SPAGHETTI AND BEYOND BEEF NUGGETS
An UPTICKED DELLALO TOMATO BASIL SAUCE ladled over thin spaghetti and topped with BEYOND BEEF ROUND NUGGETS cooked to perfection! DELALLOLICIOUS! Lots of veggies in this sauce!
Serves 4-6
Category: TEST PRODUCT REVIEWS
LILLY’S BEYOND BEEF SKILLET
BEYOND BEEF CRUMBLES sauteed in extra-virgin olive oil. Combined with tofu, peas, roasted peppers and vegan yeast. Seasoned with garlic, fennel, turmeric, smoked paprika and BLACK HIMALAYAN SALT. Lilly loves it!!
Makes 6 cups
DELIGHT SOY CHICKEN SOUP
If you can find Delight Soy chicken nuggets, it doesn’t take much to make a plant chicken soup, that actually tastes like animal-based chicken soup. Simple, soothing and beneficial to you – the organism! Which proves you don’t need the stewed chicken or the marrow from the bones when you’re sick to make you feel better!
Makes 6-1/2 cups
Yes, that’s what I want to know. What happened to BEYOND MEAT beefy crumbles?
Maybe it’s too old. Maybe the original recipe was changed. Maybe they’re getting rid of product that didn’t turn out so well.
Whatever the reason, the last two times I tried this product – several months apart, bought at different stores – the result was so dry and hard and basically inedible that Lilly Belle ended up eating it all – the whole dish I used it in – tofu crumble scramble now turns into LILLY’S TOFU CRUMBLE SCRAMBLE.
Yes, I made a recipe out of it, but like I said, it went to the dog and she loved it. But it’s not for me – nor Steve.
It reminded me of the BEAST burger they came out with a while back – before they debuted the BEYOND BURGER. The newest version is light years beyond the old. The old was too dry, not dense enough, not spongy enough, not spongy at all.
My suggestion is if you’re going to keep the old model in play for people who can’t afford the newer luxury style Maserati, then at least improve the recipe/formula of the old model, so it isn’t so dry, hard and mealy.
I prepared it exactly as instructed. There’s no amount of oil you can add to make it less dry, less compact. It was like the crumbles had been oven-dried into rocks and the fibers became stuck, where even water added wouldn’t soften them. They just crumbled into tiny hard pieces. TWICE on different occasions.
It’s a waste of a recipe, except that Lilly Belle liked it and got it all to herself. In future you may want to take what went wrong texturally and develop a plant-based dog food with it. Dogs like hard and chewy. They also like soft. So make some of the mix soft and some hard – dogs will like that. That doesn’t mean averaging soft and hard and coming up with one texture fits all. Dogs like varied textures within the meal. They have the teeth for all of it. I don’t. Neither does Steve.
So why did I buy it twice? I waited a long enough time where either a different batch would be available, or some tweaking of the recipe likely would happen within that time frame. I don’t give up on people or products easily.
But hey, we love that Maserati! It’s better than Impossible. It’s luxury.
~ the Animal-Free chef, at your service
Well, you’re going to get the recipe anyway. Either use another crumble by another company or wait till BEYOND BEEFY WAKES UP if you’re making it for humans. I’m naming this Lilly’s!!
LILLY’S TOFU CRUMBLE SCRAMBLE
BEYOND BEEF CRUMBLES sauteed in extra-virgin olive oil. Combined with tofu, peas, roasted peppers and vegan yeast. Seasoned with garlic, fennel, turmeric, smoked paprika and BLACK HIMALAYAN SALT. Lilly loves it!!
Makes 6 cups
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
12 oz. BEYOND BEEF CRUMBLES, frozen
19 oz. soft water-packed tofu, rinsed, patted dry with towel and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 t. salt
12 oz. bag froz. peas – place in saucepan with water and cook till thawed, then drain well
1/2 jar sweet red roasted peppers (including 1/2 liquid from jar) diced,
1 t. ground fennel seed
1 t. turmeric
1 t. smoked paprika
several twists of fine grind Black Himalayan salt
fresh grind black pepper to taste
3 T. Nutritional Yeast – I used KATE NATURALS brand
_________________
In extra-large skillet, over medium heat, melt olive oil.
Place frozen crumbles into skillet and even them out. Pan-fry, stirring and turning as needed till thawed and cooked through.
Add tofu cubes and salt. Distribute evenly, then stir and flip till coated with oil.
Add remaining ingredients, stir to distribute and till the yeast is thoroughly incorporated.
Don’t over-stir or mash the tofu – we want to keep as much tofu in whole pieces as possible. I know it’s soft and it breaks easily.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Reduce heat to low and continue to cook about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice.
Turn heat off and when cool enough, pack into covered containers and refrigerate till ready to feed your dog.
We all tried it of course, before it went to the refrigerator.
Notes: Black Himalayan salt adds a cooked egg flavor (and smell) plus 84 minerals.
The vegan yeast is a complete source of protein and B vitamins.
For some unknown reason BEYOND BEEF CRUMBLES cooked up dry again. Maybe it’s this particular factory batch, but they need to moisten it up. For this reason, I use it in Lilly’s dog food, since she likes the dry/hard crumbles.
OAT MILK SAVORY LIME SAUCE
Oat milk-based creamy lime sauce with garlic, tarragon and basil! Serve over veggies or pasta!
