Or so I thought. Um. I'm an idiot. Yes they're full of things I don't eat, but I kinda get a kick out of 'veganizing' recipes, so why should that prove an obstacle? And besides, they're not just full of things I don't eat...they're also full of information. *swoon*

I like learning. Nah, I love learning, and cooking is one area where I certainly have a lot to learn. Imagine my delight, then, when yesterday for the first time in many ages I wandered into my local bookstore and checked out the cooking mags. I left with two. The one that got me all excited? Cook's Illustrated. If you haven't seen it before, it's kind of a cross between a normal cooking magazine and Consumer Reports. The people who create it run a test kitchen, and they take a methodical, scientific approach to cooking. They tackle culinary questions like "what's the best way to cook baby spinach" or "what's the best chocolate cake recipe," and try every variation imaginable until they find the answers. (It's almost exhausting to read the descriptions of their labours.) Then they publish the results, complete with recipes. And yes, a lot of those results apply to vegan cookery just as much as to non-vegan cookery.

A five minute read-through of my copy felt like a three-hour cooking lesson, minus dinner at the end. But lunch...lunch I could do. The best way to learn is to apply lessons while they're still fresh, right? And I can see myself trying and adapting a lot of the things in this issue.

But back to lunch. There was an article on making the best oven fries, and there were a couple of articles involving baked chicken. I went with those, because yum, fries! And also because I've tried making crispy faux chicken a few times in the past few months and haven't been happy with any of the results -- the coating always turns out a bit soggy, and I don't care how tasty it is -- soggy just isn't acceptable.

Here's the gist of the oven fries article: For the absolute best results, [1] Cut russet potatoes into wedges, [2] soak the wedges in hot water for 10 minutes and then drain and dry them, [3] in a baking pan season 4T of oil with salt and pepper, [4] spread potatoes evenly, [5] bake covered tightly with foil at 475F for 5 minutes, [6] remove the foil and continue baking 20 to 30 minutes, turning once.

Honestly? I burned mine. My bad -- I cut my potato into too many wedges, so that they were too thin and cooked super-fast. Also my baking sheet is thin and crappy and doesn't heat evenly, so that some fries did okay while others burned. C'est la vie. (Besides, I have thirteen more potatoes to play with!) The soaking and steaming did create a noticably better texture than I've managed with my usual oven fries recipe though; there were no 'hollow' fries. And seasoning the oil rather than the cut potatoes? Sheer genius. I was skeptical, but it worked perfectly.

Now for the chik'n. I used a PC meatless chik'n breast. It occurred to me that maybe past attempts hadn't done as well because I hadn't thawed the faux meat fully before prepping the meal, so this time I let the cut thaw overnight and made sure it was dry to the touch before starting. I think fake meats tend to hold more moisture than real meat, which may add to the challenge of creating a crispy coat. Anyway, I sliced mine in half to create two thinner cutlets, and then I breaded them. To do this I prepared one flax egg (1 T ground flax whisked into 1/4 cup hot water), and dipped both sides of each cutlet. Then I pressed these into panko (japanese breadcrumbs) seasoned with 1 T of nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. The two tricks I picked up from Cook's Illustrated were these: [1] Cook the chik'n on a rack set over a baking pan, and [2] spray the breaded cutlets lightly with oil before baking.

The results? Best breaded chik'n so far -- crispy and lightly browned. The rack made a big difference in ensuring that both sides crisped up. My only excuse for not thinking this up myself is that my normal baking pans don't have racks. Fortunately my housemate pointed out that my wee toaster oven pan does have such an insert, so I used that and it worked perfectly. I did forget two things while making these -- I didn't dredge the cutlets with flour before breading them, and I didn't spray the baking rack. Neither proved major issues, and the finished product tasted wonderful topped with a raw tomato sauce (half a tomato, diced; a few basil leaves, minced; one garlic clove and one teaspoon capers, squeezed through a garlic press; salt and pepper to taste).

As lunches go, yum. As learning experiences go, likewise yum. And I still have a bunch more recipes and techniques eyemarked for trying. Is it dinner time yet?

Meatballs:
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup (3 handfuls), Italian bread crumbs
1 medium onion, chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons (several drops) Worcestershire sauce,
1/4 cup (a couple of handfuls) flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1/4 cup (a couple of handfuls) grated Parmigiano or Romano
Coarse salt and black pepper
5 Minute Marinara Sauce:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, (2 turns around the pan)
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
A handful flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, about 2 tablespoons
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (28 ounces) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14 ounces) can chunky style crushed tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 semolina crusty sub rolls, with or without sesame seeds
1 (10-ounce) bag (2 1/2 cups) shredded provolone or Italian 4-cheese blend
Shredded basil (sweet) or shredded arugula (spicy) leaves, for garnish
Oven fries, as an accompaniment, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Place ground sirloin in a large mixing bowl and punch a well into the center of meat. Fill well with the egg, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire, parsley, cheese, and a little salt and pepper. Mix up meatball ingredients until well combined, yet not over-mixed. Divide mix into 4 equal parts, roll each part into 4 balls and space equally onto a nonstick baking sheet. Place meatballs in oven and roast about 12 minutes. Break a meatball open and make sure meat is cooked through before removing from the oven.

Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add oil and garlic. When garlic starts sizzling, add herbs and crushed pepper. Allow oil to infuse for half a minute, then stir in the tomatoes and season sauce with salt and pepper. Bring sauce to a bubble, reduce heat, and simmer until meatballs are removed from oven.

Combine meatballs and sauce and pile into sub rolls, 4 meatballs per sub. Top with shredded cheese and place under subs under broiler to melt cheese. Top with shredded basil or arugula and serve with a pile of oven fries, recipe follows.

Oven Fries:
4 medium white skinned potatoes, each cut into 8 wedges lengthwise
Extra-virgin olive oil, to coat
Grill seasoning blend or coarse salt and black pepper

Drizzle potatoes with a generous pour of extra-virgin olive oil. Toss potatoes with seasoning blend or coarse salt and pepper. Place potatoes on a nonstick baking sheet and roast 20 minutes or until just tender. Give the baking sheet a good shake after 10 minutes to avoid sticking.

H-E-B provided much of our dinner again tonight. Their meat department has a whole series of burgers, from this cracked pepper-garlic version to a fresh poblano-cheddar patty. The Alexia potato line in the freezer case yielded the oven fries. The farmers market was the source of the cukes and tomatoes. We finished them up tonight, leaving the crisper drawer ready for tomorrow's expedition.

A few weeks ago, I hosted a potluck for friends and promised to provide all of the recipes from the evening on this blog.  And while I've done pretty well on most of the others, I hadn't supplied this one for sweet potato "fries," partly because it's so simple I feel it doesn't require its own recipe (just instructions).  However, this past weekend when The CFO came to visit, we had brunch at a local haunt and ordered the sweet potato fries with miso gravy.  Well, I was determined to reproduce that gravy! So I'm posting my own version, with not one, not two, but THREE variations on the fries.

I first tasted sweet potato fries (real ones--literally fried, in fat, and lots of it) many years ago, before I hit my 4th decade and, therefore, before I knew the true meaning of the word, "heartburn."  Nowadays, deep-fried anything is anathema to me, because hey, as someone born in the Year of the Dog, I can easily be classically conditioned.  All it took was one or two repetitions of the stimuli "deep fried" and "one portion ingested by me" paired with the response "mega heartburn," and it was sayonara to fried foods in my diet. 

These oven-baked "fries" are much lighter (which means you can eat more!) and, if baked correctly, still provide the exterior crunchiness and interior smoothness that is characteristic of the traditional sweet potato fries.  Most of the time, I just toss these with a combination of olive oil, garlic salt, chili powder, cayenne, cumin, and curry powder, for a sweet/spicy mix that's divine (and is Version One).  When paired with the miso gravy, however, something a little more demure is called for, as the gravy is quite assertive on its own.

Given all the amazing health benefits of sweet potatoes (more of which I discussed yesterday), I've decided to include this recipe as part of Sweetnicks' ARF/5-A-Day Roundup this week.  (In fact, I was sure they'd be on her list of top-20 antioxidant-rich foods, but was surprised to find they're not!  Won't stop me from eating them, though. . . ).

Sweet Potato "Fries" with Miso Gravy

These are quick, easy, and great as a side dish or appetizer.  Either version works well with the gravy; if you're more of a ketchup lover, try the spicy ones, mentioned above.  In any case, make more than you think you'll need--they shrink a little while baking, and you're going to want seconds.

Fries, Version Two:

3-4  sweet potatoes (about 1 per person as a side dish), peeled and cut into thin wedges

about 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

about 1/4 cup sesame seeds

Fries, Version 3:

3-4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into thin wedges

about 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. dried parsley

1 tsp. garlic salt

 For the fries:  Preheat oven to 425F.  Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, toss the wedges with the olive oil.  Sprinkle with remaining ingredients and toss again to coat.  Place the fries in a single layer on the cookie sheet and bake 35-40 minutes, until crispy on the outside.  (You can turn them over about midway through for more even browning, but it's not essential). Makes 3-4 servings.

Miso Gravy (adapted from About.com):

 2 Tbsp. light miso paste

2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast

6 Tbsp. light spelt flour

1-1/2 cups vegetable broth or stock (unsalted)

1 Tbsp. organic cornstarch, if needed

pepper, to taste

In a small heavy-bottomed pot, blend the miso and oil to a creamy paste.  Add the soy sauce and nutritional yeast and mix well.  Slowly mix in the flour until you have a thick paste. 

Stir in the broth a tablespoon at a time until you have a smooth mixture that is almost liquid.  Add the rest of the broth. 

Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and bubbles.  Lower heat to a simmer and allow to bubble for one minute.  If gravy is not thick enough for your taste, take about 3 Tbsp. of the gravy and transfer to a small bowl.  Mix with about 1 Tbsp. cornstarch, then return this mixture to the pot and blend well.  Allow to simmer another minute or so to thicken up.  Season to taste with pepper. Makes about 1-3/4 cups.

Note:  The gravy tends to be somewhat salty, due to the combination of miso AND soy sauce.  If you prefer a less-salty version, you can omit the soy sauce, or simply add a bit more stock and flour to the mixture.

Other posts in this series:

• Lucky Comestibles I:  Mini Sweet Potato and Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Sweet Potato and Carrot Casserole
• Lucky Comestible I (3): Sweet-Potato Cranberry Scones
• Lucky Comestible: I(4): Sweet Potato Cranberry Hash
• Lucky Comestible I(5): Sweet Potato Pancakes