Archive for October, 2009
Cashew Cheddar Cheese from The Real Food Daily Cookbook
Peter and I decided to pack up our entire bookcase and get rid of the thing. It was huge and served no purpose in our extra room and all it did was collect dust. We each kept out books we want out to put up on some shelves we will install eventually and all of my cookbooks went into my grandmothers glass door buffet in our dining room. Going through all of my books gave me a chance to look through cookbooks I haven’t seen in awhile and one of those book was The Real Food Daily Cookbook by Ann Gentry.
Its one of those books I love and never cook from much. (Her seitan recipes are some of my favorite recipes but that’s for another separate post.) There was always one recipe that stuck out, that I always wanted to make and never did and that was her Cashew Cheddar Cheese. So this week I set forth some spare time and made 1/2 a recipe.
I was really excited about making this cheese. One reason was that with the ingredients used I just knew it would at least be tasty. Two, I’ve never made my own vegan cheese before! How that is a possibility I do not know. Anyway, I made it. I tried it. I liked it. A lot. My “i don’t eat that fake vegan stuff” Maa even tried some and couldn’t believe how tasty it was.
The first thing I though of after the cheese turned into a solid block was to slice some up for cheese and crackers. Its been my daily snack now for the past few days. For breakfast yesterday I cooked up some vegan sausage and added a few slices on top to see it’s melt ability..and although it didn’t melt** it was still great. I haven’t remelted a block of the cheese down yet like the recipe says you can but be sure that I will try it out in the next day or so and report back the results. All I know is that the next time I make it I will make the full recipe instead of just 1/2. I have so many ideas for it.
**I think it didn’t melt because my agar/milk mixture boiled over and I lost quite a bit of the mixture so the recipe wasn’t exactly how it was suppose to be even though it was quite delicious as it was.
October 25th, 2009
Hidden Veggie Tomato Sauce
I have a very picky eating child. No veggies will pass by those precious lips of hers except peas. Occasionally when I’m chopping up carrots she will say “Reno eat that” and I’ll give it to her and she either eats it or throws it in the trash. One day I had her help me snap some string beans in half and she again said “Reno eat that” and she took 2 bites of one and then that was enough. At least she tried it though and when she tries foods or actually eats foods I have Yo Gabba Gabba to thank for that. I’m always singing 2 of their songs to her. One goes something like “There’s a party in your tummy, SO YUMMY, SO YUMMY” the other ones goes “Try it! You’ll like it!” Those 2 songs have helped us get a few extra bites of food into her body.
This is all so frustrating to me on so many levels. One being that my career before having her was all about food and cooking.Two, I’m a veggie mom to a veggie kid who won’t eat her veggies. Third being…(i forgot! i know there was a third though!) Anyway I have basically resorted to blending veggies into our foods to trick her into eating them. The best thing ever for doing this besides mashed potatoes are tomato sauces. I could dump a pot of tomato sauce on our front lawn and she would eat it. Needless to say…we eat pasta…ALOT.
Hidden Veggie Tomato Sauce
Don’t worry about your knife skills on this one. The veggies are blended in the beginning and the entire sauce at the end of the recipe. The chopping of the vegetables in the recipe are to make it easier on your blender/food processor.
1/3 cup olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 bunch of kale, stems removes and chopped
2 medium carrots, scrubbed and chopped into 2 inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, seeds removed and chopped
2 28oz cans Whole Peeled Tomatoes (i like Muir Glen)
1/2 cup fresh basil, washed well
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onions for 5 minutes then add garlic and saute for 3 more minutes or until soft.
While the onions and garlic are cooking chop the kale, carrots and pepper in a food processor until the vegetables are fully broken down into itty bitty pieces. Then add them to pot of already cooking onions and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes.
Then add both cans of tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Place a cover over the pot with a bit of the pot still open to let steam escape. Cook or 1 hour stirring whenever you think about it. Add the basil for the last 10 minutes of cooking time.
Turn the heat off and blend the sauce in batches in your blender or food processor.
This recipe makes a ton of sauce. It keeps in the fridge for about 5 days. I like to freeze single serving sizes for just Reno. Its great for those nights when I don’t want to fight to get her to eat what we are eating and we don’t in turn have to eat pasta again.
Happy VeganMoFo
October 13th, 2009
Sweet Chili Lime Tofu
I’ve never followed a recipe from VeganYumYum before. I’ve just never got around to it. There was one that would always stick in my mind though and I was always saying to myself that I have to make that, it sounds perfect, my favorite tastes, etc..etc.. Well I finally made that recipe and I still can’t get it out of my mind. I can even still imagine what it tasted like on all my little taste buds. I’m talking about this here recipe: Sweet Chili Lime Tofu with Wok Steamed Collards and Quinoa. It was so flipping delicious. I made it on a night when Peter goes out to a class and I’ll say he was lucky there was any left when he came home. I kept sneaking past the stove and stealing some of the glazed tofu. I just couldn’t get over the taste of the glaze. I’m wishing I was eating right now. I almost made it for lunch yesterday and for dinner tonight. It is such a taste obsession for me.
October 8th, 2009
Banana Bread from Babycakes Cookbook
I’ve really been getting into Gluten Free baking ever since I got the Babycakes Cookbook. First with the Raspberry Scones and Chocolate Chip Cookies and now with their Banana Bread and Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread.
I’m officially a fan of this type of baking. At first I was very skeptical! Especially with the Banana Bread. As I was mixing all the ingredients together it was sorta smelling a little bit funky to me which I blamed on the Gluten Free Flour Mix that I use. Its very bean-y and that isn’t something you usually associate sweet delicious bread with. I immediately wished I had added chocolate chips to the mix when I put it in the oven but it was too late. Then I thought that I could always drizzle some melted chocolate over the bread before serving. When the bread was finally done baking and cooling I started to notice it didn’t have that weird gluten free four smell anymore. The true test was when I cut into it and tried it and realized that no chocolate drizzle was needed! It was absolutely fantastic! I even sent some downstairs to my parents apartment.
Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread from Babycakes Cookbook
A few days later I tried my hand at the recipe for Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread minus the Cheddar. My block of vegan cheddar cheese had expired so I sadly had to leave it out. This time I wasn’t weirded out by any of the smells of the raw mix. I was super excited to try it and even more excited to use of some of the hundreds of Jalapenos that are growing in my garden.
Same as above after I cut into it and tasted it I was in cornbread heaven. It had such a lovely consistancey, although it could have cooked a few minutes longer. It wasn’t too spicy, although I would add more jalapeno next time. I sent some down to my parents below and they were fans as well. My only complaint is that I noticed both with this bread and the Banana Bread the top of the middle portion takes the longest to cook. So keep that in mind if you try either recipe from the book.
Happy VeganMoFo!
October 7th, 2009
Spaghetti Alfreda with Sauteed Seitan
This is an old favorite of mine. The Alfreda Sauce recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. I haven’t made it in a while, until recently, because Peter once told me he didn’t care for it that much. So after about 2 years (!what!) without having it I went against his taste buds and made it again and was so happy that I did. This is total comfort food for me and it has some of my favorite ingredients in it: pine nuts and nooch (nutritional yeast for those who don’t know it by nooch). I love the thickness and the taste of this stuff. If you have never had this and want to try it just keep in mind that it resembles nothing of a real Alfredo sauce. It’s it’s own delicious beast.
Happy VeganMoFo!
October 5th, 2009
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