drained well-cooked or canned chickpeas, 1 cup of their cooking or canning water reserved
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
Dash sugar

1 tablespoon ground cumin, toasted

Blender (not a food processor! smoothness is key!)
Scraper

In a blender, put your drained chickpeas. Add lemon juice, salt, minced garlic, and tahini. Start the blender. Add your reserved chickpea water, a little at a time, until a paste begins to form. Scrape down the sides. Keep adding water until things are moving slowly but smoothly, and with the motor running, add the oil. Blend a couple minutes for smoothness. Scrape it all into a bowl, to serve.

You can expand the above proportions to fit the amount of chickpeas you have, but do it in batches. Otherwise, getting that smooth, creamy texture becomes impossible.

Things I've eaten with hummus:
Warm, fried eggs, thinly sliced
Olives of any kind, color, size, stuffing
Israeli pickles
Sliced red onion
Chunks of cuke
Chiffonade lettuce or spinach
Tomatoes - large, sliced, cherry, sliced
Pickled cabbage
Pickled jalapenos
Falafel
Red pepper, fresh
Springs of dill, parsley

To top, before serving:
Chili powder, tex-mex variety (yeah, I totally thought it was smoked paprika, but it was pretty delish)
Smoked paprika
Celery salt
Powdered tomato
Curry powder
Smoked habanero powder
Olive oil
Truffle oil

Hot sauces, ie more accessories:
Sriracha or Cock sauce
Franks
Tabasco
Chili oil
Sesame Chili oil (a personal fav, available in Asian groceries)

Scoopy starches:
Toasted bread - pita, english muffin, sliced french, toasted
Fritos
Corn Chips
Fajita tortillas (the process goes Ethiopian, here, because you're grabbing handfuls of stuff with floppy bread)
Bagel chips

Mmm. Might be time to go make a hummus breakfast bagel.

So what if I just discovered homemade 7 layer dip?

Don't look at me like that. I've always just grabbed the least browned-avocado-looking plastic carton of Dip on the way to a cookout, thinking, you know, it'd be expensive to make it from scratch, wouldn't really be worth it, people get more excited by the burgers anyway, who cares.

But. Seriously. I couldn't quit this last night. It's dangerous - you're just chillin' on the couch, watching an episode of ST:TOS or something, and a garlicky, whispery voice is up in your ear, telling you to just have a couple scoops. Before you can say Fascinating, it's half gone.

If your house is anything like mine, there are crazy people in it that hate awesome things like cilantro and olives. While you can probably sneak some cilantro into the guac and salsa, olives are a garnish-topping, and will be noticed. If you like spice, try mincing some escabeche (tiny!) for a pickly topping instead. Also, be picky about your chips - try for rounds rather than the strips pictured here. Structural integrity is key when scooping this heavy, delicious dip.

7 layer dip, part by part

So the classic layering goes thusly, bottom to top:

Black refried beans
Sour cream
Salsa
Guacamole
Shredded Cheddar
Minced olives/ peppers
Green onions

Obviously, the easiest way to go about gettin' 'er done is grabbing premade stuffs. Anyone out there who's a lover of salsas and guacs will tell you that homemade is the only way to go, but it's tempting when throwing them in a dip this complex to lazy out and just buy them from Hairy Peter or TJ's or wherevs. Trust me when I say it was totally worth the chopping and mushing. Surprisingly, flavors stayed distinct, all the way down to the refrieds. Delicious.

So, for the beans:

1 can black beans, undrained
1/2 carrot and 1/2 celery stalk, minced fine
1 clove garlic
Dash salt
Dash hickory smoke seasoning (like dees)
2 tablespoons olive oil

In a skillet, heat your oil over medium-high heat. Add your garlic, celery, carrot, and cover. Get some brown on 'em (about 3 minutes) then stir. Add beans and liquid and hickory seasoning, and grab a potato masher. Working in a circular motion, mash your beans until about half of them have dissolved. Let the beans simmer a bit more to thicken, then remove from heat. Taste and adjust salt. Set aside.

For the salsa:

1 large, somewhat ripe tomato
2 tablespoons freshly minced cilantro
2 tablespoons freshly minced green onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt, about a tsp
Couple grinds fresh black pepper
1 small jalapeno

Chop your 'mater, throw it in a medium bowl. Add herbs, juice, garlic, salt, and pepper, mix. In a blender, put about a handful of your salsa thus far. Chop your jalapeno and throw it in the blender - pulse until things are relatively obliterated. Return it all to the bowl and stir. Taste. Set aside.

For the Guacamole:

1 avocado
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1 tablespoon minced green onion
1/2 roma tomato, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
Optional (depending on avocado's ripeness): 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp salt, or to taste

Pit the avocado, put the delicious flesh in a medium bowl. Add lime juice and garlic, and using your potato masher, mash it all up. I like mine a bit chunky, but if you want it really smooth, use a food processor. Add your herbs, salt, tomato, and stir. If you aren't getting a good, fatty taste when you same, add the olive oil and mix well.

A note on the other layers:

Chives or green onions would work equally well as the final topping, as would a mix of cilantro and green onion. For cheese, I used an aged white cheddar - but for color, most go with regular orange. I really enjoyed the nutty, salty quality of the cheese we used. But it was kinda pricey for going on top of a million other flavors.

You can either buy Mexican crema or thin yours a bit with salt and a little water to get it spreadable. If you've never tried Crema, now is the time!

Diced jalapenos are an awesome way to spice this up a bit, especially as a final topping. I used some homemade jalapeno pickles, since I wanted to tone it down just a bit. Oh ya and those huge slices of raw pepper on top were all me. MWAha!