GOT (NOT) MILK

 

A selection of alternative milks.

My favorite alternative milk is almond (almendra), for its nutty flavor in coffee, in desserts, in savory dishes. Soy (soja) milk, especially when it’s been frothed, barista style, has the mouth-feel of dairy milk. Oat (avena) milk has a lovely sweetness even though it has no added sugar. Rice (arroz) milk, in spite of having the highest number of calories, seems thin and bland, like skimmed milk. Coconut (coco) “milk” makes me think of piña colada and Thai curry but, nevertheless, is delicious in coffee.

In Spain these plant-based, non-dairy products are not labelled “leche.” Rather they are denominated as “bebidas,” beverages. All are sin azucar—no sugar added. They vary quite a bit in calories, protein content, and fats. Some are fortified with calcium and vitamins and may have emulsifiers and stabilizers. Besides the ones mentioned, I have also found “milk” made from rye (centeno),” peas (guisante), cashew (anacardo), and quinoa but have not sampled them.

I began experimenting with alternatives to dairy milk during a month-long “elimination diet” (more about that here). My digestive problems disappeared during the diet, so I’ve avoided returning to my usual consumption of dairy foods. Maybe I’m lactose intolerant or maybe I’m not. But I feel better without the morning yogurt, snacking cheeses, or cow’s milk in my coffee.

Alternative milks have other advantages. According to reports from the NIH (U.S. National Institutes of Health), plant-based milks are more environmentally friendly than cow’s milk. They generate roughly one-third or less of the greenhouse gas emissions of cow’s milk, and—with the exception of almond milk—they use considerably less water. 

I’m pleased that several cafés in the pueblo now offer one or two alternative milks for my morning café con leche. At home I use whichever "milk" carton is currently open. Here are other ways I’ve incorporated alt-milk in my cooking.

Ajo blanco is a traditional Málaga cold soup, a sort of white gazpacho made with almonds and garlic. This version, which can be served hot or cold, is made with almond milk instead of ground almonds. The recipe is here. 

Another twist on gazpacho--this one is made with cucumbers and almond milk, although any of the alternative milks could be used for this recipe. Yogurt is an optional ingredient--look for soy yogurt if desired. 

See the recipe for Cucumber Gazpacho.

Use thin coconut milk as broth for this Thai-style fish or chicken soup. There's more information about the difference between thin and thick coconut milk in the recipe for the soup below.   

This savory timbale is made with zucchini, spinach, and soy or other  alternative milk instead of dairy milk. Although there are non-dairy cheeses, I used diced potatoes to replace cheese. See the recipe here.

Make this recipe for Creamy Rice Pudding, substituting rice milk for dairy milk. Or, go a little crazy and use almond milk or oat milk! The recipe is here. 

A sumptuous pudding with mango, ginger, and coconut milk. This recipe uses thick coconut milk from a can. It's every bit as rich as cream. The recipe is below.

Thai Fish Soup in Coconut Milk

Sopa de Pescado con Coco

Thin coconut milk is commercialized in cartons, usually shelved near the dairy milk. It’s only about 22 percent coconut. The rest is water. Thick coconut milk, a mix of thin coconut milk and coconut cream, has much less water, may be from 60 to 90 percent coconut. It’s usually sold in cans and placed with Asian ingredients. 

Use any type of fish fillets for this recipe. The soup can also be made with diced chicken.

For the spice blend, use jarred Thai curry paste or make a paste by blending ginger, garlic, shallots, black pepper, chiles, turmeric, and fish sauce (naam pla). 

4 cups thin coconut milk

Curry paste or spice blend

2 cups fish cut in 1-inch cubes

Vegetables such as snow peas or broccoli florets

Shrimp (optional)

Cooked rice, to serve

Lime or lemon to serve

Chopped cilantro to garnish

Red chile to garnish

Combine 1 cup of the coconut milk with the curry paste or spice blend and mix until smooth. Whisk in the remaining coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, and add the fish and any vegetables. Cook until the fish is done, about 5 minutes. Add shrimp if desired. Serve the soup with rice and lime or lemon wedges. Garnish with cilantro and chile.

Mango-Coconut Mousse

Pudín de Mango y Coco

All of the alternative milks are plant-based. However this recipe uses gelatine, which is an animal product. For a vegan diet it could be made with agar-agar or cornstarch as thickener.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

¼ teaspoon cold water

3 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder

½ teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

1 ½ cups thick coconut milk (canned)

1 ½ cups chopped mango (1 large mango)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Sugar or sweetener to taste

Toasted coconut to garnish

Combine the water and gelatin in a small bowl and let sit 5 minutes.

Place the ginger and ½ cup of the coconut milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the gelatin until completely dissolved.

In a food processor puree the remaining coconut milk with the mango and lemon juice. Add the gelatin mixture from the pan and blend. Add sugar or sweetener if desired. (Very sweet mango may not need sweetening.)

Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate 3 hours until the mixture is very thick. Remove the bowl from the fridge. Use a chilled beater to whip the mixture until fluffy. Spoon it into 4 to 6 dessert cups. Chill the mousse at least 4 hours. Serve garnished with toasted coconut.

Toast shredded coconut.

(To toast coconut: Place unsweetened grated or shredded coconut in a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Stir frequently until it is golden-brown. Cool before storing in an air-tight container.)

A LENTEN DISH THAT’S GOOD ANYTIME

 

Good combo--clams with beans.

Lent, Cuaresma, when it's customary in Spain to eat fish and shellfish and abstain from meat, is nearly over. Easter (Pascua de Resurección) (and, at my house, roast lamb) is only hours away. But this dish of beans and clams that I cooked on Viernes Santo (Good Friday),  is so good you can serve it any time of the year.

