Dude.. Fruit smoothies.

So, I know it sounds silly, but... Man, these are really good smoothies. About a month or two ago I really hammered down what I believe to a a perfect 'smoothie for two'.

1 banana, frozen

1 cup (straw)berries, bought, ripened, and frozen (the same holds true with frozen berries as canned tomatoes. The weaker the berry, the sweeter the... uhm... shelf life? I think that was supposed to be a quote, in the beginning there, but it become more of its own saying. Hey, sorry about that.)

4 standard ice cubes

5 tbls frozen orange juice concentrate (So, furnace for true.... read labels. I found this stuff at Trader Joe's that is the first stuff I've boughten in years... make sure what you buy is only orange juice, condensed.

*Enough Soy or Rice (or... Almond, Coconut...etc (Man, has this list not gotten longer in the last 9 years?)) to reach the top of the pile

Blend. Imbibe. Be merry.

Herb-crusted tofu w/citrus beurre blanc

Mmm... mmm... I like this recipe. It's pretty simple, and is actually an adaptation from a recipe for white fish (halibut, sea bass, etc) that I learned from work.

You know, I'm not sure I've really given enough attention to tofu on a lot of these recipes. Probably the most frequent of questions I receive are.... WTF DO I DO WITH TOFU!? quote n' stuff.

The basic answer is... anything, but I will try to go more in-depth in more recipes. In this recipe (and any where tofu is used as the... main-focus, or "protein" or "faux meat", you want to use firm, or extra firm (or super firm!) tofu. Take it out of the package and press it between two plates, with a weight on top. Anything will do... heavy is good as long as it does not break the block. Oh, and keep an eye on it, because the tofu may begin to slope on one side, causing whatever you have on it to fall off... possibly break when it hits the floor :(

So, for this recipe, that is all it _really_ takes to prepare the tofu. Just press it for... hell, over night if you have the time; the longer you press it, the more dry (and ready to soak up flavor) it will become.

Now your tofu is ready. w00t!

So, the 'herb-crusted' part of the recipe is straight-forward. Get yerself some fresh herbs. Dry herbs will not do at all for this.

Basil

Sage

Oregano

Thyme

dry, ground ginger (well, dry won't work... except for this one! :))

I don't really measure, but I know I use more basil than anything else. Basically... nearly half of the end-result should be finally minced basil, and the other... 60% we'll say.. is a mix of the other fresh herbs - all minced. Toss is about... a tsp or 2 of the dry ginger and mix it all up.

Coat the tofu in olive oil and salt & pepper it thoroughly. Once done, pat one side of it with the herb mix and put in to a hot and oiled non-stick pan. Saute it for... I dunno... until it's done? :) About 5 mins or so, you just want to give it a golden color, and release some of the fragrance of herbs. This also helps "lock" the herbs on to the tofu.

Once sauteed, slide a spatulator under it and flip it on to a lightly greased oven pan and bake it at 300 degrees for about... 35 mins, or so. Another tip with tofu is that it is often best to cook it at a low tempt for a long time, versus meat or fish, where a high temp for a short time can yield the same affect.

So, that's your tofu. If you're patient, you can cook it at an even lower temp for longer, but I'm lazy and I usually read to distraction until I absolutely have to start dinner (which I actually need to start right now :P)

Part II:

Citrus Beurre Blanc.

So, a Beurre Blanc is basically a sauce made from white wine, or white vinegar (though that sounds nasty to me). Anyone familiar with my older post on making a picata sauce should find this recipe familiar and simple.

*a good tip is to make more than you need; this sauce can be frozen, or used in any-odd desire.

1 bottle of a decent white wine. You're cooking here, so... well, you can spend whatever you want. I use a decently priced box of chablis.

2 shallots

2 sprigs thyme

~12 black peppercorns.

add thsoe ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce by 3/4s.

