Substitutions

[Angua]

I tried to search for a similar thread, but didn't find one. Happy for this to be merged though!

I want to try and make a drink we make at home called sorrel - it is coloured pink/red because it's made with pink/red flower petals. This is a Caribbean thing though, and I'm stuck in the UK. Is there anything (other than food colouring) that I could use that doesn't have much taste but would seep to make a pink/red colour?

[PAstrychef]

What flowers do you use? You could probably find them dried. Otherwise, a drop of either grenadine or pomegranate juice might work.

[Angua]

We use sorrel flowers. I'm not sure if you can find them outside of places that sell Caribbean stuff. Grenadine sounds like a good idea though.

[PictureSarah]

http://www.amazon.com/Sorrel-Dried-2-pack/dp/B000Q6HCJA

[Angua]

I can't believe I didn't think of Amazon! Thanks.

[Bakemaster]

Things that you can easily Google substitutions for, and/or don't require any sort of measuring, so I won't go into detail:

• Warm Milk + Melted Butter ~~ Heavy Cream
• Milk + Lemon Juice + 5 minutes ~= Buttermilk
• Banana or Applesauce ~~ Eggs, in baking
• Pureed Dates + Water ~= Honey
• Plain Yogurt ~= Sour Cream
• White Sugar + Molasses == Brown Sugar
• Mayonnaise ~= Butter, for making grilled cheese sandwiches

[Thesh]

Milk - half evaporated milk, half water

I don't drink milk, so I only use it for cooking. Since I don't like to go to the grocery store more than once every three weeks to a month, fresh milk isn't really an option for me.

[Tomlidich the second]

went to make pancakes.

required two eggs. only had one.

BAM

1 ½ tablespoon water
1 ½ tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon baking powder

it worked reasonably well. no taste difference.

[stopmadnessnow]

If you can't get cucumber, anything else will suffice...

[3fj]

I've recently been diagnosed with lactose intolerance, and now I need to find a good substitute for the tasty things I can't eat any more. I know there's a lot of lactose-free/vegan versions of ingredients out there, but I'd rather just cut them out altogether than use the really expensive and disappointingly tasteless versions.

Most recent one I've found helpful is:
Stock + Cannellini beans blended ~= Cream base in veg soup.

Now I just need to find a dairy replacement in Cullen Skink, baring in mind it's usually made with cream instead of milk. I could try a similar trick using fish stock instead of chicken or veg, but I usually just buy my stock. Can anyone vouch for a particular (preferably UK) brand?

[Neil_Boekend]

I would replace it with soy cream. I find the Alpro brand quite rich in taste but I haven't had dairy products at all in 16 years, so I can't really compare well (I'm slightly allergic to milk).

[Zohar]

Hazelnut milk is pretty delicious too.

Stock tip: We keep most of our vegetable peels (onions, carrots, garlic, celery, any herb leftovers, potatoes, mushrooms...) in a ziplock bag in the freezer. When we our bag is pretty full, we take all those frozen leftovers, put them in a pot with water and let it boil for an hour or so. Once we're done we strain the liquid out and freeze it in portions for some intense veggie stock.

[Moo]

Now I just need to find a dairy replacement in Cullen Skink, baring in mind it's usually made with cream instead of milk. I could try a similar trick using fish stock instead of chicken or veg, but I usually just buy my stock. Can anyone vouch for a particular (preferably UK) brand?

Coconut milk would obviously alter the taste, but I don't think necessarily for the worse?

[AngrySquirrel]

I've been making meringue lately with chickpea-lake instead of egg whites. Works like a charm, but have to let it rest a bit after taking it out of the oven to get the smell to go away.

[Zohar]

I've been hearing about that a lot, and should really try it out. Not because I don't eat eggs, mostly because I want to see if I can get it to work.

[AngrySquirrel]

It works surprisingly well.

I haven't managed to make mousse out of it though, but I haven't managed to make mousse with eggs either so eh.

[PAstrychef]

You could use some gelling agent, either animal gelatin or agar-agar to help keep the volume in your mousse. Mousse also usually has some whipped cream (can be done wth soy milk if necessary) to add volume and structure as well as deliciousness.

[AngrySquirrel]

You could use some gelling agent, either animal gelatin or agar-agar to help keep the volume in your mousse. Mousse also usually has some whipped cream (can be done wth soy milk if necessary) to add volume and structure as well as deliciousness.

The problem mainly arises when I try to add the whipped egg-whites/chickpea-lake to the whipped cream, it just sort of falls apart and turns into soup instead.