displaced.vegan

VGN burgers from scratch

Melanie Marie — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:45:39 +0000

I eat more burgers now than I ever did as a meat eater. But none of the ready made burgers on the market are exactly what I was looking for. So after spending too much money on burgers that were just passable on the palette I decided to give a “from scratch” burger a try.

Ingredients in my burgers vary from batch to batch but in general they include: TVP, Vgn Bouillon, VWG, Rice, & Onion. I suppose you could add other textural veggies in the mix, but I’ll leave that up to you.

If you are a newbie vegan or a meat eater reading this then you may not know what those initialisms up above mean. TVP is Textured Vegetable Protein. It is a soy product that is sold in dry granule (and chuck) form and is used as a substitute for ground meat. It has a very subtle flavor. So when you cook with it you need to add in your own flavor.

VWG is Vital Wheat Gluten and is a very high gluten content (or hard) flour. It is mostly used in making the faux meat Seitan because the high gluten content makes for a chewier dough.

The Vegan Bouillon that I used was “Edward & Sons” brand bouillon. At Food4Less here this bouillon comes in “not-beef” and “not-chick’n” flavors. The beef bouillon will give your burgers a smoky hearty flavor like some of the major brand vgn burgers. If that is what you like then go for it. I chose the chicken flavor. This bouillon is not as good as Frontier brand chicken bouillon, but it does well in a pinch. If you don’t have a faux meat bouillon then I suggest using vegetable broth to rehydrate your TVP. Additional flavoring might be necessary. You can add things like BBQ sauce into the mix later if you like.

I cooked my rice ahead of time. I used Calrose rice because it is substantial and won’t get lost, texture wise, in the patties. Why rice? I like a little more body to my burgers than a traditional TVP burger provides.

While my rice was cooking I cooked up some chopped Onion until super tender. Some people might add uncooked diced onion to their burgers but, as I have mentioned before, I don’t like the texture of onions.

I combined the rehydrated TVP, rice & onion and then slowly added the VWG. The goal was to make a mixture that could be shaped into a patty without falling apart. I add more VWG than most recipes call for, but that is because I like the consistency.

rough estimate of ingredients:

1 cup dry tvp
1 cup vgn bouillon
1/2 cup cooked rice
1/4 onion, diced and cooked in a little vgn margarine
1/2 to 1 cup VWG (depending on consistency)

Another way my burgers diverge from the traditional TVP burger is in the cooking method. Since I use more VWG in my patties they can be a bit gummy if cooked like a regular patty in a pan. So I precook them with steam. That’s right. I steam them.

In a large pot I use water, a dash of soy sauce and a couple tiny drops of liquid smoke. Why? The steam can be used to impart additional flavor to the burgers as they cook. Soy sauce is usually a good choice. And the liquid smoke is to give it that hint of grilled flavor. A little liquid smoke goes a VERY LONG WAY. So be careful when choosing to cook with it.

I place the patties on a steam basket and steam them for 30 minutes minimum on both sides. Yes, an hour of cooking time instead of just a few minutes in the pan. Obviously, this is not an “I’m hungry now” kind of burger. But the resulting patty is fully cooked, firm and well flavored. And if you use a lot of VWG then you have more of a chicken patty than a beef patty. So keep that in mind.

The fully cooked steamed patty can be served as is or cooked as you like. I usually fry them up a little because I can. But the solid shape would lend itself well to breading and frying like a wonderfully southern dish. Because in the South we fried everything. ;)

I have no burger buns in the house and refused to take a picture of my ghetto burger made with two slices of bread. So imagine some delicious awesomeness that didn’t last long on the plate.

well, I have some cleaning up to do.
Much love.

ohmuhgawd mac & cheese

Melanie Marie — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:25:21 +0000

Okay, so I woke up this morning and went straight to my finally cold fresh soymilk that I made last night and poured myself a big disgustingly bad for me bowl of generic chocolate cereal. And you know what? It was De.li.cious.

