The Gourmellows

This weekend I did my very first batch of Vegan milk chocolate. Used half dose of the formula, since I figure the melangeur will probably needs to be conditioned.
The end result is not too bad but it definatelly needs some improvments. The flavor profile is little bit off, now I know that it needs couple of days to mature and to settle, but the sweetness in general is a bit off. I am assuming is the dairy free milk powder I used, is a soy free type and has a slightly lingering sweetness, that I dont like. The texture is good, but I would rather have something little bit creamier.
I have order a soy based vegan milk powder mix, I want to experiment and see if I can get the creaminess I want. I will be trying rice milk powder as well, but one thing at a time.
Mother's day approaching and I have still few orders to complete, I will be spending some time at the kitchen this week, and I will be visiting the Colorado Chocolate Festival on Saturday. After that I will be experimenting a lot more with chocolate making, even though my vegan live is going very well and I might be really busy really soon :-) Be careful what you wish for right!

Not that I am going gluten free, even though I have been thinking about trying, it is just to hard for me to do right now, in fact carbs are my addiction, not a good thing I know, but I have been battling with some bad issues in this past year and I think I might becoming to see the light, so I am having hard time to giving up comfort food items. I have picked up an all purpose GF flour from my local bulk store, it is actually manifactured here in Longmont, called Bella Gluten Free All Purpose baking Mix. I love it for more than one reason; is local, it is GF and it is very easy to use.
I have tried my vegan cookies recipe and although quite pale (I didnt have any brown sugar so I used unrefined cane sugar, but I think using either brown sugar or succanat would help with the pale color), they are very tasty and soft.
Going gluten free might not be so hard to do after all, and that is why I am trying my hands at GF Baking, since that is my weakness.

Cannellini bean soup;

2 cans of cannellini beans drained, one piece of celery chopped, half small onion chopped, one small carrot chopped, 2-3 tbsp of tomato sauce or paste, pinch of dry sage, 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2-3 of cups of vegetable broth ( u can use powdered veg borht and add water) also u can find the already chopped veggies (carrot, celery and onion, in the frezeer section of the supermarket, called soffritto or mirapoix or something like that :-P).

Put the chopped veggies in a pan with evoo and 1 tbsp of water, cook for 10 minutes on low until the veggies are translucent, add tomato, sage and veg. Broth & beans, cook for 20 m. Salt to taste or use bragg aminos, using a hand immersion blender mash some of the beans in the soup to ur liking, the more u mash the thicker the soup will be, add more veg broth to make more fluid if u like. Serve hot with a drop of evoo, enjoy, it is super yummy.

So I am working on yet another project. The season is busy, but I have to leave some time for me to play around with ingredients right?
This time is Nougat, yes nougat. I have been making nougat for a while now, but this is different, is Vegan Nougat of course.
Now for who is not familiar with nougat or torrone for us italians, the main ingredients are egg whites, sugar and honey, not very vegan indeed, but a lot whole yummy.
My second experiment it turned out to be not bad indeed, it is a hard crispy and crunchy type, torrone, the type I used to eat every Christmas back home in Italy.
What gives the nougat or torrone their flavor is the honey and deep roasted nuts.
I have substituded few ingredients and using Agave Syrup instead of honey, the flavor is awesome. My goal was a soft nougat, as I believe the American public would be more appealed by a softer product than a hard one.
The flavor is there, and I am very happy with it, if I was to taste it and not knowing it was a vegan torrone I wouldn't guess it.
I can't wait to go back home and dedicate an hour or so to make another batch and get the consistency right this time, the ingredients are expensive and failures are hurtful, but worth it at this oint.
I will eventually turn my vegan line of confections into my main business and I can't wait for that to happen, I want to embrace my thoughts and belives and live upone them, while doing what I like the most, play with sweet and unique ingredients :-)
Here you can see my Etsy store.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/DesiderioChocolates?ref=pr_shophocolates?ref=pr_shop

I always tend to change my recipes as I make them, so I have gazillion of different variations on the same theme :-)

Chocolate chips cookies

1/2 cup of canola oil
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of sucanat (evaporate cane juice)
2 tsp of natural vanilla extract or the seeds of one vanilla bean)
2 tbsp of almond milk
3 tsp of energ-G egg replecer mixed with 2 1/2 tbsp of water
2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour (or if you cant find it I also use King Arthur white whole wheat flour, it is a little bit lighter in texture than the regular whole wheat)
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of sea salt
1 cup of dark chocolate chips (I use Dagoba Milagros)

Mix oil, sugar, vanilla.
Add egg replacer, mix well.
Mix flour with baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.
Add the flour to the rest, mix well.
With an ice cream scooper form the cookies and place on a cookie sheet that will fit into the frezeer.
Freeze the dough for about 30 minutes.
Bake frozen cookies at 365F (I have a gas oven, temperature might be different from an electric)
Bake until slightly gold on the bottom.
Do not over bake, they will be puffy with bunch of cracks on the top and the inside will be still moist.

Enjoy

My favorite smoothie:
1 banana
1 cup or more of frozen blueberries
1 Tbsp of natural peanut butter
Stevia if needed (1/2 Tbsp)
filtered water (approx 1-2 cups, but check the consitency and adjust to your liking)
1 cup of organic red chard
1 cup of organic spinach
Add 1 Tbsp of hemp protein if desired.

Blend at high speed and enjoy right away. It always makes me feel great and energized even if tired and overworked and its a good way to sneak leafy greens into the, kids and non, diet.

This is a slightly modified version of my original whole wheat bread with oats. Should I say veganized, not that is hard to do, most breads I know (rustic italian etc.) are already quasi Vegan.
Anyway, I have not baked bread for a while and decided to make some last week, I was out of rolled oats so I just left them out and follow the recipe as normal. The result was a tender, savory, wholesome bread, that is perfect for sandwiches ( like the chickpea burger and fresh lattuce I just had for lunch!).

Whole Wheat bread

3 1/4 tsp of active yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup of warm water (lukewarm)

Mix together and let it sit for 5 minutes or until had "bloomed" and the yeast mixture has risen and its bubbly.

Meanwhile mix:

1 cup or rolled oats (you can leave them out or grind them very fine)
2 Tbsp dry soy milk (available in health stores)
2 Tbsp malt powder
1 Tbsp sea salt
1/2 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
3/4 cup of warm water
4 Tbsp of vital gluten flour (if you use regular flour, otherwhise you can skip the vital gluten if using bread flour, in any case it gives the bread a nice consistency, 1 Tbsp per cup of flour)
Add;
2 cups of unbleached white flour
2 cups of whole wheat flour

Mix well, kneed couple of times until smooth.
Place in a well oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or place the bowl in a plastic bag (I use the produce bags I save from the grocery store, it creates a nice proofing chamber).
Let it rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours.
Grease with some canola oil a loaf pan.
Oven 350F
Place the dough on the counter and give it a loaf shape, I usually just roll it on itself and place it in the pan. Cover again with the plastic or the bag method, let rise until has formed a nice dome and filled all the pan. With a very sharp knife or oiled scissors make few cuts on the surface, I make mine diagonally, about 5 or 6. Brush with a little bit of soy milk or other non dairy milk (Almond and soy are what I use the most).
Let it rest 10 minutes then bake in the oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes, but it depends on the type of oven you are using.
Let it cool on a grate, make sure is fully cooled before ctting or placing into a bag or container.
Enjoy :-)