food challenge: vegan tamales

i had a vision of a tamale with no meat or cheese... but i couldn't seem to find them pre-made at any mexican market. so it seemed like the right time to try making my own tamales! i did a bit of research, and then just went for it! luckily, they turned out amazing!

before you start this food project, make sure you have a large pot to steam your tamales in. if you're going through all the effort to make tamales, you might as well make a ton of tamales and freeze the leftovers! you'll also need a few dozen corn husks (dried or fresh), corn flour (this is very different from corn meal, i found out!) and some kitchen string. 

to make the corn base, mix 6-8 cups of corn flour with enough hot water to moisten all of the flour. let sit for about 20 mins. in the mean time, if you are using dried corn husks, get them soaking in warm water. after 20 minutes, stir in up to a cup of corn/canola oil, and more warm water until your corn base reaches a peanut-butter consistency. at this point, you can add anything you like to the corn base. salt is necessary. but have fun with spices (coriander, chili powder, cumin...)

tamale filler: i made a spicy black bean mixture, cooked with garlic, onion, bell peppers, and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (you can get small cans of this stuff, it has amazing flavor, but be careful... chipotle is powerfully spicy), and of course more spices (coriander, chili, cumin...)

to assemble the tamales: first, pat dry the husks if soaking in water. use the back of the spoon to spread the corn mixture onto the lower (fatter) half of the corn husk. about a quarter inch thick. leave one side clear of corn. put a few spoonfuls of bean filling on top of the corn layer. roll the husk to form a tube. at this point you should have a cone like shape, with your filling at the fat end. fold the empty small end up, so you create a bottom to your tamale pocket. tie a string around the center and stand upright in your steam pot so that the filling doesn't fall out while cooking. pack your steamer full, and steam for about 90 minutes. 

like sushi, tamales make for a great dinner party because you can involve your guests in the cooking process! 

raw peanuts?

working at the farmers markets one summer, i came across raw peanuts... uncooked peanuts still in their light green shells are pretty strange. dissecting one of these little guys was one of the most interesting culinary experiments i've ever had. 

they were light green in color, the shells were thick and fibrous (makes sense... when you roast them, all the liquid evaporates, and you are left with a shell that is then disconnected from the peanut). the skins were completely unlike the reddish paper-like skins we find in roasted peanuts. and the nuts were more like beans. very soft. scientifically speaking, peanuts are actually classified as legumes, not nuts. so why not boil them like legumes!?

boiled peanuts are apparently a common street food in various countries around the world. no wonder! they are delicious. especially warm.

shelling raw peanuts is tricky. good luck. once you get them shelled, to remove the skin, blanch them for a minute, drain and slip off the skins using your fingers. (naked peanuts!)

boil them with a bay leaf for about half an hour or until soft and squishable. now is where you can get creative. i made a warm salsa-like peanut salad. bright flavors are a great contrast to the smooth peanut flavor: tons of fresh cilantro, a small hot chili, a few ripe tomatoes, lemon juice and some sea salt. perfection. 

sadly, raw peanuts are a rare find in this peanut-butter-loving culture... 

make sushi. save money.

going out for fancy sushi will always put me in a better mood. until the bill comes... so i decided a few years ago that i needed to learn to make it myself. i found sushi rice to be time consuming but simple. and rolling sushi is just fun. great for dinner parties - everyone gets to roll their own!

you can cheat and just use normal sticky rice, cook it up like you always do... and you'll get something that resembles sushi. or you can spend the several hours it takes to make perfect sushi rice... not only will your sushi taste better, it will also be much much easier to stick and to the nori and roll. those fancy rolls with the rice on the outside, sprinkled with sesame seeds... yeah, that ain't going to happen with regular rice...

rinse your sticky white rice, several times in a strainer until the water runs clean. let cleaned rice sit in the strainer for about half an hour. cook the clean rice just as you would normal rice. the trick to great sushi rice is "sushi-zu" vinegar. head about a cup of rice wine vinegar with several spoonfuls of sugar and a pinch of salt. once everything is dissolved, let cool. 

final step: dump out your cooked rice onto a flat surface (or a really large bowl). pour the sushi vinegar over the rice and mix, careful not to smash the rice. be patient... let it the rice mixture cool to room temperature. use a fan if you are impatient. 

rolling sushi is pretty self explanatory. a couple tricks: wrap your sushi mat with plastic wrap. dip your fingers in water or vinegar mixture to keep the rice from sticking to you. the shiny side of the nori faces down. keep the rice layer as thin as possible. hide some sesame seeds and wasabi inside your rolls. and roll away!

typical fillers: carrots, cucumber, fried tofu, sprouts, avocado (my favorite), bell peppers, steamed asparagus, tempura fried vegetables... or venture outside the vegan world, and try to get ahold of some sushi grade fish! have fun with different combinations. they are all equally tasty!

