mannafest

Like the pot pie, I didn’t grow up eating sausage gravy but with all of the nouveau southern comfort food on menus in town I’ve seen it enough to pique my curiosity. I decided to attempt two new dishes—homemade tempeh sausage and white gravy—and pair it with herb biscuits. The result was pretty fantastic although next time I’d do plain soymilk rather than soy creamer which was all I had left. Since I’d already added a bit of maple syrup my gravy was sweeter than I would have liked. Nonetheless it was yummy. I got the biscuit recipe from Veganomicon and used Namaste flour mix. The touch of apple cider vinegar was great because they tasted like buttermilk. I used a Food Network recipe for the gravy and Post Punk Kitchen’s sausage recipe, a bit modified. Here’s my take:

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I’ve been obsessed with pot pies for a really long time. I didn’t eat them growing up but I always thought they looked so cool. I had an Amy’s vegetable one in my pre-GF days, but since hadn’t taken the time to experiment and create one I could actually eat. Yesterday it was freezing cold and all I could think about eating was a warm pot pie and so I did some research. I found this recipe and modified it to make it more interesting to me (LOL! plus my grocer was out of nutritional yeast, so…).

Here’s my version:

Ingredients:

• 2 GF pie crusts
• 8 ounces extra firm tofu, cubed
• 1/2 stick vegan butter*
• 1-2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 celery rib, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 Russet potato, diced
• 1 bag frozen organic vegetables (peas, lima beans, corn, carrots, green beans)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose GF flour
• 1 packet vegetarian gravy mix*
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tsp. finely chopped sage
• 1 tsp. finely chopped thyme
• 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 cup soy creamer

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Set frozen pie crusts out to defrost.
3. Cut tofu into 1/3-inch dice and press between clean kitchen towels or paper towels to rid of excess water.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 stick of butter in a large skillet over medium heat until butter melts.
5. Cook tofu until golden on all, or most, sides. Remove tofu from skillet and set aside.
6. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent.
7. Add potato to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until tender but not mushy.
8. Add gravy mix to the skillet and stir into the vegetables.
9. Add vegetable broth and stir until combined, scraping all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
10. Add tofu and frozen vegetables until combined, continuing to stir and scrape the pan.
    
11. In a separate container, mix cream, paprika, sage, thyme, salt and pepper together and stir until combined. Pour into skillet with other ingredients.
12. Take one crust and press into bottom of a 9” pie dish. Brush with olive oil.
13. Pour mix into the crust.
14. Take second crust and cover the dish and seal on the sides, crimp with a fork if desired or other method. Brush with remaining olive oil and a dash of creamer. Cut a slit (or other design) in middle.
    
15. Bake for 30 minutes.
16. Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

My friend Peiyi brought me back a handful of plums from Santa Barbara and they were sitting in my fridge all week. Super dark and juicy these were perfectly overripe. This morning I had flash of freestyle inspiration and decided to make what I call “stovetop jam”. It wasn’t canned or preserved in the traditional sense nor was it a coulis, but it was yummy! I made up these ingredients on the fly so who knows how it will turn out again? I think my late grandma, Erna, would be proud as she used to make the absolute best peach and blackberry preserves. I used this as a topping for Cinnamon-Vanilla French Toast (made with Udi’s gf white bread).

Freestyle: Plum Skillet Jam

Ingredients

• 4-5 ripe plums
• Dash of sea salt
• 1 T of champagne vinegar
• 3 T of agave nectar
• Dash of cinammon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 T rum (optional)

Directions

1. Gently scrub, rinse, and slice the plums into medium pieces
2. Add to a medium sized saucer
3. Add in agave nectar and lemon juice. Turn heat to medium and cook for approximately 7 minutes until the mixture begins to break down.
4. Turn heat to low and add in salt, cinnamn, and nutmeg.
5. Continue cooking and add in vinegar and rum.
6. Plums are already soft so you want to cook this down until you get a consistency you like. I cooked mine until it was on the thicker side but still syrupy enough to pour over my french toast.

P.S. I know these aren’t the best shots—I need to buy a real camera—these are taken with my iPhone 3Gs. Soon come. I promise.)