Empanada Pizza

This is a dish that I made for a bunch of my good friends. It was inspired by the idea of a potato pizza meshed with a Spanish empanada. The base is a crust of corn and wheat yeast dough that adds a killer crunch against the creamy potatoes. If I were to make this dish again I would cut the potatoes thicker and par-cook them to add more of a toothsome creamy bite to the potato layer.

Cornmeal Crust

2 cups corn meal, fine grind works well
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1.5 cups warm water
2 tsps yeast
2 tbsps agave nectar
1 tbsp salt or more

Mix all the ingredients together, the dough should be coarse and heavy, not too far off from a bread dough. Knead dough for like 5-10 minutes and let rise for an hour in a warm place. Punch down dough and let rise again for at least a half hour. Roll out into a pizza crust shape when your ready to make the dish.

The toppings

2 onions, sliced thin then cooked over medium heat and carmelized add a clove of minced garlic halfway through cooking. Season with salt and pepper and oregano
1 package soyrizo or upton's seitan chorizo

Roasted Red Pepper Cashew Cream

This is a take on romesco except more creamy.

1/2 cup cashews, raw
2 roasted red peppers
1 cup white beans
2 tbsp red wine vineger
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp oregano
1 clove garlic, more if you want
1/2 cup tomato sauce (or marinara sauce)
salt
pepper
fresh herbs if you got them

Blend everything together until you get a smooth texture. Adjust seasonings if you need. Put it on the crust. Then the seitan chorizo and caramelized onions.

Then of course, top with thinly sliced yukon gold potatoes ( i used a mandolin) drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt.

Bake the pizzas in a 450F oven for about 15 minutes until golden brown and the potatoes are cooked through.

Slice and enjoy.

First Day of vegan MOFO, IRon CHef

Here is my Iron Chef Battle Brassicaceae entry and first entry for the vegan MOFO. I decided to utilize the secret ingredient in numerous ways as you will see in the recipes. You may think that the seitan is the star of this dish but its not, believe me, the cabbage, horseradish, and mustard really steal the show on your palate. After you make this dish you will probably need a good nap because it is as hearty as can be. But I think that is a good thing, especially with the onset of colder weather.



For the seitan I actually just used some recipes as references and they are fairly simple to follow. If you go to www.everydaydish.tv you can find recipes for corned beef seitan and bbq seitan. I tweaked the recipes a bit by incorporating some of the secret ingredient, like mustard seeds in the corned beef and mustardy bits in the bbq sauce. I also roasted some sweet potatoes to compliment the bbq side of the plate, and some roasted fingerling potatoes to go with the corned beef and cabbage.

Smokey Maple Porter BBQ Sauce

About 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil or just enough to fry the onions and garlic
1 chopped white onion
4 cloves of chopped garlic
12 oz. of Sierra Nevada Porter
1 cup of maple syrup
12 oz. of tomato paste
1 tablespoon of liquid smoke
2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons of black pepper

Cook the onions and garlic until caramelized over medium heat. Add a bit of water every several minutes to de-glaze the pan. Add the rest of the ingredients cook for about 15 minutes then let cool and puree.

Creamy Coleslaw with Pickled Red onions

This absolutely is amazing and simple. It is a great cold crunchy and creamy contrast to the spicy hot bbq seitan.

1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
4 Tbsp Vegenaise
1 Tbsp German Mustard
2 Tbsp Agave nectar
splash red wine vinegar
salt + pepper

1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced
2 tsp red wine vinegar
salt

Mix together all the slaw ingredients while you quickly pickle the red onions.

Braised Cabbage with Corned Beef Seitan

1 recipe corned beef seitan
1/2 head green cabbage, large dice
1 white onion, diced
1 clove garlic
2 tsps paprika
1 tbsp caraway seeds
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
veg broth

Cook the onions and garlic in a bit of oil and add all the spices. Toss in the cabbage and seitan and add a bit of vegetable broth. Cook for about 20 minutes. Add more veg broth and cook ten minutes more. Serve with roasted fingerling potatoes and horseradish cream.

Horseradish Cream

1/2 block silken tofu
2 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp prepared horseradish, or more
2 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Puree everything and chill. Serve over the corned beef and cabbage for a right good kick in the mouth.

Southern Fried Tempeh Po'Boy

Hello ya'll. This is a dish I whipped up to bring out the true southern side in me. And like a true southerner I brought on some spice and served up some yam fries on the side. This was a real winner too. Especially when you consider I got someone to like tempeh who very rarely likes tempeh at all.

First I steam the tempeh for about 10 minutes, to get rid of the bitterness. Then, I marinated it in a very intense mixture of herbs and spices (put Colonel Sanders to shame with this mix) then I lightly breaded it and fried it. It was served with a chipotle mayonnaise, sliced avocados, and heirloom tomatoes.

Southern Fried Tempeh Poorboy Sandwich


Southern Fried Tempeh

Marinade
2tbsps tamari
2 tsps hot sauce
1 tsp each paprika, cumin, coriander, onion powder, garlic, black pepper, white pepper, oregano, thyme, celery salt, chili powder
2 tsps old bay seasoning
a little oil and water to make a thick marinade consistency

Place steamed and cut tempeh in marinade and let sit for 1 hour up to 5 hours in the fridge.

