Hello readers, get ready to become “listeners”! Our latest installment of vegan hangover cooking instructions (featuring vegan Catalan Toast pictured above) comes to you via sight and sound: Introducing the first of, we hope, many podcasts where we toss out recipe directions, cooking tips and beer ideas into a microphone so you can bring us into your kitchen to keep you company!

For this first attempt we settled on trouble shooting a common scenario that we find ourselves in time and time again — one that actually played a big part in us picking up knives to cook for our friends in the first place — and one that can be handled smoothly with a few kitchen tricks. So here we go… You’ll find the two recipes discussed as well as a beer pairing suggestion below for printer-friendly accessibility. But please give this ‘stove-side chat’ thing a listen and let us know if it blows or rules. Click on the below link to get cooking. Unlimited credit and thanks goes to our friend and producer Meghan Delehanty!

Two-Minute Herb Bro-schetta

(serves four)

4 slices stale baguette
3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, chopped
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 can cannelloni beans
sea salt and pepper to taste

1. Toss your evenly sliced baguette pieces (crostini-sized) into the toaster, set it for about 2 minutes and prepare the white bean bruschetta topping.

2. In a medium sauté pan, bring the olive oil, garlic and shallots up to medium heat. After a minute, throw in the fresh herbs. While that cooks open your can of beans, drain and rinse, empty into a large mixing bowl.

3. Once the herbed oil is fragrant, about two minutes, toss over the beans and stir. Plate the toast pieces and top with your herbed beans. Garnish with extra sprigs of thyme, a splooge of olive oil, and salt and pepper.

Vegan Catalan Toast w/ Wilted Salad

(Serves four)

4 slices stale baguette
1 red bell pepper
4 large cloves garlic, peeled
1 8 oz. package tempeh
1/4 whole grain Dijon
1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
1/4 cup cheap white wine
2-3 Tbs. Veganaise
1 head wilted lettuce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, minced
1/4 cup sherry vinegar (or balsamic)
sea salt and pepper to taste

1. Start by toasting your baguette slices. Take your (defrosted) tempeh and marinate for a few minutes: slather it in grain mustard and a dash of white wine, salt and pepper, set aside.

2. Using your stovetop, char your red bell pepper. Place it on direct flame, holding it with metal tongs. Flip sides every couple minutes until the entire pepper is black. Remove from heat and run under cold water, rubbing charred skin off until you’re left with a lovely roasted pepper. Set aside.

3. Grab your toasted bread and rub one raw garlic clove into each slice, until it melts like butter. Then toss back into the toaster on a lower heat.

4. Heat the leftover sauté pan from the broschetta oil, add more olive oil, and toss in your tempeh. Get it sizzley and flip after roughly 5-8 minutes. Once browned, remove and cut into long, thin, anchovy-length cutlets. Slice bell pepper in similar shapes.

5. Remove your twice-toasted bread, coat in Veganaise until the toast is white. Then place your pepper and tempeh slices in a corss-hatch, or diamond formation.

6. Reheat the same pan, at this point is boasts lots of spiced juices. Hit it with more garlic, shallots and a little oil. After toasting for about 5 minutes hit it with the sherry vinegar and let it sputter for another minute or two. In the meantime, revive your wilted lettuce in a bowl of ice water, rinse and dry. Slice lettuce into thin slices, place in your mixing bowl and then top with hot dressing.

7. Plate your salad and drape the toasts on top, diagonally.

Beverage: Duchess de Bourgogne
Soundtrack: Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning”

Rest assured, you will never come across a Hot Knives recipe for cashew cheese nachos. That’s just not something we’re OK with — fake cheese in general, and nacho cheese especially.

That said, we’re sick of being barred from improving upon the now-completely-cliché “goat cheese and beet” salad. So we went ahead and tried out our own version of a beet salad, using freshly pulsed almond paste in place of chevre. Much like our runny polenta replacement for Hollandaise, this creamy substance doesn’t much taste like the hay-feed funk of a slightly stanky goat’s cheese, but it does a damn good job of a) holding shape in plated presentation b) complimenting the distinct roasty, earthy flavor of a beet c) blandly playing off of whatever flavor you wanna give it.

Here we whipped blanched almonds with some coconut milk and a little lavender. Next up, watch for our nutty, beer-spiked version of a past-its-prime smoked gouda (it's intense).

Yes, Alex is plating this salad in front of a microphone in the picture below. And no, we're not suggesting you contact mic your salad ingredients. Right now we are putting together an exclusive Hot Knives Podcast, so we can invade your kitchen WHILE you're actually cooking. Coming (very) soon!

