Share your recipes

[jacob]

Yes.

(In case you're counting calories, soy beans contain more than most other beans.)

[Alphaville]

What are some good recipes and methods that incorporate soybeans? I’m making my first steps in replacing animal protein in a meal with something plant based. I’d like to start with soybeans instead of something more processed like tofu.

Do I just treat them like other legumes and incorporate them into recipes that use beans?

i'd say learn to ferment them. untreated soy beans are vile

(but ok, ymmv)

anyway here's probably a good way: https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn ... nting-soy/

[Alphaville]

The trouble with these cans is their size. Once opened we are going to have to eat an awful lot of one type of bean or freeze them. It may make sense to hold onto the can of garbanzos until we have a party (next winter?) and make a ton of hummus as Laura Ingalls suggested.

oh, right, save it for a party, or freeze in baggies for a quick reheat.

for the red beans, either the chili or red beans and rice are good ways to feed a crowd.

red beans & rice have a lot of animal flavoring (salt pork, ham bone, andouille, etc) so finding ways to supplement the umami is important. maybe red miso, mushrooms, nooch, etc?

[Seppia]

I did Okonomyaki yesterday.
These Japanese pancakes are delicious and super easy to make. You may have trouble finding a couple of toppings but I guess the base recipe can be interesting and tweaked to be used with other ingredients.

For two

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Mix

Separately, whisk 1 egg with a tablespoon of oil and 3/4 of a cup of water

Mix the liquid with the solid and let rest for a while.

Cut some cabbage, ideally the 1.5 times the volume of the “dough”

Mix the two

Heat a non stick pan
Put a layer of bacon/pancetta/other.
https://ibb.co/0pLVbNS

Once it has released a bit of fat, cover with the dough
https://ibb.co/hdtFQC6

Cook for a few minutes, then turn and cook the other side.
The inside should be a bit moist, but there is no “correct” time, just cook to your liking.

At the end, top with:
A bit of mayo
A bit of Okonomyaki sauce
Some nori seaweed
Bonito flakes

Voilà

https://ibb.co/VqStWwC

[Ego]

Mrs. Ego did a great job with the farro today. She brought several cups of water to boil, tossed in a cup of farro and a little salt then left it to boil for 20 minutes. There was still a lot of water left which was drained off then she added a little olive oil, salt, pepper, chili flakes and dried basil.

She then stir fried a clove of garlic, half an onion, kale, broccoli, mushrooms, tofu and tempeh. Topped with some orange sauce. She calculated the cost per plate at about 85 cents. Tempeh is the most expensive ingredient at $2 a block. We have plenty of beans and grains so we may have to figure out how to culture the spores from the chunk of retail we have leftover then make our own.

[Alphaville]

the desire:

ive been experimenting with vegan meals lately for reasons discussed elsewhere. recently bought a bunch of nice organic produce that needs using. so i wanted to cook 3 complementary dishes this evening that felt like a complete meal.

the obstacle:

lately i've put my highly inefficient apartment stove out to pasture in order to save electricity. i've been using a portable induction cooktop instead, which is great and very efficient. i also use my electric pressure cooker, same thing. but the way the kitchen is laid out, they share the same circuit and can't operate simultaneously. there are other circuits but arent well placed. so... i could only use one outlet for 3 completely different preparations. also i had less then an hour to get it all done.

the processes:

1. in the uncovered pressure cooker i sauteed a small yellow onion, once translucent added 4 sliced cloves of garlic, tossed without burning, added 2 cups sorted rinsed french green lentils and 3 cups water, 1 tsp kosher salt, and a bay leaf or two. closed, cooked in high pressure for 10 minutes. once cooked, unplugged the pot and put aside for slow release.

2. plugged the induction thing into the outlet, placed my cast iron griddle on top, heated up to medium with a bit of olive oil, added half a small pack of cremini mushrooms that i sliced thin, sautéed, added 2 cloves of garlic sliced thin, added 1 cup crushed walnuts, reduced the heat to medium low, toasted it all a bit, added a nice bunch of finely chopped parsley, barely tossed, deglazed the pan with water (later realized could have used a splash of white wine), seasoned with salt and fresh ground pepper, reduced the heat to minimum till it dried up. put aside for the finish.

