MOFO - Day 15 - Green Chile Grilled Cheeze

So this is not officially a recipe, but it is officially pretty tasty. I ran out of time today and had nothing ready for today's post. So I decided to ad-lib for today's entry. This will end up being something I will make again too.

Green Chile Grilled Cheeze

1 Sandwich

2 slices whole wheat bread
Vegan butter (enough to butter bread)
1 thick slice sweet onion
1 teaspoon olive oil
dash salt
1 - 1/2 inch thick slice large tomato or two smaller slices
1 whole roasted green chile, large enough to cover the size of the bread
1/3 cup grated Daiya cheddar (or your favorite vegan cheddar grated)
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

In small bowl combine cheddar and chives. Butter one side of each slice of bread. Heat small iron skillet over med-low heat. Lightly salt and grill onions in olive oil until they are softened about 3-5 minutes. Remove from pan. Place one slice of bread buttered side down in same pan. Top evenly with half of Daiya mixture. Next layer in order with green chile, tomato slice(s), grilled onions, remaining Daiya mixture and second slice of bread with butter side on top. Grill on med low heat until bread it browned and crisp, about 3-5 minutes. Flip and grill other side until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Slice in half and serve immediately.

MOFO - Day 14 - Iron Chef - Quinoa

The iron chef ingredient this week is quinoa. Now I love quinoa in so many ways. I wanted to do something reflecting fall and Thanksgiving. I also managed to make it gluten free for my sensitive friends and readers. Quinoa is an amazing seed (it is not actually a grain). It is a complete protein all on its own which makes me love this cute little nutritionally packed ingredient even more.

I thought about making something very healthy, but seeing as I just acquired a brand new deep fryer, my inner fried food loving fiend won out. I was very pleased to discover that quinoa makes an incredibly crunchy coating for fried treats. To keep with the chile theme, I used two types of chiles in today's dish: hatch green chiles and serrano chiles.

Red Inca Quinoa Crusted Hatch Green Chile Croquettes with Serrano - Lime Cranberry Sauce

Serrano Cranberry Sauce

Makes just under 1 cup

1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup water
8 oz fresh cranberries
1 teaspoon tequila
1 tablespoon lime zest
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
1 serrano chili pepper, seeded and finely minced

In a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. place all ingredients in pan and simmer until thickened, stirring frequently. This should take between 15-20 minutes. Cranberries will pop as they cook. Be careful of splattering. Once thickened, remove from heat.

Red Inca Quinoa Crusted Hatch Green Chile Croquettes

Makes 20 croquettes

3 large cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons red onion, finely minced
2 teaspoons olive oil
3 tablespoons minced roasted Hatch chiles (you can sub any type of roasted green chiles)
1 1/2 cups roasted mashed sweet potatoes
3/4 cup corn flour
3/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 1/2 cups cooked red inca quinoa

Preheat deep fryer or oil in deep pan (with enough oil to be 2 inches deep in pan).

In small saute pan over medium heat, saute garlic and onion in olive oil until onion is just soft, about 2-3 minutes. In large bowl, combine garlic, onion, chiles, sweet potatoes, corn flour and dry spices until well combined. Form 1 tablespoon of mixture into a ball.  Roll ball into cooked quinoa, coating evenly. You may have to press quinoa into ball. Carefully drop balls into oil. Do not crowd. Fry for 3-4 minutes until croquette is golden dark brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with toothpicks and side of cranberry sauce.

MOFO - Day 13 - Chicken Nachos a la Lombardi's

This is going to be short and sweet because I have a hot date with my handsome honey. If you know me or have followed my blog for a while, you might know that I got my first cooking gig when I was 15 at a place called Lombardi's 2nd Effort. Oddly enough it was an awesome Mexican joint that also made pizza. The owner was definitely Mexican, but he loved Vince Lombardi and his philosophy. They gave me my first opportunity to cook and I fell in love.

The other day I was on FB and my very great cooking bud from this very restaurant had asked me if I remembered how we made these. It stirred up wonderful gastric memories and I developed an unbelievable hankering for their famous chicken nachos.

In this version I used chicken seitan cutlets cut into 3/4 inch pieces. They were coated with my favorite taco seasoning and seared until they were dark brown. I used some thicker and very crunchy chips. This is very important, because otherwise the chips will not hold up the the toppings. The chips were topped first with a small dollop (maybe 1/2 teaspoon) of toffutti sour cream, then one chunk of the seasoned chicken. I then placed very thinly sliced Daiya Italian blend over each chip and garnished with a thin slice of jalapeno. Slap these babies under the broiler for about 3 minutes until the chips start to brown and the Daiya is bubbling. Serve with your favorite salsa and share a great memory with yours truly.

Mucho Gusto y gracias Dan Cervantes, wherever you are.

