Food Substitutions: Eggs

If you're anything like me, you're probably very conscious of your friends' allergies or dietary decisions. For me, a large number of my closest friends are vegans. While I can't accommodate them with everything, I do try to learn about a few basics on substituting so that they can occasionally eat what I cook. Naturally, when a friend of mine gave me a hint on substituting eggs, I jumped at the idea of sharing it with others who are in my position.

Come to find out, flax seeds are a very good substitute for eggs, particularly in baking. I personally love flax seeds for their texture and that they're a very good source of omega 3 fatty acids, which are crucial for creating the amino acids responsible for the coating around our nerve cells. Because I don't eat a lot of fish that are rich in these fatty acids for ecological reasons (I try to limit my intake of salmon to once or twice a year), I will occasionally keep flax around for topping oatmeal in the winter and granola in the summer.

While flax may seem like an odd way of substituting eggs, let me clarify: you soak the flax in water until it's slimy like an egg. I don't remember the volume of a large egg, which is most often used in baking, so I will see about measuring an egg in a measuring cup to give you the exact volume you'll want when doing this substitution and update this post once I do so. If you already know the volume, please feel free to mention me in the comments and I'll be sure to mention you when I update this post.

Kitchen Tips: Substitutions

Last night, I had something happen to me that most cooks dread: I was in the middle of cooking and discovered I was missing a crucial ingredient for what I was making. My car is up on blocks, so I cannot and was not able to leave the house. Instead of panicking, I looked to some friends to find out how to fix it.

The ingredient in question was marsala wine to make chicken marsala. I was certain I had some when I started preparing this classic and simple dish, only to find that my stores of alcohol had pretty much every type known to man but marsala wine. After some conversations with my friends, I discovered a couple things I could have used, both of which were in my stores.

First was the wine I actually used: port. Port is sweeter and darker than marsala, but surprisingly worked with the mushrooms. It yielded a much fruitier flavor than I was hoping for, but it did work in a pinch.

The second was a less commonly used variety, but nonetheless just as useful: vermouth. Vermouth is used primarily to make martinis, but is closer in color to marsala, so if you're caught without marsala and have a person in your household who is very particular about the color of foods, vermouth will be your friend.

I hope this helps you if you ever get caught without marsala while making something where it's crucial to the flavor of your dish. Have any other substitutions? Feel free to comment below!

Curry Stew: Easy, Cheap, and Nutrient Dense

I haven't been cooking too often because my husband has been working in town on business. However, I needed to use some sour cream, yogurt, potatoes, and green beans, so I needed to cook something with them all. I've cooked this before, so I know it's pretty good.

First, boil the potatoes and other vegetables of your choice ( I used green beans, frozen broccoli, and frozen spinach, but any will do) for 30 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Next, mix together two Tablespoons each of flour and butter. Add about a cup of almond milk and half a cup of low fat sour cream and a quarter cup of non-fat Greek yogurt. Once it's thickened, add the vegetables and a Tablespoon each of turmeric, coriander, and cumin. Add salt to taste and serve once it's heated through.

I love this recipe; it's super easy and really tasty. While Will hasn't been here to try it and tell me what he thinks, I'm sure he'd like it.

Taco Pizza: An Effective Use of Leftovers

If you're anything like me, you probably have tons of leftovers when you make taco salad. I always end up making endless burritos with it at best and throwing it away at worst. I ended up thinking, since Will's in Argentina, why not cook something utilizing everything that went into the taco salad and put it on a pizza? It will help extend the amount of time between grocery store trips and save me from wastage.

First, make or buy your favorite pizza dough and roll it out onto a stone. Spread any refried beans onto the raw dough; if you don't have any refried beans left over, use some leftover taco sauce or salsa instead. Next, top the pizza with the leftovers from your pizza; I used leftover ground beef, fresh tomatoes, dried chipotle flakes, and grated sharp Cheddar cheese, but I'm sure anything from avocado to shredded chicken will taste great on this.

Next, put the stone with the pizza on it into a heated 350 degree oven and bake until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted. Serve with a salad.

It was pretty good, but I think I added too many chipotle flakes. Next time, I think I'll add some queso fresco or cotija in addition to the Cheddar to help amp up the flavor profile.

Cauliflower Gruyere Souffle: Labor Intensive, But Tasty

I've made this dish once before, and it's relatively easy and flavorful. However, it requires a lot of dishes, so be prepared with an empty sink and dishwasher before taking on this particular recipe.

First, bring a quart of salted water to a boil. Add a cauliflower head that has been broken into florets; cover and cook for 25 minutes.

Drain the cauliflower and return them to the same pan to dry off any excess water on high heat. If you don't use high heat, the water won't evaporate off, and trust me when I say that cauliflower retains a lot of water, so it may take a while.

Once your cauliflower is nice and dry, add it to a food processor and puree it to a nice, almost mousse like consistency. Set it aside.

Next, combine a quarter cup each of butter and flour to form a roux; do not let this get too brown. Add one and a quarter cup of milk (I used almond milk, so it works out just fine), salt and pepper to taste, and a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg; cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. This should take about five minutes. Add four ounces of grated gruyere cheese and whisk it until it's smooth. Add two cups of the cauliflower to the mix and stir.

Now is where things get a bit tricky because you are tempering eggs. This demonstrates one of the proofs that cooking is applied organic chemistry. In order to temper eggs, you have to add about a quarter cup of your hot mixture to four egg yolks, because if you just add the yolks to the hot mixture without tempering them, you'll end up with scrambled solids, and nobody wants that. Once you've whisked the hot mixture into the yolks, add this well-blended mixture to the cauliflower mixture and set this aside.

Take your four egg whites that came from separating the four egg yolks and whip these into soft peaks using a hand mixer. You can do it by hand, but unless you have a strong pair of arms and like to whisk things for ten minutes straight, I recommend using the mixer. Fold the whites into the cauliflower mixture in such a way as to not break down the whites.

Pour this mixture into an ungreased souffle dish and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour or until brown. Serve this immediately because it will collapse almost as soon as you take it out of the oven.

Will and I liked this dish, but I need to work on getting the cauliflower as dry as I can. I need to remember not to worry about burning the food.

Splurge Night: Biscuits With Gravy

I've been under the weather the last few days or so, so Will ended up cooking for me. Because he didn't know how to make my cauliflower souffle and the turkey breast I had taken out was not defrosted yet, we decided to make biscuits with gravy and bacon. This is a super easy recipe; even better, use the leftover gravy to make SOS later.

First, start rendering your bacon on low to medium-low heat. This will take a long time, but it makes the bacon super crispy and renders the fat better than using a higher heat.

When about half of your bacon is rendered down and is nice and crispy, cook some packaged biscuits according to the package directions.

Once your bacon is done, make a roux by combining equal parts bacon fat and flour. Stir the roux until it's browned. Add about two cups of milk, cream, or water (we generally use water). Make sure that your water is not hot when you add it because otherwise it will flash boil and you will get burned. Stir this until it's just slightly thinner than you desire and season to taste with salt and pepper. The reason for taking it off the heat when it's slightly thinner is because it will thicken as it cools.

Usually we do a white gravy with our biscuits, but this time Will decided to use a brown gravy for experimentation's sake. If you don't like adding a lot of pepper or have someone who is sensitive to pepper, using brown is the way to go because you use about a quarter of the amount of pepper as you normally would with a white gravy. Overall, it turned out really well, and isn't bad for a quick dinner.