Lauri's recipe trauma/experiences...

[SwishTN]

:p I am sooo irritated, I just spent ALL this time going into details about my recipe/raw food prep issues, and it didn't SAVE it! When I went to send it, it was GONE!!!!!

Okay, I'm okay.

Well, today is the second day of my Raw Food Challenge. AND the greatest challenge has been the recipe prep. I seem to be making ALL kinds of mistakes. And, as I have already overspent my budget, I don't really have the liberty for ooopses....

Disclaimer: I am not a kitchenista, so therefore, please attribute my frustration/ineptness to that, vs frustration w/the particular author of any recipe. I know that in my case, Alissa is a raw food genius, and I, her rather slow student. Also, I am learning about my food likes/dislikes by taking such a major food change plunge. Again, please be patient, even in my "dislike" of certain recipes, their cost, etc. Okay : ) :cool:

All right -

Fettucini Alfredo - I could NOT get the "sauce" creamy no matter what I did. I ended up adding about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water, vs 2 tablespoons. And then, it just didn't "Wow" me, and with the amount I spent on all those nuts, that was a very sore disappointment to say the least. I actually get nervous when thinking about eating it. Weird, eh?

Fudge Balls - was I NOT supposed to soak the dates? Because they ended up sooo goopy, I was completely unable to turn them into anything but plops on a plate. They tasted fine. Just not transferrable or travel friendly, which was my sole purpose in making them.

Nuts - walnuts especially. Do you ALWAYS soak them? And if so, what do you do AFTER soaking them? Such as, can you store them on your counter w/a paper towel? How do you store nuts in general? And, do you ALWAYS soak them? I guess that is a repeat of the above question...

Dates - again, do you always soak them? If so, for how long? Can you oversoak them? Please please please say no..... Also, what do you do w/the water? I don't want to just toss it. Can you save it for a recipe? Use it to water your herb garden? Drink it?

I have so many other questions for you raw food gurus, yet I can't remember any!

Also, I soaked my walnuts, and dates, and I am attempting to make the date nut torte. is that a mistake?

Lauri

[Rawkinlocs]

I RARELY soak my dates, especially if they're already soft to begin with.

Walnuts, I soak sometimes...depending on the recipe or what I'm doing with them. Most times when I DO soak nuts, I dehydrate them to dry them a bit unless using them in a recipe or something because I just don't like eating soaked, wet nuts that much.

As for recipes, when I make something new for the first time, I ALWAYS halve or quarter the recipe in case I don't like it. Sometimes this doesn't work out depending because the small amounts of ingredients may not want to blend right in the processor/blender...but that happens rarely. Usually halving or quartering works out fine for me.

I replied to you in the other thread about the torte regarding soaking nuts/dates for the torte. But again, dry them first OR dry them or refrigerate them for another recipe and if you have still have some left over that are NOT soaked, use those instead. But no need to get rid of what you've already soaked when it can be used for something else.

[SwishTN]

I greatly appreciate your responses, Cherie! I will set those dad gum walnuts out, and hopefully the flies won't do their thing on them.

What about date water? Any take on that?

I can't believe I soaked them when I shouldn't have!!! ARgh!!!

Can the dates dry out? Can I put them for just a few in the - please nobody shoot me here - spoken in a whisper - oven?

Lauri

[Allison]

Lauri,

Are you going to come to the potluck in Nashville on Saturday? You can get all of your questions answered there and probably some demonstrations on how to do some things you are asking. Don't worry; you'll get the hang of it all soon.

[tracyinfo]

The alfredo sauce - did you use a blender or food processor? In order to homogenize the nuts, you either a high speed blender or a champion type juicer. The blender and food processor, always gives a chunky sauce for me.

I never soak walnuts. Only if the dates are hard, do I soak them. But, once they are soaked, save the soak water and either add to your recipe or save it for another recipe. It is delicious sweet water!

Blessings.

