1. 08 December 2009 · 10:35 PM ·

    Taco 011: Bean & Chipotle Field Roast

    Let’s be honest up front: I know this taco has more chipotles than Bobby Flay on a bender at his own restaurant in Vegas. That’s just how it’s going to be tonight.

    For the first taco of this officially being a veg taco blog, I decided to take on one of the cliches of vegetarian recipe writing: “Anything you can meat, I can soy-meat better.” While, as a general matter, I think fake textured vegetable protein “meat” is a bit lame (I am a vegetarian who likes vegetables - crazy, I know), I do not rule it out either.

    The fake meat in question today is Mexican Chipotle “Sausage” from Field Roast Grain Meat Co.. The Seattle-based Field Roast has been in business since 1997, but have only fairly recently been on my radar. The sausages and “celebration roasts” (think, Tofurkey competitor) seem to be available at all the Whole Foods and independent markets around me. According to the company website, they seem to have pretty wide distribution in the US.

    The Mexican Chipotle flavor is a bit of a chorizo-ish concept, which was my jumping off point for the recipe. On it’s own, the sausage is not super flavorful, but it gives a nice chipotle-spiced base to build a taco from. It also cooks up very quickly, so if you omitted the potatoes from this taco, you could whip this meal up in a matter of minutes.

    There are a couple sources of inspiration for this meal: a Rick Bayless taco for Martha Stewart and this East Village Kitchen post (which, itself, draws from the May 2009 Bon Appetit). This is how food gets cooked, folks - cumulative idea theft and tweaking.

    Roasting the potatoes made this an extra-hearty, filling meal, and the tacos would be fine without. That is, presumably, if your apartment is heated. If however, like me, you have a single gas heater for your unit which PG&E cannot connect until January and in the meantime have to huddle around your oven for warmth like a hobo over a garbage can fire (with, apparently, an equally minimal concern for energy efficiency), I say roast those bitches while shaking your fist at how ill-prepared Californians are for a cold snap.


    Chipotle Field Roast, Black Bean, and Potato Tacos with Chipotle Sour Cream - Inspired by this and this

    INGREDIENTS

    I. Roasted Potatoes
    2 waxy yellow potatoes
    olive oil
    salt

    II. Chipotle Sour Cream
    2 dried chipotle peppers
    1 lime, juiced
    4 oz sour cream
    pinch of salt
    couple grinder-twists black pepper

    III. Bean-Sausage Filling
    1 can of whole black beans
    1 tsp oregano
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    2 tbs cilantro, finely chopped
    1/2 lime, juiced
    1 tsp ground cumin
    2 links Field Roast Mexican Chipotle Sausage

    IV. Other
    Tortillas (I used 365 Organics’ Red Chile. They were kind of good - and red.)


    PROCEDURE

    I. Roast Potatoes
    1. Preheat oven to 450F.
    2. Dice the potatoes into wee bites, leaving skin on, and put in a small roasting dish (I used a single loaf pan which was just the right size).
    3. Add a glug or so of olive oil and a couple dashes of salt. Toss together to coat potatoes.
    4. Roast in oven about 30-40 minutes, until skin is crinkly and browned on the tips.
    5. Mix yourself a margarita and hang out for a minute.

    II. Chipotle Sour Cream
    1. Rehydrate the chilies: Put the dried peppers in a shallow, wide bowl and pour boiling water over top to submerge. Weight them down and let them hang out until soft and plumped.
    2. Cut off the stems and roughly chop the peppers into pieces small enough to fit comfortably in your food processor. Mine is tiny, so these would be fairly small. Maybe you have a big, fancy chopper and can put them in whole - if so, go ahead, show off.
    3. Add sour cream and lime juice and blitz until smooth and orangish. Add salt and pepper to taste.

    III. Bean-Sausage Filling
    1. Get the Field Roast links and peel off the plastic “casing.” Crumble the meat all up into small lumps with your fingers. It will bleed oily orange grain-blood all over your hands. Wash up and deal with it.
    2. Heat a bit of olive oil in a deep skillet. Once shimmery but not smoking, turn the heat down to about medium-high and cook the sausage until hot and cooked but not over-done along with the garlic.
    3. Add the spice mixture and saute it all together to get the flavors acquainted. Remember: Grain meat is not even as forgiving as actual sausage and will get dry and gross if you cook it too long, so taste and keep an eye out. Transfer to a small bowl.
    4. Drain the beans and pour into the empty, hot pan. Cook them until nice and piping.
    5. Add the sausage-spice bowl back in and scamble it all up with the beans. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep over low heat while you finish preparing and assembling the meal.
    6. Use the left-over mixture to fill omelets in the morning. Especially if, say, your cool friend brought you eggs from her backyard chickens as a hostess gift for the party you had over the weekend. Or, you know, if you “bought” eggs at the “market”. Whatever.