CHINESE STEAM ROLLS (AKA Mantou)

Ingredients (US)
1/3 cup and 2 tablespoons warm water, about 105F
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon traditional or instant yeast

Ingredients (Metric)
100 ml warm water, about 40C
150 g all-purpose flour
7 g sugar 
4 g traditional or instant yeast

Instructions
Combine the water, sugar and yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes for the yeast to bloom.

In a large bowl, combine the liquid and the flour. Stir with chopsticks to combine, then use clean hands to form the dough into a ball.

Knead the dough until it is smooth; about 5 minutes.

Place the dough into a bowl, cover with a moist towel or floured plastic wrap and let rise for one hour or until doubled in size.

Remove the covering and punch down the dough, knocking out any large bubbles in the dough.

Knead lightly and form into desired shapes. You can make small 1 1/2" balls, shape the the dough into a log and cut in to pieces, or roll the dough out into a long rectangle, roll it up and cut across the length to make snail shapes.

Cover the dough balls with a moist cloth or floured plastic wrap and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes until puffed up.

Prepare your steamer. Bring the water to a boil. To prevent the buns from sticking to the steamer basket, line it with parchment paper or oil the bottom lightly.

Carefully place the puffed dough into the steamer basket and steam on medium-high to high heat for 20 minutes. If you make larger buns, you may need to add more time. Try to avoid over steaming as this will result in a denser, tougher texture.

Removed the steamer basket from the heat but keep the lid on; let rest for 5 minutes before removing the buns.

Serve immediately with savory or sweet accompaniments.

NOTES
This recipe can be multiplied to created larger batches. Mantou is best served fresh, but they can be frozen after cooking and re-steamed to heat up.

Like with all recipes, you may need to adjust the cook time for your own stove. If your steamed buns come out too hard, they may be overcooked. Try reducing the time by 5 minutes next time. If they come out doughy, they are undercooked. Try increasing the cook time by 5 minutes next time. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9IMVM6RJC4&feature=youtu.be

BBQ SAUCE PEACHES AND SEITAN

BB

Dark Burnt Red Sauce. The next condition was that it had to be dark red-purplish sticky burnt brown. I do like the lighter orange colored transluscent BBQ sauce, but I was going for that molasses-inspired opaque BBQ sauce. And I got my wish.

Less Sugar. More Flavor. After perusing the aisles of Whole Foods to get some BBQ sauce inspiration I noticed that most bottled sauces contain a lot of sugar and not a lot of good stuff. So I decided I would make my sauce with a thick tomato paste base and use half black strapped molasses and half agave syrup as my sweeteners. Molasses is rich in iron, manganese, calcium and copper. And it's so fun working with that thick black goo known as molassas. It's like tar. Only good for you. And tasty. I also use a lot of spices to add a depth of flavor that simple sugar just can't match.

OK, enough stalling, here is my recipe...

Kathy's Smoky, Sticky, Sweet BBQ Sauce
vegan, makes about 1 1/2 cups

4 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 Tbsp Black strap Molasses
2 1/2 Tbsp agave syrup
1 tsp lime or lemon juice
2 tsp Liquid Smoke
*I like Colgin brand. It says it's vegan on the bottle
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp spicy mustard
2 tsp soy sauce
3 tbsp organic tomato paste
1 1/2 Tbsp Arrowroot Powder
*thickens the sauce like corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne (adjust for heat)

Optional Tweaks:
*For a sweeter sauce add more agave or 2 Tbsp brown sugar
*Taste test sauce and add more salt if you prefer
*For a zippy-er flavor replace the lime/lemon juice with 2 tsp orange juice

Directions:
Combine all liquid ingredients in a bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients one at a time. Make sure to add the arrowroot powder slowly to avoid clumping.

Set aside until ready for use.
Store in fridge if you are not using immediately. 

BBQ Sauce Uses:
Easy to use on an outdoor grill. Or you can use my indoor cooking preparation for tofu and tempeh below.

BBQ Tofu and Tempeh
vegan, makes 3-4 servings of BBQ tofu or tempeh

1 cup Kathy's Smoky Sweet and Sticky BBQ Sauce
2 Cups of tofu or tempeh, cup into 1/2 thick triangles
olive oil (for pan)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:
Heat a saute pan to med-high.
Add 3 Tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp lemon juice.
Add enough of the tofu or tempeh to fill the saute pan.
Coat both side of the protein with some of the pan oil.
Add 1 Tbsp water-for steam, and quickly cover with lid to braise.
Allow to cook for 2-4 minutes, depending on tofu or tempeh cuts.
Remove lid, and flip the triangles.
The flipped side should be well-browned and slightly crisp.
Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the cooked side up of the tofu/tempeh.
Cover with lid and allow to cook for another minute.

