Vegan Mofo #6: Tarte au Citron...

So... I wanted to make a dessert, and not just any dessert but a French dessert, and not just any French dessert but a tart. Why did I want to make a tart when I hate working with pastry dough? Who knows, but at the time it seemed not only to be a good idea but a delicious one as well. I chose something simple, Lemon Tart, it has few ingredients and seemed fairly easy to veganize and so without much experience making tarts from scratch I dove in.

The thing I really loved about this tart is that the pastry dough was a sweet dough - as many French pastry dough’s are - it perfectly complimented the simple tart. This also happens to be the easiest vegan tart or pie pastry I’ve ever worked with. Seriously, it doesn’t seem to matter who’s recipe I use or what is in it, but I am never able to get a vegan pie or tart crust off the counter in one piece, my pies are always misshapen - though no less delicious - but this tart turned out pretty darn perfect, except I’m not an expert at crimping.

Unfortunately there was a minor problem unrelated to the crust, while the overall flavor of the tart was amazing, and the texture was pretty good, there was this white foam that settled on the top. I’m not sure why, or what caused it. It didn’t change the taste at all, just doesn’t make the tart look very professional. Possibly I should have used a different milk, maybe soy was not a good choice and I might have been better off with coconut. At first I thought I wouldn’t bother with posting the recipe but blogging isn’t always about success right? And it isn’t about being perfect, you can easily use this as a guide and change the milk to see if something else works better. If you know why this went foamy on top drop me a line, and maybe I can try it again so the finished product ends up looking as good as it tastes.

Tarte au Citron 

1 Recipe Sweet Pastry (Recipe Follows)

1 Cup fine sugar
1 Cup Lemon Juice
1 Cup Soy Milk
3 Tbsp Grated Lemon Zest
2 tsp Agar Agar Powder

Sweet Pastry 

2 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
Pinch of Sea Salt
½ Cup Non-Dairy Butter
3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
5 Tbsp Non-Dairy Milk or as needed.

Instructions - Crust 

- Combine the flour and salt in a bowl.

- Cut in the butter and combine it with the flour until it forms coarse pebbles.

- Add in the powdered sugar and mix to combine

- Drizzle in the non-dairy milk a couple of Tbsp at a time until the dough comes together enough to be workable. You can add more milk or a little water as needed to make the dough stick together but make sure you add a little at a time, you don’t want the dough to be wet.

- Once dough is at the consistency you like, place it in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.

- Remove the dough, roll it out onto a floured work surface. Roll the dough to fit your fluted tart pan. Then carefully transfer rolled dough to the pan. Crimp the edges, and use the tines of a fork to poke holes in the bottom.

- Put the crust in the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the crust is cooked through but not browned. You want the pastry to remain as pale as possible.

- Once crust has finished baking, fill, and chill.

Instructions - Filling

- Whisk the Sugar, Lemon Juice and Soy Milk together in a medium sized pot on the stove over medium heat. Bring to a boil.

- Add in the agar agar, and whisk together. Continue whisking as it gently boils, about five minutes or until thickened slightly.

- Remove the pan from the heat. Gently fold in the lemon zest Pour the lemon mixture into the cooked crust and then place the tart in the fridge.

- Refrigerate for 4-8 hours until tart has set. Slice and enjoy plain, or dusted with a bit of powdered sugar.

Product Review: Silk - Seasonal Nog...

Alright, this is it, my last Holiday Nog review! I’ve tried them all now and though my favorite is the So Delicious Coconut Milk Nog - Silk’s Seasonal Nog is the only other Nog that even comes close to beating it. Silk’s Nog is fantastic, and it still holds a special place in my heart because it was the first non-dairy Nog I ever tried and it literally blew me away. I thought for sure nog couldn’t be recreated vegan, and when I took my first stip of Silk I realized how wrong I was.  I think that this nog actually comes the closest to tasting like actual dairy nog. The flavor is spot on, the texture is great, it’s rich, thick, and creamy, and it’s sweet but not overpowering. By comparison So Delicious Coconut Nog is a tad sweeter a tad thicker, and has a subtle sweet of coconut about it. It’s that hint of coconut that would tip someone off to the fact that it isn’t a dairy nog, but Silk’s Nog I think could fool just about anyone in a blind taste-test. It’s really that good.