moroccan flavors

morocco = marinated olives, almond paste, safron, orange, cinnamon, raisins, peppermint. simple as that. 

spices in morroco are sweet. flavorful, mild, and warm sweet flavors like cinnamon, paprika and safron. i spent a summer during high school in morocco studying arabic. my host mum taught me a few things about cooking moroccan food, but for the most part, i just took in the flavors and recreated those familiar dishes when i returned home. 

while in the states, i prefer to stick to a vegan-vegetarian diet. but if i'm traveling, i won't pass up an authentic dish just because it's got some... er... pigeon in it. my overall favorite staple in morocco, however, was vegetarian tajine with cous cous. (fyi in some arabic dialects, ironically, cous cous is a very dirty and derogatory term) never the less, it's an amazing grain. easy to make. and perfect for soaking up flavorful sauces. 

large chunks of root vegetables and squash (what ever you have on hand, really) stewed in broth with tumeric, cumin, coriander, safron... piled on top of a giant bed of fluffed cous cous... topped with an amazing combo of plump raisins, cooked with onions, cinamon, and a drizzle of honey. trust me. those raisins are the best part of the dish. 

in morocco, you start most meals with flat bread and chopped cucumber/tomato/onion salad. cous cous, tajine, stew or kabobs. followed by fresh melon, fruits, and strong syrupy mint tea. but one of my favorite side dishes was simple cooked carrots. sauteed in oil or butter, until brown, mixed with orange zest, served with a few slices of fresh orange, and sprinkled with cinnamon. yup! all about the sweet spices...

food & community

(Montreal, Quebec) 

i don't own a car. or a house. my waste is pretty minimal. so my largest impact on the environment is through what i consume... mostly what i eat! choosing to eat local, seasonal organic produce, is by far the most beneficial choice i can make towards environmental (not to mention personal) health! csa (community supported agriculture) is my way of ensuring that my produce is local, fresh and organic. i also love that it forces me to be creative when some unusual veggie turns up in my weekly box. look up your local csa farms! i promise that those farmers will make you happy cooks and eaters! 

(Geneva, Switzerland)

or at least check out the local farmers markets. after working as a market vendor for a few year in that community of local farmers, i've fallen in love with farmers markets. any time i travel to a new city, one of the first things i do is look for the local market. no better way to experience the local flavors than through the city's farmers markets!

(Istanbul, Turkey)

family history: pizza

it would only be proper for me to start with the topic of pizza. my uncle owned a pizza restaurant for a while. my dad stole his recipes. my sister and i stole the recipes from dad. i went to work for veraci pizza (a mobile wood fired pizza company). long story short. my family makes damn good pizza. hands down, it's our "special occasion" food of choice. 

what you should know about pizza crust: personally, i'm all about the thin crust. more emphasis on the toppings. but crust is your base, so it best be perfect! the health nut in me always makes half whole wheat - half white flour crust. quick-rising yeast is an awesome trick. a liberal splash of olive oil. a spoonful of sugar, a few pinches of salt. 2 cups flour to 3/4 cup warm water mixed with yeast and sugar. use lots of flour while rolling out your dough! if you can get yourself a pizza stone (heaven!!!)... otherwise, use a pre-heated baking sheet. 

toppings!!!

so many possible combinations. where to start!?

green:

pesto, feta cheese, tomato, peppers, onion, olives, toasted pine nuts

red:

suatee zucchini, onions and mushrooms, roasted garlic, roasted peppers, goat cheese

vegan:

red sauce or vegan pesto, spinach, mushrooms, grilled eggplant, sun dried tomatoes, herbs and garlic olive oil drizzled on top

go for color! 

a food blog or an art blog?

it has to start somewhere... this is a record of my creations. of food and art. food is art. so i suppose its both a food blog and an art blog. it may also wander off into rants about globalization, the slow food movement, and the evils of commercial meat industries... but it's all relative to food! my style of cooking doesn't involve recipes, so this is my way of keeping track of my ideas, what i conjure up, and what i would like to discover. if you are looking for exact measurements down to the quarter teaspoon, than i'm sorry to say this wont help you much. or maybe it will by forcing you to stop depending on recipes and start understanding food! 

i started cooking with my dad at a fairly young age. i used to play a game of trying to figure out what he was cooking based just off of the first whiff I got when walking into the kitchen. when i started traveling, i started to write down flavor combinations in hopes of later trying to re-create foods i had tasted. i've worked in a few different kitchens in seattle. great jobs that encouraged creative cooking. i somehow ended up working as the cook for a surf and yoga retreat in portugal. in a kitchen that reminded me of giligan's island. proof:

recipes have never been a big part of cooking for me. the art of food is all about the right combinations of flavor and texture. color. health and freshness. my passion for cooking comes from the smile on the faces of friends, family and strangers as they dig into an aubrey creation. 

enjoy!