Posts Tagged Vegetarian
Vegetarian Won-Tons
Posted by Cmac in Appetizers, Pasta & Grains, Tofu on July 12, 2010
….As a test for my new pasta maker and an upcoming potluck with an Asian theme I decided to have a go at making won-tons. They were originally planned to be gluten free but the gluten free pastry dough was a failure. During this experience I learned that one its worth the investment in buying a $7 press, and two these were more like dumplings than won-tons. I am still going to call them won-tons since all the ingredients were won-ton based, and i’m sure if i call them dumplings someone else will have another name for them. Most important point of all this is that they tasted great, and I would definitely make them again. The pasta maker I purchased after a lot of research, I was originally going to get the kitchen aid attachment for my stand mixer but I have read many mixed reviews. Finally I decided on the CucinaPro 150 which is actually made in Italy so I figured I couldn’t go wrong and has many great attachments available. Anyways on to the recipe.
Easy Vegetarian Enchilada’s
Ok, so I am guilty of Blog neglect. Not just because I have not had much time to blog but in fact I have had even less time to cook and create. After a big move to California, a 2 month stay in temporary housing, then another move to our permanent housing I have found 
myself swamped beyond control. Between getting services for my daughter, and of course settling I have barely found the time to shave. I now can catch my breath a little and its time to get back to blogging, it will be slow but sooner or later I will be back on the blog track. Anyways here is a recipe part my idea, part Emeril’s recipe, as I have time I will play more with this recipe to make it more of my own, but in the meantime its quick, great, and this is the second time I’ve made it only to be left wanting more. As for the picture I was unsuccessful at getting a good shot before it was all gone instead I am providing a nice picture I took of a flower in my new backyard, gotta love those Winter flowers.
Panko Crusted Tofu with a side of Citrus infused Garbanzo Salad
I had tofu, plenty of fresh local citrus, and very little herbs or spices on hand. I am still in my temporary housing where the only handy dandy kitchen utensil I can put my hands on is my brand new Henckel Classic 8″ chef’s knife that I had to buy so I could cut anything. It has been hard and almost depressing to be stuck in a kitchen the size of my old master bathroom with one of each utensil including a roast fork? I am seriously wondering if the planners behind these furnished units actually cook themselves. Anyway enough complaining (for now). I will be back with my very own kitchen artillery and plenty of space for creativity soon enough. Now lets get back to the recipe, this dish uses mostly basic flavours and very few complicated ingredients, really showcasing that fresh citrus flavour. As with all my recipes this is one you can really play around with adding or removing, or just replacing parts. Enjoy.
Today I make Controversial cheese
Posted by Cmac in Other Stuff on September 21, 2009
I have always wanted to make home made hard cheese but never had the time or motivation. After hearing about a possible Macaroni & Cheese from scratch challenge in the works I decided now was the time to really go forth with my home dairy. What I learned and created much controversy in my mind was that most cheese is not vegetarian unless its specifically labeled, and the price tag is much higher. You see an important part of making hard cheeses is the enzyme Rennet which alone takes cheese from the vegetarian circle right into the slaughterhouse. This enzyme is obtained from slaughtering an animal and processing its stomach. There are vegetarian versions of rennet which can be obtained from fungi or genetically engineered in labs but these are harder to find and carry a big price tag (not to mention the whole genetically engineered food fears).
Even if we skip the real rennet and go for the vegetarian version will the cheese still be truly vegetarian? In my reading I stumbled across a post on Serious Eats about whether Cheese is Vegetarian. They really brought forth the facts that make dairy seem almost equal to eating butchered meat. In order for a cow to lactate it must first give birth to a calf, now unless these cows are somehow genetically engineered some of there offspring will be male. Unless you have a farm that likes to keep around an equal stock of studs to entertain the milk producers they will be sending the males to the slaughterhouse. So to make a long controversial story short, for us to obtain our vegetarian dairy there are many cows slaughtered in the process.
