Me: Today, I offer you ‘Ham-peh in A-Corn.’
You: Uhm, is that supposed to be the veg. rhyme revision of that man’s comment about escarole and ‘ham off the bone’?
Me: Yes. Horrible, I know.
You: Poetic license – revoked, unless this recipe is tasty.
Me: Here’s hopin’ you enjoy it, as much as I did!
Yesterday, I praised escarole but only tantalized you with my lists of edible delights. As I was thinking about today’s post and looking over yesterday’s comments, I thought hm…how could I translate that commenter’s favorite dish into a vegan recipe, and furthermore, how could this challenge help revise my stuffed squash standard? In honor of my father’s upcoming visit, yep -- “that man,” I present you with transformation #1 – “Ham-peh in A-Corn” (an entrée). Stay tuned for a bonus transformation for my Gma (who will also be visiting) in tomorrow’s post; it’s a classic family dessert.
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“Ham-peh in A-Corn”
Time: 45 min. – 1 hour
Servings: 2 (with some “Facon” left for additional use)
Ingredients (by step):
1: 1 acorn squash
2 nickel-sizes worth of maple syrup straight from container
Shakes of cinnamon (I used Ceylon but any kind should work!)
salt and pepper
2: 1 T maple syrup
1 T+ applesauce
1 T Olive Oil
1 t+ cumin
½ t of each of the following: garlic powder, paprika, ground chipotle
2 t soy sauce or similar substitute ( I used Bragg’s Liquid Aminos)
black pepper
3: Approximately 8-10 c. greens ( I used about 6 c. escarole and 4 c. collards)
¼-1/2 c. shallot or red onion (I used a mix)
1/8 – 1/4 c. finely chopped dried cranberries
salt and pepper
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Step 1:
1) Preheat oven to 400°. Line baking sheet or tray with Silpat or parchment (or just make a mess and clean it up).
2) Rinse off squash and dry; cut in half. Scrape out seeds and pulp. (You can save and roast seeds if you want – great for snacking or a salad topping!)
3) Put nickel-sized drip of maple syrup in each half; rub it around with your hands to cover all of inside flesh. Shake cinnamon over both halves – just dust them, like a minimal frost or light snow…not a blizzard. Give a shake or two of salt and pepper in each half.
4) I put my squash cut side down for the first 40 minutes and then up for the last 20 to get a crust, but I would suggest leaving cut side up for the entire time to get the nice glaze. I just forgot, because I am so used to roasting cut side down for soups. Set timer as appropriate – check on it every 20 min. or so, just to make sure it isn’t burning.
Step 2: (while squash is cooking)
Ok…so ham. My more-than-a-decade-old impression of ham is that it has two characteristics -- super salty and sweet, so that’s what I wanted to capture. I was curious about vegan bacon recipes and, in webvestigating (neologism? Woot!), I came across the following blog. The recipe below is adapted from the tempeh bacon recipe at the Healthy. Happy. Life. blog http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/06/tempeh-bacon-recipe-vegan-facon-makes.html. I look forward to further investigating this blog; it seems pretty rad!
1) Thinly slice tempeh. (I cut on the short length, but in retrospect, I might try cutting in the longer strips.) Set aside.
2) Combine all of the other ingredients in a sandwich bag; mush to blend. Then add tempeh slices; squish to coat all slices evenly. Leave in fridge; revel in your use of very serious cooking terminology that partially sounds like a song from Chicago the musical.
Step 3: (squash is still cooking…and smellin’ gooood!)
1) My greens were pre-washed and cut (by me J); if yours have not be dealt with, now’s the time! As E would say, “do it to it”; then, set aside in a bowl.
2) Finely slice onion/shallot and cranberries. Set aside.
Step 4: (about 10-15 min. left of squash cooking – the home stretch!)
*** I used a large sauté pan and a grill pan. In retrospect, I say just use the large sauté pan and save a wash.***
1) Depending on size of sauté pan, put approx. 3-6 T of water in the pan – water should barely coat bottom. Head on med. high – add shallot/onion/cranberry mix; cook 5-7 min. until softened(they won’t brown due to non-oil sauté). Add greens and cook about 3 min. until wilted but still green. Return to greens bowl.
2) Spray or oil sauté pan; it should be lightly, but fully coated. Retrieve tempeh; give a final squish around while pan is heating up at medium-high or 7, depending on how your stove works. Fry like “Facon” – about 2-3 min. a side until browned or crispy depending on preference. Set aside on plate.
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| Boomer -- looking longingly in the hope of “accidentally” falling Facon.
1) You have about 5 min. left on squash. Open up oven and either remove tray or spoon filling directly into squash. Divide greens evenly between squash cups; place approximately 5-7 “Facon” strips on top of greens; I drizzled some Bragg’s on top, but test “Facon” first to see if you’d like the additional salty element. Finish cook time.
2) Serve in a bowl, and be happy! Your body will thank you for the veg and health-tastic eats! Use remaining “Facon” as crumbles on salad or in a wrap, at least that’s what I plan to do tomorrow.
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As you can see, this dish looks pretty spiffy. It is also pretty spicy (which you can tone down by reducing the chipotle), so it is fantastic for a fall/winter warm up! Despite the step organization, it is pretty simple and doesn’t require any other accompaniments to be a complete, filling meal. You can also divide this up and do steps 2-3 the day prior and then just bake (Step 1)/fill the acorn squash (Step 4)on the day of serving. However, the filling prep is so quick that I also made SusanV’s, the FatFree Vegan Kitchen blogger (see blogroll), “Balsamic Fudge Drops” (with adaptations) from mix through bake/cool while I was making this recipe, so you don’t have to be constantly in the kitchen the entire time…unless you want treats, of course. Finally, I’m sure my recipe posting style will evolve. Any questions? Just ask. For now, the + sign just means that I don’t level the ingredient off. I fully admit that I am a pinch, fling, and palm measurer, so most values are my best guess of what I use. I am a big fan of using what you have, so I’ll try to provide options where I can to make the recipes as user-friendly as possible given the standard pantry.
Now, I leave you with a challenge: whether you begin with this meal or another one that I post or that you find on suggested/related blogs, I encourage you to experiment and add more vegan dishes to those that you already have in your weekly dining repertoire. I’ll post a few more before the weekend – you might start then by just trying one based on what you can find at your local farmers market or on sale at your grocery store. I look forward to hearing about your exploration!
Recipe References:
SusanV. “Valentine’s Treat: Chocolate Cookies Two Ways.” . [Weblog entry.] FatFree Vegan Kitchen: Sinlessly
Delicious. 14 Feb. 2007. http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/02/valentines-treat-chocolate-cookies-two.html. 2 Nov. 2010.
Patalsky, Kathy. “Tempeh Bacon Recipe. Vegan Facon for All.” [Weblog entry.] Healthy. Happy. Life. 11 June
2009. http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2009/06/tempeh-bacon-recipe-vegan-facon-makes.html. 2 Nov. 2010.
Note: Please feel free to share my recipes/blog info; I thank you in advance for appropriate credit where it is due, as I will also do my best to cite and reference accordingly.
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