How to Select and Store Eggplant
A member of the night-shade family, eggplant is a veggie related to the tomato and potato. This berry, the eggplant, is a fruit and is native to India. The common variety is know by many names depending in what region of the world you live. Aubergine, Brinjal, and Garden Egg are just a few of the names referring to an eggplant.
Selection
It's been my experience that eggplant with a shiny smooth exterior are the best. At all costs avoid any eggplant with blemishes, soft spots or mold around the stem area. A vast variety of colors and shapes can be found at ethnic markets. Size, color and variety choices will provide different flavors, so give them all a try with assorted recipes.
Shopping Tips
Try to find heavy eggplant.
Just like other fruits, the heavier, the juicier, the fresher.
Select the deepest purple for the traditional eggplant.
Select shiny, firm, with no blemishes for all colors of eggplant.
Look for stem tops that are green... avoid dried, gray or moldy looking stems!
Find out when your market receives their weekly shipments and shop on that day.
Vegan Dinner
Match Meats Vegan Crab Cakes
As a child, my mother, Christine Stanley, made the BEST crab cakes ever! I loved them and as a vegan miss them greatly! But better health seems more important than eating "bottom feeders"! Anyway, a few weeks ago Allison Burgess, the owner of Match Meats, contacted me about trying out her Match Meat Products.
Is This REAL CRAB?
As soon as I saw the Crab Match Meat package, I decided to recreate my mom's crab cake recipe. Upon opening the package I was astonished at how it smelled and looked EXACTLY like REAL crab meat. So much so that I dug out the package wrapper from the trash can and looked at the label to insure that this was indeed a vegan product and it was! I proceeded with the recipe, feeling guilty about how it looked and smelled. The taste of the finished product will FOOL anyone! There is no way to tell that this is not REAL CRAB MEAT! Thus Match Meat lives up to it's name. Allison Burgess has made a way for us to duplicate any recipe and stay healthy at the same time.
No Side Effects
After eating the Match Meat Crab, it digested wonderfully and had no side effects from cooking or eating it.
Match Meat Crab INGREDIENTS: Water, Texturized Soy Protein, Wheat Protein, Canola Oil, Natural Flavors, Modified Vegetable Gum. Match is a soy product with no animal ingredients. Match contains Soy and Wheat.
Serving Size: 100g | Calories: 120
Ask Your Market to Stock Match Meats
If you have not seen this product in the freezer section of your health food market, be sure to ask them to start stocking "Match Meat Crab".
Recipe Yields: 12 vegan crab cakes
Ingredients
1 package of Match Meat Crab, one pound
1 2/3 cups leftover Basic Mashed Potatoes
1/2 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
8 tablespoons grape seed oil, set aside
1 package organic bread crumbs, for breading
Tools
large mixing bowl
bowl for bread crumbs
measuring cups and spoons
sharp knife
lemon zester
lemon juicer
large Scanpan for frying
cookie sheet
Tartar Sauce
Vegenaise
lemon juice
sea salt
Tabasco Chipotle Sauce
Preparation
The Tartar Sauce
It's probably a good idea to make a tartar sauce BEFORE mixing up the Match Meats Vegan Crab Cake Recipe. This way the sauce is ready when the Vegan Crab Cakes are right out of the fry pan.
Depending on how many you may be serving, mix the Vegenaise, a little lemon juice, sea salt and a dash of Tabasco Chipotle Sauce to create a tartar sauce for the Match Meat Vegan Crab Cakes.
Optional: Add dill or sweet pickles, but that's up to your taste buds.
The Side Salad
I'd also recommend salad preparation now and have it ready to plate as soon as the Crab Cakes are HOT.
In this recipe, I grated four peeled organic carrots using a Japanese mandolin and added leftover Salsa de Pico from the nachos I made the night before. The crunch texture and heat from the salsa was a great side dish to eat with the hot moist Crab Cakes.
Salsa, Carrot and Radish Side Salad
The Crab Mixture
In a large mixing bowl place the Match Meat Crab, mashed potatoes, chopped onion, 1/3 cup bread crumbs, parsley, lemon zest and juice and red pepper flakes.
Fold the ingredients until the crab and mashed potatoes are distributed evenly with the other ingredients.
The Crab Cakes
Form the Crab Mixture into 12 individual patties.
Heat 4 tablespoons of grape seed oil in a non-stick Scanpan and heat over medium while breading the crab cakes.
Pour about a cup of the bread crumbs into a shallow plate or bowl and coat each side of the crab cake with the crumbs.
Put the breaded crab cake into the hot grape seed oil pan and fry for approximately 3 minutes per side over medium heat.
Repeat breading each crab cake and frying until all twelve are done.
Add oil as needed while frying each batch of Match Meat Crab Cakes.
Fry the individual Match Meats Vegan Crab Cakes Until Golden Brown
Heating
If you have to hold the crab cakes, heat your oven to 250 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with a cake rack and set each one on top of it.
Freezing
If you want Match Meat Crab Cakes ready at a moments notice, form and bread all the crab cakes and lay them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and refreeze the batch.
After the Match Meat Crab Cakes are fully frozen, place them in a freezer bag and keep in the freezer until needed.
Just take out what you want to cook and pan fry in grape seed oil until golden brown and serve.
I found no difference in the consistency or taste of the Match Meat Crab Cakes after freezing and then frying.
Presentation
Appetizer
Serve Match Meat Vegan Crab Cakes at your next dinner party as an Appetizer to your meal or make them smaller for a cocktail party. They would be great as small balls with festive toothpicks stuck in each one for dipping into a sauce.
Sandwich
A Match Meat Vegan Crab Cake Sandwich served on bread heated in a Panini Maker, slathered with Vegenaise and topped with fresh organic arugula... ooohlala!
Quick Luncheon or Light Dinner
Match Meat Vegan Crab Cakes with a creamy Vegenaise and Lemon Sauce and a salad of fresh grated carrots with left over Salsa de Pico as the dressing. Fast, easy, affordable and TASTY!
Cost of Match Meat Crab: One Pound Package $7.50
Ordering from Match Meat one to eight pounds is $22.50... so order at least 8 and it will cost $10.31 per pound. Best to get your local health food store to stock it.
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