chilean hot dogs

one of my co-workers is married to a chilean guy and she started to regale us all the other day with stories of the wonder which are chilean hot dogs. of course i had to try them out for myself, because i love toppings. i cannot remember a time in my life when asked the question, 'what do you want on that?' where i replied anything other than, 'everything.' called 'completos' (with everything) or 'italianos' (because of the colours: white,red, green) there are a few variations of exactly what goes on top if you google around. according to my inside source, though, the essentials are as follows: chopped tomato, chopped onion, mashed avocado, mayonnaise, and crushed up potato chips.
i like vegannaise for this and other things, i think it tastes just like mayonnaise and has a better texture. because i am incapable of imagining a hot dog without mustard, into about 2 tbs. of vegannaise i mixed a heaping tsp of mustard and a few shakes of tobasco. the avocado i mashed with a little sherry vinegar for flavour and to keep it from browning, and the onion i soaked in acidified water for five minutes to take a bit of the raw bite off of it.
very simple and delicious, just take your favourite fake sausage thing, toast some buns, slather them with the dressing and build away. finish with the crushed chips on top and enjoy!

egg foo young

i used to work next to a chinese restaurant, where for four dollars you could get a slammin vegetable egg foo young. i realized after a while that despite the assurances of the owner there was no way the sauce could be vegetarian and i stopped ordering it. it's been over two years since i worked there but the fancy has never quite left my mind, so the other night i made an attempt. everything went well, and the end result was quite good, although the sauce needs a bit of work.
i used just a cup of vegetable stock plus a tablespoon each of soy sauce and sugar, thickened with a bit of cornstarch. the result was rather pallid, but tasted ok. in my mind it needs to be much thicker and darker - ideas for the future: worcestershire, vegetarian oyster sauce, hoisin... anyway the patties themselves were decent, allow about one egg per patty, two patties per person. for two:

• 4 chicken eggs
• 1 carrot, grated
• an equal amount of daikon (i used about a two inch piece from a big honker), grated
• 1 rib celery, sliced thinly
• 3 scallions, chopped
• ~2 cups loosely packed bean sprouts
  
• 1 shallot, sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• thumb sized piece of ginger, minced

in small sautee pan gently sweat the shallot, garlic, and ginger with a bit of salt, allow to cool. chop all the veg and add those that were sauteed together in a bowl. beat the eggs well and season them, then add them to the bowl as well. mix well.heat a large cast iron or nonstick pan over medium heat with enough oil to liberally coat the bottom. add 2-3 ounces of egg mixture at a time, and using a spatula keep folding the edges over the center of the mass to form a patty. fry on both sides until quite golden (i like some dark crispy bits on mine). keep warm in a low oven until ready then serve doused with sauce next to rice.
of course the veg herein are totally mutable, this is a dish to empty out the fridge. i think what makes it authentic for me are the bean sprouts and the scallions, but i guess it's really just a chinese omelette.

mojo de ajo

one of my all time favourite condiments - and i do fancy my condiments. simply garlic roasted in oil. i keep it in the fridge and use it in lieu of fresh chopped garlic in pretty much anything. coating vegetables in the oil and roasting them in the oven is quite sublime. this recipe is from rick bayless' pbs show mexico one plate at a time.

• 4 heads of garlic
• ~2 cups of olive oil
• 1 lime
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)

separate all the individual cloves and whack them with the heel of your knife.peel the papery skin off of the cloves and place them in a baking dish. cover with enough olive oil to fully submerge them and season with salt and pepper to taste. while you're doing all this, preheat the oven to 350 f.roast at 350 f for 40-50 minutes or until the cloves are golden brown and the oil is bubbling away.remove from the oven and mash thoroughly with a potato masher or two forks. add the juice of the lime and red pepper flakes. return to the oven for a further twenty minutes and voila! allow to cool and transfer into sterilized mason jars for storage in the fridge. this recipe usually gives me one pint jar and one half pint jar: enough for home use and one to give away!while home-made garlic oils are usually a no-no due to the risk of botulism, the prolonged exposure to the high heat of the oven will kill any C. botulinum and their spores. just make sure to follow hygienic procedures in the kitchen and sterilize any storage vessels to reduce your risk.