MOFO - Day 12 - Chicken and Waffles with Jalapeno Gravy

12 days in a row. I feel good! I'm having a lot of fun with you guys. I hope you are enjoying chile mania. I know I've been a little heavy on jalapenos, but we are getting a good crop out of the garden. You have to run with that when you are so lucky.

Tonight I decided to go all fatty and decadent. My friend, the lovely Julie, just happened to have a brand new fryer and waffle iron she was getting ready to put in a garage sale. Instead she gave them to me! Well, out of courtesy of course, I felt I should take them and appreciate them immediately. Gotta show my gratitude.

I've been seeing and hearing a lot about fried chicken and waffles lately. Now this is a combo I would not normally think of eating. For one, I am not a big fan of waffles. Secondly it is certainly not healthy or light. But I do have to say, it was a fun plate to create.

The waffles are the Corn Meal Waffles from Isa's Vegan Brunch. I made the savory option. The "chicken" was from a previous Food Network Friday challenge. The recipe is here. I served the chicken smothered with a Cajun Jalapeno Gravy. You gotta have some green with all of this beige, so I quickly sauteed up some smoky collard greens.

Cajun Jalapeno Gravy

Makes about 1 3/4 cup

3 tablespoons vegan butter
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 large jalapeno, finely chopped (2 tablespoons)
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/4 teaspoon granulated onion
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon rubbed sage
2 cups vegetable broth

In a small bowl combine smoked paprika through rubbed sage (dry spice mix) and set aside.

In medium sauce pan over med high heat, melt vegan butter. Whisk in flour. Stirring constantly to prevent burning make a medium roux by cooking until the mixture is light brown in color. The mixture is extremely hot so use caution. Add jalapeno, shallot and garlic. It will sizzle very loudly and may splatter a bit. Saute for 1-2 minutes until the vegetables soften up. Add dry spice mix. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Slowly pour in vegetable broth while whisking constantly until all the broth is in the pan. Stir with a spoon making sure to get all cooked on bits off the bottom of the pan. Turn heat to low and simmer, whisking frequently until gravy thickens up, about 10 minutes. If you like it thicker, you can let it simmer longer. Salt to taste. Serve over chicken or mashed 'taters.

MOFO - Day 11 - Restaurant Review - 24 Carrots

It's not a total chile-ful post today, but I did order an extra dish just so I would have something with chiles in it...so there!

Today Fred and I hit one of our new favorite places, 24 Carrots located at the NW corner of Chandler Blvd and Kyrene Road next to the Subway in Chandler.

Fred has been haunting this place for quite some time. He likes to stop in for a re-charging juice or smoothie to get him going after a good work out or for a quick pick me up at work. We both love this place for many reasons. They use local and organic ingredients whenever possible. The owner, Sasha, is a true food lover. She creates her recipes without tasting them. I asked her why she did this and she told me that she tends to over-spice things because she loves a ton of flavor. Instead she makes her creations and has others test the flavor. It seems to be a winning formula. Her passion is making healthy meals and snacks for our junk-food nation's inhabitants. They were originally a juice and smoothie joint but 24 Carrots has recently revamped their menu to include a slew of tasty and healthy food choices.

I was very excited to see they had VEGAN specials this fine day.

They are now offering a full breakfast menu. I don't have pictures of this, but you must try the Vegan Eggs Benedict. The garlic aoli is amazing! The avocados are fresh and plentiful. I never seem to make it in before 11am, but I plan on trying other selections like the Fruited Breakfast Quinoa and the vegan muffins.

Their lunch menu now boasts Salads, Wraps, Pita Pizzas, Sandwiches, Burgers and Raw Treats. There are always vegan options and very often gluten free options as well! he daily specials usually include vegan options as well. On our latest visit I finally remembered to bring my camera. I told Fred to strap the feedbag on because we were going to try lots of stuff!

First we checked out the appetizers. We started off with the Dolmas ($4.95). I don't often like a lot of dolmas because they are not executed well. These were delicious. They were flavorful and the filling was so creamy and delicious. The plate was garnished with fresh spinach and cherry tomatoes. We were planning on taking them home for a snack later, but they never made it out the door.

Next up we tried the Raw Papaya Noodle Bowl ($8.95). Fred had been wanting to try this for a while. We both adore kale, so we thought we'd give it a try. The kale was that beautiful emerald green and very fresh. It was a gorgeous looking salad. However out of everything we tried this was our least favorite. Part of the reason was just personal preference...neither of us is crazy about peanuts and this salad had peanuts as a garnish and it tasted like some in the dressing. The one thing we found odd was that the dressing was pretty warm. It just didn't work for me.

