Cheesy Rice and Broccoli
Vegan Cheesy Sauce
1/2 Cup Earth Balance
1/2 Cup White Flour (whole wheat also works)
2 Cups Soymilk
1/2 Can Tomato Paste
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1 Tbs Stoneground Mustard
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Tahini (optional)
Black Pepper to taste
Melt the earth balance in a sauce pan, then whisk in flour to make a roux. Let the roux bubble for a few minutes, then add half the soy milk and stir vigorously until no lumps appear, then add the second half of the milk and whisk until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and stir over medium heat until thickened. This sauce needs to cook for a few moments or else the tomato paste will taste raw.
It will become very thick if you allow it, so take it off the heat when it reaches the desired consistency. If I’m making it for pizza or a dip, I’ll let it get quite thick, but if I’m making it to put over pasta or rice, I’ll make sure it’s thin enough to pour.
If you reduce this recipe by half, it will generously cover enough rice for two people (1 cup of rice, dry). We usually make a full batch so we can have leftovers to use the next day.
It probably won’t fool a cheese eater, but we find it to be tasty anyway! And besides, we know a few non-vegans who like the sauce, too.
December 23rd, 2006
Rosewater Cupcakes
I still had some leftover frosting from the humongous batch I made the other night, but it was definitely going to have to be used sparingly if I wanted to frost another dozen cupcakes. I thought I would have enough as long as I didn’t pipe the frosting, and I was right. There’s nary a tablespoon leftover. I should have cooled the frosting before spreading, though. It was very sticky and didn’t play well with my frosting spatula.
So, before I decided on what recipe I wanted to make, flipped through VCTOtW and realized that I definitely didn’t want to go to the store to gather ingredients. I remembered that I had some rosewater in the pantry from when we used to make lassis, so I decided to make the Rosewater Pistachio cupcakes, sans pistachio.
So I’m making cupcakes, late at night, without all the right ingredients (I was also missing cornstartch and decided to sub arrowroot), and barely enough frosting… so why not also experiment with my new cupcake liners? These are pretty, but this is not the best application for them. They can be stunning but I missed the mark here. While this is a perfectly acceptable batch of cupcakes, they don’t quite have the visual affect that I usually shoot for. They are more “happy birthday!” than “welcome to my bakery!” But whatever, who doesn’t love birthday cupcakes!?
They cooked faster than I intended leaving the bottom of each one not burnt but definitely browned. I think that’s because they weren’t in a cupcake pan, but on a cookie sheet, allowing them to get hotter faster. I wouldn’t say they were overcooked – the crumb was absolutely perfect. It was soft, silky, spongy and moist. You can see the color variation I’m talking about below.
The liners were sort of difficult to remove, so much so that I’d hesitate serving these to a group. No one wants to fuss with their cupcake, trying to use enough force to rip through the paper but no so much that you end up holding a squashed mess. Perhaps if you cut through the rolled edge in a few places before baking this task would be easier to manage, but who wants to do that? As soon as I caught myself considering that as an option, I realized how ridiculous I was being. These are cupcakes, not ketchup packets.
Once you get them out of their wrapper, however, they’re a real treat. Since they’re taller than your usual cupcake, you really feel like you’re eating a miniature cake instead of a cupcake. I might use these liners if I wanted to serve cupcakes without the wrappers, or perhaps if I intended on making miniature cakes. Frosted on all sides and decorated, these would look outstanding.
Wow. That was a lot about cupcakes. I’m a total cupcake nerd.
December 23rd, 2006
