"beer" battered "burger"

Going along with the below recipes, Sam and I have continued our deep-frying spree. I have balanced this spree with 4 miles a day of running, and eating Kashi Go Lean instead of other unhealthy food... because the amount of frying we've been doing could lead to obesity. Anyhow, VegNews ran a decent recipe this issue for beer battered tempeh fish, that we modified and made last night.

1 c. quinoa flour
1 T. baking powder
1.5 t. salt
1 t. cayenne pepper
0.5 t. garlic powder
0.5 t. black pepper
12 oz. something carbonated like beer(truth be told, we don't ever drink beer so we used lime seltzer...)
0.25 c. vinegar
1 T. agave
A dusting of cornstarch for the tempeh (0.25 c.?)
tempeh patties or strips- one package
hot sauce (optional)
oil for frying

Mix together flour, baking powder, seasoning with beer/carbonated beverage. It should be pancake batter consistency. Steam the tempeh for 5-10 minutes until it is thoroughly warmed. Combine agave and vinegar in a shallow dish. Wash over steamed tempeh. Warm oil over medium heat. Dust tempeh in cornstarch, dip in batter and fry until golden brown. This batter is awesome because it puffs up (as you can see in the picture... our patties were regular veggie-burger thickness).

Serve with hot sauce. A bunch of it.

Onion/Spinach Pakoras

Sam's sister got him this "Indian Street Food" book that is very, very tasty and most recipes can be veganized without too much trouble. The book is by a photographer, and I didn't read enough of it to see where she got the recipes. The pictures are great as well as the recipe.

We adapted the pakora recipe as follows:

-bag of frozen spinach, thawed
-onion large onion, coarsely chopped
-1.5 c. chick pea flour
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-2 t. chili powder (to taste)
-1 t. salt
-1 t. curry powder
-dash of cayenne to taste
-water
-vegetable oil for frying

mix the flour, seasonings, baking powder together. Add water until it is the consistency of cake batter (runny). Preheat the frying oil in a small pot over low-medium heat (depending on your stove... ours seems to be directly connected to the earth's core so we have to set it very very low since magma is very hot). Test the oil by dipping an onion in the batter and then holding it in the oil. It should sizzle around the edges immediately. Take some spinach and onion, about a pingpong ball size, and coat it in the batter. Drop it in the oil and fry for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

The biggest challenges were getting the dough on the inside to cook thoroughly. if yours are raw in the middle, try 3 things: 1) reducing the heat on the oil, 2) making your pakoras a bit smaller, 3) watering down your batter a bit.

We dipped our in Sri Rocha with some curry powder and garlic salt mixed in.

VEGAN FRIED CHICKEN!!!

Sam got this recipe from some messageboard he's obsessed with. I swear it's the only good thing that has ever come from it (except a thread about andrew wk conspiracy theories), but the deliciousness of this recipe negates all the bad vibes from this messageboard. ever. we paired it with some garlic mashed potatoes and some broccolini, but seriously, don't even bother. you will only want to eat this.



ingredients:
-1/2 cup TVP
-1/2 cup broth to reconstitute the TVP
-about 1.5 cups vegan pancake mix (the co-op had this in the bulk bin... i literally know nothing about pancakes so I have no idea what's in it... flour and arrowroot maybe?)
-2 heaping spoonfuls of nutritional yeast
-salt, pepper, seasoning to taste
-panko bread crumbs
-oil for frying (something with a higher boiling point than olive so they get nice and brown and crispy... we use grapeseed oil)

Bring the broth to near-boiling and pour over the TVP. Let it set for about 10 minutes adding more water/TVP. Once it cools off a little, stir in the pancake mix and the yeast til it makes a sticky formed batter. Start warming the oil on medium heat. Using a table spoon, drop large dollops of the mixture into a shallow pan of panko crumbs and evenly coat. Toss in the oil (when the oil is hot enough, the edges of the patties will sizzle... test it before you put a bunch in. Cook for a few minutes and then turn and brown on both sides. Let cook on a towel or piece of paper towel.

VARIATION #1: add some spicys and it'll be just like the spicy popeye's chicken.
VARIATION #2: serve with some really greasy buttered noodles with crackers crumbled on top of the noodles and it'll be just like Zehnder's in Frankenmuth, MI.