Vegan Pozole Rojo

Pozole is like chili with hominy. Although it's made throughout Mexico, I think of it as a Native American (Indian) dish. We opt to make it with the most exotic sounding ingredients we can like avocado leaves and such. It makes us feel very fancy and we get to talk to the nice ladies at the Latino produce market who have given me lot's of tips and recipes over the years. Pozole is traditionally made around Christmas time. It requires a ton of different chilis pulverized into a paste using a morter and pestle, chilis like guajillo, ancho and chili de arbol. Pozole can be made white (blanco), green (verde), red (rojo) with beans (de frijole) or with corn and squash (elopozole). Hominy is made by a process called nixtamalization. Traditionally this meant soaking corn in lye until the hull is gone and the germ is left. Nowadays limewater is used (calcium hydroxide). This is the same process used to make tamale masa so now you know that tamales are essentially made with dried ground hominy.

I'll tell you another little tidbit. Achiote is a strange little tree/shrub that grows like a weed all over the southwest straight through to South America. I first encountered it in the Ecuadorean rainforest (I know that sounds exotic doesn't it) where the natives use it to dye their hair. It wasn't til I returned to the states that I realized it's culinary uses. Achiote is the same thing as annato which is the dye used to make cheddar cheese orange. I use this to to give the Pozole a rich color. This is a good tip for a vibrant chili as well.

Another thing we do with the Pozole is a little pork substitution using Shitake mushroom stems. We shred the stems so that they look like shredded pork and then we soak them in a little liquid smoke (which is actually a natural thing. They basically just condense water in a smoker and viola, liquid smoke). This is a labor intensive ordeal but we think it's worth it.

I first got the idea to make Pozole from a cookbook I bought at the American Indian museum in DC where I also puchased some dried blue hominy which really ups the fancy factor.

I think next time I'll make a Pozole blanco.

4 Guajillo Chillis, rehydrated


5 Chilis de Arbol, rehydrated

2 Ancho Chilis, rehydrated



1 lb dried hominy, soaking in water

2 onions, diced

1 head of Garlic, cleaned

2 Avocado Leaves

2 T. dried Oregano

1 T. Achiote

1 T. Cumin

1 cup shredded mushroom stems soaking in a little soy sauce and a dash of liquid smoke

Sea Salt and Black Pepper

Vegetable Stock



Start by cooking the hominy in a big pot with the onions, salt, oregano, avocado leaf and cumin. Cover the hominy with just enough veggie stock to cover it. It may take at least 30 minutes for them to start getting soft. You can add small amounts of stock as needed but I like my pozole thick.

In the mean time grind up all of your chilis in a chop chop with the garlic. When the pozole is soft, add the chili mix and continue to cook. It should take about an hour from start to finish. When the hominy is done it will split and crack. Add the mushroom stems and a little achiote for color. Cook for another 10 minutes and your done.



Garnish with radish, avocado and shredded cabbage.

Breakfast Tamales

I've been making a lot of tamales lately. They've been a big hit at the Bayou City Farmers Market

This one is pretty cool. When people ask what's in the tamales I tell them that it's migas ( a Mexican scrambled egg dish) Then after they've tried it and said, "wow" or "yum", I tell them that it's tofu migas so it has no cholesterol. I'm surprised by the number of big burly meat eatting types who buy them anyway.

We make the tamales in three steps and we make giant batches so I'll try to estimate a smaller batch but it's not exact.

Start off by soaking your corn husks!

Basic Tamale Dough

2 cups Masa

1and 1/2 cups warm Vegetable Stock

1/2 cup Peanut Oil

3 teaspoons baking powder

4 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup cold water

Start by putting the masa in your mixer and turning it on. Add the veggie stock and let it mix for 3-5 minutes. Add the peanut oil and let it mix for another 3-5 minutes. While that's mixing combine the rest of the ingredients in a little bowl. After five minutes add the rest of the ingredients and mix again for 3-5 minutes.

The Creative Part

At this point in our tamale process we add some kind of vegetable. For the breakfast tamale I add about a half a can of tomato sauce and a half an onion ground up in a blender. I also add fresh sage to this tamale dough.

You can add all kinds of veggies to your dough. I've added onion, chayote, spinach, herbs, sweet potato and beets at one time or another to my different masas. I find that this does gives the masa character and tenderness so the masa doesn't come out dense like a hockey puck, or bland like a corn tortilla.

Tofu Scramble

about 1 cup finely diced onion, bell pepper and hot pepper combo (easy on the hot pepper, Tiger)

2 large packages of medium or hard tofu (crumbled up really good)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

2 tablespoons miso

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon each freshly chopped oregano and parsley (most herbs can be used here)

2 cloves fresh minced garlic

This can all be mixed together and it doesn't need to be cooked. It will steam in the steamer.

OK now your ready to assemble. Take a nice big corn husk and lay it out on the table. Spread a thin layer of masa onto the husk in a rectangular shape about 3" wide and 5" long. The masa should be about a 1/4 inch thick. Now add a strip longways down the middle of the tofu filling.

