Pastel de Choclo for Lazy Vegans

So many of the traditional Chilean dishes I grew up eating are meat based. This obviously presented a little bit of a problem for me when I transitioned to veganism, because I felt a further disconnect from my culture, in which food is central.
One of my favourite meals growing up was pastel de choclo (pronounced "patel de shocklo", or if you're my brother in 1998, "pass the chocolate"), a beef and corn pie with chicken and egg, aka a nightmare of a dish for vegans. My heart, though, ached for this sweet caramelised corn dish and the memories that came with it, and I knew I had to at least try to recreate it in a cruelty-free fashion.

I'll be honest with you, I still can't believe I pulled it off. It wasn't ever going to be exactly the same, nor would I want it to be, but it satisfied my craving and made me feel Chilean once more. It even passed what I like to call the fridge and spoon test, which means the leftovers are so good that I find myself sneaking back to the fridge several times to shovel them directly into my face.

She's beauty, she's grace, I want her in my face.

Some notes before we begin ("Ugh! Stop talking! Get to the recipe! We don't need to hear your life story!" buddy I hear you, and it hurts me, but I get it). I used silken tofu to replace the boiled egg. I added this last minute and purely for the aesthetic, and it's absolutely not necessary for taste,. I wont add it next time I make it, but I used it today so I'm putting it in the recipe. I also added mushrooms which is not traditional but I threw them in because I love mushrooms and I was afraid the "mince" would be a bit bland and I'm a badass rule breaker so fight me (but don't I'd probably cry). Anyway! Here's the recipe.

Pastel de Choclo for Lazy Vegans

Get your shit together:

2 brown onions, diced
2 tablespoonsof vegan butter or margarine
5 handfuls of dehydrated TVP mince (I'm good at measurements)
2 beef flavoured vegan stock cubes (I use Massell)
1 teaspoon of cumin powder
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
1 handful of diced mushrooms
1 packet of Gardein teriyaki chicken strips minus the sauce (you can use another brand but this is the one I deemed best for the job)
1 jar of whole black olives
1 handful of sultanas (raisins)
1/4 pack of firm silken tofu
2 cans of creamed corn
1 handful of chopped basil
raw sugar to sprinkle on top


Method:

Preheat your oven. I go for 180 degrees Celsius for my fan-forced crappy electric oven, but you know your oven better than I do and I trust you.
Take your "chicken" strips out of the freezer and packet and put the teriyaki sauce to the side to be used in another dish in the future, because you're not a wasteful person. Separate the strips if you can and leave them to thaw. I didn't do this and I had trouble breaking up the strips and I had cold hands which was unpleasant. Yet another example of me fucking up so you don't have to.

Enjoy this bad photo of what it should
look like pre-corn layer. Next time I'll tear
the strips up smaller, but that's just
personal preference.

In a small bowl dissolve one of your stock cubes in a little hot water, just enough so it can be completely dissolved, Rehydrate your TVP mince in a bowl of tap water, and add the stock water. I don't know if this does anything but in my mind the TVP soaks up the stock water giving the mince more flavour. Leave the TVP to soak.
in a pan, cook your diced onions in the butter. Once soft, add mushrooms, cumin, salt, and the tvp (draining any excess water). Crumble in your other stock cube and stir thoroughly, making sure the stock is dissolved. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Once your pino (filling) is warmed through, spread it evenly in a baking dish. Sprinkle sultanas on top, and space olives out evenly. If your chicken style strips are thawed, tear them into smaller pieces and evenly space those out on top too. If they're not thawed then thaw them in the microwave or use a sharp knife to cut them. Cut tofu into slices about half a centimetre thick and two centimetres squared and pop those on top too (remember--you can skip this step).
In the pan you made your pino in, mix creamed corn and basil. You can use a bowl but I hate washing up so I try to use as few cooking utensils as possible, you might enjoy making more mess for yourself and if that's the case go for it. Spread your corn mixture over the top of the pie.
Coat with a good sprinkle of raw sugar (this is not healthy but it's the best part. It caramelises and the edges crisp up and holy shit it's good) and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the corn is golden brown and bubbling away nicely.
Serve warm, and eat the leftovers all by yourself at 3am as you edit the photos you took.

