Hi!
I tried to post this 3 days ago, but haven't seen it yet, so I am
re-posting it, with some modification.
A few days ago I figured I would finally make something with the beef-not
that I've had sitting here for the past few months.
This is the ingredient list:
1 cup beef-not
1 28oz jar pasta sauce.
1 med. onion
1 tsp minced garlic (mine was in a jar), or maybe 1-2 cloves.
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup red wine
spices to taste: garlic powder, parsley, italian seasonings, salt, pepper,
etc.
I "reconstituted" the beef-not with one cup of pasta sauce (whatever your
favorite brand is, or make your own). And to the sauce I had added minced
onions & garlic plus tons of spices from the cupboard. (whatever you like,
just put it in).
I microwaved this for 2 minutes. Then I added the beef-not to a pan with
the rest of the pasta sauce from the jar. I threw in more onions & spices.
I decided it was a bittoo thick, so added the water & wine. But it was
still very thick. Which I thought would be fine anyway.
I simmered it for probably 20 minutes and then served over cooked ziti.
My SAD father ate it & said it was "great" considering it was "fake beef". =)
The only problem is that is was quite sweet tasting. So it was a little
strange, but good none-the-less. I think served with grated cheese maybe,
it would be better.
The next day, since i had so much left over, I ended up eating it for both
lunch & dinner.
My conclusion is that it made a perfect "sloppy joe" mixture. And was
better NOT used over pasta. The sweetness was much like that of the "BBQ"
thats made with brown sugar & katsup & vinegar, etc.. So next time, I will
make it specifically into BBQ stuff.
Last night I made some chicken-not salad. I reconstituted one cup of
chicken-not with one cup water, plus garlic & onion & lots of spices.
Cooked it for 10 minutes in the microwave. It had a BAD smell when it came
out, something I can only associate with crock-pot cooking. Because when I
have attempted chili & sauce in a crock pot, it always gets this smell & i
cannot eat it with out gagging. I know its the combination of spices &
onion & garlic. But don't know WHY its there. So, not feeling very excited
about this anymore, i figured I had better wash of my little chicken-not
chunks to get rid of that horrid smell & taste. So i washed them for 5-10
minutes in fresh water & they were just fine. The funny thing is that when
i was cooking this in the microwave, I swore it even smelled like chicken!
I think they are a very close consistency to real chicken, so beware.
I mixed the chucks up with some mayonnaise & more spices.. garlic, salt,
pepper, celery. And tossed it in the fridge.
I couldn't wait, so about 30 minutes later I had some and it was delicious.
Very VERY much like real chicken, i was amazed.
I canot wait to see how it is today.
Good luck with these ideas!
Aprille
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