Now you want to fold the two exposed masa sides together so that in the end you have a tube of masa surrounding your delicious filling. Fold the extra flap of corn husk up and lay the tamale down so that the flap doesn't pop back up

Steam that tamale for 30-45 minutes.

I realize that this is going to require some better pictures so we will do that next time we do tamales (every week) so stay tuned.

Vegan Coconut Flan made with Goya Coconut Flan mix and two cans of coconut milk. Super easy!

Slightly less easy is the raw vegan cheesecake made with cashews. I need to work on my picture taking skills. I'm always in too much of a hurry.

Vegan Texas Chili

Recipe :

Well you have to start with a really good veggie stock and lots and tons of onions. Saute those onions in some nice safflower oil or any oil with a high flash point with some garlic. Add a bunch of dried oregano (Cowboys don't use fresh) and some salt, cumin, paprika and chopped up jalapeno. When the onions are translucent, add some vegetable stock.

Let's stop for a minute and talk about meat substitutes. Boca Crumble is a good one and so is Gimme Lean by Light life but if your having trouble locating any of those you can get you some TVP and soak it in some water and some Braggs Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce or browning sauce).

At any rate you should add your meat sub at this point and there should be enough stock to cover the meat by about an inch. Let that cook for a bit and then you can either add tomato sauce and let it stew forever or cheat and add tomato paste and let it stew for half of forever. While it's stewing you'll want to add some chipotles (if you like that kind of thing) and some black pepper. Keep tasting it for flavor in an obsessive and territorial way. Check the temp. It shouldn't be boiling. Stir it often anyway. It should be getting thicker. If it doesnt' thicken to your liking you can add some masa or some ground up corn tortillas but make sure if your adding masa to smooth out all of the lumps in a small amount of water first.

I topped mine with some crumbled Vegan Gourmet cheddar style and some pico de gallo but some saltine crackers would have ruled!

Vegan Chili Rellenos

Howdy there,

These are my chili rellenos made with baby bella mushrooms, brown rice, walnuts and fresh herbs from the garden There is also a layer of soft tofu underneath the stuffing that you can't see. The sauce is a mild tomato with onion and peppers and the cheez is Toffuti brand, which by the way, melts very quickly. If you don't get your dish out of the oven in time the slices of cheez will disintegrate into your food.


3 big Poblano Peppers

Stuffing

1 cup of cooked brown rice

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup any kind of mushrooms, chopped

1/2 cup walnuts

2 or 3 cloves of garlic

1 heaping tablespoon fresh savory herbs such as basil, oregano, thyme, cilantro, rosemary etc..

1 tablespoon soy sauce

salt, pepper and an pinch of cayenne

2 tablespoons of canola oil or 1/2 cup water

1/2 lb soft tofu

Tomato Sauce

1 can cubed tomatoes

1/4 cup onions

2 cloves of garlic

Slice Toffuti Mozzarella cheez.

Put the poblanos in the oven on high heat (like 400 f or higher). Cook the poblanos until they blister all around. You will want to turn them so that all sides get a nice blister.

When all is blistered, place the poblanos in a plastic container and cover them. You can use a big old ziploc if you have to but treat them delicately. Set aside.

Take the onion, mushrooms, walnuts, garlic and herbs and give them a rough chop in the chop chop (food processor). If you don't have a chop chop, just mince these suckers up very fine. This is a mixture I use constantly as a fake meat. It has the earthy base note of meat with the mushrooms and the chewy texture with the walnuts.

At this point you can do one of two things; you can either saute this mash in oil or steam it in water. If your on a diet do the water. Put the 1/2 cup water in a saute pan with the soy sauce and dump the mix into the pan and spread it around evenly. Cover the saute pan with whatever you can. You can use another saute pan or a plate if you don't have a cover. Let this cook on medium heat for 3 to five minutes. After you open it up you can just stir it around and cook it like normal (add the rest of your seasonings) until it's done. If it's dry add a little more water. You need a little juice because you are about to add it to your cooked brown rice. Add your brown rice to the mix, stir and taste for flavor. Set aside.

For the sauce; Puree all ingredients in the chop chop then transfer to a saute pan and let it simmer.

Now you are ready to assemble.

Peel the poblanos carefully. You may want to do this near the sink with the water running but don't put the poblanos under the running water. Just use it to clean your hands. You'll see what I mean. You can leave the stem and all of its parts intact.

Cut a slit in the pepper. Stuff the pepper ,first with a generous portion of soft tofu, then on the top with your mash put this in the oven for about twenty minutes and then add a few slices of the fake cheez. That cheez will melt in about two minutes. Pull the rellenos out and place them on a plate on top of the tomato sauce and your done. I put those in the saute pan with the tomato sauce because I wasn't sure what time the Old Man was getting home and I didn't want the cheez to disintegrate.

Wally and Larry from the Progressive Forum enjoying a Chili Relleno casserole I made with the extra intredients (I always make way too much food)