Horseradish Vinaigrette

I was recently inspired by a horseradish-based vinaigrette at a restaurant. This dressing from saveur.com is refreshing with a kick. If you are looking for something a little different and like horseradish, this vinaigrette is for you.

SERVES 4–6

Ingredients

• ½ cup grated horseradish
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 2 ½ tbsp. fresh lemon juice (in a pinch, lemon in a jar will work too)
• 1 green onion, minced
• 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Whisk all ingredients together. Set aside to allow flavors to meld.

Salted Caramel Ice Cream (Coconut and almond milk, custard base)

Every couple of months, I obsess over a new type of food. I read everything there is to know about it, watch videos and try several recipes until I finally find something that works. Then I move on. Last year, it was dumplings, yogourt and pasta. Obsession for 2014?

Dairy-free ice cream.

Over the years, I’ve tried several “no machine” recipes. Quite frankly, they sucked. I have long wrestled with the idea of buying yet ANOTHER kitchen appliance. I finally broke down and bought this very basic Cuisinart ice cream maker. It is well worth it.

The coconut flavour is completely hidden and you can't tell that this ice cream is dairy-free. It has an amazingly smooth and creamy texture (sorry vegans, it has eggs) and will satisfy your salty-sweet cravings. You may even be motivated to eat this ice cream when it is -25 degrees (we were!).

I am not suggesting this recipe is particularly healthy, but it IS dairy and refined sugar-free. I am hoping to find an egg-free recipe that is just as creamy, but so far, nothing comes close to this one.

Thanks to Cuisinart and Chef Chloe for the inspiration.

For more info on ice cream basics, check out:

• http://icecreamclub.tumblr.com/making-awesome-ice-cream
• http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/07/making-ice-crea-1/ (no machine)
• http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=4773&catId=2

 

Ingredients 

Ice cream

• 1 can coconut milk (14 oz)
• 1 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 - 2 ts vanilla
• 3/4 - 1 cup coconut sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)
• 5-6 organic egg yolks (mine are quite small- I use 6)
• Pinch of sea salt
• Few drops of almond extract (optional)

 
Salted Caramel Sauce 

• 3 TB Earth Balance butter
• 2 TB maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar 
• 2 TB almond milk

Instructions 

1.   In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the milk and HALF of the coconut sugar (1/2 cup or less) for a few minutes on medium heat. Keep stirring. Add the vanilla and salt. Once it begins to boil, remove from heat.

2.   With an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and half the sugar (1/2 cup or less) on low speed until it becomes nice and thick. Make sure to use a bowl big enough to hold the milk mixture too.

3.  Slowly begin adding the milk a little at a time to the egg mixture. Keep stirring with a whisk. You do not want to boil the eggs!

4.   Return the whole mixture to the saucepan on low heat until it coats the back of a wooden spoon. Again, make sure you do not boil the mixture.

5.   Strain the mixture with a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.

6.   Let the mixture cool down a bit on the counter, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. Many recipes tell you to cool the ice cream mixture in an ice bath but I haven't done it. What IS critical however, is letting the mixture cool overnight. Don’t be overzealous (like me). It won’t come out nearly as well. 

7.   The ice cream base is tasty on its own. If you want to skip the extra salt and sugar, skip the sauce. If not...

8.   In a saucepan, melt the butter on low-medium heat.

9.   Add the milk, sugar and maple syrup. Stir constantly for a few minutes, until it begins to bubble. Add salt, to taste. My "butter" is salted already.

10. Remove from heat and place in a glass container. Cover and refrigerate overnight. It will thicken. 

11. Remove ice cream mixture from the refrigerator and follow your ice cream  maker’s instructions (15-20 minutes for mine).    

12. At this point, the texture is like soft ice cream. You can add your "mix-ins" to the machine at the end of the cycle but your caramel (or chocolate, cookie dough etc) will either melt in or settle at the bottom. Instead, you want to layer the ice cream as you put it into your glass bowl - add a few scoops of ice cream then drizzle some caramel, add more ice cream and repeat. For even better results, let the ice cream freeze for 2 hours before mixing in your caramel.

13. Freeze ice cream for 6-8 hours, depending on your preferred texture. Take it out of the freezer about 15 minutes before serving. 

It keeps for about a week in the freezer, but it's not likely to last that long.


NOTE ABOUT USING RAW EGGS:
If you are worried about the possibility of salmonella bacteria in the raw eggs, here are some things to consider:

• Free-range, organic eggs will reduce your risk of salmonella contamination, but there is no guarantee your eggs will be free from bacteria.


• You can kill salmonella by heating the egg mixture to 160 F (use a thermometer). It's not clear to me how long it needs to remain at that temperature but one source says the bacteria will be killed instantly. 


• Try to find pasteurized eggs. Apparently, you can find these at some grocery stores. 


• Salmonella bacteria will not be killed in the freezer.


• If you are very concerned, find an eggless alternative.

ICE CREAM CAKE OPTION

If you want to make an ice cream cake, remove ice cream from the machine and place it in a Springform pan (instead of glass bowl). Let it harden in the freezer for about an hour. With a rubber spatula, spread the salted caramel sauce all over the top. Freeze overnight. Crush some gluten-free graham crackers and mix them up with melted Earth Balance butter and sweetener of choice. Spread the crunchy topping onto the ice cream cake and freeze until ready to serve. We made this for my daughter’s third birthday party as a special treat and it was one of the best ice cream cakes I have ever eaten!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi (Vegan and Gluten-free)

Have you ever eaten gnocchi so gummy that your jaw hurt from chewing so much? I hadn't until I made my very first batch...

