Tamale Pie FaceOff: From Clogger to Unclogged

Quote du Jour
     This little piggy had roast beef, this little piggy had none... ~ Nursery Rhyme

Did you know that our body makes its own cholesterol? 
And our body makes all the cholesterol all it needs!
No one explains this better than John McDougall, MD, a hero in our dietary journey. Listen to this video from his website this weekend:  

John McDougall MD, The Starch Solution

  "The body uses fat primarily for energy storage when no food or other immediate
   source of fuel is available, and cholesterol is needed for many critical cellular
   functions, so both are part of a normal, healthy body. Having said that, the body
   produces all the cholesterol it needs; and as for fat, plants already contain
   adequate amounts and only plants make the essential fatty acids your body
   needs to function. What’s more, plant foods never contain cholesterol." 
                                                                       ~ John McDougall MD
                                                                          drmcdougall.com

Is it possible that favorite recipes will still taste delicious if all animal-based ingredients are removed? How?

Test it yourself
Using  a recipe for Cashew Cream and the cooking technique of sweating, here is a model for taking the FaceOff of a favorite casserole resulting in an even tastier final dish.

Recipe Notes for *Clogger and *UnClogged: This recipe, from a dear friend, 
became an instant family favorite and is a casserole that most everyone loves. 
Easy to double, the heat is mild. Have a selection of hot sauces on hand for 
anyone who wants “heat” (that would not be me!). Mexican Coleslaw, recipe 
below, goes really well with this casserole.

Tamale Pie—*Clogger
Serves 6-8                                    

This little piggy had roast beef...

Preheat oven to 325º

Filling 

   1 lb ground beef

   1 onion, chopped   
    2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce 
   1 12-oz. can of kernel corn (1 1/2 cups - drained)
   1/2 cup pitted, chopped black olives
   1 clove garlic, minced 
   1 Tbsp sugar
   1 tsp salt
   2-3 tsps chili powder
   dash of pepper

   2 cups cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, grated

Combine beef and onion and cook till meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain liquid/fat. Add every thing else EXCEPT cheese. Simmer 20-25 minutes. Add cheese. Pour into 13x9 inch casserole and top with cornmeal topping.

Cornmeal Layer 

   2 cups cold water 
   1 Tbsp butter
   1/2 tsp salt
   3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

Cook and stir until thick, but not so thick that you won’t be able to spread it. 
Spread over casserole. Bake casserole in preheated oven, 25 minutes till bubbly.

Recipe *Unclogged Notes: When I unclogged Tamale Pie, I took the opportunity to tweak several ingredients to reflect my preference for the chunky texture of canned diced tomatoes, frozen corn over canned corn, and ground cumin. Then, I switched out plain cornmeal for the tastier texture of stone-ground cornmeal - the cornmeal used for polenta. What an easy way to add flavor, texture and fiber!

Tamale Pie—*Unclogged 
Serves 6-8
Preheat oven to 325º

...and this little piggy had none! Yum!!

Filling 

   1 onion, chopped
   1 clove garlic, minced
   3-4 veggie patties (optional)
   2-3 tsp chili powder
   2-3 tsp ground cumin
   dash of pepper
   2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
   1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes
   1 15-oz. can black beans, drain and rinse
   1 cup frozen yellow or white corn
   1 15-oz. can whole pitted olives
   salt to taste

    Add at end of simmer session, 1/2 cup cashew cream 
    (recipe on 10/12/13 post, My bridge to a plant-based diet)

Sweat onion and garlic in a bit of water. Add chili and cumin powder. Sweat
for a minute or so, then, if using, add chopped veggie burger and heat through. 
Add every thing else EXCEPT cashew cream. Simmer 20-25 minutes. Now 
add the cashew cream. Pour into 9 x 9 casserole dish and top with cornmeal
topping.

Cornmeal Layer    
   2 cups cold water 
   1 tsp salt
   3/4 cup yellow cornmeal, or 
         medium grind, stone ground yellow cornmeal (used for polenta)

   For a creamier texture, add at end of simmer session
        1/2 cup cashew cream, previous post

Stir cornmeal and salt into water. Cook and stir until thick, but not so thick that 
you won’t be able to spread it. If using, add cashew cream and mix.

