Four Delectable Wheat Meat Dishes

Gluten has strongly polarized the current generation of food-loving folks. Depending on who we talk to, either gluten is the root cause of all evil and ailment, to be censured and possibly banned from diets; or, gluten is quite an essential part of a nutritionally-balanced meal that includes optimal whole grains which provide a rich array of vitamins and minerals.

Celiac disease is very real. Research connecting diabetes and gluten is well published. And, many seem to have high sensitivity to gluten in their diet, even if not diagnosed with Celiac disease.

Over the past few years, after staying gluten-free months at a time, switching to quinoa, millet, amaranth, brown rice for weeks a stretch, it seems to make no significant difference to the folks at home. So, I've made peace with gluten for now, promising to revisit the issue in a year or so. 

I am not a nutritionist, but, I do believe in consuming as much natural, primarily-vegetarian foods as possible with minimal processing -- leaning towards fresher,  homemade options than conveniently packaged heavily processed foods. As to going grain-free? I am still researching and experimenting.

Anyway, all that is to segue into these 4 vegetarian recipes for using homemade wheat meat. 

Every once in a while, I make a batch of  wheat meat with variations in flavor and cooking methods just to see if this is still tolerated by our digestive systems. Since it stores well in the fridge and freezer, I can use a little at a time incorporating it in a variety of dishes.


I. Wheat Meat Bulgogi with pickled ginger

Nothing much to it. Instead of beef, which we don't eat, simply slice the wheat meat and toss with other ingredients like, pickled ginger strips, pickled carrots and beets, julienned summer squash and cucumbers, thinly sliced onions soaked in vinegar,



II. Wheat Meat Crumble Burritos

Cut up the wheat meat chunks into smaller pieces and run it in a food processor to make a coarse crumble. Saute some onions, bell peppers, tomatoes along with the crumble, add some Taco seasoning and there you have it.

III. Wheat Meat Fajitas

Similar principle as above, but just thinly cut them to strips along with peppers and onions.

Homemade corn tortillas fresh off the griddle makes this interesting.

IV. Wheat Meat Meatballs

Since wheat meat is already cooked and ready to go, simply crumble it in a blender, then add egg and wet slice of bread for binding. Either bake or pan cook till it has a crusty outside and firm enough that it can hold its shape well in the sauce.

Other wheat meat dishes shared earlier:

Wheat Meat Pot Roast

Wheat Meat Philly Cheesesteak

Cassava Stuffed Tamales and Dolmas

I must admit, cassava is not a favorite at home, so, I don't go looking for it at the market and I don't  cook it often. Every once in a while (perhaps once a year), when it seems available at a reasonable price, I do give it a try to see if our tastes have changed. No such luck this year, we still seem to not be able to accept it without reservations.

Anyway, to keep things interesting, some of the cassava got incorporated into a rather unconventional filling for tamales and dolmas.

A bag of corn husks were handy in the pantry. The fresh green grape leaves were hanging off their vines in the backyard. A bag of coconut flour was waiting to be used up. And the cassava made a plea to be accepted with open arms.

Mushed cooked cassava, plus a few tablespoons of coconut flour just enough to make a cohesive filling is all there is to the stuffing. Some herbs and flavoring as the mood calls for, of course. I went with some annatto/achiote seasoning. Some chopped up broccoli, onions, and peppers for extra texture.

Simply wrap up the filling and steam for about 30 minutes. Lightly saute the dolma before serving, if preferred.

Cassava Fries

These pan-fried cassava sticks are easy to make. With some dipping sauces, they are a fun alternative to potato fries. Since cassava is quite a bit more expensive than potatoes and hard to find sometimes, I don't make this often. Every once in a while (more like once a year or so), I pick up one large piece from the market and make it a special occasion to incorporate it into dinners. It is not yet a favorite with any of us at home, but why should that stop me from cooking it, right? Be open to trying new things is the mantra at home.

Simply, peel and cut into sticks. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet, add these cut cassava in a single layer, allow to crisp on one side. Then flip and crisp on other sides as preferred. Splash water as needed and cover and allow to steam-cook till tender enough to your liking. Season with salt and chili powder.

Mole Sauce

Mole (mo-lay) is a spicy, rich, dark-ish chocolate sauce that I got introduced to only a few years ago.

