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 Recipes Thread September 01, 2007 1:48 PM

Someone on the board thought it might be a good idea to start putting up our favorite recipes, I think that is a great idea since most Anarchists recognize the need to know the where and how of our food production.

So let's start it out...

I am a sucker for anything between two slices of bread, so naturally, one of my favorite food is the classic sandwich. Since becoming a vegetarian I have had to rework many culinary techniques and alter preexisting sandwich biases; like, "a sandwich must have meat!"

To hell with that, heres a recipe for a great vegetarian sandwich, the staple of which is baby bella mushrooms and avacado with some spicy sauces and sweet tomatoes.


Ingredients:
  • Tasty Bread (generally we go for a good Italian loaf, like Ciabtta or something similar)
  • Mayonnaise
  • Mustard
  • Chipotle Sauce
  • Lettuce (we prefer Butter lettuce or Spinach over Romaine)
  • Small Tomatoes (grape, cherry, etc.)
  • Avacado
  • Baby Bella Mushrooms (available at any grocery store)
  • Pepper Jack Cheese
  • Garlic

Directions:
  1. Slice all your veggies; your mushrooms, tomatoes, avacado, and finally your cheese.
  2. In a medium to large size pan, add a half cup of olive oil and turn to medium heat. When oil is hot add diced mushrooms.
  3. Turn mushrooms in pan for about 10 minutes or until fully cooked, they should not be slimy or crispy, at the end of cooking the mushrooms flash fry two or three cloves of diced garlic in the pan to give the mushrooms more flavor. It is also optional to add a couple table spoon of balsamic vinegar to the mushrooms while in the pan. This can help to decrease the slime if you used too much oil.
  4. Portion out as much mayo as you would like on the sandwich and add a few drops of the Chipotle sauce and stir together. Careful, if you have never cooked with Chipotle before, it is very, very hot. Do this to taste.
  5. Apply spicy mayo, mustard, and pepper jack cheese to bread loaf and bake until the bread is toasty.
  6. When bread is warm and cheese is melted, add mushrooms to the top and place over that the slices of avacado.
  7. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the avacado and add your tomatoes (small tomatoes for sweet flavor to offset the spicy!) and your lettuce.
  8. Once it's all stacked sit back and devour!
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Sounds very tasty September 01, 2007 1:59 PM

I'm reminded of a recipe found in the zine _Food Geek_ that I haven't gotten around to trying yet, but sounds like a good idea -- "Veggie Spam" (although I doubt it tastes much like actual Spam, which i'd consider a good thing, thinking back to my pre-veggie days!)  Basically, you marinate slices of firm tofu for a while (which allows for a wide range of variations to suit your taste), pan-frying the slices for a bit, and then either using them warm, or using them later like "cold cuts".  Perhaps I'll dig up that recipe & transcribe it here.  Otherwise, it's a pretty simple idea that you could probably figure out for yourselves, though it may be good to not have to guess at the proportions, times, etc. ...  [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
 September 01, 2007 4:42 PM

I am a component cooker (not competent, but component). This means that I get veggies when they are available seasonally, preferably locally, and cook them to be combined later as components of, say, pasta sauce.

The benefit of this strategy is that you can bring the components to dinner parties, and you can combine them with fear of offending anyone. I have found that some people think bell peppers are a gift from hell, or that garlic is poison. I love both, but I love to please.

On the topic if garlic, I buy at $2/lb (and sell at.. just kidding).

I cut the ends off, and put them in the microwave for couple of seconds. This steams them in their paper skins; they pop out of their skins when you squeeze them, saving much trouble.

Then I get the garlic oil going really hot, and add fresh basil and the garlic and fry them really hot just long enough for the sugar in the garlic to caramelize, but too long as burnt garlic sucks.

Then I put the mixture, oil and all, into a jam jar, and put that into the microwave for 10 minutes at power level 3. While the microwave is exterminating the germs, I carefully sterilize with the lid with diluted clorox. When the microwave dings, I slip the lid over the jar and remove the jar with a hot mitt.

Then I shake the jar to allow heat to push out the air in the jar by opening the lid a little -- you will hear the pffft.

The vacuum created by the cooling air will amaze you. Right now I have a jar of pesto that has kept for four years (basically the same ingredients) -- I ate the other three.

The same applies to all other veggies, most of which need to be blanched before canning or freezing. It is important to get all veggies up to 212 degs F by boiling before doing the microwaving in jars to assure the germs are done for.

I try do reuse the blanching water, as that produces wicked good broth. Sometimes I put good vodka in the broth when it cools.

Eggplants need separate treatment, and their blanching water/broth is an acquired taste. After boiling, I fry them as hot as possible to give them a grilled flavor, and I boil celery in the eggplant blanching broth to add some "fiest" to the otherwise boring celery.

Carrot slices get burned on both sides by me, to caramelize the sugars. Carrots are great for combating sourness in canned tomatoes, and are also great to combat hotness in hot pepper recipies, such as salsa.

ahhh... you get the picture, mix and match -- and party hearty


This post was modified from its original form on 01 Sep, 16:44  [ send green star]  [ accepted]
 
 September 02, 2007 2:08 PM

John - sounds wonderful!

When I blanch veggies, I always save the water/broth.  What I can't use right away, I freeze in ice cube trays then transfer to a storage container in my freezer.  I use it in stews, soups, etc. all winter long and it adds wonderful flavor & much needed nutrition to foods - a taste of summer in the midst of winter!

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 September 02, 2007 2:14 PM

I also like to "can" my own fruit cocktail, using the fruits that are plentiful during the summer.  It can be tricky, because different fruits have different processing methods.  I avoid oranges and pineapple for this reason.

I have successfully used pears, peaches, grapes, strawberries, melon of all kinds, berries and bananas.  And I choose a "syrup" as low in sugar as possible.

Another great way to get a taste of summer in the winter months - and so much better tasting and better nutritionally than store bought fruit cocktail!

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 September 02, 2007 3:11 PM

It's open veggie season right now !!  Around here the apples are sour and the grapes are even more sour.

I like to mix the wild grapes with tame and uninterestng welches grape jelly.  I make apple sauce from the wild apples, and mix them down w/ the tame store-bought product.

Bannanas are a challenge.  I might find a box or two sitting outside a supermarket here in NYC.  They are very hard to process and I have not yet succeeded

But I think this might work: cooking them and then grinding them through one of those old-school food mills.  The result will be baby food, if you like that kind of thing.  Being I see surplus bannanas so often I would love to work something out to keep them.

The reason I don't usually freeze things, is that I am not always at home (in my cabin) and when Ieave I shut the electricity.




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