Busy week indeed...
All right follow up on the Egg Replacer experiment from the previous post.
What happen to them a day after?
I stored it in a plastic air tight container in room temperature.
Appearance/Texture before warming it up
**General note:: They all became denser including the egg one.
Flaxseed - No difference in appearance/texture before warming up except for being denser.
Ener-G - It was much denser and a bit crumbly looking
Tofu - This is still the softest out of all of the muffins even after becoming denser. The indentation disappears slowly when i poke at it.
Egg - It retains it originality the most out of all the egg replacers. It became dense but not much as the other replacrse
Appearance/Texture after warming up on high in the microwave for 30
Flaxseed - It became softer (quite obvious hahah) It was very gloopy and sticky like fudge. When my teeth sliced through the cupcake it clung onto my teeth :3 A bit like sticky rice cake if you have ever tried.
Ener-G - It also became softer but it was quite dry. When I was peeling the cupcake liner off of the muffin, pieces crumbled off. The good thing is that it resembled the egg's texture. Note that in the previous post the flaxseed's texture resembled the egg's texture the most on the first day.
Tofu - It became very soft as well, the crust was very much like the one from the muffin with the egg but, when I got into the middle, oh dear...It was very mushy and soft.
Egg - Became soft and it was dry as well but not as dry as the Ener-G where it started crumbling off.
Egg Replacer Experiment #2 Lemon Pound Cake
This Lemon Pound Cake recipe was found on Epicurious.com
It originally called for 3 eggs but to make my life easier I made changed the recipe proportionally to make it 4 eggs since I've tested 4 different type of egg replacers and what not. It is like the previous experiment. I used Flaxseed, Ener-G, Tofu and Egg.
Here's the recipe
Yields 16 medium cupcakes 193 Cal/Serving
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/3 Cup (183 g) Cake Flour
2/3 Tsp Baking Powder
1/3 Tsp Salt
2 2/3 Tbsp Freshly Grated Lemon Zest
Wet Ingredients:
1 1/3 Stick (369 g) Softened, Butter ( 2/3 Cup)
1 1/3 Cup (267 g) Granulated Sugar
1 Tsp (5 mL) Vanilla Extract (1/4 Tsp for each bowl if you are trying the experiment)
2 2/3 Tbsp (40 mL) tbsp SoyMilk (2 Tsp for each bowl if you are doing the experiment)
2 2/3 Tbsp (40 mL) Fresh Lemon Juice (2 Tsp for each bowl if you are doing the experiment)
Egg Substitute:
4 eggs or egg replacer (If you are trying to do th experiment follow the four different type of eggs below)
1 Tbsp Flaxseed + 3 Tbsp Water
1 1/2 Tsp Ener-G Mix + 2 Tbsp Water
1/4 Cup smoothed Silken Tofu
1 Egg
- Preheat oven to 325 F and grease a 1 lb loaf pan, muffin pan or a 1 quart kugelhopf pan.
- In a bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and zest together. Weigh the batter and split batter into 4 equal proportions. It's best if you label the bowls so you know which bowl belongs to which egg replacer. (Or if you just want to make lemon pound cake, you needn't split it into four portions) I labeled mine A-D.
- In another bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Weigh the wet batter as well and split it into 4 equal portions.
- Microwave the flaxseed mixture until it becomes a gloopy consistency and cream it into the the wet batter Bowl A. Mix the Ener-G Mix into the dry ingredients Bowl B and the water into wet ingredients Bowl B. Blend the tofu in the blender and cream it into wet mixture Bowl C. Cream the egg into wet mixture Bowl D.
- Then beat in the vanilla extract and half of the Dry mixture for each bowl.
- Beat in the milk and lemon juice for each bowl until they are combined.
- Beat in the rest of the dry mixture.
- Pour the batter into your pan and bake 45 min or until the toothpick test comes out clean.
Sorry I do not have pictures for the egg pound cake and Sorry for the poor quality.
Appearance/Texture
I received help from the my boyfriend as well.
Flaxseed - Very oily looking. There is a shiny sheen coating the pound cake. It's somewhat so oily that the pound cake looks transparent! When we poked at it, it a soggy sponge. It feels somewhat like those temprpedic beds hahah. The response to the poke was very slow.
Ener-G - There are no air pockets or bubbles. The surface also looks quite smooth. We would have to say it looks like your regular pound cake except a bit pale...When we poked at the cake, it was quite soft and responded quickly to the poke.
Silken Tofu - The surface was quite lumpy, a bit like a muffin's surface. It also had several cracks. When we placed the batter into the muffin pans, it refused to level out. The pod cake was also very firm and soft. It was bouncy. If i were a kid again, I would love to jump on a something like this.
Egg - It's actually yellow!! The surface had pores and holes on it. It also domed in the middle unlike the other muffins. When we touched it, it was very dense and bouncy It was the firmest out of all of them.