Mole, apparently, is derived from the Aztec word Molli, which means sauce or stew. Oaxaca (we-hä-ka), in southeastern Mexico, is where this sauce is supposed to have originated. Apparently seven distinguishable varieties of Moles are prepared in Oaxaca to this day.

The sauce has a blend of dry chilies, onion, garlic and some toasted pumpkin seeds or sesame seeds.

But, the special ingredient that makes the sauce is cocoa powder.



And Cocoa is the ingredient I would like to write about in this post for Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen. (Kalyn hosts only on the first Sunday of the month... Anh at Food Lover's Journey is hosting it next week Apr 2nd through Apr 8th)

Cocoa is the dried and partially fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. "Cocoa" can often also refer to cocoa powder, the dry powder made by grinding cocoa seeds and removing the cocoa butter from the dark, bitter cocoa solids. --Wikipedia

Some facts gleaned from browsing around:

• The Aztecs apparently regarded cacao as being of divine origin ('Theobroma' means 'food of the gods'). Chocolate is derived from Theobroma cacao tree and dates back a few thousand years.
• Cocoa ( Theobroma cacao L. ) is a native of Amazon region of South America. The bulk of it is produced in the tropical areas of the African continent. There are over 20 species in the genus but the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao is the only one cultivated widely.
• The cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao) produces over 150 different chemicals in its leaves, fruit, seeds and bark. Medicinal use of the cocoa plant dates back thousands of years to the Olmec, Mayan and Aztec civilizations: Anxiety, fever, fatigue and coughs were all treated with preparations made from parts of the cocoa plant.
• Cocoa Pods grow on the trunk, not on branches; and each tree yields about 20-30 pods, each pod having about 25-35 beans.
• The darker the chocolate the more anti-oxidants it contains. The saturated fats found in cocoa beans, unlike saturated animal fats, can also help lower bad blood cholesterol and actually raise 'good' cholesterol levels.

Aren't I glad I love dark chocolate!

Some good information about the plant itself - cultivating, harvesting, along with some good pictures - is available at the Directorate of Cashew nut and Cocoa Development (DCCD) website.

Mole sauce is widely used in Mexico for flavoring poultry, mainly chicken and turkey. I have used this sauce to flavor a chicken breast. But, since I am not fond of chicken or turkey, I have used it in a vegetable dish here as well.

There are many variations of this sauce, and it can be adapted to taste, the primary ingredients being cocoa powder and chilies. Any version of the commercially available unsweetened cocoa powder can be used, but, since I am partial to dark chocolate, I use Hershey's™ Special Dark.

This mole sauce can be refrigerated for up to a month, stored in an air tight container. Here is my version of the spicy chocolate sauce: Mole.

Ingredients for Mole sauce:
4-5 dry pasilla chilies, soaked & reconstituted in hot water (seeds removed)
2 Tbsp Hershey's™ Special Dark cocoa powder
2 shallots, or 1 medium red onion, diced
¼ cup diced ginger root
4-6 cloves of garlic
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
2 cloves
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 Tbsp coriander powder
¼ cup dark raisins

Preparation

combine all the sauce ingredients (except the cocoa powder) with some water in a blender or food processor, and blend to a fine smooth paste; simmer the blended paste gently over medium low heat till rawness of onion and garlic goes away; then add the cocoa powder, stir well and continue simmering till the sauce is fairly thick; if storing in the fridge, allow the sauce to cool completely before putting away.

Serve this sauce over grilled chicken or turkey breast. Alternately, pan-cook the chicken breast smothered in mole sauce.

For a vegetarian version, I found that this sauce goes well with cauliflower and potatoes. Just sauté some onions, add the potatoes and cauliflower and some of the prepared mole sauce and cook till done. This goes well with roti or naan.

Chili Rellenos

Years ago, when I first saw the recipe for Chili Rellenos, with a gorgeous picture, the first thing that came to mind was my mom's Mirchi Bajji (aka Molaga Bajji).

The recipes seem similar: take a large-ish, not-too-hot chili; smoke and skin it to enhance flavor and to reduce the rawness (optional); make a slit and scoop out undesirable membranes and seeds from the inside; stuff with favorite stuffing; coat in light batter; fry in oil till crisp on the outside; serve hot off the stove, with some chutney or salsa.

Traditional chili rellenos recipes call for a light egg batter which involves separating the eggs, beating the whites to a stiff peak, beating the yolks and then folding the whites in. I was not up for it, so, I decided to use a different batter.

