Vegan Dude Food: Chili Cheese Fries

I was nearly killed in the grocery store yesterday by a Velveeta cheese display. I dodged the bullet by sqeezing my cart around a six foot display of beer--nearly taking a wall of Tostidos with me--who designs these cardboard monstrosities? Clearly no one whose had to drive a grocery cart full of dog food, fire starter logs and a half of the produce isle in their cart. We have snow in the forecast again--today the schools closed early. In these parts, you take your life into your own hands when this much is going on: Superbowl Sunday, then Valentine's Day, then Mardi Gras--it's a food festivus time!

By the time I got home, it was late, and dinner needed fixing. I had Velveeta on the mind--with Rotel. I'm sorry, but some memories will never leave my taste buds. Thus the Chili Chesse Fries. Lucky for me, on my errand bonanza yesterday I had time to stop by the library. I checked out Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book for the fourth time, flipped it open and her version of Chili Cheese Fries smacked me in the face. It was destiny.

What is a vegan to do? The ever-elusive Velveeta quandry. There are a boatload of recipes on the internet claiming this or that for "nacho-cheese-like" creations. Have I mentioned I am a skeptic--yes, I still am. So, I went through a couple of my own cookbooks, one author in particular is known for her vegan-cheese expertise: Jo Stepaniak and her cookbook Vegan Vittles. I love this cookbook--it helped me tremendously when I turned my vegan corner. This vegan Velveeta recipe is adapted from hers and few other hits on the internet I came across yesterday. Let's face it, getting the cheese right is about all that matters in re-creating this heckofa great old-school staple. So if you do try this recipe out, oh, say for Sunday and the big game, please know--it is not exactly like the big V, but you will be pleasantly surprised by how much the cheese memory comes back to you--mmmm, nacho cheese; potato cheese fries. This is quintessential dude food--Mr. Thyme loved it. I was re-living my grocery store near miss is all. Plus the fact that some potato fries sounded yummy! This is quite easy, really!

Vegan Chili Cheese Fries

For the potatoes
2 russets, washed and unpeeled, but cut into wedges--into eighths
3 tablespoons olive oil
some ground paprika
some dried chili powder

Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the sliced potato in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Add the seasonings. Toss well to coat. Place in single layer on cookie sheet. Bake for about 40 minutes.

For the chili
1 package Gimme Lean Beef--cut into small chunks
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons vegan worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 cup veggie stock
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin

In a medium saute pan and medium heat, add oil to pan. Then add the Gimme Lean chunks. Allow to cook and brown up a bit for five minutes or so. Break the pieces up into smaller ones if you'd like. Next, add the garlic and onions. Saute for another five minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Allow to simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes--taste it to see if it needs any additional seasoning.

*This cheese recipe, to really work well, needs about a quarter of a package of the vegan "Nacho Cheese"--I get mine at Whole Foods--but it really does take this to the next level.

For the cheese
3/4 cup raw cashews
1 3/4 cup warm water
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 cup shredded vegan Nacho cheese

Place all of the ingredients except the Nacho cheese, in a blender. Pulse it a few times. Then run the blender until the mixture is smooth. Note: this will still have some pieces of the cashew floating around and that is okay. Next, pour the mixture into a medium sauce pan. Turn the heat to medium low. Stir the mixture while it is heating--stir constantly--it will thicken up pretty quickly. About 2 minutes into this--add the shredded nacho cheese. Keep stirring this for about 5 minutes. Next. Remove the pan from heat. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Then, pour the mixture into a heat proof bowl. (You are doing this to speed up the cooling process a bit because you need to pour this mixture back into the blender a second time to really get a good, uniform and smooth consistency.) If your mixture is warm, be sure to remove the top of the blender piece--that little clear mechanism--then cover the hole with a kitchen towel prior to turning on the blender again--prevents the stuff from spewing out of the blender and allows a bit of the remaining steam to escape. Now, pulse it a few times and check it to make sure it's smooth. Once you have your desired consistency, pour the cheese mixture back into the sauce pan and turn heat to medium to warm it back up--about 2-3 minutes. You should have a fairly smooth, yet thicker sauce by now. That's it! You can store this in your fridge for about five days.