I love making my own soymilk and I can’t thank Peter enough for buying a soymilk maker for me. By making my own soymilk I am avoiding additives and tetrapack cartons that can’t be recycled. Plus, I have unsweetened soymilk on hand for things like gravy. As a girl who spent her formative years in the South I cannot stress how important gravy is to me. I could use it as a condiment the way crazy people use Ranch dressing. *retch*

After downing far too much sugary cereal goodness I set about making some Mac (shells) & Cheese. See? You thought I’d never get to my point, didn’t you?

This isn’t really so much a recipe because there’s nothing to it. But I’ll explain what went into making this delicious golden concoction of comfort. I sautéed a handful of onions in some vegan margarine until they were tender. I then tossed in a bunch of shredded Vegan Gourmet cheddar cheese and a dash of soymilk and stirred until melted and smooth. I then poured it over the freshly cooked pasta and dished it.

The onion adds a good deal of flavor to this that I heartily recommend. I don’t like the consistency of onions, but I like the flavor. That’s why I cook them until they practically fall apart. This way their texture blends in with the mac & cheese. Also, when the cheese cools it begins to solidify, much like regular cheese does. But I’ve yet to find a component to add to my cheese sauce to keep it from doing so. So if you use Vegan Gourmet cheese in your mac & cheese I would recommend dishing it up in an already warm bowl and eating it quickly. But doesn’t it look good fresh? Go ahead and scroll back up. I’ll be here waiting for you.

On the Vegan Cheese Front, I just learned what many of you probably already knew. Daiya is now available at the retail level without having to special order it from a website who bought it through food service channels.

Daiya is, in my opinion, the absolute BEST vegan cheese on the market. And if Food4Less carried it my life would be complete. At the moment, the only retailer in my area that does carry Daiya is the Ashland Food Coop. It’s a bit of a drive but worth it in my book. However, since driving is not something that I do, I have to rely on the understanding of my mother to make the trip to Ashland. I’m hoping to convince Food4Less to carry Daiya. They’ve done an excellent job so far of stocking more vegan foods than I ever though I’d find in The Valley.

Well, I have things to do. So I guess that’s all for now. Oh, and don’t worry. I still plan on making that tofu pepperoni and blogging about it. But I still haven’t been shopping.

Much love

Pizza Toppings & love for tofu

Melanie Marie — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:59:34 +0000

When I was still eating animal I loved pizza. It was, without having to quibble, my favorite meal. My absolute favorite pizzas where the ones with an absurd variety of cheeses on them. Now that I’m vegan and unwilling to give up pizza, I have found that the traditional “cheese” pizza just doesn’t cut it. Vegan cheese aren’t readily enough and in enough flavorful varieties to make a cheese pizza tasty enough for me. Add to that the fact that I am a picky eater and you can imagine that a “veggie” pizza suggestion is followed up with me rolling my eyes and saying, “Why bother?” So, I usually top my pizza with vegan meat alternatives like Gimme Lean Sausage and Yves Pepperoni. But the store I went shopping at the other day doesn’t carry my meatless pepperoni. Despite that, I still made pizza yesterday. I’m also out of olives. Though that may be for the best because I like to wear them on my fingertips and do Jazz Hands in the kitchen.

toppings:

Vegan Gourmet Mozarella cheese
Vegan Gourmet Cheddar cheese
Gimme Lean Ground Sausage

I had a picture. I swear I took one. but I’ve misplaced the camera that I took it with. I’d take another picture with my phone but I’ve already eaten the leftovers today. But don’t fret, more picture will be forthcoming in a few days after I have completed my newest cooking experiment: Tofu Pepperoni.

I LOVE TOFU. Srsly. I have a shirt that says so, so it must be true!

Tofu gets a bad wrap. But that is mostly from people who don’t know what to do with it and tried to eat it unflavored. But it is one of the most versatile and amazing ingredients that you can have in your fridge. But getting the best results with it usually involves pressing it to extract it’s extra fluid, freezing, or both.

Pressing tofu is essential when trying to imbue it with outside flavors, like with a marinade. Think of unpressed tofu as a saturated sponge. If you want to get new fluid into the sponge the old fluid needs to be removed.

Freezing tofu is usually done after a cursory pressing, though that’s not entirely necessary. Tofu that has been frozen changes in texture, becoming chewier and more resilient.

This recipe for Tofu Pepperoni looks promising. Unfortunately, my spice rack is missing a few items so I need to go shopping again. So expect a follow up blog post. And next time, it will have pictures.

