vegan

Homemade Mustard Trials Revisited

by ladypbwiggins

A few months ago I tried a Dijon mustard recipe from The Homemade Vegan Pantry. I thought I had used a white wine that was too dry. The mustard had a very bitter taste. I tried it again with a less dry white wine. I allowed it to sit longer hoping it would be mellower. Today I tested it and it was just as bitter as the first. I gave up on that recipe. I decided to try a different recipe. It was taken from the Homemade Condiment cookbook: the Spicy Brown Mustard.  The ingredients: powdered yellow mustard, kosher salt, tumeric, paprika, water, white wine vinegar, and brown sugar to taste. I used a few drops of agave. I didn’t have white wine vinegar so I used white cooking wine. 20160827_133353

The result is a smooth, spicy mustard paste. It is usable now but I think I will let it mellow a bit. It has a little bitter tinge but nothing like the other recipe. I wonder what would happen if I used white wine vinegar?20160827_133433

Well, I am getting back in the lab. Happy cooking.

 

Necessity Brings Joy

by ladypbwiggins

So now what is that crazy woman talking about? Necessity brings joy. Sometimes when you have a need, the satisfying of that need brings greater joy than you expected.

Here’s the deal, Saturday, I ran out of almond milk. I had no cash. I didn’t want to u20160716_132308 (2)se a credit card for a gallon of milk. I looked around the pantry and saw that I had some cashews. I had been meaning to try making cashew milk. This seemed like the perfect time. It is simple. Put the cashews and water in a blender and let it rip. In minutes, there was milk.

I looked in  my vegan cookbook to get an idea of the ratio of cashews to water for a reasonable milk consistency. It was 2/3 cup of whole cashews to 4 cups of milk. That seemed like a lot of water for so few cashews so I increased it to a full cup of cashews. To my surprise I stumbled upon cashew cream. I did some research on the uses for cashew cream and discovered I had solved another dilemma I was facing. This cashew cream provides the creaminess and consistency I needed for both these projects.I wanted to make vegan ice cream without making a sugary syrup for a sorbet. This will be my substitute. I also needed a sour cream impostor to try in a new cornbread recipe I found. I will try adding vinegar to the cream to sour it. I’ll let you know the outcome.

Back to the milk. I used the ratio suggested by the experienced vegan and was rewarded with a good tasting cashew milk. There are no preservatives, no sweetener, no added anything. Two and two/thirds cup of cashews will make a gallon of milk.  What makes this most appealing is no added cost for  cream.

For you who like a little coffee in your cream, this is a healthy, tasteful preferred choice to the coffee creamers you buy in the store. I don’t usually add cream to my coffee but I tried a little. It was very good and flavorful.

So the necessity for almond milk provided the joy of cashew milk and cream. It was a good day.

 

Sorghum – What Is It?

by ladypbwiggins

When i was a little girl, I loved to visit my great-grandparents in the country. That is what city folks called the very rural areas. I especially loved Sunday morning breakfast. My great-grandmother, Momma Lula, served “from scratch” biscuits, homemade butter, eggs from her hen house and some kind of meat. Now, the meat was either bacon or sausage that my great-grandfather’s friends had smoked and seasoned from their slaughter season or chicken from Momma Lula’s yard. Yeah, the raised them for meat and eggs. But the days that were the best was when Daddy Bush went to get the sorghum syrup from another farmer.  He had to walk a mile both ways to get the syrup. That was good eating with those hot biscuits. I never knew sorghum could also come in the form of flour.

I ran across a recipe for waffles using gluten free flour and I decided to substitute sorghum flour for the one listed. I also changed the milk to almond milk and the vegetable oil to coconut oil. The outcome was quite pleasing and they weren’t green.

Recipe

2 eggs    1 3/4 c almond milk     1/4 c coconut oil     2/3 c sorghum flour

2 Tbs Agave Nectar         4 tsps baking powder          1/3 c potato starch

1 3/4 tsp xanthum gum      1 tsp salt20160716_103545

Mix it all up and put in the waffle maker. In the picture you will see so
me waffles are darker than others. That’s because the darker ones were cooked at a higher setting. They were crisper. So set your waffle maker to the crispness you desire.

