Manchurian-ish Mushrooms

We've been in "Mexi-mode" lately almost exclusively with my testing and restesting recipes for the cookbook. On Friday, I was looking at the website TasteSpotting and decided to do a search of the word "spicy", 'cause that's how I roll. One of the recipes that came up was for Manchurian Mushrooms. The picture was so drool-worthy that I had to go look at the recipe. I sounded absolutely amazing. I sent the recipe and picture to both Brett and Selina (she and I have very similar tastes). Brett, who claims to be "Asian-ed out" took one look at the recipe and agreed that we should try it and soon. Selina was on the same page as me and wanted to make it as soon as possible.

I started from this recipe here. I didn't have some of the stuff on hand and I wanted to make sure that the mushrooms were spicy to my liking and the sauce was sweet to Brett's liking so I tweaked the recipe and provided it below.




You may note some new serving ware here and there. My Nanny Beth (among others) wanted our food to look nicer since we put pictures of it online, so she got us these "rooster bowls" which look really cool with Asian food and some plates for us to use for our "Mexican presentations". Now all I have to do is learn how to use a camera and get some sort of eye for "food fashion". Hell, I am just the cook, Selina, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE PRESENTATION UP TO ME FOR THE COOKBOOK. It would just be bad. You've seen my titles for things and my lack of skill with the camera, you do not want that. :-)

Well, here she be.

The local booty legend (aka revealing my sources):
no asterisk = grocery store
+ = local produce from The Root Cellar
++ = The Peace Nook (will denote whether product is local or just from the Nook)
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden
**** = the non-profit buying club, Blue Planet or Purcell Mountain Farms

J&B's Manchurian-ish Mushrooms
1 pack button mushrooms, rinsed and quartered
3-4 cups peanut oil for frying

Spicy Batter:
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp corn masa
2 tsp (or more!) of chile-garlic sauce (I used Huy Fong)
4 Chiles Japones, crushed with a mortar and pestle (you could also use a food processor or coffee grinder, or just crush them up with your fingers)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
1 cup water

Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Slowly add the water and mix well, making sure to work out all the clumps.

Sweet and Sour Sauce:
2 tbsp peanut oil
2 small red boiler onions, chopped *
3 banana peppers, seeded and sliced *
2 small green bell peppers, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces *
1 head broccoli, cut into florettes *
1/2 yellow summer squash, cut into large chunks **
1 head Georgian Fire garlic, sliced *
2 tbsp alfalfa honey *
3/4 cup organic ketchup
4 tbsp sweet chile sauce
3 tbsp shoyu (or other soy sauce)
4 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (for garnish, optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat.

Add the onion, peppers, broccoli, and squash and saute stirring often for about 6-8 minutes.

Add the garlic and stir fry for another 3-4 minutes.

Turn the heat down to slightly below medium.

Add the honey, ketchup, chile sauce, and shoyu. Combine well.

Let simmer on low while you batter and fry the mushrooms.

To batter and fry the mushrooms and finish up the dish:

Put your peanut oil in a heavy bottomed small skillet and turn heat on the low end of high (does that make sense?).

Dip the mushrooms pieces in the batter and once oil is heated carefully drop them in the hot oil.

Fry for 6-8 minutes or until mushroom pieces are deep golden brown. Transfer to paper towels to drain the excess oil. Repeat this process until all the mushrooms are fried.

Put the fried mushrooms into the sweet and sour sauce and stir to coat evenly. Top with cilantro. Serve immediately.

This was really freakin' good. It tasted like something you would get from a restaurant. It isn't the least time consuming of the recipes here on Veg*n Cooking, but it is well worth the effort.

'Til next time!

Queso-menos Quesadillas con las habas de Anasazi y la calabaza de Delicata (Cheese-less Quesadillas with Anasazi Beans and Delicata Squash)

Update: Veggie Girl flippin' rocks and she helped me get the translation right. Thanks Veggie Girl!

Anyways, this recipe is dedicated to Katrina from Kale for Sale for giving me the idea of expanding my horizons and mashing up roasted squash for use in Mexican food. It was an awesome suggestion and we'll be doing it often now. So thanks Katrina, this one is for you!