Next, reduce heat and brush each triangle with about 1 tsp BBQ sauce.
Flip triangles.
Coat top side with about 2 Tbsp of BBQ sauce.
Add 1 tsp water and cover with lid again.
Steam for about a minute.
At this point you can allow the sauce to simmer and marinate on the triangles covered or uncovered. Covered softens everything up, while uncovered leaves a hint of crispness to the proteins and sauce.
When the pan starts to really brown up, turn heat to super low and prepare to plate the dish.

For a stickier sauce you will want to let it burn a bit in the pan. Just a bit though!

Garnish: BBQ peaches. Peaches preparation follows photos.

Tofu:

Tempeh:

BBQ Peaches Recipe

1 cup sliced peaches
*I like white peaches best for this
BBQ sauce cooked pan.

Directions:
Simple drag the peaches across the bottom of your just-used BBQ sauced pan.
The cooked sauce remains will stick to the peaches perfectly and slightly warm the outer sides of the peach. Just be careful and use a fork. Don't burn your fingers on the still-hot pan.

Peaches:

QUESO DE PAPA

JERICALLA VEGANA

500 ml de leche de soja 
1 rama de canela
1 limón
1 naranja
80gr de azúcar
20gr de harina de maíz
1/4 de cucharadita de agar-agar
azúcar para caramelizar

Cómo preparar la crema catalana vegana:

1. Sumergimos el agar-agar en la leche de soja hasta que se diluya por completo.
2. Añadimos la canela, la ralladura del limón y la naranja y el azúcar. Llevamos la mezcla a ebullición
3. Mezclamos la leche con la harina previamente diluida en un poco de agua
4. En un cazo calentamos la mezcla a fuego lento y sin dejar de remover durante dos minutos.
5. Repartimos la crema en 6 cuencos y dejamos enfriar en el frigorífico durante 3 horas.
6. Espolvoreamos con un poco de azúcar y caramelizamos antes de servir. Por ejemplo, con un soplete de cocina.

COCONUT ALMOND BUTTER FROSTED VEGAN CHOCOLATE DOUGHNUTS

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

10 mins

TOTAL TIME

25 mins

These rich vegan chocolate doughnuts are topped with a creamy almond butter frosting and sprinkled with shredded coconut.

Author: Alissa

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 8-9

INGREDIENTS

For the Chocolate Doughnuts

• ¾ cup unflavored soy or almond milk
• ¼ cup melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. ground flax seeds
• 1¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ cup mini vegan chocolate chips

For the Almond Butter Frosting

• ¼ cup creamy almond butter
• 2-3 tbsp. unflavored soy or almond milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ cup powdered sugar

For Topping

• ½ cup shredded coconut

INSTRUCTIONS

Make the Doughnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Stir milk, coconut oil, vanilla and flax together in small bowl. Set aside.
3. Stir flour, sugar, cocoa powder, coconut, baking powder and together in medium mixing bowl. Add liquid mixture and stir just until blended. Fold in chips.
4. Divide mixture into 8 or 9 cavities of doughnut pan. (Bake in batches if using a 6 cavity pan.)
5. Bake 12 minutes. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely before removing from molds.

Make the Almond Butter Frosting

1. Stir all ingredients together in small bowl. Add a bit extra powdered sugar if it seems too thin, a bit more milk if too thick. Mixture should be just a bit on the runny side.

Top the Doughnuts

1. Dip tops of doughnuts in almond butter frosting. Sprinkle with shredded coconut.
2. Serve.

BARBACOA DE BEREBJENA

Barbacoa de berenjenas

Ingredientes para dos personas:

3 berenjenas medianas
Media cebolla mediana picada en cuadritos
1 diente de ajo grande finamente picado
1 limón (su jugo)
1 ramito de cilantro finamente picado
4 o 5 cucharadas de salsa de soya
Pimienta molida c/n

Para acompañar:
Cebolla, cilantro y rábanos picaditos, aguacate en rajas, para servirse la barbacoa en tacos.
Tortillas
Salsa taquera

Procedimiento:

Pelar las berenejenas y rallarlas, ponerlas a remojar en agua con mucha sal para que suelten lo amargo por lo menos 20 min. Exprimirlas entre las manos (o con un trapo) para que no les quede nada de agua. Deshebrarlas muy bien. Hechar a freir la cebolla en un sarten grande, ya que esté transparente agregar el ajo y enseguida la berenjena, poner el fuego lento y tapar el sartén, revoler de vez en cuando por 20 min. Agregar el cilantro picado, la pimienta, la salsa de soya y el jugo de limón.  Revolver muy bien. Probar y rectificar la sasón. Dejar cocinar por otros cinco min.

Servir enseguida.

Nota: A mi me gusta poner todo en el centro de la mesa y que cada quien se prepare sus tacos.

CREME BRULEE

http://www.labioguia.com/notas/receta-sencilla-y-saludable-de-creme-brulee