Monday, September 25, 2006

CHUDA!

1. Mix the following in a large bowl:



2cups of Special K cereal

2cups of Rice Krispies

2 cups of Toasted corn (Corn Chex, I think)

1 cup of shredded wheat (optional)



2. Prepare seasoning separately:



2 tbspn of Canola or Veg oil

1 tsp of mustard seeds

1/2 tsp of turmeric

1/2 tsp of Asafoetida

1 or 1 and 1/2 tsp of chilli poweder

10 curry leaves



3. The process:



Heat oil; add mustard seeds. When the seeds begin to splatter, reduce heat and add turmeric, Asafoetida, chilli powder and curry leaves. Immediately pour the whole thing on the cereal mix. Add 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of sugar to the whole thing and mix thoroughly. Put the whole thing in oven at 200 degree for 10 minutes. Then add roasted peanuts. Mix again. Eat to you heart's content. Enjoy.
Beans and cornbread

Beans


1 cup Anasazi beans, picked through and rinsed--not presoaked
1 can chopped tomatoes with Italian seasoning
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced and browned
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups boiling water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 Thai bird peppers, chopped

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Combine all ingredients in an ovenproof pan, cover, and put into oven for 5+ hours.

I haven't finished baking this yet because we had to leave for the Calexico concert before I was done, so the beans are still somewhat hard. :(

Cornbread

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place an 8-inch seasoned cast iron skillet inside with 1 Tbsp coconut oil to preheat for about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and mix together:
1 cup white stone-ground cornmeal
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
(will have to double-check proportions for preceding 3 ingredients)

Whisk together the wet ingredients in another bowl:
3/4 cup soy milk
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar (these two ingredients substitute for buttermilk)
1 large egg

Mix the dry and wet ingredients together lightly, just to moisten. Remove the preheated pan from the oven and swirl the melted fat up around the sides to coat them. Pour in the batter and return the pan to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes, until the cornbread is golden brown. "Invert the pan with a confident flip," as John Thorne, whose basic recipe I'm using, puts it. Cut into little wedges and eat the crispy-crusted cornbread hot, with butter, or some melted Cheddar cheese.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Biscuits and Tempeh Sausage Gravy

The recipe consists of three parts: the sausage crumbles, the gravy, and the biscuits.

SAUSAGE CRUMBLES
the recipe is posted here:
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/recipe.php?RecipeID=125

prep time: 2 minutes | cooking time: 25-30 minutes | makes about 2 cups

Ingredients
8 oz package tempeh
1 tablespoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried margoram or oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Directions
In a saute pan, crumble the tempeh and add enough water to almost cover it. Over high heat, steam the tempeh until most of the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Drain the remaining water and add the rest of the ingredients and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

GRAVY:
2 cups cooked white beans, or 1 15-oz can drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup veg broth or water
1/2 tsp salt
Black pepper
10-12 leaves fresh sage, chopped

Prepare the Tempeh sausage crumbles and keep them warm in a pan.
Puree the white beans with the oil and broth until relatively smooth. (I have a hand blender so I just do it right in a cooking pot, but you can do this in a blender or food processor instead). Add this to the tempeh crumbles with the salt and pepper. Heat through. You can thin the gravy by adding more vegetable broth. Mix in the sage and cook for another 2 minutes.

BISCUITS:
I use the Joy of Cooking olive oil drop biscuit recipe, which is deemed "surprisingly acceptable" in the cookbook. I think it turns out pretty well because you don't need to stir as much as if you make the biscuits by hand the traditional way, (cutting in the butter in pieces) so the biscuits stay more tender.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Mole for Partners Club Mexican Dinner Night (9/10/06)

All amounts listed are approximate... some more than others
Sauce:
2 cups pumpkin seeds, toasted and salted
1 cup toasted almonds
10 medium-large tomatoes (mixture of plum and pink heirloom)
3 fresh ancho chilis
1 fresh "Native American" chili
1 fresh Hungarian hot pepper
3 fresh tiny Thai bird chilis
1/2 cup raisins to grind in the sauce, plus 1/4 cup to leave whole
1 Tbsp cocoa nibs, or substitute 2 squares of unsweetened dark chocolate

Stew seasonings:
1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
6 large cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped coarsely
Extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried ground cumin
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 lime
2 cups water

Stew:
2 frozen Quorn Naked Cutlets, cut into cubes
1 pint tiny summer squash, cut into diagonal slices--I used a very pleasing-to-the-eye type shaped like tiny zucchini and shaded butter-yellow on one end, where the green stem was attached, and pale leaf-green on the other
1/2 pint green beans, trimmed and snapped into pieces
2 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 carrots, peeled and sliced

Fry the onions in some olive oil over medium-low heat. After a few minutes, add the garlic. Once the onion is soft and the garlic is slightly browned, add some water.

Wash and place the unpeeled tomatoes and chilis on a silicone baking sheet in a baking dish under the broiler until charred.

Peel the charred skin off the chilis, remove their seeds, and place the chili flesh into a food processor.

Add the tomatoes to the pot with the onion mixture and let everything simmer while you prepare the rest of the sauce.

Add the pumpkin seeds, almonds, 1/2 cup of the raisins, and cocoa nibs to the food processor and grind everything to a powder. Add this mixture to the pot, then add the oregano, cumin, soy sauce, salt, and whole raisins, and stir and mash all the ingredients together. It should look pale and creamy.

Add the stew ingredients, allowing for the disparity in cooking times between each type of ingredient: potatoes and carrots first, then squash, then green beans and Quorn.

Simmer until the stew is cooked through. Add the lime juice and pepper, taste and correct the seasoning. I ended up stirring in a few extra spoonfuls of tomato sauce at the end because there was too much nut mixture, making the sauce too bland.

Serve with rice.

Notes on the recipe: next time, I would add many more tomatoes and ancho peppers in relationship to the nut mixture, in order to give the sauce more depth, spice, and tanginess, and more chocolate to strengthen the bitterness. As it was, I think it ended up more bland than I would have liked--it tasted perfect after I had added only about half the nut mixture, but I ended up adding the rest because I had to use it up. The lime was a substitute for the citrus sourness of tomatillos, which I couldn't find, but I think this would be phenomenal with tomatillos, green tomatoes, or maybe even ground cherries instead of the lime juice. A bigger variety of nuts would also make this sauce very interesting. Some of the Diana Kennedy recipes I was studying and adapting used hazelnuts, pecans, walnuts, and sesame seeds in addition to almonds and pumpkin seeds. Also, the green beans were a substitute for nopales. Real nopales would probably be better.