Tofurky Frozen Vegan Pizza in BOULDER!

Vegan Pepperoni Frozen Pizza?   That tastes good?  GET OUT OF THE CITY!   YES! It’s finally in Boulder at Whole Foods  after many months wait and we had to have a pizza party a few weeks ago to try them all out.   Tofurky Pizza comes in three flavours: pepperoni, cheese and sausage with peppers and grilled veggies.  Kids, this stuff is GREAT!   This is good for frozen pizza, period, much less vegan pizza.  The Turtle Island folks have done it again and they decided to be the very first vegan pepperoni pizza on the frozen aisle.      We used to love frozen pizza, it reminded us of our childhoods eating Totino’s Party Pizza and out of this box, the sight almost brought a tear to my eye.   I remembered my grandmother buying that particular brand of pizza for me to have on Saturdays as a treat when I’d go over to her house.  We’d have Kool Aid and Party Pizza.   (Admit it, this looks familiar!) :





This pizza  pie does our old fave justice with a similar dimension, crispy but light crust and CUBED pepperoni and a light (not gross) portion of Daiya cheese.  (In case you have been living under a rock, Daiya is the only non-dairy cheese that melts like the real thing and TASTES amazing– a review of that is underway for any of you rock-dwellers out there).    But where the old time Party Pizzas were a greasy, meat-slathered, sweet (on what I assume is a deep fried crust) kiddie-pie,  Tofurky Frozen Pepperoni Pizza is lean, vegan, cholesterol free,  high protein, critter-free  and all natural.  It’s an optimal choice for lactose intolerant, vegetarian or vegan diners.
I have always been on the look out for decent vegan pepperoni and have found most versions tasty, but not quite authentic. This stuff is amazing. The pepperoni tastes great and even has little “fat” globules and just the right texture (don’t start gagging – they replicated the authentic pepperoni flecks with brown rice) but isn’t as salty as the real stuff.    The crispy (but not card-board-crispy) crust is the best I’ve had on ANY frozen pizza.   The sauce was not my favourite element of this pizza, it could use a little saltiness or sweetness  to cut the acidic tomato-y bitterness but it was tasty nonetheless.  (* some of the taste testers thought the sauce was fabulous. )





The Cheese Pizza is REALLY good and, thankfully, it doesn’t have too much cheese on it. Diaya is a wonderful thing, but too much of a wonderful thing is not good. As with all cheeses, it turns gloppy or slimy if there is too much.  This is one you could spice up with your own fixins and toppings. The sauce tastes a little different on this version -and it might be my imagination, but it seems more delicate and less aggressively tomato-y and it pairs well with the mozzarella-cheddar mix of the cheese.  It’s also very “Tontio’s-esque”  but in a good way:




but my second favourite, behind the pepperoni Totino’s flashback of childhood, was THIS baby right here:





Of all the three varieties, this one is the most sophisticated.   This is a delicious combination of vegan sausage and grilled vegetables.  I wish they added a little more fennel to their  Italian sausage, but I add the fennel seeds on with a little dash of sea-salt.   Delicious!    The smokiness of the veggies and the savory sausage is a perfect match for the sauce and crispy crust. 
For 6 bucks and some change.. you can’t go wrong!!!

Note: I haven’t been up to blogging this year yet, as I’ve been very busy working, and also getting into a new dietary routine in which I am eating mainly unprocessed whole foods and limiting “white” and refined foods.  My rule is “single ingredients that are what they are.”   I will be posting some new recipes but I also wanted to post some reviews I’ve not had time to publish (like the above).   Of COURSE there will still be reviews from the “junk food” loving side of the family and I will still be sampling treats once a week.     After all, moderation in all things!  
~B~!

