Vegan Whipped Cream

YAS! You heard right. It's whipped cream and it is vegan.

I assure you that it's even better than the usual whipped cream.

 Look at that...

Ingredients

+1 can of coconut milk (you can go for those that specifically state 'full fat')

+Sugar to taste

+1 tsp of vanilla extract 

-Get you coconut milk and carefully place it in the fridge upside down for a couple of days if you just bought it. This trick is useful to get the cream out of the can easier. Have in mind that if the coconut milk has been sitting in the pantry for a long time, then 24 hours in the fridge are enough.

-Chill your pyrex bowl for one hour before whipping the cream

****Let's pretend a day or two have passed****

-Open up your can of coconut milk- that is not upside down anymore- and you'll see that the water rests on top. Pour it into a glass container and drink it right away because it's yummy store it in the fridge to use in smoothies. 

-Get your bowl out of the freezer, pour the cream out of the can.

-Get your mixer and mix for about a minute. Then add as much sugar as you like. I'd go with 4 tbsp to start. *

-Add as well the vanilla and mix on high until stiff peaks start forming. AND YOU'RE DONE!

Use as you would with any other whipped cream: on strawberries, on cakes, cupcakes, on your body... get creative.

*I used cassonade or brown sugar for the whipped cream in the picture.  The color is not affected. I've also used powdered sugar and it worked fine. 

Peruvian Cau Cau

Hungry for Peru, as usual.
Originally, this recipe contains tripe (the stomach of a cow) and it used to be one of my faves when I was a carnivore.
Peruvian food is absolutely rich in flavors and colors but, unfortunately for me, most of them contain meat.  So, here is when creativity and hunger strike making one come up with ways to replace the meat without affecting the flavor. (My mother mastered this art. She has made vegan ADOBO people!!!!!)

Oh, this dish, as most of Peruvian food, is served hot. #calientito

Ingredients

+6 potatoes (2 potatoes per person)
+salt to taste
+water
+half a cup of chickpeas
+a small bundle of coriander or cilantro
+turmeric or curcuma
+500 gr of tofu
+half and onion
+1 tsp of minced garlic
+Allspice or jamaica pepper (4 little balls; 2 for the cau cau and 2 for the rice)
+5 tbs of oil (3 for the cau cau and 2 for the rice)
+1 cup of  white or brown rice (Peruvian food without rice or potatoes is like a mojito without limes)

Cau cau

-Cut your tofu in rectangular slices. Marinate with salt, some turmeric and cumin (Add some soya sauce for extra flavor but watch out the saltiness)
-While your tofu marinates in the fridge, peel and chop your potatoes in rectangular slices as well.
-Fry the tofu in a pot or pan until golden brown.
-Lay paper towel on a dish and place your tofu there so it'll soak the extra oil.
-chop your onions in small squares and mince the garlic*
-Turn the stove on, pour 3 tbsp of oil and around 1 tsp of turmeric in a pot. We can add more after. When it's hot, dump 1/2 tsp of  the minced garlic. Let it fry for some seconds. Then dump the onions and 3 to 4 coriander branches and fry until the onion becomes kind of transparent.
-Add the allspice  (2 balls)
-Add the chopped potatoes and then fill in with water until it covers most of the potatoes.
-If the color of the water isn't yellowish enough, add more turmeric. Taste the water for flavor (How do you like turmeric flavor, strong?) and salt to taste.
-If your peas are fresh, pour them so they can cook with the potatoes. If they're  frozen, add them 3 minutes before you turn the stove off.
-Let it cool a bit. Meanwhile, get your fresh coriander and remove the stem. Chop the leaves into small pieces and separate in 2.
-After it's cooled for around 10 to 15 minutes, add the tofu and one part of the chopped coriander to the cau cau and mix well. Be careful not to smash the potatoes too much or you'll have a delicious puree . Sprinkle the other part on top when you serve. Fresh coriander on top gives extra flavor (It's optional though. You could also just garnish with some coriander leaves as I did)

Rice

-get another pot and pour the rest of the oil (2 tbsp) and the rest of the of minced garlic (1/2 tsp). When it is fried enough, pour the rice and mix well. *
-Add the allspice (2 balls)
-For each cup of white rice, you pour 2 cups of water. Since we're using the brown rice, it'll be 2 cups and 1/4 of water.
-Salt to taste. Bring the heat to high and cover pot.
-Let it boil. Keep checking your rice every 10 min. Reduce  the heat to minimum when the water and the rice are on the same level. Wait another 20 min.
-If the rice is still tough, add a little bit more of water and let it cook still on low heat until it's soft.