At this time I would like to talk about a giveaway my fellow blogger & twitterer the Voracious Vegan is doing. She is giving away a TofuXpress tofu press. This handy dandy little device would make my life a whole lot easier. And if you are as serious about tofu as I am then you should enter too. So.. Go read this blog. Then leave a comment, post to twitter about it, write a blog about it, or all three.

see you next time… hopefully with pictures.

Playing Catch-up

Melanie Marie — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:35:42 +0000

Hey kiddles! I know it’s been awhile. But if you are reading this then it means you have not given up on me and I love you for that! I hesitate to look at the date stamp on my last entry. I might die of shame over neglecting this blog.

So where have I been? What have I been up to? Have I given up my vegan ways? NEVER!

For the past few months I’ve been eating much of the same things you have seen me post in this blog before. Over and over again. I’ve tried a few new (to me) products and invented a few foods out of desperation and a thinning pantry. I’ve also dealt with a wide range of anti-vegan sentiment. And I’ve been struggling with some shopping highs and lows. So where to begin? How about where we left off?

My last post was in *cringe* February (I’m sorry. please forgive me? Will groveling suffice, or do I need to bribe you?) and I had just gotten back from the Portland, OR /Vancouver, WA area. And while I was there I made it to a Whole Foods to try some Go Max Go candybars. Maybe they deserve their own post with pictures of the packaging and how they look cut open. But I honestly don’t know how I made it back to the apartment I was staying at without swallowing all four candy bars whole. They certainly didn’t make it back home with me and to my computer. So I’m just stealing this picture straight from their website:

If you want to see what they look like cut open just go to their website and drool over the products page. For those who don’t get the names, here is the breakdown: Jokerz = Snickers. Twilight = Mars Bar. Buccaneer = 3 Musketeers. Mahalo = Almond Joy.

I, like most Americans, indulged a bit too much in cheap candy bars when I was a kid… and adult. So in making the switch over to Veganism I instantly felt a void in the form of milk chocolatey snacks. I’m not certain, but this blog post entitled “Chocolate” may have covered that a little.

If you can find them, Go Max Go bars are the absolute best for scratching that candy bar itch. Yeah, they’re a tad spendy, but I’m starting to get used to that in “luxury” items. But the cost of vegan “milk” chocolate has helped me to learn moderation.

These candy bars aren’t as thick as their mainstream counterparts, and I did feel as though the Jokerz bar could use a little more peanut, but they are good. They have classic candy bar texture and taste.

As for the results of my previous chocolate taste testing which I dropped the ball on… Larabar’s are for health food nuts who think they like junk food. The Boom Choco Boom bar tasted like cheap Easter chocolate, which I have no problem with. But if you have the option, the Boom Choco Boom crispie rice bar is the way to go. And the clear winner of the three was Terra Nostra’s Ricemilk Choco bar. Of course, it wasn’t cheap. And I hesitate to say that it was worth it. But if you need a milk chocolate fix then you won’t be griping over the price.

/chocolate

I also had my first run in with the much talked about Gardein Faux meats. After a spectacular failure at trying to get vegan Thai food in Vancouver I raided my host’s fridge and discovered some spaghetti with Gardein meatballs. Now, before I go further I should say that I don’t really care for spaghetti. Keeping that in mind, this spaghetti (and it’s vgn meatballs) was just as good as any spaghetti I have had in the past. Looking at their website now, I don’t see the meatballs. I guess that doesn’t matter because the product I really fell in love with was the Chicken Scaloppini. And I am ecstatic that my local shopping haunt, Food4Less, now carries a large selection of Gardein products.

Food4Less also recently started carrying Dandies vgn marshmallows & Ricemallow creme. Visions of Rice Crispie treats dance in my head. But just as surely as my spirits soared, I was soon brought crashing down to earth by the horrible realization that Food4Less no longer carries Frontier brand Vgn Chicken Bouillon. I live on the stuff and buy the bulk bags there constantly and now I am left lost and chicken-flavourless. And to add insult to injury it seems that they have switched out their Vital Wheat Gluten with Gluten Flour. Gluten Flour has a lower gluten content and makes for very sad seitan. But Fred Meyer still had VWC, and Frontier Bouillon in smaller quantities.

