Showing posts with label corn flour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corn flour. Show all posts

Thursday, November 8, 2012

SAVORY VEGAN CORN PUDDING (OR CUSTARD), A CLASSIC AMERICAN DISH FOR THANKSGIVING OR ANY DAY

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Last week a friend mentioned that she was developing a vegan version of Corn Pudding for Thanksgiving because her mother always served it.  This is an old American dish which mixes a Native American food with European ingredients. Corn pudding is a descendant of common British vegetable puddings using eggs and milk and any vegetable (or fruit) available.  It makes a great side dish, or a light main dish. (For "fancier" individual serving, you can bake them in ceramic ramekins instead of a pie pan.)  Early corn puddings often had quite a bit of sugar added because the corn available in the early days was not as sweet as what we have available now.  No need for sugar these days, in my opinion, but some Southern cooks still add it.

My friend's experimenting reminded me that I had a recipe in one of my older books, "Soyfoods Cooking for a Positive Menopause", and that I hadn't made it for a long time, even though I really enjoy this classic American dish.  So, I found my old recipe and decided to see if I could tweak it a bit more.  The result is below, and I hope you'll enjoy it.  

VARIATIONS: This is a dish that's open to many interpretations-- in different areas of the US, the flavoring varies according to regional tastes. My recipe is most like a classic Eastern Shore corn pudding.  In the South, sugar is sometimes added, or the pudding is made richer with sour cream and cheese.  Southwestern corn pudding often has hot sauce, fresh chiles, chipotles and/or chorizo added.  Vegan versions of those ingredients can be added, if you like, but be careful of adding too much moisture to the mix. Other additions might be vegan bacon bits or chopped vegan ham, or sauteed chopped green onions or chives.



BRYANNA’S VEGAN CORN CUSTARD (or PUDDING)    
Serves 4
Adapted from a recipe in my book “Soyfoods Cooking for a Positive Menopause”.

This is best with fresh seasonal corn, but still delicious using frozen corn, if you use "peaches and cream" or another sweet corn variety.

12 oz. medium-firm tofu or extra-firm silken tofu
2 T. + 1 tsp. corn flour (finely-ground yellow cornmeal)
(Note: If you have no corn flour, use 4 1/2 tsp. cornstarch instead, but the corn flour does add extra corn flavor)
1 T. nutritional yeast flakes 
3/4 tsp. salt (with a pinch of Indian black salt (Kala Namak) for eggy flavour, perhaps?)
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. baking powder
Veggies:
1 to 3 tablespoons vegan butter, depending on how rich you want the dish
2 cups corn kernels (thawed, if frozen), coarsely chopped in a food processor
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Optional, but nice:
a tablespoon or two of chopped fresh herb of your choice (tarragon, basil, parsley, oregano...)
1/2 a red pepper, chopped 
1/2 a green pepper, chopped 
A bit of grated vegan cheese for the topping

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

In a food processor, blend together the tofu, corn flour, yeast flakes, salt, turmeric and baking powder.  Blend until very smooth.  

To sauté the onion, either cook it with the vegan butter over medium heat in a small, heavy skillet, or microwave them in a covered dish with the vegan butter for about 2 minutes, until they are softening. At this point, add the garlic, peppers (if using) and processed corn. Sauté or microwave the mixture until the peppers are softened. Remove from heat.

Fold the cooked veggies into the tofu batter and in a medium bowl. Add any other ingredients for variations (below), if using. Spread the mixture in an oiled or “buttered” 9" pie dish (Pyrex or ceramic, if possible).  Bake for 35 minutes, or until set.  Serve warm.

PS: If you decided to top the dish with some vegan cheese, do it in the last 5 minutes of baking.
                                                           ****************
        

NOTE ABOUT CORN FLOUR: As a thickener, corn flour creates a pale yellow "buttery" or "eggy" color in the finished product that is much more appetizing than turmeric (which tends to have a greenish cast and, therefore, looks phony).

It also contributes a "buttery" flavor or even an "eggy" flavor. It blends to a creamy smooth texture after it's cooked in liquid and then blended with more liquid. Adding a tiny bit of vegan butter gives it an even more buttery taste with very few calories in the finished product, but, in most cases it is not even necessary!

Corn flour mixtures cook well in the microwave, BTW.

Corn flour is not the same as cornstarch (confusingly, what we call "cornstarch" in North America is referred to as "corn flour" in the UK)- it's very finely-ground yellow cornmeal. Nor is it the same as "masa harina", the corn flour used for making tortillas, which is treated with lime. I can find corn flour in the Asian or Indian section of my supermarkets (Overwaitea and SuperStore here in BC, Canada), but also look for it in Indian markets and health food stores, which have organic brands.) Bob's Red Mill carries it

If converting a recipe that calls for cornstarch, use half again as much corn flour as cornstarch.

NOTE: IF YOU CAN'T FIND CORN FLOUR, if you prefer to use organic products and can't find the organic kind, grind the finest yellow cornmeal you can find in a clean coffee/spice mill until it is powdery (this is important), or grind yellow cornmeal on the finest setting of your electric grain mill (I had to run it through mine twice).




 Enjoy!




