Vegan Chopped: Black Eyed Pea-Stuffed Blackberry Arepas with Chocolate Mole and Mint Cilantro Pico de Gallo

After my pseudo-Persian fail, I decided mole was the way to go for this challange. I've only had mole a few times, both when I was very young, and I hated it--though my tastes have changed--so I'm not sure if the flavor is that of a typical mole. I used a David Lebovitz recipe as a template and some advice I remembered from Rick Bayless. 

I toasted the whole ingredients to add intensity and cut the sauteing to save time. I think sauteing would round out the flavors better and add a layer of depth, though, so if you have time, saute the onions and garlic.  I also omitted the tomatoes and dried fruit. I intended to add raisins, but couldn't find them, so I thought about adding a little sweetener, but my chocolate is very sweet, so I decided the blackberries and chocolate would balance those flavors. I think the mole was missing a bit of brightness, so I'd serve with a lime wedge.

I knew my blackberries were tart, and would add just a faint flavor, but a ton of color if I put them into the water for the masa, but I didn't want the photos to be too muddy, so I went with bi-colored masa.  You can't taste the blackberries at all, but they add a brilliant color. The extra sugar seemed to caramelize a bit when the arepas were fried, so the outside browned up more than the regular arepas, which JD loved, but they also stuck a bit. I would definitely use this trick to make masa more festive in the future.

The black eyed filling was very simple due to the time limit, but if I had more time, I would have sauteed onions and garlic and simmered the beans with them for ten minutes.

If I made this dish again, I'd stuff the plain arepas with slices of avocado, and maybe add some Daiya or Follow your heart to the black eyed pea filling. These changes would give great color contrasts and add some moisture to the bean filling.

The addition of mint to the pico was nice, and it gave a light, fresh flavor. I omitted garlic, because I thought it might overpower the mint, and the mole.

All in all, this was a good dish. I probably wouldn't make the mole again, because it's not really our thing, and it's both time and ingredient intensive, but JD and I both enjoyed this meal. I make arepas, stuffed arepas, and salsa often, and as I said, I would use the blackberry trick again, especially since JD loved it. The top presentation was really pretty, but after eating one, I knew you needed some mole and pico in each bite, so the last picture is a much representation of well balanced flavors, and I could imagine serving this a party food.

"Quick" Blackberry Chocolate Mole

by Christina Terriquez

2 guadillo peppers
2 pasilla peppers
1 cup water
1 teaspoon fennel or anise seeds
1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano (I forgot to add this)
1/2 cup almonds
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (I used a mix of beige and black)
1/4 fresh or frozen blackberries
2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
 2 cloves garlic

 Lightly toast the peppers, they should puff up, and change color, but not become totally black of they will taste acrid. Cut the tops of the peppers off and discard the seeds. Tear or cut the peppers into small pieces, and place in your blender with the water.

Gently toast the fennel, coriander, cloves and cumin seeds, then add them to the blender. Add all remaining ingredients and blend well.

Strain mole into a heavy 2 quart saucepan and simmer over medium low heat for at least twenty minutes, stirring throughout.

Black Eyed Stuffed-Bi Color Arepas

by Christina Terriquez

1/4 cup fresh or frozen blackberries

water

1 cup masa harina, divided

1 teaspoon sea salt, divided

1 teaspoon baking powder, divided

Black Eyed Pea filling, recipe follows

safflower or sunflower oil for frying

Blend blackberries with 1/2 cup water. Strain and set aside.

Mix 1/2 cup masa harina, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder in a medium bowl. Add half of the water and mix well. Add remaining blackberry water, if needed, or plain water if additional liquid is needed to achieve soft earlobe consistency. Set dough aside.

In a medium bowl, mix remaining masa harina, salt and baking powder. Add water to achieve soft earlobe consistency.

