Everyone in the known universe is giving you endless recipes for the holidays. That's all well and good, but this week, as we count down to the big C, I thought I'd give you a real recipe saver.
Last week, as I started gathering ingredients from the cupboards to make my favorite recipe from the BabyCakes NYC cookbook (buy it!), I realized I was missing one important ingredient: soymilk.
I thought about running out to get some, but I was set to leave on vacation the day after and it breaks my heart to waste food. All I needed was two-thirds of a cup and it would drive me mental having a 90-percent-full carton of perfectly good soymilk going bad in the fridge while I was away.
So I opened up the freezer and a bag of frozen edamame caught my eye.
Hmmm... Is it possible? Could I really make my own soymilk?
Yes! Yes I could!
Would it turn out gross and ruin the recipe and make my cake explode in the oven?
No! No it wouldn’t!
Would it be green?
Yes! Awesome right? The soymilk you buy in a carton is beige because more mature beans are used to make milk, and as they age they become practically white in color. But since we’re using young, green edamame here, the outcome will be more St. Patrick-y.
I wouldn't suggest using this milk in your morning cereal; it does taste a little weird, and quite beany. But it's totally undetectable in baked goods, so it's perfect to use in a pinch like I did.
Ingredients
(makes 2 cups)
1 cup frozen loose edamame beans, or 1 and a half cups edamame pea pods, thawed following the bag's directions
2 cups water
1 tablespoon agave nectar or maple syrup or sugar
Directions
Cook edamame according to the bag's instructions. Extract beans from pods after cooking if using whole edamame.
Place beans in a blender or food processor with two cups of water and blend away for five minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. There will be a lot of pulp, for lack of a better word, left in the strainer.
Heat the strained milk in a saucepot with the agave nectar until it boils. Boil for five minutes and stir continuously. It should start foaming, and when it does, carefully spoon the foam off.
Strain again through fine mesh colander, and set aside to cool. Store in the refrigerator for up to three days.
You can use this milk in your recipes as you would if it came from a carton. Don't worry about your cake exploding in the oven like I did. Instead worry about your mind exploding from how awesome you are, because you ju