This was also the first time we had tried delicata squash. There is only one purveyor at the farmer's market who sells these too. I had noticed them when I bought a huge bag of organic red potatoes from the vendor the previous week. We asked him about the delicata and his awesome array of acorn squash, but didn't purchase any - until last Saturday of course. After enjoying the delicata squash as much as we did, we're hoping to clean out the remaining ones he has (along with a few of his gorgeous acorn squash) Saturday at the market. Wahoo for storing local booty for winter.

Between the 11 butternut squash we got from our community garden, the delicata, acorn, and spaghetti squash we hope to obtain, we are going to turn in to squash! During the summer, we are loaded down with zucchini, yellow summer squash, and eggplant (not squash, but similar in taste in my opinion), and over the winter - well, it's all winter squash. I guess it is a good thing that squash are versatile and we like them, otherwise eating locally might be pretty crummy!

An FYI if you've never had delicata squash: apparently it is considered as a quasi-heirloom variety. It is also referred to as "Sweet Potato Squash" and "Bohemian Squash", not sure about the Bohemian one, but the Sweet Potato name fits. The squash has an orange flesh similar to butternuts. They are moist and very sweet, much like....you guessed it, a sweet potato. The skins on delicatas are also edible, though we scooped the flesh out and discarded the skin for this recipe. I tried a piece with the skin after I had roasted the squash and it was quite edible.

This is a really simple recipe, the only time consuming part is roasting the squash. If you have your beans made ahead of time (which I always do because Brett flippin' rocks hardcore), then you can use the squash roasting time to prepare everything else and have a meal from oven to table in about 45 minutes.

Anywho, I've rambled long enough, let's get on to the food!

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden















Queso-menos Quesadillas con las habas de Anasazi y la calabaza de Delicata
1 delicata squash, stem removed and halved *
1 tbsp safflower oil
salt
pepper
2 cups Anasazi beans, cooked
1 cup of white button mushrooms, minced
2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced *
1 hot banana pepper, seeded and minced ***
1 green bell pepper, seeded and minced **
1 small yellow onion, minced **
4 cloves of garlic, minced *
chili powder
ground coriander
cumin
salt

tortillas
spicy salsa

Preheat oven to 450.

On a baking sheet, rub safflower oil into the flesh of the squash (the squash should be roasted with the skin side down). Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until squash is soft.

Let cool for a few minutes. Then scoop flesh out of the skin and mash in a bowl. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium skillet.

Add the mushrooms, peppers, garlic, and onions. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until veggies are to your desired "doneness". Drain any excess water.

Add the beans and seasonings and heat through.

Layer squash and bean mixture in warmed tortillas. Fry if desired.

Serve with some really spicy salsa.

I can't remember what brand it is, but Brett and I recently came across a really yummy hot salsa that comes from Texas. It has pureed hot New Mexican Chile peppers, jalapenos, and chipotle peppers in it. It is very good for salsa out of a jar.

That reminds me, I need to see what kind of salsa the locals sell at the market this weekend!

I should be back sometime this week with a post about our (vegetarian) Huevos Rancheros - they are seriously awesome, and then the first of my two installments of Monthly Unplug Yourself wrap ups. There are going to be two for the sake of my not writing a novel for you guys to read all at once. The first post will be a round-up of other participants' posts on the initiative as well as on my beginners understanding of Permaculture - having read the book Permaculture and now working on David Holmgren's Collected Writings. I hope that my knowledge of the topic will continue to improve. The second post will be about the alternative (non-mainstream) news sources I read, with links and brief descriptions of each. Now, most of them are liberal, some so liberal they are almost back around to the right again, but I do have a few conservative news sources I read for good measure. Oh, and also if I need a little increase in blood pressure. ;-)

Brett should be posting sometime soon as well as to his progress with the Unplug Yourself initiative, and he will also be posting the monthly "call to arms" for the initiative as well. I think we've worked a lot of the "kinks" out, so hopefully the aim, purpose, and commitment will be much clearer. A big thanks to everyone who has joined - we hope you have enjoyed the experience (or at least learned something) and will consider continuing on. Others, please think about signing up to participate - this is a group effort and the more heads that come together and figure out how to live better with less, expand our horizons, and live by our morals and priciples - the better this planet will be.

'Til next time.

Quesadillas de Frijole Negros, Pimiento, y Calabacín (Black Bean, Pepper and Zucchini Quesadillas)

This was, again, nothing too special, but it was very good. I have made something similar to this before - in fact, using an incredibly similar spice combination, but doing just a few things differently, adding things here and there, substituting this for that, and suddenly you have a unique meal!