I wanted to try the stuffing my mom used for Mirchi bajji: a mixture of dry grated coconut, tamarind, paneer (home-made bag cheese), potatoes and spices. But, omitted the tamarind and coconut, and went with a slightly different stuffing here.


Ingredients:
4 poblano chilies, fairly large
oil for frying (canola or peanut)

for the batter: 1 cup fine rice flour 1/2 cup cornstarch 1 cup cold water (more or less) 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt

for the dipping salsa: 1 cup tomato puree 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper powder ½ cup finely minced onions 2 garlic cloves, finely minced salt to taste

for the stuffing:
1 cup crumbled queso panela (or, grated aged cheddar)
1 medium potato, skinned, cooked, crumbled
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper powder
1 Tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
salt to taste

Preparation

over the flame or under a broiler, char the poblano chilies till the skin blisters; throw into a paper bag or plastic bag immediately and seal the bag tight; allow the chilies to sweat; after about 15 minutes in the bag, take them out and peel off the skin; make a slit lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and membranes carefully; keep handy for stuffing

combine the salsa ingredients and blend to a fine sauce consistency; simmer on low; adjust flavors; set aside to cool

combine the stuffing ingredients, adjust spices to taste; keep handy

heat the oil for deep frying to about 375°F; peanut oil can be heated to higher temperature than canola oil

meanwhile stuff the poblanos with the prepared stuffing, close the chili as best as possible so the stuffing doesn't fall out while frying

combine the dry batter ingredients, add water a little at a time to form a smooth light batter, pretty much like tempura batter; prepare this batter just when ready to fry

dip the stuffed poblanos in the batter, drain a bit, so the batter forms just a thin coating, drop it in the hot oil and deep fry till golden brown; remove and drain on paper-towel lined plate

Optionally, if there is batter leftover after using for the chilies, dip some onion slices in the batter, deep fry and serve hot with the dipping salsa.

huevos motuleños

Eggs, Huevos, Wyau (oo-ya, in Welsh), however we call it at home, are a favorite breakfast/brunch meal on weekends.

Every once in a while, D likes what he calls Farmer's Breakfast: eggs (fried, poached, omelette, scrambled, just any way is fine), (soy) sausages, hash brown and griddle cakes.

I like eggs, but, not when they feel "eggy" in certain dishes - like, certain cakes have the eggy smell, soufflé feels eggy (quel dommage!), custard feels eggy... however, fried or scrambled eggs seems alright - just a quirk of mine :-)

Huevos Rancheros is pretty popular and easy to do, but, this time I decided to make Huevos Motuleños for Sunday brunch, which i don't make often.

Huevos Motuleños is eggs served Motul style (of the Yucatan): tortilla, black beans, fried eggs, peas & ham, some kind of queso fresco, with fried bananas on the side.

Quite a meal in itself!

Seems deceptively elaborate and labor-intensive... But, really, it is quite simple to assemble and enjoy.

Especially, since some parallel processing can be done, the brunch comes together quite easily: i usually start the black beans in the back burner first; while it is simmering, get the egg-batter ready and pan-fry the tortillas; simultaneously, in another pan, fry the bananas, while egg is getting poached in the microwave and Violà!


Always excited about experimenting, I did a few things differently from the traditional recipe: as we don't eat ham or beef and such, omitted the peas & ham; instead of queso fresco, used queso panela made with part-skim milk; prepared poached egg instead of fried egg; and, pan-fried the tortillas in egg-batter, not much unlike French toast.

For the French-toast-style egg-battered tortillas:
2 large flour tortillas
2 eggs
2 Tbsp finely minced onions and jalapeños
salt to taste
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder
1 tsp canola oil

beat the eggs with onions, jalapeños, salt and cayenne pepper; pour into a shallow bowl and keep handy for dipping the tortilla

cut the tortilla into a square, saving the 4 edge pieces

heat oil in a pan, dip the tortilla pieces in the egg mixture and pan cook both sides till golden brown and done



For the black beans:
1 cup cooked black beans (if using canned, drain and rinse well)
½ medium onion chopped finely
2 jalapeños chopped finely
1 Tbsp coriander powder
1 Tbsp hot sauce (Frank's®, Tabasco®)
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp canola oil
cilantro
salt to taste

heat oil in a pan, sauté the onions and jalapeños, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low till flavors meld; taste & adjust flavors; off heat, stir in cilantro, reserve some for garnish