*Since turmeric has so many health benefits, one way to add it to your diet (If you eat rice everyday) is to add half a tsp of it when you're frying  the minced garlic. Yellow rice!

Assemble

- Put some rice in the center of a plate and on top, pour the cau cau. (The Peruvian presentation suggests to place the rice on one side and the cau cau next to it but I like the 'juice' of cau cau on my rice :p)
-Sprinkle fresh chopped coriander on top and serve hot.
voila.




+Tip:I peel like 3 to 4 bulbs of garlic and use the food processor to mince it. Then I place it in a Tupperware, pour some olive oil, mix well and keep it in the fridge so it's ready to use. It could last weeks. The oil helps to preserve it and garlic has antibacterial properties)

+Tip: Too much water in your cau cau? Don't freak out! separate some of it in a cup or bowl and use it instead of water to cook the rice. Not enough water?? add more.

Sweet potato ice cream pie

I just love pies!  And I used to hate sweet potatoes but I'm starting to love them. I am as well trying to replace cocoa or cacao powder with carob powder. "They" say it may be behind migraines, reflux, and has caffeine. And as many already know, it causes addiction #chocoholics. Certainly the benefits are endless BUT only when it's pure. No milk, no sugar added. Pure cacao.

Anyway. As a chocolate lover and strict criticizer of my own creations, being honest with y'all , I couldn't tell the difference of the "chocolate" whipped cream. It was thaaaat good!

Crust

+2 cups of flour

+4oz of vegan butter or shortening

+3 to 4 tbsp of very cold water (depends)

To cover our cups with chocolate:

*carob powder

*coconut oil 

-Check this youtube video. This is my favorite crust recipe and I use it for all my pies or just keep reading. I don't like to add salt though.

-Just add shortening into small pieces. It's easy to work into the dry ingredients.

-Once you've incorporated all the shortening into the flour and you start noticing little clumps, add 1 tbsp of cold water at a time and mix with a fork.

- Test the dough by picking up a handful and squeezing. If it sticks together, it's ready, if not, add a little bit of water until it sticks together. 

-shape it into a ball, wrap it in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 1 hour

-Get it out,  flour a surface and roll the dough out. It depends on how thick or thin you like your crust. -Cut into circular shapes. I used the measurement cup to cut  it. 

-Get your cupcake mold and place it upside down and wrap the dough around each base, shape it. 

-Stick the mold back to the fridge (to avoid dough from shrinking) or just bake it if you're desperate. 

-bake at 425c for 15 minutes

*Dissolve some carob powder with coconut oil. Play with the quantities. If you add too much carob, it'll become a paste and we are looking for a runny texture (like shampoo, not too thick not too liquid) The reason is that we want the chocolate to stick to the sides while it's freezing and not to concentrate in the bottom of our crust cups.

*Throw the cups into the freezer as soon as you finish covering the inside of the cups with 'chocolate'

Filling

+3 sweet potatos

+2 and a half tbsp of corn starch

+3 tbsp of flax seeds

+4 oz butter

+half tsp of nutmeg

+half tsp of cinnamon

+half tsp ginger 

+half a cup of milk

+ 1/4 cup pf sugar

+Some vanilla extract

-mix all the ingredients, except the flax seed, and boil for a couple of minutes to cook the starch.

-Let it cool and blend flax seeds until it becomes powder.

-Add the powder to the mixture and freeze. 

Topping

+1 can of coconut milk that's been refrigerated for 24 hours

+4 to 5 tbsp of sugar (depends on how sweet you like your whipped cream.

+some vanilla extract

+carob powder

-Cut open the can upside down so you can drain the coconut water easier.
-Whip the cream. Add sugar and vanilla. You're done. If you want a chocolate flavored whipped cream keep reading.
-I added 1 tsp of carob powder per 3 tbsp of whipped cream. You have to play with the quantities. If you added too much carob it'll taste kind of bitter so add more whipped cream until it finally starts to taste like chocolate.

Assembling

+Get your already frozen ice cream (It may be hard as a rock, but don't worry) and blend it until it's creamy.
+Get a crust cup our of the freezer. Fill it with the ice cream.
+Get your topping, add a spoon and spread. Dust some cinnamon powder on top and voila. You're done.