Makes 2-1/2 cups
EVERYTHING BAGEL SEASONING BLEND by Our Family
Since I’m boycotting bagels worldwide, I of course won’t let a bagel in the house. Well, Steve loves bagels, but he knew I meant business.
So low and behold, he finds a loophole. His favorite bagel is the Mish Mash – a bagel with ‘everything’ sprinkled on it: sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion, garlic and salt
He toasts 2 slices rye bread, smears vegan margarine all over them, then sprinkles the margarine with the EVERYTHING BAGEL BLEND and eats it. Well, he loved it, and he’s been eating it every night since.
I even tried it. Yes, it was messy, that’s why I never ordered a Mish Mash bagel. It was good though; I could actually taste the seeds, which surprised me.
The one thing I didn’t like about it was the salt. It doesn’t need salt. Margarine is already salted, so more salt, and it had a strong salt taste, wasn’t needed or wanted.
What I might do when the jar is empty is fill it with my own seed combination plus dried onion and garlic, minus the salt, adding pepper though. Why not? Are Jews allergic to pepper? Put some pepper on your bagel.
- Lucky’s Market had the jars on sale – a really low price – so he went back and bought three more. Guess it will be a while before I make my own version.
Regarding the BAGEL BOYCOTT: When Israel recognizes Palestine as a state and ends the illegal OCCUPATION of indigenous sacred lands I’ll lift the boycott.
PAN-FRIED MAY WAH TUNA SALAD
MAY WAH TUNA sauteed in sesame oil with black and white sesame seeds, garlic and lemon. Combined with chopped steamed cauliflower, celery and apple. Tossed with a Smoked Paprika Dill Relish Mayo!
Makes a little more than 4 cups
Categories
Nice! Pretzel Nuggets
Too much salt, not enough peanut butter. I didn’t know the peanut butter was there till Steve pointed it out. Then I had to search for it in the chew.
With the crunch of the salt plus pretzel the peanut butter seemed nonexistent.
I understand that the peanut butter can’t be creamy when wrapped in a pretzel nugget, since the pretzel is fragile and they’re all in the bag bumping up against each other, not like chocolates in their own seats.
So, more is what is needed – in my chew experience.
The SEARCH FIND DELIGHT method of sales could work if the find is both a surprise and spectacular. I know it’s only a snack, but that attitude isn’t helpful in the sales department. Not that you have it. I’m speaking to everybody here.
It was only a surprise to me after Steve told me it was there – the peanut butter – and I hadn’t noticed, even though I chew carefully, not like Steve who devours food.
I experienced disappointment instead of delight. And disbelief that there really was peanut butter in the center.
The only reason Steve knew there was peanut butter there is because he bought them and read it on the packaging.
Now, on the package that I subsequently read and bought by the way, after I tasted them, because our dog daughter loved them so much, says Satisfaction 100% Guaranteed.
Well, I’m not satisfied, though I would put them out if I had them – a few cases to distribute to the Seniors in the Senior residence where I live on the Edge in Cleveland, Ohio. There’s about 300 plus of us if you include all those who aren’t actually registered to live here, but frequent the place often – of all ages, so there’s a good sampling of the community right under my nose.
However, I did find another use for these pretzel nuggets filled with hard peanut paste rather than butter.
- The package suggests creamy because you called the peanuts, butter.
Oh, and by the way, the pretzel was a good chew, not too hard, not too crumbly. You of course can’t cut them in half, as the picture on the package suggests, so I’m guessing those pictures on the package are a rendition by an artist, not the real thing.
As you can see by the photos I took the time to cut a couple nuggets open to view and taste the peanut filling. The filling is hard, which explains why I didn’t know it was there. It matched too closely to the pretzel in texture. There appeared to be enough of it, just not enough contrast between the filling and the pretzel to notice it much.
I didn’t chop the pretzel. I did a clean cut and it crumbled quite a lot as the photo shows.
Not a single nugget was broken in the bag, in 3-4 bags that we opened, which suggests that you could use more filling and soften it up a bit. You might want to try flavoring the peanut paste with a little cinnamon or maple to offset the big salt flavor.
The filling can be pasty and creamy without leaking, more like a peanut truffle. It wouldn’t take a lot of correction to what you already have.
Now to get to what I did with these pretzel nuggets:
PIE CRUST
PRETZEL
HERE YOU GO!
EGG-FREE NOG PRETZEL PIE
I even used the pie crust mixture with chocolate added to make a topping for the pie.
And you’ll never guess what I used in the filling. You wouldn’t guess in a million years.
Nice! brand Sesame Cashews – our dog also loves these.
This is like no cream pie you ever experienced. Yet somehow it all seems so familiar. A rough and tumble cream pie? Is that even possible? With the animal-free chef, anything is possible!
Two egg-free dairy-free nogs, banana, sesame cashews, brown sugar and vanilla, blended and cooked like a pudding. Peanut butter pretzel nuggets and coconut made into a crust with only melted margarine. YES. To all of it!
Serves 6-9
Don’t tell me I don’t love you!
CNAP RESPONSE: Burger King’s claim that The Impossible Whopper is 100% Whopper and 0% beef is not true.
It can’t be both. A 100% beef whopper is not 100% Impossible Whopper.
A Whopper is defined as containing 100% animal product, namely beef.
In addition, nobody calls a Whopper, a Whopper Sandwich. I’ve never heard it, except when people are writing about it.
To America and the world a Whopper is a big burger on a big bun. Nobody says they’re going to have a burger sandwich – in real time. Burger King is a little late to the table in changing what they call their Whopper into a sandwich. It’s like a hot dog. Nobody calls a hot dog in a bun, a hot dog sandwich, unless it’s made on rectangular bread.
