I've been experimenting with cultured vegan foods lately, an endeavour which began when I was looking for a way to extend the So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Yogurt I picked up a few weeks ago. I began with a video that described How to Make Yogurt at Home without a Yogurt Maker. I used Thai Kitchen's Unsweetened Coconut Milk (my go-to coconut milk, as it often has a high ratio of fat to "whey") to make a batch of yogurt and it turned out fairly well, if noticeably weaker in Lactobacillus than the store-bought stuff. When I attempted to extend that batch a week later, using Silk Unsweetened Coconut Milk, things went South quickly. That batch had no detectable sourness to it despite being left to culture for two days, and their product is thoroughly unsuitable for anyone looking for a neutral-flavoured coconut milk. While it's true that this product is unsweetened, it's got a very pronounced vanilla-like odour to it. I don't intend to use their products again. So, two attempts at extending yogurt resulted in a thoroughly unusable and unpalatable "yogurt", largely due to my second choice of coconut milk.
Well, it was back to the drawing board, so I thought I'd make an attempt at doing up a batch of coconut yogurt "from scratch". A trip to Ambrosia (weird, their website seems to be down at the moment), yielded a young, organic coconut and a bottle of Udo's Choice®
Super 8 Plus Probiotic capsules (which isn't vegan — anyone looking to make this a truly vegan recipe will have to use vegan capsules). With those ingredients, an extra can of coconut milk, Raw, Vegan, Not Gross' Coconut Yogurt recipe, and two days of wait, I was able to make up a very tangy batch of coconut yogurt. Rather than using sterilized tools, I ended up using my first reference video's technique of boiling all of the ingredients but the probiotic capsule (which got added at the "seed" stage), and used all of the coconut water from the young coconut in the mixture. I think that the fact that I used all of the coconut water resulted in the sharp tang of the yogurt — there was a lot of sugar for the bacteria to digest!
I extended that batch by adapting Miyoko Schinner's Soy Cashew Yogurt recipe, substituting coconut milk for the recipe's soy/almond milk and hemp seed for the recipe's cashews. Two days later, I had another batch of yogurt, this time with a nutty (and more substantial!) quality to it, and slightly less tang than its predecessor.
This batch of yogurt is what I used to try my hand at making my own cultured cheese (actually, my second attempt; the first used the from-scratch coconut yogurt, tastes like "American" cheese, and ended up glue-y in texture — I think I didn't stir it enough). As the basis for my cultured cheese experiments, I've been using Miyoko Schinner's Vegan Mozzarella recipe as a basis.
The dairy-free feta you see pictured above used 1 c. of coconut yogurt, 2 t. sea salt, ½ c. water, and was left to culture overnight. The following day, I "activated" one heaping tablespoon of agar agar in a pot of water which was brought to the boil, then I added the cultured mixture. I boiled until dragging a spoon along the bottom of the pot left a trail. Once it had cooled below 110° F, I added about a tablespoon of my coconut/hemp yogurt, and poured it into a ramekin to cool.
Today, I'm in the process of making a delectable treat I haven't indulged in since before Kara was born due to its dairy content. Stay tuned!
Friday, March 4, 2016
Homemade, cultured, dairy-free feta "cheese"!
I've been experimenting with cultured vegan foods lately, an endeavour which began when I was looking for a way to extend the So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Yogurt I picked up a few weeks ago. I began with a video that described How to Make Yogurt at Home without a Yogurt Maker. I used Thai Kitchen's Unsweetened Coconut Milk (my go-to coconut milk, as it often has a high ratio of fat to "whey") to make a batch of yogurt and it turned out fairly well, if noticeably weaker in Lactobacillus than the store-bought stuff. When I attempted to extend that batch a week later, using Silk Unsweetened Coconut Milk, things went South quickly. That batch had no detectable sourness to it despite being left to culture for two days, and their product is thoroughly unsuitable for anyone looking for a neutral-flavoured coconut milk. While it's true that this product is unsweetened, it's got a very pronounced vanilla-like odour to it. I don't intend to use their products again. So, two attempts at extending yogurt resulted in a thoroughly unusable and unpalatable "yogurt", largely due to my second choice of coconut milk.
Well, it was back to the drawing board, so I thought I'd make an attempt at doing up a batch of coconut yogurt "from scratch". A trip to Ambrosia (weird, their website seems to be down at the moment), yielded a young, organic coconut and a bottle of Udo's Choice®
Super 8 Plus Probiotic capsules (which isn't vegan — anyone looking to make this a truly vegan recipe will have to use vegan capsules). With those ingredients, an extra can of coconut milk, Raw, Vegan, Not Gross' Coconut Yogurt recipe, and two days of wait, I was able to make up a very tangy batch of coconut yogurt. Rather than using sterilized tools, I ended up using my first reference video's technique of boiling all of the ingredients but the probiotic capsule (which got added at the "seed" stage), and used all of the coconut water from the young coconut in the mixture. I think that the fact that I used all of the coconut water resulted in the sharp tang of the yogurt — there was a lot of sugar for the bacteria to digest!