Taste/Texture
Flaxseed - It's very soft, actually it's the softest of all of them since there is so much oil in it. Not only are there oil from the butter but as well as the flax seed. It was so wet and moisty that it had a pasty consistency but also a crunchy texture from the flax seeds. I love the taste though :3 Look at the picture, the whole thing is paste hahah!
Ener-G - It was soft, moisty, spongy but also crumbly.
Silken Tofu - It was very moist and heavy. It was very pasty like fudge/brownie. My boyfriend made a comment of the paste coating his tongue and it would be great with wine hahah. Look at the picture!! The inside looks like paste!!!
Egg - It's spongey/springy. What more is there to say?
Sweet Cucumber Relish (vegan)Damn you natural flavors!! Couldn't find sweet relish anywhere so I made my own. I modified a recipe I found in cooks.com. Now I can make mock tuna =X
Recipe: Yields 1 4.5 in Jar 1820cal/Jar
Ingredients
1 1/2 (454 g/1 lb) Large Grated Cucumbers
2 Large (440 g) Grated Yellow Onions
1 (164 g) Large Grated Sweet Green Pepper
2 1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup (237 mL) Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Cup (400 g) Sugar
1 Tsp Tumeric
3 g Mustard Powder or 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds
Tools (If you want to can and save it for several months)
A Glass Jar
Big pot (Big enough to cover your jars)
Thongs or jar lifter
- Grate all of your vegetables and mix them together.
- Combine the salt in make sure you mix it well!! Let it sit for at least 30 minutes.
- Prepare your jars for sterilization by submerging your jars in the water in your big pot and boiling the water along with the lid to the jars.
- Then strain all the water out of the vegetables and place them into a pot and pour in the apple cider vinegar, sugar, turmeric and mustard.
- Let it simmer for 10 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. You can either reduce the liquid by simmering it or you can drain some of the liquid out of your relish before canning.
- By the time you finish cooking your relish, your canning equipment should be ready unless you are evaporating your liquid. You are suppose to boil your equipments for 15 minutes.
- Dip your thongs or jar lifter in the boiling water for a minute or two to sterilize it.
- Empty the waters in the jar and place it on a clean surface. Quickly poor in the relish with a sterilized funnel (by boiling as well) but I didn't use one so just poor the relish in and quickly set your lid with thongs or the lid lifter and quickly closing it.
- Wait a while and your protection caps on your jar lids should be sucked in. When you press on the lid, you shouldn't be able to hear the clicky noise.
Apple Filled Coffee Cake Wreath Bread (Vegan)
I got this recipe from my new Good HouseKeeping Great Baking book. I made a vegan version as well as the lacto-ovo Vegetarian Version for my boyfriend. I wont be posting the vegetarian one because I used the recipe from the book as it was. I didn't modify it at all or anything. I'll post pictures though
Yields 16 pieces (depending on how you cut it) 197 cal/Piece
Yeast
1/2 cup (118 mL) Warm Water (108-115 F)
2 Pkg (14 g) of Active Dry Yeast
1 Tsp (4 g) Granulated Sugar
Dough 2320 cal/Dough+ Yeast
1/2 Cup (100 g) Granulated Sugar
4 Tbsp (64 g) Oatmeal Apple Banana Baby Food (You can use sweetened Apple Sauce)
4 Tbsp (69 g) Soy Butter [you can use 1/2 Cup (139 g) Butter instead of the applesauce and the 4 Tbsp Butter]
1 Tbsp Grounded Flax Seed
3 Tbsp (44 mL) Water
+ - 3 1/4 cup (1381 g) All Purpose Flour
Filling 800 cal/Filling
1 1/4 lb (567 g ) Finely Chopped All Purpose Apples
2 Tbsp (35 g) Soy Butter
1/4 cup Seedless Raisins
1/4 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
Soy Milk Wash 24 Cal/Wash
1 Tbsp Soy Milk
1 Tsp Granulated Sugar
- In a large cup dissolve the yeast and sugar into the warm water. Let it sit for five minutes.
- Warm the flax seed and the water until it becomes gloopy and let it cool down. (Don't want to kill the yeast later now do we ;D)
- While the dough is sitting and the flax seed is cooling, cream together the sugar, baby food and butter (or just butter).
- Combine the flax seed mixture into the wet mixture.
- Then beat in the yeast, salt and a sixth of the flour (1/2 cup) until it's well combined.
- Then stir in the rest of the flour with a wooden spatula or spoon. ( You will require more or less flour)
- When the dough becomes tacky and not sticky to hand by hand, knead the dough for about 8 minutes or until it feels like a baby's bottom.