3: mandolined a beautiful jewel sweet potato(yellow skin/orange flesh), put my big sautée pan on the induction device, heated to medium high, added a glug of avocado oil which filled just a thin layer at the bottom and started to add the sweet potato in caroussel order. fries quickly so i went on flipping, then removing, the adding more slices till all was done. had to reduce the heat a bit halfway through the process, still medium high but just closer to medium. meanwhile i release the last pressure from the lentil pot and tossed out the bay leaves. lentils were just right and plump neither watery nor dry.

the result:

in a bowl, put a scoop of lentils at the bottom, topped with the mushroom walnut mix, and stuffed sweet potato fries around it sprinkled with maldon salt. sorta like a deconstructed mushroom veggie burger with sweet potato fries or something, minus the bread obviously. washed down with a splash of boxed cab. beer would have been good too, for the umami, but i didn't have any. dinner soundtrack was a bit of milt jackson.

pretty pretty good...

the aftermath:

got me a nice pile of cooked lentils now to try in different combinations. the rest of the stuff is gone but with the pressure cooker free i can try "air frying" another sweet potato (same appliance does both jobs). might make a nice breakfast.

[Seppia]

Uhm, because that's how you make Okonomyaki?

[Alphaville]

why do you add cabbage?

Uhm, because that's how you make Okonomyaki?

hey guys, just made this for lunch. yum! but it was with variations so i thought i'd share some notes:

-loved the thick batter, mine was a nice yellow ( made with hippy egg), will adopt for other future uses

-oh, and instead of water i used sour whey (byproduct of my yogurt making)

-used bread flour to ensure elasticity/cohesion, came out great. thought for a moment to use whole wheat or rye mix but figured i needed a baseline first.

-had red cabbage handy, but also had arugula that was long in the tooth and needed to be dispatched. ended up using the arugula, and it was delicious. might try again tomorrow with rainbow chard and/or shredded beets.

-i think i used to much arugula because the dough looked green like a dirty salad so while cooking i had to smash the patty and help squeeze out the uncooked batter.

-medium low worked best to cook through.

-because i didn't have cured pork, the whole thing lacked umami, so after the 2nd pancake i added some nooch to the batter andit was excellent. i'll use as default.

-i will likely use black pepper in the batter next time as well

-i didn't have a sauce for it, but i wanted some ground peanuts with sesame and chili or something. although it was a fairly delicate flavor so not sure

-could have also used fresh chopped scallions but didn't have any

-i'm a heathen, but i waste nothing

eta: i could see myself doing rye flour, shredded beets, and yogurt topping for an easter european style version, because it's what i have at home (but ofc cabbage too)

[Alphaville]

sssso this morning i made as above, but with rainbow chard leaves (the stems had been processed into a stew already), and it worked very well.

changes to the batter were: adding a bunch of nutritional yeast and fresh ground black pepper. this improved the taste immensely, to the point of not needing any sauces: we just ate the things plain and they were yummy.

i'd recommend nooch + black pepper for all manner of vegetarian and vegan dishes that lack the added great taste of cured meats, aged cheeses, fermented fish, etc. i.e. umami.

we've been using that flavor combo on popcorn for a while, but we're now expanding the uses. eg it might veganly approximate cacio e pepe (italians please dont kill me )

[Ego]

My friend who has been buying restaurant supplies at auction showed up Sunday morning with a 25kg bag of organic Chia seeds. He sold it to me for what he paid, $30. We each add about a tablespoon per day of chia to our breakfasts (about 1.5 pounds per month) so I am guessing we are going to have to up our consumption or we'll get stuck with some the next time we leave.

Does anyone make anything savory (not sweet baked goods) that include chia?

[Alphaville]

i haven't specifically made savory chia, but i don't have it pegged as sweet/baked.

e.g i'll often add to my (very sour) yogurt.

the key about them is to think of them as a fiber-rich thickener, with good fats, and inaccessible protein.

if you have a spice grinder ("coffee grinder") or a molcajete you can powder them and get to the protein inside.

i prefer to add chia at the end and not cook so as not to spoil the good fats--just needs a few minutes to kick in. but i've baked them too (eg in granola, but i prefer flax or sesame in granola).

so some ideas:
add to your oats if you make savory oats (i use steel cut outs as you would rice, eat with lentils etc)
use to thicken soups and broths and sauces and gravies
mix into to a salad dressing
toss into a green smoothie
pancake batter? (in @seppias japanese recipe above, as egg replacer?)

try both the whole seed and ground applications and see what works where. e.g. i'd keep whole for salad dressing, grind to mix into batter, ymmv elsewhere.

i'd look into classic aspic recipes and see if it could substitute for jello for example.

mix with beans/lentils?