Nutrition wise it’s pretty comparable to the other brands of nog. 90 calories for half a cup, 2g of fat, 12g of sugar, and 3g of protein. It also has 2% Calcium and Iron.  The ingredients are pretty standard - Soy Milk, cane sugar, carrageenan, sea salt, natural flavors, turmeric - weird - and Annatto. Though this nog isn’t certified organic it is certified Non-GMO by the Non-GMO project, so you can feel confident about drinking it.

This is definitely a nog I can recommend, so if you see it around pick up a carton or two and enjoy some spiced nog while sitting in front of your Christmas tree this year!

Product Review - WestSoy: Chocolate Peppermint Stick Soy Beverage...

I can’t believe I haven’t posted in a week - uh - well, lets chalk it up to holiday madness and laziness. I don’t know about you but it’s damn cold here in Chicago (1'F, or -17'C) and that’s put me in something of a hibernation mode.  The holidays, writing, work, and school projects have got me kind of down and tired lately. Bad weather typically makes me feel this way, and the first week after a big holiday I’m always a bit spent. Since our epic Thanksgiving brunch I’ve hardly done any cooking - at least none that’s very interesting. We’ve been eating simply - bowls of rice and steamed vegetables, or pasta, or salad. All of which are delicious but none to creative.

But, even though I haven’t any recipes to share with you today there is one thing I’ve been wanting to tell you about for some time now, and that’s WestSoy’s Chocolate Peppermint Stick Soy Beverage. I”ve seen this in the stores for a couple of years now, and I never buy it. I don’t know why, I love chocolate and I love peppermint and I’m crazy for the two together. Maybe it’s because I never buy WestSoy products - brand loyalty is a weird thing yo. - but whatever the reason I always passed up this interesting holiday beverage at the store. Then a couple of weeks ago I saw it on sale, and thought “Why not give it a try?” I figured even if I didn’t like it, at the very least I could tell all of you about it.

Well, as it turns out this stuff is amazing. Seriously, it’s like crack folks. One sip and you’re hooked. It tastes just like a cold peppermint mocha from the evil coffee corporation that shall not be named. I really can’t get over the perfectly delicious blend of rich chocolate and cool peppermint. A winning combination no matter what. A couple of years ago I reviewed the So Delicious Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk which I loved, but I think if push comes to shove I’ll have to say that I like WestSoy just a little bit better. For me the difference is the mint vs the peppermint. This may be such a subtle difference to most people but to me it’s another world entirely. Mint and Peppermint just aren’t the same, and Peppermint is by far my favorite, it’s got that subtle sweetness that plain mint just doesn’t have, and it works holiday magic when combined with chocolate.

It is a little calorie dense at 180 calories per cup and contains 25g of sugar per serving but it’s so damn delicious! Seriously, if I could mainline it I would! Now, in all seriousness I obviously wouldn’t recommend buying and drinking this all of the time, but for a holiday treat to add a little pizzaz to your life, why not? There are worse things you could be drinking - include a little this holiday season. WestSoy is also made with organic soy milk and is Non-GMO Verified which is pretty awesome.

This is definitely my new favorite holiday beverage - and apparently you can drink it warm too, though I haven’t tried that yet, but I can’t wait to! If you try it I hope you enjoy it, and if you like the chocolate peppermint combination as much as I do I’m sure you’ll love it!

The Art of Making Soy Milk: Product Review - Soyajoy G4 Soymilk Maker...

I love DIY. Some people don’t. Some people prefer to buy everything pre-made at the store for convenience, but not me. Cooking for me is a fun activity, it’s therapeutic, it helps me relax, and helps me to clear my mind. There are few things better then putting on some good music, playing it loud, and setting in on some new culinary adventure. I love to bake bread, both in my bread machine and by hand. I love to make homemade seitan - it’s the only kind I ever eat - I love to make my own veggie burgers, my own sauces, my own condiments, I’ve even made my own peanut butter, but one of my latest interests has been making my own soy milk.