Spoon over casserole. Bake right away, or cover and refrigerate. Bake casserole 
in preheated oven till bubbly.

Mexican Coleslaw
Serves 6 

Veggies 

   ½ head green or purple cabbage, chopped
   1 carrot, peeled and grated
   1 green pepper, seeded and chopped

Vinaigrette 

   1 clove garlic, peeled and scored in a few places to help release flavor
   ¼ cup red wine vinegar
   1 tsp Dijon mustard
   Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
   Olive Oil (to taste…use a tablespoon or so)

Shake vinaigrette and let sit for a few minutes for the flavor to build. Pour over
salad, then toss. Serve and enjoy.

Variations 
To add a sweet, salty and tangy profile to the salad
   4-5 radishes, sliced
   2 Tbsps raisins
   2 Tbsps smoked and salted almonds, chopped

Happy day! Yumminess...with no animal-based ingredients! Whee!

*Definitions for Clogger and Unclogged can be found on the page link to the right of this post.

Develop Flavor Using 3 Old Cooking Techniques

Quote du Jour

    Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need. ~ Julia Child

Tomorrow's Post will be a Plant-based Tamale Pie Recipe
The recipe includes Cashew Cream - previous post - and uses a cooking technique to build flavor that was new to me, but it's been around as long as people have been cooking!

From Dubious...

A major obstacle for me was figuring out how to build flavor in savory dishes without using butter or oils. Sautéing in butter or oil is a standard cooking technique to layer flavors, beginning with onions, garlic and ending with—if adding “heat”—a pinch of hot pepper flakes. Ah, me of little faith…I found the answer in a Julia Child cookbook. 

Develop Flavor Using 3 Old Techniques

1. Seasonal

The most flavorful ingredients are fresh ripe fruit or vegetables.

2. Stock

The French use stock, a flavorful (and thrifty) broth made from vegetables and herbs, to build flavor in savory cooking including sauces, soups and stews.

3. Sweat

Don’t sauté (or boil) — to develop flavors. This old cooking technique releases the freshness in ingredients to enhance flavor. In a small amount of liquid (no fats or oils), the vegetables that serve as the flavor base in a recipe are heated until they release moisture, or sweat. 

Here’s how:

     A. Heat a saucepan over medium heat

     B. Add enough liquid—water, vegetable stock, wine, fruit juice—to cover the 

         bottom of the pan. 

     C. One at a time, add the vegetables that will serve as the flavor base in the 

         recipe, starting with the ingredients that take the longest to cook. Through 
         the sweating process, add additional liquid as needed to prevent 
         sticking and scorching of ingredients. 

         Gently stir as the ingredients soften. (Piggy's showing off...he's moving 
         the ingredients around by tossing them...which could make quite a mess!) 

         

         Until you get comfortable with this process, start with the suggested order 

         below. Simmer each vegetable for several minutes before adding the next 

         (if using).

                                                1. Onions 

    2. Shallots 

         3. Garlic 

              4. Celery 

                   5. Carrots 

                        6. Peppers

                            7. Mushrooms 

After adding mushrooms, cover pan and steam for a few minutes. Mushrooms are loaded with water, and steaming helps release their deliciousness. I often add a squeeze of lemon, a bit of wine or wine vinegar - something acidic - at this point. Cover the pan for a few minutes to continue to grow flavor.

...to a Diet of Distinction

Now I prefer the fresh flavors that result from sweating vegetables in water or stock. I’d come to believe that butter and oils blur and obscure flavor when I stumbled upon confirmation for this in the Cook’s Illustrated Magazine, March & April 2013, page 30, “fat has a dulling effect on taste.”

Wheee...no bacon fat is very good for my heart!

My Bridge to a Plant-based Diet

Quote du Jour   
   Coronary artery disease need never exist. ~ Caldwell Esselstyn, MD

It's the Weekend: Time to VEG!
Along with a suggested YouTube video to enjoy at your leisure, today's blog includes the long promised recipe that provides the delicious aspects of cheese, with none of the casein and cholesterol. This recipe made a plant-based believer 
out of me.

VEG Video

Caldwell Esselstyn, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, gives a 62 minute talk from the 2003 VegSource Healthy Lifestyle Expo. 

