Oils and Vinegar

Like most cooks I love new flavor enhancers. While doing my 2nd favorite pastime, shopping. I found a cute little shop in the mall that sells oils and vinegars. Many of the oils and vinegars were infused with different kinds of flavors. Olive oil is easy to infuse if you have a little time and patience. You also need a lot of what you plan on infusing your oil with. And it'll need to be cooked low for 10 mins. Garlic (10 cloves) and lemon (2 lemons) are excellent oil infusing options. They have strong flavors to permeate the oil. And they work well in a lot of recipes.

Since I don't really have the time, I choose to buy my oils and vinegars already infused. Here are the ones I picked up:

Mango vinegar
Fig vinegar
Garlic Olive oil
Lemon Olive oil
Orange Rosemary Vinaigrette

I've already made some veggie lamb with a a mango sauce using my new oils and vinegars. I used the mango and fig vinegar and lemon oil to marinate it. Then baked it off covered. I also used some frozen mango for flavor and texture. Sorry no pics.

Yellow Corn Grits with Veggie Kielbasa and Mixed Peppers

I went into the grocery store for regular grits because I couldn't remember if I had some at home. But I  couldn't find them and the children were getting antsy. So I grabbed the only grits I could find...yellow corn grits. *shrug* there's a first time for everything and I do love a cooking challenge. So here we are. First, let me say this was a good choice for this dish. Next, let me say these are more involved than your average grits. They are not as fine, so they have a grittier texture and a heartier taste. I found a recipe online and tweaked it a bit as I do most of my recipes.

Here it is:
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup of yellow grits
1/3 cup of pepper jack cheese (optional)

Boil broth and 1/2 cream and 1 tablespoon of butter. Once it comes to a boil add grits, reduce to a simmer. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, add the rest of the cream and butter. Mix in cheese.

Meanwhile saute your peppers and onion. Any color take your pick. This week I let my toddler chose because she loves raw peppers. Saute using olive oil, and about a tablespoon of butter (you'll thank me). And salt to taste.

I used the Tofurky Kielbasa sausage. This was a fantastic choice! I used my griddler to grill my kielbasa.

Next assemble and eat!

I'm back! With buttermilk biscuits and fried gluten

It's been a while! But I'm back and ready to share more recipes. So being vegetarian doesn't stop me from having some meat lovers favorites like fried chicken and biscuits dripping with sauce! To make the "chicken" I tried a new gluten recipe. The texture was better the first day. It gets tougher once it sits in the fridge, so bring to room temperature before using. 

Seitan:

1 cup vital wheat gluten

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 McKay chicken seasoning

1 teaspoon onion powder

3/4 cup of vegetable broth or water

Mix dry ingredients and then add liquid. Gluten will immediately start to gelify. Cut "meat" into small patties. They will expand in the oven a bit so be sure to account for that. Bake in vegetable broth for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Make sure you check on the patties occasionally so they won't dry out on you, flip at around 30 min mark.

Breading:

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

Soak seitan in buttermilk for 30 mins or even overnight add some hot sauce for depth of flavor. Dip seitan in flour mixture, egg, and then again in flour mixture. And fry! for delicious crispy goodness. Place on biscuit with sauce of your choice and enjoy. I prefer Sweet Baby Ray's Buffalo sauce drizzled with honey.

Buttermilk Biscuits:

2 cups All-purpose Flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

7 tablespoons butter (frozen for 5 to 10 mins)

1 cup of buttermilk

1 tablespoon butter, melted (optional)

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. This is done easily in the food processor, pulse until but gritty. Gradually add buttermilk, until mixture starts to form a ball. Don't overmix. Flour counter or cupboard and roll out dough. I usually use a glass dipped in flour to cut out my biscuits cause I'm fancy like that lol. But you can be creative and use a cookie cutter if that suits you. Bake at 350 degrees for 13 mins or until golden brown. For even more decadence brush with butter after removing from the oven.