Men Who Cook: Max Green

I’m thrilled to say the response to Men Who Cook has been great and I’m very excited to post the stories and recipes of the various men in my circle.  I will post them in the order I receive them. 

We will begin with my friend Max Green, who I met during a very enchanted time of my life, when he and I and a bunch of other people lived in magical place, surrounded by palm trees and the LA sun.  We’ve all gone our separate ways, but I look upon that time and those people as a little miracle during a very difficult time in my life.  Here is Max’s submission, a favorite recipe given to him by a friend:

I try to leave as small a carbon footprint as possible and I will not contribute to the suffering of cows, pigs, birds and other animals who are raised and slaughtered for their meat.  But I love macaroni & cheese.  But I won’t eat it.  But I will eat this casserole which is completely unique and doesn’t hurt anyone.

VEGAN MAC & CHEESE:

• 16 oz box of pasta
• Dash of paprika (to sprinkle on top)

For the cashew sauce:

• 1- 1/3 cups chopped Yukon Gold potatoes, about one large potato
• 1/4 cup chopped carrot, about one medium carrot
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 1/4 cup raw pine nuts
• 1/3 cup margarine (Earth Balance)
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2- 1/2 Tb miso
• 2 tbs lemon juice, about one juicy lemon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

For the creamy sauce:

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 5 Tb flour
• 2 cups soymilk
•  1/2 cup nutritional yeast
•  1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the bread crumb topping:

* Use a stale baguette if possible. You can also store any unseasoned breadcrumbs in the freezer in a sealed container. A food processor is best, but if you don’t have one, a blender will work.

• 1/2 sweet baguette
• 2 Tb margarine
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 tsp onion powder

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Start a large pot of salted water boiling and preheat oven to 325 F.

2. Peel and finely chop potato and carrot. Combine with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Cover and cook potato and carrots on medium-high heat until quite soft, about 10-12 minutes.

3. Prepare your breadcrumbs by ripping 1/2 baguette into 1 inch chunks. Combine a handful of chunks with the margarine and pulse until crumbs are small.

4. Add the remaining bread chunks. Stir and blend until breadcrumbs are small. Add nutritional yeast and onion powder and pulse until combined. Set aside and rinse blender.

5. In blender combine the cashew and pine nuts. Pulse until the nuts are in small pieces but have not formed a paste.

6. Add the remaining cashew sauce ingredients to the blender, including the softened potato and carrots with the water they were cooked in. Mix with a spoon and then blend away until sauce is smooth and creamy.

7. Taste and adjust seasonings. At this point the sauce should be pretty intensely flavored, since it is going to be combined with the mellow, creamy sauce.

8. Set aside in blender.

9. Start toasting breadcrumbs in a thin layer on baking sheet covered in parchment or foil for 10-15 min. or until crisp and light gold. You may want to stir them a couple times to ensure even toasting. Set aside to sprinkle over baked mac and cheese.

10. While breadcrumbs are toasting start on the creamy sauce.

11. Melt the margarine in a saucepan on medium heat, and whisk in the flour to make a roux.

12. Once the flour and margarine are thoroughly combined and not lumpy, whisk in the nutritional yeast, salt and turmeric.

13. Slowly add the soymilk, stirring constantly and scraping the edges and bottom of the pan to combine.

14. Continue to cook over low-medium heat for several minutes, continually stirring, until the sauce thickens to a creamy consistency.

15. Combine sauces in blender and blend for 15-20 seconds.

16. Pour over pasta in baking dish and stir to evenly coat. Cover with foil and bake for 25-30 min.

17. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and a dash paprika and black pepper once everything is out of the oven.