Vegan Boeuf-less Bourguignon with Home Made Vegan Buttermilk Dinner Rolls

A hearty dish with plenty of robust flavor and texture--great for vegan Thanksgiving!

I heart home made rolls! These were light, fluffy and simply amazing!

I think this is a much nicer alternative for a vegan Thanksgiving vs. a frozen animal.

First of all, I am not French (Croatian and Italian and whatever my mother had--she was adopted). So, I have never really been drawn to the French for much inspiration in cooking. Cream, butter, Julia. It all seems so, well, over-the-top (I don't mean to offend the Julia fans out there, but I suppose if you are that much of a fan of that type of cooking, you probably are not reading this blog). I am, however, a big lover of good food and making it even better. There are schools of "vegan" thought which claim that if you are using meat substitutes then you are fighting the "carnivore" in you. Really? Hmmm. I think not. I think that vegans cannot live on beans and rice alone--but rather combinations thereof. I think of the world as being my vegan oyster and that I will use whatever I have to to keep the "meat off the plate" and my palate happy! Plus it always makes for fun grocery line checkout conversation (except at Whole Foods where they totally get it and usually I end up talking great recipes and new vegan products the store is carrying with my lane checker--I heart Whole Foods!). Other places the conversation might be something like: Oh, are you what they call a vegetarian. . . what is this "Veganaise" stuff (as they pack it in my bag). . . is it any good. . . you know, I bet I should go vegetarian, but I don't like that tofu stuff and what else is there to eat? Blah, blah, blah. I've heard it all, and it is fodder for a book someday.

So yesterday was a pitiful, rainy, dreary, dark, Midwest awful fall day. I really need some sunshine. I was so down yesterday that the only thing that could lift my spirits was either a spending spree at Borders, a good run on the treadmill (which I did) or a trip to the library (I opted for the library) where I absconded with two new novels and four more cookbooks (in addition to my Baking by Dorie Greenspan which I have renewed for another three weeks--I may have to buy this book). One of the books I came home with was Rachael Ray's Big Orange Cookbook. Lucky for me, someone had taken the time to fold the corners down of the recipes they loved! Thanks! (*Don't fold the corners down on books you "borrow" from the library, okay?!). Nonetheless, this caused me to pause and see just what recipes were so "bent-corner" worthy. The first one I flipped to while in the car was the Beef Burgandy--with a full page of instructions to accompany the photo. I was intrigued. I saw pearl onions in this and it gave me pause. Why? Pearl onions made an appearance at our Thanksgiving table every year when my grandma, mom, sister and I ate (and whomever my mother was married to at the time--seriously, more book material). I never understood the pearl onion fascination or why they were at my dinner table. Like brussel sprouts (ick) and whole radishes--just made no sense--and I refused to touch any of them, and quite honestly, I think my mom was trying really hard to remind all three (or four) of us that this was her table. Eat or go hungry. I was usually hungry.

This vegan Boeuf-less Bourguignon recipe is a great one to try for a vegan Thanksgiving--it is robust, it will impress and it has a fall-winter appeal that cannot be beat! Traditionally, this recipe calls for a nearly all day roasting of the beast--no need if you are a vegan! I am also taking time today to share with you a recipe I was inspired to make: vegan buttermilk dinner rolls--a lenghty recipe--but worth every single bit of time! You will want to make note that if you have a pizza stone or an oven stone--placing it in the oven is a secret of bakers around the world and will help in baking your rolls (cookies, cakes, etc.,) to perfection! I learned this recently on NPR when the author of Bakewise by Shirley O. Corriher spoke to Lynne Rosetto Kasper on the Splendid Table last weekend! I believe home made rolls are a lovely necessity at the vegan Thanksgiving table. (If I can make these, so can you!) My inspiration for creating these rolls came from a wonderful new cookbook I have and adore: The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger. (Thank you Beth! I just love this book--terrific, easy-to-follow bread making instruction). Finally, I am sharing with you my vegan roast from Match Meats! I bought it a few weeks ago--I feel so much better about Thanksgiving this year! So, if you are just beginning to make vegan Thanksgiving plans now--I hope this helps!

