David and I are getting ready for a 2 week trip to Mexico in May 2008…in prep for that trip we are hunkering down and really getting into the culture, language and of course, the FOOD of Mexico!

I received Rick Bayless’ newest cookbook, called Mexican Everyday,for Xmas (Thanks Dawn!!!) and David and I have tried 3 recipes thus far from that book.
Simple and fabulous, easily converted to Vegetarian and not TOO many steps (like his last book.)

The following is a photo journal of what we made last night for our Friday Night Date Night Dinner (something new for us, as David usually gets too flustered at my hap-hazard cooking style,”It says 1 CUP!…YOU DIDN’T MEASURE THAT!”, he says…”Oh, I just EYED it…it looks good!”…) If you want the recipe let me know. IT’s actually pretty simple.

The Menu was:
*Creamy Corn Soup w/ Roasted Poblanos
*Spinach & Mushroom Enchiladas w/ Tomatillo Verde Sauce

We had this meal with a nice bottle of Argentinian wine.
It was a wonderful meal.

Creamy Corn Soup:

Roast Poblano Peppers in oven first, peel and leave in a bowl

Process corn, garlic, arrowroot powder (or corn starch) & soy milk until smooth.

Next strain corn mixture through a sieve… mine is way too small…it’s embarrassing…I need a larger one.

Super Creamy!

Next up…
Spinach & Mushroom Enchiladas w/ Tomatillo Verde Sauce

Place tomatillos, cilantro, serrano pepper, garlic & salt in a food processor.

Now cook for 20 minutes…reduce, reduce, reduce…

Add soy sour cream and let your sauce simmer.

A quick lesson in how to cut an onion…(I though everyone knew how to do this, but David didn’t and wanted me to let everyone else know…

Cut Onion in half (from root end to top end)

Cut off bottoms and tops then peel off outer skin.

Slice, chop, dice, whatever…I had to slice.

Okay, back to our meal….

Next slice up the mushrooms.

Sauté onions and mushrooms and then add the spinach.

Heat the tortillas in the oven…I used corn tortillas.

Dunk the tortillas in the tomatillo sauce and coat well.

Place 3 tortillas on plate and top each with a bit of the sautee’d veggies. Fold over with seam side down.

Top with the sauce spinkle with some soy cheese. Add the chopped roasted poblanos to the soup and plate it up.

Then….Dinner was served!…estaba muy delicioso!

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CAN YOUR CAN OPENER OPEN YOUR CAN?

So, I was having an issue with my can opener the other day. It was grinding along, not cutting the can as smoothly as it had when I had first purchased it. My hand was going into spasms from trying to crank the handle so hard…

Now, I cook in a lot of homes and deal with a lot of can openers , from cheap dollar store types to super high tech-cut on their own- fancy ones…

I have found that 2 things cause can openers to fail, and when these two things combine they make for a very inefficient tool…that is MOISTURE and TIME.

On a can opener there are metal parts that get wet every time you use it. That being said, think about what actually happens when you get that can opened…next thing you know you’ve thrown the opener in a drawer (or washed it off after splattering tomato sauce everywhere)…and there it sits, wet….and then whatever it was in that can that you just opened starts to dry and stick to those mechanical parts…this can cause rust, or at least cause dried on gunk to clog up the gears.

So, I was wrastlin’ (as my southern parents call “wrestling”) this can opener and a thought came into my head…WD-40. OK. now, I thought that maybe that would be a good idea because it would lube up the parts and make it work…but does anyone really know WHAT WD-40 is made from?….I was too busy to look it up, so I went for the next best thing…Olive Oil!…I used my oil spray bottle and gave the cogs a spritz or two and Viola!…a brand new lease on life for my pink KitchenAid can opener!

It’s now sitting in the drawer, ready to sink it’s little tooth into my next canned good….and the best part is that it’s been oiled naturally. Try it the next time you have an opener issue.

SMALL OVENS-LARGE CONTAINERS…what to do when you have to bake a bunch of stuff at the same time but your casserole dishes and baking sheets are too wide, too long and you have one too many things that need baking, roasting, etc…

Make your own 1/2 pans!
I came up with this solution at a clients house. Their oven was built in 1950 and was about 24″x24″…no lie!

So, I had 4 different sides I needed to bake and was standing there stumped when I thought, “man, I wish I had 4 small , square baking dishes.” Then I thought TIN FOIL!…I now use this technique even when there is enough room in other ovens…it’s also a great way to reheat 2 items at once in the oven…with NO clean up!…just recycle the foil.

First, tear off a sheet of foil that is LONGER than you need, at least by 2 inches on either end of your casserole or baking sheet.