Homemade tofu and how to save your curdless milk

Got the recipe from here and from here. However, the first one worked out better. Here my story about how I saved my failed trial using lemon just as the second recipe instructed. Check below for the recipe!

I tried to make tofu using lemon and I got a very soft texture, impossible to work with and not so many curds :( -- However, still I'm going to use it to make a creamy smoothie <3-- for a moment I thought I was screwed and that I'd have to throw away the rest of the milk. I even added more lemon but nothing happened.

So, I came across the first recipe . Epsom salt! That nasty flavored thing that I drank when I was on a cleansing >_< but don't worry, the flavor won't affect our tofu! 

I just dissolved 1 and1/2  tbsp in 3/4 cup of water. I brought my milk to boil again for some minutes and let it cool for some minutes. As soon as the Epsom mixture hit the milk.... CURDS HAPPENED! 

Minutes after, I strained it very well, applied some pressure coz I wanted firm tofu and it worked wonderfully!!!!

My lemon soy milk was saved and transformed into tofu. Check out the recipe or just read my simple summary with some variations!

Ingredients:

+ 2 cups soy beans soaked for a day

+1 and 1/2 tbsp of Epsom salt (Got mine at the drugstore. Make sure is the edible one)

+ 7 to 8 cups of water

-Blend the beans 1 cup at a time with some water. Remember you can add more water after

-Dissolve the Epsom salt in half a cup of water. Cold or warm.

-Boil for 20 min. Watch out for the foam. I boiled mine for a few minutes unlike the recipe and I separated the okara (save it for cookies or cake before boiling the milk and still it worked fine

-Remove from the stove and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Get the Epsom salt mixture and pour half of it. Stir to incorporate everything. Curds start to form. Add the rest, stir a bit more and let it rest for 10 to 15 min. You should be able to see a  distinctive separation: the curds and yellowish water.

-Place a mesh cloth or a simple cloth (like an old cotton t-shirt) over a strain which is over a pan and strain and squeeze the water out for firm tofu

-Wrap the tofu with the cloth and put some pressure on top. I used my big honey bottle 

-Wait for an hour or 2, remove from the cloth. It should be firm. Soak in very cold water for some minutes.

-I placed mine in a glass container with the same cold water and store it in the fridge. 

Voila. You want fried tofu?? cut it in long squares, add soy sauce, thyme, garlic and onion powder, some cumin, some turmeric and marinate for 1 hour. Fry and Eat in a sandwich or salad! IT'S FREAKING DELICIOUS! and let's not forget it's packed with proteins

 :)

Mango Mousse

ok, I've been trying to think how I could use tofu on a raw, vegan dessert and I found the way!

I wanted to call it a cheesecake but it had more the texture of a mousse, not foamy though but very creamy :)

crust

+ 1 cup of almonds/chestnuts/coconut flour (leftovers when I make coconut, almonds or chesnuts milk, you know the leftovers after you strain with a cheesecloth? you save that to make cookies or crust) and this is entirely optional
+1 cup of walnuts
+16 or so soaked and pitted dates

-Blend  the dates using a food processor or your blender
-Blend the walnuts
-Mix all the ingredients together
-Line a pan with parchment paper and press crust into the pan. Refrigerate

Filling

+1 mango es enough but the more the better so go ahead and use 2
+300 gr of soft tofu. I use sunrise which is no GMO
+2 to 3 tbsp of agar agar (vegan jelly). Mine looks like  this so I soak it and boil in some water until it's dissolved. If you have the powder one, perfect!
+6 tbsp of maple syrup
+half a lime or 3 to 4 tbsp fresh lime juice
+3 tbsp flax seed
+1/4 chia seeds
+1/4 soaked oatmeal (soak it with hot water or for a few hours and wash it)

-Place everything in the blender EXCEPT THE CHIA SEEDS and blend blend until creamy. Add lime juice or sugar depending on what you like
-Pour in a bowl and then add the chia seeds and stir to mix all together
-Pour over your crust and refrigerate overnight or 8 hours

Garnish

+ A bit of mango
+1  to 2 tbsp of coconut oil
+maple syrup or sugar (as much as you wish)

-Pure the mango with a fork
-Add maple syrup, check if it's sweet enough
-Add the coconut oil and mix
-Get your mousse out of the fridge and get creative to decorate. You could cover your entire mousse if you add more mango and coconut oil

Violá! It was delicious!