Vegan Mushrooom Gravy

I put this on everything, Vegan or not. It's fantastic!

1 cup chopped crimini mushrooms
1/4 cup of earth balance (or butter)
3 cloves chopped garlic
quarter onion or 1 shallot, chopped
1/4 cup of flour
1 can of vegetable broth (or 2 cups of your own)
1/4 cup of soy milk (or regular milk, or cream)
1 Tbsp of soysauce
1/4 tsp of dried Thyme/Oregano/Sage (whatever woody herb you like)

1. Melt the butter in a pan and add the mushrooms, garlic and onion/shallot. Saute until nice and browned and onions are translucent. Salt and pepper.

2. Add the flour and stir to coat all the contents of pan. Cook for a few minutes until flour is a nice blondish color.

3. Add broth and allow to come to a simmer and allow the flour to thicken the gravy. If the gravy is too thin, don't add flour directly to gravy. Add it with the next step.

4. Add the soy milk (with extra flour mixed in if you like) and stir into gravy. Add soy sauce to gravy and stir until completely incorporated and gravy turns a richer shade of brown. Add the herbs and stir.

5. Salt and Pepper to taste. I usually go more pepper than salt since soy sauce is already salty.

Pour it over neatloaf, tofu loaf, mashed potatoes, french fries, meatballs or noodles. Whatever you like!

Char Siu Bao - Steamed Pork Buns

I was really craving the bao that you get at dim sum, the kind that has the bright red bbq pork on the inside. I bought a package of frozen, premade bao at the Asian market in order to quell my craving. At 3 dollars+ for 4 mediocre bao, i got to thinking. Why can't i make these myself? Bits of pork in char siu sauce wrapped in a basic flour dough that is steamed? I'm smart, i'm able, i'm free this weekend...why not?

Here's the recipe which makes about 12-14 bao.

For the dough:
1 cup milk, warmed (I don't keep milk around the apt, so i used soy milk it worked out fine)
1/2 pkt of yeast
1/4 cup of sugar + 2tbsp
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt

For the filling
I bought 1/2 lb of premade char siu from a chinese bbq joint (I hate preparing raw meat) and chopped it into little pieces
1/2 packet of char siu sauce mix reconstituted with 1/4 of water or premade char siu bbq sauce

You will also need wax paper and some sort of steaming device. I used the steam basket that came with my rice cooker.

Start with the dough:

Warm the milk in the microwave pour into the bowl. Add the yeast and 2 tbsp of sugar. Stir to dissolve. Let sit for about 5 minutes, or until it looks frothy. Add oil, salt and one cup of flour. Let stand for 30 minutes to an hour. (I don't actually know what this does, but this is what i did and the result was desirable, i'm sticking to it). After resting the "sponge" (I think that's what its called), add the rest of the flour and start to knead. Knead dough, adding more flour, until dough is no longer sticky and very smooth.

Put dough in oiled bowl and place in a warm place. Allow to rise till double in volume. About 1 hour.

While the dough rises, prepare the filling and cut the wax paper into 4x4 squares.

Chop your char siu (homemade or whatnot) into tiny pieces. Mix pieces with reconstituted char siu marinade or jarred sauce to bind filling together. Set aside in fridge.

When your dough has sufficiently risen. Punch it down and knead it a few times. Pull apart a ball the size of a small golf ball. Flatten the ball and pinch the edges of the circle to get a disk about the size of your palm that is thicker in the middle. Put about 1 tbsp of filling in the middle of the disk. Stretch the sides of the dough over the filling while rotating the bao until the filling is completely enclosed. Place onto a square of wax paper.

Let the bao proof for a bit before placing them into the steamer. Steam for 12-15 minutes. Remove carefully. Serve while warm.

I cooled these and put them in a freezer bag for rainy days. 2 minutes in the microwave is all you need to revive these babies!