I extended that batch by adapting Miyoko Schinner's Soy Cashew Yogurt recipe, substituting coconut milk for the recipe's soy/almond milk and hemp seed for the recipe's cashews. Two days later, I had another batch of yogurt, this time with a nutty (and more substantial!) quality to it, and slightly less tang than its predecessor.
This batch of yogurt is what I used to try my hand at making my own cultured cheese (actually, my second attempt; the first used the from-scratch coconut yogurt, tastes like "American" cheese, and ended up glue-y in texture — I think I didn't stir it enough). As the basis for my cultured cheese experiments, I've been using Miyoko Schinner's Vegan Mozzarella recipe as a basis.
The dairy-free feta you see pictured above used 1 c. of coconut yogurt, 2 t. sea salt, ½ c. water, and was left to culture overnight. The following day, I "activated" one heaping tablespoon of agar agar in a pot of water which was brought to the boil, then I added the cultured mixture. I boiled until dragging a spoon along the bottom of the pot left a trail. Once it had cooled below 110° F, I added about a tablespoon of my coconut/hemp yogurt, and poured it into a ramekin to cool.
Today, I'm in the process of making a delectable treat I haven't indulged in since before Kara was born due to its dairy content. Stay tuned!
I've been experimenting with cultured vegan foods lately, an endeavour which began when I was looking for a way to extend the So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Yogurt I picked up a few weeks ago. I began with a video that described How to Make Yogurt at Home without a Yogurt Maker. I used Thai Kitchen's Unsweetened Coconut Milk (my go-to coconut milk, as it often has a high ratio of fat to "whey") to make a batch of yogurt and it turned out fairly well, if noticeably weaker in Lactobacillus than the store-bought stuff. When I attempted to extend that batch a week later, using Silk Unsweetened Coconut Milk, things went South quickly. That batch had no detectable sourness to it despite being left to culture for two days, and their product is thoroughly unsuitable for anyone looking for a neutral-flavoured coconut milk. While it's true that this product is unsweetened, it's got a very pronounced vanilla-like odour to it. I don't intend to use their products again. So, two attempts at extending yogurt resulted in a thoroughly unusable and unpalatable "yogurt", largely due to my second choice of coconut milk.
Well, it was back to the drawing board, so I thought I'd make an attempt at doing up a batch of coconut yogurt "from scratch". A trip to Ambrosia (weird, their website seems to be down at the moment), yielded a young, organic coconut and a bottle of Udo's Choice®
Super 8 Plus Probiotic capsules (which isn't vegan — anyone looking to make this a truly vegan recipe will have to use vegan capsules). With those ingredients, an extra can of coconut milk, Raw, Vegan, Not Gross' Coconut Yogurt recipe, and two days of wait, I was able to make up a very tangy batch of coconut yogurt. Rather than using sterilized tools, I ended up using my first reference video's technique of boiling all of the ingredients but the probiotic capsule (which got added at the "seed" stage), and used all of the coconut water from the young coconut in the mixture. I think that the fact that I used all of the coconut water resulted in the sharp tang of the yogurt — there was a lot of sugar for the bacteria to digest!
I extended that batch by adapting Miyoko Schinner's Soy Cashew Yogurt recipe, substituting coconut milk for the recipe's soy/almond milk and hemp seed for the recipe's cashews. Two days later, I had another batch of yogurt, this time with a nutty (and more substantial!) quality to it, and slightly less tang than its predecessor.
This batch of yogurt is what I used to try my hand at making my own cultured cheese (actually, my second attempt; the first used the from-scratch coconut yogurt, tastes like "American" cheese, and ended up glue-y in texture — I think I didn't stir it enough). As the basis for my cultured cheese experiments, I've been using Miyoko Schinner's Vegan Mozzarella recipe as a basis.
The dairy-free feta you see pictured above used 1 c. of coconut yogurt, 2 t. sea salt, ½ c. water, and was left to culture overnight. The following day, I "activated" one heaping tablespoon of agar agar in a pot of water which was brought to the boil, then I added the cultured mixture. I boiled until dragging a spoon along the bottom of the pot left a trail. Once it had cooled below 110° F, I added about a tablespoon of my coconut/hemp yogurt, and poured it into a ramekin to cool.
Today, I'm in the process of making a delectable treat I haven't indulged in since before Kara was born due to its dairy content. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Homemade, soft flour tortillas
I whipped up a batch of these today for lunch and topped a few of them with (canned and heated) refried beans, sautéed onions, salsa and avocado. It was a very satisfying lunch.