Next, fold the foil in half, or if one item needs more room fold it off to one side. Basically, you want to make a new “side” inside your container.

Lastly, you then place the foil in or on your casserole, pan, or what have you and making sure that the foil is covering all sides of the container. Spray with some oil,include your food and cover with another piece of foil, and bake away.

VACUUM SEAL YOURSELF
Have you ever seen those commercials were some guys is screaming at the top of his lungs about “THIS GREAT NEW KITCHEN GADGET THAT EVERYONE NEEDS CALLED “SEAL-A-MEAL!” …?

Well, you don’t need to send off for that or any other OXY-MORON product he’s pushin…

Try this technique the next time you desire to get the air out of your head…head of lettuce that is!…or sweet rolls, which is what I needed to seal.

All you need is a ziplock bag (chose your size), a straw or even a pen tube, and your food.

Place the food in the baggie and tightly zip the zip part, but leave a bit unzipped at the end. Fit the straw into that small opening (it should just fit the straw).

Next, while holding the area around the straw so that no air can escape start sucking the air out of the bag. I take small “huffs”, putting my finger over the straw hole as I exhale then take another drag on the straw. Stop huffing when the bag is snug around all the food with each side of the bag pulled in tight to itself.

You can store stuff a long time by using this method as air is not your foods friend..or you can buy that machine from the yelling dude on TV and have more crap to clutter your life and kitchen…it’s your choice.

I’ll post up more ideas as I get time…hey, if you have any send them my way!

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Oh, the joys of Seitan. That wonder “meat” that is so good for you (of course unless you are Gluten Intolerant) that is packed with huge amounts of cholesterol free proteins and loads of iron.

So, the other day my mother in law and I attempted to make homemade Seitan…it was my third time, her first. My first attempt was in college and what I ended up creating made me discouraged and I never tried it again…until a few weeks ago.

I had told my vegan friend, Eleni about my previous failed Seitan experience. She told me that she had a great recipe and that she could give me a lesson. We spent a couple hours in her kitchen to create the Seitan and what came out was moist and firm, but with a bit of sponginess, basically perfect! I actually ended up using it by making shish-kabob ’s as an appetizer for our Kristmas Party…they were a huge hit! (Thanks Eleni!!!)

Now, when I made it with mom in law, it was a disaster….HARD RUBBER would not be a good enough description of the texture of our 4 balls of Seitan…it was almost like when you microwave a piece of bread for 10 minutes and the next thing you know you’ve created a hockey puck of dough…but more rubbery.

So, being the uber-frugal-food-science-nerd-girl I am I thought, “ya know, I bet I could save this Seitan somehow.”

Originally I had seasoned 2 of the balls with traditional sausage spices that I had added to the dry Vital Wheat Gluten. I am a HUGE sausage freak…whether it is pork, chicken or faux (my fave mainstay) I love the flavors of sausage, the spices and the saltiness, and thought how good it would be to be able to make a Seitan Sausage. Well, the flavor was amazing, but like I said, the texture could have pulled out someone’s dental work.

The other 2 balls were plain, but in a blind attempt to salvage them for our dinner I had sliced them into cutlets and then coated them in a Thai Sesame Butter Sauce* and then coated them in Nutritional Yeast Flakes seasoned with garlic and onion powders, then baked them until golden…all in the hopes that the sauce would add some moistness back into them, but no luck. My hubby and his mom and I ate a few pieces but they were so hard to chew that it made that nights dinner experience not so good. I stored the uneaten cutlets in some tupperware and started thinking about their future.

It’s 2 days later and I have decided to make something out of the rubber Seitan that is now taking up space in the fridge. My first thought was, “this stuff needs to be ground”. It makes sense in my mind, because tough cuts of meat are ground down and then made into patties and meatloaves and such, so why not this tough Seitan?…

So, into the Black & Decker food processor for some spinning time they went, but separately. I made two batches, the sausage one and the Thai Sesame one and I have to proudly say, that I have created “Veggie Crumbles”…but BETTER!

The sausage one would be great in a lasagna, tacos or chili and the Thai one actually came out a bit creamy, so I am thinking of adding it to some ground chickpeas and making some Thai inspired patties that I might bake in the oven or lightly fry in some oil in my cast iron skillet. Also, I will def be making some wonton dumplings or raviolis with that batch.

I measured out about a cup and a half of each mixture and sealed it in some freezer bags so that I can quickly defrost to use. I wonder what the freezing process will do to them?…I’ll have to let you know how it works out.

So, when in doubt about when to throw out…think outside of the trashcan and try to save your Seitan.

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