Walnut You Like To Know

So here us where you have to suffer with my love of cheesy puns.


This post has been inspired by my friend K, who put me up to the challenge of making something with her ginormous bag of walnuts that had this odd smokey flavor. Here is what I came up with.

Walnut Taco Filling

1 1/2 c. Ground walnuts
1 1/2 tsp. Cumin
3/4 tsp. Coriander
2 tbsp. Soy sauce
Pinch of cayenne

The walnuts should be ground to have a chunky texture. Mix all ingredients together and set aside or refrigerate to let the flavors absorb. Then serve to your little hearts content. This recipe is credited to Sparks Recipes.

Next up mushroom walnut pate from Vegcooking.

Mushroom Walnut Pate

1/4 c. Water

3 -4 c. Sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 Sliced medium onion

2 Minced cloves of garlic

1 c. Mashed firm tofu

1/2 c. Walnuts

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Black pepper

1 Chopped or sliced green bell pepper

Cook mushrooms, onion and garlic in water until soft. Combine the veggies and tofu in a blender until all blendy and smooth. Add walnuts, salt and pepper and do the blendy thing again until very, very smooth. Let chill in the fridge before serving. Top with some green pepper. Vegcooking recommends serving it with french bread and green pepper. K ate it with crackers or veggies but prefered it alone. Eat it however you fancy.

This recipe is the only one where the walnut smokiness was not eliminated or enhanced. But hey, I am sure non smoky walnuts would do the trick.

Candied Walnuts

2 c. Walnuts

1/4 c. Soy Milk

1 tsp. Cinnamon

3 tbsp. Margarine (vegan variety of course)

1/2 c. Sugar

2 tsp. Vanilla Powder

Heat everything but walnuts until nice and thick. Mix with walnuts until well coated. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Mine turned out a little runny but yummy (I think it would be great over soy vanilla ice cream). The recipe is approximate, feel free to play with measurements.

These lovelies took a little bit of trial and error. When I found the Tofu-Walnut 'Meatballs' recipe I knew I wanted to try my mom's style swedish meatballs. I loved them as a kid and have made them plenty of times with fake "meaty" (ie. tvp or store bought variety) meatballs.
Well, the slight problem is these 'meatballs' are not a durable and a lot softer then the other variety. So when I made them to follow mom's recipe they turned into the bolognese sauce you see below. It also probably did not help that they needed to bake it the sauce where i tried to make them in my ceramic pot on the stove. Either way tasted good though. This here is the tweaked version of the original recipe.

Glazed Swedish 'Meatballs'

Tofu-Walnut 'Meatballs

(I pretty much followed these to a tee from the site above)

2 c. Chopped walnuts

1 Chopped onion

1 Shredded carrot

1 Chopped green pepper

4 Chopped cloves of garlic

Olive oil

12 oz. Cubed soft tofu

Sesame oil

1 tbsp. Spicy mustard

1 tsp. Oregano

1 tsp. Basil

2 c. Bread crumbs*

Sauté walnuts, onion, carrot, pepper, and garlic in olive oil. In a large bowl, mix cubes of soft tofu with sesame oil, mustard, oregano, and basil and sauté ingredients. Add enough bread crumbs to make a moldable mixture. Shape into balls and sauté. Do not be afraid to use extra olive oil to saute these. They need it to make them firmer. This recipe made about 30 balls.

*I made my own bread crumbs by lightly toasting some bread then grinding it in a blender. About a half loaf will give you 2 cups.

Swedish Glaze

(adapted from my mom's swedish meatball recipe)

1 c. Organic ketchup

5 tbsp. Worstershire sause*

1 tbsp. Brown rice syrup

1-2 tbsp. Brown sugar

2 tbsp. White vinegar

Bring ingredients to a boil and then simmer a few minutes or throw in the microwave for awhile. Brush or pour glazed on 'meatballs' Throw them in your toaster oven or, if you are fortunate enough, your conventional oven and bake for 15 minutes until brown.

*Since I am unable to get vegan worstershire sauce here I used this recipe from cooking with rock stars. It is superb.