For my Good Friday meal I wanted coquinas, those tiny wedge-shelled clams that have such a delicate flavor. But the market only had small almejas, clams. No problem. You can use any small to medium-sized clams or berberechos, cockles. Cultivated Manila clams are fine. You could use fresh shucked clams, but you would miss the fun of hands-on eating.

Made with fresh clams and jarred beans, the dish is quick to put together.

A topping of breadcrumbs, garlic, and parsley adds crunch.

Clams are hands-on! Serve with bowls for the shells and paper towels for hand-wiping.

Beans with Clams

Alubias con Almejas

Use any sort of cooked white beans—tiny navy beans, fat fabes, cannellini, baby limas. I used a 660-gram (23-ounce) jar of pochas, cooked shelling beans, drained and rinsed. The quantities given make 3 servings or 4 small dishes, but the recipe is easily doubled—two jars of beans, two pounds of clams. (If you’re starting with dried beans, soak them overnight and cook in salted water with aromatics (onion, celery, bay leaf) until beans are tender before proceeding with the recipe.

Serve the beans and clams with bowls for discarding the clam shells and paper towels for hand-wiping. 

Serves 3.

1 pound small to medium clams

½ cup water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons diced carrot (optional)

2 cloves garlic, 1 chopped, 1 minced

Red pepper flakes

½ tablespoon flour

¼ cup white wine

1 cup fish stock or water

Salt to taste

1 bay leaf

2 ½ cups rinsed and drained cooked beans

¼ cup chopped parsley, divided

2 tablespoons crushed croutons

Open clams and save broth.

Soak the clams in salt water for 1 hour so they disgorge sand. Carefully lift them out of the water and place them in a deep pan with ½ cup of water. Place on high heat, covered, until the clam shells open. Remove the pan from the heat and scoop out clams with a slotted spoon. Discard any that do not open. Pour the clam broth through a fine sieve over the clams and reserve them.

Wipe out the pan. Heat the oil in the pan and poach the onion, carrot, and 1 clove of chopped garlic on medium, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Regulate the heat so that the onion does not brown. Add the red pepper flakes. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute. Stir in the wine and cook 1 minute. Stir in the stock, salt, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and add the beans. Do not stir, but gently swirl or shake the pan to mix the beans with the stock. Cook 10 minutes. 

While beans are simmering, combine 2 tablespoons of the chopped parsley with the crouton crumbs and minced garlic. 

Add the clams and their broth to the beans. Swirl to combine beans and clams. Cook on medium-low until thoroughly heated. Immediately before serving sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley. 

Serve the clams and beans accompanied by the parsley-garlic-crumb topping. 

More recipes with legumes and shellfish:

Chickpeas with Shrimp and Seafood Sausage.

Asturian Clams and Beans (Fabada).

Octopus with Chickpeas and Chorizo.

Cuttlefish and Chickpea Stew.

WHAT'S COOKING FOR BEN'S BIRTHDAY

Cordero asado--lamb roasts over an almond and olive wood fire. Red peppers and eggplants for making escalivada cook right in the coals. 

To celebrate his 50th birthday, Ben invited his friends to a party.   

The lamb, weighing about 40 pounds, was a gift from a friend who raises sheep on his finca (farm) in the Montes de Málaga. Ben removed the liver and kidneys to cook separately and opened the lamb out to be trussed onto a metal frame.

The butterflied lamb is secured with wire on an asado cross, an upright iron rod with crossbars, and angled over hot coals. The plan was to get it started about 10 a.m. to serve by late afternoon. Rain delayed the start time by several hours!   

Ben adds more wood to the fire to keep it going over 5 to 6 hours. After turning the lamb skin-side to the coals, he brushed the meat with a salmuera (brine) with rosemary, thyme, lemon, and garlic.  Kibbitzers came and went, some declaring the lamb was done. Ben ignored them, slow-roasting the meat to the perfect degree of tender juiciness. It was nearly 10 p.m. before we served it. 

While the lamb was roasting, the party was in full swing on the terrace. Ben erected a tarp against intermittent showers. Plenty of chips, dips, sausages, beer, wine, and more.   

And music! DJ Nikita kept the sounds coming way into the night.

Friends brought racks of ribs, chicken, and sausages to cook on the gas barbecue. Josh kept a steady supply of foods coming all 

afternoon. 

I put out home-cured olives that had been picked from the tree we were dancing under. A big bowl of hummus with tahina and pita crisps for scooping it up. And my favorite eggplant dip, zeilouk, a spicy Moroccan salad. It's good with endive leaf dippers or regañás, crunchy crackers. 

To accompany the lamb I made tzatziki (Greek dip of cucumber, yogurt, garlic, olive oil, and chopped mint (Ben doesn't like dill); mojo verde (spicy herb sauce, the Canary Island version of chimichurri), and harissa, a lemony chile sauce. Guests brought two or three versions of spicy salsa. One with pineapple and chile was especially enticing. I had a salad of marinated broccoli, cauliflower, and beets with feta cheese. Another salad appeared on the table--sliced cucumbers and strawberries with sprigs of fresh basil. A pile of pita breads awaited for those who wanted to sandwich the lamb and salads in wraps. 

Biding their time (while a small pack of 10 to 12-year-olds awaited) were the birthday cakes--always the same carrot cake since Ben was a kid. No, he didn't want to have cake before the lamb was ready. The bowl of strawberries disappeared however.

Garlicky hummus with pita crisps and endive leaves for scooping.

Ben (right) celebrating with childhood friends from Mijas, Job and Ananda.

The lamb was superb. We devoured it. 

Happy 50th, Ben!