Divide each ball of dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a small ball, then working one by one, flatten ball using your fingers and place a teaspoon of black eyed pea filling inside. It may help to compact and roll the filling into a ball as well. Flatten dough and fold it over the filling, completely encapsulating the filling. Smooth out dough and flatten out shape to small flat cylinders, like little hockey pucks. If your dough becomes dry, use a little water.

Once all dough is used, cover a heat-proof plate with two paper towels. Put oil into a heavy pot. You'll need about 1/2" of oil. Heat oil to medium high and fry the arepas in batches, draining on paper towels.

To serve, cover each arepa with blackberry chocolate mole, top with a spoonful of Mint Cilantro Pico de Gallo and garnish with lime wedges and mint leaves.

Black Eyed Pea Filling

1 can black eyed peas, rinsed and drained

sea salt

garlic powder

onion powder

Place the beans in a bowl, season to taste with garlic and onion powder and salt. Lightly mash.

Mint Cilantro Pico de Gallo
by Christina Terriquez

1/2 white onion
sea salt
1/8 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, washed
1/8 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, washed
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and diced

1 roma tomato, diced

lime juice


Dice onion, put into a wire mesh strainer and rise with cool water. Put into a small bowl, add a pinch of salt and mix.

Mince mint and cilantro, and add to onion. Add jalapeno and tomato. Mix and season with lime and salt.

Vegan Chopped: Pseudo Persian Fail

Black Eyed Pea Cutlets in Chocolate Blackberry Walnut Stew with Mint, Basil, and Parsley over Jasmine Rice 

On Thursday afternoon, I saw a post on Facebook from Isa about a Vegan Chopped contest she was running.  This was perfect timing as I had three days off and was eager to do some hardcore cooking.

The premise and rules were simple: 

You have four mystery ingredients. Create an entree using all four ingredients as little or as much as you want, and you can use anything else in your pantry.

The dish must take only about 40 minutes to prepare. You must from-scratch, vegan ingredients. You must include a title, picture and description of methods used.

Submissions will be judged on taste, creativity and presentation. 

The four ingredients are: mint, blackberries, bittersweet chocolate and black eyed peas.

I love a good cooking challenge, and while the first three ingredients were no problem, the black eyed peas threw me for a loop. I've only used them once, in a hoppin' john, and I think I've only eaten them twice besides that. I've way more familiar with these Black Eyed Peas. 

My first thought was to make sweet black eyed pea fritters, similar to the savory fritters a local West African place, Wasota makes and top them with a chocolate blackberry sauce and garnishi with mint, but that's not an entree, and it seemed like a "safe" choice.

I had a ton of ideas at once, all revolving around a similar sauce, chocolate mole, chocolate curry, and chocolate Persian stew. I figured I could make black eyed pea and gluten patties, kind of like the famous chickpea cutlets, but browned in a pan, then simmered in broth, and simmered in sauce or steam black eyed pea-gluten sausages and simmer them in one of those sauces. Then reality hit. Forty minutes. Forty minutes wouldn't be enough time to do all of that, but maybe I could use the chickpea cutlet template, and let them simmer in the sauce.

I decided to do a take on a Persian walnut pomegranate stew that I make frequently, since it already had fruit and tons of richness, and was garnished with more fruit and copious amounts of fresh herbs, it seemed ideal.

I made the black eyed pea cutlets, and everything was looking great. My rice was almost done, my sauce was on its way, and I had browned the patties. I sliced the cutlets into strips to help them cook more quickly, since they seemed a little soggy still. I still had about twenty minutes, and the sauce takes a while to reduce, so I added the black eyed pea cutlet strips and hoped for the best....

I should have scrapped the idea then. I knew that I needed to simmer those cutlets, but I thought maybe, just maybe simmering in the sauce would work. Blech. They were disgusting. soft and obviously not done, which is a shame, because the sauce was actually pretty good. Not as good as the original, but it could have been tweaked to be a little more tangy, a little less chocolately, and probably would have been great. There was just no way these cutlets would have worked in the time allotted.

