Tonight’s home challenge: veganizing Dale’s winning grilled cheese and spicy tomato soup, which has bacon, butter, cream, ribeye and cheese. Piece of (vegan) cake!
Spicy Tomato Soup
- 1/8 cup tamari
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 head minus 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 4 cups of unsweetened soymilk
- 2 ounces of Tabasco sauce (or a generic brand that doesn’t come in a wasteful box)
- 3 ounces of olive oil
- 3 28-ounce cans tomatoes
Whisk together tamari, liquid smoke and maple syrup (which can make a delicious marinade for tempeh bacon, but works as the bacon replacement here). In a large pot, add onions, garlic, tamari mixture, soymilk, Tabasco, and olive oil. Cook until onions are translucent then add canned tomatoes. Bring to boil then puree with immersion blender or pour into regular blender.
I don’t mean to brag, but this soup is pretty fricking amazing. I suppose Dale gets some credit for creating the recipe, but I just made it better. (You’re welcome, Dale!)
Grilled Cheez
- Sourdough bread
- Vegan Gourmet’s Monterey Jack Cheese Alternative
- Peppered Tofurky Deli Slices
- Margarine
Butter outside of bread, place a layer of cheese on the bread, add some deli slices, another layer of cheese and top with the other slice of bread. Use a foreman grill, panini press or regular pan to grill the sandwich. Chances are you’ll have toasty bread before you have melted cheese. If this happens, open the sandwich up, remove deli slices and broil in oven until the cheese melts. Remove from oven and spread the cheese around with a knife (so it will be more likely to stick to the tofurkey). Put the deli slices back on and press the bread together.
I had low expectations for the grilled cheez, because I tasted the cheese before making the sandwich and it was really gross. But after it was melted onto buttery bread and dipped into tomato soup, I almost forgot it wasn’t a real grilled cheese sandwich.
Paula Dean and some deep fryers start off Episode 11. Carla couldn’t handle the pressure despite this being her specialty. Richard fried mayonnaise (gross! but totally something Paula Dean would love – smart). Mike stole Richard’s dish and won after Antonia was eliminated for not plating a second serving.
The elimination round revolved around fish, so I didn’t find it very interesting. Tonight’s soup was in Dale’s honor, because Dale and his big ego are gone.
