Pulled Jackfruit - the new vegan option for great dishes everyone talks about!
On Saturday we went to a place where pulled Jackfruit burgers are offered. After month hearing everyone talking about it, I finally tried it. I was very excited to try it. Unfortunately I was very dissapointed and didn't like it. It was very mushy, the jackfruit almost not recogniseable, very under seasoned, but overpowered with liquid smoke. Liquid smoke itself is pretty bitter and strong in flavour. I use it always very carefull. Sometimes often even 2 drops are enough.
The jackfruit itself, I actually can't tell much about it, I could not taste much of it. So, what I did was getting out the can of Jackfruit I store for weeks now, and give it a go. I wanted to find out if this burger filling was just the way it is, or if it acutally turns to a great dish. I saw pictures which pulled chunks, which looked delicious and firm. Not mushy at all.
I am happy to say, it was not the jackfruit itself, it was the recipe the shop used for the pulled jackfruit burger.
The Jackfruit reminds me a little bit in consistency at artichoc hearts. Really nice.
I wanted something well seasoned and kind of firm. I see a lot of similar recipes for this pulled jacky --- as stuffing for a burger or hotdog. I wanted something different. I had some beautiful fresh corn on the cops in my fridge. Fresh capsicum. And chili from my garden. I always have a tin of kidney beans in my pantry.
So this sounded like an mexican inspired dish to me.
VERY delishious! I am happy with the result. The jackfruit itself had nice chunks which worked great. I first drained the jackfruit and also squeezed the liquid out of the chunks as far as it got.
That worked pretty well, because the chunks itself are firm. I also marinated the chunks and fried them on both sides, before I pulled it. That also worked really well.
Jackfruit is a good source of Vitamin A, B and C --- it also contains Magnesium, Copper, Potassium, Calcium and Omega 6 fatty acids.
To cook with it you need the green jackfruit marinated in water. Do not use the ripe jackfruit in sugar syrup!
I decided to serve this dish with rice. Long grain rice. But I wanted a little "cick", so I added a couple of caraway seeds to the rice, when I steamed it. It really worked well. I also made a kind of Guacamole, what finished the dish.
For 3 serves you need:
1 can of jackfruit - drained and marinated with 1 tsp of Cajun, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp hot paprika, 1/4 tsp seasalt.
1/2 onion - chopped
1 big clove of garlic - chopped
1 sweet corn on the cop - remove corn cernels from the cop,
1/2 big red capsicum - sliced in smaller pieces
1 can of kidney beans
1 splash of sunflower or canola oil for frying
1 cup of unsalted veggie juice
1 tsp dry oregano
For the rice:
1 cup of Uncle Benz long grain rice
1 tsp caraway seeds
(wash the rice and add to a pot. Add 1,5 cup of water. Add seasalt and caraway seeds and bring to a boil. Shut the lid and turn down the heat to the minimum. Steam for 25 min and do not lift the lid)
For the guacamole:
1 avocado, 1 small chili, 1 small garlic clove, juice of half a lime, seasalt, a splash of water
(add into a processor and process until creamy)
Fresh dill to finish the dish
Serve with lime!
Look at this! Wow, this was soooooooooooooooo delicous, my partner and I only could smile and nod whilst we ate. There actually is a story to this dish and I am surprised that the dish we thought this is, isn't! Years ago we went to a Mexican restaurant and my partner ordered a Chimichanga.
I never heard of this and what he got was a chicken Schnitzel with tomato sauce and cheese.
He liked it and always ask me to cook a Chimichanga - also because he loves to say this word, hihi.
So, I finally decided to make this dish. The computer was not on, so I decided to create a recipe. Everything worked great. I used soy steaks, created a simple sauce, added vegan bacon, jalapenos and cheese - made a salsa and sour cream and served it with long grain rice. Today I was not sure how Chimichanga is spelled, so I googled. I found plenty of pictures and recipes, but non of it was like the Chimichanga I recreated from this restaurant! Chimmichanga actually is a Burrito! Well, I guess someone at the restaurant just put something on the menu, haha.
Now my dilemma was, I could not name the dish Chimichanga because it isn't one. I thought about it and what I was immediatley thinking on was a Cordonbleu. A Cordonbleu contains a Schnitzel, bacon and cheese ... like my dish!
The tomato sauce is the mexican part, so I simply call it a mexican cordonbleu.
I started with the Schnitzel. I used 2 big soy steaks, 1 veggie stock cube, 5 tbsp besan flour, 1 dash garlic powder, 1 pinch of black himalayan salt (kala namak), a bit of water and bread crumbs.
To make the tomaot sauce I used:
1 tin of organic diced tomatoes, 2 tbsp tomato paste, half a middle sized onion - chopped, 2 tbsp dry oregano, seasalt, 1 tbsp roasted garlic, 1/2 tsp chilli powder.
I also needed: 4 slices of Tofurky bacon (oven roasted), 2 slices of Wilmersburger cheese (pikante), half a Notzarella - grated and mixed with 3 tbsp nutritional yeasts flakes, pickled jalapenos (how much you use is up to you!)