Now this be the bolognese sauce made on, as my mom would call me, a beautiful accident. Basically go through the painstaking process of making the delicious tofu-walnut meatballs. Then immerse them in swedish meatball sauce and cook until mushy :)
I will post the recipe for the actual swedish meatballs when I can make them properly and get my hands of fake meatballs that will hold together in liquid. But feel free to contact me sooner if you want to make this "beautiful mishap" or a variation of it and i can tell you what i used.

Korean Eats Continued

I love this place.  It is my second favorite eats in korea so far.  You basically make your own rice paper rolls.
You dip the rice paper in this pretty pink water.
Dress with these sauses,
and fill with these, as well as grilled mushrooms and garlic.  It comes with pork but I get mushrooms instead.  The people that own this place are the sweetest ever and try to accommodate in any way they can.  After you filled yourself on rolls they make a rice noodle soup to eat at the end.  I now keep this in mind when I go, save a little room, that way I am able to walk out rather then less gracefully roll out.

This is my favorite place in Korea, Todem Dubu, which means tofu house.  The best tofu I have ever tasted is from there.  The soup is shown above before cooking.  the tofu that is in it is plain but it is normally tri-coloured like the one below.  This soup is a bit spicy and served with a bunch or side dishes.  A few of my favorites are below.  Everytime you go you get a different assortment of sides, sometimes they are the same, but you can never know.  They do have meaty/fishy sides too, but it is the most variety I have had here aside for a buffet.

This tofu is tre yum.  Lightly fried (but no greasy) and served with some soy.

Lotus root in a sweet syrup.

These mushroom are killer.  You get them everytime.  Also, I am missing the picture of the soft tofu they bring at the very beginning.  Mmmmm served with a sort of sweet, but light soy sause.

    Last is Pat Bean Soo.  It is a traditional Korean dessert served only in the summer months.  It is normally made with shaved ice, sweet red bean, fruits, jelly and milk.  I got mine minus the jelly and subbed in soy milk for cows milk.  I had to bring my own, which is the little green carton you see.  It is nothing short of amazing.  They also put dry cereal in this variation.  Kristin got hers with green tea ice cream but admitted she liked mine more.  You can see how happy we were to be eating this, especially with the heat.

Some of My Favorite Korean Eats....

This is Sambap, which is a healthy rice pot eaten with a variety of veg and side dishes.  You start by getting the rice served in the lower left corner pot.  You empty out most of the rice in a separate bowl (lower right) except what gets stuck to the pot, then you fill the hot pot up with rice water and set aside.  You eat the "rice soup" last as a sort of dessert.    For the rest you take a leaf of some variety (my fav is the boiled cabbage) and you put some rice in it with bean paste and whatever side is vegan friendly and eat.  I frequent this place and the ladies are so sweet they make me a separate non seafood soup.  It is a type of doen jang chigae that i posted earlier and it rocks.  I put the bulky part of the soup in the leaf wrap too.  It is awesome.  (You may be able to see some fish further back in the photo, please ignore, for it was not apart of my meal)
Next up is spicy noodle a.k.a. hangover cure.  It is great, a huge pot of homemade noodles with mushrooms, onions and potatoes.  Then once you eat most of this enormous pot they fill your bowls with the remaining in order to create a delicious rice ensemble in the bottom of the pot.  Sorry no pic of it.  They usually put egg in but if i partake they leave it out.
This here is Kristin and her favorite korean meal.  Chung Gook Jung.  I like to describe it as a jazzed up bipbimbap.  You take rice, the tofu bean stew (close up below), veg and bipbimbap sauce (a thick red somewhat hot pepper paste) and you mix it all together, while enjoying the homemade not hot but not iced tea and side dishes.
Mmmmm tofu bean stew....
This is Kristin and I and the oh so yummy rice balls.  We have a few matching photos because we are cool like that.  You will only get subjected to one or two.  But for real rice balls rock.  Glutenous rice with a sweet red bean filling.  The red/brown ones in the middle are my fav, covered in cinnamon.  The others are coated with sesame seed and green tea something or other and something else.

Simple Stir Fry with a Kicker

Here is a nice and simple stir fry with a bit of a punch.  I wanted to post one last time before my friend kristin from Canada gets here.  Between work and fun there will not be much time for blogging, but i will be sure to update on our food adventures.  Will be in Japan for a few days so hopefully i remember to photograph the food...mmmm....Be back at the beginning of august, unless i can squeeze a post in sooner.  I have walnut recipes gallore, but i will detail that later.

