Vegetarian 101: TVP burgers and the Loco Moco Lite

Textured vegetable or soy protein (TVP/TSP) goes by the name of soia ristrutturata (restructured soy) in Italy and labeled as bocconcini or spezzatini di soia (soy morsels/small pieces) on supermarket shelves. As far as vegetarian/vegan cuisine goes, it has its place on the world table and food blogs have been dishing up some impressive meals, yet I don't plan on giving up porchetta and prosciutto any time soon. When the mood hits we like Sojasun Burgers (the french answer to Boca Burgers) but at 3.50€+ for 2 medium patties it needed to answer to my food budget. Many veggie burger recipes call for the use of legumes, beans, grains or the combination of all three but I figured that if I just took my cue from the ingredients listed on Sojasun's soyburgers and played with it a bit, the rest would come easy. And it did.

Before I continue, I should add that a food processor makes quick work of the fine chopping required in this recipe. Onions and rehydrated soy protein all need to be chopped to the texture of ground beef. The red bell pepper needs to be minced. A wide steamer also helps when making the whole recipe as it's probably best to stack the patties not more than four high (keeps the bottom ones from compacting too much).

TVP burgers | Soia burgers (makes 8)

1 and 1/2 cups (66 grams) textured soy protein
2 cups vegetable broth (500 ml)
1 medium round onion (8 ounces), quartered
1/2 of a large red bell pepper, cubed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups wheat gluten/gluten flour (farina di glutine in Italy)
1/2 cup soy, chickpea, or chestnut flour
2 tablespoons chopped chives, dried
1 tablespoon oregano, dried (or use whatever you like)
1/2 teaspoon each of salt and black pepper

Bring the broth to a boil, turn off the heat source, and add the TVP. Set aside to cool while the soy rehydrates. In the meantime, process the onion until very finely chopped and some juice starts to run out. Add the bell pepper and process until minced. When the soy protein has cooled down, add (liquid included) to the processor and pulse/blend until the mixture resembles the texture of ground beef. Next, add the tomato paste and olive oil and pulse to blend.

Combine the wheat gluten, soy flour, herbs and spices and add to the soy mixture. Pulse until thoroughly combined, adding water (a tablespoon or so) if it seems too dry. You want a mixture that is moist enough to hold together when shaping into patties. Divide equally into 8 portions and form into approximately 5/8-inch thick patties. A couple of examples below: hand-shaped or pressed into 4-inch tart pans lined with baking parchment. The latter results in a perfect disc resembling brand-name patties.

You can either wrap the tart pan burgers individually with parchment or stack them 4 high with a square of parchment between each pan. Wrap the whole stack with aluminum foil if separating with parchment slips (don't forget to cover the top burger with a piece of parchment), as you don't need any more liquid from the steam getting inside. Individually wrapped patties can be stacked one atop the other without the extra step of wrapping in foil. Bring an inch of water to a low simmer, cover and steam for 40 minutes.

When the burgers are done, allow to cool completely, wrap in plastic and refrigerate. Plan on using them within a couple of days because I don't know how long they'll keep, or if freezing will dry them out too much. To serve, heat on a cast-iron or non-stick skillet with a drizzle of olive oil. Ridged cast-iron pans imparts better flavor and gives that "grilled" look.

The beauty of making these is that textured soy is such a bland ingredient that you can jazz it up with anything that you like. Substitute the above-mentioned herbs with basil or parsley. Add special flavor with cumin, caraway seeds or exotic spice blends. The pièce de résistance during this TVP experiment was turning the Loco Moco - a veritable staple of Hawaii's local cuisine (right up there next to Spam) - into something that is several hundred calories less in fat. While the egg still secures its spot on the top, the brown gravy is total vegan. Hawaii health nuts, I introduce to you the Loco Moco Lite!
For the gravy: stir together 1 cup water, 2 tbsps nutritional yeast flakes, 2-3 tsps shoyu (depends on your salt preference) and a good pinch of ground black pepper. Heat over a low flame and thicken with arrowroot powder or cornstarch slurry.

Alpine cow encounters on a Saturday stroll

Alpine cows in Valcava, originally uploaded by Rubber Slippers In Italy

Clean, crisp air and an invigorating view from prealpine heights have a certain way of adding a spring to your step, but imagine what it must be like for an alpine cow. There you are, stuck down at the barn all winter long with the rest of your cowfriends until finally, on one sunny day, a man with a staff and a dog starts herding you off towards pastures full of sweet, tender grass. Kinda like us as soon as salad greens hit the market after a season of cabbage and root veggies. We've come across this small herd in the last two weekends and even if we can't see them right away, they're hard to miss with the loud clanging of cowbells.