/new shopping

I also recently volunteered at the Frybread booth at the Veteran’s Powwow. The frybread was made with milk and therefore I couldn’t eat it. I’m sure you’re not surprised that I couldn’t eat much of anything at our their food booth. The booth was staffed by mostly volunteers, the majority of them Veterans. A few times people asked me why I wasn’t eating anything and I volunteered that I was vegan and had to explain what that means. You can probably guess that I’m not a food ethics nazi by virtue of the fact that I was helping out at a booth that served animal products. So it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that I never harangue people about what they eat or where their meat comes from. If they ask me my opinion I will give it, but I never try to convert a meat eater. But some people think that all vegans are argumentative and confrontational. And some of those people think that they will have the upperhand if they take the initiative to start the argument. This happened that weekend as I was rolling dough.

A guy walked up to me and in a condescending tone like that of an adult to a idiot child he started telling me that God put animals on this earth for us to eat. I just smiled and shook my head like I wasn’t buying it. And when he realized that he wasn’t going to get a rise out of me he dropped it. In situations like these no one is going to win an argument. And trying to argue would be a waste of my time and energy. Pick your battles. This wasn’t even a skirmish.

Apart from this would-be antagonist I’ve had to put up with borderline insulting comments about how vegan food must be full of sticks and twigs and other silly comments belittling the food (and ingredients of the food) that I eat. But I don’t let it get me down. I just go on being happy with the food that I eat.

/confrontation

Plans for the future?
I want to start cooking again. More than just what I’ve already been making. I want to try some new recipes. I also want to make my own un-turkey this holiday season. So I’ll be doing some experimenting soon. And I’m resolved to get back on the posting bandwagon with stories and pictures of my experience.

much love,
Melanie

Cooking with Peta

Melanie Marie — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:43:52 +0000

I don’t care for Peta. I think they are a little crazy and more than a little hypocritical. I like the overall message, but the details leave me spinning in confusion. The slogans are pure and catchy. The rhetoric is pitiful and crazy. But on more than one occasion I have seen the cookbook “Cooking with Peta” mentioned with such descriptives as “quick”, “easy”, & “for picky eaters”. But every time I’ve gone to a bookstore this title has not been one that they keep in stock. But during my weekend visit to the Portland area I had the extreme displeasure of visiting Powell’s Bookstore where I found a used copy for under $10. That, along with my Flying Spaghetti Monster car decal was enough to validate my parking in their sorry excuse for a parking garage.

I spend the second half of my long weekend thumbing through this cookbook making mental notes and marveling at the simplicity of these recipes. I’m especially grateful that most of the recipes involve things I probably already have around the house. This is most appreciated since I am more broke than usual these day.

I’m sure that anyone still reading this blog would like to read about the great vegan eats I had while in the Portland area, but they would be sadly disappointed. I was not spending time with Vegans and I don’t know the Portland area well, so my Veg splurges where in the form of copious amounts of Go Max Go candy bars at Whole Foods.

Stay tuned for actual cooking results soon!

Maybe I should call this blog “absent.vegan”

Melanie Marie — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:49:40 +0000

If I have any readers left I’d just like to say, thanks for sticking it out. :)

Yes, I’m still vegan. But no, I have not really been cooking anything noteworthy of late. A lot of my time in the kitchen has been spent eating accidentally or incidentally vegan food items. My desire to cook has been pretty low, which is odd for me. I like to be in the kitchen making a mess. But I think the real cause of my lack of kitchen time has to do with the fact that I have a reverse sleeping schedule from my parents, whose house I live in. And since they are on the ground floor near the kitchen, when I finally get around to wanting to cook a meal around midnight or later, they are already in bed. So I’ve just been grabbing whatever is convenient.

After housesitting for a few days, my sleep schedule has shifted. People don’t pay me to watch their empty house when they are away for no reason. My responsibilities are almost exclusively to look after pets. But with my standard schedule I am asleep when the animals are to be fed. So in the process of caring for pets on a schedule conflicting with my own for a week, my sleeping schedule is almost “normal.” Which means that until my body resets itself to strange hours, I should be able to be in the kitchen more. Thus more cooking posts.