- Let the dough rise for about 3 hours (depending on the temperature and humidity of the room, you will require more or less time. Use the finger test on the dough to see if it rised enough. Just press your index finger and middle finger into the dough if the indentation remains, it means the dough has double. If the indentation disappears, you need to let the dough rise some more.
- In the mean time make the apple filling by melting the butter in a sauce pan.
- Add in the finely chopped apples, cinnamon, raisins and sugar.
- Cook the filling until it is tender about 15 minutes.
- When the dough has double, punch the dough down and roll it out on a greased cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.
- Roll it out into a 18" by 12" rectangle (I rolled it out to be much thinner and got a bigger rectangle) Make sure the width is not that wide since you don't want to roll your dough up to be too huge of a log. What matter the most is the length since you will be forming it into a round wheel later.
- Spread the apple filling over the dough leave about 1/2 in uncovered around the edge.
- Roll the dough as if you are rolling a jelly roll sponge (Roll up the longer side)
- Then shape the long log into a circular ring and pressing the inner edge together.
- Using a clean scissor cut the side of the dough every 1 1/2 in. If you want a thicker piece you can cut it thicker or thinner, if you want more pieces/ "leaves" cut it at a smaller interval.
- You can tilt the "leaves" to make it look nicer.
- Cover the dough and let it go through it's final rise. (Use the finger test as well)
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Dissolve the sugar into the soy milk to create the soy milk wash and brush it onto the surface of the dough
- When the dough finally finish it's last rising bake the dough for 30-35 minutes.
I dont have a picture of the finished product since I baked my b/f two bread and my first rack does not fit all 3 of the bread so I placed the vegan one on the bottom rack and guess what happen...It got burnt but the top inside was very delicious. It's great for breakfast, it's sweet but not too sweet.
Vegetarian Apple filled Coffee Cake Wreath Bread
I intended to give this to my b/f and keep the vegan one to myself but my b/f gladly accepted the burnt one since I was going to give the vegan one to my father for Father's day. Eh...so I didn't eat this one =/ I like the golden crust though, but then again I gave it an egg wash...
Vegetarian Cheese Filled Coffee Cake Braid
Another coffee bread i made for my b/f since he loves his cheese. Dont worry I used vegetarian cottage cheese and cream cheese ;3 It was suppose to be a braid but I kinda messed up with the length of the strips so I ended up doing a criss cross =/
Chinese Dragon Boat Festival
It's this month!! It's such a bore though watching the dragon boat race at Corona park. It's just a big fair with many Asian people, stalls, ice cream trucks and raffles. It's mainly huge Asian companies advertising themselves since most of these companies sponsors a specific dragon boat team and the team races for them in their names. Most of the dragon boat paddlers are teenagers, if not all of them. Two years ago, some of my friends were part of the dragon boat race. I was also going to participate but I had to go to China during their training days hahah.
Anyways the point I was trying to get to is that during the dragon boat festival, we feast on these lotus leaf wrapped glutinous rice dumpling. The Salted ones are normally filled with obviously glutinous rice (sticky rice, not the Japaneses sushi rice. It's the Thai sticky rice.), peeled mung beans, fat pork, marinated mushrooms, salted egg yolks and dried baby shrimps. There is also another type of glutinous rice dumpling which only consist of glutinous rice soaked in lye water. These are the plain one where you need to dip it in either sugar or soy sauce. Sometimes if you are lucky you can come across lye dumpling that are filled with red bean paste but not this year...I was begging my mother to buy me some vegetarian ones but there were none so my mom made some especially for me. Yay. I also helped though. We made both the salted one and the lye one. We didnt put anything in the salted one except the mung beans but it still tasted like the original...except without the meat xD
I don't really have an actual measured out ingredients since we've always made it by eying everything and using what we have.
Salted Sticky Rice Dumpling Wrapped in Lotus Leaves
Glutinous Rice
Peeled Mung bean (You need much less, like around 1/3 of the glutinous rice)
Salt
Vegetable Oil
Lotus Leaves (Banana leaves will do or any other huge leaves)
- You need to soak both the glutinous rice and peeled mung beans in separate bowls for at least 3 hours. Dont forget to pick out all the bad mung beans.
- When you are ready to make the dumplings drain out all the water from both the glutinous rice and mung bean.
- You season the rice and mung beans with the salt and oil. Just enough oil to lightly coat the rice/mung beans and enough salt for your taste.
- Alright here comes the tricky part, My grandmother wraps the best dumplings. I use one bamboo leaf but others use 3 or 4 depending on how your want to wrap it. You can wrap it into a rectangle, triangle or pyramid. Traditionally, they are wrapped in a pyramid but it's too hard to explain without any pictures. I'll explain my method.
- I used one bamboo leaf and formed a cone with it like you would when you make a dunce hat. Spoon in a tablespoon or two of the glutinous rice then layer another spoonful of the mung bean and to top it off, add anther spoonful of glutinous rice. Depending on the size of your dumpling and leaf, you would add more or less glutinous rice and mung bean.
