Vegetarian Barbeque

2 new experiments in one!

I mentioned below that I ran the slow cooker out on the balcony recently; well this is what I made.

I slow-cooked some pulled pork for a potluck and I wanted to also do a vegetarian version since there were two people coming who were semi-veggies. All of the recipes I could find used either jackfruit or seitan. I ended up using both, starting with the jackfruit and then adding the seitan later.
This is what the canned jackfruit looks like:

The recipes all specifically call for unripe/immature canned jackfruit in brine; you wouldn’t want to start with the sweet mature canned fruit in syrup (hmmm… maybe next time, and then omit the brown sugar in the recipe… ANYWAY…). After checking my usual markets I finally found jackfruit in the little West Indian run convenience store near me.

The jackfruit gets shredded and well rinsed to get rid of most of the brine, and then you squeeze/drain out as much of the remaining water as you can. This gives you something that looks slightly like shredded meat (and, unprepared, tastes like artichokes!), although it cooks up a bit more tender, closer to cabbage.

Shredded and drained, with one whole piece remaining at top.

I used the same seasoning recipe that went on the pork and cooked it with some onions for 5 hours in the slow cooker [on the balcony].
The results weren’t bad but they were somewhat disappointing. Nothing caramelized like I had expected it to and it looked and tasted very much like the sauced onions you get on hotdogs, or cabbage… tasty in its own way but not particularly savory, and not a meal.

I then chopped and added a package of seitan (imitation chicken flavor) and some tempeh as well (imitation bacon flavor, oh yeah!). I also tweaked the sauce a lot and put it back to cook on high another 2 hours. If you try this and your favorite sauce mixture includes the addition of vinegar or beer (both in mine), reduce or omit them. Something in the jackfruit does not need it – likely due to the brine.

The vegetarians liked it and - more telling - the omnivores ate it as well (not to say that the pulled pork was ignored!).

Here is the recipe after all changes (although it still needs to be tested in this incarnation):
(For a 4-6 quart slow cooker)

3 cans young jackfruit in brine, rinsed, drained, and shredded
1 (6 oz.) package of Seitan (chicken style), cut in rough ½ in. slices
1 package (3 slices?) tempeh “fakin’ bacon”, chopped (or possibly ¼ cup of soy bacon bits instead, crushed)
1 medium onion, sliced thin

Sauce (or use your favorite mixture, without vinegar or beer)

1 cup commercial barbeque sauce (I know….tsk)
½ cup ketchup
½ cup molasses
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp minced garlic
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Combine everything in slow cooker, cook on high for 3-4 hours. Taste and adjust sauce and seasoning as needed. Keep on warm setting until ready to serve. Serve on sandwich rolls or hamburger buns or on rice.

Unfortunately I forgot to get a photo of the final product. It looked very much like pulled pork - dark sauced shreds - the shreds were only a little shorter and thicker than those in the meat batch.

Summer Cooking

Since I’ve put the label ”summer cooking” on here I was thinking that perhaps I should explain what I mean by that.

For me, as soon as the weather gets hot it effects my cooking pretty drastically. I’m sure that anyone without central A/C is in a similar boat. I do anything I can to avoid turning on the oven and heating up the apartment. Most of my cooking is done on the stovetop or in the toaster oven. If I had a grill I would be using that and recently I conducted a successful experiment that involved setting up the slow cooker on the balcony with an extension cord (to be done only if I will be home for the duration of cooking time and there is NO chance of rain). It’s possible that using the slow cooker inside wouldn’t actually add much heat to the kitchen but I’m not ready to try that experiment yet.

It also means preparing dishes that I’ve always associated with summer, for some reason - in addition to the cold-prep tuna and chicken salads and “icebox desserts” you might expect - this involved quite a bit of pasta in my family. Maybe it’s that stovetop thing again. My favorite simple summer dinner is “Noodles and Cheese” with a side salad and lots of cucumber. This will be appearing on the blog soon along with some of those salads.