Strain the shallts, thyme & pepcorns, then add:

4 cups veg. stock (or chicken if you... really want to.)

bring to a boil and reduce by half.

add... probably about 1 cup of fresh, cold butter (In the vegan-sense, I recommend Earth balance brand vegan butter spread. This is _not_ margarine, and it is more healthy than butter or margarine could ever hope to. There are other brands that have come out that make this also, but their names escape me. Basically it's an expeller-pressed canola oil, flavored to be butter, but nothing terrible was added. The same process goes in to vegan mayonnaise, which I... well, I'm kind of a junky.)

and add the juice of 2 lemons - or even a combination of lemon/orange/lime, as your tastebuds prefer.

Serve with a wild rice pilaf and some veggies, and you're ready to eat. Fuck yeah.

Oh - if you're curious, my recipe for rice pilaf is:

1 onion

2 stalks celery

1 med. carrot

(all small diced)

saute in oil with 2 bay leafs for like.. 5 minutes or so, until the onion are translucent, then add 4 dry cups of rice. mix the rice around for about... 1 minute in the oil, then toss in 8 cups of veggie broth. Cover, bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cook for like... 20 mins on a very low simmer.

This, of course, makes a lot of rice pilaf, but you can always use the extra for fried rice, for tofu & rice soup, for... whatever.

That's regular rice pilaf. You can also get some wild grains for a wild rice pilaf, but you want to cook them seperately from the pilaf and add them once the regular rice is nearly done. Basically 1 cup of wild grains cooked with 4 cups of veg. broth. Like rice, bring to a boil, then bring to a low simmer and cook un-covered until the broth is gone.

Vegan French Toast

Yeah, mos-def. Well, I'm not sure if that rapper/actor (or actor/rapper?) is a fan or not, but this is 'mos-def' the 'shiz-nat' of 'french toast'.... That last quotation probably was not needed, but... A homie has to keep it realz, right? Especially when a minority - like being vegan.

So, my vegan recipe actually is fairly close to most normal french toast recipes... the only thing you do differently is use flour & nutritional yeast in place of eggs; they help thicken the milk so that it stick to the bread. Oh, and the other big thing I've realized is that a very dense bread is best. I use a non-gluten, spelt bread (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelt) -- (Some day I'll learn to link more kewl-ly and do that all proper-like, but.. it still serves a purpose, at this point.) A lot of health-food stores offer it in frozen-form.

So, to make vegan french toast, just take a bowl, or square-shaped tupperware (I dunno, I just use this 'cuz it's square and serves my purpose - I used to use a 9" pie plate, but it was too large and wasted ingredz) and do this:

(oh, again... I don't measure, so I'm just trying to approximate)

2 tbl cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

3 tbl flour

2 tbl nuitritional yeast

3 tbl sugar

mix up the dry ingredients, then add the wet:

about 1 cup soy milk

2 tsp vanilla

get yerself a whisk and... well, whisk it up. Make sure the flour gets beyond the 'chunkiness' that it so enjoys.

Dip the bread (Maybe longer than is usual for a "traditional" french toast) and fry up in some soy butter - Like earth balance-brand (super tasty)!

Chili non Carne (aka, fuck meat)

Mmmm... You know what? Me likey chili. I've been working at a private club now, for a while, as a jr. chef., and the sous chef there was raised in the south. Definately has some talent when it comes to things like chili and gumbo (oooh, look out for my gumbo post, some day, heh). So, basically I took his ideas, added what I have learned essential for vegan flavors.... and made meself some chileh. I mean chili. Whatever.

So, the basis of any chili is definately the chili powder. Which means.... don't buy one. "You can't buy flavor" as my sous chef says. I don't really like the guy, but I _do_ respect his cooking, soo... yeah. You can't. You can, however, buy ingredients, and make a chili powder that suits your tastes. My chili powder goes as follows:

5x small dried chipotle peppers

1x large dried paprika pepper

2x med. ... ... ... something pepper (any dried peppers can do, just find stuff you like. I don't even remember what these are, since I bought them like.... atleast 2 years ago and tore the label off.

