Veganizing: Edwards and Sons Product Review

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Edwards and Sons Product Review

This review can also be found to the right of the screen but I figured I would feature it here first. Enjoy!

I was completely thrilled when a wonderful representative from Edwards and Sons recently offered to let me review some new products. When I first tried Edwards and Sons wonderful offerings (several months ago), I was delightfully pleased with EVERY SINGLE item! Delicious! Needless to say, I was eager to try the Canned Organic Grapefruit, Canned Cremini Mushrooms and Canned Portobellas when they arrived in the mail the other day. Once again, I have been thoroughly pleased! I loved mushrooms soooo much but my family isn't fond of them so I don't eat them nearly enough! This was the perfect opportunity to whip up a simple meal for myself (my hubby was working and I made sandwiches for the boys!). I threw together some mashed potatoes (a bit of butter, salt and fresh cracked pepper transformed some boiled potatoes). Next I lightly sauteed my little can of creminis in a tad of butter, salt and fresh cracked pepper (I know, sounds redundant!). I piled the mushrooms on a mound of potatoes and dove in! They were amazingly fabulous - chewy, flavorful, and downright yummy. They didn't need a fancy or exotic dish to shine - they were wonderful with just a little added flavor and a mild partner (the potatoes!).

I tried the grapefruit yesterday - it was gorgeous! I opened the can and thought I must be staring at oranges, not grapefruit! The segments were perfect and bright orange - surrounded by slightly sweet, 100% grapefruit juice. Yummy! If you like your grapefruit sweet, I would recommend a light sorinkling of sugar as these tender segments are bittersweet - just like a grapefruit should be in my opinion! What a wonderful thing to have in the pantry all year round!

The portobella mushrooms were just as delicious as the creminis! I was so excited to try them in a skillet of seitan stroganoff yesterday and they were fabulous. It was so nice to pull out the can, open it, and add them without any cleaning, chopping or extra cooking needed! Just a quick stir into the stroganoff and the dish was complete. Yum!

"Beef" Stroganoff

1 package Gardein beef tips, each piece cut into 3rds or 2 cups chopped seitan
1 large onion, diced
2 T olive oil
6 T nondairy butter
6 T flour
1 1/2 - 2 cups unsweetened soy milk (depending upon desired thickness)
2 t faux beef boullion
2 t vegan Worcestershire
2 t ground black pepper
3/4 t garlic salt
1-2 cans Edwards and Sons portobella mushrooms
1/2 cup vegan sour cream
Hot cooked noodles

In large skillet, heat oil. Add onions and cook 3-4 min or until starting to brown. Add Gardein. Cook until onions and Gardein are nicely browned. Sprinkle with pepper and garlic salt. Stir to combine. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour to form a roux. Slowly add milk until desired thickness is achieved. Add boullion and Worcestershire and stir to incorporate. Add sauce Gardein and onions. Add more milk if sauce is too thick. Stir until bubbly. Add mushrooms and heat through. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream. Serve over hot noodles.

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"Buttermilk" Blueberry Pancakes

Egg replacement for 1 egg
1 1/4 cups soured soy milk (put 2 T vinegar into a 2 cup glass measuring cup. Add enough soy milk to equal 1 1/4 cups)
2 T canola oil
1 cup flour (I wouldn't recommend whole wheat or whole wheat pastry - it really takes away from the fluffiness of these pancakes)
1 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
Blueberries, optional

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Heat griddle pour about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Sprinkle blueberries on pancakes after ladling onto griddle. Cook just until golden on both sides.

Veggie Seitan Lo Mein

I really did my own thing for this recipe so I am just going to outline the instructions and include the sauce recipe. I heated oil in a large skillet and added 3 minced cloves of garlic and about 1 cup of half-moon cut onions (I was out of green onions but next time I would use green onions as I like them a lot in Chinese food) and about 1 cup matchstick-cut carrots. After about 5-6 minutes, I added about 1/4 lb of whole green beans. I cooked these veggies until tender. Meanwhile, I cooked a 16oz package of chow mein noodles. Once the veggie mixture was cooked, I poured the sauce on the veggies, heated through and tossed with the noodles. Next time I would double the amount of sauce and have adjusted amounts below to reflect double recipe.

Sauce (Source:Adaptable Feast)
3 T soy sauce
3 T rice wine (I used 3 T rice vinegar and 1 t sugar as I didn't have any rice wine)
3 t sugar
4 T black bean garlic sauce
Mix all ingredients and toss with above mixture.

Chinese Broccoli Wontons in Ginger Soy Broth (Source: Vegan Yum Yum)

(As usual, I modified several things so it's not exactly the recipe in Vegan Yum Yum!)

1 cup chopped broccoli
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 T oil
1 t fresh ginger, minced
1 clove fresh minced garlic
1/2 t hot chili sauce (such as Sriracha)
1 t hot Chinese mustard
2 T plus 1 t soy sauce
4 cups water ( I think this might have been more flavorful had I used vegetable broth or faux chicken broth???)
6 slices fresh ginger
1 T mirin (I used a splash of cooking wine as I didn't have mirin)
1 1/2 t sugar
2 t rice vinegar
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup chopped scallions
16 wonton skins

For filling: Heat oil in skillet and add broccoli, ginger, garlic, carrot, onion and cook until veggies are crisp tender. Add chili sauce, mustard, 1 t soy sauce and stir to combine. Remove from heat and set aside.

To make wontons, take one skin and place in diamond shape. Fill with 1-2 t filling. Fold in half to make a triangle and moisten edges with water and pinch sides to seal. Set triangle in front of you with point up and take the 2 side points and bring them together in front to cross. Set aside and prepare remaining wontons. When finished, place wontons in a steamer basket and steam over pot of boiling water until translucent.

Meanwhile, in a pot, combine remaining ingredients (except wontons) and simmer 10-15 min.

Place 3-4 wontons in bowl and ladle broth over wontons. Serve.

Pumpkin Bread

The vegan version!

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1 cup solid pack pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup soured soymilk (add 1 T vinegar to your half cup measure and fill the rest with soymilk
egg replacement for 1 egg
2 T vegan margarine

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients together and set aside. Mix wet ingredients and stir into dry until incorporated. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake 45-1 hr or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Whole Wheat Batter Bread

2 1/2 cups warm water
2 packages active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey (or agave)
6 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 t salt
4 T non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening

Dissolve yeast in water. Add honey, half of flour, salt and shortening. Beat 2 min o med speed of mixer, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Blend in remaining flour until smooth. Scrape sides of bowl. Cover with damp cloth and let rise in warm place until doubled in size - about 30 min. Stir down by beting 25 strokes. Shape nad place in 2 greased 9in loaf pans. Smooth tops with floured hand. Let rise again for about 40 min. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40-45 min or until browned and cooked through.