Almond “Chevre”

1/2 lbs. raw almonds
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. lavender leaves
Sea salt and fresh black pepper
Filtered water (as needed)

1. Place your almonds, skins still on, in a deep bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them sit for 8-10 minutes (it’s ok to steep them this long because you want them a little mushy, not perfectly crisp like most recipes call for). Once the water is just cool enough, start peeling off the skins to reveal blanches white almonds. Drain and dump in your blender or food processor.

2. Pulse your almonds while slowly adding the coconut milk. Mixture should become liquidy enough that it is stirred by the blender. Continue to pulse while pouring in the oil and lavender, salt and pepper. Finally, add cold water if needed to further liquefy the mixture. The product should be spreadable, roughly the texture of a whipped cream cheese.

Dill Vinaigrette

1 bunch dill
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbs. white balsamic, or sherry vinegar
1 tsp. water

1. In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil on medium. Separate the dill bunch into two equal piles.

2. Toss half of the dill into the oil and quickly sauté for under 10 seconds (just to bring out color and flavor). Remove and empty oil and dill into your food processor. Add light-colored vinegar of your choice, the remaining dill and some sea salt to taste. Pulse unto smooth, green and consistent. Add a dash of water, about 1 tsp. if needed. Set aside.

Stacked Beet Salad

2 beets
1 fennel bulb
1/4 vermouth or red wine
3-4 shallots, chopped
sea salt

1. Start by boiling your beets: Bring a pot of water to a boil and toss in beets. Let cook for 8-10 minutes or until a fork sticks into them easily. Remove, drain and cool with ice cubes or running water.

2. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the gnarly brown skin, revealing perfect, raspberry colored beets. Set aside.

3. In a sauté pan, toast the shallots for 1-2 minutes and douse with half the vermouth, or red wine (we prefer vermouth if you have it, but the red wine will add a nice color and stronger flavor). Slice the fennel into thin ribbons (using a sharp knife or a mandolin) and toss in the pan. Braise the fennel for about 10 minutes, adding the remaining liquor as needed. Then salt and remove.

4. Slice the beets into 4-6 circular pieces each, like thick, evenly cut potato chips. Finally stack your salad, placing a beet slice down, followed by a spoonful of almond paste and so until you have a stack of red and white layers. Save the pointy top of the beet for the last slice. Serve on a long plate with fennel salad on the other side and dill dressing drizzled on both components.

Beverage: Cantillon Gueuze
Soundtrack: Lee Scratch Perry’s “White Belly Rat”

We figured that an assortment of awesome cocktail nuts would be the perfect accompaniment to the end of a huge bike ride, and the beginning of a beer bust. It was a model marriage.

These three nut recipes work extremely well together both in term so of taste and timing. While you don’t necessarily need to make all three at once, the cook times for these three make for some pretty sweet simultaneous preparation. If you feel it, you can heat and plate these three types of nuts for a triple threat single landing-which will subdue even the most ravenous of party guests.

The main thing to keep in mind when working with nuts is: they continue to cook after they come up to temperature. When you are roasting, toasting, frying etc. raw nuts, you really only need to start seeing color change to warrant removal from flame.

Sweet Pistachio Meat

2 cups raw pistachio meat
3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. Maple syrup
2 Tsp. Ground Nutmeg

1. Turn your oven up to 400.
2. In a small roasting pan, toss the pistachio meat with the olive oil. Place the pan in the oven for about 10 minutes. Check them around the 8 minute mark; if you hear some nice sizzling, and the nuts are starting to brown, remove from the oven.
3. The second the nuts come out of the oven hit them with the syrup and the nutmeg.

Thai Peanuts

4 cloves garlic
2 serrano chilies
2 cups raw blanched peanuts
¼ cup canola oil
1 Tbs. sea salt
2 Tbs. Sweet Chili Sauce

1. Heat a wok on medium heat and add the oil when the pan is hot.
2. Peel and slice the garlic, slice the chilies in half. By now the oil should be hot, so throw the garlic, chilies and peanuts into the oil. Agitate constantly until the peanuts begin to brown.
3. Toss the peanuts with sweet chilies sauce and salt.

Cajun Cashews

2 cups raw whole cashews
3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. Cajun seasoning
1 Tbs. sea salt

1. Heat a large heavy bottomed skillet (cast iron if you have it) with medium flame. Add 2 Tbs. of the olive oil when the pan is hot.
2. Add the Cashews, agitating often, until they begin to show some brown along their long edges, about seven minutes. When more than less are turning colors, add the remaining olive oil and cook for an additional minute.
3. Transfer the still hot nuts to a salad bowl and toss with Cajun seasoning and sea salt.