My Simple Stir Fry with a Kicker

2 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil

3 c. Veggies of choice*

2 c. Cooked brown rice

Soy sauce (to taste)

1 Minced clove of garlic

1 tsp. Basil

Cracked pepper

1 c. Cubed extra firm tofu

The Kicker

Korean pickled hot peppers + juice 

(use desired amount, I ended up adding more to it once it was finished and being devoured.)

* I used onions. carrots, celery, hot pepper and zucchini.

Saute veggies (except zucchini) for 5 to 10 minutes.  Add tofu, zucchini, basil, cracked pepper, garlic and some soy sauce, saute another 2 to 5 minutes.  Then add the brown rice with a bit more soy sauce.  Cook another 5 minutes.  In the last minute of cooking add the pickled peppers and juice.  Finitoed.

I am sure other pickled peppers would work too.  The ones I used were whole (so i chopped them) and in a dark brown juice.  A friend gave them to me and i am so glad she did.  I started adding them to other dishes like mock chicken burgs and such.  They jazz up food nicely.

Soupathon is On!

So I have decided to start making some soup.  Marvelous time, I know, since the sweltering heat of summer is just kicking.  But when you want soup, you want soup.  The first round is a triathlon of sorts, mainly due to the three soups in this post.  The next meet will be held at another date in the near future perhaps when it is a bit cooler.  I hope you enjoy.

Szechuan Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

2 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil

1 Chopped medium onion

2 Minced cloves of garlic

1 tsp. Curry powder

1/2 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Ginger Powder

1 tsp. Thyme

1/2 tsp. Dry basil*

1 tsp. Chili flakes (or to taste)

3 c. Water**

3 1/2 Chopped large carrots

2 Chopped medium sweet potatoes

3 tbsp. Soy sauce

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

2 tbsp. Peanut butter (not generous)

1 tsp. hot sauce (optional)

 

Saute first nine ingredients for 6 to 8 minutes, until onions are soft, in a medium to large sauce pan.  Add the next three ingredients, plus 2 tsp. Soy sauce and salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes until all vegetables are very soft.  At this point blend in a blender and return to sauce pan.  Add peanut butter, hot sauce and remaining soy sauce and cook another 5 to 10 minutes.  You may need additional water if you find the consistency to thick.  I would probably add more next time to make it soupier, as you can tell by the photos, quite thick, but lovely.  You can top it with some chopped cashews or peanuts.  Ideally, I would have topped it with vegan sour cream but I do not have any and have not found a good way to make it here yet.  If you have, do try.    

*Fresh basil would be even better if you have it. About 1 to 2 tsp. chopped.

**Use vegetable broth if you have it, I did not, but water works famously.

The next soup is my veganized Doen Jang Chigae which is actually a korean bean paste stew.  But it is more soup like to me, so I'll label it soup.  Looking at the pictures it does look stewy~thick soup~stewp?  Anywho, it is very delicious and simple.  Some have compared it to a ass kickin miso.  I'll let you decide

Doen Jang Chigae

1 tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil

1 Sliced hot green pepper

1/2 Chopped medium onion

1 Chopped large carrot

1 Chopper stalk of celery

1 Minced Clove of garlic

2-3 tbsp. Korean soy bean paste*

2 c. Water

1 tbsp. Korean chili flakes (or to taste)

1/2 Chopped cabbage

1/4 Chopped bell pepper (red or yellow or both)

1/2 Chopped medium zucchini

1/2 c. Cube extra firm tofu

*I used sunchan doen jang which is a brown paste with no added oil.  Some are red and with oil, I am sure it would work just as well, but perhaps with a different taste.

Saute the first six ingredients for 8 to 10 minutes, in a medium pot.  I used a stone pot on a gas stove, how it is traditionally made, but I have made it in a regular sauce pan and it works well too so do not fret.  Add bean paste and cook for another minute.  Then add the water and chili flakes, cook another couple of minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes cover.  No need to bring to a boil in stone pot.  I do briefly when using a regular one though.

