Masala Mushroom Loaf. Yowza.

Tired of the same ol' same ol' mushroom loaves? Thyme for something new? In need of some sage advice?

Try this spicy sweet number on: mushrooms, yes, and some tofu - but minced chilis, sweet peas, curry leaves, and good, toasty Garam Masala kill the Fall Flavor Set and make room for Spring. In the middle of February. Yes plz.

I LOOOOVE the parchment paper trick when making vegetable loaves - the lovely browned crust the oven's worked so hard to make comes out in one piece, every time. Just cool for 20 minutes, invert over a platter, and there it is, ready for slicing.

Its the perfect opportunity to play with inclusions, but remember - greenery roasts to brown, so use vegetation with color. Small red pepper flowers work well. Green peas, carrots, and beets work too. Enoki mushrooms keep a light brown shade, so you can laminate your own little 70's Forest Scene on top of your next loaf, if you'd like, as long as you lightly coat your parchment with oil - otherwise, your lovely lamination might stick. And we can't have that!

Masala Mushroom Loaf
serves 4-6


1 tablespoon olive oil
12 small or 8 medium crimini mushrooms, minced
1/2 small red onion, minced
1/2 red pepper, minced
1 bird's eye chili, minced

1.5 tablespoons garam masala

7 ozs extra firm tofu, well drained, crumbled
8 dried curry leaves, crushed
2 tsp brown sugar
2/3 cup raw cashew pieces

2 tablespoons melted EB
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon flax meal
1 medium white potato, baked until soft, mashed (or 2/3 cup mashed potato)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp asofoetida

1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tablespoon sea salt


Loaf pan
1 sheet parchment paper
Canola oil, to coat



Preheat the oven to 350f. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the loaf pan, sides included. Cut slits in the corner so it will fold flat to the pan's form. Spray a little oil on the bare metal before fitting the parchment inside - it'll help it stay in place.


Reserve a few pieces of red pepper for garnish. In a dry skillet or saute pan, toast the garam masala for 2-3 minutes, until very fragrant. Set aside.


Heat the olive oil in the same skillet and add pepper and onion. Cook 5 minutes, until pepper softens and onion is translucent. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring often, for 6-8 minutes, until mushrooms have released their liquid and almost all of it, but not quite, has steamed off.


Remove sauteed veggies to a heatproof bowl.


In a food processor, pulse cashews until they're the texture of large polenta - not powdery, with some chunks still there. Add to warm vegetables. Mix in remaining ingredients and taste for salt - add a teeny bit if need be. The mixture should be relatively dry, but not crumbly - add a little more Earth Balance or even a titch of water if it needs it.


Cut small triangles out of two or three sides of a piece of red pepper with a paring knife. Repeat for as many "flowers" as you'd like.

Arrange red peppers and a stem or two of cilantro on the bottom of the loaf pan, and press 1/2 a cup of the mushroom masala mixture over top, pressing down to keep things stuck in place. Add remaining loaf mixture, pressing down firmly, and flattening top with wet hands once the mix is used up.

Bake for 50 minutes covered, then another 15-20 uncovered, until loaf is browned on top and firm-ish to the touch. Let rest 20 minutes, invert onto a platter, and serve. I'll share the apple-lentil gravy we noshed ours with next week - it was pretty killer.

Cheers!

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!

Tamales, Cont'd

I was an undercover tamale cart last weekend - hauling a huge, gleaming pot full of cornhusk-wrapped masa + delicious fillings all over town.

Well, to two parties. But I'm trying to sound important.

So we've done soy chorizo - we've done mole seitan - and this time, there were three: Mole Tofu + Bean (vegan+gluten free, hooraaay!), Jalapeno Popper and Kimchi-Cheddar. Once you've got the masa situation handled, it's easy to do multiple fillings - especially simple ones, like kimchi/cheddar and pepper/cheese. Mole, as I'm sure you know, takes a whole lot longer.

A small, shameful hiatus was taken from my summertime veganism in the name of the Holy Combo. And Hail Mary, was that sucker good. But my favorito tamalito, to be sure, was the Jalapeno Popper.