[UltrasonicRaw]

i struggle with recipes too! i had a disaster with my enchiladas. but... i did make the marinara sauce to my liking after two tries...glad i kept trying! i realized i love salsa and made sort of an italian salsa instead of sauce, it worked better for me.
my alfredo sauce is also chunky out of the food processor, i actually liked it that way. the texture reminds me of parmesian cheese. i can only eat small portions of this recipe though, it is too rich for me.

i always soak my dates and keep a small jar with about 5 in there at all times. they seem to last for a long time that way. i have made the date nut torte successfully every single time, it is my favorite. you can use unsoaked dates if they are soft.

i keep a small jar of soaked almonds in the fridge but soak most other nuts a few hours before i need them. sunflower seeds, cashews, macadamia nuts all seem to go mushy on me because i dont use them up fast enough. i am still trying to get the timing down with my uncooking. sometimes my schedule doesnt allow for sprouting and soaking, doesnt coordinate. i just wing it and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt!!

keep trying, i am still figuring this stuff out myself! it can be frustrating, but you will have some success along the way to keep you inspired!

leslie

[RawTruth]

Fettucini Alfredo - I could NOT get the "sauce" creamy no matter what I did. I ended up adding about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water, vs 2 tablespoons. And then, it just didn't "Wow" me, and with the amount I spent on all those nuts, that was a very sore disappointment to say the least. I actually get nervous when thinking about eating it. Weird, eh?Lauri, you're not alone on this. The sauce needs to be worked into the noodles with your hands, and it isn't really creamy. I also had a similar reaction to this dish. In fact, I got a stomach ache. Some other people here also found that particular recipe way too rich or too nut-heavy. I couldn't finish it on my first raw day, but the friend I gave it to scarfed it up! (I haven't made it since.) Some recipes work for some people; others don't.


Fudge Balls - was I NOT supposed to soak the dates? Because they ended up sooo goopy, I was completely unable to turn them into anything but plops on a plate. They tasted fine. Just not transferrable or travel friendly, which was my sole purpose in making them.If they're that runny, the dates needn't have been soaked. I only soak dates that are hard and rather dried up. Right now is date season and most of the dates I get are so soft they're like caramel. However, some plastic boxes of dates from the grocery and even Trader Joe's are rather hard. You'll learn which need to be soaked the more you use them.


Nuts - walnuts especially. Do you ALWAYS soak them? And if so, what do you do AFTER soaking them? Such as, can you store them on your counter w/a paper towel? How do you store nuts in general? And, do you ALWAYS soak them? I guess that is a repeat of the above question...Walnuts don't need to be soaked. Neither do macadamias and pecans' flavor gets watered down if you soak them. I always soak almonds. Soak overnight, then rinse and "sprout" for another day or so (some people don't do this). I then remove the skins and dehydrate some and put others in the fridge to use in dressings, sauces, or desserts.

By the way, I think Rawkinlocs meant to use the dehydrator to "dry" nuts, not leave them out on your counter. Once they're dehydrated, I keep them in a glass jar in the cupboard, whereas the "wetter" ones are kept in the fridge.


Dates - again, do you always soak them? If so, for how long? Can you oversoak them? Please please please say no..... Also, what do you do w/the water? I don't want to just toss it. Can you save it for a recipe? Use it to water your herb garden? Drink it?Save the date water to use in smoothies or whenever you need a sweetener.

I totally understand what you mean about the beginning cost of the ingredients. It seems like a lot when you first stock your kitchen. That cost is basically a one-time cost, though. You won't always be buying raw oil and Nama Shoyu, tons of nuts, etc. You'll just be replacing on occasion from now on.

And -- the best advice has already been given: 1/2 or 1/4 the recipes until you know what you'll like.

For later on -- there are a few threads on here about which recipes are people's favorites from Alissa's book. When you have a minute, you might want to find those.

Lastly, yay for you!! 2nd day! Woo hoo.

[Shona]

I may be too late, but do you still have the Fudge Ball batter? If you do, here are a couple of things you could try:

1. Refrigerate the batter overnight to [hopefully] firm it up a bit. Using a couple of cold spoons - put them in the freezer for a few minutes - scoop out small portions of the batter, roll it between the spoons [in culinary terms, you are making a quenelle] to make an oval-shaped fudge ball, and deposit on a parchment-lined baking sheet. When all the batter has been used, pop your pan of Fudge Quenelles in the freezer. After they are frozen, you can scoop them all into a freezer bag and they won't stick together in a huge blob. Eat them straight from the freezer!

2. Drop spoonfuls of the soft room-temperature batter on dehydrator trays and flatten slightly to make little rounds. Dehydrate until almost dry, but still chewy. Voila - fudge cakes!

Hope this helps.

Shona :)