The Seitanic Versions

I like seitan (wheat gluten).

It is the stuff from which lots of fake meats are made.

I like gluten.

If you are going gluten-free, send me your unused gluten.

Gluten is high in protein.

I like protein.

If you are interested in a non-animal source for protein, wheat gluten is a good one.

I make my own seitan.

It is easy to do.

And you can do infinite varieties.

Here is the formula for infinite seitan:

1 part vital wheat gluten to 1 part fluid.

Then add to spices (add wet to dry).

Knead or stand mix until it is resistant (you will learn what this means after a short amount of experience).

Shape (into sausages, poultry breast-looking things, rounds, the Eiffel Tower...)

Bake wrapped in foil for 45 minutes on each side (total 90 minutes) at 325 degrees.

Cool.

Eat.

Or cool, then...

Refrigerate for long times.

Freeze for-like-ever almost.

Cool.

What kind of fluids?

You decide. Mix and match.

Salsa, pineapple juice, apple juice, water, soy milk, almond milk, agave nectar, pumpkin purée, honey, wine, beer, applesauce, peanut butter, "liquid smoke," tomato paste...

What kinds of spices?

You decide. Mix and match.

Sage, parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, nutmeg, soup mixes, taco seasonings...

Experiment.

Squashtitutions

Winter.

Potatoes. Squashes.

An opportunity to exchange one for the other.

In general, squash has fewer Calories than potatoes for the same weight.

Try substituting squash for potatoes as side dishes, in soups, mashed, baked, w/marshmallows, etc.

Vary the types of squash.

It works well and offers a new world of tastes.

Transformer

Peruse the Gourmet-O-Matic (tm) website and you will see the relationships among chutneys, salsas and relishes.

Well, what to do when you need something different to pair with another type of dish, e.g., barbecue sauce?

No fear.

Just use our same principles to create one.

Here is a way.

Generally speaking, BBQ sauces are a bit heavier than the others on thick, tomato-ey flavored stuff.

Take a chutney, add some tomato paste (or ketchup), blend and eat.

By using a chutney, salsa or relish as a base for BBQ sauce, whole worlds open up.

Not only can you give your sauce an international spin, you will use ingredients you might not otherwise consider as BBQ sauce candidates, e.g., raisins, dates, mangoes, nuts.

It works and it is good.

SCORE!-dalia

It's a Greek thing, skordalia.

Basically, mashed potatoes, garlic and vinegar.

You can add olive oil.

It is a dip/spread thing.

It is also Gourmet-O-Matic (tm)-able.

Base - potato (any type), bean, legumes, nuts

Flavor - garlic, onion/shallot/scallion, ginger, salsa

Oil - olive, walnut, macadamia, etc.

Acid - vinegar, fruit juice (e.g., lime, lemon), wine

Dippin' stuff - crackers, bread, sticks, crudite

Gooood.

Kaboche, Kabocha, Life Goes On

Squash season.

Hooray!

And I think that the squash easiest and bestest to prepare is kabocha.

Plus, it is about as naturally sweet a squash as you will find.

Wash.

Pierce.

Nuke/wave in covered (vented) bowl 5-10 minutes (depending on size and power).

Cut in half.

Scoop out seeds.

Eat. Skin and all.

Wanna get fancy?

What else is a squash? A bowl!

Fill the cavity with cooked veggies, meats, beans, grain mixture.

Eat it all.

Enjoy it all.

Darn that was simple.

Yes You Can!

Elitists make way.

Step aside.

Canned foods can be as nutritious or even more nutritious than fresh, depending on how old the "fresh" stuff is and how good you are at selecting it.

Whatever.

Fact is, even if you are not a fan of the can, in a bind it can save you time.

Keep on hand the following in cans, just in case:

Corn

Beans

Tomatoes

Tomato Paste

Tomato Sauce

Pumpkin

Chiles

It will simplify your life.

Cold and Creamy

Summer and a hot one.

There are lots of ways to make ice cream-like stuff.

Blender, juicer, freezer, ice cream machine.

Vary it.