I know it doesn't look like much but TRUST A SISTA that thing was killer. The peppers infused the masa with spicy aromatics - I used a combo of pickled jalapenos and charred poblanos, all fiery and delicious - and the cheese, while steaming halfway out of a few of the tamales and making the pot a bit messy, saturated the masa with tartly salty awesomeness.

I'll be trying this vegan-style with cashew cheese in the near future. I think they could be the bad-assest, healthiest tamales ever known to man. Remains to be seen.

Jalapeno Popper Tamales

makes 20-25 tamales

for the filling:

12 ozs sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 poblano peppers
4-6 pickled jalapenos, seeded and stemmed
2/3 brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp salt
minced cilantro and scallion, 1 tablespoon each

for the masa:

3 cups masa harina
3 cups vegetable or faux-chicken stock, lukewarm
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned corn kernels (or frozen + charred, a la Trader Joe's frozen)
1 head garlic, roasted
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening, whipped

30 corn husks, plus 5 torn apart to tie

A steamer or fake-steamer set up like this

Onwards! Into the Abyss!

Char your poblanos over a gas flame or under the broiler until their skin blackens. Toss into a paper bag to steam.

Shred your cheddar into another bowl. Chop your jalapenos and herbs and add - then add minced poblanos and cream cheese. The heat from the roasted peppers will thin your cream cheese a bit - mix everything well and taste for salt, add if needed. Stick in the fridge to chill while you prepare the masa.

Mix your masa, salt, baking powder in a large bowl. In a food processor, pulse your broth, corn and roasted garlic until nice and pulverized - add to the masa and mix well.

Whip your shortening in a small bowl and fold into the masa.

Soak your corn husks in warm water for about ten minutes. Choose 5 of the wimpiest ones to tear into strips for tying.

My steamer set up is kinda strange, but this is how I do it - I place a small quiche pan, face down, in the bottom of a large pot and boil 3 cups of water, which I pour into the pot, reaching almost to the top of the quiche pan, which I then sit a large strainer on top of to hold the tamales. The water cools a bit as I make the tamales, but it prevents mess later, as you'd have to try and pour hot water around the huge pile of tamales waiting to be steamed in your pot.

Take about a half cup of masa and press it into a husk, going for a rectangle shape, at the top of the husk, center. With a spoon, lay about 1.5 tablespoons of filling in the center of the masa. Pick the husk up and peel one side of the masa away from the husk, letting it curl around the filling, then wrap the husk in a cylinder and fold the bottom up, forming a package open at top.

Tie in the middle with a torn piece of masa. Sit in your strainer/steamer, open end up.

Repeat until your masa is adios. Tuck remaining soaked husks around the tamales, saving three to drape over the top of the pile, edges tucked in. This'll help retain steam.

Cover your pot with a lid and a towel, turn heat to high, and as soon as you hear boiling activity, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for an hour.

Probably one of the best beer-accompaniers EVAR, fresh, warm tamales.

The tofu mole ones were a hit as well, so don't let their lack of cheese scare ya. Just make a half batch of this sauce, toss with a can of kidney beans and some pan-fried tofu, and use the masa recipe above - but increase your filling to 2 tablespoons per, to account for tofu and bean content.

Ah, summer.

Stupid Cheese.

Oh cheese... you are the reason.

I have thunderthighs.

I'm not vegan.

I look enviously upon those that can attempt this monstrously unhealthy, incredibly delicious feat.

It is only right that during this sacred month, I pay homage. But not all of us have panini grills.

For all the thrifting I've done, you'd think I'd have picked one up, but no. I do however have an AWESOME old waffle maker. And it makes killer GC's.

This one, as I'm sure you could guess, had kimchi in it, which is so not original. But I first slathered the sourdough with hot mustard:

Made for a nasal, aromatic experience. Straight up the nostrils, the cheddar/pickle/mustard bouquet went. Lovely. Maybe, just maybe, I'd cut the mustard (HA) down to one tablespoon next time, scraped thinly across both slices.