Match Meats Part 1: Beef and Pork

The reasons to not eat animal meat are numerous and obvious in the growing wake of devastating ecological and health impact.  Our bodies, and the planet, can’t keep up. What then, is this meaty-love affair?  One questions I hear a lot is, “Why would a vegan want to eat fake “meat”?     - and the answer is really simple; most people in the Western World grew up with meat dishes, and some people liked the taste before they changed their diet for ethical or health reasons.    For people who miss their burgers, chicken fingers and carnitas, there are alternatives that are better for you and the world.
Not one to love the “real deal” before I became a vegetarian, I used to shy away from processed “meat” alternatives but now there are more and more nutritious, natural and GOOD tasting substitutes out now that I’m on a veritable mock meat-jag, helped along with the ersatz carnivores in the family still missing their old treats.
Enter:  Match Meats.  After a client and foodie friend on the west-coast told me about her fantastically realistic sandwich one night, I was on a mission to find this stuff, and thankfully, Boulder is one of the test markets and it’s available at Whole Foods.   Match is being lauded as one of the best, most realistic, gourmet vegan  matches for animal meats.  These swankily packaged faux meats are seriously unlike anything else out there.
 
Flavours are:  ground beef, pork, ground chicken, italian sausage, breakfast sausage and even crab.  Amazingly, it smells,  looks, tastes and prepares like the real deal.  Unlike other vegan-meats that come pre-shaped and seasoned, Match Meats can be prepared according to your own traditional meat recipes and can be shaped to form many different types of dishes.
My first two to review shall be the Ground Beef and Pork  varieties.  The hamburger totally disarmed me out of the package; while it wasn’t pink (a nice burger-y brown) it SMELLED and FELT like actual cooked hamburger meat.    It was kind of neat to be able to form patties and add ingredients to the mix.  I wanted to keep it simple to better taste what the “meat” tasted like on it’s own so I added a dash of vegan Worcestershire sauce and a few shakes of chopped dehydrated garlic.    Man, were these burgers amazing!!  We were all just blown away by how “burger-like”  the texture was. Instead of the strange somewhat soft-texture of vegan burgers, this was exactly like HAMBURGER!  I had to resist the temptation to scrutinize the burger for gristle and fat the way I did when I was a kid. We ate this up on vegan buns with mustard, organic ketchup, pickles and tomatoes just to keep things plain and they were AMAZING.   MIL almost came unglued with joy at having her favourite burger taste back.   I will definitely be using this for my mom’s numerous ground beef recipes and and meatloaf.

and check out the texture on the inside:


Match Ground Pork,  was another experience that was just on the edge of being a little TOO realistic in terms of texture and smell… (pork was one of my least favourites) but, unfortunately, due to my preparation I didn’t get to taste the porkiness of the finished product because I prepared it ala molé  using a vegan adaptation of Mike’s Molé de Pollo  , a recipe I got at Savory Spice Shop here in town.  I used veggie broth and omitted raisins, but was extremely impressed by the smoky complexity of this powdered version of a notoriously difficult, labour intensive sauce.  The Match Pork held up beautifully, even with the addition of extra liquid.**     Most other faux meat would have turned into a  pasty mess.
I served with rice, chipotle corn and white corn tortillas. On the side I served a cucumber salad made with dried shallots, olive oil, cumin, green chile powder, lime-juice and Grand Garlic salt .
Delicious!  The picture below shows dad’s plate with some Daiya cheese sprinkles on top.  - Next time, crab-cakes and breakfast sausage.
**Guidelines for cooking with MATCH®;

