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On the trip home from the US with Jon, the two of us talked about Philly Cheesesteaks. If Ottawa had a sandwich named after it, what would it be like? We started coming up with ideas. Shredded beef. Cheese curds in the tradition of poutine. Caramelized onions. Maple syrup.

I made the sandwich this weekend.

Curdwich Filling (Original)

• 2 lb, Beef Sirloin
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1/4 Tsp Pepper
• 1 Tbsp Oil
• 2 Cup Tomato Sauce
• 1 Medium Onion, Chopped
• 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
• 3 Tbsp Maple Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Tbsp Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Mustard Sauce
• 2 Tsp Chili Powder

1. Mix all of the ingredients except for the beef in a slow cooker.
2. Place the beef. Set on high for 5 hours. When ready, the beef will just pull apart on prodding.

Preparation

You need to set aside about six hours for this. I first got the slow-cooker up and running, then I made the bread. An hour before serving, I started on the sides of roasted garlic potatoes and the caramelized onions.

When it got to serving time, we placed the curds first in the bread. Then we laid on the filling, and covered it with the caramelized onions.

Thoughts

I made my go-to bread loaf these days (3 cups flour, 2.5 tsp yeast, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1/3 cup oil, 1 cup water, Italian seasoning), and cut it up to make two long buns. The bread proved too soft to handle the juicy filling. So the first change would be to find stronger bread – perhaps a loaf of French bread.

The maple flavour didn’t come up at all, so Jon suggested basting the beef in a maple BBQ sauce.  He also suggested less sauce. Otherwise, it was delicious. This recipe is open to tweaking, thus why it’s called “take one.”

 

Sloppy Joe’s

Hamburger Buns (Original)

Makes 12-18 buns.

• 1 Cup Warm Vegan Milk (eg. Almond Milk)
• 1 Cup Warm Water
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 2 1/2 Tsp Yeast
• 5 Cups Flour
• 1 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Vegan Milk
• 1 Tbsp Water
• Sesame Seeds (do not skip!)

1. In a large bowl, combine milk, water, sugar and yeast. Mix around and let sit for 5 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt.
3. Add the flour to the liquid, half a cup at a time.
4. Knead the dough until elastic. Coat the sides of the bowl in oil.
5. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size. About 1 hour.
6. Punch down the dough and divide up into 12 – 18 buns. Knead each until dry and place on a cookie sheet. Let rest for 5 minutes.
7. Flatten the buns slightly. Cover the buns and let rest for another 20 minutes or until doubled in size.
8. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
9. Whisk together milk and water. Brush mixture on each bun, then sprinkle sesame seeds.
10. Bake in the oven’s centre rack for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Let cool on a cooling rack.

Filling (Original)

Enough filling for 12-18 buns.

• 1 Tbsp Oil
• 1 1/4 Pound Ground Textured Vegetable Protein
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Steak Seasoning Blend
• 1 Medium Onion, Chopped
• 1 Small Bell Pepper, Chopped
• 1 Tbsp Wine Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 Cups Tomato Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1. In a large pot on medium-high heat, add oil and TVP.
2. Break up the TVP.
3. Mix brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add to TVP mixture and combine.
4. When the TVP has browned, add the onion and bell pepper.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. Let heat for 5 minutes.
6. Add tomato sauce and paste. Stir and reduce heat to a simmer. Let sit for another 5 minutes.
7. It’s ready to serve! If I wasn’t serving immediately, I left mine on low heat and added a bit of tomato sauce if it lost a bit of moisture.

Thoughts

This was my first time having Sloppy Joe’s, and I found that the filling tasted amazing. The hamburger buns I made were a bit on the dense side, but quite good. The sesame seeds really imparted their flavour. I’ll be very pleased if I could make the buns fluffier. Perhaps I’ll try this bun recipe next time. Filling though? Awesome.

Oreo Cheesecakes

Makes 12 muffin-sized cheesecakes.

• 22 Oreo Cookies
• 2 Packages of Vegan Cream Cheese (eg. Tofutti)
• 2/3 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Water
• 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 Tsp Vanilla
• 1/2 Tsp Salt

1. Set the oven to 350 F.
2. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
3. Put an Oreo on the bottom of each.
4. Blend cream cheese and sugar until softened.
5. Add water, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt to cream cheese mix. Combine well.
6. Break up 4 Oreos into crumbs and place in mixture. Fold them in.
7. Add mix to the paper liners.
8. Bake for 25 minutes.
9. Let cool, then refrigerate for at least four hours. You’ll find that the centre sinks inwards as it cools.
10. When ready to serve, crumb up 6 Oreo cookies and garnish the top of the cheesecakes with them.

Thoughts

Underwhelming. This was a hybrid of my previous vegan cheesecake recipe and a bite-sized Oreo one I spotted online. I liked the Oreo cookie base and how crumbs were folded in. However, the cheesecake part was gummy tasting and really not all that savoury. Going forward, I think I’ll try a different recipe.

Hot Chocolate

Multiply the portions by the servings desired.

• 1 Cup of Vegan Milk (eg. Almond Milk)
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1. Whisk all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
2. Serve!

Thoughts

Simple and delicious.