About Sorghum

It was probably used as flour before syrup. This ancient grain as it is being described was widely used in Africa and Australia. It has many health benefits. It has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant properties. It is high in fiber, B-vitamins and protein. According to the World Grain Council it is the 5th most important flour in the world and the 3rd in the USA. So for what was it used in the USA? Animal feed and fuel. Once again we treat our animals better than ourselves. It seems only those with wheat allergies or gluten sensitivities were aware of this flour and its nutritional benefits. I also like the fact that it is non-GMO. Being gluten-free is another plus. Diabetics, cancer patients and cardiac patients may benefit from the eating of sorghum flour. Caution, like any other grain, don’t over indulge. Even with all of its nutritional benefits some people cannot tolerate it.

It is suggested that it be used in combination with other gluten free flours, such as potato or in recipes where a small amount of flour is used because it does not have a good rising ability. Flatbreads here I come.

I am going to try some other recipes I have found that use sorghum flour. I am not quite ready to give up bread completely, so healthier alternatives are definitely on my radar. If you have any other suggestions, please share.

Continued Search for Gluten-free Sandwich Bread

by ladypbwiggins

I have tried several different recipes for gluten free bread. They all have been described as guaranteed sandwich bread. The first one I tried looked okay but crumbled when you sliced it. That was the result for several of them. I was about to give up and then I found the recipe using Teff flour online. This bread is gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, egg-free and vegan bread. I have no health need that actually requires this kind of bread but if I can find one that is gluten-free that tastes good and slices for good sandwiches, I am on board. I am interested in anything that reduces inflammation. Arthritis, you know.  🙂

I didn’t know about Teff flour. It is a grain used in Ethiopian cooking for baking and as a side dish. It’s color ranges from light to dark  brown. I used a brown teff because it is the one I found in my favorite market. Bob’s Red Mill Teff Flour

I am learning about different kinds of flours and their uses. My only experience with sorghum was syrup my great-grandfather bought from a friend in the country. I didn’t know it could be made into flour. The recipe is below. It makes two loaves.  Enjoy

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1 1/2 cups millet flour

1/2 cup teff flour

1 cup sorghum flour

1 cup cornstarch (double the potato starch if you can’t eat corn)

1 cup potato starch

1 cup tapioca flour

4 tsp xanthum gum

1 tbsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp active dry yeast (not rapid rise)

Add:

4 tsp olive oil

3 1/4 warm water (not hot)

I halved the recipe to make one loaf. I mixed the ingredients much like making regular wheat bread. The difference is, there is no need to knead the mixture.  I allowed it to rise about 50 -70 minutes sitting on top of a warm stove. I baked at 400 degrees for 10 minutes uncovered. I then baked covered it covered for 35-45 minutes. When it has baked completely, let it rest on a rack to cool a little.

As you may have noticed in the picture the bottom and sides were beautiful. The top cracked open. I don’t know why. It was delicious while warm. The next day the top and sides were hard and a little more difficult to slice. After three days it began to mold. I guess we don’t eat it fast enough. Refrigeration was not an option because it dried out the loaf.The source of the recipe suggested making bread crumbs, or croutons after the second day.  I should have done that.

I may try it again or I may just turn to flatbread for sandwiches.

To read the recipe and the full instructions aprovchar.danandsally.com

 

What I’ve Been Up To

by ladypbwiggins

Like any scientific endeavor, food scientist must spend some time in research. I decided to save myself some time with making my own condiments. I know there have to be food techs out there that have published their findings. I found two that seemed promising. They were

Homemade Condiments: Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients
Homemade Condiments: Artisan Recipes Using Fresh, Natural Ingredients by Jessica Harlan
and
The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples
The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples by Miyoko Schinner

Unfortunately, the first one was out of stock. I purchased the second and I have been very pleased with the information contained in the book.

I have been interested in vegan and gluten-free cooking, so this book provided vegan options. In one place I can find instructions for condiments and sauces. There are explanations regarding seaweed, tempeh, and soup concentrates. I am most excited about the vegan cheese recipes. The instructions are clear.There are also recipes that use the items.

