The main food ingredients are garlic and mushrooms, laced with finely ground fennel seed to reduce the garlic odor in the mouth and body. Granted, the vinegar and the oil take the cake, as we're talking about at least 1 Cup each, and I wish I'd had garlic oil rather than canola, or perhaps some other oil derived from plants containing organic germanium, but I made do with what I had. It's a basic necessity in this particular slurry, as is the vinegar. Bottom line is, it has to be "refrigerator pickled" to preserve the large quantity that results, and the oil is necessary for the "curing" stage, to help protect the ingredients from pickling too soon. It's necessary for the natural plant oils to oxidize to some degree, particularly during the first 15 minutes after they're cut into or blended. Those oils which don't get oxidized right away will, over time as the slurry is used, have their 15+ minutes of oxidizing fame in the fridge.
I made my slurry months ago, and it's served me well. I seem to have lost several of the links to more info on the ingredients I used, but I pretty much have a list of those stored up in my head. One mistake I made was chopping up tons of tomatoes and adding them to the slurry. In the future, I won't add them, but instead will just use tomatoes like I normally do in sandwiches and so on. Best tip: cut them first, then prepare the other ingredients, to give the tomatoes their 15 minutes.
Ok, mostly, there are no set "amounts" for this. I'll list what I did, but really, just dump in as much of each whole food item as you can afford from one shopping trip! Also, mix the vinager and oil separately, in equal parts, then add that mixture in portions to the other ingredients once they're in the blender. You'll need just enough that the blender will process the rest of the foods. This should come out like a thin paste, at the end.
Slurry Ingredients
Garlic (I used 20 cloves)
1 Onion
1 large box Shitake or Enoki Mushrooms
(Please see the listing at the bottom of the page for other foods you could add.)
1/4 C Fennel Seeds
1 C Oil (Garlic if you have it, or Olive. Canola if you can't get the others.)
1 C Vinegar
Slurry Instructions
Blend all ingredients together, unless you'd like the mushrooms and onions chopped separately. Personally, I chopped the onions and sliced the mushrooms, then blended the garlic, fennel seeds, oil, and vinegar as a separate mixture before combining them all. Allow the mixture to "cure" in a large bowl for 15 minutes. If you like, stirr it well and then cure it again for another 15 minutes. Ladle into a large jar and put in the fridge for later use.
Rice Instructions
Bring 1 pint (2 C) water to a boil in a 1quart covered saucepan on a small burner, then add 1 C rice and turn the heat down to low, and cover. (I prefer to purchase the double-boiler version of the above saucepan at Good Will. No kitchen is really a kitchen, in my book, without a full cooking set similar to this 7 piece set, preferably with copper bottoms and completely "wooden" handles [for both kettle and lid].)
Simmer on low for 20 minutes, always covered; you won't need to stir this, though a couple extra tablespoons of hot water may or may not be necessary. Turn the small burner off, then switch a large burner on.
Meat Instructions
Put a couple tablespoons of peanut oil in a cast iron skillet and heat it to "Medium." Standing arm's length from the pan, add whatever meat or veggie-meat (tofu won't work well for this, it'll taste gross) you'd like (I used Worthington Vegetable Skallops) in your Italian Rice dish, and thoroughly cook (no rare meats, that's totally unsanitary, even if they might be organically fed or whatever). You can add your fresh or dried seasonings now or later, it doesn't matter. I use peanut oil because it really doesn't soak into foods nearly as much as the other oils. If you're allergic, use canola. Olive really isn't good for frying, even if it does taste good and is heart-healthy.
Making it Italian
Now, at this point, you'd likely say, "Well, it's got rice, that makes it Asian." Hold up! Rice may primarily come from Asia (please use Fair Trade rice, thanks). But really, rice is constantly used around the world and I think it's high time we considered it an international, including American, staple. It's good for a lot of things, and though the texture and flavor is a bit different, it's good in almost every dish that noodles or coos coos would be used for, as well as some casseroles that potatoes would be used in. Non-enriched rices are also gluten free, for those who are allergic to gluten. Ideally, this whole dish is gluten free: just be aware that just about any food out there can be tainted one way or another with gluten or other allergens: read the labels carefully, if there are any.
