Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy

[SamuelWilson]

Here is a picture of the mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy.
http://www.prognesubis.com/photopost/data/500/rawmashedpotatoes.jpg

I made some slight alterations to Alissa's recipe. First of all, cauliflower and soaked cashews are the base for the mashed potatoes. I added 2 cloves of garlic to this mixture and I also added a teaspoon or more of celtic sea salt. I felt it helped bring out the flavor and gave it a taste more resembling SAD mashed potatoes. I then used cheese cloth to take out about 1 cup of liquid and I felt it gave the mashed potatoes more of a consistency similar to SAD potatoes. As far as the mushroom gravy went, I stayed with the exact recipe.

I would say that this mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy recipe is ok. I feel that I need to play around with it a little more before I am happy with it. I put some of the mashed potatoes on some baking parchment paper and made an indention with a spoon and filled it with the mushroom gravy. I have it in the dehydrator at 118 right now. I think this might help it. For some reason, eating this cold just is not working for me.

As far as looks and presentation go, this stuff looks like SAD mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. If I put it on the table and non-raw people saw it, they would just think it is mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. They would not know otherwise until they tasted it.

This brings me to a question. If I am preparing this for a non-raw people who will not eat it unless it is heated. Is it healthier than SAD mashed potatoes? I Iguess what I am trying to say is this, am I wasting my time preparing the raw version only to have to heat it and serve it to non-raw people?

Are all the enzymes destroyed if I heat it to a traditional temperature for non-raw people? I mean what if I just heat it to 140 to satisfy them and leave mine cold and raw. Would the 140 heated portion be more healthy than lets say a 220 heated portion?

Sorry for all the questions, but I am just trying to do the best I can for friends and family. I feel if I don't find some happy mediums, then I am not going to get very far with them. In addition, when I say I am making these recipes, I am really just watching. I mean I do participate, but our housekeeper prepares meals when I have guest. The mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy in the above picture was actually made by me without any help.

[sport]

I would think that it is still healthier than sad for a number of reasons. The main one is the timeline involved. If it was heated and eaten straight away then it would preserve some of its goodness. The destruction is over time so the sooner it is eaten the better. The potatoes would have to be heated for 30 mins to cook.

[rawpriestess]

I would suggest two things.

1. don't make things that look like SAD food, I mean don't make mashed potatoes and gravy, make veggie enchiladas, something that is more like the SAD version. I make pesto stuffed mushrooms, and my SAD friends LOVE them, I make the banana ice cream and they LOVE it, so make them things that are more veggie-ish in nature, so they aren't saying things like "THIS doesn't taste like mashed potatoes and gravy to me." etc.

2. Make things them place them in the dehydrator to warm. This really helps, the taste and texture of many foods. If you are serving foods to guests, give them really great foods at the perfect temperature, you wouldnt' want mashed potatoes and gravy cold, neither would they. So, serve them a nut milkshake icy cold, and fresh cold fruits, all cut pretty on a plate, and ice cold salads, and finger warmed soups, and rawviolies that are warmed in the dehydrator.

But please, don't go to all the trouble to make a beautiful raw meal, to ruin the entire purpose by heating it to 140 degrees, the reason we eat raw, is to get the enzymes that will be killed at that temp. so, heat it to 115 if you like, but I suggest making things that you love that are fresh, raw, and ripe.

I quit trying to make raw food taste SAD a while ago, now I just make my raw food taste perfect as it is. There are a few things that I still make, like burge patties, and rawviolie, but mostly I just eat fresh, ripe, raw fruits and salads now.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I agree about the not making it look like a SAD dish. Any mashed potato and gravy lover is going to take a bite of it and wince. I know I did. I did everything to that cauliflower mashed potato that I could and it still tasted horrible. With hubby's I steamed the cauliflower and it tasted pretty darned good though. Mine was ruined.

