po' boys

Whenever I come across oyster mushrooms for a good price, I know that they will appear on the week's menu as Po' Boys. Although oyster mushrooms weren't to be had, chanterelles were on sale. And since David happened to be shopping with me, he decided that they were good enough to be on Po' Boys. In fact, we picked them up for $8 a pound. That is very nice for chanterelles. 

A Po' Boy is a traditional Louisianan sandwich. It is made of fried seafood (shrimp, oyster, crab) stuffed into a French baguette with lettuce, tomato and mayo. Way back in my youth, I dined at a restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale that offered Po' Boys. Now I am not sure how the place got there or how authentic their version of a Po' Boy was, but it stuck with me over the decades and that is how we eat our Po' Boys to this very day. After some research, I found other recipes made this way as well, so I can now be relieved to know that my variation isn't that far off the course. In any case, we love it and recommend it!

The type of mushroom is up to you, but oysters are the bomb. You can pan saute them and then toast some panko crumbs to add to the mushrooms (the method Robin Robertson employs in Quick Fix Vegetarian) OR you can deep fry them. We typically make them using the former method, but since these were chanterelles, we wanted to give them the ol' Paula Deen treatment - we fried them. 

After the mushrooms are done, put them on a garlic-toasted hoagie or French baguette with tartar sauce and coleslaw. OMG. This does not last long at our place. In fact, we bought and consumed three pounds of mushrooms (not in one sitting). 
Gluttons that we are. And you too, can be one. Join us.

Cost Breakdown

mushrooms: $8
bread: $3
cabbage, carrot, lemon: $3
vegenaise, sugar, pickles, onion: $2
flour, cornmeal, oil: $3
Total to make 4 sandwiches:
$19.00
   

seitan a la king

Why stop seitan-and-cream-sauce dishes at the Divan? Another American-born classic dish is Seitan a la King. This is a recipe of chopped seitan (in the olden days, chicken), with mushrooms and pimientos, in a creamy sauce, over pasta, rice, bread or puff pastry. I went all out and used puff pastry. There are vegan versions out there, and of the easiest to find is the most popular. Go look in your grocer's freezer section. Score!

You can get very elaborate with said puff pastry, but I just cut them into squares of about 4X4 inches, took half the squares and, using a 3.5 inch round lid, cut the middle out of them. Then I put the cut-out ones over a whole square ones and baked them. If you prick the inside of the square with a fork (so it doesn't rise along with the rest of the pastry), you will wind up with a bowl after the baking time (around 15 min.)

As for the a la King part, you can use chickpeas (I've heard of these being used many times), tofu (especially baked), seitan (first sauteed to get golden), or a mixture of vegetables (like for a pot pie). It all depends on what you have or how fancy you want to get. For the cream sauce I used homemade roasted almond cream, but regular vegan milk will do very well.

Verdict: It was amazing over the puff pastry. The filling was just as delicious, but in my opinion, anything thrown over puff pastry already has an advantage. Winner.

Cost Breakdown

seitan: $2
vegan milk, broth: $3
pimiento, flour, onion, mushroom, garlic: $4
puff pastry: $5
Total to make 4 servings:
$14.00

Seitan a la King Recipe