Splint - Hot Damn & Hell Yeah: Recipes for Hungry Banditos

Hot Damn and Hell YeahRecipes for Hungry Banditos10th Anniversary Expanded EditionRyan SplintFirst printing, March 17, 2015All illustrations, recipes, and text are Ryan Splint, 2015This edition is by Microcosm Publishing, 2015Microcosm Publishing2752 N Williams AvePortland, OR 97227In the Vegan Cookbook seriesFor a catalog, write or visitMicrocosmPublishing.comISBN 978-1-62106-015-4This is Microcosm #186Cover and design by Ryan SplintDistributed in the United States and Canada by Legato / Perseus Books Group and in Europe by Turnaround.This book was printed on post-consumer paper by union workers in the United States.Dedicated:To my folks, for teaching me how to cook at a young age and trusting me not to burn down the house while learning.&To all the friends whod been to my place for a home-cooked meal ten years ago and told me I should write a cookbook.FOREWORDHowdy yall,A fair chunk of years ago, I moved from America to Australia, and in record time I found myself yearnin fer the Tex-Mex and Southern food I grew up with. Livin so far afield and maintainin a vegan diet ta boot, meant figurin it out on my own. My newfound Aussie crew, they got it inta my head that I should write a cookbook, so I did onemy way. Ten years later, Im back in North America and reckon its time ta saddle up for a final ride inta the sunset with Hot Damn and Hell Yeah. If you rode this trail with me before, you know what this chunk a paper is all about. If not, here ya go:Havin a fair amount of experience in the kitchen under my belt didnt amount ta much when I set out to avoid havin critters in my meals. As any folk whove tried will tell ya, theres a whole lotta bad vegetable-only food out there.

Worse, theres a lot a people that think pompous, self-righteous attitudes and morality lectures oughta be served alongside it, maybe ta make up for the lack of flavor in their food. It aint too hard to see why vegan food and the people who eat it havent wound up with the best of reputations.But dont let that fool ya or put a scare into ya about whats comin up.This aint about whos got a right to eat what, or what should and shouldnt be on yer plate for proper eatin. Hell, it aint even about healthy eatingrecipes like Bourbon Whiskey BBQ Sauce (), and the Confectionery and Dessert chapters oughta convince ya of that much.What it is about is food without obscure ingredients, thatre easy ta make and dont taste like sawdust even though it aint chock-full a dairy and meat. Ive had ta wade through my share of bland and downright horrible food in order to learn how ta get by cookin without meat or dairy. Now I aint no master chef, but I figure Ive done a decent job of it and wound up with some good recipes. Be a damn shame if I never got a chance to pass what ahve learned on ta other folks, so Ive collected some of the best recipes Ive ended up with, and finally wrote down others Ive been making from scratch as situations have called for em.

Now theyre all yers fer the takin and should work well for ya (maybe better if read usin yer best southern accent, but no guarantees on that).Now saddle up and lets get goin!TABLE OF CONTENTS... ABOUT INGREDIENTSOne a the hardest things I found when learnin to cook food without meat or dairy was understandin what half the ingredients in a lot of vegetarian recipes were, let alone where ya might find em. Ah spose sometimes people deadset on makin food thats healthy plumb fergit that the rest of us gotta be able to decipher what theyre puttin in it. Last thing ya wanna do is travel to the ends a the earth lookin fer powdered root of something-or-other to complete yer dinner. Fer both yer sanity and mine, I stick to usin simpler ingredients in my recipes, but some are still less commonly known or may be completely new to ya, so here they are:TVP (TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN)TVP is made from soy beans and usually sold as dehydrated granulesif mixed with hot water, it rehydrates and takes on the texture of minced beef. When used in yer cookin, I think youll find it rare that people will notice it aint the real thing.

Ya shouldnt have too much trouble trackin this down in the health food section of yer grocery store or nearly any whole foods store.NUTRITIONAL YEASTThis is a yellow-brown, nearly powdered substance that usually shows up in recipes where yer after a cheesy flavor of some sort. Ya kin usually track this down at health food or whole food stores, but ahll admit sometimes ya have a helluva time findin it. Some folks might try sellin you Brewers Yeast instead, but dont fall fer thatit aint even close to the same thing. Unfortunately, theres no decent substitute for Nutritional Yeast, so good luck huntin it down.SOY MILKSoy milk is a made from pressed soy beans and is used in place of whole milk or buttermilk in recipes. Like normal milk, it curdles when mixed with a bit a lemon juice so its a great buttermilk substitute fer cookin as well. Ya oughta have no trouble finding it in yer grocery store, as its popular among the lactose-intolerant crowd.

Its also usually fortified with extra vitamins so yer gettin a bit of a nutritional bonus without havin to lift a finger. I usually opt fer the vanilla-flavored type since it doesnt taste as chalky as the plain variety.... ABOUT SUBSTITUTIONSI feel ahve gotta at least warn ya about substitutin ingredients in recipes. Like I said earlier, I aim ta make my food with basic ingredients and I have total confidence in em that way. Ive seen some a the simplest and tastiest recipes shot all ta hell cause someone tried substitutin ingredients without understandin what itd do to the taste. Cant say I havent made the same mistake myself, either.