Back in July I was given some Amazon gift cards from my In-Laws for my birthday. At the time there weren’t any cookbooks that I was dying to have and so I racked my brain trying to figure out what I wanted. For some time I’d been interested in - and eyeing - various soymilk makers, and so after reading hundreds of reviews I finally took the plunge and settled on one.

I bought the Soyajoy G4 which is a really cool little machine that’s super easy to use. It comes with a measuring cup for your soybeans, a packet of non-GMO soybeans for your first batch of milk, a pitcher to pour the milk into and a fine mesh sieve for straining. The machine itself is stainless steel inside and out, which makes it look very sleek. The gripping handle and the lid are made from plastic but these features are on the outside, and do not touch the milk so you don’t have to worry about the plastic leaching into your soy milk. There are also several function buttons. The machine can make soy milk, nut milk, raw milks, grain milks, and even soup. It’s pretty much a miracle worker!

Of course you can totally make your own soy milk at home without a machine. You can do it the old fashioned way with pots, and your hands, but I as much as I love DIY that’s a bit much for me. I don’t fancy sitting around squishing my own soybeans all morning when something else can do it for me a lot faster, and a lot better. The Soyajoy will get you fresh hot smooth soymilk in under half an hour, and the best part of it is that it doesn’t contain a bunch of additives or nefarious ingredients. It’s just straight up soymilk.

Now to be honest if you drink it right from the machine it doesn’t taste wonderful. It has a much stronger soy taste then commercial soy milk - which is severely watered down - and there’s no sweetness, but this isn’t really a big deal. You can easily season your soymilk any way you like with different sweeteners or flavorings. I personally like to use Barley Malt Syrup and Stevia, vanilla stevia if I’m making vanilla soy milk, but you could just use regular old cane sugar or agave too.

Typically once I’ve made a batch os soymilk I bottle it just the way it is - Unflavored and unseasoned. I use old Kombucha and Kevita bottles that I’ve saved especially for this purpose - and to use as salad dressing containers. They make the perfect vessel as they’re 12oz bottles. Since I mostly use my homemade soy milk for cooking, baking, or to use in smoothies or sometimes cereal I prefer to sweeten the overall dish rather then the individual bottle of soy milk, unless I’m making a particular flavor - such as vanilla.

I’ve been doing this roughly once a week since July and it’s been a really fun process. The soyajoy made great milk right out of the gate, and it’s easy to use, but with a little tinkering I’ve managed to get the texture and flavoring perfect for my palate. I make an expert batch every time now. One of the great things about making your own soymilk is the cost. It’s so much cheaper to do it yourself then to buy a carton at the store. A carton usually goes for $2.99-$5.99 but you can easily make 32oz yourself for under $1. I bought a pound and a half of soybeans back in July and I’m still using the same batch! It doesn’t take a lot of beans to produce 32oz, so you really do save yourself a lot of money in the long-run.

Some people complain that the soyajoy is loud, and it can be, but it’s not loud the entire time it’s on. The grinding process is loud, but the boiling, and cooking process isn’t. I also love that this machine only has two parts and is super easy to clean, and the straining process isn’t as hard as you might think. Once your milk is done you put the sieve over the pitcher pour the milk through and what you’re left with is Okara - the pulp. Squeeze a little more milk out of that and then you can either discard the Okara or use it in some other dish. Simple as that.

This is a really great machine, and it’s not very expensive compared to a lot of other kitchen appliances. I got mine on sale and paid around $110 for it. Every penny was worth it I think because I absolutely love having fresh homemade soy milk. I love knowing exactly what’s in my milk, saving money, and not having to worry about GMO’s or crazy additives. You know what else is really cool? You can use your homemade soymilk to make homemade soy yogurt! This is one of my new favorite activities but I’ll talk about it more next week so stay tuned!

Product Review - Silk: Mocha and Vanilla Iced Latte...

This week my husband has decided to take my lead and try doing a juice fast for himself. Which means I’ve only been cooking for myself this week, which means I haven’t been making anything to exciting. However, even though I don’t have any recipes to share with you today I do have something else I’m excited to share.