We moved on to the next adventure. We usually order different dishes and try each others' selections. Today was no exception and man was I glad! They offer two options for their burgers the Betty: served with just a deli dill pickle and the Veronica: served with organic tortilla chips or baby carrots, deli pickle and a choice of pineapple slaw or fresh garden salad. Because we were totally pigging out on so many other items, I got mine Betty style. I ordered the Wild Mushroom Tofu Burger ($6.95 Betty/$9.95 Veronica). I envisioned it coming with mushrooms and onions on top, but they were actually part of the patty. I thought it was very tasty. Like many of their burgers the patty is very delicate, so make sure to have napkins handy. My burger was grnished with a generous portion of fresh veggies. It was pretty as well as tasty. I have to put in a plug for the Veggie Masala burger I had on my last visit. It is a great Indian spiced option.

Fred's selection was the Vegan Egg Sandwich ($8.95). This is their version of an egg salad sandwich. The menu description doesn't tell you but it is speckled with dried cranberries, which I found to be a very nice addition. The sandwich is served on a delicious 9-grain bread it's soft and delicious. The sandwich came with a generous portion of avocado and tasty tomatoes. Fred opted for the combo with tortilla chops and a pickle. This is a generous portion for even the hungriest diner.

By now we were pretty darn stuffed. Fred had even tried to call for belly back up with no success. But because this is the month of the chile I had to order something with chiles in it. As luck would have it, the special of the day was Vegan Jambalaya. This was also a very generous portion and was served with a small house salad with house vinegarette. I asked what peppers were in it and she said they used chiles and serranos. She did not put a lot in because she was concerned most guests wouldn't like something too spicy. For us it was pretty mild (I could have used more pepper, maybe a splash of hot sauce), but pretty tasty! We were truly stuffed so we only had a few bites. But we both agreed it was pretty tasty. They were kind enough to bring us a box to take it home.

We always enjoy visting 24 Carrots. We usually run into some very nice diners when we are there. The staff is super friendly and the food is consistently fresh and tasty. One word of warning, this is not a run in and run out dining experience. Be prepared to take your time. Bring your laptop for some free WiFi if you are dining alone to kill a little time. The food is made to order in a very small kitchen and takes quite a while to appear at your table. We witnessed one customer come in for take out and leave before her food was ready. As long as you go in to the experience knowing and expecting this, you will be thrilled with this wonderful healthy little neighborhood gem.

24 Carrots
4140 W Chandler Blvd #2
Chandler, AZ 85226
480-753-4411

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MOFO - Day 10 - Habanero-Cascabel Pickled Nopales

Two for the price of one special! This day of MoFo is brought to you by the chiles Habanero and Cascabel. Habaneros are often incorrectly thought of as the hottest of chiles. Actually the hottest pepper honor goes to the Naga Jolokia (ghost pepper). This pepper I'm sure would turn many people into ghosts, so it will not be part of my experiments. Make no mistake habanero at 100,000-350,00 on the Scoville Scale should command your respect in handling and eating them. The small but mighty pepper hails from the Yucatan Peninsula and are a common ingredient in many Yucatan dishes. They are around 1-2 inches and heart shaped. They are usually sold when they are orange in color and ripe. It might not be a bad idea to don your gloves when working with them.

Next I'd like to introduce you to the Cascabel pepper. This cute, round, reddish-brown pepper is sold dried. It is also known as the rattle pepper because if you shake it, it sounds like a cute little rattle. It is fairly mild rating between 1250-5000 on the Scoville Scale. Last year I had the honor of hanging out with Tami from Vegan Appetite, Liz from Cooking the Vegan Books and Kelly from Seitan Beats Your Meat in Chicago. I wanted to bring them some Southwestern goodies, but I also didn't wanted to bring some things that would travel well. Dried chiles filled the bill. I had not yet tried this variety yet, so I figured I should come up with a recipe for them to use. I don't know if they still have them, but if they do, here is a tasty way to use them.

I was taking a stroll at my local Mexican grocer to procure some chiles for MoFo and ran across the Cascabel again. I was also perusing the produce aisle in search of some exotic southwestern vegetable that might inspire me. My eyes and hands were drawn to this unsuspecting bag of cleaned and diced fresh Nopales (edible cactus). It doesn't get much more Southwetern than cactus. I had seen them in jars filled with preservatives and never felt very compelled to ingest them that way. When I got home, the inspiration hit me. I would pickle my own without chemicals or coloring. Plus this way, I could use the flavors I love. It makes me feel close to my roots to can anything. I come from a long line of gardeners and canners. I was beginning to think I didn't have it in me, but I think I may be waking up the beast.

Habanero - Cascabel - Pickled Nopales

1 lb diced cleaned nopales
1/2 onion cut into 8ths
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
4 cloves garlic, slightly crushed
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
4 large sprigs cilantro
1 habenero cut into  equal pieces
4 cascabel chili, sliced open (make sure to put pod and seeds in jar)

2 1/4 cups water
1 1/4 cup white vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons pickling salt

In large bowl mix nopales,  onion chunks and carrots. In each of 4 pint jars place 1 clove garlic, 1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds (approx 10 seeds), 1 sprigs, 2 pieces habenero. Evenly distribute nopales mixture in each jar.