Since then, I have learned a few things about making gnocchi:

1. Use as little flour as possible.
2. You want to incorporate the flour well, without working the dough too much - lots of kneading leads to denser, gummier gnocchi.
3. Moisture in the potatoes is BAD because you have to add more flour. Older potatoes work better. 
4. Lightly pan-frying the gnocchi tastes even better! 

Making homemade gnocchi is not as intimidating or as time-consuming as it may seem.  Once you get the hang of it, it's actually quite easy. This recipe from Vegan Soul Power works well.

 

Ingredients 

• 1 large sweet potato
• 3/4 (or less) cup all purpose gluten-free flour, extra for dusting your work space
• pinch of salt 
• water for roasting and boiling 

Instructions 

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. 
2. Slice your potato in half and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes or until soft. Let it cool to room temperature. Use as little water as possible for roasting.
3. Mash the potato in a bowl. 
4. Slowly add the flour and a pinch of salt. The goal is to use as little flour as possible.
5. On a lightly floured surface, quickly knead the flour into the potato. The less kneading, the less dense and gummy your gnocchi will be. You want it to be dry enough that it does not stick to your hands.
6. With your fingers, roll a palm-full of dough into a log as fat as your thumb. Repeat for the rest of the dough until you have several little logs.
7. Using a sharp knife, slice each log into small rectangles.
8. Using the tip of your fork, create a small indentation in each piece. This isn't necessary, it just looks better. 
9. To cook, add gnocchi to boiling salted water and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until they begin to float.
10. They taste even better if you lightly pan-fry them in olive oil or vegan butter until they are slightly crispy. Yum.
11. If you are freezing, line them up on a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet. After an hour or so, place them in a freezer bag. You do this so they don't stick together.

5-Minute Heaping Tablespoon Sauce (Dijon-Peppercorn)

One day I was craving a creamy dijon-peppercorn sauce (weird, I know) but I didn't have time to make anything fancy. In a few minutes, I threw together some basic kitchen ingredients and it is now one of my favourite go-to sauces. It will perk up your tofu and veggies in a pinch. If you eat chicken or prepare it for guests, this quick and delicious sauce will work well too.

In a small saucepan, add 1 heaping TABLESPOON of all these ingredients, and adjust to taste:

• Dijon mustard (I tend to go heavy on the dijon)
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Powdered coconut sugar (or sweetener to taste)
• Earth Balance vegan butter
• Gluten-free tamari 
• Olive oil
• Gluten-free vegan Worcestershire sauce
• Sriracha (if you don't like spicy,  go easy on this one)
• Water 

+ 1 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns. I generally soak these for 20-30 minutes in hot water to soften (if I get my act together in time, which doesn't always happen).

In a saucepan on medium-low heat, add all ingredients and stir for a few minutes until it bubbles. Remove from heat.

For the tofu option, lightly pan-fry tofu triangles until they are golden brown. In an oven-proof dish, place the sauce over the tofu and bake for 10 minutes on 350. For 1 block of organic tofu you will have plenty of sauce leftover to eat with your side of veggies.

Vegan Cape Cod Cakes

We ate at V-note in NYC this weekend which provided inspiration for a few new treats. It's the sister restaurant to Blossom - my all-time favourite vegan place. Both restaurants serve faux seafood cakes. They are impressive. It's unfortunate we don't have more high-end, vegan restaurants like this in Montreal.

Before we returned home, I had already found Blossom's cape cod cake recipe and bought the essential groceries. The next day, we made them! They were well worth the effort and as good as the restaurant version.

 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup arame or hijiki seaweed (I bought arame at Wholefoods NYC)
• 1 cup apple juice (I had apple-grape on hand. It worked just fine)
• 1/4 cup ginger, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 pound extra firm organic tofu, hand crushed

• 1/2 cup onion, diced

• 1/2 cup red pepper, diced

• 1/4 cup celery, diced

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon onion powder

• 2 teaspoon paprika

• 2 teaspoon salt

• Black pepper, pinch

• 1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (vegan chipotle aioli gives it a nice kick. Plain mayo doesn't work as well)
• 2 TB yellow mustard

• 1 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs, plus extra for coating patties

 (original called for panko. I've tried it with panko and a GF version. Panko is better).

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Soak arame for 5 minutes (or hijiki for 10 minutes) in apple juice, ginger, garlic.
3. Combine all ingredients together and mix well.
4. Form into small patties or bite-sized balls and coat with additional breadcrumbs. Patties fall apart a bit so the "minis" are a great alternative.
5. 
Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning once to lightly brown both sides.
 As always, my oven took longer.
6. You can also pan-fry them in a tiny bit of olive oil to give them an extra crispy coating. Highly recommended if you can handle a little extra oil.

Makes 10-15 small patties


I didn't make the Vegan Tartar Sauce but here is the recipe:

• 
1 cup vegan mayonnaise

• 1/4 cup capers
2 small dill pickles, finely chopped 

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• Black pepper, pinch

Blend all ingredients together and serve.