Last month my husband and I discovered at our local grocery that Silk had two new products on the market. Both were Soy Iced Latte drinks, one in Vanilla the other in Mocha. Now, I know that some people question the integrity of Silk as a company because of their parent company, and I know a lot of people who avoid buying Silk products for that reason - amongst a few others - but it’s hard to deny that Silk Soy Milk is probably the most accessible and easiest to find brand of non-dairy milk available - along with Rice Dream. - Silk is so common these days that you can find it in small town Wal-marts, and even gas stations which makes it an important staple for many vegans living in rural areas. I of course am not living in anything even remotely considered a rural area so I have my pick of non-dairy beverages, I do however love to try new vegan products. Even if I never buy them again, I like to try them out and see what they’re like. On top of that insatiable curiosity I do have a soft spot for Silk. See, I never liked cows milk not as a kid and not as an adult so I kind of grew up on Silk Soy milk the first time I can remember my mom buying it was in the mid-late 90's when I was in my early teens, and I loved it. I was absolutely hooked on it for all my milk needs until I grew up, got married, went vegan and discovered the vast world of non-dairy plant-based milks. But as you do when you’re young, you form attachments, and so even though I almost never buy Silk these days I had to at least give these new iced lattes a try, you know, for old time’s sake.

So first we tried the Mocha Latte and I have to say it was much, much better then I expected. The flavor is really good and definitely reminds me of a less strong and less syrupy version of an iced latte you might get at one of those big chain coffee shops. This stuff tastes great on it’s own right out of the carton, but it also tastes good over ice, and as my husband discovered it makes a delicious and unique ‘creamer’ for actual coffee. You want your Strong Italian Roast to have a mocha flair? Pour this in instead of creamer. Incredible! I think this would also be fantastic for use in baking if you’re making anything coffee flavored like coffee cakes, coffee cupcakes, or even using it to make a coffee frosting.

Nutritionally speaking it’s nice that this beverage only has 100 calories per serving which puts it on par with most other sweetened non-dairy beverages. It also contains 2g of protein, 1g of fiber, 4% Iron, only 1g of fat, no saturated fat, but it does have 20g of sugar. Which I feel is a lot, however as long as you’re making this a sometimes drink and not an everyday one I don’t think you have much to fear. The ingredient list contains the usual suspects, coffee, cane sugar, soybeans, coco powder and the like, nothing to concern you too much however this product does contain Carrageenan as so many other beverages do. So if that’s something you are trying to avoid then this isn’t the drink for you. I personally have been avoiding carrageenan for months and feel better for it, and I wish Silk and other non-dairy beverage producers would stop using it, but again I think as long as this is a treat for you rather then a dietary staple there isn’t too much need to worry. If you like Mocha flavored stuff give this drink a whirl.

Next we tried the Vanilla Latte which was also quite good although I liked the Mocha latte better. That’s just me though, I think on most days I’d prefer mocha over vanilla anyway and even though I love vanilla when it comes to vanilla flavored stuff I’m usually less then impressed. Even if artificial flavors aren’t used, most vanilla flavored things taste artificial to me, and I don’t like that. Overall though this was a pretty good drink. Again you could drink it straight from the carton and be pleased or it would be good over ice, and my husband enjoyed this one in his coffee as well. I think it would also be good in baking if you were going for a café-vanilla type of thing.

Nutritionally it has the same 100 calorie per serving as the Mocha Lattew, and has the same amount of protein and sugar though it has no iron, no fiber and less fat. Only 0.5g instead of 1g. The ingredients too are nearly identical minus the cocoa of course, and this drink too contains carrageenan. So if you like vanilla lattes but don’t want to pay $5 for one at a big chain coffee house, try looking around for this and make your own latte at home. Retail both of these drinks sell for the same as other Silk products, - $2.99-$3.99 depending on where you live, - and come in the same half-gallon sized cartons.

Other great things to keep in mind about these products and about Silk products in general is that they’re Dairy free, lactose free, casein free, gluten free, egg free, and MSG free. They also don’t use artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners, and they don’t use high-fructose corn syrup. Silk is also enrolled in the NON-GMO Project’s, Product Verification Program which means all of their products are either certified as NON-GMO or on their way to being certified as such. This is nice, because even though Silk offers some organic products not all of their products are organic, but with the non-GMO certification you can feel safe and assured that even their non-organic products are free of GMO’s.

Happy Drinking!
and for More information on Silk Products check out their website - Silk