Vegan Boeuf-less Bourguignon

1 package whole wheat wide noodles (a wide rice noodle would work also)
1 package Gimme Lean Beef
olive oil--keep it on hand to swirl a few times in each saute pan
2 carrots chopped
1 medium onion chopped
3 garlic cloves chopped
Spike seasoning or S & P to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
dash of marjoram
2 large portobello caps chopped (remove the stem)
1/2 bag of frozen pearl onions (lay about half a bag out on a flat dinner plate to thaw while cooking)
1 cup red cooking wine
5 tablespoons of vegan Earth Balance Butter (sliced and set aside for adding 1 at a time later)
2 cups veggie stock (maybe more)
1 tablespoon arrowroot mixed with 3 tablespoons water

Get the water for the noodles in a large pan and add a teaspoon of salt and bring to warm--this dish is served over the noodles. In a large saute pan on medium heat, add a couple swirls of olive oil. Add the chopped onion, garlic and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions are soft. Next, add the Gimme Lean Beef and pluck it in the pan in chunks--you will have more success with the dish if they are in chunk size vs. crumbled. Add the seasonings. Add another drizzle of olive oil over this if the pan becomes dry (mine did, and I added more olive oil.) Cook on medium high heat until the Gimme Lean begins to brown--after it has browned, turn to low heat and keep an eye on it. (*You can just keep this on the heat while you begin the mushroom and pearl onion mixture.) In another medium saute pan, add a few swirls of olive oil. Add mushrooms and cook undisturbed until they begin to release their juices--about 5 minutes. Add pearl onions--only half a bag. Let these cook together for a few minutes more. Now, add 1 cup of red wine to the mushrooms/onions. Let this reduce by half as it simmers. *This would be a good time to start the noodles cooking! Next add 1 cup of veggie stock to the mushrooms. Let this simmer another five minutes. Now, with heat on medium low, add the Earth Balance butter slices one piece at a time while whisking--to keep it from separating. Add another cup of veggie stock. In a small bowl, whisk the arrowroot and water together and add this to the mushroom/onion mixture. Let this come to a boil and reduce heat--you should see some thickening taking place. Add the mushroom mixture to the Gimme Lean mixture and place on low heat. When noodles are done, drain and toss in a bowl with a tablespoon of Earth Balance. To serve, place noodles on plate and top with yummy Gimme Lean mixture and serve with these amazing rolls!

Vegan Buttermilk Dinner Rolls

1 cup soy milk (105-115 degrees)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
2 tablespoons Florida Crystals Sugar or white sugar
4 tablespoons olive oil
zest of one medium lemon
1 1/2 teaspoon of Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked with 2 tablespoons warm water
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Pour the soy milk into a 1 cup glass measuring cup and microwave for about a minute to bring the milk to a temperature of about 105-115 degrees. Add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to this and set aside to allow it to curdle (thus becoming your "buttermilk"). Pre-measure 4 cups of flour into a large bowl--using the dip and scrape method--and set aside. Next, take the yeast, 1/4 cup warm water and 1/8 teaspoon of sugar and mix together in a small bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes allowing the yeast to become foamy. In a large bowl combine the buttermilk mixture, 2 tablespoons sugar, olive oil, lemon zest, Ener-G egg mixture and salt with 1 1/2 cups of flour and with a hand mixer (I don't have a kitchen stand blender--YET!)--beat this together until it is creamy--about 2 minutes by hand. Then begin to add the flour by 1/2 cup increments to the bowl. You will begin to see the dough becoming sticky and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Don't blow the hand mixer by continuing to add the 4 cups of flour! You'll know it's time to switch to a wooden spoon when the dough is creeping up the blenders--switch to wooden spoon now and stir in the remaining amount of flour until the dough is fully incorporated. Prep a large bowl for the dough to rise in with a layer of olive oil. Turn this dough out onto a large space lightly dusted with flour. Now the fun part--hand kneading! I found this excercise to be extremely fun! Set your timer for about 7 minutes. To knead dough, everyone has their own method. I found this method easiest. Push away from you. Fold in sides. Push away from you, fold in sides. Or, you can Push away from you, turn a bit and pull over the top toward you, then push away again. Whichever you feel most comfortable doing. It just comes to you once you get the hang of it. Keep dusting the counter lightly with flour if you find the dough sticking to the counter. After seven minutes of this--pure heaven--you should be able to poke at the dough and the indentation should come back. You are ready to let the first rise happen. Place in oiled bowl, rolling the ball to cover with oil (to keep from drying out)--and cover with plastic wrap. Here is a big tip. I placed my dough on top of my oven in the bowl and next to the heat vent. I turned on the oven to "warm" setting, let it come to warm, then shut it off. This warmed my bowl, thus ensuring a nice warm temperature around my dough for its rising time. I let my dough rise about 1 1/2 hours. Meanwhile, line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Next, remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface--according to Beth, you do not need to "punch" the dough--it really does not need the abuse! Just carefully roll out of the bowl onto the counter. Now, split the dough in half with a pastry cutter or knife. Roll each half into about a 2-3 inch cylinder. Cut each log into 8 equal pieces. Place lovingly on your parchment lined baking sheets and cover lightly with plastic wrap and set aside to rise again for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375. Score each roll with 2-3 1/4" deep slits across the top. This will allow the dough to expand a bit while baking and make the rolls all nice an fluffy, too. Bake for 18 minutes. *Rotate the trays half way through baking--placing the lower tray on upper and visa versa. Remove from oven and viola--you have just made an amazing home made dinner roll!