I really like sandwich “spreads,” especially those that, instead of just being used on bread, can serve to diversify salads—which I love even more. However, making them at home is often a challenge. My little ones don’t understand that to make a delicious pâté, it, too, needs time and heart. What’s more, creating the perfect vegetarian pâté is quite a challenge—especially after many years of eating meat, which makes switching to other flavors far from effortless.
Light, easy-to-digest dishes currently reign in my kitchen. The vegetarian pâté I propose can successfully compete with typical meat pâtés. Besides a solid portion of protein, it provides much more fiber, phytocompounds, and is easy to assimilate. In addition, I use many spices to prepare the vegetarian pâté, which gives it not only the right flavor but also valuable health-promoting components—numerous antioxidants, vitamins, and trace elements. In my opinion, meat will never win this race.
The last element of my struggle with pâté is... baking. Some time ago I decided that at home I would use low-temperature heat treatment. Mainly because of vitamins, fat oxidation, and protein denaturation. The lower the temperature, the better, and really those 70 degrees are sufficient for most foods to achieve the expected taste and texture. Additionally, the longer I cook something, the lower the risk of burning the dish, and when the kids keep pulling me away from the pots, it’s safer to cook in a way that’s as “burn-proof” as possible.
Ironically, I’m the owner of a ham cooker, which, although created with meat-eaters in mind, I made it my point of honor to use for vegetarian purposes. And it was tempting that in a ham cooker the core temperature can be controlled with laboratory-like accuracy. So... I invite you to try this recipe for a vegetarian pâté.
Recipe for a vegetarian pâté
Mushroom-and-carrot version
Preparation:
I soaked the soybeans for about 12 hours and cooked them until tender, rinsing them with water between these steps. I added soy sauce and ground them.
I sautéed the onion in butter until translucent, then added the mushrooms and fried everything so the mushrooms were fairly dry. You can also prepare them a day earlier—slice them and put them in the fridge to dry out a bit. I added chopped parsley and all the dry herbs and spices (except salt and pepper) to the mushrooms.
I brushed the vegetables and the head of garlic with olive oil (I cut off only the top of the head to expose the cloves), sprinkled lightly with salt, and baked them in the oven at 200°C until tender (it’s worth making sure the vegetables are cut into even pieces, as they roast better). This took about 30 minutes. Then I squeezed the soft garlic cloves from the head and ground them together with the vegetables. Next, I combined the two mixtures—soybeans and vegetables. I added 2 eggs, soy sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. If the mixture is too thin, you can add a tablespoon of potato starch. I put the pâté into a ham cooker bag and placed it into boiling water. I monitored the temperature inside the ham cooker, and when it reached 70°C, I cooled the ham cooker at room temperature. Once cooled, I removed the pâté from the bag, grabbed a jar of my cranberry preserve, and tasted it... Highly recommended!
Prevention for allergy sufferers
What about that soy...? Soy is one of the key sources of phytoestrogens. We also supply estrogens, or compounds that mimic them, from other sources: plastics containing bisphenols, household chemicals, medications, etc. Too much estrogen (or compounds with estrogenic activity) in the body can be dangerous to our health, contributing to cancers, fertility problems, thyroid issues, hormonal system dysfunction, obesity, and liver overload... because the liver is where excess estrogens are neutralized. Therefore, if you don’t want to use soy when making the pâté—replace it with chickpeas (in an equivalent weight) and additionally add 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Enjoy!
Jagoda
Enjoy! ...because homemade is better!
from the ham cooker
from a ham cooker
vegetarian dish
meatless dish from the ham cooker
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