I didn't get a picture of the finished product, but there was guacamole on this. It made this meal even better!

When my Dad brought down the avocado tree for my birthday, he also brought down a bag of 5 huge avocados - this is more than we would ever buy at one time. I had already planned out my meals for the week, which, of course, did not include avocados, so we were scrambling to find uses for the lovely guys before they went bad. Needless to say, we had lots of snacks of chips and guacamole, I added guacamole to this dish, and I made avocado and cucumber sushi rolls this weekend - I was also able to use up the last two sheets of nori we had in our cabinet that would probably not have lasted too much longer.

Oh, and in case you couldn't tell, black beans are our most often used bean, oddly, since pinto beans might arguably be both Brett and my favorite bean - the black bean is just so versatile.

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden















Quesadillas de Frijole Negros, Pimiento, y Calabacín
1 cup black beans, cooked
1 zucchini, chopped ***
1/2 cup sweet corn, cooked **
1 bell pepper, seeded and minced **
1 petite bell pepper, seeded and minced ***
1 banana pepper, seeded and minced ***
2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced ***
1/2 yellow onion, minced *
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
2-3 Roma tomatoes, chopped ***
juice of half a lime
chipotle chili powder
ground coriander
cumin
Mexican oregano
black pepper
salt

tortillas
guacamole

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium skillet. Add the zucchini, peppers, onion, garlic, and tomatoes and cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine all filling ingredients and season to taste.

Layer filling in warmed tortillas.

Fry and serve with guacamole.

'Til next time!

Quesadillas de Frijoles de Anasazi, Arroz Integral y Verdura (Anasazi Bean, Brown Rice, and Vegetable Quesadillas)

This was one of the best new meals we have tried this summer. We both really like Anasazi beans, but they are often forgotten with the traditional black beans, pinto beans, and kidney beans we usually use in our Mexican food. If you can get your hands on some Anasazi beans, I highly recommend them. They have an oddly "poultry-ish" quality and also a smoky flavor. Anasazi beans are also incredibly filling, it's crazy! We made quesadillas last night, no bigger than we normally do, and neither of us could eat the whole thing - we don't often have that problem.

This was also an excellent application for yellow summer squash. As I'm sure you've noticed if you've been reading this blog for any length of time, we are "beans and rice folks" (neither of us like tofu beyond tofu sour cream, we don't like seitan, and we most definitely do not like tempeh), and we are also quite obsessed with Mexican food. So it has been a fun challenge trying to figure out how to create "authentic" Mexican meals that utilize ingredients such as zucchini and summer squash that grow so well here in the Midwest. I can tell you from experience, the zucchini is harder to make "work" than the summer squash, we've had a few "hits" with zucchini, but also some "misses", things that were edible, but that weren't "blog-worthy" nor worth making again, so I was happy to find a meal that used squash that worked out really well. I can say though, with a little creativity and patience, almost anything can be used in Mexican food and it still taste "authentic", you just have to get familiar with the flavors and textures used in traditional Mexican cuisine.

Anyways, I've also gotten a few comments asking what, if any, produce used in our meals comes from our gardens. This excites me to no end that people enjoy the garden updates and our local food, so for the rest of the summer I will use a "legend" to show which fruits and veg came from our gardens, our CSA, the farmer's market, or the "regular" store.

The legend is:
no asterisk = from the grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden

Without further ado, here are the pictures and the recipe.

















NOTE: I am going to try to start "titling" my recipes in Spanish, since it is pretty much just Mexican food. Not only do I think this is neat, but I learn a little bit of Spanish along the way. Now, with that said, I am coming up with these translations via online Spanish to English dictionaries and translators, and they aren't always accurate. So if you know Spanish, and know I am wrong with my translation, please correct me, it will help me learn!

Quesadillas de Frijoles de Anasazi, Arroz Integral y Verdura (Anasazi Bean, Brown Rice, and Vegetable Quesadillas)
1 cup anasazi beans, cooked
1 cup long grain brown rice, cooked
2 tomatoes, diced ***
1 yellow summer squash, diced ***
1/2 onion, diced **
1/2 bell pepper, seeded and minced ***
1 hot banana pepper, seeded and minced ***
1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced ***
2 cloves of garlic, minced *
ground coriander
chipotle chili powder
cumin
salt

tortillas
salsa

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add squash, onion, peppers, and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes. Drain any excess water.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Layer a few tablespoons of filling in warmed tortillas. Fry if desired.

