Ohhh how I love boscaiola dressing – on pasta, schnitzel, whatever! It’s impossible to order dairy free in a restaurant of course – but there are a couple of options for making it at home.
This is what I do (although you can use the Soy Cream recipe instead of Silken tofu which would be technically a better idea)
- 1 pkt silken tofu
- minced garlic
- diced mushrooms
- chopped shallots
- white wine
- dairy free margarine
Saute the shallots & garlic and then add the mushrooms. add a splash of white wine and cook off the alcohol. Take this off the heat.
Use a blender/hand mixer to blend the tofu up so that it is a creamy, runny consistency, then add the shallot/mushroom mix to the tofu. Yum yum!
Recently I found out that when you order squid (and sometimes fish!) it is marinated/coated in milk. I have no idea why – i should do some research and find out. So look out for that in restaurants, sometimes we think something is dairy free but it’s sneaky!
If you wish to batter food, milk is not necessary. water, flour and at times beer is all you really need.
If you wish to soften squid so that it is not tough when you cook it, marinade it in either mashed kiwi fruit or paw paw. This is a fail safe way to ensure its tenderness!
Filed under: Main meals | Tags: aborio rice, Chicken mushroom leek risotto, chicken stock
Risottos don’t have to be creamy! This one is absolutely scoffable. If that’s a word.
Chicken risotto
- 1 chicken breast, chopped into bite size pieces
- 1 leek, chopped (just the white bit)
- 4-5 mushrooms, diced (depends how much you like mushroom
- Dairy free margarine (olive oil spread/nuttelex etc)
- olive oil
- white wine
- balsamic vinegar
- fresh thyme
- pepper and salt
- 1 cup aborio rice (this is important for a good risotto
- up to 1 Litre hot chicken stock (I make my own stock, it has much MUCH less salt than bought. Will post how below)
So! With a little margarine and/or a splash of olive oil, brown the chicken and remove from pan. Cook the leeks for a couple of minutes before adding the mushrooms. Add the rice and make sure it gets coated in the marg/oil. Then add a splash of white wine and 2 tblspns balsamic vinegar and as the wine cooks off, pour in 1 cup of chicken stock.
Risotto can take a LOT of liquid. Sometimes I use all chicken stock, sometimes I add in some water as well if I think it’s getting too strong a flavour. The trick with risotto is to keep stirring and never add stock that is cooler than the rice itself. Make sure it is hot!
Keep tasting it and you will know when it is done. i.e. when the rice isn’t crunchy anymore.
Then add in the seasoning, the thyme and the cooked chicken to warm through before serving.
MMMMM
Chicken stock:
If you are ever inclined to eat a BBQ chicken, keep the carcus and boil it up with salt, pepper, and whatever veggie scraps you have: i.e. carrot, celery, onion are great. Use a couple of litres of water, and boil the *** out of it.
Strain, and if you find it is particularly fatty, skim the surface of the stock to get the chicken fat off. I tend to not put too much skin or fat into boil so I don’t usually have this problem.
You can freeze the stock in 1 cup bags so it is easy to use in future too.
I’ve used this in recipes that call for sour cream – i.e. dips or cakes or whatever. I can’t say the taste of it on it’s own is enough to inspire me to use it in things like Mexican food…but see how you go. It definitely serves the purpose for use in cooking. It is also readily adaptable in so many ways so play with it a little.
Tofu Sour Cream Rating: 3 star
- 1 packet of silken tofu
- 2 teaspoons of rice wine or apple cider vinegar
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons of maple syrup (or some sweetener) of choice
Instructions? Blend it up and pop it in the fridge for an hour or two.
Filed under: Sweet things | Tags: dairy free cake, fair trade, Orange chocolate cake, vegan
I’m a big fan of orange chocolate but you can flavour this however you like: or not at all!
Orange chocolate cake Rating 4 star
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Finely grated rind of 1 orange
- 1/2 cup macadamia oil (You could use vegetable or olive, though I find they have too strong a taste)
- 1 1/2 cups cold water
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Combine the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the wet ingredients and stir quickly. Once smooth, pour the mix into the pan and bake for 30 minutes. (As each oven is different, after 20 minutes, check the cake by inserting a fork or knife into it. If the utensil comes out clean, it’s done! Mine takes over 40 mins when using a deeper round tin)
Icing
- 75 gms fair trade dark chocolate
- 1 tablespoon orange essence
- 1 tblspn fair trade cocoa (very rich and beautiful!)
- 2 tblspn icing sugar
- splash soy milk
- splash water
Melt the dark chocolate in a saucepan over a pot of boiling water (use a double boiler if you have one). This method keeps the chocolate from burning. Add everything else until you’re happy with the consitency.
Long pieces of grated orange rind on top is a nice decorator!
Filed under: Sweet things | Tags: Chocolate mousse, dairy free, dessert, fair trade, silken tofu
This recipe will rock your world 
If you’re afraid of tofu, this will convert you for sure. I’ve made it for so many people and it’s got a big thumbs up everwhere!
Chocolate mousse Rating: 4 star
Ingredients:
2 bananas (very ripe works best)
1 pkt silken tofu
200gms fair trade dark chocolate (ethical but also tastes much better and richer!)
tspn vanilla essence (feel free to add peppermint essence/orange essence/rum/brandy or whatever taster you like!)
Recipe:
Whizz the bananas and tofu together, add the melted chocolate and any other addition. Pop it in the fridge for half an hour and there’s the worlds best choccy mousse! Easy and very yummy. If your bananas are not very ripe, add in some vanilla sugar or the like to sweeten it a little more.