The lawyers and Madison Avenue are trying to trick people into believing they’re eating something they’re not, by the confusing, ambiguous language they use.
There’s no wonder the confusion regarding this product. There should have been none. When I say I develop animal-free recipes with the animal meat-eater in mind, it doesn’t mean I add animal meat. Burger King made a mistake by dividing people.
Why lie? Why deceive the public in what you’re selling and what they’re buying?
According to Burger King:
The WHOPPER = “Our beef patties are made with 100% beef with no fillers, no preservatives, no additives, no nonsense. We also make our flagship product, the WHOPPER® Sandwich, with 1/4 lb* of savory flame-grilled beef.”
IMPOSSIBLE WHOPPER = “100% Whopper, 0% beef.
Our Impossible™ WHOPPER® Sandwich features a savory flame-grilled patty made from plants topped with juicy tomatoes, fresh lettuce, creamy mayonnaise, ketchup, crunchy pickles, and sliced white onions on a soft sesame seed bun. 100% WHOPPER®, 0% Beef.”
The registered mark is the same on an Impossible Whopper and a Whopper description put out by Burger King advertisers. So, if an Impossible Whopper is made with a 100% WH0PPER® which is made with 100% beef, there is a conflict. It can’t be both.
The 100% WHOPPER = 100% BEEF, not 100% plant.
So, don’t call the plant version of the Whopper a Whopper that is 100% WHOPPER®. It isn’t.
- Clear that up before you get sued for that too.
I’m not a friend of BURGER KING. But I am a friend of ANIMAL-FREE MEATS DAIRY & FOODS.
Get an animal-free mayonnaise and cheese. Something white for the cheese, so employees don’t mix up the orange dairy cheese with the plant white cheese.
It’s already available. daiya brand and Follow Your Heart brand make the best cheeses for burger purposes. They soften quickly against the heat of the burger – daiya quicker than Follow Your Heart.
daiya is round and FYH is square. I like the round version for shape on a burger; it still wraps down over the burger nicely.
Tofutti brand Inc. is a contender, but the cellophane wraps are cumbersome and it’s not as healthy – good though; it tastes good against any burger. It also melts quicker against the heat of the food than the others – sometimes too much.
The animal-free mayonnaise that holds up the best is JUST MAYO.
Vegenaise brand, although good, has a consistency problem as you approach the bottom of the jar. JUST MAYO doesn’t; it feels thicker, which is better for restaurants.
THE IMPOSSIBLE WHOPPER ISN’T A WHOPPER
Lawsuit claims Burger King’s Impossible Whoppers are contaminated by meat
By Jonathan Stempel and Richa Naidu,
Reuters 18 November 2019
Plant-based alternatives health-craze is here to stay
By Jonathan Stempel and Richa Naidu
(Reuters) – Burger King was sued on Monday by a vegan customer who accused the fast-food chain of contaminating its meatless “Impossible” Whoppers by cooking them on the same grills as its traditional meat burgers.
In a proposed class action, Phillip Williams said he bought an Impossible Whopper, a plant-based alternative to Burger King’s regular Whopper, at an Atlanta drive-through, and would not have paid a premium price had he known the cooking would leave it “coated in meat by-products.
“The lawsuit filed in Miami federal court seeks damages for all U.S. purchasers of the Impossible Whopper, and an injunction requiring Burger King to “plainly disclose” that Impossible Whoppers and regular burgers are cooked on the same grills.
Burger King, a unit of Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International Inc, declined to comment, saying it does not discuss pending litigation.
Its website describes the Impossible Burger as “100% Whopper, 0% Beef,” and adds that “for guests looking for a meat-free option, a non-broiler method of preparation is available upon request.
“Williams’ lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the disclaimer or the available cooking options.Impossible Foods Inc, which helped create the Impossible Whopper, has said it designed the product for meat eaters who want to consume less animal protein, not for vegans or vegetarians.
“For people who are strictly vegan, there is a microwave prep procedure that they’re welcome to ask for in any store,” Dana Worth, Impossible Foods’ head of sales, said in a recent interview.
Burger King began selling the Impossible Whopper in August.
Restaurant Brands also owns the Canadian coffee and restaurant chain Tim Hortons, and is overseen by Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital.
The case is Williams v Burger King Corp, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, No. 19-24755.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Richa Naidu in Chicago; Editing by Tom Brown)
Source: Lawsuit claims Burger King’s Impossible Whoppers are contaminated by meat
CNAP ClipBoard: Sometimes Steve stops at Dunkin’ for early morning coffee. This time he bought two of the new Beyond Sausage Sandwiches for two co-workers to try. They weren’t the vegan ones, since all they have on them is a patty and ketchup. And these guys weren’t vegan.
One of the guys is Egyptian and can’t eat pork, so he was thrilled and loved them.
The other guy, though he didn’t act as excited about it, said he would definitely buy it.
So, those were the reviews of two non-vegans on the Dunkin’ Beyond Sausage Sandwich.
This past August, the Big Apple was offered a new plant-based protein menu option for Dunkin’ guests in Manhattan. To do so, we teamed up with Beyond Meat, one of the fastest growing U.S. food companies offering a portfolio of plant-based meats, to introduce the Beyond Sausage® Sandwich.
