Bringing The South to Chitown

Boiled peanuts!  A little salty. A little sweet. A little smoky.  And a lot delicious!

Jennie found raw, in the shell peanuts at Treasure Island!  I've been on the hunt for several weeks with no luck.  Leave it to my girl to take such good care of me!  

I had no errands to run today but only household chores to do.  What a perfect day to boil peanuts.  You really need to be home 5-6 hours to make these.  I had to add water every hour or so.  Setting a timer is definitely necessary.  

I used Alton Brown's recipe as a guide to get started.  I had to tailor it since I didn't have a full two pounds of peanuts.  

For my 24 ounces of peanuts. I used 1/3 cup of salt and 26 cups of water to start.  I can't tell you how much water I added over the course of 6 hours of boiling but it was a lot.  I just made sure the peanuts were covered by 3" at all times.  I did not add any more salt and these were plenty salty.

Wash and rinse peanuts in cool water.  Soak and rinse until water runs clear.  

Put the peanuts, 26 cups water, and 1/3 cup salt in an 8-12 quart stock pot.  Bring to full boil and cook covered 4-6 hours until desired tenderness.  Check your water level every hour.  

 

Drain and store in air tight container for up to 10 days.  Freeze portions you want to keep for longer.  I packed individual baggies and put those in a big freezer bag for freezer storage.

They taste amazing warm!  If they last long enough to put into recipes, I'll post those too!

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!