Yummy!

I wanted to end this post with a reminder about the Quit Now Challenge. It officially starts tomorrow and it is not too late to sign up. I will be posting a reminder tomorrow to all you quitters out there that the challenge has begun!

'Til next time.

Baked Black Bean and Veggie Flautas

Flautas are a great meal any time of year if you ask me. I love how they get crispy and are a Mexican finger food - and since most Mexican food is so messy, I relish flautas. Though traditionally fried, I baked them, as well, any time I have ever tried to deep fry something, we should have had the fire department or an ambulance on speed dial. Jennifer + Hot Oil = Disaster Waiting To Happen. I have stories that I will not share at this time, but let's just say I've had my oil incident, it wasn't fun, and that I've even had an exploding salsa incident - I was lucky that I didn't get hurt in either incident, but the kitchen didn't fare so well. I am one of those people who manage to hurt myself in ways I can't even explain. Just call me clumsy.

Anyways, flautas are also great as the oven only has to be on for a few minutes and they are great mediums for disposing of some of summer's abundance - we even got to use our first garden grown jalapeno and it was good.

These flautas got a big thumbs up from both Brett and I. The only thing I will do differently next time is not make so many, they are larger than they look!

Also, be forewarned, waiting to eat these things is torture. Flautas have some special insulation property that keeps them piping hot for a long time. So while you are starving, you have to stare down the steaming flautas hoping that your first bite won't involve scalding mouth.

Anyways....





















I made two variations on this flauta. I tried them with and without a thin "schmear" of refried beans since we had them on hand. It was good with the refrieds, but Brett and I thought the flautas stayed crispier and had a good zing without them.

Black Bean and Veggie Flautas
Makes enough filling for 10 small flautas.

1 cup black beans, cooked
1/8 cup traditional refried beans (optional)
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked
1 small tomato, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 cup button mushrooms, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 hot banana pepper, seeded and minced
1/2 bell pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of half a lime
ground coriander
chili powder
cumin
Mexican oregano
paprika
pepper
salt

small flour tortillas ("fajita sized")
salsa

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a skillet. Add zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, onion, and garlic, and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain any excess liquid.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Layer a few tablespoons of filling in each tortilla and secure each with a toothpick. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Yummy!

Roasted Red Potato and Black Bean Tacos

This is another one of those really good meals that is a little more suitable to a cooler time of year. However, nature doesn't always work in the way you would like her to, and thus, we get potatoes in the heat of summer. And aside from roasting, frying, sautéing, boiling, and grilling, I can't think of any other way to prepare them. The first four methods entail getting the apartment hot; the last one isn't an option. We live on the second floor of fairly old apartments with wood decks, it's a fire hazard. So, I roasted these, that is my favorite way to prepare potatoes, and they were fantastic, but man it got warm in here. Ugh. I am happy to report that we did not get potatoes in our CSA this week - thankfully.

















Roasted Red Potato and Black Bean Tacos

4-6 small red potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
2 tsp coconut oil
chipotle chili powder
cumin
ground coriander
salt

1 cup black beans, cooked
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 hot banana pepper, seeded and minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 yellow onion, minced
chili powder
cumin
salt

taco shells (we used organic blue corn shells)
diced tomatoes
shredded lettuce
a small can of sliced black olives, drained (optional)

Preheat oven to 425.

Toss potatoes with oil and spices and place in a baking dish. Cover with foil and roast for 40-45 minutes, stirring a few times.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the pepper, garlic, and onion. Cook for 10 minutes or until veggies are soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine with black beans and spices.

Layer lettuce, potatoes, bean mixture, and black olives in warmed taco shells.

Serve with diced tomatoes and more olives on the side.

'Til next time.

Fiery Black Bean, Corn, and Chile Quesadillas

The other night we had another really yummy, yet simple meal made out of mostly local ingredients. And this one did not require me to heat up my apartment for nearly as long. As much as I love potatoes, I hope we don't get more in our CSA this week, all the ways I can think to prepare them require heat. Ick.

Anyways, these were a bit on the spicy side according to Brett, so if you make this, keep that in mind and perhaps either cut down on the fresh chiles or use regular instead of chipotle chile powder.

Fiery Black Bean, Corn, and Chile Quesadillas

Note: This recipe makes enough for 3 quesadillas. We each had one for dinner and I took the leftovers in to work.