This product is part of our commitment to offer our guests a wide range of menu choices to fit their individual lifestyle needs, and our fans LOVE it. We heard from Dunkin’ guests far and wide that they needed this plant based sandwich in a store near them, and we are excited to bring the Beyond Sausage Sandwich to stores nationwide.
In honor of this fan favorite sandwich, we decided to tell the story behind the Beyond Sausage Sandwich.
The Beyond Sausage Sandwich offers the favorite taste and texture millions of Dunkin’ sandwich customers enjoy and expect with a juicy, savory Beyond Breakfast Sausage™ patty – made with 100% plant-based proteins and a mix of spices crafted especially for Dunkin’ – served on an English muffin with egg and American cheese. The taste profile of this plant-based sandwich also pairs perfectly with our Dunkin’ Cold Brew.
In addition to featuring 10 grams of plant-based protein, the Beyond Sausage Sandwich has 29% less total fat, 33% less saturated fat and fewer calories, cholesterol and sodium than a traditional Dunkin’ Sausage, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich on an English muffin, helping Dunkin’ deliver the nutritional and environmental benefits of plant-based protein.
In honor of Dunkin’ and Beyond Meat’s biggest breakfast news of the year, Dunkin’ is celebrating the launch with its first-ever multi-day sandwich-tasting event. To give people who run on Dunkin’ a chance to experience the great taste of this plant-based sausage offering, on Friday, November 8 and Saturday, November 9 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. guests at participating Dunkin’ restaurants throughout the U.S. are invited to enjoy a complimentary sample, while supplies last.
If you are new to the plant-based arena, you may have a couple questions about this new Dunkin’ product.
For example, what is a plant-based protein? It is simply that! Protein derived solely from plants. The Beyond Breakfast Sausage featured in the sandwich is made of peas, mung beans, rice and sunflower to provide the protein and coconut oil to ensure juiciness.
You may also be wondering if the new Beyond Sausage Sandwich is vegan. While the standard sandwich build is not vegan, as it includes egg and cheese, guests can order the sandwich with just the Beyond Sausage patty on an English Muffin for a vegan-friendly breakfast sandwich option.
*Sustainability is a key part of Dunkin’s growth, and a critical part of our journey is taking bigger, bolder action to be more sustainable in all the ways we operate. A key benefit of the Beyond Breakfast Sausage patty is that it is more sustainable for the environment than traditional meats as it requires less water, less land, generates fewer Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and requires less energy than a beef burger to produce.
Source: The Story Behind our Beyond Sausage® Sandwich | Dunkin’
Hilary’s SUPER CAULIFLOWER VEGGIE BURGERS. They advertise as the world’s greatest veggie burger.
The burger textures more like a mashed potato patty. The cauliflower was difficult to find. It needs more of a binding component. It mashed with a fork really easily. I didn’t put it on a bun. It would have been a waste.
There was little if any flavor. The texture was actually offensive, being that it had a powdery aspect to it even after pan-fried in oil.
The cauliflower attracted me originally and I thought it a good idea, but it just wasn’t executed well with this burger. The entire recipe needs to be reworked.
Make it a cauliflower burger without all those other veggies in it. Cauliflower has a good texture if you don’t over cook it, or cut it too small.
If you’re going to call it a burger, you need a chewy texture. It feels like the cauliflower was mashed.
The dog ate them.
This is the burger everybody’s been talking about and quite frankly, compared to the other Impossible Burgers I’ve had this hardly resembled it.
There are two ways you can order this burger at Burger King cooked: either flame broiled, or microwaved for those who don’t want their burger cooked on the same surface an animal patty was cooked. I chose flame broiled, since I’m not into that two kitchen thing that observant Jews do: one for flesh and one for milk, cheese and eggs, since it’s against their religious beliefs to have them touch each other.
I ordered it flame broiled, but it didn’t taste nor texture like what I’ve had in the past, which could only mean they microwaved it.
It was also thinner, much thinner and drier, so I’m surmising the people at Impossible Foods took the animal patty and made a close replica of it. Evidently not all Impossible burgers are equal.
The girl doing the cooking in the back didn’t know what vegan meant when the guy up front asked her if the mayo was vegan. The up front guy had to look on a small packet of mayonnaise and he couldn’t see it, so I looked and immediately saw contains egg. He said I was so rapid that I gave him a headache.
The guy assured me there was no animal in the bun, but who knows.
There was only one other person in the store eating and it looked like it was closed from the outside. It also looked like they were trying to save on electricity. Dark inside, dark outside. It was a freaky experience. I was happy to get back on the bus into familiar territory.
It tasted like a whopper. The burgers I recall from fast food decades ago were pretty dry. It was all the goop on them that made them taste good.
HAZELNUT CRANBERRY ROAST En Croute
by FIELD ROAST Grain Meats
Served with Mustard Grape Sage Sauce as a main dish roast or on an English muffin sandwich! Yes to it all!
En Croute means ‘in a pastry crust’. Today we’re serving an Artisan Vegan 100% Plant Based ROAST made from grains and veggies. Manufactured with the rosemary, candied ginger & sausage stuffing situated in the center of the roast, all formed in a neat roll wrapped in pastry.
Essentially the people over at FIELD ROAST developed a plant version of Beef Wellington, using the textures and flavors of sausage rather than beef. How’d they do? Well, I never had a beef Wellington in my animal-eating days, but I know what one is and what pastry and beef tastes like separately, so I can comfortably say that I’m glad I waited to experience the plant version first. Although I don’t make pastry, I’m a fan of pastry wrapped foods.