Now to tomato some soup or soup some tomatoes.  Mmmmm, how I loved tomato soup growing up, the Cambell's variety, with what I called butter fingers for dipping.  Basically, it is just sliced bread with butter cut into strips or 'fingers.'  This soup which is much healthier and heartier kind of reminded me of soup from the past.  The recipe, more or less, is from Persistent State Vegetarian and it goes like this:

Classily Classic Tomato Soup

1 tbsp.  Extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. Whole wheat flour

2 tbsp. Water

2 Chopped stalks of celery

2 Chopped medium carrots

1 Chopped medium onion

2 Minced cloves of garlic

1/2 c. Tomato paste

1 tsp. Dried basil (2 tsp. fresh if you have it)

Salt and Pepper

1 c. Water

3 Chopped very ripe tomatoes

1/3 c. Soy milk

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Make a roux by mixing the flour and oil in heated sauce pan. It will make you soup thicker as it cooks.  Drop in the next five ingredients in and cook 5 to 10 minutes.  Add tom paste and basil, cook two more minutes.  Then add the chopped tomatoes, water, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook another 10 to 15 minutes until all veggies are quite soft (especially if blending).  Next, add the soy milk and cook 3 minutes longer.  Now it is time for the blend and return to the pot on low heat.  Here is where you make the gastrique, which is just caramelizing the sugar with the vinegar until syrup like.  Pour into the soup. Stir and eat.  I found the gastrique really kicked the soup up a few notches from damn good to amazing.  I hope it makes your tummy happy. 

Wrap Attack

One thing i have been missing has been a nice veggie wrap.  Being wrapless, I needed to fix this.  I found this recipe at allrecipes:

Whole Wheat Wraps

 

4 c. Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Baking powder

1 c. Warm water

Mix dry.  Then add the water, add additional water a tbsp. at a time until you have a nice pliable dough. (Warning: You probably will need extra water).  Knead your dough on a lightly floured surface.  Separate dough into 16 equal sized dough balls.  Cover and let rest for 20 minutes.  Next you will roll the balls, thick or thin, which ever you like, on a well floured surface.  Make sure your balls are well floured too.  You will soon be balless.  You can stack on a plate separating the wraps with wax paper.  I did not have wax  so I used extra flour so they would not stick and that worked too, just powderier.  All you have to do now is a heat an ungreased skillet up on med-high heat and warm either side for 20 to 30 seconds.  Place immediately into a ziplock baggy to lock in moisture and steam.  Then Viola.  You are done.  They are not the most flavorful plain but filled they will make dreams come true.  Well, mine anyhow.  I also discovered that if you leave them in the pan because you have an attention span off a kitty on catnip, they make great chips.  

Losing My Seitan Making Virginity

I was so excited to find wheat gluten at me grocery store and decided I must try making my own fake meatery.  Since it was my first time I wanted to make it special so I scavenged a few sites to create this (giving most credit to a recipe at Recipezaar):

Seitan

Dry

2 c. Vital wheat gluten

1 tsp. herbs de province

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. lemon grass powder

1 tsp. ginger powder

Wet

1 1/2 c. Water

2 tbsp. Tamari

1 tbsp. Sesame oil

Broth

4 c. Water

1/4 c. Soy sauce

1 Large green onion (roughly chopped)

1 Celery stalk (roughly chopped)

2 Chunks of dried galanger

 

Mix dry.  Mix wet. Pour wet into dry all at once and mix rapidly with a fork.  Knead 10 to 15 times.  Let rest a couple of minutes.  Knead a little more.  Let rest 15 minutes.  Will be rubbery by this point.  Take mound and try to form into a log of sorts and then slice into 5 to 8 pieces.  Shape into cutlets.  Add to boiling broth and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.  You can eat it right away.  Store it in the fridge for about a week or freeze it til it is freezer burnt and gross.  I recommend eating it but you know, personal preference. 
Here I just sliced a cutlet and placed it on a salad.  It was cold but if I had a grill I would have grilled it. Yet, still delicious without the grilling.  I topped it with a quick and easy salad dressing:

Balsamicy Goodness

2 tbsp. Balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. Extra virgin olive oil

A pinch of herb de province

Mix it, shake it or toss it.  It is yummy.  You can also make a large batch and keep it in a jar in the fridge for future use.