Via Flickr:
Fresh milk from the teat can't be beat and I am so glad that organic, unpasteurized milk is not illegal in this country. A liter goes for about 1€ here, available at high-tech vending machines around the country.

Paella step-by-step, Jamon Iberico de Bellota and Inedit

I'm confident that in this day and age of food bloggers and sites like Saveur, this dish needs no introduction. But just to be sure that it isn't mistaken for something else, here is what The Free Encyclopedia has to say about spanish paella. Isn't it something? Bids are now open for the extra 4 seats at our next paella party. BYOB.

This past Saturday marked 7 years + 11 months of matrimony for the two of us, and if you've followed this blog for any amount of time, you should already know that I celebrate anything. American holidays, italian holidays, our birthdays, the dogs' birthdays, seasonal equinoxes, pay raises and hello, even when Spain won the World Cup last year. Well Spain must've made a huge impression on me because I finally bought a paellera that is big enough to feed atleast 8. We threw everything in there. Chicken, chorizo, mussels, two types of clams, prawns, onions, bell peppers, beans, peas, tomatoes and yes, garlic scapes! It was such an amount of stuff that the rice seemed almost an afterthought, even if it is the basis of what paella is all about. I did not follow any precise recipe, but took my cue from a very lively clip on youtube. They had the tunes, the moves and enough subtitles to give me the nerve to wing it on my own. The only adjustment that I would do next time is to go a little easy on the oil and broth, and to use a slightly bigger pinch of saffron threads. And a bit more rice.

We started off with jamon iberico de bellota. To call it a splurge is an understatement, but my tastebuds say it's worth it. If you know your spanish ham then you know that the beautiful flavor comes from a diet of tasty acorns that these pigs feast on. If only squirrels tasted just as good (I never tried one).

To drink, a .75L bottle of Inedit. This spanish beer made news when it first came out on the gourmet scene but only recently have I found it at the local supermarket - in the company of belgian trappists and domestic Moretti. At 5.50€ it was the cheapest item to be included in the whole meal, but the fruity, fresh taste complimented the paella quite nicely. The photo below shows a few stages of paella-in-progress (my paellera is 17-inch diameter) for which it required 3 gas burners to accommodate the size. My only disappointment? Failing at achieving the soccarrat, the browned crust that forms on the bottom. I'm not sure if this was due to the excessive amount of broth and oil or not cooking it on a proper fire, but the only crust that formed was a very small patch in the middle. As they say, practice makes perfect, so more paella parties to come.

http://youtu.be/NGM6qQV2IKc

Pizza bianca with garlic scapes, pesto and burrata

Purchasing a kilo of garlic scapes might be construed as borderline hoarding, but when I spied the single crate among the tomatoes and freshly dug potatoes, I just knew they were meant to be mine. No one showed any curiosity whatsoever in the slightly curved pale green stems. No italian moms, grandmas or foodies going rabid at the thought of using talli d'aglio in pesto, zuppa, sottaceti (pickles), insalata or pasta. It was as if nobody in Lecco had ever heard of the edible part of a garlic that grows above ground, nobody that is, except me.

Google "ways to use garlic scapes" and loads of sites with pretty pictures and pretty easy suggestions come back at you, yet only a few mention pizza! The idea to use them on a pizza bianca was pure impulse. I figured that if there can be such a thing as garlic cheese bread, then why not this? White pizza with dabs of basil pesto, olive oil, tender scapes and a big creamy ball of burrata. Bake until that burrata melts to an oozing, bubbling mess then sprinkle a bit of Maldon sea salt on top before serving.

The vendor was glad to share his knowledge of how to prepare and cook these. Break the flower tip from the stem at the point where there is a jointed section. His suggestion was to boil them until tender and use in salads, adding that talli d'aglio cooked in butter, salt and pepper is really good.