Kimchi Grilled Cheese

two slices sourdough bread
1-2 tablespoons prepared oriental mustard
1/4 pound sharp cheddar cheese, sli ced thin
1/2 cup homemade kimchi, chopped
cilantro, minced (optional)

oil spray
waffle iron

Easiest recipe ever to appear on NFP, this one: spray your iron and let it warm (mine has a little light that shines "ready!" when it's hot to trot). Spread mustard over both slices of bread. Layer cheese on one slice, scatter kimchi over the top, scatter cilantro over kimchi, place the other slice of mustarded bread atop. Press down to seal the fillings in place, then put carefully in the middle of the waffle iron. Close it as far as it will go, and use something heavy and non-flammable to keep the pressure on.

2 minutes, my darlings, that's all it takes. Pull it out, slice it, and go to town.

This kind of screams for syrup of some sort, but I had none at hand. What would you use atop this wafflewhich? Maple? A combination of Maple and something else for kicks? Hmm....

Mac 'n 'Chi

This one's for all my hot sauce + mac n cheese loving homies out there.

You know who you are. Frank's, Marie's, Tapatio, Tabasco, something red and fiery has to be sprinkled over the top for that pile of cheese and pasta to really sing for ya. Not like you wouldn't eat it if it weren't there. But you're the one waiting for Texas Pete when your pals are already shoveling.

The beauty of a batch of kimchi is that it's a long term investment - the longer it sits, the stinkier it gets. Its personality changes. It becomes sharper and more pungent with each passing day - textures dull, flavors blend. For some reason, I still eat it quickly, like it's about to go bad, whenever I make a batch. Seldom does a 2 pound kimchi'd napa sit around this house for longer than a week. Good for the guts (I hope).

I've done a ton of pastry baking this week, exploring whether or not I have the chops to start selling the stuff out of an awesome local coffee joint (the long, arduous tale of finding a legal kitchen to cook it in, we'll leave for another time). I think I'm getting there. The reason I tell you this is that I tried the holy cheddar/kimchi combo in a poptart-shaped pastry this week, and found it to be as near perfect a trio of flav as I'd tried in a long while (pasta/bread, cheddar, stinky, spicy pickle). Had to try it with my go-to macaroni cheese recipe, and, well, holy cannoli. Kinda made my week.

Yeah, I used my two-serving corningware. Having any more than that around would have proved quite dangerous, methinks. If you need more, just double/triple the ingredients as needed.

Mac 'n Chi
2 servings

1/3 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
2/3 cup milk

1/3 - 1/2 cup kimchi
1 cup cooked elbow macaroni

Butter, for greasing the casserole

Chopped cilantro for garnish, sliced apple for serving

Make the bechamel (boil the noodles while this happens, if you don't have cooked noodles at hand) - melt your butter over medium heat in a small saucepan, add flour, whisk until flour cooks and turns slightly golden. Whisk in mustard, then milk, whisking constantly as the sauce thickens (should take about 2 minutes). Add your cheese and discard your whisk - use a fork to incorporate it completely. Taste for salt.

In your casserole, combine your pasta and kimchi. Add sauce and fold it all together GENTLY. Sprinkle any remaining cheese over the top (or some buttered bread crumbs, hmm yes).

Bake for 20 minutes in a 350f oven, until sides are bubbly. Broil for 2-3 until the top browns a little bit.

Serve with a lightly dressed lemon-arugula salad or sliced green apple. You could be like moi and eat it for breakfast, and get cheese-spaced early in the day, or save it for dinner. Reheats beeeeeautifully! Enjoy!

I like to party.

And I love bringing food to parties.

It started out when I did a lot of hanging with a particularly non-soy-friendly crowd in NYC - I knew there'd be bacon in everything people brought to whatever potluck/shindig was getting crammed into someone's incredibly tiny apt, so I'd play it like I was going to anyway - you know, I just had this vegan lasagna in the fridge and it needed to get eaten.