I’ve also bought a few products of late that I’d like to talk about and as soon as I find the microSD adapter card I’ll upload pictures and try to get a coherent post together.

So please look forward to future posts of substance and thank you for reading.

Tofurky VS Field Roast

Melanie Marie — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:06:52 +0000

In my local supermarket there are only two holiday turkey substitutes: Tofurky & Field Roast. For Thanksgiving this last year I bought the small Tofurky. As laziness would have it, I didn’t cook it for Thanksgiving. But a few days later when I was housesitting I brought my Tofurky with me and cooked it there. And then for Christmas I decided to give the Field Roast product a try.

Now, let me say, I like Tofurky. But I think a lot of the variation in people’s taste experience is in the preparation. So it can be a hit or miss ordeal. Unfortunately, it is cost prohibitive to purchase Tofurky with the sole intention of experimenting until you get it just how you like it.

Field Roast’s Celebration Feast is smaller than even the small Tofurky log, but unless you are feeding a large vegan family then it shouldn’t matter. Field Roast is DELICIOUS no matter how you might cook it. It’s savory and the stuffing is yummilicious. It’s uncanny in that the method they use to prepare it makes it outwardly resemble actual meat. I had to look at the label several times to reassure myself that is was in fact Vegan. Of all the pictures that I am sure I have taken, this picture of the cut up Field Roast is all I can manage to find:

In my opinion, Field Roast’s Celebration Feast is the BEST of the two options. But the journey doesn’t end there. I have an out of print cookbook that has a recipe for creating your own un-turkey. And I think I have just about everything I need. So in the very near future I will be doing some experimentation with that. Stay tuned!

Homemade Gluten

Melanie Marie — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:39:42 +0000

I am fortunate enough to have Vital Wheat Gluten in my grocery store of choice. But were I not, I guess I would have to make my own gluten-y goodness. Gluten is a protein of sorts that exists in wheat. When you overwork wheat you work up the gluten. That is why you don’t overmix batters. If you did, you would have too much gluten and the end product would be chewy. For the fake meat seitan, this is a good thing. The chewiness of gluten creates a meaty texture.

I recently picked up a used copy of the now out of print ‘The Now & Zen Epicure’ which has many many wonderful recipes in it. And it also has instructions for making your own gluten-y dough in place of that made with Vital Wheat Gluten. I’m sure you can find this elsewhere, but here, poorly transcribed for the lazy is the Homemade Gluten recipe:

3 lbs (or more) high gluten whole wheat flour
3 cups (or more) water

The author notes that regular whole wheat flour will not work and tells you to ask for a good bread making flour.? I learned from Alton Brown that bread machine flour? is very high in gluten.

This “recipe” calls for 3lbs of flour, but if your bowl will hold more then add more.? The gist is that it takes the same amount of work so you might as well do as much as you can while you’re at it.

Place all your flour in your large bowl and mix in your water to form a very firm dough and allow it to rest for at least an hour.? Then move your bowl to your sink.? You’ll probably be here for a while.

Fill your bowl with water and start massaging your dough.? As the water washes out the starch it will begin to turn white.? Discard this water and replace, repeating this process over and over again.? THe author suggests 10-15 minutes.? Your dough should start to shrink as the bran and starch wash away and at some point it may seem to be falling apart.? Don’t fear, that part is expected.

“When it looks like you have a giant wad of well-chewed bubble gum, you have transformed flour into raw gluten.”

this will yield a rather bland gluten dough which will be dependent upon your cooking method for adding flavor.? And this book has several cooking suggestions that I will share in the future as I try them.? For now, that’s all you get.

food intolerances

Melanie Marie — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:36:49 +0000

I’ve recently been feeling achy and lethargic like when I had mono as a teen. And then a handful of days ago I broke out all over my face. I haven’t had any breakouts since going vegan except for hormonal reasons. And even then, they breakouts have been very mild. I’ve also been coughing quite a bit and my asthma has been acting up. This leads me to believe that some dairy has made it’s way into my diet somehow. But while I’m fairly certain that dairy is the culprit behind the resurgence in my asthma, I think something more sinister is responsible for the lethargy, aches, itching, etc.