I went, I saw, I conquered

This oughtta last for 2 weeks, originally uploaded by Rubber Slippers In Italy

As if this photo needs any explaining. You're looking at 14.5 kilos (32 lbs) worth of produce, that, with one fell swoop ended up in my shopping bag. Shelling peas, green beans, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, pears, apples, cherries, a melon, a baby watermelon and a lemon. Only one lemon? That's because our favorite vendor likes to round things off to the whole €uro, and adding a lemon or an orange or two is how she goes about avoiding stupid euro pennies. Another vegetable that I bought is something that I've never seen before at Lecco's open market - talli d'aglio (garlic scapes). I've read all of the well-deserved fuss on "scapes", so to nab a kilo on my part took great self-control. I wanted to buy the entire single small crate on offer by one vendor. The Moth asked for a bundle, but I pipe up and overrode that request with a commanding "No, no, un kilo per favore!" Hence, the conquering part. What to do with all those scapes? Well let me tell you that they are GREAT on pizza but I'll save that one for tomorrow.

The making of bagòss

Formaggio Bagoss, originally uploaded by archiviw32 / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

On the topic of cheese....again. Slow Food's upcoming grand event may be on my Top 10 list, but it is photos like this one that tells a story most never even get to see in the flesh. Often times our hikes through alpine pastures take us past malghe (singular malga), the rustic buildings used as stables for the herd and as a dwelling place for shepherds during the summer grazing period. We have never been in one, let alone one that was in full swing of producing cheese, so I thought this video might be of interest to cheese lovers like myself who are curious about the man (or woman) behind the joy that goes on your wheat thins and fancy crackers. The following clip runs a bit long but the videography, editing and music transform it into a mini-documentary that almost begs to be viewed without translation. It is shot as if you're standing right there in the middle of the room, which is all the more better to be able to appreciate the artisanal skill that goes into making bagòss.

In the event of an error message, the video can be viewed here:
http://youtu.be/F4TSnCa7mSo

Slow Food Cheese 2011

Nothing but good news all around on this Monday and this is just a quick reminder for the upcoming Slow Food Cheese event that is scheduled to happen in 4 months. I can't wait. The website is currently under construction. http://cheese.slowfood.it

Santa sent greetings from Spain

Extremely good weather (and a garden that is busting out weeds faster than I can yank them out) is keeping me from posting more than minute blurbs of chestnut forest living. But a delivery from Spain especially made my day since it contained several much-anticipated items. Jamon iberico de Bellota, handmade terra cotta plates, bomba rice, saffron from La Mancha and seville orange marmalade. We're having paella this weekend!

Rome might still be standing...

Chaource, originally uploaded by Rubber Slippers In Italy

But I can't say it'll be the same for this french chaource within the next 24 hours. Today was expected to be day "X" as long-deceased italian pseudoscientist Raffaele Bendandi had supposedly predicted years ago that the Eternal City would suffer a great earthquake on this date. Rome, I am glad to say, is still standing.

A dog's day on Lago Maggiore

Who knows what they think when riding on a boat? All I can say for sure is that we had too much sun and too much fun this past weekend. Dogs on a boat, dogs in a gourmet cheese shop, dogs in funny origami hats!

Tagliatelle with rabbit and black truffle

Tagliatelle au ragoût de lapin et de truffe noire by Rubber Slippers In Italy

Well it didn't take me long to remediate that disappointing rabbit and truffle tagliatelle in Parma. This dish has inspired me to prepare more fresh pasta at home, because it really does taste so much better made from scratch. Flour, eggs, salt. A little bit of elbow grease to knead and roll out the dough and the rest is easy. Regarding tagliatelle, I prefer the rustic appeal of hand-cut strands instead of the uniform look of a pasta machine, but the ragu or sauce or however it comes served is open to a variety of options.

Rabbit and chicken burgers. I love the quality of AIA products and wish we had these in Hawaii. With egg pasta for substance and black summer truffle as glam, the humble rabbit received royal treatment with the addition of french sweet butter and carrots cut in a fine brunoise. I purposely did not want to go with olive oil since truffles and butter go together like...William and Kate?

Two large eggs to 200 grams of all-purpose flour (tipo "00" in Italy) plus a half teaspoon of salt is what I need to make enough for 2 servings. I also add a tablespoon of water if it's low humidity, but the dough should become smooth and firm upon kneading. Don't be shy about sprinkling in flour over the tagliatelle after opening them up. It'll keep them from sticking.

For the ragu: 6 ounces minced rabbit, 1/4 cup sweet butter, 1/4 cup brunoise-style carrots, a few slices of black truffle. Gently cook the carrots in butter until fragrant. Add the rabbit and cook until done; season with salt and pepper. Stir in truffle slices, set aside and keep warm. Cook the pasta, drain quickly (you want some of that wet moisture from the water) and stir into rabbit sauce. Combine to mix well and serve immediately.