Over time, I've developed preferences for party-friendly food. It can't look confusing - ingredients should be evident. Small is good - one hand probably has a drink in it. Slimy, gooey textures scare people off (I learned this after making a crock pot full of Swedish Meatballs for a cocktail party that people would stare at suspectfully as they walked by, like some meatball amoeba was about to pour forth and consume them). Basically, it stands to reason that if you can get everything you want people to taste in a single bite (maybe two), that's the best way to go.

That's not to say I'm above standing at the wedding buffet, scooping pounds of spinach/artichoke dip onto a plate waaaay to small to hold the steaming mass, but if I'm the one at the wheel, things usually get tiny and complicated. Anyway.

Hello, burrito sushi.

Fiesta time, mi mujeres y hombres. You might think nori + salsa = weird, and you'd be right. But goodweird.

This is a pretty straightforward recipe - just make a batch of sushi rice but treat it like this recipe for yellow oats - some faux-chicken (or real, if you're so inclined) stock, saffron, garlic, a dash of turmeric for color.

Then, for the filling -

Queso Fresco (vegan darlings - try some Daiya OR crumble a teeny bit of firm tofu, toss with lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder)
Refried Black Beans
Salsa (mine's simple - handful cilantro, one large tomato diced fine, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 1/3 medium red onion diced fine as well, half a lime's juice, 1 fresh jalapeno, again, fine dice, salt and pepper to taste)
Sour cream (again, darlings - I love this recipe for Soy Sour Cream, give it a whirl or just leave it out!)
Shredded Lettuce
Avocado

- being as conservative as possible. I used about 3/4 - 1 tablespoon of each filling, and still ended up with jumbo rolls.

As long as you don't add any oil or fat to the rice, it'll maintain its stickiness enough so that you don't have to add vinegar/sugar.

Just a piece of advice - if you're making these for 5-6 hours in the future (and especially if they're sitting overnight) double wrap these rolls with nori.

Burrito Sushi Rice

makes enough for 6 rolls

2 cups short grained white rice ("sushi" rice) washed
3 1/2 cups water mixed with 2 cubes faux-chicken boillion
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon safflower
1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Boil the broth and seasonings and add rice, stir, and cover. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Let sit 10, uncover and stir, and cool (either on the stove, or if you're anxious to get burrito-sushi makin, in the freezer).

I totally made a batch a couple weeks ago (because I had a ton of fajita making leftovers and wanted to do something weird with them, you know how it is) with standard sushi rice and they were decent. Flavoring the rice really makes this shine, however.

Slice, drizzle with hot sauce, skewer with festive toothpicks, and serve.

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!

Retro time! Mexican Lasanga

I've been collecting old spiral-bound cookbooks for the last year or two while on my thrifting adventures - I have something like 15 now. Most of them are church fundraisers, and all of them have at least one Jell-O salad recipe.

We won't be making Ham in Aspic here at NFP, don't worry.

It is fun to trace recipes that are still standards now back to the 60s and 70s, tho - watching the spellings change in the non-English words (I found a recipe for Buf Borgonion, I kid you not), seeing margarine replace butter then shortening replace margarine then back to butter, it's all very entertaining. Obviously, there are huge expanses of each volume devoted entirely to Casseroles. And one that makes an appearance in one of my earliest books (1962, the publish date on that one) is Mexican Lasagna.

I have plans to sift through some of the stranger recipes and veggie-fy them in the coming months, but for now, that recipe serves as merely inspiration. Keep your eyes peeled for retro veggie dishes in 2011!

Mexican Lasagna


For the sauce:
1 28oz can tomatoes, diced or crushed
3 tablespoons butter
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon cumin, toasted
1 jalapeno, seeded, minced
Dash sugar
1 tablespoon faux-chicken or vegetable broth concentrate 
1 stick cinnamon, whole
Salt to taste

For the rest:
1 box no-boil lasagna noodles 
1 package TJ's soy chorizo or 10 ozs faux-hamburger crumbles
10ozs shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
2 Poblano peppers
1 package Requeson cheese or Ricotta
2 garlic cloves, minced
Dash Mexican Oregano
2 eggs, beaten
1 can black beans, drained 

Roast your poblanos either over a gas burner, turning until charred, or under your broiler, until the skins bubble and turn black. Place them in a paper bag to steam for 15-30 minutes. 