My brother recently learned that he has a dairy and wheat intolerance. He probably has the same sugar problem that my mother (and probably I) have. But none of this will change what he eats. My brother is the type of person who refuses to be bullied by his body. He’ll eat what he wants and show his body who is boss. But this got me wondering if maybe I have a wheat/gluten intolerance. Many food allergies go relatively unnoticed, only surfacing when we get too much of the foods our bodies can’t tolerate. And in eliminating dairy and meat from my diet I have been substituting a lot with soy and wheat products. So if I have a latent allergy, now would be the time for it to surface.

For those of us without health insurance, finding out what your food allergies might be is difficult. But if you have inexplicable migraines, lethargy, aches and pains and are lucky enough to have health insurance you should ask your doctor to do a blood test for allergens. The scratch test they do it good for severe allergies, but probably won’t catch mild allergies that still cause you distress. If your Insurance provider will cover it, I recommend it.

If you don’t have health insurance then the most common way to prove a food allergy is through an elimination diet. But I’m far too lazy for that. So I guess at this point I am just gonna hope and what passes for “pray” that I’m not allergic to wheat. I can handle a soy allergy. It would be a bitch since so many things contain soy, but I can find new beverage and “cheese” alternatives that aren’t soy based. But I’m going to have a hard to finding un-meats that are gluten free. And there is the bread and pasta problem. Wheat is in everything. It’s actually a wonder that more people aren’t gluten-intolerant, considering how much is in out regular diets. Although maybe more people are. We have a lot of unexplained symptoms and poor health in our society which I am am pretty certain can be traced back to what we ingest.

Hopefully when I get back home from housesitting and have more control over my diet I’ll be able to sort this out. Because I was just starting to get the hang of this Vegan thing. I don’t need a food allergy to make life difficult.

Angstgiving Prep

Melanie Marie — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:20:21 +0000

I haven’t been cooking much in the past several days. I’ve been eating pretty much what is on hand. I think this might have something to do with the subconscious knowledge of what a hassle the upcoming food “holiday” was going to be.
I often bow out of large family gatherings, preferring my own company to the complex drama of multi-family get-togethers. But I’ve been trying to force myself to be more social in the past couple years. Not because I have a desire to change my personality, but because success in life hinges on the ability to at least feign social tolerance. And like with most things in life, family is the proving ground.
As a result of attempting to hide less from my extended family I have silently agreed to attend Angstgiving at my cousins’ house. Silently because I voiced no objection. Implied acquiescents through omission is my slacker way of hefting the blame off my shoulders. I never agreed to it, so I’m not at fault for any travesty that results. I know. I’m a slacker.
What has all this to do with cooking? Well, obviously Thanksgiving is a huge food holiday. But I could count the vegans in attendance this year on one finger. My finger. My middle finger. I’m flipping myself off. Which is awkward unless you happen to have a mirror, which I do. So, it seems, the work that is usually avoided in the kitchen by going to someone else’s house for Angstgiving is not something I have escaped.
I bought a small Tofurky Roast a few days back and it has been silently mocking me from the cold recesses of my darkened freezer. Well, tonight I took it out to place in my fridge and read the cooking instructions. It certainly isn’t as difficult as cooking a Turkey, but it’s not something I actually want to do. I don’t have a problem with Tofurky. I don’t think it’s horrible. The last time I had it though was a handful of years ago, and I did not find the citrus-y baste very appealing. SO this year I’ve been looking around for other basting suggestions. But aside from the “main” dish I also need to make sides for myself. It’s far too late in the game to call up my cousin (as I should have long ago) and told him and his wife that I am vegan. The hassle of them veganizing what sides they can is just too much to ask. So instead, I’ll be making my own sides. There won’t be much. I have never been a Thanksgiving overeater. So I’ll probably just make a couple simple sides. And that will be the end of it.
Yule (Christmas) will be tofurky free. I think I’ll try my own tofu roast, which may sound gross the my meat-eating friends, but is far less bland than they think. Or I’ll justdo what I should have done for Angstgiving and make a pizza. It’s not too late, you know…

displaced.vegan

VGN burgers from scratch

ohmuhgawd mac & cheese

Pizza Toppings & love for tofu

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