Essentially, the tomato paste (1 small can), olive oil (1 to 2 tablespoons), and seasonings which you'll add next, are what make this "Italian." If I'd had olives on hand today, I would have added them as well. Probably a whole medium sized can of sliced olives, or at least half a can. I also would have fried these with the Skallops, ideally in garlic oil, along with a chopped tomato. For seasonings, I used oregano, ground cumin, and Italian seasoning. Some would have added the tomato paste to the "stir fry" and that might or might not work, but it's pretty thick, and isn't necessary (though the browning would taste completely awesome!) If you have any powdered sun dried tomato seasoning, that would be really good in this. I seasoned to taste, approximately 1/2 tsp. of each seasoning.
Making it Ameri-Mexican
Now, you can make this more Mexican style, if you want. Instead of adding Italian related ingredients, you can add things like refried beans, Mexican style seasonings/sauces, jalapeños, etc. I personally am not a huge fan of most Mexican style ingredients, thus, I'm not the one to ask which ones or how much. There are probably a million sites out there which give good advice. I can't recommend a particular one, because I wouldn't know good advice if I saw it! If you have great ideas, feel free to add them in a comment, or just make your own recipe and share it with friends. If you need help deciding what to do, just start asking around! There's bound to be someone a stone's throw away who either knows or can point you in the right direction. In any case, I wouldn't recommend mixing refried beans with olive oil or Italian Seasoning, but beyond that, I think the rest of this recipe is safe from taste-bud destruction! If you're using refried beans, the rice becomes optional as well, though some people really like the whole "rice 'n beans" motif. In which case, whatever seasonings you like in your rice 'n beans... Those will probably work just fine.
Making it Asian or Middle Eastern
Of course, this recipe page wouldn't be complete without making it obvious. The rice, (particularly the more aromatic varieties), though everyone around the world uses it, does primarily come from varying parts of Asia. You can get very creative with the rice... There are long grains, short grains, different colors and amounts of fiber... Personally, I like the mixed rices, where you get a little of everything (just be sure to cook them for at least 40 minutes, even if standard white rice is in the mix).
Because the rice does give this recipe an Asian influence, it's not hard to make it an Asian dish. Essentially, just add a good stir fry, skip the tomatoes (unless you can come up with a good veggie mix that they go well with), and use soy sauce instead of tomato paste, as well as your standard Asian seasonings (packs can be found in almost every American store) instead of Italian seasoning, oregano, and cumin.
If you want a more middle eastern influence, use a lot of curry and related sauces. I wouldn't suggest anything containing hummus or peanuts: the garlic and onions are far too powerful in the slurry, mainly because of the vinegar - you'll be completely grossed out by the results.
Continued Recipe Notes
Personally, I like the Italian version of this recipe the best.
It's important to know what -not- to mix together when considering the different national styles this recipe can take on. I learned that lesson the hard way one night out in front of an Alberton's. I had been travelling for hours, was famished, and obviously, ignorant. I purchased two things for their nutritional value: Greek olives and OJ. Go ahead. I DARE you to eat those together! (*Coughs* Please don't.) Gross doesn't begin to describe it. It's probably a health hazard. It's always a good idea to taste-test, in small quantities, any uncommonly mixed ingredients, particularly those that are oil or vinegar based (and keep some clean rice or bread, and some water, on hand) before mixing them into any recipe.
In any case, once everything so far is prepared, just mix it all together, only using about 3/4 C of the slurry from above. If it's cooled down at all, reheat in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. It tastes wonderful!
Organic Germanium Rich Foods List
Garlic
Shitake or Enoki Mushrooms
Tomatoes/Tomato Juice
BeansKelp or Seaweed
Comfrey
Ginseng
Oysters
Tuna
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