Melt your butter in a saucepan and add garlic, onion, jalapeno. Saute until onion has softened, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir well to mix. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, until tomatoes have softened and flavors blend. Remove from heat.



Preheat oven to 375f.

De-seed and peel your poblanos. I do this under running water to make the skins slide off more easily. Mince the peppers and put them in a small bowl - add your Requeson (a Mexican ricotta-style cheese) or Ricotta. Add garlic, oregano, and taste - if you've used Requeson, you won't need to salt this. Add eggs and mix well.


Remove cinnamon stick from sauce and puree with an immersion blender or puree in batches in your food processor. 


Oil a 9 x 9 or 11 x 6 baking dish and layer as follows: 1 ladle of sauce, noodles, beans, chorizo, requeson, Jack cheese. Repeat twice, reserving most of the Jack cheese for the top layer. Top with remaining sauce and Jack cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and broil top of lasagna until brown in places.



Serve with hot sauce and minced jalapenos. 


Happy Holidays, my dears! If you're anything like me, you'll be cooking up a storm for family and friends. Which is awesome for vegetarian me - it feels like missionary work AND I can eat everything on the table! If I can manage to grab some shots of the grub, I'll put them up here for showing-offs sake. Cheers and happiness to you and yours!

15 minute dinner - Club Sammich Quesadilla

This is a pretty evil one, for lots of reasons: faux-meat heavy, and super cheesy. But. I. Am. Obsessed. Plus it's the perfect pocket/picnic food, since it's so structurally sound. For any meaters out there - just replace the Facon and Tofurkey with the real thing - you'll dig, promise.

Club Sammich Quesadilla

First you must forage for and gather your ingredients. And by foraging, I mean hit TJ's.

For each 2 tortillas, you'll need:

1 small roma tomato
2 scallions
2/3 cup shredded cheese, TJ's Smoked Blend, preferred
4 slices Tofurkey, sliced to strips
2 pieces Facon, crumbled
Mayo
Mustard
Black pepper
1/2 avocado, sliced
Couple dashes hot sauce (hey, you knew I'd stick it in there)

As your cast-iron's a-heating over a medium-high burner, thinly slice and salt your tomato, chop your scallion, and thinly slice your avocado. Then spread about 2/3 tablespoon mayo on one tortilla, 1/2 tablespoon mustard on the other.

Lay the mayo tortilla in the hot skillet and quickly layer as follows:

Cheese
Tomato
Tofurkey
Hot Sauce
Bacon
Avocado
Scallion
More Cheese

And then press the mustard tortilla on top, with the palm of your hand. Don't be afraid to squish pretty hard, you want it all to stick.Check frequently by sliding your spatula under and lifting the edges - spots of brown are good, lots of brown is bad. Flip carefully, as stuff will make attempts at escaping.

Let cool 2 minutes and either cut with scissors or slice with a knife. Killer party-finger-food, trust me! Bon Appetite!

Leftovers Pizza, or what we did with the rest of the GBC.

Don't get me wrong - the Moussaka was delish (and RICH), but nerdy me had to do something weird with the last couple of servings.

Nova's Bakery, which is right around the block from us, does some really awesome frozen pizza dough. The stuff is super-light and stretches to such lengths it's crazy. As you knead it, it fills with air - bubbles just naturally form. Awesome. So I made some crusts (yep, two, since we ALSO had leftover Green Bean Casserole), dusting the pans with cornmeal first, and went to it. Because adding cheese to these super-butterfatty foods was the best idea evarrrr!

Doesn't it look like it wants to eat your face? Good god.

And then there was the GBC pie:

Which had to get dusted with just a FEW more fried onions. Nom.

Silly, unhealthy, yeah. But fun!

