Lunch Brief

This time of year is great!  Asparagus is growing with vengeance in the sun after brief rains.  So when i get home from the farm I always have a nice handful of the culls.  Start the pasta cooking and while that is going on get your added vegetables ready. I sautes the green onions and garlic with some olive oil on a medium heat tossing in carrot slices after the onions browned a bit (only a minute or two with green onions).  Soon after I toss in the asparagus and the collard stems and let them all sizzle for about 5 minutes.  I toss the collard greens in then and turn the heat off, letting the residual heat of the cast iron and steaming vegetables blanch the collards without turning it to mush (If I was doing a lot of greens I would need to leave the heat on a while on low).  I toss the pasta with the vegetables some 'butter' (earth balance, coconut oil, olive oil, or what ever fatty stuff you like) salt pepper and grated garlic to taste!  

Pumpkin Curry

Somehow we made it to this spring and had some extra squash around and only one thing seemed appropriate,  Pumpkin Curry! Of course I decided to make Garlic Nann to go with it and I tried to do some fried rice but oh man it was failing. . . I managed to save it by transforming it into coconut fried rice, using the extra flavor to help out my texture issue, turned out everyone loved it and it complimented the garlic potatoes well.

             So lets go ahead and turn this:

                                          into this!

Pumpkin Curry:

 I am sure there are a lot of ways to prepare the pumpkin (and roasting will bring out AMAZING flavor) but for time I just cube it and steam it. I remove the skin before hand so I don't have to cool the squash peel it and then reheat, yes it is technically easier to peel it after cooking but it does take an extra step.  Normally I dont steam with herbs but there was enough extra majoram and Basil that I figured why not! I used one butternut one pumpkin and one squash I didn't know the name of. I diced it all and steamed about 5 cups worth (maybe 6) for 15 to 20 min. 

I over-did the steaming a bit (which i don't suggest).  The pumpkin can come out of steam a bit more firm than you would like since it will get cooked during the simmer period.  The end result was something a bit more soupy and not as chunky as I like but WOW it went really well with the Nann and rice.

I used: mustard seed, corainder seed, and fenugreek as my tempering spice (1 tsp each in 2 Tbs oil) heating them in oil until the mustard began to pop a bit before tossing in raw garlic and onion> I dont know why but there was an eggplant in the fridge so I went ahead and diced that and tossed it in the oil to cook down and brown in on a medium high heat.  

I simmer the garlic onions and eggplant in a big pot with the seeds  because I knew the next step was to toss in the pumpkin which I mixed with one can of coconut milk (shake it before you open it so the fatty part mixes in well) with a good head of basil (probably 1/4 to 1/2 C worth of diced basil).  No tomatoes went in but if you have one or two dice them up (just adds a nice body and acidity). The heat gets turned down and the second series of spicing happens! Golden curry powder extra turmeric extra garlic powder then salt an pepper to taste!  No . . .I dont know how much of each but by my estimation a good 1 Tbs of curry a tsp of turmeric and maybe 2 tsp of garlic, it is important to note these extras are to round out the curry powder I get at the food coop and almost all curry powders are different so you will have to go for what you like and maybe include some paprika for spice, cumin (not suggested) for earthiness, ginger or cinnamon for aroma, and so on.  After I had a balance of flavor I liked, I put in a pinch of Asafoetida. . .I dont know who to describe its flavor but it just makes all the flavors pop.  Now you can just let it all simmer on low heat with the occasional stirring to keep it yum! 

 Garlic Potatoes with Greens:

This dish was an add on because I needed something to round out the meal and . . .I love potatoes!  I boiled the potatoes (about 3 lbs cubed) in my extra water (see rice mishap) which was just 2 to 3 cups of stock with some turmeric, pepper and oil.  It only takes 10 min for the potatoes to get soft in boiling water so while that is going I sauteed onions with garlic, mustard seed and cumin seed.  Once the onions were brown I tossed in all the stems from the collards, chard and kale with some random asparagus I found in the fridge, which happened to be just before I threw in my cooked potatoes (just a minute after the stems literally or the stems will go to mush) 

it occurred to me that my pan was not large enough to accommodate all of my greens so I moved it all to a pot, since the essential saute steps were done. Just a bit of water and let it all steam together, giving it a quick stir on occasion.  once the greens were getting down I grated 5 cloves of garlic in and added a Tbs of butter, just like that it is pretty much done! 