My contribution to this dish, besides following baking instructions to the letter, is a Mustard Sage Red Grape Sauce with Kalamata olive.
The crust, even when at room temperature, was flaky throughout. The roast, although giving the impression that it would be a little mushy, was firm and chewy, like you’d expect a sausage roast to be. Mashed potatoes and a green veggie side dish would have completed a holiday version of this meal, but it didn’t need side dishes for our purposes.
Serve this roast to any guests for any meal. When you aim to impress, this plant version of beef Wellington will come through for you!
Serves 8
Steve and I are big fans of Blue Diamond. Their smokehouse almonds are tops. I make crumbs out of them that I put on everything that likes a crushed nut topper. Their Almond Breeze Milk is the same – tops. Their gluten-free smokehouse Nut Thin crackers yup the same – tops.
Now this. Of course Steve had to buy some and of course he loved them. They’re almost delicate.
I’ve got some new teeth and the dentist said, “no rocks or nuts”. I handled these pretty good. Next time I’ll buy some vegan block cheese to serve with them, only because of my fragile teeth.
I’m happy to see them branching out. How about a couple more animal-free cracker flavors? A lot of stores don’t carry the smokehouse flavor. I blame that on the vendor. Still…so many animal flavors and only one non-animal. I’ll keep looking for non-animal #2. Thanks. Good thoughts going your way. No pressure. You already know how to do it. That’s always a good feeling for me.
Well. I always liked canned and/or jarred mushrooms. To me, they had more mushroom flavor than fresh cooked mushrooms. Just the mushrooms canned with salt brought out the flavor of the mushroom more than oils and garlic and herbs ever did. People who have eaten escargot (snails) claim that without the butter and garlic and wine, they probably wouldn’t like the snail. It was everything they were cooked in that tasted so good.
When I was a kid in Massachusetts in an area where they made great pizza, they didn’t use fresh sliced mushrooms. They used canned, and chopped them coarsely, whereby you could actually experience the mushroom flavor on the pizza – even with all else that covered it. They also used a lot more oil, which also made the pizza juicy.
When the modern pizza was introduced in the early 70’s fresh sliced mushrooms replaced the canned and the oil was essentially eliminated, leaving the pizzas lacking in flavor and juice.
Pizza shops could save some money if they went back to the canned mushrooms. You can’t taste the fresh ones on the pizza anyway, and they don’t have a very long shelf life.
Recently for whatever reason, mushrooms in Cleveland have been way below par in quality and shelf life. It used to be if the tops were all white with no brown spots and they felt firm beneath the plastic wrap, they’d be good in the refrigerator at home for a few days. Not so lately. For months now, no matter the grocery store, they look good on the top, but when you get them home and unwrap them, the bottoms are squishy and fishy smelling. Those are not useable. Once they get to the fishy stage, no matter what you put them in or do to them, they ruin a dish.
Many restaurants however, still use them as I have experienced many fishy tasting salads when out and about.
No more. If I order a salad I specifically request no mushrooms.
At home I do the same thing. No mushrooms unless they are in a jar or can. My salads can do without mushrooms. Maybe I’ll start marinating some canned mushrooms in a homemade vinaigrette to top off the salad when I have a mushroom craving.
In all other recipes where I would normally use fresh, I’m using canned – unless I’m at a store where I can see the undersides of the mushrooms I’m buying, then give them the smell test. But frankly I’ve been burned so many times of late, I’m not interested anymore in fresh mushrooms.
Steve brought these home the other day to put in a sauce I was making and they worked perfectly. So there.
BITE SIZE TOSTITOS TORTILLA CHIPS
No double dipping worries when serving more than yourself and significant other. I like that. I like the chips too. Thin, but not so thin that the chips break when dipping into a guacamole. Mild flavored I also like.
Remember when every now and then in a bag of potato chips you’d come across a burned one, and everybody enjoyed the taste? Well, the same thing happened with a tortilla chip I came across. At first I thought it was a potato chip mixed in the tortilla chip bag, because it was shaped like one. Not so, it was definitely a tortilla chip and tasted well, like I don’t ever want another burned tortilla chip. So here’s warning you in advance, the properly cooked ones are great, the occasional burned one is not.
Okay, it’s new, it’s different from their other deli slices that have a denser more cohesive texture.
Separating the slices is one of a few obstacles. If you’re in a hurry and want to make a sandwich, you can’t put your thumb under the slice to separate it from the pack. You need a sharp knife and have to gently place it under the edge of the slice and slowly wiggle it like you would do if removing a fragile cookie from a baking sheet. It’s not worth the effort.
The texture is similar to liverwurst or Braunschweiger, creamy but dry, still the creamy carries it. The flavor is sorely lacking.
I would make this a liverwurst type product; make it thicker, more flavorful and a little creamier. You have the components here, you just need to rework them.
More mustard, sage, garlic, black pepper, rosemary, and instead of kale and red pepper, use eggplant. Or use all of the above and add the eggplant – skin and all.
I wasted 2 slices by ripping them, you will do the same. Maybe wet a sharp knife under hot water first, or maybe the manufacturer should place a square of deli paper between each slice. I won’t buy either one again till improvements are made.
Still, I made a sandwich and enjoyed it. The Tofutti mozzarella singles stole the sandwich and Tofutti cheese is bland, so that tells you something.
The nutritional stats are good. You’ve got something good going here. It needs some work. Thank you for that effort.