All was not lost, though. I learned a few things. First, ALWAYS STRAIN YOUR BLACKBERRIES. These blackberries had crazy huge seeds, as big as sesame seeds and they were so hard I thought I chipped a tooth. I usually love blackberry seeds, but these monsters had the. worst. seeds. ever.

Second, TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. My first thought about those cutlets was to brown them, simmer them for 30-60 minutes, then use them in a recipe. I went ahead and tried that, and lo and behold, perfect, amazing cutlets. I love them, and I can already tell they will be in frequent rotation at my house. I could even see making a big batch and freezing some, and using different types of broth.

I also gave the challenge another go.

So, here's the super easy but time consuming recipe. Don't worry, for the long simmering time they can be left mostly-unattended. 

Black Eyed Pea Cutlets

by Christina Terriquez

1 can black eyed peas

1 cup vital wheat gluten

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon ground poultry seasoning

safflower or olive oil

vegan broth or bouillon

Drain the liquid from the can, then rinse once, and fill the can with water just to cover the black eyed peas. Puree black eyed peas completely.  In a medium bowl, mix bean puree, gluten, soy sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and poultry seasoning. Knead well.

Separate dough into four equal portions, roll each portion into a ball, then flatten. 

In a large cast iron skillet, heat enough oil to barely cover the bottom of pan. Brown both sides of each cutlet. Add broth or water and bouillon and simmer for an hour, adding more water as needed.

Notes:
I used Better Than Bouillon's No Chicken Base.

Try other seasoning in the cutlet or other broths.

This a great, basic cutlet that has flavor on its own, but can be prepared in a huge variety of ways.

This could be left to simmer in a crock pot, but I would increase the cooking time.

Dijon Mustard Potatoes, Almond and Panko Crusted Black Eyed Pea Cutlet and Water Sauteed Red Kale

Vegan MoFo: Agave Beer Pizza Crust

On Tuesday, I wrote about our and pizza, beer and wings night, but I didn't show the pizza.  Here it is! We often make our own pizza, and about half the time, we use this crust. I love the soft, bready-like texture, the quick, easy recipe, and the slightly sweet, yeasty flavor. We love making our own pizza, because it's economical, fun and each get make it just the way we like it.

For this pizza, I doused the crust in sauce, then I chopped up a few handfuls of spinach very thinly, topped that with some chopped Morningstar Farms/Gardein chick'n strips, finely sliced frozen artichoke hearts, thinly sliced kalamata olives and tons of Monterrey Jack flavored Follow Your Heart.

Before I covered it in FYH.

          Agave Wheat Pizza Crust
        Christina Terriquez

 In my hometown, there’s a local pizza chain that’s famous for their crusts. The standard crusts are wheat, semi-thick, bready and lightly sweetened with honey. Each pizza even comes with a small side of honey so that you can dip your crust and eat it for dessert. We didn’t go to that pizza chain often, but the crusts left a huge impression on me. This recipe is my answer to that crust. It’s soft, bready, and very flavorful. 

 1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour    

1 1/2 cups organic unbleached flour    

         1/4 teaspoon unrefined sea salt   

3 teaspoons baking powder     

1 tablespoon organic extra virgin olive oil,     

1 tablespoon organic agave nectar     

11 ounces your favorite beer, pale ale, hefewizen or light  lagers work well  

Directions   

Preheat oven to 350° F.      

Sift dry ingredients together into a large bowl.  

In a small bowl, whisk together oil and agave nectar, then add beer and gently mix. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients and gently mix to incorporate. Batter will be slightly wet and sticky. Knead until dough comes together, adding more flour as needed.  

Cover two baking sheets with unbleached parchment. Divide dough in two, and lightly flour. Using flour as needed, roll dough out into a round approximately 10–12 inches in diameter.  

Bake crusts for 10–15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and done in the center. Top as desired and bake.  

Variations 

Try dividing dough into thirds or fourths for personal pizzas.  

Use 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup unbleached white for a heartier wheat flavor.              