2 cups black beans, cooked

1 cup sweet corn, cooked

1 zucchini, diced

1 purple bell pepper, seeded and minced (any bell pepper would work fine)

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

1 banana pepper, seeded and minced

1/4 yellow onion, minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of half a lime

chipotle chili powder

cumin

ground coriander

Mexican oregano

white pepper

salt

tortillas

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the zucchini, peppers, onion and garlic and cook for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine all the filling ingredients in a large bowl and season to taste.

Layer filling in warmed tortillas and fry if desired.

Serve with salsa.

'Til next time.

Sushi 'Burgers' with Asian-ish Slaw

This meal was one of the more experimental things I have tried and I'm pleased to say it turned out really well. I modified the recipe for the sushi 'burgers' from here. I loved the spiciness of the burger and it even had a slightly "fishy" quality to it, but not overpoweringly so.

I added shredded beets to the coleslaw for some sweetness, which complimented the savory and slightly spicy burger quite well. The dried cranberries offered more sweetness and a nice addition of texture. The peanuts add an additional burst of protein and good fat, while adding a nice crunch to the dish.

The meal was also quite easy as I had my microplane grater and food processor do most of the work for me.















Sushi 'Burgers'
Makes 4 large patties

1/2 cup sushi rice, cooked
1 cup adzuki beans, cooked
1 sheet of nori, shredded
1/2 cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 carrot, peeled and shredded (I used a microplane grater)
1/2 cucumber, peeled and shredded (Again, I used a microplane grater)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated with the microplane (or finely minced)
1/2 yellow onion, shredded with the microplane (or finely minced)
2 hot banana peppers (or jalapeno, Anaheim, Hungarian Wax, Serrano, etc), stems removed, shredded with microplane (or finely minced)
1 1/2 tbsp seasoned brown rice vinegar
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp shoyu (or other soy sauce)
1 tsp wasabi powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger

In a large bowl, lightly mash the adzuki beans with a fork.

Combine with the rest of the ingredients.

Form into 4 large patties and refrigerate for about an hour to let the patties "set".

Lightly coat the bottom of a small skillet with oil (I used coconut, probably about 1/4-1/2 tsp). Fry patties for about 5-8 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Top with Asian-ish slaw (recipe follows).

Asian-isn Slaw

Salad:
1 cup red cabbage, shredded
1 cup green cabbage, shredded
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1/4 yellow onion, shredded
2 beets, peeled and shredded
1/4 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)
1/4 cup crushed peanuts

Dressing:
2 tbsp vegan mayonnaise
1/3 cup peanut oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup seasoned brown rice vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2-4 tbsp raw sugar
2 green serrano chilies, seeded and minced (Thai chilies would be even better)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
salt and white pepper to taste

Shred all the salad ingredients except the peanuts and cranberries in a food processor or with a box grater. Set aside.

Whisk together all the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad.

Refrigerate for about an hour to allow flavors to meld.

Right before serving, stir in the cranberries and peanuts.

This meal had quite a bit more oil in it than I usually use, but we had a more active than usual day. We had this on Saturday, so, as usual, we walked to and from the farmer's market and we also went out walking for a couple of hours with a good friend at a local park, so this meal was very nice after a long day walking outside. We were lucky to be able to walk in a shaded park, it felt so much cooler beneath those trees than out exposed to the scorching sun.

Well, I'm off to prepare a simple dinner, enjoy a fresh batch of sun tea (our favorite recipe is a gallon jug filled with water and 4 fair trade, organic Darjeeling tea bags and 1 organic peppermint tea bag, so refreshing!), and probably take a sneak peek at the book I chose for the month of July's "Blogging Borkworm" review, though I still have to finish Wealth and Democracy by Kevin Phillips (it's a really long book). I chose "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman, he explores how the planet would respond without the pressures of human civilization. Interesting topic to ponder.

Oooooh, and we stopped by the smaller, but still lovely, farmer's market that runs on Monday's and Wednesday's here in Columbia and picked up some gorgeous local peaches. They were so yummy looking we both just ate one right there at the market, along with everyone else who had gotten peaches. :-) Never done that before.... They were so juicy, and perfect, this was my first local peach, and I gotta say, no peach I've had before even comes close. And to think, we got 9 local peaches for $5, who says buying local has to be expensive?

'Til next time.