For my Salsa I used:
1 big tomato - deseeded and fine cubed, 1 small avocado - fine cubed, 1 small red onion - fine cubed, cucumber - fine cubed, 1 small tin of corn cernels, a small bunch of fresh parsley - chopped, juice of half a lemon (or 1 small lime), 1/2 tsp coconut sugar, seasalt.
For my sour cream I used:
4 tbsp tofutti cream cheese, 1 splash of linseed oil and the juice of half a big lemon --- all processed until creamy in my food processor.
1 cup of long grain rice - cooked and seasoned with 1 tbsp of Nuttelex sunflower margarine.
I made my very first Tortillas! And I actually also ate my very first Tortillas!
Unbelieveable, but true, haha.
My sweetheart always asked for Mexican food. But I am not so deep into mexican cooking. Except of Chili non Carne I haven't cooked a lot of mexican dishes. Sometimes I created a dish, but thats it. My sweets wished for a Jimmy Changa but I wanted to start my mexican journey with some Tortillas!
And I am really, really happy with my first Tortillas! So delicous --- I really never ate this and I really was very pleased how good this dish is!
It was full of flavour, spicy and hot!
I went to my vegan food store "The Green Edge" ( http://www.greenedgeonline.com.au/acatalog/catalogbody.html) yesterday. I bought 1 bottle organic Passata Tomato - I really was impressed with. I made the sauce for my Tortillas with it and it was so good. This passata tomato was made with the whole tomatoes. So it was nice and thick and full of tomato flavour. I actually only added fresh parsley and coriander, a bit of salt, that was it! PERFECT.
So, let's get started with one of the most famous mexican dishes ---- my Chilli Tofu Tortillas :-)
I used:
200g very firm tofu - cut in 1cm x 1cm cubes and marinated with: 2 tbsp sweet paprika powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika powder, 1/2 tsp Chilli powder (or more if you like), 1 tsp plain flour, seasalt and a splash of sunflower oil.
1 small red pepper (capsicum) - cubed, 1 middle sized onion - chopped, 1 big clove of garlic - chopped, 1 cup corn kernelz, 1,5 cups kidney beans, 1 big tomato - seeded and cubed, 1 ripe avocado, juice of half a lime, vegan sour cream ( I made it with 3 tbsp Tofutti cream cheese mixed with the juice of half a lemon, a splash of water, and a small splash of linseed oil to add Omega 3 to the dish - processed until smooth and creamy.)
For the sauce - 1,5 cup organic passata tomato, 1 small bunch of parsley (approx. generous 3 tbsp) - chopped, 1 small bunch of coriander (approx. 3 generous tbsp) - chopped, seasalt for seasoning.
Half a package Notzarella cheese - grated, a couple of pickled jalapenos chillies and 5 wholemeal tortillas.
Mexican Eggplant & mixed Bean Pan
with
Avocado Salad &
Polenta Scones
I had plenty of Eggplants in my veggie garden and needed to use them quick. I thought a bit and decided to make a Mexican inspired dish. I soaked black beans and Kidney beans over night and started to prepare my veggies. Its turning autum here in Australia and this dish is a great start to welcome the colder season. I actually love autum and winter season. I am more into hearty dishes and I also love to make bakes etc. So, this is my time :-)
For my Mexican mixed pan you need:
2 cups of black beans - soaked over night and cooked, 2 cups of Red Kidney beans - soaked over night and cooked
1 big eggplant - cubed, 2 sweet corn on the cop - cut the corns from the cop,
1 Zucchini - sliced, 1 green capsicum/pepper - cut into whatever you like, 1 stalk of celery- cubed,
1,5 onions - 1/2 a onion chopped / 1 onion cut into chunks
1 clove of garlic - chopped, 1 green or red chilli
1 lime - cut into wedges, 1 bunch of fresh Oregano - chopped
1 bunch of fresh Parsley - chopped, 1 bottle of passata tomato
A good splash of vegan Chardonnay, Seasalt
As much Chilli Powder as you like, 2 tsp of smoked Paprika Powder
a splash of sunflower oil for frying, a generous splash of olive oil
Mexican"Chicken" Stir-Fry
with Fennel, Brown &Black Rice
I bought the vegan "Chicken" stripes from FRY'S. I had a dish in mind what reached in the Mexican cuisine. This dish is very delicous and very easy to make. Lots of flavours and nutrients are in this dish --- beans, corn, fennel, chilli - what a great combination :-)
Let's get started:
1,5 cup of FRY'S vegan stripes, 1 garlic clove - chopped, half a onion - sliced, half a fennel + the green at it - sliced, half a green capsicum/pepper - sliced, 2 cups of Kidney beans, 1 cup of corn kernels, 1 red chilli - sliced, 1 lime, 5 tsp of sweet paprika powder, 2 tsp of smoked paprika powder, half a tsp of roasted garlic or garlic powder, approx 7-10 tbsp of Soy Sauce, Sunflower Oil, Olive Oil, sea salt, --- brown + black rice, half a veggie stock or vegan beef stock cube.