Friday, March 8, 2013

Tofu Scramble with Sauteed Smoked Salmon

Breakfast is one of the hardest things to figure out with an egg allergy. Most breakfast foods either consist of entirely of eggs, or incorporate them in some way. Vegans, you know what I'm talking about. Here's my take on the classic tofu scramble:


Tofu scramble is great, because it's super easy and as versatile as normal scrambled eggs (although, unlike regular scrambled eggs, I would not recommend tofu scramble without any added toppings/ingredients, as it can be on the bland side flavor-wise).

My basic tofu scramble consists of one container of pressed* firm tofu (I will explain pressing later), mustard, turmeric, and salt and pepper to taste. I never measure any of these, I just kind of eye-ball it.

The mustard adds flavor (as mentioned above, plain tofu is very bland) and helps get you some of that nice eggy yellow color.

I haven't noticed any distinct taste from the turmeric, but it makes the tofu so yellow that it really enhances my enjoyment of the meal. A note about turmeric, I've noticed it turns more yellow with heat, so don't worry if the scramble looks pale in the mixing bowl, the color should get more intense as you cook and if not, you can always add more turmeric!

I would imagine you could add pretty much anything to tofu scramble, but veggies like onions, peppers, tomatoes, and, of course, garlic are definitely safe bets. For this particular scramble I added one packet of smoked salmon (the chunky kind with the skin still attached, not lox. You know, the good stuff).

I started out by sauté-ing my garlic, then added chunks of the salmon (skin included, but if this grosses you out feel free to throw it away). I saute-ed the salmon for about a minute or so, then added in the tofu. Another minute or two of mixing everything around and your pretty much good to go. Great thing about tofu and smoked salmon, even if you undercook them they're already fine to eat.

Vegans, I know you weren't looking for meaty tofu scramble, but just remember that pretty much anything goes good in a tofu scramble, and get creative with it :)



*Note about pressing tofu: this is not a necessary step, your tofu will cook and be edible either way. But, in my experience, skipping this step leads to bland, boring tofu, which is exactly why a lot of people don't like this food.

Most tofu comes packaged in water. It is a highly absorbent substance, so when you first take it out of the packaging it is completely water-logged. Tofu can be easily pressed by cutting your block into roughly even slices, layering these slices between plenty of paper towels with a baking pan on top weighted down (I usually use a few cans of beans/whatever I have on hand). Then just leave the tofu to press for a while, at least 10 minutes, but longer is fine if you want to run some errands or whatever. I know it may not seem worth using up your paper towels on an optional step, but trust me, once you press the water out the tofu is ready to absorb whatever flavor you would like to add to it. For tofu scramble this isn't the most important, but if you want to prepare some marinated tofu then I would say that pressing is a must.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Egg Free Gluten Free Chocolate Chocolate Glazed Mini Donuts




Yesterday Paul said he was craving Dunkin's chocolate glazed munchkins. 


These delightful little morsels of chocolatey goodness are packed full of gluten and, I'm assuming, eggs.

So I decided to make my own, using the nifty mini donut maker Paul gave me for my birthday last year, which I have used exactly once.


The donut maker came with a recipe for "Baked French Breakfast Donuts" from The Original Donut Factory. This recipe is also chock full of gluten and egg, but with a few substitutions it can be adapted to accommodate our eating needs.

The original ingredients:

5 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cup flour
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup milk

I have been able to find a lot of amazing gluten free resources online since Paul went gluten free. In particular, the flour blends suggested by the gluten free goddess have been an invaluable tool in learning how to keep us fed.

http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/12/baking-cooking-substitutions-for-gluten.html

For this recipe I used her suggested flour blend # 1, but feel free to use your own mix/a store-bought mix/regular wheat flour if you are not gluten free.

Now, I'm sure you're all wondering, how does one bake without eggs? There are several possibilities, here's the one I chose


That's right, the spotty banana on your shelf is an excellent egg substitute! This also helps when you're trying to convince yourself that whatever yummy snack you've baked up is actually good for you.

My ingredients:
5 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 banana, mashed
1 1/4 cup gluten free flour* (I used 1/2 cup sorghum flour, 1/2 cup tapioca flour. 1/4 cup almond flour, 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup almond milk

A picture of the tools and ingredients used (please ignore the coffee maker, kettle and knife block).

First I mixed my flour blend, then mixed it with my cocoa powder and my other dry ingredients (remember, in baking sugar is a wet ingredient!)

Next, I thoroughly blended my sugar and my butter. My butter was a little soft when I did this, which helped, but it would have been even easier if I had let it get really soft.

I mashed my banana.


Then mixed that in with the butter/sugar mixture.

Then I alternated pouring in the dry ingredients with the almond milk.


Yummies.

You can proceed to cook your donuts any way you choose. I'm sure you could fry donut balls, or bake them, and I know there are donut shaped baking dishes you can buy.

The loaded donut maker.

Finished donuts, about 3-4 minutes later.

I wanted these to be chocolate donuts with chocolate icing on them, so I very lazily googled for a recipe and went with the recipe found here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111122133340AAyNITS



The final product!! (Boyfriend approved :P)

*To convert the gluten-free goddess's flour recipe to the quantity required for this recipe, I cut the recipe in half, leaving 1/4 cup of flour missing, which worked well for adding in 1/4 cup of cocoa powder, filling in the missing dry ingredients and making the recipe into a chocolate donut recipe instead.

I didn't have any nutmeg, so I used 1/4 tsp of cinnamon instead, because I thought it would give the chocolate an extra boost.

I used almond milk because it is what I keep on hand. Feel free to use whatever milk/milk substitute you prefer. Also, by substituting the butter for margarine or any plant-derived oil, this recipe instantly becomes vegan!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Introduction

After enduring a months-long rash/hives which would randomly appear and disappear all over my body, I came to the realization that I have a fairly severe egg allergy (cue sad horn). A few months after cutting eggs from my diet, my boyfriend learned that he has a gluten intolerance. Welcome to the adventure that is keeping the two of us fed.