It is similar to drinking an iced tea, but thinking it's water. You forget there's iced tea in there, and your brain is telling you it's water. Or vice versa. I've done that many times where I drink something but don't realize what it is. It usually ends up being something I would have liked, but my brain messed with it and I got a shock.

[SamuelWilson]

rawpriestess, you mentioned "don't go to all the trouble to make a beautiful raw meal, to ruin the entire purpose by heating it to 140 degrees". I do not heat anything I eat above 118, I was speaking in reference to my cooked food guest.

Let me reword the question.

On one side of the table you have a plate with raw mashed potatoes made with cauliflower and soaked cashews. On the other side of the table you have SAD mashed potatoes made with real mashed potatoes cooked at high temperatures with butter and/or cow's milk mixed in.

I realize that heating food would not be healthy and that it kills the enzymes. I am in no way questioning that, I fully accept that and understand that. The question is this. Would the raw mashed potatoes brought up to 140 and removed from the heat source be healthier than the SAD mashed potatoes that are boiled and them simmered for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Once again, I totally understand that you should not heat anything above 118. I am just saying in a situation where the guest absolutely refuse something unless it is piping hot, would it be healthier to give them the cauliflower based mashed potatoes as compared to the SAD mashed potatoes?

[ReneeSC]

Sam:

From a glycemic point of view - drop the real potatoes spoon, quick!
From a fat perspective - do the same.
From a raw perspective - now, do I have to answer that question? ( LOL ! )

My dehydrator will go to 145 - but the food inside will not go to that heat level.. use a thermometer if you're not sure.

The cauliflower version will be healthier.

[SamuelWilson]

ReneeSC, you mention "From a glycemic point of view - drop the real potatoes spoon, quick! From a fat perspective - do the same"

I do not eat mashed potatoes made real potatoes. I have totally been misunderstood in this thread. I am speaking only of my cooked food guest.

I totally understand that it is not healthy to eat cooked food or foods high in fat (the type of fat in SAD mashed potatoes with dairy butter or milk added, etc.)

You will have to carefully read my previous reply to better understand what my question was.

[kmik]

I think I may be following you... My thoughts are that if you only heated up the raw food to 140 it would be healthier, because enzymes and all "start" dying at 108 (118, whatever the number you choose to go with). So there would probably still be some beneficial "survivors" in the heated raw food that something boiled would no longer contain.

I would give that a shot with my guests. What's the worst they could do, complain that you're trying to feed them something healthy? ;)

[SamuelWilson]

kmik, thanks so much, you don't know how much that means to me, just to be understood. I was thinking the same thing you said.

I mean, in time with the right adjustments, I feel I can make the mashed potatoes from cauliflower taste good. Just by adding the 2 cloves of garlic and some celtic sea salt, it made a big difference. I think it would definetly be healthier than sad potatoes. Also it would allow me to make mine and keep it totally raw and just seperate their portions to heat up to whatever is satisifactory to them.

This would prevent my housekeeper from having to make 2 seperate versions of mashed potatoes.

[kmik]

:D Sometimes we anticiapte a question for whatever reason and don't stay tuned in till we get to the real issue...

But anyway, please let me know how your quest for the perfect "mashed potatoes" goes! You've inspired me to play with the recipe, and I've got some cashews soaking right now. If I hit on anything good, I'll let you know :)

[Doe]

Can anyone eat food that is 140 degrees? Why heat food hotter than can be comfortably put in ones mouth just to have to cool it down to an eatable temperature?

Teri S

[SamuelWilson]

Can anyone eat food that is 140 degrees? Why heat food hotter than can be comfortably put in ones mouth just to have to cool it down to an eatable temperature?

Teri S

Teri, I agree. Why heat food to 140. Why heat food hotter than can be comfortably put in ones mouth just to have to cool it down to an eatable temperature. Thanks for replying to this thread.

I would like to add the fact that I do not eat food heated to that temperature. I can not explain why a guest would want that. This thread has just been totally misunderstood. Once again, I do not eat food heated above 118. Generally, I do not heat food above 105 for my own personal consumption.

