Aug 12, 2012

"vegan sandwiches save the day" + cordon bleu wheels

Traditionally Chicken Cordon Bleu has involved three different animals: chicken, pig and cow. This dish is a chicken breast, either butterflied or pounded thin, rolled around bacon, prosciutto or ham with a slice of cheese. It is all rolled up, breaded and fried.

Daiya has introduced a few new products (at least in my neck of the woods) and since the wedge of Jack, a soft, easily melt-able, cheese-sub, sounded perfect for the veganization of Cordon Bleu, here is a new rendition of Cordon Bleu. 

My previous Cordon Bleu post involved replicating the dish using gluten as the main ingredient. I wanted to change things up a bit, especially for all those who are not yet loving gluten as much as my family does.

For this version I utilized puff pastry dough as the medium of rolling choice and relegated the gluten (or tofu) to the inside along with the cheese.

Let's break it down: the puff pastry bakes up crispy, especially with the addition of the panko crumbs it is rolled in, layered with thinly sliced seasoned seitan (or tofu) and slivers (or shreds) of vegan cheese. 

Comparatively, the prep for this version is ridiculously easy: Prepare the seitan, roll the dough, slice the Daiya, layer, slice the roll into wheels and bake.

Naturally, I couldn't leave well enough alone and decided on another component. I add kale and parsley sauteed with garlic. Parsley should not be just the condiment as it is originally in the traditional recipe where it is added to the breading. In addition, kale added to anything can only be wonderful, as far as I am concerned.

The result was fantastic!

About as good as dishing out the contest winner for Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day by Tamasin Noyes and Celine Steen.

Out of the 61 comments who entered the contest, number 32 is the winner, awesomeveganrad. Please contact me by next Sunday to claim the book!
Congratulations!
(my email is veganaide@yahoo.com)   

The second place winners are encouraged to purchase their very own copy!



Aug 7, 2012

bryanna's palm-oil free vegan buttah

Palm oil production has skyrocketed in the recent times. Unfortunately, most of that production is taking place in third world countries where there is a dismal lack of oversight for the welfare of the natives, workers, animals and environment. Most of the palm oil plantations are centered in Peninsular Malaysia, where orangutans reside. They and three other native mammals are expected to be extinct by the end of the century, due to habitat loss and the outright killing of these animals, as production invades their habitat and palm oil plantations are encroaching into their environment.

As vegans, vegetarians and just plain caring folks, we are indirectly contributing to this problem. If you grab your Earth Balance spread, the best vegan butter substitute until now, you will note that palm oil is an ingredient. As of yet Earth Balance has not responded to the information of habitat loss of orangutans since they are still using palm oil after National Geographic reported on this in November of 2008. What is a vegan to do with a ready to spread toast or a warm fluffy pancake? 

Bryanna Grogan Clark, food scientist extraordinaire, has once again come to the rescue by creating the Buttah. I cannot give you the recipe, but she has it for free here via vegan.com.

Once you mosey over there and read the recipe, or if even just the thought of making your own butter is giving you heart palpitations, hold on. While I cannot give you the recipe, I can make you a How To Breakdown for making the Buttah. 

The process is more intimidating than difficult; in fact, the whole thing, including prepping, took about thirty minutes, minus the cooling of the prepared Buttah. 

Procure the weird and wacky ingredients: xantham gum (or guar gum), liquid lecithin, cocoa butter (fair trade and deodorized - not as bad as it sounds!), a digital scale, and get blending! 



And don't forget to enter the cookbook giveaway  for Tami Noyes' and Celine Steen's Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day. Drawing will be at the end of the week.

UPDATE: Earth Balance's response to the palm oil crisis:

Click Here