sweet corn cream vegan butter (no soy or lecithin)

This is so good whipped up and used as whipped butter, that words cannot describe it.  The natural acids and sweetness in the corn “milk” make a gold medal butter.  Ideas of using coconut oil have come from all of the wonderful vegan chefs on the web, including the first recipe that I know of: http://www.veganbaking.net/other-vegan-treats/735-vegan-butter.html#.Ui9-2BaYY20   I have successfully used this corn butter as a replacement for “butter” in baking recipes, and will follow this recipe with a “whipped” version that is easily spreadable and downright addicting.  

I have not "doubled" this 12oz. recipe because I think the heat might "break" it and I don't want to risk wasting precious coconut oil.

Time:  Takes cooling down times of up to 1 day, takes a combined time of around 20 minutes to set up and make the “pudding”, then the actual butter.  Makes approx. 12 oz. of butter.

Equipment:

High power bottom blade blender (I use a vitamix)

Fine mesh strainer or nut milk bag strainer or cheese cloth

Small-medium size sauce pan

Small spoon

Small silicone whisk

Small spatula

Glass storage container with lid

Dry measuring cups

Ingredients:

*   1 cup frozen yellow sweet corn (I use non-gmo, organic frozen corn)

*   1 cup water

*   3 level teaspoons of corn starch (again, I use non-gmo, organic, found in health food stores or on the web)

*   measure out 1/2 cup of pudding you will make from the corn milk and corn starch, stirred and cool or cold

*   3/4 cup + 1 TBL of refined coconut oil melted into liquid, room temperature (I use an organic coconut oil that is mechanically pressed).  If you do not mind a slight “coconut” taste, you can use unrefined coconut oil.

*   1/4 cup canola oil (I use organic non gmo canola oil)

*   salt to taste

Method:

Blend the frozen corn and water on high speed until you have liquid corn milk, if you need to stop the process and scrape the sides of the blender down into the liquid, do so.

Strain the corn milk out of the blender and into the saucepan, while pushing through mesh with a little spoon

Add cornstarch and a couple shakes of salt to “corn milk”

Whisk cornstarch into “corn milk” thoroughly

Turn heat on medium high and continue whisking entire mixture until this sets up as a thick “pudding”, take care to not burn the bottom while constantly whisking

Pour “pudding” into glass container, scrape sides of saucepan with spatula and let cool 5-15 minutes at room temp

Cover glass container and let “pudding” get nice and cold, approx 6 hours or overnight.

1 hour or 2 before making the butter:  heat your coconut oil up to make it liquid, then let sit until totally room temperature and not warm.

Making the butter:

“Fast and cool is the philosophy here; otherwise you risk breaking the mixture, which still tastes great, but the texture is off and oily”.

1/2 cup cool or cold “corn pudding” in the blender, add the 3/4 +1 TBL of room temp coconut oil and 1/4 cup room temp canola oil.

Blend on high speed for around 10-15 seconds, until well combined, but not so much that the heat of the blender breaks the mixture.

Pour immediately into a 2 cup glass container, cover and refrigerate until completely hardened, approx 6 hours to overnight.

non-dairy formulary cookbook

These pictures and creations deserve their own blog post.   My book is on the way:


http://thegentlechef.com/NonDairyFormularyGallery.php

no mayo creamy pasta salad

Forget the expensive mayo and use some healthy nut cream to make your favorite summer pasta salad.  (Can be made with gluten free pasta)

Equipment:
heavy duty blender (for the nut cream)
spatula
big storage bowl for pasta salad with cover
cutting board
french knife 
stock pot to boil pasta and strainer

Ingredients...

• 1 pound plus 1/4 pound of cooked pasta, strained and washed with cold water to prevent overcooking (enough for 6-12 people with leftovers)
• 1 - 2 servings of almond nut cream sauce (or cashew, or mixture of )
• 2 TBL yellow miso (if you have on hand)
• 1/8 - 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 3 TBL mustard
• 1 cup washed, minced celery
• 1 cup washed, peeled, minced carrots
• 1 cup washed, peeled, minced onions
• washed, minced parsley to taste
• spices to taste, I used onion powder, a tiny bit of garlic powder, ms. dash lemon pepper, crushed rosemary
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

Method:
While making the nut cream, add the mustard, miso and vinegar to the cream sauce.  Combine all ingredients EXCEPT the cream sauce in the huge bowl, then add cream sauce a little at a time, slowly until very set up and covered in sauce (The salad will absorb a bit of this sauce, unlike mayo; therefore, you may want to add sauce until it looks very saucy.  Before serving, after sitting overnight in frig, add a little oil and vinegar and salt to refresh).  Taste for salt, spices and pepper, mix well and refrigerate to let flavors develop, at least 2 hours or more.  The key to these salads is taste, taste, taste.  To offset acidic, add a little liquid sweetener, to offset too sweet, add a little vinegar or lemon juice, don't go too crazy with garlic, add little bits at a time so you don't overwhelm.

raw spring slaw

Its been a long time since my last post.  Decided to post this method of eating raw veggies because the size and slices of the veggies with the homemade sauces are easy, fast, cheap, healthy and delicious.  I have incorporated the raw vegan nut cheese "sauce" into some of the dressings, and will follow soon with the recipes.  I will cover the easy method of making the slaw if you have the right equipment (mandoline).

This slaw is drizzled with raw cheddary mexican sauce

Equipment:
Large ceramic or glass bowl for storage
Tongs (chef hands) to toss and move slices around
Bench Scrapper to get all the slices off of countertop or cutting board
Mandoline (The picture shows the good grips mandoline, which I love,especially for around $40, as of 2013)


cutting board
french knife or cleaver
time to clean up after your prep

Ingredients:
"Any edible raw veggies you desire"
I used...fresh and washed, patted dry

• Carrots
• Red Cabbage
• Zucchini
• Red Onion
• Cilantro
• Spinach (sliced and added before eating)

Method...
*  Clean countertop and work area
*  Have your veggies washed, peeled if necessary, and ready to shred
*  Use the mandoline to make very small long slices of the of the veggies.  Mix all veggies together with tongs (except leafy greens or water heavy veggies like tomatoes, wait until ready to eat to mix those in with slaw). 
*  Store the slaw in ceramic or glass bowl with wrap on top in frig.  Will keep for a few to 4, 5 days.

 This will happen very fast, 1 zucchini takes around 5 seconds to shred.  
*  The biggest part of this is cleaning up the kitchen after all the prep.  Use vinegar and baking soda to clean the garbage disposal if you used that for peels and scraps.  If not, remember to take the compost out (ants can smell a good salad:--))