Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
1 1/2 pounds salt cod — (stockfish/baccala)
8 pounds potato
1/2 liter olive oil
4 heads garlic
4 ounces onions — chopped
4 ounces celery — chopped

Soak fish in water; change water daily for 6 days.

Boil fish for 1/2 hour (outside if possible to prevent fish odor in your house).

Boil potatoes until done. Peel and cube potatoes

Clean, skin and debone fish.

Mix stockfish with potatoes, add onions and celery.

Blend garlic and olive oil in blender; add to potatoes and stockfish.

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
1 1/2 pounds pork spareribs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion — diced
1/2 each green pepper — diced
2 stalks celery — diced
28 ounces whole tomatoes — (1 can whole peeled tomatoes with juice)
28 ounces tomato puree — (1 can tomato puree)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 glass red wine
2 tablespoons italian parsley — chopped
2 tablespoons basil — chopped
salt — to taste
pepper — to taste

In a large, heavy pot, heat olive oil. Add meat and brown.

Add celery, green pepper and onion. Cook until tender. Add wine.

Pree whole tomatoes, garlic and parsley in a blender, add to pot.

Simmer 2 hours over medium heat.

Add tomato puree, reduce heat and simmer another hour.

Add basil 15 minutes before serving. Salt and pepper to taste.

Remove meat to a separate serving bowl.

Amount Measure Ingredient
——– ———— ——————————–
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon white pepper
5 tablespoons paprika

Combine in food processor and pulse until well-blended, or mix thoroughly in a large bowl. The recipe doubles or tripes well.

From the Gumbo Pages (www.gumbopages.com), by Chuck Taggart

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
1 pound red kidney beans — dry
1 large onion — chopped
1 each bell pepper — chopped
5 each rib celery — chopped
garlic — minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme — or more if needed
1 each bay leaf — or more if needed
tabasco sauce — to taste
Creole seasoning (See separate recipe) — to taste (start with a tablespoon)
salt — to taste
liquid Barbecue Smoke® — to taste (start with a teaspoon)

Soak the beans overnight, if possible. The next day, drain and put fresh water in the pot. Bring the beans to a rolling boil. Make sure the beans are always covered by water, or they will discolor and get hard. Boil the beans for about 45-60 minutes, until the beans are tender but not falling apart. Drain.

While the beans are boiling, saute the Trinity (onions, celery, bell pepper) until the onions turn translucent. Add the garlic and saute for 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally. After the beans are boiled and drained, add the sauteed vegetables to the beans, then add seasonings, and just enough water to cover. Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil along with the seasonings. Add liquid smoke, to taste - start with about a teaspoon.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for 2 hours at least, preferably 3, until the whole thing gets nice and creamy. Adjust seasonings as you go along. Stir occasionally, making sure that it doesn’t burn and/or stick to the bottom of the pot. (If the beans are old — say, older than six months to a year — they won’t get creamy. Make sure the beans are reasonably fresh. If it’s still not getting creamy, take 1 or 2 cups of beans out and mash them, then return them to the pot and stir.

If you can… let the beans cool, stick them in the fridge, and reheat and serve for dinner the next day. They’ll taste a LOT better. When you do this, you’ll need to add a little water to get them to the right consistency.

Serve generous ladles-ful over hot white long-grain rice, pickled onions and good French bread. There are some great vegan sausages out there that you can serve as well - grilled, preferably, but you could fry or broil them as well.

Adapted by Daniel from a recipe by Chuck Tagart in the Gumbo Pages (www.gumbopages.com)

From Kelly, a wonderful PFI employee:

This recipe is open to variation and flexibility in ingredients.

1 med onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c. olive oil
1 1/2 lbs frozen spinach, (you could use fresh, but frozen is easier)
1/2 t. salt
1 t. oregano
1 t. basil
1 T. bread crumbs
1 c. feta
3/4 c. ricotta or cottage cheese, whole or low fat
black pepper
2 eggs (can use just the whites)
5 to 7 phyllo sheets
5 T. olive oil or melted butter
1/2 c. (more or less) grated romano or parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 - 400 (heat of oven will determine baking time)

Finely chop onion and mince garlic, cook in 1 T. olive oil in large skillet over moderately low heat until softened. Squeeze spinach to remove as much liquid as possible and add to onion with salt, oregano and basil. Cook mixture over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until liquid is evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

In a bowl, whisk eggs until combined. Add eggs, bread crumbs, feta, ricotta and pepper to spinach and combine well. Adjust seasonings as necessary. Bring filling to room temperature.

