When Puree Met Roux

This is a creation of Jennie's and I'm finally posting it!

We love Soychamel and we love puréed edamame.  Jennie put the two together to make a smooth, creamy, speedy sauce/gravy/topper/dip.  It hits all the marks for me.  Easy to make.  Easy to eat.  Easy on my messed up digestive system while also packing in some nutrients.

The possibilities are endless if you can use a variety of spices!  You can give it an Asian flare with ginger and garlic or a Mexican twist with cumin and chili powder.

You can top a pizza crust.  Dip veggies in it.  Dip crackers or chips in it.  Spread it on a sandwich.  Fill crepes or tortillas. It is so much faster than making a béchamel type sauce and better for you with vegetables in it!

16 oz bag frozen, shelled edamame
1/4 cup Earth Balance margarine
1/4 GF baking mix
2 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce substitute)
1 cup plain soymilk
Black pepper to taste

Simmer the edamame until tender and drain.  Add the margarine, baking mix, and Bragg.  Return to low heat and stir quickly until margarine is melted and beans are coated with baking mix.  Turn off the heat.  Add the soymilk and black pepper and stir well to combine, scraping bottom of pan to get any caramelized Bragg off.

Puree with immersion blender or in a food processor until smooooooooooth.

So good!  And good for you too!  I topped biscuits with mine... I even had a biscuit that looked like a heart turn out.

Thanks Jen! ❤️

Fried Dough for Fest Weekends

There are so many "fests" going in this weekend around here!  Jen and I made the mistake of going to the store sort of near one.  We actually were able to park and shop and had the added pleasure of smelling fried carnival food.

Which made us go home and fry some dough!  These are very elephant ear-like.  We ate them savory with dinner and sweet for dessert.  You could top these all sorts of ways...  I've even seen The Pioneer  Woman use them for taco toppings.

3 cups GF baking mix
3 teaspoons baking powder
Dash of salt
1 cup plain soymilk
Water to add as necessary

Heat about 1-1/2 to 2" of frying oil to 375.  I use vegetable oil.  Some use Crisco.

Mix the GF baking mix, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl with a fork.  Add the soymilk and mix with fork until crumbly.  Slowly add little bits of water until the dough just comes together (pressing with fork or hands to mix the crumbly bits in).  It won't be a solid mass of dough.  You don't want it to be too wet.  You do want all the crumbly bits to be moist though.  If too dry, add a bit more water.

Lay out some parchment paper.  Grab rounds of dough and lightly press into desired size and shape on the parchment paper.  Lift carefully with a floured spatula into the oil a few at a time.

Fry for about 1 minute on the first side and an additional 30 seconds on the second.

Drain on paper towels. Serve them up and avoid the crowds!  

Chocolate Chip Tofutti Cream Cheese Cake

I haven't made this cake in many, many years.  We gave up on vegan cream cheese for a bit a couple of years ago.  I also got down on cakes in general since gluten free cakes, that are also vegan, can be a real disappointment.  I used to make this cake every Sunday for breakfast when the kids were little.

Jennie is returning from Glasgow today and requested cake!  She went back to the vegan cream cheese this summer after realizing it shared all the same ingredients as their vegan sour cream. It was a no brainer to try the cream cheese!  And a no brainer to make this cake.

Welcome home my Len!

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a Bundt well very well.

1/2 cup Earth Balance stick margarine, softened

8 oz or one tub of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese

1 cup sugar

2 cups GF baking mix

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Dash of salt

1/4 cup vanilla soymilk

1 cup mini vegan chocolate chips, I only use Amanda's Own

In your mixer, cream the margarine, cream cheese, and sugar.  Add the baking mix, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Until well combined.

Stir in the soymilk and chocolate chips.

Spread into prepared pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until set.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes.  Turn out onto serving dish.  Can be eaten when warm or cooled.  This cake actually keeps pretty well until the next say too...  If it lasts that long!

A Loaf (of Bread) To Love

After watching an episode of Cooks Country, I did a little further investigating into making an English Muffin Loaf.  My English muffin recipe is so perfect that I wasn't sure I wanted to try this. I was also a little skeptical since there's no fat (oil, butter, margarine, shortening) listed in this recipe.

I have learned enough over the allergen years to know if something that looks and sounds good is even possible.  Some things can be more of a challenge than others.  Some things I won't even attempt.  This English muffin bread was a huge success and was easy too!

Preheat oven to 375 and grease one loaf pan.  Dust the bottom with baking mix.  (If you're not allergic and/or anti corn you can use corn meal to dust bottom of pan.)

3 cups GF baking mix

One package yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 cups milk substitute (I used vanilla soy) heated to 120 degrees

In your mixer bowl combine the dry ingredients.  Add the heated milk of your choice and mix on low until you have a smooth batter.  It was not so loose that it could be poured out.  Definitely had to be scraped out of the bowl.  More firm that cake batter and more loose than cookie dough. I'd call it a very sticky cake batter.

Spread into prepared pan.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and a towel and rest on top of preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until top just starts to brown.  Do not over bake or it will be dry.  The sides of the bread will be dark around the pan before the top will be brown.  Remove from oven.  Loosen with the edge of a knife and turn out onto cooling rack until completely cooled.  Slice with a bread knife or serated knife, toast, and enjoy.

It's full of holes like English muffins.  It toasts to such a nice crispy texture too.  The ends are the best!