Click this link to watch:  Make Yourself Heart Attack Proof

Oh, I could never give up cheese!
Everyone makes this statement, me included! So, I decided to think about what qualities I like about cheese, and see if I could find those qualities in plant-based ingredients. It worked!

Identify the traits you like about dairy
Good food includes a variety of elements beyond taste, including color, temperature and texture. With dairy off the table, I struggled to come up with a alternative that would provide a creamy texture. How could I make velvety Vichyssoise without cream? Pizza without cheese?

Finally, the recipe that was my bridge to a Plant-based Diet

Cashew Cream 

Creamy Texture: I don't know where I came across this wonderful recipe. It is so good, it stands alone. Not a cheese-alternative or cream-substitute, it is excellent all by itself in providing creamy texture to both savory and sweet recipes.

Well...it doesn't stretch: Cashew Cream does not provide the melting quality of cheese. Casein - the growth promoter protein in dairy - provides the stretchiness in melted cheese. If you purchase "vegan cheese," check the label for casein. Generally, if a Vegan cheese promises it melts like cheese, casein is an ingredient. Crazy!

Gee whiz fact: Casein and Gluten have similar molecular structures, and they both provide stretchiness. Gluten, the protein in wheat that many are sensitive to, provides the stretchy elasticity in wheat flour dough that helps it rise, keep its shape and bake into bread.

Where does cheese get flavor?: You know how yeast provides a yeasty flavor to bread, and another flavor to beer? This got me to wondering. Since yeast is used to make cheese, does yeast add flavor to cheese? I think it does! I'd never have thought this, until trying Nutritional Yeast. 

All the cheese flavor, none of the cholesterol, and loaded with B12

Nutritional Yeast: Yellow in color with a nutty cheese flavor, it’s basically unfermented brewer’s yeast (the yeast used to make beer). Nutritional Yeast is made by culturing yeast in a mixture of sugar cane and beet molasses for 7 days, then harvesting, washing, drying and packaging it. Sold as a powder resembling corn meal, or in flakes, it’s a major source of B12. Use it to add cheese flavor. Some folks use it as a condiment and sprinkle it on foods in the same way that Parmesan cheese is used. Some movie theaters even sprinkle it on their popcorn! Use Nutritional Yeast when a recipe calls for cheese flavor, for example, plant-based macaroni and cheese. (It's been around all my life, but still, what a find!)

Recipe Notes: Raw cashews have little flavor making them an ideal nut to use as a base for savory or sweet "cream." When roasted and salted, cashews have a somewhat sweet and distinctive flavor. Some cashew cream recipes call for soaking overnight. Generally, I don’t bother with the soaking, but it does yield a velvetier creamy texture. For different applications, vary the consistency by adding water or fruit juice to thin the cashew cream. 

Cashew cream will continue to thicken a bit as it stands. In cooking on a stove-top, because of its fat content, cashew cream reduces quickly in a pan, even faster than heavy cream, so watch it closely, and stir often.

Use in recipes the same way as cream, or half-and-half

Cashew Cream

Yield 2 ¼+ cups, depending on the thickness you need

     Place in the container of a heavy duty blender           

               2 cups cashews (can be purchased in 3 lb. containers at big box stores)
                  Use raw for flavorless creamy texture
                  Use roasted, salted cashews for a layer of flavor

     Cover with fresh, cold water, by one inch
                Add additional increments of water as needed, to process, and to thin

     Blend on high speed for several minutes, until velvety smooth. Cover
     and refrigerate until needed. 

Variations  
Get creative!

1. Cheesy: Nutritional yeast to taste
2. For Mexican Crema, thin with a bit of water
3. Go Nuts: Instead of cashews, try almonds, or walnuts, or pecans
4. Salad dressing: Add one whole lemon, one garlic clove, 1 tsp Dijon mustard
5. Savory: Add garlic, herbs, roasted red peppers, “heat,” fresh basil, etc.
6. Sweet: Add honey, maple syrup or agave nectar and vanilla and use as a dollop on pies, cobblers, etc.

I moooooove cashew cream replaces dairy cream in all cooking!

Piggy-backing on Previous Pad Thai Post...

