Monday, January 9

FINALE!!!

eight days a week,
i love sandwiches.
and eight days of sandwich week
meant i loved being alive
just a little teeny tiny bit more than usual,
in sixteen or seventeen,
or maybe even twenty servings of the high-life
in the lap of luxxxxury,
between a set of sumptuous buns.
is that weird?
yeah?
well,
i guess that's good to know.
...but it's still the truth.
and with my main man, the cucch,
hanging out up in the woodsly goodness for a minute,
and more importantly,
immediately and seamlessly getting right back into the swing of things,
here in the  Folk Life & Liberty Fortress...
we both got involved,
and we both got excited,
and we both got to munch up a tasty mother-effer of a sandwich.
yeah.
check the last-night-of-delights-type teleport:

WOW!
dudes,
i made a hot bath-style molto marinade for my three-grain tempeh slabs,
and i boiled 'em all up in it until they were brown and juicy
all the way through and through.
yup.
2T molasses, 2T soy sauce, 2T malt vinegar, 1tsp bouillon, and 1 cup of water,
with black pepper and red pepper for good measure.
it was sharp, and tangy, and awesome.
for serious, man-
it had the most mustardy magical briney shine,
and all that corned beefy taste without any sort of dead bodies ruining it-
and once they were sufficiently moistened,
and the achievement of saturated spice was unlocked?
we hit 'em with some move-makin' money-shakin' breathtakin' breading.
mmmhmmm.
arrowroot and cornmeal, GPOP, and 1 tsp each toasted caraway and celery seeds.
badaboomfire!
that's what really good, guys.
pan-fried until crispy, and the tempeh is done, and dope, and ready to rock.
1:1 semolina bread was a demibaguette of burliness.
i added a dash of sugar, to give it a quick rise,
and olive oil in it, and on top to get it especially golden, inside and out.
bread is it's own thing,
and suffice to say, homemade is better by a big ol' wide margin of expertism.
i baked it for 20 minutes at 400F,
alongside some thinly-sliced, salt & peppered.
sriracha-powder sprankled spicy beets.
yup.
soft, thin, earthy beetroot slivers had us feeling like
the healthiest eastern european gypsy sandwich wizards on earth, neighbors.
and the spice?
that brought a little zip to the party.
mmmm.
that's real.
beets aren't as budget as i used to believe, and since i converted,
i think i'm better off in every way for the adaptation.
so,
we got beets, and we got tempeh, and that got it going.
but, hooking it up with exxxtra hottness is how we make it expert.
so, we got into some of that.
shredded green onion on the bottom?
dope.
pickles?
dope.
kale/kohlrabi/broccoli microgreens?
c'mon.
they're cute, and small, but they are also mighty.
nutrients were in full effect up in here, kids.
all of that is all good,
but the runaway superstar ingredient was that fuscia fuego on top.
mmmmhmmm.
beet stem pesto.
WORD.
it was so easy, but it was so delicious:
one bunch of beet stems, roughly 2 cups, blanched;
1/2 cup cashews;
2 cloves raw garlic;
GPOP;
1/4 cup+ olive oil;
3 T nutritional yeast;
salt and pepper;
and a whole lotta scrapin' and pureeing.
the food processor got a workout,
and we got the big pink power of a pesto that was decidedly the besto.
ha.
*
the quinoa with tomatoes and parsley?
not that great.
womp womp.
i used the marinade to boil it up,
and damn,
it was one sharp and tangy zinger of a gritty, sorta sh!tty splat.
i can live with that.
there's always at least one low note in the grand finale, anyway.
the sandwich was elite, the side order of niblets was not.
that's still a win.
plus,
we had broccoli and cauliflower- green and white baby treetops.
steamed and seared and served with salt and peps....
guys,
sandwich week is the truth.
good food with my best broski only made it MORE so.
***********
yeah.
i also brought the noise in the a.m., too.
i mean,
rules is rules,
and everything is sandwiches during the holiday, man.
check it:

arugula, sprouts, tofu, tomato, hummus, and pickles,
on a buttery, toasted almost-everything bagel?
perfect.
on the ones-
i like a nice 'guini in the morning,
because i'm a morning person.
i like a nice 'guini in the evening, too.
because i'm a night owl.
heck, i like sandwiches ALL the time,
because i'm an always-person,
and i'm ready at all times to terrorize some tasty treats with tooth and tongue.
i'm about that life, y'feel me?
and that's no joke.
-
sandwich week may be officially over,
but,
i suspect that it's actually not quite done yet.
ha.
too much is the right amount.
i'm not sayin' i have inside info,
although i'd bet there's plenty of inspiration waiting to be tapped into.
yes.
oh. and don't think that that has stopped me
from already getting pizza dough ready.
no way.
i mean, c'mon,
i've got my sauce count to consider.
there's plenty of room for more sandwiches,
but pizza is forever. like wu-TANG.
it's all really happening, friends.
lots of work.
little to no time.
so much food.
and spanning the expanses of this expensive journey with you,
sort of,
and more literally and physically with the chosen few who
get over here and actively participate in the process.
this is it.
and that's all there is to it;
never quiet, never soft.....

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