Make a breading mixture with all the spices above plus 1/2 cup flour and 3 tbsps cornmeal.

Make a vegan egg replacer to dip the tempeh before coating in flour, I used 1 part flaxseeds mixed with 2 parts warm water.

Bread tempeh. Fry tempeh over med heat in a bit of neutral veg oil like canola.

Meanwhile get your bread and your mayonnaise ready.

For the mayonnaise mix 1 chipotle in adobo and 1 tsp adobo sauce in about 1/2 cup vegenaise. Adjust heat level to your liking and slather that on too your toasted bread. Add sliced avocados and tomatoes and some lettuce if you want. Enjoy!

Lots of food pics, and some recipes to boot!

Long time no blog post. Well I have been busy with school, work, eating, biking, visiting my dentist Dr. Krentist, my cats ate my computer, my camera broke...... None of these are very good. So I am not going to make an excuse, or pretend I was going to write a post. I have just simply neglected posting anything on here due to pure laziness.

These are some of the things I have made lately. Hope you enjoy!

Potato Zucchini Gratin


BBQ Ribz


The assembled plate with some ranch dip.


Vegan Ranch Dressing/Dip

1 cup vegan mayonnaise, i recommend Vegenaise
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1 clove garlic smashed or microplaned or 1 Tbsp garlic powder
3 green onions or 1 tbsp onion powder
splash vinegar
splash of neutral oil
Fresh or dried parsley
Fresh or dried dill
Salt
Black pepper

Whizz all the ingredients up in your blender or food processor. Let the flavors meld together in the fridge for a bit or just eat it right away.


Dinner for four


Potato Crusted Tofu with shaved zucchini salad in an avocado vinagrette


This dish is actually missing a roasted red pepper emulsion that I thought would have really brought the whole thing together. There's always next time. It's essential to use young zucchini so that you can avoid the spongey-watery flesh of the large ones. Also it help keep the zucchini a mouth-friendly size when shaved.

Shaved Zucchini Salad

3 young zucchini, shaved with a vegetable peeler or mandoline

1 avocado
1 lemon, juiced
1 clove garlic microplaned or minced
1/6 cup of olive oil
salt
pepper

Whiz together all ingredients in blender, combine with shaved zucchini.


John's Stromboli



Vegan Ground Meat


This mix can be flavored in many ways, but since I was aiming to make a good ole fashioned hamburger I chose the ingredients outlined below.

Vegan Ground Meat

2 cups tvp
2 cup hot veggie beef broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp catsup
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried oregano
2/3 cup wheat gluten

Mix the hot veggie broth will all the rest of the wet ingredients then soak the tvp in this mixture. Combine all dry ingredients. After tvp is rehydrated and cooled to room temp add the dry ingredients and mix well. Form into burgers patties or meatballs as shown in the picture below. I thought the resemblance to ground beef was quite striking. I love a good vegan cheeseburger and I really nailed it with this one. So good.

uncooked burgers


Fresh homemade burger buns


Potato and Kale Hash


the completed masterpiece! follow your heart cheese melted onto the burgers and topped with grilled onions.

Scrambled Tofu and Grilled veggie sandwich with Cherry tomato salad

Chocolate Chip Pecan Banana Bread

Heirloom tomato and Avocado Salad

So I decided not to post recipes to all of these on here, but if you have any questions please email me.

Garlic Tofu with Hoisin Broccoli & Sesame Mock Duck with Eggplant and Shiitakes

This dish was brought on by a strong hankering for some greasy Chinese take-out. I think I was able replicate all the delicious flavors without deep frying everything in sight. Still, a good greasy orange tofu will forever live in my heart as the best damn take-out delight.

Garlic Tofu with Hoisin Broccoli

1 block extra firm tofu, pressed and cubed
4 cloves garlic, sliced relatively thin
salt
oil for frying

1 head broccoli, cut into florets
2 carrots, cut on a bias
1 onion, rough chop
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp oil

Get a pan on over med heat add oil and start to fry the garlic. Add the tofu. Brown on all sides, season with salt and pepper. For the veggies, stir fry everything, starting with oil and garlic, then onions, then the rest. Add the sauces when veggies are nearly done.

Sesame Mock Duck and Eggplant with Shiitakes

1 can mock duck, get at most Asian grocers
1/2 large eggplant, cut into chunks
1 box shiitakes, sliced
1 onion, rough chop
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fermented black bean sauce
1 tsp agave nectar
black pepper
brown rice flour for dusting the mock duck

Get a pan on over high heat. Thinly coat mock duck pieces in brown rice flour, then sear on all sides. Remove from pan. Add a little more oil then the eggplant pieces. Stir fry until almost done. Add garlic, onions and shittakes. Stir fry for about 3 minutes, then add eggplant and mock duck. Add the sauces and stir fry for about a minute or two more.

Serve with brown rice.