I am Mediated: MP3s and

I have been quite taken (to the tune of 25 hours) by Dharma Talk MP3s lately for about the past week or so (further back too, but with intensity and direction now). I got "Getting Unstuck" by Pema Chodron and "Going on Being" by Mark Epstein, and a collection of Dogen teachings and the Dhammapada. I got the audio books for all of these from Audible. (I don't know about that company, their selection is terrible and the membership is $15/mo for 1 book.)

Now I'm branching out for RSS and podcasts. If you're interested, I especially recommend "Getting Unstuck" and the Dhammapada. Also, here is a link to a site with a huge catalog: The Dharma Seed

Anyway, as for the "and" above, I have a lot on my real life plate right now (hence the Dharma Talks). I'm hoping to get it all out some time soon, but for now I just have to keep it to myself. I have an upcoming Apr0n post coming up featuring a Roasted Tomatillo and Gimme Lean Green Chili recipe (that finally answers the question on Accomodating Vegan Naked Fatties!).

Anyway, i'm still here.

tentative (vegetarian!?) step toward Chili Cheese Burrito Chili

Chilitoaxilitlo

 

about three weeks ago, i proceeded to address one of my stated goals, and took a stab at formulating the Chili Cheese Burrito Chili. it is now less of a mythical beast now. i believe i may attain it yet.

 

that said, here was my rough draft. my starting place was leftovers from the vegan curried pumpkin chili. i started a sauteeing a base of earth balance (you need the butter too for the light greasy mouth feel) and olive oil and garlic and onion. then added sage and a few cups of vegetable stock (maybe 2-3 cups for a ~quart and a 1/4 of the vegan chili). before adding the chili i drained and rinsed some black beans and added them to the pot, brought the stock to a boil, simmered a bit. once the beans were nice and warm I added about 1/4-1/3 cup of nutritional yeast and some soy sauce (wouldve used bragg's aminos if i had any) to the liquid , then i added the chili and brought the whole pot up to temp. now at this point we veered away from it being vegan and i added a 1/2-3/4 cup of grated colby (and then topped the bowls with about as much). you could easily keep it vegan by adding cashew cheese or cheesied no-casein tofu instead. 

 

nonetheless, i am just waiting for an excuse to try this abomination out on my friends. our last excuse was so much fun i might have to try to bring it together another beer event. perhaps one where the beer is not so spirited. probably going to mush or puree the black beans, and use more of them. i will need to determine what to do about meat(lessness). i am thinking of trying to make a vegan version and a meat version. the vegan relying mostly on TVP and seitan i presume. the omnivore's will probably have some tips of Logan Square Chili lifted and rely on chorizo.

 

as a programming note. i should clarify that the chili cheese burrito is not the burrito whose name is known. the burrito whose name should rightly be praised is the Chilito. only the eldest of the taco bell oracles may yet remain knowing of its true name; but her long time appreciators know their tormentor's, seducer's name thus. it has been nigh fifteen or annum since its name was so changed.

 

thanks to Kris for bringing my attention to this.

 

 

Update on 11:18AM by mfg

see the base recipe: Vegan Pumpkin Curry Chili

Thanks for all at the Stout Dinner

thanks fire!first of all Jason and Elisa, the home hosts of the Stout Dinner are awesome and i'd like to thank Elisa for pointing out that a party centering around the consumption of chili should be held at a house that has more than one bathroom; ie not mine.

as mentioned previously, the two chilis came out really well (both with Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout as their base builder). im so glad everybody liked them (both were GONE by the end of the night; i'll have to get bigger pots and start making double batches).

those 9% beers though, for my part, were tasty as hell but i could not keep my eyes open after about three. switched to water, stood in the cold by the fire but all for naught; i was done in by 1am.

the Stouts: my fav was the Rust BeltMy cousin jim helped me get some last minute essentials (cheese, ice, smokes, etc) and was my partner in delivering up the goods. Big ups to him.

I am hoping to try out more dinner parties in the future. But I want to push more into collaborative efforts. As much as I enjoyed putting down two decent size pots, I'd really like to have a crazy coordinated effort afoot. I think this will need to be a new years concerted effort. where basically everybody agrees to party sleep wake and hang for about 18 hours. call me crazy, but if you got a bunch of awesome casseroles just cooking and time aplenty, how are you going to get any better than that?