I also discovered another book that I will mention here but it deserves its own post. It is The Healthy Mind Cookbook. God knows my mind needs all the help I can get.

A Sickening Image

by ladypbwiggins

A couple of days ago on my way home I witnessed the aftermath of a hit and run. At first I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. The lower extremities of the injured party were smashed beyond recognition. I watched the struggle to survive.  I could almost feel the pain I saw on the face as the victim tried to drag itself out of the street. I wonder if the animal was asking, “Why aren’t my legs working?” I wanted to get out of my car and help but the traffic light changed. Suddenly cars were flying by and the tortured body was struck over and over again. It hurt me deep into my being. I remembered thinking how badly it must have hurt to know you could not avoid such a painful death. It was a rabbit. Something I have eaten before. I can’t eat it again. In that moment veganism became a real consideration.

As I remember it now it hurts and I wonder about the animals slaughtered to provide my food. Is this what it looks like in the slaughter houses? Will I continue to hurt when I go to the market? I ate fish tonight and did not give it a thought until I began writing this. Will my life long conditioning override the horror I witnessed? I don’t know. All I know is that was and is a sickening image to see in my mental photo album.

Thanksgiving Cooking Experiment

by ladypbwiggins

I posted this on ladywiggins.blogspot.com  for Thanksgiving. I thought I would repost it here. Vegans out there please share your recipe successes.

I hope you had a wonderful time with your family. It was just my husband and I. Our children were away this year. I had a ball. Not because they were away though. I experimented with our traditional recipes. I was motivated by my newly vegan son and my dairy-intolerant grand-baby. I had wanted to try vegan cooking for a while and I figured now was a good time.

Mac and Cheese

Attention went first to my mac and cheese. This is my grandmother’s mac and cheese so the flavors are sacred. I decided to use rice elbow macaroni. I never used it before. Next concern: How do you bring those southern flavors to vegan world: Butter, real milk, sharp and mild cheddar cheese? I was skeptical but I went all in. I replaced the cheese with veggie cheese. I replaced the milk with flax seed milk. I found it to be creamier than almond and other nut milks I’ve tried. However, what to do about butter? I found some vegan butter in my favorite organic store but the cost was ridiculous. Google came through. I found several vegan sites that had recipes for making your own vegan butter without using soy products. I made my first non-dairy butter. The results were good but I still didn’t know how it would work in my mac and cheese. It was wonderful. That gave me hope for my sweet potato pie.

Sweet Potato Pie


This was not completely vegan but it was still an experiment. I used my non-dairy butter, a blend of flax and evaporated milk and egg. I thought my husband had bought an egg substitute but he bought egg whites instead. The filling was good. The real experiment was the pie crust. I decided to try gluten free flour. Who knows why? I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil or shortening. I either had a crumbling mess or something that was very oily looking. I wanted that flaky crust I was familiar with. As it turned out, the taste was great but the texture was too thin. Saved by the flavors.

I have learned a lot through this experiment.

  1. I will never plan to buy dairy butter again.
  2. I have since found a recipe for homemade baking shortening. That’s next.
  3. Coconut oil, refined and unrefined are my new best friends. It has so many uses besides cooking.
  4. I have found a website of a vegan sweet potato expert. Things are looking up for my Christmas pies.  http://sweetpotatosoul.com/2014/01/how-to-make-vegan-sweet-potato-pie.html
  5. Sunflower oil has entered my pantry.
  6. I found non-soy, non-gluten, non-wheat egg replacer. They also gave the ingredients and I have them in my cabinet. I wonder if I can make my own?
  7. I just found an egg replacer recipe using chia seed. Who knew? Got to try this. http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-make-egg-substitute-chia-seeds/

I also found this link for powdered egg replacer recipe. If any of you have used these recipes, I would certainly like to hear from you. My holiday baking begins in about a week and a half. I am planning to experiment ahead of time.

Vegans out there please share your experience and wisdom. I am on fire to test things out.