Banana Soy Muffins with pomegranate pear syrup

Weekend Breakfast Blogging had my attention over the last couple of days - after the soy pancakes turned out great, I really wanted to make another soy-based breakfast recipe. Kind of hard to work primarily with soy flour though - it has no gluten content, which means no elasticity and there is no assistance during fermentation which is what helps the bread rise when baking. In addition to these, gluten helps keep the shape of the bread since it firms up when cooked.

Gluten resources for those interested:

Gluten on Wikipedia
Gluten composition in cereals and gluten disease
Gluten free recipes

Anyway, after poking around several cookbooks and sites, I couldn't quite find any cake or bread recipe that didn't use a combination of soy flour with either wheat or rice or triticum flour. Oh well, guess I just had to try it out - and hope that the end result is somewhat edible. I decided to play it safe and try a banana muffin recipe with soy flour. And to make things even simpler, I microwaved them - that's what happens when you clean your kitchen shelves and find this odd looking microwaveable muffin tray :)

Banana Soy Muffins
Microwaved, no less!

Servings: 6 muffins

1/2 cup soy flour
1/4 cup egg whites (I used Nulaid)
1 t baking powder
1 t olive oil
2 small overripe bananas
6-7 almonds - chopped

Grease the muffin tray with oil spray.
Beat all ingredients together till the batter is smooth and thick.
Dole out equal portions into each of the muffin holes (is there a real name for these?).
Microwave for 8-9 minutes.

Drizzle some pomegranate-pear syrup over each muffin and let them sit for a few minutes before noshing :)

Any good?

They are pretty good! I'm eating one as I type and I'm really liking it :) The shapes are kind of wonky, they almost look like a hybrid of muffins and scones! But they turned out pretty soft and moist, not really chewy (hell, I need some gluten for that!), but the slightly sweet flavour of the soy flour along with the bananas made the muffins pretty tasty even without the syrup! And it took all of 15 minutes!



This recipe is a definite keeper. And I have a submission for WBB (Nandita's brainchild) - this goes to Rajitha who is hosting this month's event - themed Soy. Yay!

More brussel sprouts love ...

Those fabulous brussel sprouts aren't really in season anymore. Bummer. As much as I'm a huge fan of seasonal cooking, we were still hankering for some yummy sprouts. After some searching, we discovered that the old favourite TJs still has some - such a relief!

What with the snow and feeling somewhat stranded and all, the time felt right for a quick, yet tasty meal - and them sprouts definitely contributed towards that. A simple stir fry seemed quite inviting with this crazy weather outside - snow, wind, hail, what not.

Anyone who reads this blog knows about my everlasting brussel sprouts love :) Am glad this recipe is a worthy addition to the collection. Especially since it involves another current obsession - soy :)

Quick Veggie Stir Fry
Brussel Sprouts, Mushrooms, Leeks ... Yum!

Servings: 1

5-6 brussel sprouts - quartered
1/2 cup of chopped leeks
3-4 oyster mushrooms - sliced
80 gms of extra firm tofu (about 1/5 of a regular packet)
salt
1 t szechuan suce (recipe below)
1 t sesame oil or oil spray
1/2 cup water

Heat the oil in a wok and saute the leeks till they start to brown.
Add the brussel sprouts and saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add the tofu along with the seasonings and stir for another 1-2 minutes.
Add about 1/2 cup of water and cook covered on low for 3-4 minutes till the water evaporates and the tofu seems marinated and the veggies get browned at the edges.
Add the mushrooms and saute for another 1-2 minutes before taking the wok off the stove.

NOTE:
Oyster mushrooms are really delicate and can break/disintegrate easily - so, it is a good idea to add them to a dish towards the end of the cooking time.

***

Szechuan Sauce
(adapted from Recipezaar)

1 T minced ginger
2 garlic cloves - minced
1 T crushed red pepper
1 T soy flour
1.5 T soy sauce
1 T chilli garlic sauce or sambal oelek
1 t vinegar
1/2 t brown sugar
1/3 cup of water (or vegetable broth)

Combine the ginger and garlic with the soy and chilli-garlic sauces in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Mix the soy flour in the water and stir till smooth before pouring it into the saucepan.
Add the vinegar and brown sugar along with the crushed red pepper.
Stir for a minute before taking off the heat.



What did we think?

The aroma was totally fabulous! At one point, I wondered if the taste would be a letdown after the fabulous smells. I was wrong - those fabulous sprouts never let me down :) *so* good!

Soy pancakes?!! Not kidding! :)

After the marathon cooking sessions over the last few days for the mega party last night, tonight called for a simple, light dinner. Hmm ... after poking around a bit, I stumbled upon this crazy soy pancakes recipe from a collection of ultra healthy recipes from the Pro Club! I was always skeptical about trying any of these 20/20 lifestyle recipe handouts available there, but after I spent some time reading them earlier tonight, I must say that I've revised my opinion. Some of these actually look pretty good!

So, soy flour rocks! It makes for a really light batter - quite perfect for pancakes, actually. And it is the perfect texture to serve as a thickening agent - an attractive alternative to corn starch. And apparently, since it can add moisture to baking products, apparently it is also a perfect alternative to eggs in most recipes! That is really good to know, I can't wait to try some breads and cakes with soy flour! Weeeeeee! *exciting*!

The recipe that caught my eye tonight was one for savoury pancakes with a cilantro chutney. Hmm ... adais and oothappams are probably closest to what I could consider savoury pancakes, so this looked really intriguing. The original recipe called for cauliflower, but I decided to go with a base of onions and red peppers instead - turned out to be a great idea. And the cilantro topping was perfect!

Savoury Soy Pancakes
They'll melt in your mouth!!!

Servings: 4 pancakes

1/2 cup soy flour (defatted variety)
1/3 onion
1/2 red bell pepper
1 thai green chilli
1/2 t salt
Oil or oil spray

Grind the onion, bell pepper and green chilli into a puree.
Pour this puree into a mixing bowl and add the soy flour, stirring constantly.
Add 2-3 T of water to form a really thick batter.
Season with the salt.
Heat a griddle and pour out dollops of the batter onto it.
Flatten the batter to form small pancakes and lightly douse with oil spray.
Let each side brown, before flipping or removing the pancakes.

NOTE: The batter needs to be really thick, not runny - soy flour does not really make for thin crepes of sorts and can totally disintegrate if the batter is too thin.

***

Cilantro chutney
Go green!

Servings: 1 cup

1 cup cleaned and trimmed cilantro leaves
1" ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 T lemon juice
1 green chilli

Grind all the ingredients in a blender, adding a little water if needed.
Season with salt if needed.




Good? Better?
*drool*! These were awesome! Seriously! Can't wait to eat them again! And the whole process took about 1/2 hour.

Seriously, soy flour rocks! And another WHB entry (Kalyn's brainchild) - this goes to Rinku from Cooking in Westchester.