In short this is how I decided to make my cheese with real rennet, and not genetically engineered. I have a few projects I want to make before I take the dive into full blown Veganism and this is one. I am in the process of making home made Gouda and I will be posting the beginning steps with photos this week then weekly updates until it is ready to be smoked in 25-30 days. Of course if it fails I will tell you all about that and what I think went wrong.
Anybody have any input on this Vegetarian Cheese controversy feel free to post a comment.
The key ingredients to being a happy vegetarian
Posted by Cmac in Food, Other Stuff, Tips & Tricks on September 11, 2009
Photo from Veggie Way Blog
When I first met my wife I was a hardcore carnivore, and had no clue what would entice her to not want to eat meat. Once we began co-habitation I did most of the cooking and after a while I realized it was too much work to make two dinners every night one with meat and one without. So I decided to challenge myself and go vegetarian while using my experimental culinary skills to make vegetarianism taste better. It was a long battle with a lot of gummy, rubbery, and tasteless meals but here I am now thinking seriously about going Vegan.
The Best Vegetarian Lasagna in the World
Posted by Cmac in Food, Main Course, Pasta & Grains on August 25, 2009
Lasagna has become a weekly tradition for my wife and I, its easy to make and is handy to have in the fridge for lunches and last minute leftovers. For the last 4 years I have been using the same spinach lasagna recipe that I found on a box somewhere. So with plenty of CSA vegetables on hand, homemade ricotta, and home made sauce I decided to play around a bit, and what I came up with actually beats my fail safe recipe and takes the deliciousness factor up 4 notches. I will post my Make your own Ricotta recipe, and pasta sauce at a later date for now you can use store bought if that’s all you have.
Zucchini Blossom Poppers
Posted by Cmac in Appetizers, Food on July 12, 2009
With the excitement of my container garden finally flowering, I couldn’t wait to eat some of its fruits. So when I woke up to see my zucchini plants bursting with bright orange flowers I decided it was time to do some research. I had read about eating zucchini flowers in the past, but never actually went anywhere with the idea, until now.
Here is the recipe I came up with on the fly, quite literally. I went outside picked, washed, and patted dry the flowers then grabbed some things from the fridge and spice rack, and off I went.
Cmac’s worth waking up Gourmet french toast.
Gourmet French Toast
It was Sunday morning 9:00am Eastern time, baby getting needy, daddy getting hungry, wife sleeping.
The plan was to make daddy’s favorite, eggs up with toast (can’t go wrong).
Woke up my wife asked her to takeover while I make breakfast, she rolled back into bed (guess it was her day to sleep in, since she let me sleep in the day before).
I say “I’ll make you eggs, how many do you want?” she says “how about french toast?” I say “I don’t like french toast”. Wife rolls back into bed, daddy thinks to himself how to get mommy out of bed.
Daddy makes french toast his style.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysian Sweet and Sour Tofu
Posted by Cmac in Food, Main Course, Tofu on June 30, 2009
I think I have finally found my favorite Vegan cooking blog. It doesn’t criticize people for wanting their vegan food to resemble meat in fact it works extra hard to make meat substitutes.
And the winner is VeganDad blog.
Here is the second recipe I’ve made from VeganDad. Although I’ve made some substitutes only because I didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand. Thanks to these substitutes this recipe is no longer vegan but at least its vegetarian and still tastes delicious.
Golden Pizza Rolls
This is a recipe I dreamed up while driving to the grocery store one day. Its what you get when you combine garlic bread and pizza. You can even use some leftovers as a filling in this recipe which I will explain later.
These pizza rolls are great for dinner, lunch, or on the road, they have a soft but golden crust and are packed with cheese. Feel free to share a story about what you packed into your pizza rolls in the comments section.
Asparagus, Pear, Pillsbury Puffs?
Cmac's Vegan Banana Pecan cookies
Vegan Polish Dill Pickle Soup