This week's Iron Craft challenge was all about being green and it couldn't have come at a better time. Joy the Baker posted earlier in the month about making Cashew Oat Milk, which was inspiring. Of course, I don't have a blender, and because of cross-contamination I really didn't want to use oats.
Instead I made vegetarian Pistachio Quinoa Milk (sans blender).
Ingredients:
8 ounces of shelled green pistachios
1/4 cup quinoa
2 tablespoons honey or agave (if you want it vegan)
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
water
Wash quinoa very well in a sieve to remove the saponin coating. Add to a small container with water to coat and soak overnight.
Rinse pistashios well and add to a separate container to soak overnight.
The next day, drain the quinoa and rinse again. Add to a small pot with 1 cup of water and cook for about 20 minutes or until water is absorbed.
Drain pistashios and rinse until water runs clear.
Add to the bowl of a food processor, pistashios, quinoa, honey, and the extracts. Add about 1/2 cup of water and process until smooth.
Add some of the mixture to a sieve over a large bowl and slowly add water about a 1/2 cup to a cup at a time and use a rubber spatula to drain some of the water through. This will collect in a bowl and make a green-tinged milk. The amount of milk you get is based on the water you use and the amount you press. Eventually you will have all of the mixture in the sieve as you add the water. I got just under 3 cups of pistachio quinoa milk. I have saved the solids for tasty bizarro cookies.
But I didn't want to make milk alone though. Instead, I was making gluten free, vegetarian pistachio pudding.
Vegetarian Pistachio Pudding
2 cups of pistachio quinoa milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter (completely optional)
1/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped for garnish/etc.
Mix with a whisk sugar and cornstarch together.
Heat pistachio milk over medium heat. Slowly whisk in the sugar mixture, making sure there are no lumps. Continue whisking until the mixture starts to boil and thicken.
The entire process takes about 5 minutes, and it should boil for no longer than 1 minute. Remove from heat and add extracts, whisking to combine. At this point you can add the butter (or Earth Balance if you are vegan) to create a richer, smoother texture.
Pour the pudding mixture into a small bowl and stir in chopped pistachios. Cover with plastic wrap. I did it in case a skin formed, but as there are no milk proteins this might have been unnecessary.
I made pudding!
Things I would change next time I make this:
Cook it slightly less long. Mine was a bit rigid when I scooped it this morning. It tastes fine, but either needed between 1/4 cup and a 1/2 cup more pistachio milk after cooking or I needed to cook it less long.
Use a blender. I don't actually have one, and using the food processor worked fine. However, I did have leakage when I tried to do the whole water thing from the beginning as the water tried to leak out the bottom of the food processor. Yup, I made a mess!
If I wanted it more green, I'd add a single drop of non-gel green coloring or a tiny swipe of the gel stuff in the milk right at the beginning of pudding time.
Also, I have a second iron craft project this week, but I haven't bound off yet. The knitting will be up tomorrow!