Beverage: Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout
Soundtrack: The B52's "Rock Lobster"

What with the upcoming La Grand Crew beer and bicycle outing, and now this recipe, it’s shaping up to be unofficial ‘Beverage Week’ here at Hot Knives. Considering it’s the dregs of summer we’re fine with that.

A few days ago we set upon making a 4-course salad dinner for friends that we firmly insisted was to be strictly eating only: no photos, no blogging. Sometimes you just have to take a vacation right? Well, since we’re mildly OCD when it comes to sharing food and booze tricks, we found a loophole and stuck a quick liquid dessert in the freezer. The mix of sour cherry juice, vermouth, bourbon and fresh mint comprises all the ingredients for a traditional Manhattan. When dinner was over we had a popsicle tray of frozen cocktail popsicles (cocksicles!) waiting for us. The result? Tongue-numbing flavor crystals.

Now, the original Manhattan (invented for a New York party thrown for Winston Churchill’s mummy in the late 1890s) hinges on rye whiskey, its less sweet and more mild. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any Rittenhouse rye on hand, so we deigned to use Knob Creek bourbon. Not advised.

Manhattan Popsicles

1 tsp. sweet vermouth
3 Tbs. sour cherry juice concentrate
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 shots Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey
1 mint leaf

1. Take your popsicle tray, remove the stick lids. Add the vermouth to each insert and swirl. Then measure out the juice and bitters, add it and throw in a mint leaf. Return the stick-lids to the tray, should be dipping into the mixture. Stick tray in freezer for at least 2 hours.

2. Once completely frozen, simply run water over tray and pop out the popsicles. Pour a tumbler of whiskey (at room temperature) and place one popsicle in cup, as if it’s a large ice cube. Garnish with one more mint leaf and sip.

Our salad days are in full swing, and to celebrate we revived an eternal standard of the garde manger: the Nisçoise. Ubiquitous on the bistro menu, the salad composé of Nice is a meal sized salad anyone can make. Our version is certainly not the spitting image of the forever-popular pile of components crowned with seared tuna. But with the Nisçoise, as with any vegan version of a French classic, deviation is imminently necessary when its current incarnations are so…dusty. In the words of Ian MacKaye “the baby has grown older its no longer cute.”

The cuteness factor for this plate is high as a kite. There are no fillets of sea critters to be found, nor the sterile foul ovum. Fresh and light substitutes abound in caper stuffed kalamata olives (anchovies) hearts of palm half pipes (boiled eggs) and a faux tuna salad, made from the cores of the palm fronds.

Ingredients

2 shallots
3 cloves of garlic
1 Tbs. aged sherry vinegar
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. whole grain Dijon mustard
¼ lb String Beans
4 baby purple potatoes
1 Tbs. Herbs de province
2 Tbs. sea salt
16 pitted kalamata olives
¼ cup capers
1 can of hearts of palm
2 Tomatoes, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
½ hot house cucumber, sliced

1. Heat a large pot of salted water on high heat. Drop the potatoes in when the water is still cold.

2. Peel and mince the shallots and garlic, combine and divide into two separate piles.

3. Place one pile of garlic/shallot in a bowl with the vinegar, whisk in 1 Tbs. of mustard and set aside.

4. If the water is boiling, the potatoes are done. Scoop them from the water and cool off in an ice water bath. Return the water to a boil and blanch the beans for 30 seconds. Chill them out as well.

5. Heat a sauté pan on medium heat. Meanwhile, slice the potatoes into 1/2” thick pieces, like super thick chips. Add one Tbs. olive oil to the pan, count to twenty five and place the potatoes face down to sear. Let them sizzle and brown before flipping. Season each side with sea salt and herbs de province, and set aside when both sides have been browned.

6. Stuff the kalamatas with capers. You can fit between 3 and five capers in each olive.

7. Slice the heats of palm lengthwise down the center. Now carefully peel the outer layer of the heart away. You should be left with a thin skin that resembles the fun part of a water slide…made out of a hard boiled egg…repeat this surgery on all the hearts of palm.

8. Chop the hearts of the hearts roughly and mix with the remaining shallots, garlic, and mustard. This will become your fake tuna salad.

9. Whisk in the 2 Tbs of olive oil into the vinegar and aromatics in a steady stream to emulsify.

10. Toss the salad greens with the vinaigrette, and place in the center of your plates. Scoop faux tuna into the fake egg cradles you've crafted. Place sliced tomatoes, chilled string beans, seared potatoes, stuffed olives and sliced cucumbers around the pile of dressed greens.

Beverage: Blanche De Chambly
Soundtrack: Minor Threat “Salad Days”