- Fold in the sides and the top. Wrap the leaf tightly around all the cracks and nannies. Make sure there is no rice or mung bean coming out!!
- Wrap it tightly with string but not too tightly because the lotus leave can tear.
- When you finish wrapping all of them take a huge pot fill it with the dumplings and cover them all with water.
- Boil the dumplings for at least 3 hours because you need to fully cook all the rice!! You don't want to bite into raw rice now do you?
Lye Water Glutinous Rice Dumpling filled with Wrapped in Lotus Leaves
Glutinous Rice
Lye Water
Canned Red Bean Paste (or you can make your own)
Canned Mung Bean Paste (homemade is also fine)
Vegetable Oil
Lotus Leaves- You need to soak the glutinous rice for at least 3 hours as well. If you want to make the salt one as well just soak the glutinous rice for the salt dumpling and later split it.
- Drain the water from the glutinous rice and add in some oil and mix it well.
- Then add in the lye water a tsp at a time and mix it until all the rice turn to a pale yellow. When the lye water touches the glutinous rice it quickly turns it yellow. Make sure you don't add too much lye water!
- Basically it's the same as the method above. Use the lotus leave or and form a cone.
- Fill it up with the glutinous rice, add in the red bean paste and top it off with the glutinous rice again.
- To make the mung bean one just fill it up with the mung bean paste instead of the red bean paste.
- Fold in the sides and top part and tie it tightly with the string.
- Boil All the dumplings in a big pot with water covering the dumplings for atleast 3 hours
You store them in the refrigerators after they have cooled down. When you want to eat one just warm it up by boiling it or steaming it for 20 minutes. Then you cut the strings and unwrap your dumplings.
Suggestions:
- Eat the lye water dumpling with sugar. Just dip the pieces into granulated sugar. You can also use soy sauce but it's not so great. The lye water taste funky!!
- Eat the salted dumpling with soy sauce or miso paste. Hmm hm good. It's delicious!!
Yay Knitting
Sorry pointless rambling. I knitted myself an oven mitten since we only have one. Great cheap mother! hahah. I just knitted it in garter stitches. I made it 7" x 7" but it's way to big so I sewed the sides up and now it fits!! i think it would be best if the width is 5" if not a bit less. Hahah well now I have a cute little border and when I'm not using it, I can stick little chopsticks or spatulas on the side of the oven mittens. It can keep my chopsticks warm!! Hahah damn I'm such a retart.
We saw many cute little animals and we were allowed to pet and see most of the animals with the exceptions of those who were quarantined due to illness or not used to human contacts.
Turkeys gooble gooble. It's so sad. Many turkeys get their beaks microwaved so that the tip of the beaks die and it it eventually will drop off. The same procedure is used to destroy their toes so that they don't peak or claw each other to death. They also get their snood teared off as a little baby chick. It's so terrible. They are also bred to gain a lot of weight in a short period of time and many of them can not work due to the weight problem and the missing toes. They can't even fly when they fall. People are so terrible.
That goat is Brooklyn and the guy petting it, is my b/f Paul. The name of the goat speaks for itself. It was recovered from Brooklyn, NY from a live goats and lamb market. The lucky little goat was abel to escape death. Thank goodness.
Baa baa black sheep have you any wool yes sir yes sir three bags full. One for the master, one for the dame, one for the boy who lives down lane. Many of these sheep are used for wool and like the other farm animals, they are bred to be a specific way. These wool sheep were bred to have folded skin so that there would be more surface area to produce wool. The folded skin causes the caretaker to accidentally shave off parts of the skin. The sheep were also bred to produce so much wool that they can not even shed for themselves. Boo wool. Boycott wool!!
Moo mooo. Cows are so cute but a few were a bit aggressive. They were busy munching on their grass.
The Farm Sanctuary staff said most of their bunnies were rescued from a breeder. The breeder's neighbor saw how bad the conditions were and managed to convince her to turn them in. Another half were recovered from experimental laboratories.
Dandelions - You can eat the whole flower including the flowers and the white seeds when it becomes old. The only thing is that the leaves would become more bitter after it flowers but it's still edible.
Red/White Clovers - The whole plant is edible. It's also very nutritious too so you can chuck some into your salad.
Plantain Plants - Do you remember these big huge plants growing on your lawn?! They are so annoying but also very good for you. Like the other three plants. The whole plant is edible but I'm not sure about the roots though. The leaves are good for cuts and minor injuries so just grab a leaf and chew it to make a paste and then place it on your wound. The seeds can also be used to thicken soup and not only that, they are good for your digestive system. It's a natural laxative. They are sold in stores under the name psyllium. Instead of paying $5 dollars for a small bottle, you can collect your own.