3ish tbl cumin seeds (get wh. seeds, no powder)

2 tbl ground coriander

2 tbl oregano

2 tbl marjoram

1 tsp cinnamon

(opt) 1 tsp cocoa powder

~12 various peppercorn, whole

The idea of a chili powder, or any southwest/south american dry rub, is to just... think about what they like down there. Hence my additions of cinnamon and cocoa powder. Of course, as always, I am not entirely measuring my seasonings. Just kinda dump 'em in there. Learn what you like, make it up as you go - this is just a guide.

When making the chili powder, the important part is to 'toast' the chilies, as well as the cumin seed. To do so, heat up a small saute pan, I have one of those 8" egg pans - I mean vegan non-egg pans! - that I use. Heat it over a medium-high heat; let it go for atleast 15 - 20 mins, so it reaches a radiating heat. Keep it dry (no oil) and add the dry chilies. Stick around for this (no walking away!) and keep rotating the chilies (easiest done by hand, but I have a lot of burns to testify against doing it... so.... whatever way you can manage). Basically you are looking to get a really good black color on each side of the peppers. !!before it reaches this point, add the cumin seeds (*not cumin powder) about 3/4's of the way through toasting the peppers.

Once everything becomes airomatic remove them all from heat. Put them all on to a plate, or bowl, to cool them down, or just be a man and keep them in a pan as you remove the stems. Whatever. Whatever it is you do, just remove the stems from the dried chilies and put them in to a beat-grinder (one of those basic, cheap coffee grinders?) along with all of the other ingredients, including the (now) toasted cumins seeds. Blend up 'til you have a tasty-ass chili powder. Mofo.

Okay, so... that was step one - did I mention that this was a time-consuming recipe? Well... it is. That was just step one, right? Beyond that, you have some veggies to cut up:

3x onion

3x Anaheim peppers (fresh)

2x Sweet green Bell Pepper

4x Jalapeno pepper w/seeds

2x Carrots

4x celery stalk

3x "fist" garlic - yes, I'm srsl. The whole fist, or bulb.

Take the onions, peppers, celery, and carrots and small dice them (1/4 inch x 1/4 inch cut)

peel and mince the garlic - time consuming, I know.

At this point (actually, before you mince the garlic, since you have the time while you do so) you want to heat a really big pot under a medium heat. Go ahead and do some songs and dance and minces while letting it heat, as it does take a while. Give it atleast 30 mins to reach full heat. Once everything is cut up, add about 1 cup of olive oil (which will probably start smoking, meaning that it has reached a too-hot point - so toss the garlic in immediately!) - and add the minced garlic. Keep the garlic stir-frying over a medium heat until the majority of it begins to brown and emits that oh-so-great toasted garlic smell. mmm.... Over that heat, it is usually around 5 - 10 mins, it can vary depending on your stirring skillz and the heat of your stove. Just don't let it brown too much.

Once the garlic is a goldish-brown color, add your other veggies. Stir them up and add about... maybe 1/2 cup of chili powder - should be about 3/4s of what you made. Stir it all up so the olive oil & the chili powder coats all of the veggies. Keep them sauteing over a medium heat. It takes a bit, but let them cook until the onions turn translucent... probably 15 mins or 20 mins. If you have a good lager beer (PBR or MGD, etc) add one now. If so, cook it down for a couple of minutes. Now add your beans:

about 2 cups black beans

abouts 2 cups chili beans

When it comes to beans, make sure you soak them over night. They should... roughly(?) double in size. the measurements provided are for after soaking.

So, add the beans, then add about a tbl of salt & enough water to cover them by about.... 4 inches or so? I don't measure so well. Just do it around that and let it cook until the beans can be easily eaten. At this point you have a tasty bean soup. Some people tell you that you can have a non-tomato based chili, but... well... I don't agree. I always prefer a chili that has a good tomato base - if you agree, read on.

once the beans are cooked, you shouldn't have too much bean broth left over; maybe about 1 inch left, over the beans & veggies. Add:

2x 28oz can of whole tomatoes, blended to a sauce

So, you could just take the easy way, and add (does some quick math) 56oz of tomato sauce. Honestly, I don't think it's the same. I was adviced by a chef, once, that canning companies put their least-worthy tomatoes in to the 'sauce' pot for the tomato sauce. She added that it was best to buy cans of whole tomatoes and blend them yourself - hence my recommendation here.