Coconut Fried Rice:

So . . .sometimes when you are trying to take pictures of your rice as you brown it before you put in your vegetable stock something silly happens where you forget to measure the amount of stock you are putting in. . . with rice that is very bad! Using a long grain brown the rice to water ration needs to be just below1:2 and somehow I put in 11 cups of stock for my 4 cups of rice. . .I took out as much about 3 cups and used that for the potatoes (which really improved that dish) but Being off in measurements my rice came out a bit more mushy than I usually like. . .I am a fan of firm rice and. . .when you are making fried rice, having your grain on the firm side of cooked is ideal.  This made it hard to get a 'fried' feeling for the rice but we will get to that.  Just a tea spoon of turmeric in the water and your rice will come out awesome colors!  I also used 1 bag of frozen peas, tossed in when the rice was turned to a simmer.  This adds some nice vegetable matter but more importantly fancy color.

Using brown rice the cook time is about 45 minutes on simmer, that is after it is brought to a boil.  keep it covered the whole time with a well fitted lid (or if you put too much water in let the last 10-15 minutes go un-covered).  Right when the rice is almost done use a bit of oil to saute up some onions and carrots. . . or if you forgot to save some carrots steal a bit of your friends carrot,beet,radish salad and saute that.  I only had a bout a 1/2 cup of veggies and ideally for that amount of rice I would have closer to 1.5 cups of veggies to stir fry in.

With the limited vegetables and the consistency of the rice I made a last minute decision! I tossed in about 1 cup of shredded coconut and 3 Tbs of coconut oil. This little trick transforms my yellow rice with a little bit of fried veggies in to COCONUT FRIED RICE! ta~dah! The coconut oil is a key part of getting the flavor to reallt stand out while the shredded coconut does a bit of texture and is really nice sprinkled on top to give away that it is coconut fried rice. 

Garlic Nann:

I rushed it. . . I didnt give the dough enough time to rise but what you see above is 4 cups of flour sifted with 1 tsp salt and 4 tsp baking soda on the right is 2 cups warm water with 1 Tbs sugar and 2tsp yeast ( I think another tsp of yeast would have been good but I already didnt have enough time).whisk in about half the sifted flour always stirring in a smooth clockwise direction.  Once the dough become just slightly stiff and smooth let it sit for 40 minutes (or in this case ten).  Toss in 5-500 cloves of grated garlic ( i used about 10) and add a few green onions for color effect (I didnt do it this time) and begin adding the four again.  stir at the edges making sure you rip through the nice strands of gluten as LITTLE as possible.  once the dough begins to ball you can knead it for 10 minutes on a dry floured surface.  Give it another 40 minutes to rise (or in this case 5 minutes) before cutting ti into little balls that your can easily roll out.  

Turn your griddle (or your cast iron over flame) up to high until the thing si hot then turn it slightly down to medium high and give each side 3-5 minutes.  once it is golden brown and puffy you are ready to east!

Even with the mishaps that were regular in this weeks meal everything came out great! If I didnt keep complaining about the rice people would have thought it was all on purpose! the flavors complimented each other better than I expected where the coconut rice was a nice change up from the garlic potatoes and garlic nann.  the salad (not discussed above) was the perfect color and taste to round out the meal (thanks Ashley) 

This was my Lunch yesterday

Mondays are a particularly yummy lunch day for me.  Fresh food comes in from a local farm (sometimes picked by me! ) and I have enough time to do something with it.  Above is this weeks lunch which I was particularly happy with.  On the left is a green saute which started with onions, green garlic, mustard seeds and carrots.  I originally planned on putting the asparagus in that but after adding the collards stems and some thinly sliced potatoes it took on a life of its own.  The collards went in last and the dish was seasoned with oregano salt pepper and a touch of brags.

The quiona with fresh sliced radish (center) I did a bit weird.  See I wanted to have plain quiona this morning for my quiona pancakes (coming soon) so i did not cook it in broth, just water.  After separation out about a cup of cooked quiona I tossed in Spike (my favorite powdered vegetable broth) some olive oil, garlic powder, pepper and paprika (for color contrast to all the green).  A couple quick stirs and onto the plate it goes with the radish and a sprinkling of nutritional yeast.

The asparagus . . .lemon pepper in coconut oil. I brazed it in a hot cast iron with a bit of onion and garlic after it browned and was tender (though young fresh asparagus can be eaten raw and is already tender) I turned off the fire and added a teaspoon of coconut oil and a squeeze of half a lemon (probably only 2 tsp of juice) and let it simmer in the cooling pan.

A very happy lunch I had :)

Biscuits n' Gravy

After doing a bit of traveling I got a hankering for some good ole fashion american food. . . Classic Biscuits and Gravy with a vegan twist.  We will be turning this mass of vegetables

into this meal.  Looking around the plate we see: BBQ Tempeh Sweet potato mash, green salad, spicy home fires and the focus of the meal Biscuits and Mushroom Gravy.