Unwrap phyllo and lay on a sheet of plastic wrap or waxed paper, and then cover the stack completely with a dampened kitchen towel. Melt butter if using, and brush cookie sheet or tart pan with butter or olive oil.

On a work surface (or directly on the pan) lay first sheet of phyllo and brush with olive oil or butter and then sprinkle with romano/parmesan cheese. Lay next sheet on top of first and repeat procedure of brushing with oil and then sprinkling with cheese. Continue layering with the rest of sheets. Transfer to pan (if you were working on a different surface).

Spoon filling onto center of phyllo spreading out evenly, leaving 3-4 inches on each side. Roll up sides of phyllo towards the center and tuck to form rolled edge barrier. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until phyllo is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

From Catherine, a PFI customer:

Sweet red roasted peppers - 3 - 4 pieces on whole wheat pita bread (or any whole grain bread) with kasseri shavings (or any other very strong hard cheese), olive tapenade or pitted kalamata olives or olive mix- maybe about 1 TB

yum!!! makes a very satisfying sandwich, and it’s pretty healthy as you use so little cheese

From Kelly, a PFI employee (The recipe came from Vegetarian Times, November/December 2006 issue. Kelly’s comments are in parentheses):

1 1/2 c. crunchy peanut butter
2 1/4 c. spelt flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 1/2 c. maple syrup (or use 3/4 c. maple syrup + 3/4 c. date syrup = less sweet cookie )
2 t. vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips or chunks (the recipe calls for vegan chips, but whatever…either semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate works well)

Preheat oven to 375. Coat baking sheets with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

Combine peanut butter, maple syrup and vanilla in bowl. (If the peanut butter is stiff it can be warmed in a microwave for 30 to 45 seconds, but I’ve never had to do this. I use Adams or Trader Joe’s peanut butter and it’s soft enough already.)

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Stir in the peanut butter mixture until blended. Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie onto baking sheet. Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

(Beware, these cookies are seriously addicting!)

From Grace (a former employee and current customer):

(all spice measurements are approximates, adjust to suit your taste or budget)

6-8 whole star anise
12 cardamom pods
12 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4-inch pieces of ginger root, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
2 bay leaves
7 cups water
2 tablespoons black tea leaves
6 tablespoons brown sugar

Boil the star anise, cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon sticks, ginger root, peppercorns, bay leaves, and water for 5 minutes then allow to steep for 10 minutes.

Bring back to boil and, using an infuser or tea bags, add the tea leaves. Simmer for 5 minutes, remove the tea leaves, and add sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve with your preference of cream, milk, or soy milk.

From Daniel (PFI Employee):

1 1/2 cups Vegetable broth
1/8 teaspoon cumin seed — crushed
1 ounce mexican drinking chocolate — broken
bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1 each orange zest
Peanut oil — enough to saute
1/2 each medium onion — roughly chopped
4 each chiles anchos — slit open, seeded and veined
6 ounces tomatillo — washed and peeled
4 each garlic
1 each bread slice — dry
1/2 each tostada
2 pounds sweet potato
sea salt — to taste

Peel and dice sweet potatoes. Fluff with olive oil and roast in 500 degree oven until tender, but still firm. About 25 minutes. Place in refrigerator until cool.

Combine first 6 ingredients in a pot large enough to contain all the ingredients except the sweet potatoes. Bring to simmer.

In a large saute pan (or brazier) add enough peanut oil to cover bottom of pan by about an eighth of an inch.
Saute onions in oil. Remove and add to broth.

MAKE SURE THERE’S PLENTY OF VENTILATION. Saute anchos in oil. They turn a kind of tobacco brown inside when they’re done. It only takes a couple of seconds. Remove and add to broth.

Saute tomatillos and garlic in oil until golden brown. Remove and add to broth.

Saute bread and tostados in oil just until golden. Remove and add to broth. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Remove bay leaves from broth just before blending.

In the large blender, add the above mixture in less than half-jar batches at a time. Pulse/blend until pureed. Salt to taste. If you intend to use this right away, pour it into a sauce pan as you go. If you intend to refridgerate it, pour it into a shallow pan as you go and once you’re done place this into the refridgerator to cool. Then cover.

To heat and serve; place pureed sauce in a large pot with a bit more broth to make it all stirrable. Make sure sauce is hot before sweet potatoes are added. Add sweet potatoes. Heat mixture to 165 degrees on an instant read thermometer and serve with rice, beans and tortillas.

Copyright 2002, Daniel C. McGlothlen