Anyways, blend them up and add them to the bean-broth chili you have going. Let that cook down for a while, and in the mean-time, do this:

take 5x on-the-vine tomatoes (or any med. tomatoes)

2x yellow onion

slice in to 1/2 inch circles. Pretty thick disks from both tomatoes and onions. You should have some chili powder left over from that recipe I mentioned (about 1/4 of it left). Heat up a really large saute pan (I have around a 15" saute - very large) to about a med-high to high heat and add a little bit of olive oil, once it's hot. Before the oil smokes too much, sprinkle half the chili powder on the tomato slices, and half on the onion slices. Place them, seasoning-side-down, in the oiled pan, and let sear for... quite a while. Really, quite a while. You want the seasonings, and the tomato/onion to blacken under the heat. As I quoted earlier, 'You can't buy flavor". It will probably take 2 or 3 or 4 batches to "blacken" all of the tomatoes & onion slices, but it is worth it. Just do it early while you allow everything else to cook; then refridgerate. Once cool enough to handle, cut in to a large dice (1/2 inch cuts or so) and toss in to the chili pot, after adding the tomato sauce.

Give the tomato sauced chili atleast 2 hours to cook down over a medium heat (with or without the seared tomato/onion) until it doesn't have an acidic taste. It's basically done at this point; with preference, you can add some roasted corn, or tempeh, or even take some delicious Garden Burger brand Chipotle Black Bean Burgers (A shame I don't get free stuff for this :( ) in to your servings, and enjoy. I generally serve mine over rice for the added startch.

Tofu Picata w/gremolata crust

So, two parts to this recipe:

Picata Sauce:

I make this big, since the sauce can be used for a lot of things (like a creamy artichoke soup w/tofu (or chicken))

1 bottle of white wine

2 shallots, sliced in chunks

3 or 4 sprigs of thyme

10 or 12 peppercorns

8 or 10 garlic cloves

Cook down the wine until reduced by 3/4s

strain and add 4 cups of veg (or chicken) broth

add:

1 (15oz) can of artichoke hearts

and... 3 or 4 tbls of capers

****Trust me, I hate capers, but this is a really great sauce

Thicken sauce with a few tbls roux (roux: melt butter over low heat, add equal part flour and cook for 5 minutes, can be refridgerated for... a long time.)

after thickening, you can either refridg. for later use, or use immediately.

Before using, add about... I dunno, a lot of butter. Just don't add the butter until you're about to use it.

Part II:

Gremolata Crust:

Bread crumbs

thyme leaves

garlic, minced

S&P

This crust is great for either chicken or tofu (most classical recipes call for chicken, obviously)

Just make some breadcrumbs up (I always keep the heels of loafs in the freezer) and add the other ingredients to taste; I use about... 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs, 6 cloves garlic, 3 or 4 tbls thyme and just a bit of S&P (I try to avoid a lot of salt)

Coat your tofu (or chicken *bleh*) with olive oil, then pat on a generous portion of the crust. Bake and serve

Vegan Mac 'n' Cheezish

6 gloves garlic, minced

1/4 red onion, very small dice, or mince

1 or 2 heads broccoli (teh r00l), cut in very small florets

~1/3 cup butter

~1/3 cup flour

1 cup Nutritional Yeast

Soy milk 'til correct consistency (see below)

Dry herbs:

~10 black peppercorns

1 tbl dry mustard

1 tbl garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp dry thyme

1 tsp dry marjoram

~1 tbl salt

Saute the onion, garlic & broccoli in the butter with the dry herbs. Add the flour once the onion softens (about 8 minutes on a medium heat) and stir for a bit (about another 5 minutes). Slowly add the soy milk, about a 1/4 cup at a time (stir and allow a minute between) and add the nutitritional yeast after the first soy milk 1/4 cup. Add the soy milk batches until it reaches the consistency you desire. Mix with pasta and enjoy!