TOFURKEY HAM ROAST
Well, well, well, who would think a plant could be transformed into a replica of a ham roast? Not me years ago. Times have changed and lucky for us all, especially those whose hides are stolen to satisfy the cannibalistic palates of humans! Yea! Congratulations to the fine folks over at Tofurkey for this wild success!
Serves about 5 or 6
MAY WAH IMITATION SMOKED DRUMSTICKS
Coated in Sweet Smoky Mustard Sauce and baked till crispy. Garnished with fresh cilantro and served with additional dipping sauce spiked with Balsamic vinegar and a mild sesame seed oil! The texture, flavor and overall mouth-feel is impressive! I would order these out if I had my choice of dipping sauces! I look forward to try more – they’re in the freezer now!! the cilantro is a nice touch!
5 drumsticks
This is one popular burger. Everybody wants it. Even burger joints that sell only animal meat want it. Fortunately for me several locations all at once, near enough so I could get to them, started putting it on their menus.
We ordered it at Earth Bistro in Cleveland, a restaurant that makes everything they serve on the menu vegan-friendly. Can be made vegan.
Probably, but I don’t know for sure, most burger eaters like their burgers medium rare. This was my experience with The Impossible Burger.
Yes, it had a blood taste, but it textured too soft. It seemed barely cooked, barely even warm. In fact the bun was warmer than the burger.
Steve felt like I did. It was okay as far as burgers that bleed go, but he likes his burgers well done. So do I.
When speaking to the owner, he said of course they were still learning to work with it, and that if cooked beyond a certain temperature, it stiffens considerably according to the instructions.
I’m not sure if they actually wasted one by experimenting with it, but you really need to do that.
Firming this burger up, allowing for a longer cook time so when it gets to the customer it is still hot is important.
It wasn’t cohesive enough, and of course it plopped out the sides of the sandwich when I bit into it, more like a chicken salad only made with a burger.
The Impossible Burger is too fragile. Not wanting to lose a burger, cooks are so afraid to go beyond the temperature suggested, that they undercook it. That’s my take on it.
Tighten it up and don’t be afraid to add a little salt.
I won’t order another one until it’s improved. I certainly do appreciate the effort that went into the development of this burger. I look forward to the new and improved IMPOSSIBLE BURGER – maybe a separate one that’s well done. Two varieties: Medium rare – well done.
UPDATE on 7 March 2018
I posted my short review of THE IMPOSSIBLE BURGER onto THE IMPOSSIBLE BURGER Facebook Page. This was there response:
“Impossible Foods Thank you for reaching out, Sharon! We’re sorry to hear that your experience didn’t meet your expectations. We’re always working to improve, and we really appreciate your feedback. 
👍
If you decide to give the Impossible Burger another go, we’d recommend requesting that it be prepared more well-done. Everyone likes their burgers cooked differently, but we enjoy a medium well preparation of our product.”
My Comment > So, it can be cooked longer than the chef cooked it. Cooks and chefs all over should know this. Like the person from Impossible Foods said, they enjoy a medium-well, which probably is perfect. I will try it again and make my requests and report back. Thank you to IMPOSSIBLE FOODS for clearing that up for me – and anybody else who experienced the same problem.
Categories
My DNA Results Are In
ANCESTRY.COM \ ancestryDNA
The big surprise was the Scandinavian influence coming in @ 31%.
Great Britain including Wales and Scotland @ 21% no surprise there.
A separate category for Ireland, Scotland and Wales was a little surprising @ 20%.
Europe East including primarily Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Russia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Bosnia, Herzegovinia, Croatia came in at 21%. I expected to see only Lithuania, or Russia, Poland and Lithuania because of all the ‘occupation of Lithuania’ that went on over the centuries.
Iberian Pennisula registered 6% and generally covered Spain and Portugal, yet the physical map included Northern Coastal African countries of Morocco and Algeria. Also included in this map are Corsica Island (France) and Sardinia Island (Italy). I was wondering if I might be Spanish or French. A small amount of both. I say, 6% is statistically significant.
Europe West @ 1% included primarily France and Germany with map overlaps into Northern Italy, Western Spain, some countries mentioned in Europe East category plus Switzerland. Some more French here and Italian – not much but it’s on the board.
The New England Settlers’ ethnic categories for me included Great Britain, Ireland/Scotland/Wales and Europe West. The Davidson side of my mother’s family are from Inverness, Quebec outside of Montreal, which is included on the map along with New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island.
What I didn’t find was the Native Canadian via Quebec or Northern New York connection – the Indian blood my grandmother told us we had, “your mother won’t tell you this, but you have Indian blood in you”.
Maybe some of my siblings or cousins share that DNA. Maybe Ancestry DNA doesn’t track Canadian Natives or aboriginal peoples.
Either way it was interesting to see the results. I understand now why my mother often called me a mongrel. The dictionary says it’s a disparaging (insulting) term for a person of mixed breeds. She didn’t say it that way though. Kinda like when she’d call me her little gypsy as she ruffled my hair as I walked by.
I don’t have to look for the Indian – Canadian or American – I know it’s there somewhere.
I’m satisfied with the results. Nothing shocking once researched and explained. It takes a long time to get the results.
I recommend it for people who have never committed a crime.
It was a Christmas present from Steve. I wouldn’t have pursued it on my own.
Now he gets a present from me and we’ll compare heritages.
French and Italian – though in small amounts – surprised me too. My family didn’t talk heritage like I guess a lot of other families do. It just wasn’t important to neither father nor mother. that’s probably a good thing.