Quote du Jour
  We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. 
  There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them 
   with our eyes open.                                                     ~ Jawaharial Nehru

A Local Travel Adventure...
Deciding to try Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Pad Thai recipe from her Post Punk Kitchen blog, led to the type of experience you usually get when traveling in a foreign country. You know, touring a country that speaks a different language? 

Rather than buy rice noodles at the local chain grocery story, I decided to check out 99 Ranch Market. Shopping list in hand, along with my own grocery bags, I set out for an unexpected adventure!

Melting Pot? My shopping perspective quickly became THINK OUTSIDE the pot! Many of the interesting food items I saw...geez, they've never been in any pot I've ever seen, and believe me, I want to find out what these ingredients are, and I want to taste and cook with so much that I saw. Check out their website (99 Ranch Market) for an e-experience. (You know they're in America -  their store logo is decorated for Halloween!)

Comparison shopping? OMG! The few American foods looked boring, relying on the same ingredients over and over again, they all seemed to contain cheese, cream or butter. 

99 Ranch has a whole aisle devoted to rice, with dozens of varieties beyond the plain white or brown rice we usually see at a grocery store. And the noodle aisle...OMG again and again! 

Here before me was a visual of our American diet...along side multi-Asian cuisine ingredients. Gotta tell you, the American diet comes off boring. 

Back to the Frying Pan
A new skill using my old cast-iron skillet:

Following Isa's simple and clear instructions for Perfectly Browned Tofu from Post Punk Kitchen, 
I finally know how to fry tofu, and it's delicious.

Already I've plans for using Perfectly Browned Tofu in other recipes. Thank you, Isa!

Confessions of a Cook

Okay, I made 3 deviations to Isa's Excellent Pad Thai Recipe

1. added 2 carrots (for color), peeled and sliced diagonally
2. cut tofu into .5 x.5 x 2 sticks, just cuz I wanted to
3. because of a peanut allergy in the family, I used chopped smoked and salted almonds. (How cool that we can make Pad Thai at home and not worry about peanut reactions!)

absoliman bon gou
(absolutely delicious in Thai)

Cheese Interrupted...

Quote du Jour
   If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. 
                                                                           ~ Gautama Buddha
Oh yum...
Looking for a plant-based Pad Thai recipe, I came across this fun blog by the author of Veganomicon (don't you love this title!)

     Post Punk Kitchen blog

Scroll down the blog for the Pad Thai recipe...I'm going to make this today!

Coming this week: Deconstructing cheese to rebuild with plant-based ingredients

What in the Word...I can't remember what the characters mean on piggy's noodle bowl...I drew the original bowl for another purpose...please translate for me!

A Doctor's Doctor: Dr. Michael Klaper

Quote du Jour
   Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life. ~ Albert Schweitzer

From a doctor who inspires...
At last February's McDougall Study Weekend, John McDougall MD, a doctor who inspires me and has been a 'voice in the wilderness,' introduced his longtime friend and closing weekend speaker, Michael Klaper, MD. 

...a doctor with heart and integrity
Dr. Klaper reminds us of what it truly means to be a physician. Five minutes into the talk, you'll be captivated. At the conclusion, doctors and nurses - everyone in the audience - gave this humble man a standing ovation. You'll be thinking about his presentation for a long time.

Observing their patients, both doctors switched to plant-based eating
Healthy eating was not part of medical school curriculum - wait a minute, it still isn't!

VeggieBound.org 

VeggieBound *Best 2012 Video pick
This 80 minute video takes us through 40 years of one remarkable physician's experience in medical practice. 
His experience is our shared journey through American healthcare, and the many improvements in medicine,
in the last half of the 20th century. Watch it this weekend!
            

Michael Klaper MD - From Operating Table to Dining Room Table
Click this link to watch: Dr. Michael Klaper at a McDougall Study Weekend

Recipe du Jour
Pictured in the previous post, for fun, serve with a straw in a Mason jar. 

