Recipes: May 2007 Archives

We tend to steer clear from the grey sponge that is eggplant, mostly because we think the freaky veggie is unusually over-represented in the vegetarian recipes written by most meat eaters. They’re one step away from a portabella mushroom. Which is to say: We are probably playa hating on the eggplant for no good reason.

This week we got over it and roasted up some baby eggplants for a garlicky baba ganoush. Like hummus, but meaner. And so much cuter.

Baby Eggy Ganoush

10-12 baby eggplants
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 Tbs. sea salt
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup tahini
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs. smoked paprika
1 Tbs. cumin

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut off eggplant tops, slice in half and toss in a pan with olive oil. Add whole cloves of garlic. Season with salt and pepper and throw in the oven for 45 minutes.

3. Remove eggplants once darkly browned. Pell if desired. Add to food processor or blender with remaining oil and garlic. Add all other ingredients and pulse well. Add more salt to taste.

4. If mixture seems too dry, add more tahini and/or olive oil but taste it first

Beverage: Los Abbey’s Judgement Day
Soundtrack: Ministry’s Land of Rape and Honey

The old-school Romans made the simple pasta dish, carbonara, with three main ingredients: freshly milled black pepper, un-smoked baby pig's cheek and raw egg. We love black pepper, but thought we'd do without the baby pig. We also forewent the standard cheese and raw egg for this recipe, so we're using the term "carbonara" loosely. Think of this more as an easy-fix, Italian-scented pile-up of good-for-you comfort food.

Carbonara de Polenta

(Serves two)
2 carrots
2 zucchinis
1 Tbs. sea salt
1/2 tube of polenta
2 Tbs. canola oil
4 strips fake bacon

Sauce
4 strips roasted red pepper
1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbs. fresh black pepper
1 Tbs. sea salt
2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs water

1. Prepare sauce by combining all sauce ingredients and pulsing in a food processor or whisking well. Set aside.

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Peel the carrots and zucchinis into long noodley strands using a vegetable peeler. Once water is boiling, dunk the strands for 30 seconds, so still crunchy but noticeably blanched. Place in ice bath or under cold water. Set aside.

3. Cut polenta into 1/2-inch round slabs and toss in a non-stick skillet, on high heat with canola oil. Saute for 5 minutes or until slightly mushy. Season to taste, remove and set aside. Then crisp the fake bacon in same pan.

4. In a deep plate, position the veggie noodles and top with a layer of polenta, then bacon, polenta and more bacon. Top with pink sauce.

Beverage: Port Brewing's Sharkbite Red
Soundtrack: Billy Joel's The Stranger

At the risk of over reminiscing, suffice it to say that we do brunch a lot (a lot) and rarely does it turn out as picture perfect as the recent Urban Honking feast in Portland two weeks ago. Diners ranged from small babies in Easter hats to scummy folk punks, all sucking down asparagus appetizers with a gorgeous 4-part brunch plate.

We’ll recreate the recipes here for you now, but don’t expect the vibe to translate. Unless you invite 25 of your closest friends and bro-down hard with this food. Thanks again to Claire L. Evans and Mikey who made it happen and had the foresight to grab a camera. Video footage follows...

Wild Forest Tofu

Tofu Scramble
1 block tofu, extra firm
1/4 cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 shitake mushrooms
1/2 basket of crimini mushrooms
6 sprigs thyme
1 leek, cleaned and chopped
1 bunch celery leaves (optional)
2 Tbs. Bragg’s or soy sauce

Truffle Salad Topping
1 cup arugula
1 Tbs. whole grain mustard
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs. white truffle-infused olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 beet
1 Oregon truffle

1. Press your tofu.

2. Briefly sauté the mushrooms to bring out woodsy flavors: Slice shitakes in thin slices; quarter the criminis. Heat a large pan with 1 Tbs. of olive oil and the 5 cloves of garlic. Once hot, add mushrooms and thyme, and cook for 3-4 minutes or until starting to get juicy. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

3. Using the same pan, add half the remaining oil and sauté the leek and celery tops. Unwrap your tofu and slice into big slabs.

4. Once leek is translucent, add the tofu and use a wooden spoon to scramble into mush. Season with Bragg’s or soy and let cook 8-10 minutes or until tofu is slightly brown.

5. Whip together the salad dressing of mustard, apple cider vinegar, truffle oil, salt and pepper. Toss the arugula and set aside.

6. Once scramble is fully cooked, add mushrooms again for last minute.

7. Slice beet and truffles super thin. Plate the scramble and top with dressed arugula. Then place one beet shaving and one truffle shaving on top.

Beer Braised Soyrizo Chili

4 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 leeks, cleaned quartered and sliced
4 heads green garlic, chopped
2 stalks celery, minced
4 ripe Roma tomatoes, chopped
12 oz. Deschutes Black Butte Porter
2 cans great northern beans, drained
1 tube Soyrizo
¼ cup ketchup
1 Tsp. ground cumin
2 Tbs. salt
2 Tbs. ground pepper

1. In a larger pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the aromatics and vegetables in waves: first add the leeks until they begin to wilt, then the green garlic until it wilts, until you’ve added the tomatoes. You should sped around 15 minutes sautéing.

2. Now add the beer and cook until it reduces by ½. Add the beans, Soyrizo, and ketchup. Cook for an additional 10 minutes and then incorporate the spices. Adjust the flavor with salt and additional ketchup if necessary.

3. Reduce heat to low and let bubble for an additional 15-20 minutes. Serve with crusty bread.

“Baked Potato”

8 baby potatoes
3 Tbs. vegan mayonnaise
1 Tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tsp. Finishing salt
1 Tsp. Smoked paprika
1 Tbs. bacos
1 sprig fresh dill
1 small bunch chives, minced

1. Scrub all your potatoes under cold running water. Look at your potato as if it were an egg. Slice the skin off of the length-wise edges on the left and the right sides of your theoretical ovum. Need another analogy? Make two slices on either side of the potato as to make the apex of parenthesis into plateaus, () = {}. Whatever.

2. Now, slice each potato in half right down the middle, as to make the now completely exposed face the “top” and the sliced face that you jut figured how to do the “bottom.” Using a metal measuring spoon (teaspoon size preferred), or a melon baller, gently scoop out a ½ sphere in the center of each potato’s “face/center.” Be careful to not dig too deep or your potato cups won’t hold much. Repeat until your 8 baby potatoes become 16 potato cups.

3. Now place all the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Salt the water liberally, and then turn the flame on high. When the water boils, your potatoes are done.

4. Mix the veganaise with the black pepper.

5. Using a spatula, or a pastry bag, fill each potato cup with the peppery mayo. Pick the tips off the dill so you have pretty little sprigs, and plant one firmly in each cup. Sprinkle each potato with chives, salt, paprika and bacos in the most artful manner you can muster.

Beverage: Rogue’s Imperial IPA
Soundtrack: Random dudes YouTubing U2 songs.