[ReneeSC]

Samuel, actually I was speaking in an "in general" point of view.

[sport]

Samual
I think that everybody has been talking "in general" and not chastising you personally. I was 100% sure of where you were going with this thread from the start and my reply was intended (as always) for everybody and not just you. I think that you are terific and would never dream of suggesting that you would eat cooked food.

[Sharon in Colorado]

Hi Samuel - hope it helps to know that you aren't the first one that was misunderstood and probably won't be the last! :)

In regards to my comment, I was just in agreement with RP about not serving something to a person eating the SAD that looks anything too familiar, just because we know it won't taste the same to them. So something looking like your picture may taste better had you called it cauliflower puree and gravy or something, then they won't have that potato taste going on their head.

Hope you understood my comment as what it was meant to be.

[Punky]

Hi Samuel - hope it helps to know that you aren't the first one that was misunderstood and probably won't be the last! :)

In regards to my comment, I was just in agreement with RP about not serving something to a person eating the SAD that looks anything too familiar, just because we know it won't taste the same to them. So something looking like your picture may taste better had you called it cauliflower puree and gravy or something, then they won't have that potato taste going on their head.


I agree with Sharon and RP on this one.
And I never once thought while reading this thread that YOU were going to eat the food that was heated more, just your cooked food guest
;)
If you make the *mashed potatoes* I would present them as cauliflower something like Sharon said. I love Alissa's faux mashed potatoes and gravy, but someone else might expect a more potato-y traditional taste to them after hearing the name and be disappointed. When they hear cauliflower than taste it, than they are like wow! I can't believe how good this cauliflower is...
at least that is how I was.
Good luck on perfecting the recipe to your liking and let us know how it goes!

[NoGMO!]

SamuelWilson,
all you can do is just hope that the cooked food people will have an open mind about the meal... ask them to try something new just once... oh, and to quit acting like a bunch of babies! :p I'm just kidding of course.

but I do understand your delimma, really! I would not heat and defile your precious raw meal though... besides cooked food eaters eat other cold dishes all the time, even cold leftovers, so it's not that alien of a meal. it's just missing the thick smoke, steam, charred mess, burnt tongue and fingers! :rolleyes:

so perhaps make dishes that aren't traditionally served piping hot, just so your guests won't have any pre-conceived notions. make them all-new dishes but with some familiar ingredients, as others have stated here. also, as some said, you can serve it warm or room temp. as opposed to chilled- while preserving its raw integrity, but you know that. :)

p.s.
nice mashed potatoes and gravy! one of my favorites.

bon appetit!

[lady godiva]

Sam, I would tell my guest who insisted on only piping hot food that he/she could go get some of their OWN, especially after you went to all that trouble!~~!

[Ariannah]

It's funny, when I ate cooked food that was served piping hot, I'd be the kind to either wait until it was room temperature to eat it, or blow each spoonful/forkful until it's the temperature I currently eat food at raw LOL.

With raw, I just skip the middle man :D

I'm with everyone else who says yes, heating your cauliflower slightly is more nutritious than traditional real mashed potatoes, but no, don't call them "potatoes" for your cooked guests, present it as a whipped cauliflower dish that is intended to be served cool.

[ReneeSC]

Cauliflower Merenge :)

[rawpriestess]

Samuel Wilson,

I did understand you, What I thought you ment was to make one meal, raw cauliflower that resembles mashed potatoes and gravy, you would eat it raw, and you would have it warmed to 140 degrees for your guest, now read my original reply, why on earth go to all the trouble and expense to make something so deliciously raw, and then ruin it by heating it? Even for a guest?

So, don't make something like mashed potatoes and gravy even if it is cauliflower, make things that taste great, like rawviolies, or marinara sauce and zucchini noodles, or black forest cake, or a great warmed soup.

Make things that are good in their raw vegan state., not trying to be a fake SAD food.