[Ego]

Great tips Alphaville. Thank you. We haven't been grinding them but there is no reason not to start. They can go into the vitamix with flax for breakfast. I'll try the salad dressing today.

[Alphaville]

I'll try the salad dressing today.

as opposed to the famous chia pudding, shake this one frequently while it hydrates so that it stays somewhat fluid

[Alphaville]

bread i made today
in a 6qt bucket, mix:
1000g whole wheat flour
840g sour whey (mine was from paneer) plus one egg yolk (whip)
allow to hydrate/hydrolize (30m?)

then add:
1/2 tsp dry yeast (i like saf red label)
mix*
let rest a bit, add:
20g salt
mix*

* see ken fokish techniques on youtube

let sit in the bucket covered, fold the dought every couple hours or so. once it's risen high to the top put in the fridge overnight.

the next day just drop the dough on a half sheet pan and stretch it over to fit a rectangle kinda like a focaccia but not all the way to the edge (i used a silicon mat)

let it warm up in the room and do a 2nd rise (mine took maybe 2h? indont keep a warm house)

when ready, bake for 30+ min at 350f till it reaches an internal temp of about 88C (sorry mixed temp scales)

cool on a rack so it doesn't sweat

eat all week.

i forgot to do an egg wash with the egg white but that's life. should have, though, and maybe sesame seeds on top.

comes out crumbly and breaks easy due to minimal kneading.

[Alphaville]

some lentil thing

i found some lentil bolognese recipes but i didn't have mushrooms, and then i like my lentils thick not soupy so i made like this:

a 28oz can of tomato, blended (i got san marzanos), comes to about 3 cups
added:
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup dehydrated onion flakes (didn't have fresh)
2 cloves of garlic, whole
thyme, bay leaf (the tomato came with basil)
salt to tast approx 1 tsp (i used kosher which means low salt overall)
1/2 tsp sodium bicarbobate aka baking *soda* (not powder) to neutralize the acid a bit.

once the liquid was mixed i threw in 2 cups green lentils

pressure cooked for 10' allowed natural pressure release almost all the way.

came out nice and caviarish and tomato coated. neither soupy nor hard. would apply well to pasta. needs more umami though, for my taste.

--

eta: i think i'll eat them with crumbled walnuts and nooch and spinach, over quinoa.

[Alphaville]

Great tips Alphaville. Thank you. We haven't been grinding them but there is no reason not to start. They can go into the vitamix with flax for breakfast. I'll try the salad dressing today.

got a new one i havent tried yet. sugar free jam.

cooks down whatever fruit you wants to make with some liquid. once cooked add stevia or something. then mix and stir in some chia seeds to thicken. once cooled, proceed to spread.

have not made but will try with some berries i got that came with sticks in them. figured the boil might kill whatever.

[Ego]

Ah, I forgot to respond that I tried the salad dressing and it was quite good. Thank you.

I got a giant bag of dried figs a while ago and Mrs. Ego has been making jam with them. She also makes a very nice guyava jam when they are in season. I'll mention it to her.

[Alphaville]

oh guayaba will gel on its own i think but if you got anything that cooks runny, the chia will thicken instead of sugar+pectin. it's not for preservation i think but just for the week or whatever, since the chia won't be cooked.

btw found out chia is a huge source of omega 3 (alpha linolenic acid which is epa/dha precursor). i mean i knew it had "good fats" but not *that good*

see: https://www.myfooddata.com/articles/foo ... in-ALA.php

[Alphaville]

i made the chia jam, but i made it with sugar cuz im a degenerate

used about 2 cups mixed frozen berries, a splash of water to facilitate the melt, and 1/2 cup sugar.

after melting, boiled 5', turned off, added chia, stirred.

for the chia i ground 1/4 cup i think? in the spice grinder. and yes, did not cook after adding.

very easy, play by ear

[Alphaville]

also made 1 lb peanut butter by dropping dry roasted peanuts in the food processor and letting it rip.

first it grinds to a powder, then it forms a thick paste, then the oil really begins to separate and it turns runny. that's natural peanut butter: no sugar, no palm oil crap, just the salt from the roasted peanuts.