Brush crust with olive oil prior to baking.  

Notes 

The beer will flavor your crust quite a bit, so use a beer you enjoy drinking. Light to medium beers with heavy wheat or honey flavors work especially well here.  

         This crust is very bready, the texture is like a quick bread, not stretchy like regular pizza dough.

Finished product, covered in FYH.

What's your favorite pizza? Do you ever make your own crust?

Vegan MoFo Wordless Wednesday: Chocolate Raspberry Silk Pie

Vegan MoFo Review: Gardein Buffalo Wings

 

I've never had buffalo wings. I became a vegetarian before I started enjoying spicy foods. So, I sort of understood the dynamic of buffalo wings, celery and blue cheese dressing, while still not really getting it. I  mean, rich creamy dressing; hot, tangy wings; crisp, crunchy, but sort of bland celery sticks? I get the concept of all the disparate parts coming together in glorious harmony, but I'm not a huge fan barbeque sauce or Worcestershire, or A1 or siracha, so didn't think I'd be a fan of buffalo sauce and I never liked blue cheese.

When JD and I saw the new line of Gardein products our local Target was carrying, I got excited for two reasons, first, Gardein is awesome, and I like the crispy tenders, which had not previously been available anywhere in my neighborhood, and second, specifically vegan foods items being readily available and easily accessible? THIS IS THE VEGAN REVOLUTION, PEOPLE. My Target also has two kinds of tofu, multiple brands and styles of non dairy milks including Silk's refrigerated soy, almond AND coconut milks, and Earth Balance, which they sell for about a dollar less than any of the health food stores in my area.

So, when I pointed them out to JD, he immediately went for buffalo wings, to my dismay. When I expressed my misgivings, he suggested I get the BBQ wings. Does he even know me?  I explained I wanted the crispy tenders, and, based on his past experience with Gardein, suggested we get all three. We didn't really have that much space in our freezer, and I didn't want to have that much processed (and BBQy) stuff taking up what little space we did have, so we settled for the buffalo and crispy tenders styles.

A few weeks ago we went to Wimberly and found a brewery that had some amazing hefeweizen, of which we promptly bought a growler. We had decided to have a beer and pizza night, so I suggested we add these wings to the menu.

I cooked them up according to the stove top directions, and like most of Gardein's products, they were very simple to prepare. I was a little worried, because the package said to saute and brown each side until crispy, but also warned against burning and mine didn't really seem to get crispy, since they didn't have any breading and weren't coated like the Mandarin Chick'n. I let some of them get crispy, but this made very dark, and I feared they were burnt and therefore ruined. With the heat turned off, and the sauce "setting" on the wings, I cut up some celery into sticks. I took a nibble of one celery stick and wondered if I wouldn't end up liking them more than the wings.

I told JD they were ready, and he replied, "You know the best thing about vegan wings?"

"What?" I asked, thinking to myself, no mechanically separated chicken? No battery cages full of hens?

" No bones or ligaments!" he said. I can get behind that answer, though I remember my first few vegetarian months, when I actually sort of missed the structure bones gave food.

So, onto the most important thing, how did they taste? I liked them! The texture was maybe a little too soft or not chewy enough for me, but I liked the sauce more than I thought I would. The sauce was a bit hot, but with the crisp, fresh, cook celery, and the bright, bubbly beer, it worked. And even though it seemed like there was not enough sauce included, and the wings didn't seem coated enough, I actually preferred, and found myself seeking out the wings that had less sauce. I also found myself looking for the crispiest wings. I still remember Morningstar Farms' Spicy Chick'n wings, which contain egg, and I used to love in my ovo lacto days, but these are good for fun, easy, fast finger food. If I watched football, these would be perfect football food.

JD liked them, and would eat them again, but said he'd doctor the sauce, since, while it had heat, it was not tangy or Tabasco-y enough to really compare to buffalo sauce. "It was more like spicy barbecue sauce."