As I start to explore all the ways to go dairy free (at least on a trial basis for now), and on Christmas Eve, there is no soy nog to be found in the stores. It's been sparse on the ground this year, at least anytime I've gone looking. So, I made my own. Easy peasy, and not half bad. It's not vegan (I'm not vegan at all), just dairy free.
Soy Nog
3 eggs
2 cups vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup vanilla soy cream (Silk for coffee is what I found)
3/4 cup icing sugar
tiny pinch salt
Nutmeg
Rum (extract if you are booze free as I am, or the good stuff)
I'm lucky enough to have a stand mixer, so I tossed things in there. Eggs first, mixed until they were pale. Then slowly add the sugar, milk, cream and salt. Mix for a while before adding in about a tablespoon of extract (real rum to taste) and a generous dollop of fresh grated nutmug. Perhaps a couple of teaspoons, but I'm bad at judging. Mix well and store in the fridge. Yes, this uses raw eggs. You have an immune system, make it work. (if you don't, then be careful) I expect it'll be even better tomorrow, if it lasts that long.
If you dont have vanilla soy milk and/or cream, then add a dollop of vanilla extract to touch up the flavour.
Enjoy!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Cornmeal bread
1 1/2 cups whey
4 tsp yeast in 1/2 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
2 eggs
1 cup cornmeal
Flour 'til it looks right.. 5 cups ish? More?
Left to rise overnight.. left to rise 2 hours with saran wrap over it, then it was trying to take over the oven. Punched down and left to rise while I slept. About 8 hrs and it was trying to take over the oven again. This time with a damp tea towel over it. Peeled off the towel, punched down again. (Note to self.. less yeast next time), and then took a loaf ish size amount into the loaf pan, 12 (13 really, but one was sacrificed to the floor) egg sized balls into a muffin tin and then the rest as a lump on a baking pan. It's artisinal round loaf! It has nothing to do with my other loaf pan already being packed! Another hour in the oven to rise.. and then baking. It didnt rise much in the hour, a little but not much. 350F, and yes I'm lazy and left the pans in the oven while it preheated.
Well. The rolls barely rose at all and they are.. well they bounce. VERY crunchy on the outside, but like a thin crust of supercrunch and then squishy inside. They all baked about an hour.
Next time, I think perhaps more sugar, and not an overnight rise. First rise in the bowl, second rise in their baking dishes. I think that's how it should be done, and I probably could find recipes to take me by the hand, but I learn better by experimenting. Sooo.. we eat some very crusty rolls. It's all good.
4 tsp yeast in 1/2 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
2 eggs
1 cup cornmeal
Flour 'til it looks right.. 5 cups ish? More?
Left to rise overnight.. left to rise 2 hours with saran wrap over it, then it was trying to take over the oven. Punched down and left to rise while I slept. About 8 hrs and it was trying to take over the oven again. This time with a damp tea towel over it. Peeled off the towel, punched down again. (Note to self.. less yeast next time), and then took a loaf ish size amount into the loaf pan, 12 (13 really, but one was sacrificed to the floor) egg sized balls into a muffin tin and then the rest as a lump on a baking pan. It's artisinal round loaf! It has nothing to do with my other loaf pan already being packed! Another hour in the oven to rise.. and then baking. It didnt rise much in the hour, a little but not much. 350F, and yes I'm lazy and left the pans in the oven while it preheated.
Well. The rolls barely rose at all and they are.. well they bounce. VERY crunchy on the outside, but like a thin crust of supercrunch and then squishy inside. They all baked about an hour.
Next time, I think perhaps more sugar, and not an overnight rise. First rise in the bowl, second rise in their baking dishes. I think that's how it should be done, and I probably could find recipes to take me by the hand, but I learn better by experimenting. Sooo.. we eat some very crusty rolls. It's all good.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Kitchen happenings
If I don't keep track of what I'm doing in the kitchen somewhere, I will lose it. I'm gifted like that. So I thought I'd post it here. If anyone out there in the big wide world is curious, all the better. Otherwise I at least have a record of what silliness I've been up to in the kitchen, or at the sewing table, depending.
Cheese.
That's what I've been up to lately. I haven't get gotten my hands on rennet (I will be ordering some from this place, but there's a plethora of choices and I haven't yet decided what I want. So I've been making basic acid cheese. Which sounds entirely more psychodelic than it is. In a basic sense.. it takes the milk, adds acid (vinegar, lemon juice) to get the curds and whey to separate and then you can strain the curds out and have a lump of cheese.
