Best DairyFree ‘Butter’ EVAH!

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Since my daughter had to go dairy free as well as gluten free, my life has been in a conundrum. I love to cook, and the main tools in my cooking arsenal are olive oil, avocado oil and butter. Olive oil and avocado oil can substitute well in a lot of places, but there just doesn’t exist a good substitute for dairy.
I’ve experimented with various ‘vegan’ products and while they are getting better, many are just not there….until now!

This vegan butter is seriously a game changer for me, and my resistance to compromise on taste and quality. I simply hate having to settle for producing an inferior product, just to be able to have it. My daughter has tried enough mediocre GF/DF products to agree with me.

Enter Miyoko’s Creamery European Style Cultured VEGANButter. This product has changed my attitude (did i say that out loud?) about non-dairy cooking.

My first foray into testing was grilled sandwiches. Personally, as a super-sniffer I find most ‘vegan’ butters to be at best, meh. Sure, they are adequate when spread on something, but cooked/melted they take on a rancid smell.
IMHO.
(I believe this to be due to the fact that vegetable oil is processed at such a high heat to extract, that it is actually made sorta rancid. Of course, the processors then have to ‘bleach’ the smell out to make it palatable to consume. Well, I can smell it. Ick.)
This ‘butter’ performed like a charm. The toast was browned (a big complaint of non-dairy products), crunchy, and had the real creamy – smooth taste of butter. Pancakes performed just as well. Eggs need a touch of olive oil to keep from sticking, but I find that to be an issue with real butter also – due to the solids. The taste? Buttery.

Seriously…can I emphasize again: TASTES. LIKE. BUTTER.

Granted, this is european style cultured butter, with a smidge of that cultured tang, certainly not a negative in my book.

Since I’ve started using this product around Easter, I decided to try an egg bake.  I tested this in a GF cinnamon raisin bread, ‘French Toast’ style egg bake. I used this ‘butter’ mixed with brown sugar, sliced almonds and a bit of GF flour for the topping. While it did not hold up in a typical style crumble, (maybe next time I’ll use some oats) it did melt and created a nice crunchy caramelized top to the bread-y eggy concoction. I need to research the science to figure out how to keep the topping more texturally firm, but it was SOOOOOO GOOD!
And baked potatoes? Oh yeah. Slather it on.

I’m looking forward to testing out some of my daughters favorite sweets and treats using this product. I can’t wait to make ‘butter’-cream frosting and a butter cake.

I’ll keep you posted, so keep checking back. This one is definitely going to be a pantry item for me.

 

Product Review: Sriracha Hot Popcorn

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I confess: I’m a grocery store troll.
Not the kind that lives under a bridge, cause that would be weird. Instead, I’m the kind that trolls the aisles of my local upscale grocery for fun. (Ok, I’ll admit that can be called weird by some.) I love to walk the aisles and check out new products. My local store usually makes it easy for me to find new product by featuring it in a display or on top of the butter/egg cold case. (Cause they know we eventually all end up in the eggs and butter aisle, right?)

Recently, finding myself with a bit of time on my hands, I spied this little gem. In my house hot sauce is a condiment we use more than ketchup, so, my interest was piqued. Combine time to peruse and having a winter that refuses to budge here, (I am still in cold food mode) I snapped up a bag and thought to myself, ‘well, won’t this be delish with beer cheese soup!’.

Normally, beer cheese soup is not on my meal rotation because it’s fattening, it is not gluten free and well, it’s heavy. I might get a cup in a restaurant, but not make a batch myself. This time however, my daughters were off at school and I just had a hankering to try this product out.

I am here to tell you, it is fab. I didn’t find it ‘hot’ at all, but keep in mind, we like chilis in this home. My fellow Minnesotans, who think black pepper is spicy, might find this having a bit of zing. What we enjoyed about it was the flavor. All that sriracha flavor without the vinegar or pop of heat. Just great chili flavor with a touch of zing. It was fantastic served the traditional way of our neighbors to the east, (That cheese heaven – Wisconsin) over a homemade beer cheese soup.

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It’s good enough to eat on its own. It would be wonderful mixed in to a homemade popcorn mix: cheddar, sriracha and plain popcorn to serve as an appetizer, or home movie snack.

If you spot a bag, pick it up and give it a try. We enjoyed it tremendously here! Two thumbs up!