hello friends and not yet friends,
Welcome back to Mary's Test Kitchen!
Ending my almost year long hiatus with your favourite:
What I Ate Wednesday! Vegan of course, as always.
And with me having way too much difficulty trying to open this packet of tofu.
If you have some, you could probably cook along with me as the other ingredients are mainly
basic vegan pantry items.
Once you wrestle tofu outta there, depending on your bread,
slice the tofu into appropriate sizes.
This one is kinda wide but not thick so I could only get two slices
even though I usually get four out of the variety I usually buy.
So use that information how you like.
As you've seen the title of this dish, this next bit is wholly unnecessary.
But I was originally planning on fried tofu sandwiches
for which you really want to pat the sides dry as possible.
But in any case, make sure to pat the tofu and tell them they are very good tofus.
Treat them with tender care and love.
And they will love you back.
Now for the yolk sauce.
Put yer pot on the stove.
Add a quarter cup of water and check out my new measuring cups.
Aren’t they cute?
And add a teaspoon of cornstarch
and a bit of turmeric
which I definitely added a touch too much of because we want colour but not too much flavour.
So that's my little oopsy.
So if you find yourself in the same situation, and you wonder if you should scoop
out that excess, yes, just do that.
Don't stir it in because you already turned on the
heat and you need to get stirring otherwise you're gonna get lumps.
Basically my advice is to not cook and film at the same time.
It really isn’t effective.
Anyways, you gotta cook and stir at the same time until it gets thick.
And if that's too much coordination first thing in the morning,
you can totally do this in the microwave.
Now we've gotta tone down this colour and add more flavour.
First with some Miyoko's Butter which I only got ‘cause it was on sale.
I mean it's good stuff but damn it’s 11 dollars dude.
And if you want, add some mayo for added creamy effect.
Then salt and for that distinct eggy sulfur flavour,
black salt AKA kala namak which if you didn't already know
you can buy at Indian grocery stores.
Or if you're lucky like me, Superstore has it in
their spices section right now. At least at my local store here in Calgary.
Now my yolk sauce is ready andddd
Last minute, I contemplated doing
a poached version instead so I asked you on Instagram.
‘Cause at first I wasn’t sure what I was going to do
which I immediately regretted ‘cause
I was gettin' hungry and didn't really want to wait for you.
But anyways you know how it turned out.
So to your pot, add salt and water,
preferably already boiled while you were prepping, and the slices of tofu to heat through.
That's it.
Afterwards, they are delicate
so I do my best to gently lift them out and on to a clean absorbent kitchen towel.
And pat them and thank them for being such good tofus
and not breaking apart.
And now, on to the rest of the sandwich.
The trouble with making food not just for myself but for the camera,
is that I get picky about things I wouldn't normally get picky about.
This sandwich would've been perfect.
But I wasn't happy with the toastiness level of the bread.
Up until then, I wasn't sure whether I was gonna make
just one or two sandwiches since it's only me on this day,
but I had to do the second.
If only for the toastiness.
And that requires more vegan butter.
[sizzle]
[scraping sounds]
[slower more seductive scraping sounds]
You've got to be careful with the black salt.
Less is more.
But sometimes more is more.
And that, my friend, is a darn good poached tofu eggy sandwich.
Tell me, would you make this too? The poached or fried version?
Or none at all. You can be brutally honest.
Anyways, I only planned to eat one. But the first was so delicious,
I ended up having both. During most of the panorama,
I haven't really been doing lunch so a nice big breakfast suits me just fine.
For dinner, again I took to instagram to ask you what I should make.
So yes, I did not learn my lesson.
But luckily, y'all picked the thing I was leaning towards anyway.
First, let's make some chilli. Cauliflower chilli.
I didn't really know what I was doing to be honest.
Just grabbed some bits and bobs from the fridge that looked chilli appropriate.
And diced them up.
Plus, I had to use this cauliflower which was getting a little past its prime.
If you know what I mean.
But again, it's only me on this day so this little hunk
was more than enough.
Now onto the stove,
First I sautéed the shallot.
Added minced garlic, about a teaspoon.
Maybe one and a half.
After a couple minutes on medium high heat, I added the mushrooms and, of course, salt.
Each of these ingredients has to go in and
Become reduced. So it’s gonna take a little while.
Okay, that’s pretty reduced; I have room for more stuff.
So I’m gonna go in with the… Cauliflower or Tomato?
Cauliflower. Let’s do Cauliflower first.
A little salt in that too.
