AMERICAN TERIYAKI CHOP
A teriyaki flavored almond, pecan, walnut paste. Served on toasted potato bread mini sandwiches with ketchup or mustard. Great for a party. No one will believe there’s no meat in it!
Makes 3 cups for 48 hors d’oeuvre sandwiches
9 oz. can whole, raw almonds, unsalted
1 c. pecan halves, unsalted
1 c. walnut halves, unsalted
2 t. powdered ginger
2 t. powdered garlic
2 t. dry mustard
2 t. powdered wasabi (Japanese horseradish)
4 T. raw sugar
½ c. ‘less sodium’ soy sauce by Kikoman
1 loaf potato bread (use a firm bread; Armold, Dutch Country Premium Potato bread), 12 slices
Animal-Free Mayonnaise Vegenaise or Homemade Animal-Free Mayonnaise
ketchup
prepared yellow mustard
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
grated orange zest
Place almonds, pecans and walnuts in food processor and process till fine.
Add ginger, garlic, dry mustard, wasabi, and sugar. Process to evenly distribute, about 1-2 minutes.
Add soy sauce. Process again till mixture becomes a mealy paste, fairly dry, pushing sides down with spatula.
Transfer to covered container and refrigerate before ready to use. However, this paste can be used right away. Bring paste to room temperature before making sandwiches.
Potato Bread Preparation: I wanted grill marks on one side of the bread, and I have an electric stove, so was able to do that. Turn burner on medium-high. When it is fully heated, very quickly run each slice over the burner–touching the burner. It will slide off the burner easily, because the burner is so hot. Grill only one side of each bread slice.
If you have a gas stove, turn gas on high. Lift each slice of bread with tongs, then hold it over the flame, like you would do around a campfire, and singe the bread to get a few light char marks. Don’t toast the bread in a toasted, it will be too crisp and lose the char flavor we’re looking to achieve. Again, do only one side.
Cut off crusts one at a time, then cut each into 4 nearly equal squares or rectangles. Don’t stack bread to cut, you’ll mush it down.
Spread Animal-Free Mayonnaise on half of the bread squares–on the soft side, not the toasted side.
Top with no more than 1 level T. of the AT paste.
Squeeze a small dot of mustard or ketchup (I did half with ketchup and half with mustard) on the soft side of the 2nd half of the squares.
Close mini sandwiches loosely. Don’t pat down, you want them to stay high.
Place a long plastic toothpick with spurs at the end into the center of each sandwich.
Now, brush the tops of each sandwich very lightly with extra virgin olive oil, then sprinkle lightly with orange zest. Platter up, garnish and serve.
Notes: Great meat-tasting hors d’oeuvre. Follow directions precisely for best results. The ketchup and mustard make them tastes like mini teriyaki burgers–a merging of East/West flavors.
Update: I recently made this recipe again, only this time I used regular soy sauce rather than the low sodium variety. It created a saltier and more prominent soy sauce flavor. Steve prefers the regular soy sauce; I prefer the low sodium. It was still great but just goes to show you that altering only one ingredient in a recipe will alter the final outcome.
Update: I took this American Teriyaki Chop (the one using regular soy sauce) to a family reunion in Massachusetts. I bought a rosemary with olive oil country French bread loaf, cut it into 2 inch squares, 1/4 inch thick. Spread each slice with Liquid Cheese Trifecta. Top cheese with one dot, the size of a dime, of Quick Barbecue Sauce (room temperature). Top with about 2 teaspoons of teriyaki chop, then top with another small dot of the barbecue sauce. Place on platter, walk the platter around to your guests and watch the hors d’oeuvres disappear. Everybody loved them.
I didn’t grill the bread and I served them open-faced.
CHEF DAVIES-TIGHT™ 