Finally, for the last three years summer cooking means that I have a garden to work with! For others this might be obvious but I’m still enjoying the novelty of having fresh herbs and tomatoes outside my door.

Does anyone else have summer cooking preferences that I've missed here?

Pesto!

Mrs. Hall's Pesto Sauce:

2 cups fresh basil leaves (not packed)
2 med cloves garlic
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup pine nuts
Pepper to taste

I used sweet basil from the garden for this but also added:

additional 1/2 cup of lime basil
and
2 tbsp ground almonds.

Mix all of the ingredients together in the blender until they reach a smooth, even consistency. Pesto should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It can also be frozen for later use.

Then put it on EVERYTHING!

The Basil was getting so big in my garden that it was throwing the other plants into shade – aw, how terrible – into the blender it goes!

I was not prepared for how addictive this pesto recipe was going to be (Thank you Lauren’s Mom!). I ate the stuff all day in the following:

Pesto Egg white scramble (In the microwave no less)
Pesto English Muffins
Pesto Pasta
Pesto on a Bruschetta-flavored Boca Burger (Mmmmm!)
Pesto Popcorn
More Pesto Popcorn

Pesto popcorn was pretty amazing - spread a couple tablespoons of pesto around the inside of your biggest mixing bowl, pop some microwave popcorn, pour it into the bowl and stir well.

Welcome Everyone

Welcome to my own little section of the blog where it will be my job to cover basic guitar playing and basic music theory. In the first few lessons I will be going over the parts of the guitar and basic finger excercises that you can do on your own. I look forward to writing and going over music with all of you. If you have any questions about what I cover please feel free to email me at guitarcookies@gmail.com or post a comment. With that I bid you farewell for now.

Until next time :)

Salad Burnett “Tzatziki” (“pantry tzatziki”)

I grow an herb in my container garden called Salad burnett. It’s easy to grow and looks nice hanging over the edges of the planters. The leaves can be slightly bitter but have a lingering taste of cucumber to them – many articles I’ve found recommend using the leaves in herb butters or for cooling, refreshing flavored waters.
The best way I’ve come up with to use it is to mix it into a yummy tzatziki-type sauce (You might know tzatziki as “gyro sauce” if there’s not a large Greek population in your area). Traditionally tzatziki is made with cucumbers but since I don’t habitually keep cucumbers in the house I like this version because I can use the items that I do tend to have already in the fridge or pantry.
My version is made with fat free yogurt but you could use full-fat if calories are not a concern. Restaurant versions probably are full-fat and in addition are often made with sour cream as well as yogurt. The only fat in the recipe below is the “good fat” from the olive oil (unless you use a different yogurt).
If you have cucumbers go ahead and use those too – grate about 1/2 cup and press them dry with paper towels. Again, I just don’t usually have them around (and when I do have them I usually eat them up in a salad before thinking to make sauce with them).

2 cups plain fat free Greek yogurt (or strained “American” yogurt)
1/2 cup chopped fresh salad burnet leaves
1/2 cup minced or thinly sliced onion
1 tbsp lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic or ¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt and a dash of pepper

Mix everything together, adjust seasoning to taste. Best if allowed to chill in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight) before serving.
You can use this sauce on top of lamb, burgers, falafel, even veggie burgers ; or serve as a dip with some pita chips or potato chips (and maybe a bowl of olives as finger food – yum!).

My New Favorite Omelette

Once in a while I try something and it works.
I wanted to make a nice breakfast for my friends and I had some good leftover white wine in the fridge. I made an omelette with fresh herbs from the container garden (oregano, basil, chives, a little lemon balm, and some of the marigold fronds that I posted about below). I took about half of the yolks out of the eggs and discarded those out of habit, then instead of the usual milk or water that I would have beaten into the eggs I added a generous splash of the white wine.

Herbs, eggs, and wine all got whipped up into a nice froth with some salt and pepper and then fried and filled with some gouda cheese I also happened to have in the fridge. I topped it with fresh chives and served with fried squash blossoms and homemade home fries with hominy corn (I was almost out of potatoes so I used a can of hominy to stretch them further).

