Green Tomato Pickles - Taste Test

They taste just like they smell: delicious.

I ate them on a veggie burger and with an acorn squash empanada to test them out.

Green tomato dill pickles

I purchased this pot for making beer. However, it's intended use was for water bath canning. Given that I am unable to keep up my consumption of red tomatoes with their ripening I decided to pickle them before that could happen. It was my first adventure into pickling and canning. Here's to NO botulism! After scouring the internet for quite some time I came up with a recipe and then proceeded to make 12 pints and 6 quarts of pickles. Hopefully they are tasty. I harvested the tomatoes, chiles and celery from my garden. I sliced big tomatoes, halved the medium sized ones and kept the cherry tomatoes whole.

I used a brine that was 2:1 water to vinegar (apple cider). For 3 quarts of liquid I used about a 1/2 1/3 C sea salt and a teaspoon of sugar.

For the pint jars I added:
- 1 clove garlic
- at least 1 serrano chile
- 2 T freshly chopped dill
- 1/4 tsp dill seed
- carrots, celery, cauliflower, onion
- peppercorns, star anise (1/5 of a star), cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, mustard seed, coriander seed, caraway seed, clove, allspice

1/2 inch headspace. I used a 10 minute bath for pints, 15 minutes for quarts

I haven't tried them yet. It was a fun project, real frontiers-men like.

General Tso's Hobo Tofu

Time to make some Americanized Chinese Food I thought.
Course of Action:
1. Search internet for recipes.
2. Process recipes through brain.
3. Create new masterful recipe.
4. Produce: General Tso's Hobo Tofu.

First I flavor inject the tofu with vegetable broth and stuff. Then I cut it up, coated it with cornstarch and fried it. Then I made the hobo sauce: sugar, ketchup, vinegar, bbq sauce, soy sauce, mushroom sauce, ginger, garlic, onions, peppers, sesame oil and cornstarch slurry to thicken. Add some vegetables. Ta-da. I call it hobo because of all the low-brow ingredients.

Fresh Corn, Tomato and Quinoa Salad

I picked up some bicolor sweet corn whilst in Wisconsin and harvested some tomatoes and cucumbers from my garden and made this salad with some red quinoa.




It was well received.

Fried, Injected Tofu with Vegetables and Noodles

I was left a Ronco Flavor Injector and I decided to use it to inject some marinade (veg. broth, lemon juice, garlic, basil) into some tofu. The marinade can definitely 'breach-the-levy' so to speak, but overall it worked to make the tofu more delicious without the forethought of a longer marinade. I then coated it in cornstarch and fried it. Then I added it to some quick cooked zucchini and mushrooms atop some noodles.

Black-eyed Peas and Gluten Vegan Seitan Sausages

I used the recipes and techniques discussed at Vegan Dad and Everyday Dish as inspiration.

Black-eyed Peas and Gluten sausages. Pretty Good but admittedly I like them better when I use hummus for the bean component. I have a few variation for these sausages.

- 1 can black eyed peas, mashed
- 7/8 cup cold vegetable broth
- 1/4 C white wine
- 1 T soy sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed
- 1 1/3 cups vital wheat gluten
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp marjoram and parsley, each
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp dried mustard
- liquid smoke, couple dashes
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/8 tsp clove
- 2 T tahini
- 2 T ketchup

Mix it all save gluten. Add gluten mix until combined. Form sausages. Roll them in foil. Steam for 40 minutes. Enjoy.

Popcorn Cookies

I adapted this recipe to suit my v*gan and chocolate sensibilities.

Dry:
- 3/4 C unbleached AP Flour
- 1/2 C wheat germ
- 1/2 C old-fashioned oatmeal
- 1/4 C powdered coconut
- ~3.5 C popped popcorn (coarsely crushed)
- 1 1/2 T cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt

Wet:
- 1/2 C oil
- 2 T applesauce
- 1 1/2 T soymilk
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 1 1/8 C brown sugar

Add-ins:
- 1/2 C chocolate chips
- 1/2 C chopped raisins
- 1/4 C chopped pecans

Here's How:
Preheat oven to 350º F.

Mix dry ingredients. Mix oil, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in dry mixture. (I used a spoon and it was a little messy. Add the add-ins. I ended up using my hands for this part. I used to half sheet pans with parchment, without parchment you might want to lightly grease. At first I used a 2 teaspoon disher to make the cookies, but this didn't work too well. So then I used my hands to make similar sized cookies, I smooshed just a bit. They were a bit crumbly. Leave about 2 inches between cookies for expansion. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on pan 5 minutes before transferring to racks.

Yield: ~3 dozen cookies