Now, I’m not going to do what so many others appear to be doing or have done, try out different DNA companies to see if they get the same results.
I’m satisfied. Looks like I’ve got some Northern African DNA too. A smidgen. But it’s there.
Actually I’m happy with all of it.
Hey, where’s my China connection?
BEYOND MEAT BURGER
Now available at select locations. Check out their website: http://beyondmeat.com/.
Steve and I tried this BEYOND MEAT BURGER a few days ago at EARTH BISTRO in Cleveland, Ohio. Although I’m not a fan of the thick burger, preferring them thin, this textured and flavored like a real animal burger – cow burger. The degree of doneness tasted like it looked, done medium.
It was charred slightly so one might think it came off a grill. Satisfied like a burger, maybe two burgers. It was a large meal for me. I couldn’t eat the fries.
The texture of the animal burger is what most people can’t replicate. BEYOND MEAT accomplished that goal. Impressive BEYOND IMPRESSIVE!
EARTH BISTRO provided a vegan bun, vegan bacon, vegan cheese and vegan condiments. Not all who serve a vegan burger do that. Tip of the hat to BEYOND MEAT and to EARTH BISTRO!
If this is how rocks taste, then I’m all in. Actually, it’s the best water, bottled or not, that I’ve ever tasted. It is smooth as they say. Not so smooth however is their woman bashing mentality when describing that this water has never been touched by man, as if everybody human in the world gets that they really are men, and that the other half of the human population doesn’t deserve mention or inclusion here.
Just because the water is old doesn’t mean the company needs to stay in step and continue the forever prejudice against women by making them a part of man, rather than independent of men.
How about just going with what is accurate? Untouched by Humans or Humankind.
Such a beautiful water destroyed by prejudice. Why do it?
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. South Pacific Island people are not exactly known for their progressive stances when it comes to human rights other than the rights of men. It’s time to wake up to the real world. One half of the human population can’t hold the other half under their thumbs forever.
CRABLESS CAKE BITES
Now this is an easy appetizer when you don’t want to start from scratch. And why not impress your guests and make your appetizer the talk of the meal!
Makes 18 bites
Fried chicken doesn’t get much better than this – vegan or not. Upon first bite I was sure that the chef got my order mixed up, since all items on the menu at EARTH BISTRO CAFE in Cleveland, Ohio can be made vegan or served with the animal counterpart. I was sure I got the real chicken. Not so said one of the owners. Everybody says that who orders it. It could hurt my business. They say it tastes just like real chicken. ‘Texture too’, I added. And sometimes they’re not convinced it’s vegan. The secret? It’s the seasoning. Evidently Cuban Chefs know how to season – very well.
No hot stuff here, just good stuff.
This vegan chicken using this recipe should be served in every restaurant in the world. Like hot dogs or burgers. This is it!
This is the place!
Most spreadable cashew cheeses have pretty much the same consistency, though flavors and other textures may vary. One drawback that I’ve noticed is their incompatibility with wheat crackers. Spread it on a wheat cracker, take a bite, chew and notice what happens. By itself, the cheese tastes and textures great. Put it on a wheat cracker (and most crackers are wheat based) and something weird happens.
The texture of the cheese and cracker together becomes one new unified, indistinct from each other, texture. It’s like an immediate marriage that doesn’t work out well, since both items become something new, losing their individuality. The chewed texture of the cracker and the chewed texture of the cashew cheese is too similar – when chewed together.
I have since solved that problem by using a rice cracker. No wheat with cashew cheese. It just doesn’t work. Not yet. Maybe as companies improve on their product, this factor will be addressed and the problem eliminated. Not everyone likes rice crackers.
I’ve never been a big fruit eater with cheese. Maybe a chilled cooked fruit, but not raw. Especially not with cashew cheese. Everybody recommends it, just like they do with dairy cheese, but I don’t. Olives, pickles, roasted peppers, mustard are good accompaniments.
Although this cheese is named brie, don’t expect it to act like a dairy brie. Nice though. Creamy, flavorful, not ashamed to bring this to any table – just not with wheat crackers or raw fruit. Since it’s named sun dried tomato, then a sun dried tomato relish on top would probably enhance the entire experience. I used a dill pickle slab with a country style dijon mustard on a plain rice cracker.
Most nutmilk cheeses are good on their own. Eat right out of the package is what I most often prefer to do. With this smoked cheese coated with cracked black pepper I decided to make a grilled sandwich.
Use a deli-size whole grain bread, spread both pieces with Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard. Top one slice of bread with slices of sweet red roasted peppers.
Top the second slice of bread with 3 slabs of Smoked Nutmilk Cheese by Punk Rawk Labs – no more than 1/4 inch thick.
Close sandwich, oil skillet over medium heat. Grill on both sides, using a little more oil when you flip the sandwich.
Cut and serve.
A delightful sandwich. I didn’t need additional black pepper, since the cheese is already coated with cracked pepper.
The cheese doesn’t melt like a traditional sliced firmer cheese, designed for meltability. However, the cheese softens from the heat into light, puffy, creamy pillows of smoky elegance. It’s hearty and elegant at the same time.
Definitely a keeper.
Eat this sandwich hot off the skillet or at room temperature. Give it a try at your next wine and cheese tasting. It won’t disappoint. Just cut into smaller bite size pieces.