I whipped up a batch of these today for lunch and topped a few of them with (canned and heated) refried beans, sautéed onions, salsa and avocado. It was a very satisfying lunch.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Kitchen blitz
In the past couple of weeks, I've whipped up a chicken adobo (yay, cheap chicken legs!), another batch of homemade bagels (that's them, proofing up there), have experimented with coconut-based yogurt and a vegan "cheese" which is quite similar to cream cheese and which uses this recipe as a base.
The latter was most recently and fairly successfully created with 200 mL coconut cream, 2 tsp agar (dissolved into the coconut cream on medium-low heat), 1 tsp coconut vinegar, about 1/4 tsp salt and a tbsp of coconut yogurt (hence the experimentation with that, too). To achieve a more authentic consistency, I should cut back on the agar, but I think I'll keep working on using small amounts of hemp seed to make something more like a hard cheese.
In the past couple of weeks, I've whipped up a chicken adobo (yay, cheap chicken legs!), another batch of homemade bagels (that's them, proofing up there), have experimented with coconut-based yogurt and a vegan "cheese" which is quite similar to cream cheese and which uses this recipe as a base.
The latter was most recently and fairly successfully created with 200 mL coconut cream, 2 tsp agar (dissolved into the coconut cream on medium-low heat), 1 tsp coconut vinegar, about 1/4 tsp salt and a tbsp of coconut yogurt (hence the experimentation with that, too). To achieve a more authentic consistency, I should cut back on the agar, but I think I'll keep working on using small amounts of hemp seed to make something more like a hard cheese.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Blast from the past...risotto
The last time I blogged about risotto was six years ago, which sounds about right in terms of when I might last have made this dish. Yesterday, I had a small amount of leftover pork belly, chorizo and chicken broth to use up, so I returned to my favourite "everything but the kitchen sink" recipe. This version also incorporated an onion, peas, carrots, white wine and saffron.
I was too heavy-handed with the wine, but the risotto turned out fairly well, just the same, and it made excellent arancini today (which, strangely, didn't taste of wine at all).
In related news, today's trip to McEwan (my first visit to the full location!) provided me with the opportunity to purchase carnaroli rice (which I haven't had on-hand in many, many years) and dried ancho chiles.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
New York-style homemade bagels!
They may not be the prettiest creations, but they are delicious! When making these yesterday, I followed this recipe for New York style bagels, and dropped these in just-under boiling water with a teaspoon of baking soda added to it.
If the difference in flavour and texture between these and the kind of bagels I'm used to is at all indicative of the difference between New York and Montreal bagels, I can safely say I prefer these, airier, less sweet bagels. They were a big hit around here; out of the eight I made yesterday, one remains.
They may not be the prettiest creations, but they are delicious! When making these yesterday, I followed this recipe for New York style bagels, and dropped these in just-under boiling water with a teaspoon of baking soda added to it.
If the difference in flavour and texture between these and the kind of bagels I'm used to is at all indicative of the difference between New York and Montreal bagels, I can safely say I prefer these, airier, less sweet bagels. They were a big hit around here; out of the eight I made yesterday, one remains.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Homemade sushi!
It's been years since the last time I made sushi for myself. When I realized last week that I could make a Seattle roll with vegan cream cheese (the soy-free kind, these days), I got to planning. Today I made the first of about three(!) days worth of rolls, using sushi rice (about 1 cup cooked, for two rolls), seasoned rice vinegar (1 tbsp.), a bit of extra salt to taste, nori sheets, smoked salmon, English cucumber, avocado and Daiya cream cheese.
Sadly, the vegan cream cheese was a misstep: it was sweet enough to throw off the balance of the rest of the ingredients. It looks like I'll be having cream cheese free rolls 'til Thursday's lunch and finding a way to otherwise use up the Daiya product (which I suspect would go well on a bagel).
It's been years since the last time I made sushi for myself. When I realized last week that I could make a Seattle roll with vegan cream cheese (the soy-free kind, these days), I got to planning. Today I made the first of about three(!) days worth of rolls, using sushi rice (about 1 cup cooked, for two rolls), seasoned rice vinegar (1 tbsp.), a bit of extra salt to taste, nori sheets, smoked salmon, English cucumber, avocado and Daiya cream cheese.
Sadly, the vegan cream cheese was a misstep: it was sweet enough to throw off the balance of the rest of the ingredients. It looks like I'll be having cream cheese free rolls 'til Thursday's lunch and finding a way to otherwise use up the Daiya product (which I suspect would go well on a bagel).
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Relative success!
As it turns out, The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions' recipe for Hollandaise sauce is quite convincing. I poured part of a batch of it over chopped avocados, roasted sweet potatoes and smoked salmon for brunch today, following an "amuse-bouche" of vanilla persimmon and homemade crackers.
Unfortunately, the sauce broke (a trait which seems to follow all of my sauce experiments using Earth Balance margarine), so I'm going to have to try this again with vegan Becel and/or having my lemon juice at room temperature in the future. Still, yum!
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