For the poached eggs and pan-fried bananas:
2 ripe bananas, slit lengthwise & 1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 eggs, for poaching with 2 Tbsp finely minced onions and jalapeños
some oil

poach the eggs in a microwave egg-poacher, adding the onions and jalapeños on top

meanwhile, heat oil in a pan, add the slit bananas, sprinkle brown sugar on top; flip and cook the bananas all over till crisp on the outside and the brown sugar caramelizes

Assembly:

lay the egg-battered pan-fried French-toast-style tortilla on a plate, top with some black beans, a poached egg, a couple of slices of fried banana, and crumble some queso panela (or feta, or any crumbly cheese of your choice); serve warm

Sig at Live To Eat is hosting this month's Weekend Breakfast Blogging (WBB#9), and this is my Egg-stra Ordinary Breakfast entry:-)

Gallo Pinto

Back in grad students days, I was fortunate enough to have a close-knit group of friends. A wonderful gal from Costa Rica got me interested in Central and South American foods, quite inadvertently. I am sure she doesn't know that this gallo pinto evolved over time to my taste, after watching her make it one evening.

As far as I gather, pretty much everybody in Costa Rica makes this dish and is fairly simple, nothing complicated. Of course, I just adjusted some flavors as i like to experiment.

Gallo Pinto (apparently translates to "spotted rooster"), simply put, is just spiced rice and black beans. But that doesn't do it justice. I like to cook up a large batch as they make good leftovers - wrapped in tortilla the next day for breakfast, with some eggs on the side...

Ingredients:
1 cup dry black beans, soaked overnight (or canned cooked black beans)*
1 cup raw rice
1 small yellow onion, diced
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 chilies (jalapeno, bell pepper, or any mild chili), chopped
2 Tbsp coriander powder
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp canola oil
water as needed
4 cups vegetable stock (optional)
salt to taste
chopped fresh cilantro leaves

*if using canned beans, drain and rinse well before using

Preparation

heat oil in a pan, add the chilies, onions, garlic, some salt and sauté a bit, then add the soaked beans and about 8 cups of water and cook the beans

cook the rice in vegetable stock or water till done

when ready to serve, combine the cooked rice, beans, coriander powder, cilantro, chili powder and brown sugar, stir well over medium heat till well-combined; adjust salt to taste

serve hot with some fresh salsa on the side

Achiote Potatoes and Black-eyed Peas

Achiote (ah-chee-OH-tay) is a tropical flowering tree. The fruits of achiote is not usually edible, but, its seeds (annatto ) are used as a flavoring and a natural dye.

It is traditionally used as seasoning in Yucatan and Central American dishes, and makes a nice marinade when combined with a few other spices to make a rub. The rich red color and a mild earthy flavor are its main attraction for me. The achiote red rub used in this recipe works well for chicken, but, i decided to use it for simple potatoes instead.

Achiote seeds (annatto) are usually sold in the form of small bricks of thick paste.


For the achiote red rub, combine the following ingredients into a fine paste:
2 Tbsp of annatto brick pictured above
1 Tbsp black pepper powder
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper powder
1 tsp ground corainder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp all-spice powder
1 tsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp canola oil

Ingredients for black-eyed peas recipe:
1 cup cooked black eyed peas
1-2 ancho pasilla dry red chilies, soaked in hot water, chopped finely
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp coriander powder
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp achiote red rub
salt to taste
some cilantro for garnish

For the potatoes:
1 large baking potato, peeled, cubed
salt to taste
oil as needed to panfry
2 Tbsp achiote red rub

Preparation

par-cook the potatoes in boiling water or microwave; drain, coat well with the achiote red rub, set aside for 15 to 20 minutes

meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the black-eyed peas recipe and simmer gently in a pan, stirring often; adjust salt to taste; off heat garnish with cilantro

heat oil in a pan, add the potatoes and pan fry till desired crispness on the outside; alternately, roast it in the oven at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned

serve the potatoes and black-eyed peas with rice or warm tortillas

The achiote red rub lasts for about 5-7 days if refrigerated in an air-tight container.

Becky at Key Lime and Coconut is hosting this week's Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB), and this is my first entry for the WHB.