Mushroom  Gravy:

I like to use slice mushrooms rather than diced, I think it adds a nice texture.  The garlic and onions are going to provide a flavorful body to back up the mushroom highlights.

The onions are sauteed in oil, a lot of oil (nearly a cup of oil) for 5 to 10 min before the mushrooms join them.  I used as much coconut oil as I had around and used some canola to round it out.  I like to use coconut oil because the saturated fattiness and hint of flavor puts a lot of creaminess and delicious!  

I usually cheat when I am making gravy and just whisk some flour into the mess being sauteed but making enough gravy for ten people I went ahead and made a rue.  Rue is a fancy word for thick vegetable stock and I used about 5 cups of stock with 1-2 cups white flour with a  splash of soy sauce and vegan Worcestershire sauce to re-enforce that earthy savory taste and darken the rue to a nice golden brown color.  I also added a Tbs of butter (but not too much because the mushrooms and garlic already have enough oil)

Add the rude and let the whole thing simmer.  Check the flavor and add salt and pepper until it gets just the way you like.  If you are feeling extra fancy you can add in some truffle oil while it simmers to a thick and tasty gravy. . . personally I like drizzling the truffle oil over the top so it stands out as a distinct but complimentary flavor.  I did toss in some cursed red pepper flakes for a hint of color, not enough to make it spicy just enough to make it mesmerizing to look at. 

Buttermilk Biscuits:

Yeah I am sure you are going to scoff at the idea of 'buttermilk' and you have every right to but there is a vegan approximation.  I use soy milk (the protein and fat content are high and usually has a good amount of emulsifier which helps); one cup of soy milk whisked with a teaspoon of white vinegar.  The acid interacts with the protein and fat to thicken the soy milk until it is creamy and frothy. 

 For this recipe make sure the soy milk is chilled and goes back into the fridge after whisking. The key to making delicious flaky biscuits is keeping the fat chilled so the flour takes on a crumbly consistency.  That means between every step the ingredients should be in the fridge.  

Ingredients:

Dry

2 Cups White Flour

4 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp Baking soda

1 tsp salt

Fats

2 Tbs butter

2 Tbs shortening

Milk

1 C soy milk

1 tsp white wine vinegar 

The fun part of this recipe is that after sifting together the dry ingredients you get to mash in the fats by hand.  From fridge to mash should only take five minutes and the crumbly flour goes back into the fridge.  It is ok if there are some clumps but the goal is to have it all be flat and flaky but a few lumps are fine.  

Mix in the chilled buttermilk with a minimum of stirring until the ingredients are well combined, the dough should remain sticky.  Flour your hands and roll the dough into a ball, I tripled the recipe so I ended up with three balls (and could have been happy with quintuple these were so good).  Back into the fridge!  

You can roll the dough out but it is more fun to press it by hand to about 1" thick.  I made it too thin and the biscuits did not puff up as much as I wanted but man still delicious!  I used a cup to cut out rounds, recombining the trimming to make more rounds

bake at 450 for 15 min and yummmmmmmmmm!

Sides:

Five pounds of potatoes wedged and tossed with olive oil paprika salt pepper and garlic.  Bake at 450 for 45 to 60 minutes until golden brown and tasty, stir them around somewhere near the 30 min mark.  I like to let them sit for 15 min before serving, not only because they are too hot but also because the starches settle down and they go from being flaky to firm, and I like that more! 

Cut tempeh into strips and toss with your favorite BBQ sauce.  I was going to make my own but I ran out of liquid smoke.  I tried this new sauce based out of sonoma and was amazed to find that I liked it without alteration!  Most the time I add half a dozen spices to sauces before I actually enjoy them. . .this one was bang on and may hinder my doing BBQ sauce from scratch in the future. Bake at 450 for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 min or so 

unfortunately The store ran out of tempeh so I tried to make Seitan from vita wheat gluten and spices. Not goig into detail here because I didnt like the way it turned out but I will play with it more and get back to you once I figure out how to make seitan do what I want.  

Still I rolled it out after kneading and tossed it with the Barbecue sauce.  The flavor was right on but the texture was too rubbery, I am guessing I over mixed it, over kneaded or added too much water . . .more experimentation to be done. 

Sweet Potato mash was simple. . . cube 5 pounds of sweet potatoes and steam until soft.  Mash them with 1/2 Cup oil 1/4 Cup water, 1 tsp cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg.  Garlic, salt and pepper to taste.  Keep in mind here the oil and water may be off in measurement but the point is to add oil and water until you get the creaminess you want but dont go overboard.  You can always cut the fat by increasing the water in place of oil but really the oil is what makes these things turn to velvet. 

 And YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM