119 posts tagged “soy milk”

Poor hubby went on a wild goose chase yesterday around the house, literally.  We had some really strong wind for the whole day, and around 10 in the morning, a super strong gust blew a Canada goose onto our roof and it ended up being lame with a broken leg and sitting in our drive way.  We called the local wildlife rescue and were told to "bag" the goose by ourselves, put it in a box, and drive 50 miles to them.  We were trying to do the right thing.  It was really windy and rainy outside.  My poor hubby chased the supposedly lame goose for more than 20 minutes all around the yard and driveway and the silly goose really put up a fierce fight by flapping, flying, running, hissing, and puking.  It finally disappeared into the woods.  Now we know how the phrase "wild-goose chase" came about.

Anyway, after the goose chase yesterday, we had to have some comfort food today.  Hubby made his famous peanut butter sauce (1/2 container of peanut butter, soy sauce, hot chili sauce, paprika, oregano, thyme, chives, black pepper, and soy milk) and I made some udon noodles with shiitake mushrooms.  We were all set.  This is certainly not the meal that will make you lose 5 pounds, but your woes will be wiped out completely.  I guarantee that!

We are moving early next week, so I don't think I will be able to keep up with the blogging.  It is a shame but I will try my best.  If we can survive October, we will be able to have a breather then.

I have been in love with puff pastry.  I want to experiment more with laminated dough in the following months.  But, wait a minute.  I actually have never made a napoleon in my life.  So making a vegan napoleon is my theme today.  I used puff pastry and made the classic fluffy vanilla buttercream in VCTOTW.  For more decadence, I added some Soyatoo soy whipped cream on top.  This was a very nice treat for a sunny afternoon after two to three months of rain.

English muffins, move over!  They used to be my favorite brunch food, but now crumpets have rolled into town!  I was really blind to the difference between English muffins and crumpets before.  They look almost alike, in texture and taste.  But recently I discovered that crumpets are thinner, moister, and have more nooks and crannies (namely many many holes) for butter and jam.  Crumpets are more like really thick pancakes.

I used King Arthur Flour's recipe.  The batter is so easy to put together, especially if you have a stand mixer.  I don't know where I have been, having made no attempt to make these beauties before.  The below photo really doesn't do crumpets justice.  I have been thoroughly enjoying those holes smothered with butter and jam for the past two days.

So, this is my first VeganMoFo entry this year.  I guess I will have a theme after all - things I have been wanting to make for ages but haven't for some reason (either fear or laziness).  I'd better gear up for tomorrow.

My schedule has been getting worse and worse.  I simply don't have time to cook or bake much now.  I cannot believe my eyes when I just spotted on the calendar that it is the 27th of the month again!  I totally forgot I'm supposed to post my Daring Bakers' Challenge today.  So without further ado, here it is: Vols-au-Vent (are you ready to take a bite and go to heaven?)

The September Daring Bakers' challenge has been chosen by Steph of A Whisk and A Spoon.  She wanted us to make our own puff pastry in our home kitchens.  What a great idea!  I've always wanted to make homemade puff pasty and I saved about a dozen different recipes.  I finally got to make it this time.  I don't know what I would do without this lovely Daring Kitchen.

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Since I have made homemade croissants before, I'm not intimidated by the "laminated dough".  It was actually really fun making this kind of pastry dough.  For the full recipe with detailed instructions, click here.

I made three types of fillings: creamy artichoke filling (see my recipe below), Belgian chocolate buttercream (the classic recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World), and chia seed pudding filling (recipe by Veggie Wedgie).

Creamy Artichoke Filling
(Makes 4 servings)

1 jar water-packed artichoke hearts, well drained and chopped
1/2 package Tofutti cream cheese
1/2 package Tofutti sour cream
3 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. capers, well drained and roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
A pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

I still have some leftover puff pastry in the freezer.  I'm looking forward to making another batch very soon.

For more mouth-watering vols-au-vent, check out the Daring Bakers Blogroll.

I cannot believe I'm late this month.  I made the dish very early one but simply had no time to post it.  Life happened; work happened; and many other unexpected things happened.  Anyway, here it is: this month's Daring Cooks challenge.  It's a vegan and gluten-free challenge chosen and hosted by a wonderful vegan.  Imagine that!  I was naturally excited and grateful.

September's Daring Cooks' Challenge was hosted by Debyi of Healthy Vegan Kitchen.  She has chosen Indian Dosas, a vegan and gluten-free delicacy to suit everyone's dietary needs.

Indian Dosas
This recipe comes in 3 parts, the dosas, the filling and the sauce. It does take awhile to make, but the filling and sauce can be made ahead and frozen if need be. You can serve them as a main course with rice and veggies, or as an appetizer. This does take a little planning ahead, so make sure you read the recipe through before starting (I forgot & didn't start making the rice until everything was ready, oops).

Serves 4

Equipment needed:
large bowl
whisk
griddle or skillet
ladle (or large spoon)
spatula
vegetable peeler &/or knife
large saucepan
food processor or bean masher

Dosa Pancakes
1 cup (120gm/8oz) spelt flour (or all-purpose, gluten free flour) [I used chickpea flour instead]
½ tsp (2½ gm) salt
½ tsp (2½ gm) baking powder
½ tsp (2½ gm) curry powder
½ cup (125ml/4oz) almond milk (or soy, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup (175ml/6oz) water
cooking spray, if needed

Dosa Filling
1 batch Curried Garbanzo Filling (see below), heated

Dosa Toppings
1 batch Coconut Curry Sauce (see below), heated
¼ cup (125gm) grated coconut
¼ cucumber, sliced

Dosa Pancakes
1.Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, slowly adding the almond milk and water, whisking until smooth.
2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed.
3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes.

Curried Garbanzo Filling
This filling works great as a rice bowl topping or as a wrap too, so don't be afraid to make a full batch.

5 cloves garlic
1 onion, peeled and finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced
2 TBSP (16gm) cumin, ground
1 TBSP (8gm) oregano
1 TBSP (8gm) sea salt (coarse)
1 TBSP (8gm) turmeric
4 cups (850gm/30oz) cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (125gm/4oz) tomato paste

1.Heat a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Add the garlic, veggies, and spices, cooking until soft, stirring occasionally.
2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, or in a food processor. Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through.

Coconut Curry Sauce
This makes a great sauce to just pour over rice as well. This does freeze well, but the texture will be a little different. The flavor is still the same though. My picture of this sauce is one that I had made, had to freeze, then thaw to use. It tastes great, but the texture is a little runnier, not quite as thick as it was before freezing.

1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
½ (2½ gm) tsp cumin, ground
¾ (3¾ gm) tsp sea salt (coarse)
3 TBSP (30gm) curry powder
3 TBSP (30gm) spelt flour (or all-purpose GF flour)
3 cups (750ml/24oz) vegetable broth
2 cups (500ml/24oz) coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1.Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.
2.Add the spices, cooking for 1 minutes more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.
3.Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.
4.Let it simmer for half an hour.

Verdict: This dish is very easy to put together.  You can make the sauce and filling in advance.  Totally a keeper!

God, how I wish I had more time!  I have been extremely busy and blogging has certainly been put on the back-burner.  I haven't been following my neighbors or fellow-bakers (and cooks) at all.  I do apologize and thank everyone for his or her kind comments.  I haven't been cooking much either.  Hubby has been feeding both of us every day, and I barely make my own greens to go along with the pasta nowadays.  Alas!  So quickly it is the reveal day for this month's Daring Bakers Challenge.  I sadly notice that my blog has been only about the Daring Kitchen (not that it is not an honor to be baking and cooking with such a wonderful group of passionate and talented people).  Without furthur ado...

August's Daring Bakers' Challenge has been chosen by Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella and Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar.  They have chosen the famous Dobos Torta, a Hungarian speciality.

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

Equipment

    * 2 baking sheets
    * 9” (23cm) springform tin and 8” cake tin, for templates
    * mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
    * a sieve
    * a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)
    * a small saucepan
    * a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
    * metal offset spatula
    * sharp knife
    * a 7 1/2” cardboard cake round, or just build cake on the base of a springform tin.
    * piping bag and tip, optional

Prep times

    * Sponge layers 20 mins prep, 40 mins cooking total if baking each layer individually.
    * Buttercream: 20 mins cooking. Cooling time for buttercream: about 1 hour plus 10 minutes after this to beat and divide.
    * Caramel layer: 10-15 minutes.
    * Assembly of whole cake: 20 minutes

The complete original recipe can be found here.  For the sponge cake layers, I used Bryanna's recipe, which involves whipping up Ener-G egg replacers in a stand mixer just like egg white (see the picture below).  The key to use this recipe is to be gentle with the batter.  You cannot stir or mix too hard or too fast.  Using a rubber spetula to carefully fold in the whipped "white egg" is the right way.

This is how the baked vegan sponge cake layer looks like.

I don't make multi-layer cakes at all at home.  It just always seems like too much trouble.  So this is actually the first time that I have assembled a multi-layer cake.  A big Thank-You to our ingenious hostesses Lorraine and Angela.  I did relatively OK, but of course the appearance of the torte could have been much better.  My caramel layer on top was a bit thin, but I liked it.  The texture is more chewy and spongy than a strictly hard toffee layer.  And I had a lot of fun making the caramel.  Boy, it hardens really fast (in seconds)!  For the chocolate buttercream, I simply used Isa's recipe in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

The verdict: It was a fun project to work on.  Would I make it again?  Absolutely yes!  The sponge cake layers are really tasty.  The chocolate-hazelnut combo cannot be more decadent.  The citrus-flavored toffee layer on top rounds out the overall sweetness.  Even Hubby loved it and said it was the best cake yet.

For more gorgeous Dobos Tortes, check out the Daring Bakers blogroll.

Yes, it's that time of the month again: the reveal date of this month's challenge for Daring Bakers.  I can't believe how fast time just flew out of the window.  It seemed like yesterday when I made my first batch of marshmallow-filled cookies.  But it was actually more than three weeks ago.  I still remember how much I enjoyed these treats.  I don't make cookies at home often, no, not at all.  So I certainly loved and appreciated this opportunity to practise some cookie-making skills and enjoy the results.

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

You can find the original recipes for both the Mallows and the Milan Cookies here.  Due to our dietary requirements, I opted to use Isa's Vegan Milanos recipe at the PPK.  The recipe worked amazingly.  I did have to bake the cookies for one more minute than what the original recipe called for.

For the vegan marshmallow cookies, I made good use of the vegan toasted coconut marshmallows and strawberry marshmallows from Sweet and Sara.  The cookie recipe was easy to veganize.  I simply used some water to replace the eggs in the recipe.

The main challenge for me this month is to melt the chocolate in the right way.  It's an easy task if you do it right and have enough patience.  It's not something that you should rush through 10 minutes before your dinner.  I had a lot of fun in this challenge.

For more mouthwatering cookies, check out the Daring Bakers blogroll.

I have almost found the Force again.  I recently made two "quick" loaves.  They were started and baked on the same day, so I consider myself very lucky to be able to enjoy their good taste without too much work.  The left one is English Muffin Loaf (recipe by Bellini Valli of More Than Burnt Toast).  We have been on an English muffin kick, so why wouldn't we enjoy a big loaf with endless nooks and cranks to soak up the melted butter?  Match made in heaven!  The loaf on the right is the Homemade Milk Bread (obviously vegan).  The recipe is by Susan of She's Becoming DoughMessTic.  I halved the recipe and the result was most excellent.  These two loaves of bread are truly amazing.  I must confess that bread baking is still my favorite thing to do in the kitchen.  Hopefully I can get back into artisan bread baking soon.

Yesterday, my husband went to help a couple of friends with their computer problems and teach them how to make their own simple Web site.  They in turn gave us a dozen different potted plants to put on our deck.  We now officially have a modest garden.  I already went online and learned a lot about these plants.  We have romaine lettuce, red sails lettuce, iceberg lettuce, zucchini, basil, French tarragon, mint, garlic chives, two types of peppers (I haven't figured out which type), tomatoes, and cilantro.  I harvested one romaine lettuce this morning since it is really ready for it, and our groundhog neighbor living under our deck has already sampled it for us.  I trimmed off all the flowers and over-grown parts.  These plants are not exactly well cared-for, but I will see what we can do in the next few weeks to bring more life back to the pots.  I have never done any gardening before today, so this will be a big challenge.  I am enjoying it so far (but it is only day one after all).

The Daring Cooks July challenge certainly managed to take me completely out of my comfort zone.  I have barely heard of Molecular Cuisine before this challenge, and now I was actually asked to produce something befitting the much-misunderstood-and-little-known art of cooking.  The biggest obstacle for me is to make a vegan fish dish that remains moist and will blend well with the powders.

Sketchy from Sketchy's Kitchen is the host for the Daring Cooks July challenge.  He hopped between a MC (Molecular Cuisine) dish and a classic rustic Italian dish, and opted to skip the 400 year old dish in favor of something that would be new and daring.

The Challenge: Skate, traditional flavors powdered (slightly altered)

This is a dish from Grant Achatz, found in the Alinea cookbook - page 230.  Our host picked a recipe that could be completed without having to order a bunch of specialized chemicals or powders. Just a little work and you can make this, the techniques are not very hard and only require a few tools.

  4 skate wings (I made Tofu Fish Sticks instead, see below)
  * Beurre monte
  * 300g fresh green beans
  sea salt/kosher salt
  1 banana
  454g butter - 4 sticks

  Powders - prepare ahead of time
  caper / onion (total failure on my part)
  lemon powder (skipped and subbed more tofu fish breading powder)
  cilantro/parsley powder
  'brown butter' powder (skipped the cream powder)
  (I also added paprika powder)
 
* For green beans, slice each beans into very thin rounds (2 mm)
* Beurre Monte - 454g butter (4 sticks, 1 pound) cubed and cold, 60g water. In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the butter 1 cube at a time. This should from an emulsion. Keep this heated, but under 195 degrees. The emulsion will not break - this is your poaching liquid.

I made the Tofu Fish Sticks - a famous recipe from Vegan Lunch Box.  This was a huge success, and we really loved the flavors of the tofu fish sticks.  I even used the leftover breading powder as one of the powders to be served on the plate with the fish sticks.  Unfortunately, I found drying the herbs and other things in my microwave oven is very difficult.  I completely failed in making the onion powder because my microwave doesn't have high or low temperature settings.  When I left the onion in the microwave for 2 minutes each time, the onion wouldn't dry.  When I used 3-4 minutes each time, the onion started burning.  Drying in the oven would be better, I suppose, but I really couldn't find enough time to sit in front of the oven to watch.

The plating was fun to do, but obviously, I could have made some nice pattern of the powders to make it more presentable.  The whole challenge was a new thing to try, and I might study a little further on Molecular Cuisine, but overall, I really think having a dehydrator is rather critical in this case.

For more beautiful plates in this July challenge, check out the Daring Cooks blogroll.