Food Network Friday - Jamie Oliver

Hello my little blogatrons. I am so sorry I have been remiss in my blogging duties. We've had surgery recoveries, dog adoptions, and graveyard shifts to attend to. We also had a freaking awesome vegan bake sale in between, which I must blog about next. It was epic!

This week's FNF challenge was a remake of this Jamie Oliver recipe. I found it very curious that Mr. Oliver works so hard to bring healthy cuisine to school lunches but feels it is just dandy to use pork, bacon and it's grease in this recipe. Not exactly going to give him a glowing report card on healthy cuisine here. In his defense, he does also incorporate red peppers and chard which both pack a great nutritional punch. Check out Vegan Appetite website to see the other interpretations.

When I go about my conversions, I do my best to try and stay true to the original recipe as best I can. For this conversion I had to do a little math as it is written in metric measurements. He also makes use of the term a small handful which can be a bit subjective. Sometime I have to let go of my inner Virgo and just run with it.


For the chops I did a variation of a seitan tester from Isa Moscowitz's upcoming Appetite for Reduction cook book. You could really use any simmered seitan recipe that tickles your fancy. This one is nice because it is wetter than some others. It lent itself very well to being stuffed. For the "bacon" I used another tester from Julie Hasson's upcoming Vegan Diner; Smoky Curls. Yummy for the tummy. I had a hard time not eating them all before I finished the dish. I honestly think you could make a meal out of the beans alone (2 servings) if you didn't have the time or the inkling to make the chops, but they are truly special. If you have the time you should make them.

Here we go...

Moorish Seitan Chops
4 servings

For the filling
1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
a few dashes of fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sherry
1/4 teaspoon olive oil
2-3 teaspoons raisins (if raisins are dry, rehydrate in hot water for 5-10 minutes and drain)


1 recipe simmered seitan (1 lb)

Sauce:
1 tablespoon Earth Balance
1 tablespoon All Purpose Flour
1 cup Beefy vegetable broth
1 small sprig rosemary

Beans:

1/2 cup Smoky Curls or vegan bacon, plus a little extra set aside for garnish

1 Tablespoon Earth Balance
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and diced into 1/2 inch chunks
1 large red onion, diced small
1 15 oz. can butter beans (or other white bean)
1/2 cup beefy vegetable broth

2 bay leaves
1 sprig rosemary, leaved removed and coarsely chopped

1/2 lb baby chard or regular chard leaved coarsely chopped
As a little side note I got the chard, oregano, and rosemary out of our garden!!!!!

Using a mortar and pestal grind fresh oregano, salt and pepper. Add raisins, sherry and oil and grind until paste is formed.  Divide into 4 equal portions. Mix seitan recipe together. Divide into 4 pieces. Flatten into 5 inch rounds. Spread filling over half, leaving 1/2 inch border. Fold other half over and seal edges. Simmer as directed. Let seitan chill for several hours or overnight.

Once seitan is chilled start the beans. In medium sized saute pan or iron skillet heat Earth balance and olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and pepper. Saute 5-10 minutes until onions are translucent and pepper are just starting to soften. Add curls or bacon. saute for 2 more minutes. Add butter beans, vegetable broth, bay leaves and rosemary. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add chard and simmer for 2-3 minutes until it is wilted.

While beans are simmering. Make sauce and cutlets.

For Sauce:

Melt EB. Add flour and cook for 5 minutes on low heat to make roux. Slowly pour broth in whisking constantly until roux is incorporated. Add sprig of rosemary. Let simmer on low until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.

For cutlets:

My preferred method is to use a large iron skillet on the grill. I find the grill give a beautiful even heat and sears the cutlet perfectly. Heat the grill on the highest setting. When grill is very hot put very well oiled iron skillet directly over the flame. Give it about 5 minutes to get very hot. Add cutlets and sear for about 5 minutes on one side. Make sure to spray uncooked side generously with spray canola before flipping. Sear other side for about 3 minutes. Turn grill to the lowest setting and let cook for about 5-8 more minutes being careful not to burn. As an alternate method this can be done on the stove top with an iron skillet or griddle pan.

Keep cutlets warm while you finish the other items.

To assemble:

In a shallow bowl or high sided plate dish out 1/4 recipe of beans to make a bed for the "chop". Place seared chop on top. Drizzle with 1- 2 tablespoons of the sauce. Garnish with sprig of fresh oregano and crispy vegan bacon bits.

Inside shot

Vegan MOFO - Day 9 - Durty Rice Cakes

I'm doing tomorrow's post a little early. I am going to be on the road and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get online. I also didn't want to forget how I made these. The flavor is really good. I still want to tweak the cooking method a bit to get the perfect texture, but they are pretty good as written. Give them a try and let me know how they came out.

I made these to go with the stuffed okra. They still need a little tweaking to make them perfect, but they were damned tasty.

Durty Rice Cakes

Makes 10 cakes

1 cup uncooked short grain brown rice
2 cups filtered water
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 green pepper, diced fine
1/2 medium onion, diced fine
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons catsup
2 teaspoons Tony C's Creole seasoning
6 oz seitan bacon
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1 Tablespoon ground flax seed
1 Tablespoon unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unseasoned breadcrumbs

Place brown rice in small saucepan with water. Bring water to a boil and cook rice 45-50 minutes until all liquid is absorbed. Let rice cool completely.

In medium sized iron skillet or saute pan, saute pepper, onion, an garlic until softened. Add catsup, creole seasoning and saute for about 3 more minutes. Add seitan bacon and black beans. cook until most of the liquid is gone. Take half of the mixture and puree in food processor. Add back to saute pan. Saute for 3 more minutes. Turn off heat.

Mix flax meal and soy milk together in small bowl. Let sit for a few minutes until flax seeds start to thicken. In a large bowl mix black bean mixture, cooled rice, bread crumbs, and flax mixture (flax egg). Stir until completely combined.

Form into 3-4 inch patties about 1/4 inch thick. Put on baking sheet lined with parchment. Let patties chill for at least an hour or they may fall apart when you cook them. Before cooking, coat both sides with bread crumbs.

Here is where they need a little tweaking. I baked them in the oven for about 15 minutes per side. They were still not quite the texture I wanted them. After baking, I sauteed them in a small amount of oil, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. I haven't tried just sauteeing them yet. They are delicate, so make sure to use caution when flipping. Cook for about 4 minutes per side. Gently remove from pan and drain on paper towels or paper bag.