Use almond or soy milk in place of moo juice.

Add peanut butter (reconstituted peanut flour can work) or avocado or flax seeds or flax oil or omega-whatever (if you believe in those things) to smooth the final product.

Frozen fruits can also add "creaminess," especially in blender/masticating juicer ice cream.

Can-Can

Make it fast.

Make it easy.

Can(s) of beans - your choice (drained).

Can(s) of fruit - orange, pineapple, fruit cocktail, etc.

Can(s) of chiles - your choice.

Cilantro, cumin, oregano, basil, salt, pepper.

Stop here or:

add fresh - fruit (mango, watermelon, etc.) , tomatoes, etc.
add dried - fruit, tomatoes, etc.

Mix, let sit in fridge for a while.

Add texture if you want - nuts, toffee, dark chocolate, etc.

Now figure out how to spend the remaining 23:55 hours:mins of your day.

Spreads

As the weather gets warmer, the stove becomes a less attractive option for cooking since it makes even more heat. Here is a cool approach to making spreads that can be meals or side dishes.

Beans - pinto, white, black, etc.
Spices - cumin, coriander, chili powder, blend (from the website, e.g, Indian), etc., salt and pepper to taste.
Salsa - add a Gourmet-O-Matic ^tm salsa, if you want.

Drain beans if using canned.
Put in food processor.
Add spices. Blend 'til desired consistency.
Add salsa if you want. Blend if you want smooth. Stir in if you like things chunkier (this is easier if you remove the spread from the food processor).
Remove from food processor.
Chill, if you like.
Get bread, crackers, etc.
Spread.
Eat.

Coffee Nut?

Are you a coffee perfectionist?

If so, know this.

Brewed coffee is acidic and when done, it should have a pH around 5.0.

The best water to use for coffee should have a pH that is neutral, around 7.0.

Municipal water is frequently alkaline, i.e., of a pH greater than 7.0, to prevent corrosion of pipes.

To acidify your coffee water, i.e., lower the pH from greater than 7.0 to 7.0, add pinches of tartaric acid, aka cream of tartar, until the water tastes slightly tart.

Or you can get a pH meter to measure the pH. (That is known as overkill. Although, if you are a coffee nut...)

Do not add steak tartare. It will not work.

Ripen Right

Fruits.

Some can ripen at home.

Others, well... buy ripe or you are committed to eating unripened fruits, i.e., they will not get any riper.

Fruits that will ripen after they are picked are known as climacteric fruits. They include:

avocados
bananas
kiwis
pears
tomatoes

Fruits that will NOT ripen after they are picked are known as non-climacteric fruits. They include:

apples
most berries
citrus
melons
pineapples

To nudge climacteric fruits to ripen, place them in a paper bag with a ripe fruit. This will hasten the process.

The World's Fastest Indian

No, not the motorcycle.

We are talking the spice thing.

To make just about anything take on an Indian flavor use the following spices:

coriander
cumin
garam masala
ginger

Simple, spicy, different.

Frozen Veggies That Work

It is winter.

You cannot pick these frozen, but if you get your hands on them, they will reward you with pretty darned good results.

Here are 5 frozen veggies that can be as good as their fresh versions:

Soybeans (edmame)
Brussels sprouts
Peas
Green beans
Artichoke hearts

BTW, they are not just for winter, right?

"Many Way" Satay

The essentials of satay?

Protein + sweet + nut.

Satay The Gourmet-O-Matic ^tm way?

Protein (generally cooked): chicken, beef, lamb, duck, goose, goat, pork, tofu, tempeh, seitan, fish, seafood, other (horse ?)

Sweet: jelly, jam/preserves, caramel, honey, agave nectar, molasses, corn syrup, candy, marshmallow, etc.

Nut: nut butters - smooth or crunchy and you can add sweet to the nut butter to make life easier (e.g., cashew, peanut, almond) or the nuts themselves (in pieces for the larger nuts) as a topping for even more crunch (cashew, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.)

Cover protein with sweet or sweet nut butter combination. Cover sweet and or sweet nut butter combination with nuts.