My sister thinks the wine (and the two citrusy herbs) sound like they wouldn’t be good in eggs but it was a hit with the three I served it to and I’ve made it twice since and friends haven’t complained (and at least one of them is blunt enough to have told me if it wasn’t a good idea). I think it may help that I remove half of the yolks, which might remove some of the strong flavor that can then be replaced with the wine flavor. Also I ran out of gouda and have made it with whatever white cheeses I have at the house… still works.


White wine from Jefferson Vineyards, Charlottesville, VA in my marigold basket.

Signet (Gem) Marigolds

I know I can’t be the only one who feels no interest in the orange potted marigolds that show up every year in the supermarkets and home improvement stores. I certainly would not have thought to plant marigolds on my balcony; It’s supposed to be a kitchen garden after all!

Well, enter the Signet Marigold (Tagetes tenuifolia). I came across it while looking for pest-controlling companion herbs. It has a strong citrusy scent, deters some pests, and the flowers are edible! On top of this, they look nothing like the dense orange ruffles I’m used to. These are pretty little five-petaled, simple blossoms set among lacy leaves… and they’re tasty too!

While waiting for the flowers to bloom I went ahead and gave the leaves a taste. Yes, this was before I even double-checked that the leaves were edible. They taste to me like orange or grapefruit zest… but without any of the fruits’ sweetness, if that makes sense. I think I may like the leaves better than the blossoms (and a little goes a long way as they’re very strongly scented).

As far as using the blossoms [and greens if you are doing that], I’ve found suggestions for pairing them with fish – think tarragon – and for including the petals in a colorful chicken salad. I’ve been using them with some rosemary when I make fried squash blossoms and also throwing sprigs into my omelettes. I just came across a sweet biscuit recipe that uses them too and I will be trying that in the fall when it’s cool enough to do some baking. They sound delicious and I will post the recipe (pending permission) when I make them.





To be completely honest, I haven’t found anything that explicitly states that the leaves are edible (the blossoms are, there is no doubt to that). I have however found several recipes that use both the leaves and the blossoms (which I am taking as a statement that the leaves are indeed edible) and have been eating both with no ill effects. With any new foods please use common sense and be alert to any possible reactions you may experience.

Not all marigold varieties are edible so please be sure of what you have before cooking with them. SIGNET marigolds are the ones I refer to in this post, they can also be called Lemon Gem Signet, Orange Gem Signet, or Starfire Signet.

My Starfire Signet seeds came from Reneesgarden.com.

Fairy Tale Eggplants Grown From Seed

Last year was my first try at growing these pretty little nightshades. I started them indoors from seed (seeds purchased from Park Seeds) and moved them out to the balcony in late May. The flowers were gorgeous but the fruits finally came in long after my tomatoes started producing.

Okay, I thought, these are a late bearing fruit.
I’d better keep that in mind.

Or maybe not; because this year they are the first
ripe fruits coming in from my garden!
Beautiful mini-eggplants striped in my favorite
color, I can’t wait to toss them with some olive oil
and S&P and throw them in the toaster oven set to broil (I am determined to avoid turning on the oven all summer – it's just too hot!)




(Next up to ripen will be these little Gretal eggplants. I think next year I am going to have to get seeds for the variety called "Hansel". It's just too sickeningly cute to have a trio of plants called "Hansel", "Gretal", and "Fairy Tale" out in the container garden.)

Welcome to GuitarCookies!  

We're excited to finally start this blog and hope you'll come back as we make more progress with it.  We both love to cook and we're going to be sharing our kitchen stories and recipes.  

In addition, Alan is a Guitar Instructor and composer and we will have a separate segment of the blog devoted to guitar lessons, tips, and photos as well as general music theory posts.

Beth is an avid artist and crafter and will be sharing projects and techniques, basic tutorials, and tips in several different disciplines.

We'd also both like to see tips and stories contributed by readers - successful experiments, questions, music, equipment maintenance ideas and funny stories are all welcome  (Please abide by the community guidelines specified by blogger and by us in our profile).