Alissa's recipes - problems

[mauretania]

Currently I have three things "cooking" in the dehydrator.

1 - Flax Seed Crackers
After soaking the flax seeds (golden) and putting them in the food processor, the flax completely gunked up the processor. It took me a long time to clean
out all the goop which got into the central mechanism. This is my first food processor and I'm still getting used to it but did I soak the flax too long?

2- Carrot Pecan Burgers
Threw everything into the food processor as Alissa did on the DVD but it took
forever to get the ingredients combined. The bottom bit was completely pulverized and there were still whole mushrooms and big chunks of carrots on top even after I rearranged the ingredients and scraped down the sides.
What did I do wrong?

3- Enchiladas
Okay, the DVD shows her scraping fresh corn but her recipe calls for frozen
corn. I've never bought frozen corn before and I just threw the frozen corn
in to the food processor along with the other ingredients but it was very cold
trying to smooth it out on the Teflex sheet and now it's all watery and separated in the dehydrator. Now I'm thinking I should have thawed the corn first? It did not specify to do so in the recipe.

I hope you can help me out!

[appifanie]

my enchilada shells were a disaster too.

for flax crackers, i just soaked the flax, then instead of adding the other stuff, i just added some pulp i had left from making juice, and some garlic powder and s&p, then I added more water cause it seemed thick and i spread it out super duper thin.

flax is a bisque to clean - sticks to everything!

[RawKnitster]

what kind and size of food processor do you have? I've got a 7 cup Cuisinart which has a marker about 1/3 of the way up the container that says "Liquid - Level". Anything liquidy higher can get places it should not be.

About the carrot pecan burgers; I have made those yummy burgers many times. With them and with other recipes that will not process equally, first I use the spatula (as you did) and try to stir things up. When that doesn't work, I empty the ingredients into a bowl, stir it up by hand, then put HALF of it back in the processor at a time.

About the enchiladas; you are right. The corn needed to be thawed first. Perhaps the corn of the cob in the DVD was frozen and thawed...? I use the best frozen corn I can find, the kind with no salt added. Put it in a glass bowl, cover and let thaw slowly in the fridge. When thawed I take it out of fridge and pour it into a strainer and let it sit for an hour. Some frozen has a lot of water added, especially corn with salt as that leaches the moisture out of the corn.

Sorry you had these troubles. Keep trying! There is always more to learn. Soon you will a pro, tossing ingredients together without any recipe. :)

[RawKnitster]

Also, when I soak flax I will add enough water to cover (about 1 part flax, 2 parts water). After soaking, I pour flax into a strainer and let it sit for 15 minutes to allow any excess water a chance to drain.

[mauretania]

Thank you, very much for the prompt replies! You guys are the greatest.

I think I'll just keep the enchilada "mess" in the dehydrator and flip it at some
point and see how it goes.

I have a 7-cup Cuisinart but did not notice the liquid level but yep! It's there.

The carrot pecan burgers are still soft and I'll leave them in a bit longer.

The flax seed crackers are going to be more like "bread" as it's quite thick
(I spread it as thin as I could).

[anniez]

I hear you! There is a huge learning curve to preparing raw food recipes! When I make Alissa's recipes I only make half because they all make so much. I think you are filling your processor too full

I find Alissa's recipes by and large pretty straight-forward. I am in the process of fixing every recipe in the book and had great success with the Carrot Pecan Burgers. (The thread is Alissa and Annie and I am reporting on every recipe that I have made so far. I have given lots of tips there - you may find some help.)

Hang in there - Alissa's recipes are truly to live for!

Good luck!

Annie

[mauretania]

Thanks, Annie!

I didn't particularly like the carrot pecan burgers as I found the curry too
overpowering. I think I will try them again but ditch the curry and see how
I like them. I had made the curry sauce which was good but with the burgers
I think it was too much curry.

The filling for the enchiladas was great on its own! I had left over and will
add some fresh basil and take it to work for lunch tomorrow:)

I'm going to try the Collard Rolls this week (I've never had collard before)
though it asks for Bragg Liquid Aminos to marinate. Could I use Nama Shoyu
instead?

[RawKnitster]

Yes, you could sub nama shoyu. I don't care for the taste of Bragg's. I've subbed nama shoyu before, now I sub for both Bragg's and nama shoyu with a wheat-free tamari.

If a recipe calls for Bragg's I put in half tamari and half water.