Or you can make the protein and use the other stuff for dipping.

Done.

Serve.

Ready! Set! Sprout!

Save money.

Save time.

Eat fresh.

Sprout.

It is so easy you won't believe it.

Ready?

Take green lentils or sunflower seeds or mung beans or soy beans or adzuki beans or whatever (do an online search to find out what else you can sprout).

Put 'em in a jar covered with cheesecloth. Fill the jar with your sprouts-to-be only 1/3 of the way.

Soak overnight in twice the amount of water as sprout-to-be.

Drain.

Rinse.

Drain.

Repeat rinse and drain in 12 hours.

Repeat again in 12 hours.

Repeat again in 12 hours.

When tails form, taste.

Repeat as many times as you choose until you are ready to "harvest" your sprouts.

Result: fresh "veggies" year 'round.

Sprout volume will generally be 2-3 times the original volume.

A great return on investment.

Caramelized Onions - the Set and Forget Way

The naturally occurring sugars in vegetables can be enhanced through slow cooking.

Onions are an excellent candidate for caramelizing.

And they are more than easy to make.

Spray the inside of a slow cooker with a small amount of oil.

Fill with onions.

Cover.

Set to low.

Go away for a day or so.

Set to high, return sooner.

Come back to beautiful brown onions, sweet and delicious.

Can be stored in the fridge for weeks.

Add to soups, sandwiches, side dishes, main dishes.

You name it.

Un-Fried Beans

Why fry then re-fry beans?

Clearly, hummus is not fried.

It can be simply chickpeas, garlic, lemon all ground together.

Add tahini, olive oil, salt, pepper and cayenne if you choose. (These will increase the caloric content.)

Likewise, you can make a lower Calorie version of refried beans.

Food process pinto beans with salsa and cumin.

The taste will be fresher.

The fat, less.

The Calories, fewer.

You can add-in herbs (e.g., basil, cilantro), heat (e.g., more or different hot peppers), nuts, additional veggies, substitute different salsas (e.g., mango), etc.

And in the summer, there is no need to turn on the stove.

Cool.

Da Grill

Summer.

It's grillin' time.

A touch of oil on the veggies and "veggie-like fruits," then go!

Veggies:

Romaine
Bok Choy
Napa
Radicchio
Potatoes
Asparagus
Onion
Leek
Shallot
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Artichokes
Rapini

Fruits:

Corn
Avocado
Peaches
Nectarines
Plums
Grapes
Pineapple
Mango
Papaya
Banana
Tomatoes
Watermelon
Squash
Eggplant
Zucchini
Green Beans

BBQ

'Tis the season for BBQ-ing, fa la la la la la la la la...

Here it is, the basic BBQ marinade:

Herbs - cilantro, basil, mint, etc.
Flavor - garlic, onion, etc.
Acid - citrus juice, coffee, beer, wine, vinegar, soy sauce, etc.

Water to dilute, salt and pepper to taste.

Want to turn it into a BBQ Sauce?

Skip the water and add:

Sweet - honey, molasses, corn syrup, etc.
Vegetable - tomato paste, salsa, etc.

Marinade or sauce - done in minutes, enjoyed for much longer.

Pigs, No. Blankets, Yes.

An easy alternative to pigs in blankets is to wrap a hot dog or soy dog in a strip of pita, tortilla, chapati, lavash, etc.

Or wrap a seasoned tofu chunk in the same.

Veggies can serve as the wrap, too.

All you need to do is slice an eggplant or zucchini into strips, then soften them by baking, broiling, grilling, pan frying (lightly covered in oil) and filling them with dogs or tofu.

You can marinate the veggies or drizzle flavored vinegar or a salad dressing on top.

Want a different filling?

In a food processor add:

Onion
Garlic
Herb - cilantro, basil, etc.
Nuts - walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, etc.
Salt, pepper to taste
Hot - peppers or pepper sauce

Process until mixed (you can make it smooth or crunchy by altering processing time).

Place some at one end of a bread or veggie strip, then roll.

Cover with a sauce, if you like.

Eat.