Tempeh Fajitas

I make a lot of Mexican food. It may have something to do with it being acceptable to cover every inch of it in hot sauce or it may just be that Stop and Shop sells cans of organic beans for a buck. So I'm sure there will be a lot more Mexican food on this blog as time goes on.

These Tempeh Fajitas were pretty boss. There's a chinese produce market in New Brunswick on the corner of French and Somerset that has really cheap limes. All of their produce is really inexpensive but you can get limes 10 for a dollar. 

The Mexican Millet in the picture is from the Veganomicon.

Tempeh Fajitas

Marinade: 1/3 C Lime Juice 

2/3 C Water 

4 Tbsp Olive Oil 

8 Cloves of Garlic 

2 tsp salt 

1 tsp each liquid smoke, cayenne pepper, black pepper and cumin  

1 brick of tempeh 1 red onion 

1 zucchini 

1 red bell pepper 

1 green bell pepper

(really any veggies you want)

Slice everything to fajita size and marinate everything for at least two hours. Cook tempeh separate from veggies to get it crispy. Just pan fry it it's not difficult, when it's brown flip it. After the tempeh is done set it aside and cook the veggies how you like them. If you want them to be crisp cook them less if you them to be softer cook them longer.

When they're done grab a corn or flour tortilla and make a fajita. If you were me you'd put fresh pico de gallo, guacamole and a mess of cilantro on them. Serve with with some type of side, like if it's payday and you can afford to eat rice and beans as a side dish and not a meal that would be good.

Record: Henry's Dress - Bust 'Em Green

Henry's Dress was a slumberland band. In case you don't know me I have a weird obsession with Slumberland and K Records. I want to own every record either of those labels have ever put out. It's pretty rare that I take to a record the way I have with this one. Just listen to it.

link: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?tzmtskjyhji

Pad Thai

Thai food was taken my little world by storm over the last 5 years. It's the most flavorful asian food (sorry Vietnamese food you know I still love you) and doesn't sit in your stomach like a rock (Chinese food, we go back since Gameboys were huge don't be offended). When in New Brunswick I eat Thai Noodle 3 days a week and still I make Pad Thai every 10 days or so. I love it.

The secret to stir frying rice noodles is to not cook them first. Read on!

Pad Thai 

1 lb rice noodles 

1/2c. soy sauce 

3/4c. rice vinegar 

2/3c. sugar 

2 tablespoons sriracha 

1 pound of extra firm tofu 

3 cloves garlic

8 green onions

Limes 

Peanuts -Crushed (do it yourself hippie)

soak rice noodles in hot water until they are slightly soft, don't over soak them or they get really gnarly. mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and sriracha in bowl and set aside. press and cut tofu into small pieces and bake for 25 minutes at 375 place noodles in large, hot, oiled wok and coat with oil. Add soy sauce mixture and bring to boil. Continually fold noodles into center, When most of the liquid is gone add tofu, garlic, green onion. cook for 3 - 5 minutes. Serve Pad Thai with lime wedges and ground peanuts. This dries our really quickly in the fridge. I've also never made less than this amount so invite some buds over and make it a party. Drink some beers or something.

Record: Roadside Graves - My Sons Home

I know these pictures are from February which is about the time the Graves gave us a copy of their new full length. It's 18 songs of utter brilliance. My favorite band currently in New Jersey.

link: http://aquariumdrunkard.org/songs/01%20Far%20And%20Wide.mp3 (it's just a song, I'm not posting this record)

Lime herb gluten steak, rosemary lemon roasted potatoes and Creamed Spinach

I made this while trying to impress a young lady. My best food generally comes from these situations.

I learned to make Gluten Steak when I used to work at Veggie Works in Belmar, NJ (it's now sort of Kaya's Kitchen but it's not nearly as good... or cheap). Mark Rasmussen ran Veggie Works for a few years before selling it to one of the head chefs Omar, who renamed it to Kaya's Kitchen and made some changes to the place.

Mark is currently running what I know of to be the first Vegan Gourmet prepared meals service which is called Veggie Brothers. I haven't tried it yet but it's gotta be amazing that guy was one of the best chefs I ever met, and he's been working on it since he sold Veggie Works in 2004. Plus, it's based at the Jersey Shore so it's clearly awesome.

The only recipe from this plate I'm posting is for the Creamed Spinach because everything else is easy and self explanatory.

Vegan Creamed Spinach

for the white sauce

3 Tbsp Margarine

3 Tbsp Flour

2 Cups Soy Milk

1/3 Cup Nutritional Yeast

1/4 Cup Vegan Parmasean cheese substitute

cayenne pepper to taste

salt to taste

black pepper to taste

red pepper flakes to taste

for the spinach

1 Medium Onion - Chopped

2 Tbsp Margarine

4 cloves garlic

2 packagaes frozen chopped spinach

In one pot make a roux (melt the butter and add the flour til it forms a paste). Add soy milk and nutritional yeast and the not parmesan cheese, mix. add spices. in a second pot sautee the onion and garlic in margarine until translucent, add spinach, mix and let cook for a bit. Add the white sauce and mix, let cook for a bit. Transfer to caserole dish and cover with bread crumbs, bake at 350 for a half hour.

Record I listened to : Dinosaur Jr - Where You Been

Although I can't be sure it's safe to assume. J Mascis is a hero of mine and he should be one of yours too.

Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GOF503MN (sorry it's not mediafire)

Fucking pancakes, duh

When you sleep untill 12:30 it's not fair to call it breakfast so pancakes are a great lunch and can do a pretty good job at soaking up all the booze in a queasy stomach.

Pancakes, like most food, are way better when there's extra stuff involved. Since it's summer and Maryland is close enough to New Jersey to still get the best blueberries and strawberries on the east coast I went with them. 

Pancakes are easy as hell to make and have been a favorite food of mine since I grew teeth. The best part is unlike their bourgeois cousins Waffles, they don't need a special pan to make.

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspons baking powder

pinch of salt

1 cup soy milk (or rice or almond or whatevs)

a splash of seltzer or beer (no shit) makes them fluffier (optional)

2 tbsp veg. oil

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Drop half a cup or so on a hot griddle (toss a la few drops of water on it and if it dances it's hot enough) and put whatever you want in them (fruit, chocolate chips, candy etc.) when they start to bubble that's about the time you wanna flip them over they should be a golden brown, I assume you've seen a pancake at some point yea? So you know how to eat them.

Pancakes rule.

Record I listened to while I cooked: The Arrivals - Marvels of Industry.

The Arrivals are hands down one of the best pop punk bands I've ever heard. Every song on this record is a hit. On top of that Dave is one of the funniest dudes I've ever met and does a killer Ice T impression. He's also a huge Guided By Voices fan and is actually in a GBV cover band so good that Robert Pollard himself asked them to play Birthday party and he invites them down to Dayton, OH just to drink with him. HOW FUCKING COOL IS THAT!

link:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?nha5mmzooyq