In medium saucepan heat water, vinegars and pickling salt until boiling and salt is disolved. Pour liquid over vegetables in pint jars until 1/2 inch from top. Seal jars and refrigerate for at least two days. They should keep in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. Eat them straight out of the jar or serve as a garnish for tortas, tacos, tostadas etc. Try chopping them smaller for a reallly great relish for Mexi-dogs.

As a little side note Tami = American Vegan Kitchen

Kelly = Vegan Cookie Connoisseur

If you haven't checked out their books yet make sure to click on the links!

MOFO - Day 9 - Anaheim Chiles

I know yesterday's post was a bit of a yawner, but it was a lead up to this post which should prove to be more exciting. Today's featured chile is the very versatile Anaheim. This pepper looks very similar to the Hatch chile from my earlier post, but they are not exactly the same. The Anaheim is named after the Southern California city where they were originally grown. This is a good entry level chile for those who aren't quite trained for the heat yet. They are mild and sweet. They rate a mere 500-2500 on the Scoville Scale. Because of their size and relative mildness, they are very popular in Chile Rellenos Recipes.

This recipe was developed especially for my good friend and fellow foodie, Jackie. Jackie and I spend a lot of time on the hiking trail. We spend lots of time chatting it up about many subjects, but more often than not, the discussion turns to our favorie subject - food. Jackie was in search of a healthier version of chile relleno. I don't know why, but I was thinking about Kittee (of Cake Maker to the Stars) and how she is always coming up with delisious GF alternatives since she has had to cut it out. I thought it would be interesting to try a gluten free version as well.

This is a tasty version, but a word of warning for traditinalists, the rice flour gives a more powder like texture to the coating, so if you can eat gluten, feel free to substitute AP flour. This has several components and requires a bit of time if you do it all in one day. You can make the sauce and the mashed potatoes ahead of time to save yourself time on assembly day.

Porcini and Caramelized Jalapeno Chile Rellenos with Southwest Tomato Sauce

Makes 8 peppers

8 large Anaheim Chiles
Double recipes of Southwestern Fresh Tomato Sauce
1 recipe Porcini and Caramelized Jalapeno Whipped Potatoes at room temperature or slightly warmer
1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy creamer*
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup rice flour (for GF) or all purpose flour
1 cup medium ground corn meal
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon granulated onion or onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

* You can easily substitute soy milk here. I used creamer because I had it left over from the mashed potatoes.

Preheat oven to 350.

Roast the chile peppers. My preferred method is to use the gas grill, but this can certainly be done in a very hot oven or over a gas flame. Make sure the peppers are charred on all sides to a medium to dark brown. If you don't char them enough it will be difficult to peel them, if they are too charred, the skin will burn and dry out the peppers. Below is a good picture of how they should look when you're done charring, I might even go just a touch more. Put in bowl and cover with a towel or platic wrap for 20 minutes. This will loosen the skin and make them a breeze to peel. You will want to make a slit in the pepper and very gently and carefully remove the seeds leaving as much of the pepper intact as possible.

In a shallow, wide dish mix soy creamer and vinegar. Let curdle for about 5 minutes. Add cornstarch and mix well.

In a second shallow dish combine flour, cornmeal and the remaining dry ingredients and mix well to combine.

Set up your assembly station (see picture below) by laying out in order: whipped potatoes, roasted and peeled chiles, cornstarch slurry, breading and a 9 x 13 oiled glass baking dish.

Start by carefully stuffing chiles with about 2 -3 tablespoons of the whipped potatoes. The chiles will tear easily, so take your time on this part. The nice thing about using whipped potatoes as your filling and baking the rellenos is that they will hold together quite nicely. Now I'm going to throw yet another option at you here. If you decide you want to be a bit more sinful, use toothpicks to hold them together if you decide you want to fry 'em.

After all of the chiles are stuffed we want to get them all nice and coated. First you want to dip them in the cornstarch slurry making sure to comlpetely soak them on all sides.

After they go for a swim you'll want to gently roll them in the flour mixture. Repeat a second time.

Place the breaded chile in the prepared baking dish. Make sure there is space around each chile for even browning. When all 8 chiles are in the pan place them and spray with canola spray. Place in the oven and bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes until heated through and golden brown.

While they are baking heat tomato sauce. To serve plate 2 chiles per serving. Smother with tomato sauce (or you can serve the sauce on the side). I recommend serving these with your favorite refried beans or whole bean side dish to add a little protein to the mix. A word of warning, these are pretty darn filling!