16 June 2011

Cornbread Waffles and Salsa


Cornbread waffles!  These are great on their own and although they are great to eat with a side of beans, now that it's summertime, I like to eat them with a nice side of salsa.

Cornbread Waffles (makes about 8)

1 c cornmeal
1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt (or salt to taste)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp cornstarch (or 1 tsp egg replacer)
2 c soy buttermilk (soymilk + 1 tsp cider vinegar)
1/4 c melted margarine


This salsa is great with tortilla chips, it's great in wraps, it's great with rice and beans, and it's fabulous with cornbread waffles! 

Big Momma's Salsa

Puree in a food processor or blender:
1 can of tomatoes in juice (500g or 15 oz will do nicely and you can sub crushed tomatoes, too)
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 jalapeƱo pepper or a couple peppers from a jar of pickled hot peppers
juice of one lime
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
optional (but delicious): a handful of chopped fresh cilantro

This salsa is great because you can totally adjust the seasonings to your liking (or according to the contents of your cupboard) and it will always be delish!  It's also great with fresh tomatillos (I can't find them here, but they are scrumptious) or roasted bell peppers blended in.  If your salsa is a little watery, you can add a couple tbsp of tomato paste. 

The salsa is great served fresh, but it also tastes fabulous after chilling it in the refrigerator for a few hours (or overnight) and letting those seasonings mingle!

07 June 2011

Black-Eyed Pea & Tarragon 'Sausages'



I like to have a photo of my food before I post it (or else I would probably have three times as many recipes up), but I keep eating these up before I can get a photo in, so instead I just thought I'd post a video of Hedge Fund talking along with my black-eyed pea & tarragon 'sausage' recipe (a work in progress). 

This is roughly what I did, using stuff I had on-hand around the kitchen:
1.5 c mashed Black-eyed peas, 1 c w/w flour, 4 tbsp soy flour (could use chick pea (aka gram aka grabanzo), but I didn't have any), 1/4 c cooked rice (you could totally sub millet and it would be faaaabulous), juice 1/2 lemon, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 c finely diced onion, 1 finely diced garlic clove, 1 tbsp ground flaxseeds, 2 tbsp ground sunflower seeds, 2 tbsp brewer's yeast, 1 tsp arrowroot powder (or was it xanthan gum? I was out of cornstarch), 2 tbsp finely chopped tarragon, a pinch of cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.

HOWEVER, you could totally simplify it and do it like this:
1.5 c mashed Black-eyed peas, 1 c w/w flour, 1/4 c cooked rice, juice 1/2 lemon, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 c finely diced onion, finely diced garlic clove, 4 tbsp nutritional yeast (or 4 tbsp chick pea flour or anywhere in between), 1 tbsp cornstarch, 2 tbsp finely chopped tarragon, a pinch of cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.

ANYWAY, your mixture should be rather doughy and not too sticky. Roll it into links (you know, sausage shapes), wrap in foil (twist up the ends like a Tootsie Roll), and steam for about 40 minutes.  For the record, I totally nicked the bean-sausage idea from here:  http://www.theppk.com/2011/05/smoky-maple-sausages/, except I can't really get vital wheat gluten around here, so I've been working on using different flours as a substitution.  (Too much wheat flour and my weenies start tasting kind of dumpling-ish.)

If you don't fancy steaming sausages, just shape them into patties and fry them in a little oil. I thought the tarragon gave the sausages a slightly fishy taste, but not in a bad way.  They taste great with mustard.  Even my husband liked them!

I'm going to work on a GF version for all my GF peeps.  I just got some ground rice today (I was going to get rice flour, but ground rice was wa-a-ay cheaper and if it's not ground finely enough, I can just grind it some more in my blade coffee grinder).

Some more notes from sausage-link land:  you don't have to do the tarragon-lemon-pepper flavour if it's not your thing.  I'll work on a generic recipe and post some different herb and spice options.  These sausages are also a great way to sneak in extra nutrition -- I've made versions with mashed broccoli and tahini.*  I also like grinding up sunflower seeds and adding them.  Adding brewer's or nutritional yeast gives you some B vitamins and protein.  Finely shred some carrots!  Mash some steamed cauliflower or parsnip!  Adding different grains, like rice or millet or buckwheat, totally gives it a better, more sausage-like texture, but also gives your weenies the whole bean & grain complementary amino acids-thing.

*  I am in love with tahini.  I suppose my next post should be about my tahini sauces and dressings.