* Exported from MasterCook *
Vegetarian Chopped Liver a la Dragon
Recipe By :Bean by Bean: A Cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon
Serving Size : 14 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Condiment LowCal (Less than 300 cals)
LowerCarbs Veggie
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1/4 cup olive oil -- walnut oil, or a mild vegetable oil such as corn, canola, or peanut
2 large onions -- chopped
3 cloves garlic -- peeled and quartered
1/4 pound mushrooms -- tough ends trimmed and discarded, chopped (about 1 slightly heaping cup)
1 1/2 cups fresh green beans -- cooked to tenderness, cooking water reserved
1 1/2 cups lentils -- cooked to tenderness
4 hard-boiled eggs -- quartered
1 1/2 cups walnuts -- toasted
1 tablespoon tomato paste -- (optional; Ellen doesn't use it, I do more often than not)
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced onion -- (to 3) (optional)
Minced fresh parsley -- for garnish
Paprika -- for garnish
1. Spray a large skillet with oil and place it over medium heat. Add 2
tablespoons of the oil, and when the oil thins, add the onions and cook
slowly, stirring often. You want them caramelized and golden, so allow 8
to 10 minutes. Lower the heat, add the garlic, and saute´ until fragrant,
another 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the onion mixture to a food processor.
2. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the same skillet over medium
heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté until they are just limp, about 4
minutes. Transfer them, too, to the processor, along with the green beans,
lentils, hard-boiled eggs, toasted walnuts, tomato paste, if using,
mayonnaise, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Buzz the heck out of the mixture, pausing to scrape down the sides of
the processor. Taste the mixture and season it again, if needed. If you
like, stir in the minced onion.
4. Transfer the spread to a serving bowl, cover it tightly, and let it
rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. About an hour before
serving, remove the spread from the refrigerator and let it come to room
temperature. Garnish with minced parsley and paprika, and serve.
Note: You may be wondering why I spritz a skillet with oil before adding
more oil. It's because I generally use less oil than is traditional,
making sautés et al (especially those done in a wok or cast-iron skillet)
more prone to sticking.
Yields: Makes about 3 1/2 pints (7 cups)
VARIATIONS
Ellen's version: Omit the cooked green beans, lentils, and mushrooms.
Instead, use one 14.5-ounce can French-cut string beans, drained, and one
14.5-ounce can peas, drained. Double the walnuts, and omit the tomato
paste. (Sorry, Ellen, I love it when you make this, but I just can't bring
myself to do the canned beans and peas in my own kitchen.)
Cracker version: Omit the mushrooms; increase the cooked lentils to 2
cups. Add 1 board of matzoh or 1 cup crushed crackers (Tam Tams are
traditional). This makes a stiffer, thicker dip, but one that's still
surprisingly moist.
Vegan/Hippie-style Veggie Pâté: Toward the end of sautéing the onion,
before you add the garlic, stir in 2 coarsely grated carrots. Use 2 cups
each cooked green beans, lentils, and toasted walnuts. Omit the
hard-boiled eggs and use an egg-free mayo, such as Nasoya. To the mixture
in the food processor, add 2/3 cup cooked brown rice and 1 tablespoon red
miso. You'll definitely have to scrape the sides of the processor bowl
several times to get the rice pureed.
There are countless variations on this much-loved recipe, which has its
origins in kosher cooking. By making a meatless (pareve) version of
chopped liver, Jews who keep kosher get to enjoy a much-loved dish while
sticking to the dietary requirements of nonmeat meals. While this is often
served as a Sabbath appetizer, particularly in homes with Ashkenazic
roots, and also as a seder dish, novelist Ellen Levine brings it to the
annual potluck picnic that gathers together writers and illustrators of
children's and young-adult books from all over new England. It's always
swiftly scarfed up.
As odd as it may sound to prepare a vegetarian spread whose name
references an animal organ, somehow this dish lacks the turn-up-your-nose
unpleasantness of many pseudo-meat dishes. Maybe this is because its
origins are based in authentic foodways. But it could just as well be
because it is very versatile and just plain good. as with all home-style
dishes, from bouillabaisse to barbecue to gumbo, there are many versions
of pareve chopped liver, and whichever one you grew up with is, to you,
the one and only. I've attempted to give at least a nod to some of these
variations following the main recipe, but this is my take on Ellen's. Try
it as a sandwich spread or with crudités; or serve it with crisp crackers,
toasted baguette slices, or, at Passover, matzoh.
Source:
"Epicurious, February 2012"
S(Formatted by Chupa Babi):
"Feb 2012"
Yield:
"7 cups"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 229 Calories; 14g Fat (52.7%
calories from fat); 12g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 8g Dietary Fiber; 61mg
Cholesterol; 36mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1/2
Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat.
Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 26750 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