(the vegan chili: it even looked indian)

vegan pumpkin curry chili: also in time for a Stout Dinner

the roasted pumpkin pureeso this recipe is a vegan hybrid of curriedthe currypot simmering, good smells rising pumpkin and creamy basil tomato soup. i began by roasting a small pumpkin by cutting it in half, and scooping out the inside. preheat oven to 350, place the two halves hollow side down in a quarter inch of water in a roasting pan and keep in oven for 60 minutes until  a foork can go in and out of the skin easily. thanks to huge inspiration from michael at herbivoraceous (curried delicata squash), i decided curried pumpkin would be just the savory flavor i was going for. 

to make my curry i grabbed turmeric, coriander, fennel, tien tsin peppers, adobo pepper powder, sage, ground ginger, ground mustard, and a bunch of other spices. once the pumpkin was done roasting i pureed it and then put it in a colander with some coffee filters underneath to let the excess liquid drain off. once it had drained twice, i put it back in the food processor. added the curry, added about two tablespoons with fresh grated ginger, more white pepper, blended it together, added a smidge of olive oil to smooth it out.

now  back to familiar ground. start the garlic sauteeing in a stock pot, once garlic is soft, add onions, stir and stir; once onions are soft add pepper base (this time around come some cayenne peppers and some thai hots all chopped up). let it all get nice and soft. add the puree and 1/3-1/2 a bottle of old rasputin russian imperial stout. add some coriander and sage and other spices. turn up the heat and let it bubble a bit.

dice up two fresh tomatoes, add, open a can of peeled whole tomatoes, pour some of the  tomato juice into the pot, drain and crush the tomatoes and add them. add two cans of light red kidney beans. skillet roast some corn over dry roasting spices in a skillet. once they start smoking a bit and they blacken a little add them to the pot. use matching spices like paprika, white pepper, etc. add four-five tablespoons of fresh chopped oregano and parsley. I would also have added about 15 nice big leaves of whole thai basil, but i forgot to buy some. after that basically youre done. let it sit under pot for about an hour so it can cook together and you can manage the heat and the flavors. after that, put in a crock pot for two hours or, like i did, put in a covered casserole pot and bake between 170-225 degrees F for as long as  you can before you serve it.

vegan pumpkin bumpkin chili

i am looking at combining two very interesting (to me at least) soups into a chili. my initial approach was to take a butternut squash approach and blend it with the added heartiness and excitement of tomato basil soup. roasted autumn squash, nice chunks of tomato, some cranberry beans (for that slightly woody taste). then, considering i wanted to take the approach to the mats i brought up the question 'what savory flavors can i get out of pumpkin?' (ie sub squash for roasted pumpkin) on cooking.se and got a bunch of interesting responses. one pointed me to his delicata squash curry recipe, which is going to form the base for the soup (around which i build everything up). basically; i'll core then roast the pumpkin in half on a cookie sheet until a fork goes into/out of the skin easily, peel the skin, puree the flesh, drain, drain, & puree with curry.

basically i am going to start with my garlic/onion/spices/sauteed-in-olive-oil bottom, once its all soft and homogeneous, add the pepper trinity (tien tsins, thai hots, and adobos) and let it bloom up the oil, then about 2-3 cups (starting with halves based on the strength of the puree) of the base while breaking it down with some Guinness (remember the party is all about stouts). once i've got a nice molten simmering mixture i'll add a few fresh diced tomatoes, a big can of peeled tomatoes (that are halved and then crushed individually by hand before going in). lots of basil goes in at some point now, as well as some oregano. some other spices probably. 

anyway, we'll get those cranberry beans in later on. i have to make a decision regarding a meat sub still (ie to have one or not). (Tempeh prolly, maybe Tofu Croutons? Am i hallucinating?)

Update on 11:13AM by mfg

see the first run at a result: Vegan Pumpkin Curry Chili

soup making is my chili skills are strong with this one

so im hoping to pull together 'A Stout Meal.' a dinner of two chilis and many stouts for tasting in early october. 

i already know the meat chili i am going to make, my FTW Bear's Den Chili (and I will have better pics next time, promise; it was gone so quickly!). the second chili is going to be vegan. i'm wrapping my head around a nice challenge. so i'm going to be rolling it along the same lines as the Bear's Den, but competitively tasty.

Right now I am trying to figure out how to get a good base that I can use beneath the tomatoes and what not (clicky and tell me if you know better than me). i'm looking at a roasted squash base along with some nutty flavors, my main concern is that too much liquid in the base might overdo the tomato-basil-esque soup chili I have in mind. then adding some nice chunks of celery and black beans and peppers, mmmm.... experimenting will begin soon.

im having trouble determining if i want to put some kind of garble in there like quinoa, seitan, tvp as it may be great or just a textural mess. but tomato-basil soup with simulated ground chorizo texture could be an interesting approach as long as the liquid is gravy enough.