Sunday, February 4, 2007

VEGAN ALL-AMERICAN "BUTTERMILK" PANCAKE MIX

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 I devised this mix a couple of years ago for my [now defunct] subscriber newsletter, The Vegan Feast, and I wanted a healthful vegan mix that produced a light, fluffy, white pancake (it's full of whole grains, but it looks white!). I also wanted it to have very few additions, so that it was really quick and easy. You only have to add water and a little lemon juice to this mix, and it produces pancakes you can be proud to serve to children, picky eaters, omnis, anybody!

I make double, sometimes even triple, the recipe most of the time, to have it on hand for company breakfasts, or mornings like today, when we want a quick treat. So here's a little gift for you:


Printable Recipe
BRYANNA'S VEGAN ALL-AMERICAN "BUTTERMILK" PANCAKE MIX
Servings: 12
Yield: 8 cups


Enough for 4 batches of 12/ 3" pancakes each batch; 2 c. mix per batch)

These can be mixed up in a minute and taste almost like the white kind, but have plenty of fiber and grains in them! I looked at the labels of pancake mixes and found that many of them contain rice flour and corn flour, so I added them (whole grain, though, of course!) and found they did improve the finished product!
NOTE: To make the mix with ALL wholegrain flour, the only change you have to make is to use 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (white whole wheat pastry flour would be good!) plus 1 cup oat flour (rolled oats ground in a DRY blender or coffee/spice mill) in place of the 2 cups unbleached white flour and 2 cups wholewheat pastry flour in the mix recipe. The rest of the recipe is the same.

2 cup unbleached white flour (See NOTE above)
2 cup whole wheat pastry flour-- white whole wheat pastry flour would be good!(DO NOT use regular whole wheat flour, or the pancakes will be tough!)
3/4 cup corn flour (**see Cooking Tips below)
1/2 cup soy flour (or use chickpea flour if you are allergic to soy)
1/4 cup golden flaxseed, ground in a dry electric coffee mill (one that is NOT used for coffee!)
1/4 cup brown rice flour (Brown rice flour can also be made in a clean, dry coffee/spice grinder. Grind as finely as possible.)
2 Tbs unbleached organic sugar
4 tsp Ener-G or Orgran egg replacer powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil of your choice

TO MAKE THE MIX:
Ideally, mix the ingredients together in a dry food processor. If you don't have one, whisk the dry ingredients together well in a bowl, then rub in the oil with your fingers. Keep in a tight jar, refrigerated, unless you use it up fast. STIR BEFORE MEASURING OUT.

T0 MAKE 12/ 3" PANCAKES WITH 2 CUPS OF THE MIX, ADD:
1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbs. lemon juice

Place mix in a medium bowl. Dump the lemon juice and water into the dry ingredients and whisk briefly just until no dry flour is visible-- it will be lumpy and quite thick.

Let stand while you heat up your pancake griddle or skillet-- seasoned cast iron or carbon steel is good.  Drops of water should sizzle when sprinkled on the surface of the pan if it's hot enough. Turn the heat down to medium.


Spoon heaping tablespoonfuls of the batter onto the hot, oiled griddle and spread it out gently to a 3" circle with the back of the spoon. (I used a tiny ladle that holds 1 1/2 Tbs. batter and that's perfect. If you want larger pancakes, use a ladle that hold 3 Tbs. batter; the yield will be about 9 pancakes.) Cook until it has puffed a bit, bubbles appear in the surface and the bottoms are golden-brown.


Carefully loosen with a spatula (if using a silicone spatula, make sure that it has a nice thin edge on it) and turn over gently. The center will rise a bit and be firm, and the other side golden when done. Don't overcook, or they fall and are heavy.


Serve on warm plates with vegan butter (optional) and warm syrup (we like real maple syrup), or a low-sugar jam or fruit sauce-- whatever is your fancy! Yum!

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per serving):
270.2 calories; 24% calories from fat; 7.5g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 370.8mg sodium; 293.4mg potassium; 44.8g carbohydrates; 5.6g fiber; 2.6g sugar; 39.2g net carbs; 7.6g protein; 5.2 points.

Cooking Tips


**CORN FLOUR: As a thickener, corn flour creates a pale yellow "buttery" or "eggy" color in the finished product that is much more appetizing than turmeric (which tends to have a greenish cast and, therefore, looks phony).

It also contributes a "buttery" flavor or even an "eggy" flavor. It blends to a creamy smooth texture after it's cooked in liquid and then blended with more liquid. Adding a tiny bit of vegan butter gives it an even more buttery taste with very few calories in the finished product, but, in most cases it is not even necessary.

You can create soy-free vegan sauces and spreads, if that is a concern to you, and smooth, creamy products without the expense of silken tofu. Corn flour mixtures cook well in the microwave.

Corn flour is not the same as cornstarch (confusingly, what we call "cornstarch" in North America is referred to as "corn flour" in the UK)- it's very finely-ground yellow cornmeal. Nor is it the same as "masa harina", the corn flour used for making tortillas, which is treated with lime. It is available in the Asian or Indian section of many large supermarkets supermarkets (SaveOn and SuperStore here in BC, Canada), but also look for it in Indian markets and health food stores, which have organic brands.

Basically, use half again as much corn flour as cornstarch, if converting a recipe.

NOTE: IF YOU CAN'T FIND CORN FLOUR, if you prefer to use organic products and can't find the organic kind, grind the finest yellow cornmeal you can find in a clean coffee/spice mill until it is powdery (this is important), or grind yellow cornmeal on the finest setting of your electric grain mill (I had to run it through mine twice).

Enjoy!