Note: as you've used whole olives, be aware of the pits. I don't have any money so suing me for your chipped teeth will do you no good. Just be careful.

 If you use this or any of my other recipes, I'd love to see how you went! You can tag me in them on instagram @rokkers and/or use the tag #plantbasedjase, and I"ll probably respond with way too many emojis.

Not My Abuelo's Pebre

You've seen those shirts that say "touch my butt and buy me pizza", right? Well, I need one like that, except mine would say "make me pebre and leave me alone". There's just something about that fresh coriander salsa I grew up eating that has me constantly craving it, constantly thinking about it, even dreaming about it.
I. Fucking. Love. Pebre.

Seriously. I'm salivating.

I make and eat so much of it and post about it on my instagram so often that I've gotten a lot of requests for a recipe, so I figured what better subject for my first post than pebre? I'm going to do my best to be coherent, but I'm not making any promises--I basically add everything to taste, and the recipe was never written down for me. My grandma taught my mum how to make it, who in turn showed me, who then completely bastardised it because I'm all about maximum results with minimum effort. So join me as I reach into the depths of my brain, right back to high school cooking classes, and attempt to remember how to write a recipe. Sorry if it turns out terribly, I was probably drawing flowers in my margins.

NOT MY ABUELO'S PEBRE (because we make ours very differently)

Get your shit together:

5 tomatoes finely diced
5 spring onions (shallot, green onion, whatever you call it where you're from. The long green ones) finely sliced
1 large bunch OR two small bunches of fresh coriander (cilantro) finely chopped
juice of 1 lemon
2-3 teaspoons of garlic paste (or 2-3 cloves of crushed garlic if you're not lazy like me)
drizzle of oil (something neutral tasting. I use sunflower)
Tabasco sauce
sriracha
salt to taste


Method:

In a mixing bowl (I like to use a glass one because I like admiring my work from all angles) combine tomatoes, spring onions, and coriander. Make sure you chop your coriander all the way to the end of the stems because the stems have the best flavour. You can use the roots if you like (my dad does), but I don't like the texture of them in the pebre.
Add oil, garlic, juice of half a lemon, a generous shake of Tabasco sauce, and a decent squeeze of sriracha (I told you. I warned you. I'm Very Bad at this). Mix thoroughly, then crack your salt all over, and mix again.

Got a rice cracker? Put some pebre on it.

At this point you can give the pebre a taste. If this is your first time trying it, this step may not be any help, because you aren't sure what it's supposed to taste like. If I were there with you I would volunteer to taste it, but I'm not, so you're gonna have to trust yourself. If it's not acidic enough for your liking, add some of the leftover lemon. Its up to you if you add more hot sauce or not (though some would argue that as you're cooking it, everything is up to you), but keep in mind that as you let the pebre sit, the flavours will intensify. I've made these mistakes so you don't have to. You're welcome.
Once you're happy with the taste, let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so. This is just so the tomato can soak up the flavours of everything else, and that intensifying we talked about earlier can happen. Then you can shove it directly into your mouth parts with a spoon (my preferred method), or put it on burgers, pasta, anything! The pebre should keep in a jar or container in the fridge for about a week, though with me around it never lasts that long.
For ideas as to what to eat your pebre with, check out the hashtag #putsomepebreonit on instagram, and feel free to add that tag to your own posts.

Speaking of Instagram, If you use this or any of my future/other recipes, I'd love to see how you went! You can tag me in them @rokkers, and use the tag #plantbasedjase.

Note: The beautiful thing about pebre is that no one region of Chile makes it the same way. Some add fresh chilli, dried spices, and balsamic vinegar. Some people use boiling water and omit tomato. This is just the way I was brought up eating and making it, and every way is good. It's all pebre, and its all delicious.