Green Chile Piñon 'Meat' Balls

Friends in New Mexico know my passion for the wonderful foods from their region and I was blessed with a wonderful gift this Christmas - a Southwest Sampler loaded with all sorts of goodies including a very nice sized bag of the distinctive little buttery, slightly 'pine-y' Piñon nuts.
I stuck part of the bag in the freezer for later and used some in this "meat" ball recipe I'd been inspired by, from an issue of Edible Santa Fe (a beautiful magazine with all sorts of Southwestern yumminess in both pictures and recipes).

Of course I modified the recipe to my tastes, and to make it vegan, so it's not exactly the same as the one they posted, but the end result was absolutely delicious! The spices, raisins and chiles all worked together SO well!

I realize not everyone has access to roasted green chiles, and piñons (or pine nuts) are usually exorbitantly expensive, so this might be one of those "regional" recipes or for special occassions - canned green chiles aren't ideal, but would work - and I think I would probably substitute toasted pecans and cashews here under typical circumstances though the flavor of the piñons definitely add their own special flavor.
Making the green chile sauce "sweet" was something I hadn't tried before, but it paired perfectly with the slightly sweet, spicy 'meat'balls. Yum.

Green Chile Piñon 'Meat' Balls

1 pound "GimmeLean" vegetarian burger product
1 T. brown sugar
½ C. raisins, chopped*
½ C. piñon nuts (OR a combination toasted chopped pecans and cashews)
¼ C. onion, finely minced*
1 ¼ t. allspice
1 Tb. soy sauce
3/4 t. salt
2 juniper berries, crushed or ground very fine (optional)
½ C. mashed garbanzo beans*
½ C. fresh roasted or frozen green chile, finely chopped*


1 cup rice (or regular) flour seasoned with salt and pepper, for dredging
oil for frying

Sweet Green Chile Sauce:

3/4 C. green chiles, finely chopped
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup white wine or apple juice
1 Tb. red wine vinegar
1/4 cup "chicken" style broth
1/4 cup brown sugar


Combine GimmeLean burger, sugar, raisins, piñon, onion, soy sauce, garbanzos, juniper berries (if using) green chiles, allspice and salt in medium bowl.
*Or optionally, pulse raisins, onions, garbanzos, green chiles until well mixed but still chunky, not mushy in the food processor bowl and then add remaining ingredients.
Mix and mash thoroughly with your hands. If too moist, add a couple tablespoons dry bread crumbs. Form into 1-inch balls (about 1 T. or smaller for "cocktail" size).

Roll each meatball in seasoned rice flour. Heat oil (I used coconut oil, as it makes things extra crispy without over browning - but use what you like) in large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Fry meatballs in batches, several minutes on each side, until browned. Drain on paper towels.

Make sauce: Mix green chile, white wine, vinegar, water, broth, and sugar to make a sauce, simmer for 15 min or until reduced a bit, while frying meatballs. Pour over meatballs and serve, or bake for a while until sauce gets sticky and more evaporated and serve with toothpicks at a buffet.

Persimmon Bars

Alas, December has hit with a vengeance and my still-remaining collection of GRAVY posts has been relegated to a back burner - so to speak. They ARE there and WILL be posted, just maybe not as soon as I planned.

I've had other things to entertain me though. My dear cousin in California just sent us this HUGE package of avocados and persimmons and while the avocados are ripening VERY slowly in my cool garage, the persimmons have all decided to ripen at once and I was left wondering what exactly to do with them.

I love persimmons, but they are a peculiar and often misunderstood fruit. The Hachiya persimmons (like the ones in my garage) are large, heart shaped and need to be eaten ONLY after they've ripened to a super-soft, jello- or-custard-like consistency. No, it might not sound appetizing at first, but they really are delicious. I sometimes freeze the ripe ones and they're especially delicious straight out of the freezer - like eating sorbet!

The squatty, Fuyu persimmons can be eaten when firm (like a ripe pear) and dark orange in color, I especially like them cut up in fruit or green salads.

Since all 16 persimmons decided to ripen at once, I decided to put some of the fruit into a bar-cookie recipe, more specifically for an entry in the Earth Balance/Whole Foods Holiday Bake-Off contest.

My recipe is here: (Persimmon Bars) but I'll also post the whole recipe here on my blog, in case you're too lazy to click on the link. They're modeled after lemon bars, but the mellow, sweet persimmon filling makes them into something quite different.

PERSIMMON BARS

CRUST (following):
* 1 2/3 cup(s) of wheat or white pastry flour
* 2 tbsp. of wheatgerm OR chickpea flour
* 2/3 cup(s) of powdered sugar
* 4 tbsp. of cornstarch
* 1 cup(s) of chilled Earth Balance Baking Sticks

PERSIMMON CUSTARD FILLING (following):
* 1 1/4 cup(s) of water
* 3 tbsp. of agar agar flakes
* 1/2 cup(s) of sugar
* 1 1/2 cup(s) of very soft, ripe Hachiya persimmon pulp (4 large, soft persimmons)
* 1 tbsp. of lemon juice
* 4 tbsp. of arrowroot powder (OR cornstarch, though it will be more cloudy)
* 3 tbsp. of soymilk

* 1/4 cup(s) of powdered sugar for topping

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Grease a 9 X 13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. MAKE CRUST:
3. Put the flour, wheat germ, powdered sugar and cornstarch in food processor. Add Earth Balance margarine in spoonfuls and "pulse" (turn it on and off) each time, 8 to 10 seconds, and then, if needed, after all the margarine is added, pulse again until mixture resembles coarse meal.
4. Spoon the crust mixture into the baking pan and press firmly into an even layer with slightly raised sides to hold in the filling.
5. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes and then bake for 40 min.
6. Remove from oven. Let cool. While it is cooling, make the custard filling.
7. MAKE FILLING:
8. Soak the agar-agar flakes in the water for 15 minutes. While it is soaking, put persimmon pulp in food processor and blend until smooth. Mix the arrowroot and lemon juice into persimmon pulp and blend well to dissolve arrowroot.

9. Put agar-agar mixture into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil about 10 minutes until completely dissolved. Add sugar and boil about two or three more minutes.
10. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the arrow root and persimmon mixture, then add the soy milk. Whisk constantly over med-low heat until the mixture thickens. About 5 minutes.
11. Pour cooked mixture into prepared crust. Let it cool about 20 minutes, then refrigerate for 2 - 3 hours or until set up and only slightly jiggly. Sift powdered sugar over the top. Cut into bars and serve.