The type of acid used affects the flavour of the cheese (uh duh) and the milk itself affects the consistancy of the cheese. (as I now know). Skim milk? Even with extra skim milk powder to give it a little more oomph? Rock solid little lumps of cheese. Yummy.. but solid and kinda rubbery. Sort of odd really. This most recent batch was 125 ml of 18% cream tossed into a bag of 2% milk. (er.. bag is 1.3 litres, welcome to Canada) So a total of about .. 1.45 litres of milk. Previously I used 1 bag of skim milk, 3 tablespoons of milk powder and 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar OR 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
We liked the lemon juice better, so batch two is the higher fat milk and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Much softer curd, just looking at it while it's draining. I'm going to drain the daylights out of it again and see how it goes.
Right, draining. A clean hankie, in a strainer over a bowl. Once it's gotten the bulk of it strained out, I clip the corners of the hankie in a binder clip and hang it from the cupboard door with an elastic band. Oh yeah, I go high tech here.
Cheese.
That's what I've been up to lately. I haven't get gotten my hands on rennet (I will be ordering some from this place, but there's a plethora of choices and I haven't yet decided what I want. So I've been making basic acid cheese. Which sounds entirely more psychodelic than it is. In a basic sense.. it takes the milk, adds acid (vinegar, lemon juice) to get the curds and whey to separate and then you can strain the curds out and have a lump of cheese.
The type of acid used affects the flavour of the cheese (uh duh) and the milk itself affects the consistancy of the cheese. (as I now know). Skim milk? Even with extra skim milk powder to give it a little more oomph? Rock solid little lumps of cheese. Yummy.. but solid and kinda rubbery. Sort of odd really. This most recent batch was 125 ml of 18% cream tossed into a bag of 2% milk. (er.. bag is 1.3 litres, welcome to Canada) So a total of about .. 1.45 litres of milk. Previously I used 1 bag of skim milk, 3 tablespoons of milk powder and 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar OR 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
We liked the lemon juice better, so batch two is the higher fat milk and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Much softer curd, just looking at it while it's draining. I'm going to drain the daylights out of it again and see how it goes.
Right, draining. A clean hankie, in a strainer over a bowl. Once it's gotten the bulk of it strained out, I clip the corners of the hankie in a binder clip and hang it from the cupboard door with an elastic band. Oh yeah, I go high tech here.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
K-cup review: Timothy's Mexican organic
Finally I'm getting into some of the non-flavoured coffees, and I havent been keen on too many so far. I rarely like the organic ones, I find most of them are too.. dark roasted? Bitter? Something for my tastes.
Yes, I'm a coffee heathen (or heretic.. perhaps both), cope. I like my coffees lightly roasted. I like my black tea barely brewed too, so at least I'm consistant.
This one is probably the best organic I've found to my taste thus far. Hunh. Go Mexico! ;)
4 travel mugs out of 5.
Yes, I'm a coffee heathen (or heretic.. perhaps both), cope. I like my coffees lightly roasted. I like my black tea barely brewed too, so at least I'm consistant.
This one is probably the best organic I've found to my taste thus far. Hunh. Go Mexico! ;)
4 travel mugs out of 5.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
K-cup review: Van Houtte Creme Caramel
It smelled so good brewing too. It had all that sweet rich smell that I expected out of something labelled creme caramel. And then? The first sip?
Nothing. It gave up all its flavour in the smell and none of it in the tasting. So disappointing. Once I got past that, it was an adequate cup of coffee, but nothing special and barely flavoured. Woe. Woe woe.
2 travel mugs out of 5.
Friday, May 14, 2010
K-cup review: Gloria Jean's Mudslide
I think this is the first flavour I couldnt finish. The first time I drank it, I was mostly asleep and went 'enh', the second time I was quite awake and the 'enh' went to 'eww'. All I could smell or taste was some messed up interpretation of coconut. It just.. no. Bad. Not to my taste at all.
1 travel mug out of 5.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
K-cup review: Van Houtte Creme brulee
Alright, I had hoped I'd like this.. but I didn't. It's just not very good. It's not sweet or creamy, there's not much smell to it, there's just not much of anything to it beyond a kinda enh cup of coffee. It is for flavours like this that sound so promising and I just don't like that I'm keeping these records. I'm certain someone out there things its awesomesauce, but I am not that person.
2 travel mugs out of 5.
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