Monster Moussaka Pizza, from above:

Yeah, I totally ate that missing slice.

Too many notes.

Queso Fresco and sesame. Sweet pickles and chili powder. Cumin and gochujan. You know what I'm talkin' bout - that haute Korean/Mex fusion.

Since there's little hope for it appearing in CLT in the near future, I thought I'd give it a whirl, and this TS post provided a tad more inspirado. Burritos would be easy. So I made some fried rice, "fajita'd" some veggies, made some pickles, wilted some greens (more of that amazing Mizuna, Japanese technically, but who's counting), got some Fresco and sour cream, avocado, flour tortillas. Wrapped it all up.

Was it tasty? Oh hell yes. Was it a gastronomic mess? Yes, emphatically. I'm not saying tongue-overwhelming piles of flavor are bad (I just ate a sliced green apple covered in garlic hummus and hot sauce, ya never know). Just not for everyone. It can be gratifying to read a dish's ingredients as you consume it - and with this one, that was well-nigh impossible.

Still, pretty cool. Could be awesome party food, garbage-mouth or no. Veganizing this was easy, so I included the dairy free alterations below.

Korean Burritos

6 flour tortillas
2 cups sesame fried rice
1 avocado, sliced
1 cup wilted kale or bitter green
1.5 cups quick cuke and carrot pickles
1 cup crumbled Queso Fresco or Daiya Vegan Cheddar
1 cup sour cream or soy sour cream (Vegan Gourmet's is awesome!!)
2 cups Fajita veggies
6 pieces foil

Make the rice:

2 cups day old rice
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 cloves garlic
1 knob ginger, grated
Soy sauce
Fried shallots

I used leftover rice, since, as we discovered earlier, day-old rice is best for frying. If you need to whip some up, go ahead - but make sure to chill it for an hour before proceding.

In a wok, pour sesame oil, add garlic, grated ginger. Saute until fragrant, add rice. Toss with spatula or tongs. Cook until heated through. Add fried shallot. Set aside.

Make the pickles:

1 medium cuke, peeled
1 carrot, peeled
White vinegar
1 tablespoon cock sauce or 1 tsp gochujan
1 tsp sugar

Grate your peeled cuke and carrot into a non-reactive bowl. Add white vinegar, hot chili (like gochujan or cock sauce) and sugar. Toss and set aside.

Wilt the greens:

1 pound mizuna or another hearty, bitter green (like kale)
1 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 cloves garlic
Splash soy sauce

Toast sesame seeds in a dry skillet for two minutes. Add sesame oil and garlic. Add greens and turn up the heat to medium high - saute until wilted, 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

Veggie time:

2 cups various veggies - mushrooms, peppers, squash, and oinons used here
Olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Chili Powder
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Cilantro
Dash sugar

Chop your mushrooms, peppers, zucchinis, whatevs ya got, into 2 inch long strips. In a skillet, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and garlic, plus the sliced onion. Cook until onion begins to become translucent, then add your veggies. Toss. Add chili powder and salt. Turn heat up to high. Toss and cover, allowing your veggies to get a little char on the bottom. Toss and cook a few minutes more, until zucchinis are relatively soft. Add chopped cilantro and a dash of sugar. Mix and set aside.

Assembly:

Lay the tortilla out on a sheet of foil. Slather with sour cream. Pile about 1/3 cup of veggies on. Add cheese, then avocado.

Grab a handful of rice and squeeze it together in your palm to condense it. The rice serves as the dividing line between the two flavor sets. Press it into the cheese/avocado. Then layer a good 1/4 cup of greens, then a small handful of pickles. Add more chili flakes or hot sauce, as desired. Roll the burrito up by taking the edge closest to you, folding it over the center pile, folding in the two sides, then continuing to roll until the package is formed. Roll the foil around it to keep it all in place. Slice in half and serve.

Possibly Poutine and (kind of) a Chang recipe hack

Well isn't that title full of confidence!