You wanna salt at every step.
I heard that somewhere and it just kinda stuck.
It’s tasting good and this is as done as I want
my cauliflower.
Before adding my spices and tomato paste, I made a little room and added butter.
Mostly so my spices have somewhere to go.
Half a tablespoon of chilli powder. Is that too much?
It might be.
Then maybe two tablespoons of tomato paste.
Just frying the tomato paste just a tad and waking up the spices.
Alright. Before those spices burn, mix them up.
Fold in everything else.
And make some room for my tomatoes.
Salt once more.
Imma hit it with some onion powder.
That’s probably not enough. I’ll add more later.
Garlic powder; just a little bit this time.
Cayenne.
Some black pepper. I’m running out so I’m not using too much.
I need some of this for something else I’m doing And I don’t wanna go to the store.
Hmm…
Imma add a little red wine vinegar to this.
I already added a tiny touch of water to loosen things up.
Just going to incorporate this red wine vinegar and I think that’ll be it.
If I was eating this on it’s own, say, I would add a lot more vegetable broth
But this is going on chilli dogs so I am going to leave it chunky like these.
That’s it, it’s done!
If you haven't tried this sauce yet, my gosh you really have to!!
I soaked these cashews the night before so they are super plump and really easy to blend.
But if you don’t think ahead like I did, You can just boil them on the
stove for like 10 minutes And they should be just fine.
Roasted red pepper adds savory flavour and a lotta colour.
Red wine vinegar for it's flavour and it’s tang.
Nutritional yeast adds a cheesy flavour as long as you add just the right amount.
Not too much.
2 tablespoons of melted vegan butter or butter flavoured coconut
oil which adds a smooth mouthfeel and that little bit of dairy-like flavour
that just adds to the perfection of this cheese sauce.
A touch more tang from lemon juice.
Usually I add a touch of maple syrup but I was out so instead
I chose a scant teaspoon monkfruit erythritol sweetener
and a big pinch of fenugreek leaves which smell a lot like maple syrup.
Why would you need maple flavour in a cheese sauce?
Just trust me and go with it!
Making vegan ingredients taste like non-vegan stuff
is like math with flavours. You know, it just all adds up!
Add a little garlic or garlic powder, not too much.
Teaspoon of dijon mustard. If you don’t have
Dijon, you can use regular but Dijon is better.
Finally a little white pepper and you're about to see the best
vegan cheese sauce come to life.
It's like a grown up, zestier version of the childhood Cheez Whiz we used to and love.
Except I forgot the salt.
No problem. I added it afterwards and blended it again.
And now, it's perfect! Night and day difference.
So tangy, rich and smooth. It's amazing on, well, everything ever on earth.
It could make dirt taste good. Well, theoretically.
And finally! I got this new cast iron.
I'd normally grill these dudes outside but it was hella windy.
So this did just fine as you can see.
Time to load 'er up!
I mean, look at that.
There’s no neat way to do this.
And I don’t know how I’m going to eat this with my hands.
Maybe this is a knife and fork kinda hot dog situation.
Well, I can’t say that it’s the most aesthetic chilli cheese dog.
But… [laugh]
Maybe we can…
Wow. This looks ugly!
Put a little greeneryer? Greenery?
Some sausage decor?
I mean, cilantro.
Cilantro will add a nice fresh flavour anyways. Ch chi chi - there you go.
And how I’mma eat this?
Let’s take pictures first.
This was pretty challenging to eat- let me tell ya
But really delicious. You can't go wrong with Beyond Meat sausages.
And the chilli was the perfect blend of savory and spicy.
For me anyways.
Plus it feels good to get my cruciferous veg in especially since I've been seriously slacking
in that area as of late.
And this cheese sauce.
I'm so happy I have a whole jar to use for the week.
Something about being stocked up on, well, what I regard as my basic
items in the fridge. It is a good, safe feeling.
And friends, I think we need those small comforts, don't we.
What are your small comforts? Let me know in the comments below.
And that's it. Well, except for this Daiya ice cream but
It was nothing exciting to be honest.
Thanks so much for coming back to my channel and watching all the way to the end.
You really mean so much to me. I appreciate you spending your time here
especially when you have so many options on Youtube
and I hope you got something out of this video, whether food ideas or just a little relaxing time.
Please give this video a thumbs up if you liked it As it highly helps me out with the algorithm
especially as I've been away so long
And you know what they say about your channel dying
If you don’t post - well anyways Let’s raise it back to life.
I shall see you again next week! Bye for now!