Teriyaki Sauce

Teriyaki is a pretty basic concoction. Simply put, use these ingredients in a general sense:

Soy Sauce

Brown Sugar

Water

Garlic

Ginger

(optional: Onion, Celery, Apple)

Basically just add about... I don't know, a cup or so of soy sauce to a pan and add 4 cups water. Throw in about... six cloves of garlic and a "thumb" or two of ginger, peeled and cut in to chunks. The sugar should about equal the soy sauce, and if you want to add onion, celery, and apple, just sort of toss them in - about the same amount as the garlic or ginger. Play with it and see what you think.

Add all the ingredients in a pan and reduce it until you can coat the back of a spoon and write a W (For Wendell, of course) and not have the sauce run. Strain and use.

Tofu and Veg Soup. Aka: Dippy Wraps.

So, it's funny - Hannah's not a fan of soup. The fuck, eh? I make soup only to strain it in to this supper tasty dinner, but... well (as you will see) I'm a big fan of left-overs. I try to make a lot of food most nights in case people come over.... You know, all two or so of my friends.

So, Tofu and Rice Soup:

The most important part of any soup, really, is the dry-rub. Personally, I use a coffee grinder and add all the ingredients, mostly so you don't get those dry sprigs of thyme in your teeth. And for the fresh-ground b. peppercorn taste. Nearly all my recipes for dry-rubs use thyme, but I hate to get stabbed in the gums by it.

Dry Rub (I just wing this, and recommend the same to you. I've had chefs tell me only what goes in recipes, instead of how much of each, just so I'd get more familiar with my own tastebuds):

~15 black peppercorns

~2 tbls dehydrated onion

~2tbls garlic powder

~3tbls sage

~3tbls thyme

~2tbls margoram

~2tbls coriander

Honestly, I don't measure; I tap each jar a few times on the grinder - sometimes I even add Lavender.

So, the chunkiness of the soup comes from the veggies:

I would just tell you to have fun with this part. Whatever sounds good. Personally, in Seattle, I've got my choice of farmer's markets and they have "dollar bags" of produce that they need to move that day. I usually base my recipes on those, as they are the best deals and give me a fun time.

Tonight I'm using:

(oh, and everything is small diced - about 1/4 inch x 1/4 inch)

6 brussel sprouts

2 crowns broccoli

2 onion

3 carrots

4 stalks celery

2 smallish zucchini

1 med. summer squash

8 or 10 green beans

lots of garlic - probably a fist or two, as I really like it.

salt & pepper to taste

*in seattle I've found a great *(GREAT)* veg. bouillion that's all-natural and really adds that bottom flavor to what I'm making. Usually I'll add about 6 cups of water and 3 bouillion cubes to this recipe.

So, I get the advantage of getting home around 2:30pm each day, so basically I chop up this shizz, set about a (dry) cup of rice (basmati) cooking (with 2 cups water) on low-heat and walk away after I'm done prepping. Oh, and the dry-rub, of course. Any recipe is best done, completely, in advance. Hannah usually gets home around 6pm, so that my intended finish time.

So, if you're like me, and the peoples you're cooking for don't want soup (only dippy wraps) then you can go ahead and make this any time.

Saute the tofu ahead of time (or chicken, beef, pork, lamb, whatever the f you want)

Go ahead and saute the veggies for a bit with the dry-rub. A lot of people say to not saute a dry-rub, but I find that it adds more flavor to the broth. Sometimes I'll even dump in the second-half of a beer I'm drinking (or wine) when the veggies are nearly done. If you do, let the alcohol cook down a bit, then add the tofu (or meat) and maybe a splash of balsamic vineger, if you want. If you do this, toss in some boiullion cubes (if you're using them) and let the alcohol cook down about half-way, stirring and stuff.

*if you're not using boiullion cubes, or some sort of canned veg. stock (You want to shoot for about 6 cups of stock total) then you want to make sure you have a decent amount of salt, just for a base-flavor. You don't want to ever go "ack, that's got salt in it." Just.... not also think that it is tasteless. It can work between.

Cook for a bit and serve. Any left-overs can be strained, wrapped in tortillas and dipped in the thickened broth.

Honestly, this is the most easy recipe, and the most forgiving. Oh, and tasty!