Let There be Roux

Today I was asked how I managed to make a cream soup both vegan and gluten-free.

"How do you make it creamy without using milk?"

There are a few ways to thicken and creamify your soups without using dairy or wheat; One option is to include potato with your ingredients and then show that soup who's boss with an immersion blender. Another is to simply use soy or nut milk, which I find offers the illusion of creaminess, but doesn't do much for the taste buds.

One of the fundamentals of cooking is being able to make a roux. Oh, that flavourful and magical mix of butter, flour, and milk that when subject to heat, becomes the base of most non-tomato-based sauces. If the story of creation were about cooking, God would have made a roux on the first day.

But that's not at all vegan OR gluten-free, is it!? (interrobang!)

No, but I can teach you one that is. All you need is 2 cups of unsweetened soy milk, 3 tablespoons of rice flour, and 3 tablespoons of Earth Balance or other vegan margarine.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat
Stir in flour with whisk
Allow mixture to bubble - don't wait for it to brown. Make sure you stir. Since margarine is oil based, if your vegan roux browns before you add the "milk", you are simply burning your rice flour.
After a couple of minutes of stirring and bubbling, slowly whisk in your "milk".
Turn down heat to medium-low, and stir constantly until desired consistency is reached.

Ta-da!

Mix this in to broth soups to make them creamy, add garlic and parsley for a vegan alfredo sauce, or melt Daiya cheese into your roux for a delicious cheeseless sauce.

Meet Lola

Lola is a lump.

First!

A few years back, when I lived in Montreal, I had some short-lived popularity with a veg*n cooking blog. I intend to use this blog for cooking, burlesque, art, and whatever tickles my fancy (read: a lot of pictures of my cats).  So....

Right now I'm working on developing a seitan-based, vegan version of the Montreal smoked meat sandwich. It should be ready for launch in the Gypsy Kitchen Cafe in the early spring. I, personally, can't wait. I'm starting to work on transitioning the cafe-fare to a bit more of a diner/deli menu. Not that I don't love the snacks and paninis that we serve, but my culinary capabilities are craving something a little more complex, and Ottawa is sorely lacking in fast, inexpensive, and delicious vegan lunch options that are not samosas. 

I'm going to go eat a pickle.

Next time I post something I'll try to include a photo or a recipe or something else interesting, but not *too* interesting; my mom is getting good at the internet, I don't want to have any 'splainin to do.