I feel the need to throw all these caveats out there because a) I've never been to Ma Peche (and probably never will, as there's maybe one thing on the menu us veggies could eat) and b) I don't want any rabid Poutine purists pelting me with cheese curds. But after reading this restaurant review, I had to make an attempt at rice fries.

I don't really track superstar chefs, but I've always kept a tiny, peripheral eye on David Chang. Seems like a talented, inventive, risk-taking boy (albeit a vegetarian hater). I like that a lot of his creations seem like inside jokes, even if they're just to himself - and his "Steak frites, Má Pêche style" fit that description well. Apparently he isn't the first to throw steamed rice cake (sliced to fry-size, of course) into the deep fryer. And now I've gone and done it too!

Chinese "Poutine" with Chive and Peppercorn Rice Fries

If you're looking for a simple, starchy snack, the fries are pretty awesome by themselves. Of course, dousing them in sriracha-spiked Mayo had to happen.

Basically, I made a batch of steamed rice cake (plus szechuan peppercorn and chinese chives), sliced it into "fries", deep fried 'em, and topped the mess with a pile of Tofu and Mushrooms in Garlic Black Bean Sauce (one of those dishes I make pretty often). Texturally, it was pretty spot on - crunchy, starchy fries, warm, salty gravy, soft tofu acting curd-y. Yum.

Rice Fries

16oz rice flour (interestingly, the widely available stuff in Charlotte is Thai in origin)
1.5 tsp salt
Dash baking powder
2 tablespoons freshly minced chinese chives
1 tablespoon freshly ground Szechuan peppercorns
1-1.5 cup cold water (possibly more - see below)

Oil for deep frying

Anything that's powdered and flavorful will work here - garlic, mustard, onion, etc. Herbs are variable as well.

If you're lucky enough to have steaming equipment, break it on out, or pull a NFP and use a stockpot (use a small cup or bowl to prop up whatever it is you're steaming). The amount of uncooked rice cake above will fill a 9 inch flat-sided cake pan to almost the top, right where you want it.

Sift the rice flour into a large bowl, add the salt and baking powder, and whisk. Add your herbs and pepper, plus any powdered flavoring agents you're using, and whisk again. Using a spoon, gradually add water, working the batter, until it reaches the consistency of uncooked cake batter (pretty thin). The consistency of the batter here relates directly to the chewiness factor of the fries - the thicker the batter, the more chew. I went for thinner rather than thicker hoping to achieve a crunchy outside crust that gave way to a steamy, soft interior (much like an actual fry). Grease your cake pan and pour the batter in. Steam for about 25 minutes. Let cool.

Heat your oil to 375f.

Once your cake has cooled, it'll pop out of the baking pan, no problemo. Using a sharp knife and wiping the blade often, slice the cake into 1/2 wide strips.

Slice the strips in half width-wise - you want these fries thin, but not so thin that they fall apart while frying.

If you fry them all in one batch (which I did) make sure to stir often - rice flour is verrrry sticky, and you'll end up with a bird's nest of rice fry, if you don't. Drain these well, and either nosh them as-is, with some Sriracha Mayo (1 tsp Sriracha to 1 tbl Mayo is how I like mine) or make some "gravy" as described below.


Soft Tofu and Mushrooms in Garlic Black Bean Sauce

1 block soft or medium tofu, drained and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 shallots, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons Black Bean Sauce (most Asian supermarkets carry this stuff - I use Lee Kum Kee brand)
1.5 cups water
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
Dash freshly ground Szechuan pepper
Huy Fong cock sauce, optional, about 1 tablespoon

Saute your garlic and shallots in the sesame oil for about a minute, then add your mushrooms. You want to saute your 'shrooms until they release their moisture. Add black bean sauce, water, cock sauce and pepper - simmer 2 minutes. Add your cornstarch and bring the mixture to a brisk simmer, until it thickens and clears. Add your tofu and continue to simmer for a few more minutes, to ensure the flavors penetrate the curd.

To serve, plate a pile of rice fries and ladle your "gravy" over top. Garnish with minced chives or scallions and additional cock sauce, if you so desire.