Savor this delicious beverage while you enjoy Dr. Klaper's talk
Lemon Blueberry Spritzer 

6 cups (1 1/2 quarts)

SIMPLE SYRUP
Heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved, then cool
     
     1 cup sugar
     1 cup water

While the simple syrup is cooling, prepare and add to a 1+ quart pitcher

    1 cup fresh lemon juice, freshly squeezed
    1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
    1 sprig fresh mint and/or basil, optional

When cool, add the Simple Syrup. At this point, you can cover and cool this mixture in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To serve, add
    1 cup ice cubes
    1 liter Club Soda

Variations 
Get creative!

   Instead of lemons, use lime juice, freshly squeezed
   Replace blueberries with raspberries, sliced strawberries or sliced peaches

Enjoy!

*Since 2006, I've been making a documentary pick of the year (then it becomes a gift to family and friends). Dr. Klaper's talk, though technically not a documentary, provides inspiration, perspective and soul. Here's my list...

2006:  A Man Called Pearl

2007:  In the Shadow of the Moon

2008:  Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill 

2009:  Winged Migration (released in 2003, I didn't see it until 2009)

2010:  Queen of the Sun

2011:  Buck

2012:  Michael Klaper MD - From Operating Table to Dining Room Table

That's All Folks!

Don't Say Cheese!

Quote du Jour  
  I don't want the cheese, I just want to get out of the trap! ~ Spanish Proverb

Put yourself in the drivers seat
Think: What are the characteristics that you like about cheese?

Creamy rich, velvety smooth; except for melting (casein provides the melting ability in cheese), all the attributes we love about cheese can be found in plant-based ingredients.

Food does NOT need cholesterol to be tasty

Test for yourself

This amazing recipe - modified from the outstanding Winter 2013 Vegetarian Times Special Encore Edition Healing Foods Magazine recipe for Almond Feta Cheese - has all the wonderful flavors and smoothness of mozzarella or cream cheese, minus the casein and cholesterol. 

Sinfully Delicious Schmear, center, topped with 
     chopped smoked almonds and served with grapes, 
apple slices, baguettes and brown crackers.     

Recipe Notes: This recipe takes 2 days to make, so plan to make extra. A blender is needed for this recipe - high-powered blender is helpful to produce a velvety smooth schmear, but not necessary. Just in time for the holidays, this is the perfect spread for crackers, bagels, croustada, you name it. Several suggested variations follow the basic recipe.

Sinfully Delicious Schmear
Makes 1½ cups

SCHMEAR-BASE

Two days before serving, in a medium sized bowl, place

    1 cup whole blanched almonds 
    and cold water, enough to cover almonds

Cover and let sit overnight up to 24 hours. Drain and rinse the almonds in clean
water. Place the almonds in the container of a blender along with

   ¼ cup lemon juice             3 Tbsps. olive oil
   1 clove garlic, peeled         1 ¼ tsp. salt
   1/2+ cup cold water

Blend on high, adding additional water if needed, until velvety smooth and

creamy. If you’re not sure it’s smooth enough, blend again on high for several

more minutes.

Line a large strainer with cheesecloth, and place it over a medium-size bowl.

Scrape the schmear-base into the cheesecloth. Bring corners and sides of cloth

together and  twist and secure with a rubber band. You’ll have a sort of turban! 

Twist tightly to help extract moisture. Place in the strainer over the bowl, and

chill 12 hours, or overnight. Discard excess liquid.

Serve!

Or, make several variations for an appetizer or brunch spread

Variations 

Flavor one cup of Schmear-Base with

Basil   

   1 cup fresh Basil leaves, finely chopped

Herb    

   1 clove garlic, minced                1 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
   1 Tbsp green onion, chopped      salt to taste

Maple Walnut   

   ¼ cup walnuts, chopped            3 Tbsps Maple Syrup

Pumpkin

   1/2 cup pumpkin puree              1 tsp vanilla
   1 tsp cinnamon                         1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
   2 Tbsps brown sugar or 1 Tbsp agave nectar or honey

Sun Dried Tomato
    ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped (not packed in oil)
   1 Tbsp onion, finely chopped     1 clove garlic, minced
   1/2 tsp dried basil                     salt to taste

Health Note: This recipe contains no cholesterol. However, almonds, the main ingredient, are high in plant-based fats. Too much of any kind of fat, well, it makes us fat! Limit fat intake. For special occasions, this schmear is tops!

Wheeeeeee!