• MATCH® comes frozen and takes 24 hours in your refrigerator to thaw, depending on the temperature. Keep it cold until cooking; this will give you a better texture.
• MATCH® is soft when cold, firm when warm. Keep this in mind when cooking. It is a low fat food, and requires oil or water when you handle it.
• MATCH® is firmer with less moisture in it and softer with more moisture in it. Baking, sautéing, poaching, and steaming all affect the moisture and texture, so you may have to experiment with it.
• MATCH® needs oil on the outside of it when placing it on the grill, or spray the grill; when baking, oil the pan. We spray burgers, breast shapes, medallions and patties prior to grilling. You may want to oil or wet your hands in cold water when forming patties or other shapes.
• MATCH® requires about half the cooking time as meat (thawed) and about 10% less time when cooking from a frozen state. Pay attention not to cook it too long as when it becomes over cooked, it will dry out. Covering loosely if cooking in an oven is a good idea.
• We do not use egg yolks, as they are not necessary and make the dishes too soft. Nor do we incorporate bread crumbs (except in recipes for crab cakes), as they compromise the texture of the product. Some chefs have found that egg whites are acceptable, but not necessary.
• Use roasted or raw vegetables sparingly. Raw vegetables release a lot of moisture, which softens the product. The more moisture you incorporate, the softer the end (cooked) product will be.
• Incorporate fresh herbs and spices use as you would normally for a recipe for animal proteins. For salts and peppers, use @ 15-30% less in comparison to meat recipes. Roasted garlic, garlic, sugar, honey, salt, pepper use is about the same.
• When using MATCH® in casseroles, remember that the vegetable protein is dense and it will take up some moisture. For example, in lasagna, you do not have to squeeze out the spinach nearly as much. Or you may want to keep your tomato sauce with more liquid, or your casserole will be too dry.
• Fresh vegetables stuffed with MATCH® make easy and hot appetizers since the vegetable provides additional moisture and flavor when baked.
• When cooking off to use for sauces as in lasagna or marinara or a pizza topping, and other sauces, season the bulk product and sauté in oil, using a medium heat. Work quickly, breaking up into desired size as you cook. Remember, MATCH® has a short cooking time.

Technorati Tags: Savory Spice Shop,Match Meats,Boulder,vegan,burgers

SAVORY SPICE SHOP

  Years ago, I moved beyond my mom’s canned green beans and saved up for some Grey sea salt imported from France,  cooked up some pitiful little green beans from the first garden I ever tried to grow, and spiked those beans with the only herb growing in my “herb garden”, some tarragon,  --and it was THE BEST THING EVER COOKED since man invented fire.  To me, anyway.
Since that first little epicurean steps, I’ve always loved to try new seasonings and was overjoyed when my dad read in the paper about Savory Spice Shop right here in Boulder.
 


Owner Janet Johnston now has her own show on the Food Network and her shop specialises in herbs, spices and seasonings milled and ground fresh on a weekly basis to ensure the best flavour.     Needless to say, we headed straight over to check out a few of the wares. 
I think every city, town, and hamlet should have a spice shop. Spices are a great way to expand your palate and make inexpensive or simple foods more exciting.   The heady smell of fresh ground spices is totally unlike the vague, desiccated smells that come out of some store-brand jars.  Cinnamon from Ceylon, Jamaican allspice, curry blends with kefir lime and galangal, cloves and cardamom, pure maple sugar, Himalayan salt;  you name it, and it’s here.  Another specialty are house BLENDS of seasoning  such as Mayan cocoa with vanilla bean and chilies, seasoning salt mixes and a deluxe Taco Seasoning that makes the puny little packet of over-salted junk in the store seem like floor sweepings.  Now this is a fragrant, glorious taco seasoning : Masa Harina, salt, chiles, tomato powder, garlic, cumin, California paprika, onion, white sugar, Mexican oregano and allspice.

  They have little jars set out so you can taste (or sniff) the different spices and seasonings and spices are all available to be purchased in bulk or in starter bottles at reasonable prices.

We purchased some:

GRAND GARLIC SALT:  a blend of garlic powders, roasted garlic, salt and minced green onions

MOUNT OLYMPUS GREEK STYLE SEASONING:  a perfect blend of garlic, lemon peel, salt, Greek oregano, spearmint, and black pepper

PASTA SPRINKLE:   European basil, Mediterranean thyme, Greek oregano, California basil and garlic
and
TARRAGON SHALLOT CITRUS SEASONING (not vegan, it has honey powder)  containing:  shallots, honey powder, tarragon, lemon peel, garlic, salt, black pepper, arrowroot and citric acid.

I made some steamed green beans to go with the tarragon shallot seasoning, some pasta with pureed basil, broth, roasted garlic and “pasta sprinkle”  - as well as some sautéed fresh veggies with minced garlic, Grand Garlic Salt, and Pasta Sprinkle and a salad of cucumbers, roasted red peppers and kalamata olives with white wine vinegar, olive oil, and the Greek seasonings… it was AMAZINGLY good;  cheap easy “had on hands” eats transformed by wonderful spices.

 
Love, B