Go back to the drawing board. Why is it that when somebody gets into the dairy replacement manufacturing business, they have to do it all? Do you really think that cheese makers or milk sellers around the globe take that kitchen sink approach to products they intend to sell? No. They don’t. How many dairies out of all the dairies in the world make yogurt? Not many. So why do people who haven’t even gotten the vegan cheese part right yet, think they can move onto yogurt?
Too many companies are putting out product that hasn’t been fully developed, just so they can make a few sales while they finish engineering the one that’s out there. Not a good idea. Not good for business and not good for the integrity of the product.
There are other factors involved in the integrity of a product besides whether an animal was used to produce it. It’s a competitive marketplace and you need more than ‘does not contain animal products’ on the label to survive.
Nancy’s in the dairy business. That company isn’t committed to animal-free and they have no experience with soy, judging by the product they put out. They just want a piece of the vegan market, like many animal-abusing companies do. It’s all about how much money they can make and how quickly they can make it. Not this time Nancy. Not with that product. You failed miserably.
Everybody raves about Kite Hill. At least online. But then, I’m accustomed to some vegans who simply want to support a product because it’s vegan, so they’ll say they love it. What they really mean is they love that you’re trying to do something really good, but realize in their minds and via their taste buds that you aren’t there yet. ‘When is the real product, you know the end result of this experiment, going to be ready for public consumption? Let me know, I’d love to try it’, is what they’re really thinking. Don’t assume that because you have fans, that they love your product. They want to keep you afloat till you produce something much better. Don’t disappoint them.
Daiya. You have enough work to do with your other cheeses – you really do. I’m not blaming you for wanting a piece of everybody’s pie, but this yogurt does not come close to satisfactory, unless you include those people starving around the world who would cut off their arm for a case to feed their family. Greek does not simply mean thick. It failed across the board on everything that counts.
I would not buy any of these dairy-free yogurts again. Maybe in a year or two if I’m feeling adventurous, since I do know that most companies change their formulas often – sometimes so often that they miss the one time that they hit their mark. Improve on the cheeses okay?
THE JEWEL OF RUSSIA VODKA
This was a surprise gift from Steve. Expensive to be sure, but worth every penny.
This is the first time trying one of Guy Fieri’s barbecue sauces. He’s one of those chefs on the Food Network on T.V. – the one who does reviews of Diners Drive-ins and Dives around the country. Steve brought it home for a new product to try and it didn’t disappoint.
On the Fourth of July I decided to cook up two really simple dishes using one of his barbecue sauces: Guy Fieri Bourbon Brown Sugar barbecue sauce. Advertised as sweet and sticky. It was thick, sweet, and it did cook up sticky.
I didn’t have to doctor it, which usually happens with bottled sauces. Just as I was thinking to add lemon to his sauce, I tasted it and bingo, he already did. Of course I added a little more, only because I wanted a larger lemon presence for the type of dishes I was making.
Correction: It tasted like lemon. It really contained orange and pineapple flavor.
Here they are. Take a look.
ITALIAN BARBECUE SUB SANDWICHES > https://theanimal-freechef.com/2017/07/04/italian-barbecue-sub-sandwiches/
BOURBON BARBECUE APPLE SHORTCAKE > https://chefdavies-tight.com/2017/07/04/bourbon-barbecue-apple-shortcake/
Although these two recipes aren’t fat-free, his barbecue sauce is.
What Guy Fieri forgot to mention is that his barbecue sauce also works well on animal-free meats as well as in desserts. Now he knows.
Yep, you guessed it – contains no animal products. Guess the liquor industry finally got wind of the truth about vegans, they like to drink!
Ever see those perfume ads in swanky magazines where you pull back the fold and you can smell the scent of the fragrance being advertised?
Well, leave it to Captain Morgan to push all the appropriate buttons. The bottle itself, the wrap on it, smells like coconut. Brilliant marketing strategy. A conversation piece.
This contains rum teamed with coconut milk and spices. It’s thin, a little skim-milkish in viscosity, while remaining potent and refreshing. Maybe the thicker cream drinks are going to be replaced by the lighter varieties. I know that in the plant milks, Silk brand, for example, shoots to keep their veg and nut milks thick, but I’m not sure that’s going to be the trend in the near future. We’ll see. I like the thin.
I said to the bartender, ‘make me a white Russian out of this’. She did, and it did not disappoint. It’s been decades since I’ve enjoyed a white Russian, because I no longer drink cream.
Thank you for the pleasure Captain Morgan!
Drink responsibly.
GLUTEN FREE DAIRY FREE VEGAN
Well, it finally got to Cleveland, courtesy of a bartender friend who likes to try vegan stuff and pushed for it.
Dairy-based Baileys has cream and egg in it, so of course the original is going to be thicker and richer tasting than the almond milk version of Baileys.
Still, it’s no slouch in the liqueur department. It’s thinner, but potent and fine tasting. They recommend it be served over ice, but I prefer it straight up dusted with a little nutmeg. Ice would only thin it more in my view.
Baileys stepped up to the ‘no more dairy cream’ phenomenon, so if you want to keep this new and improved just for your good health version of Baileys, go out and order some at your favorite bar or restaurant.
I recommend it because it’s good, and because I didn’t like the egg in the original Baileys.
It’s an easy drinker it is, so go slower than I did. Experiment with your own fancy drinks and share them on social media.
Go Baileys!!!
Refrigerate after opening. And Drink responsibly.
Prior article: https://theanimal-freechef.com/2017/01/11/vegans-dont-drink/
