Does searing cause more or less oil to be absorbed than frying?

In continued celebration of Veg*n week on Seasoned Advice, I have a follow up on my crusted porcini comments, and general tips for frying/grilling tofu. 

Does searing cause more or less oil to be absorbed than frying?

So I gave an answer with guidance on making tofu on the grill or skillet; but a side question came up, which was to do with the chemistry of frying for me. I can see this also being of significant importance to people who decide to go veg*n due to health or weight concerns as they would be more likely to want to min-max their benefits/flavor from oil to fat/calorie intake.

Do you know a definitive answer to this one? Is the answer neither more nor less, but equal? I don't know; that's why I asked the question. Head over to stackexchange if you know the answer!

So far I got one good one:

Higher temperatures, as a rule, mean less absorption of oil because the force of the steam trying to escape from the food pushes against the oil. Here is a link to a scholarly article discussing the mechanics of fat absorption in the production of french fries (complete with a table of results and diagrams). Interestingly, the author says that potatoes deep fried at more than ten degrees Celsius below the recommended temperature of 180-185C leads to 40% higher fat uptake. I expect pan-frying leads to a much lower total uptake of fat, but I am sure the principle is the same.

How to prevent tofu from falling apart on the grill

Seasoned Advice's Veg*n week continues, back again this time with a tip for tofu;

Standard tips for browning/frying/grilling tofu;

• Ensure that you press the tofu sufficiently to remove its own moisture, marinate if desired
• Lightly dust with flour or cornstarch
• Brush oil on the grilling surface
• Specific to the case of grilling, be mindful of the gap the tofu will stretch across on the grate; it may be crumbling because it isn't strong enough or thick enough to sustain wide gaps.

Someone also mentioned skewering the tofu as an option. While this would work well, I have found a spatula, thin and metal, to be prefereable as long as the grilling surface is clean and brushed.

In following Miss Kristin's lead, I made the porcini crusted tofu from ppk's recent post. A minor, but major difference in my tofu is the temperature of the cooking surface. Some people find a medium heat preferred, and for uncoated tofu I would agree. However, when you crust anything moist, a high heat with the intent of searing is my preference.

This is doubly the case for tofu. Caveat: your taste in tofu determines whether this will be more/less applicable. I prefer a more raw texture and taste with a crunchier shell. It should be warm, but I don't want it to be a wholly dried out bean curd carcass or soaked in oil. YMMV, I liked Pittsburgh Rare before I stopped eating steak and I think that sensibility has carried over.

Searing versus a more thorough frying will lock in less oil (not only can you use less oil, but the higher the heat the lower the absorption) and give way to a crisp out side and firm inside; medium heat will allow in more fat from frying and result in more doneness conformity through the slice of tofu.

Could a cast iron skillet change its ways and be kosher for a vegan?

Apparently it's veg*n week on Seasoned Advice! Woo-hoo!

I posed a question that stems from my cast-iron skillet having been broken in by browning tri-tip steak for last September's ICS Chili Cook Off in Cincinnati. It also comes from my experience being unwilling to really ask to borrow a friend's dutch oven to make meatness a few months back. She hadn't used it for non-vegan food, and I just couldn't bring myself to ask to defile it.

So, the question is in three parts, principally, "How do I clean the porous cast-iron surface to prevent cross-contamination?" and "Is there some kind of feel good ritual (i.e. Kashering) that might give me the warm and fuzzies about serving vegan dishes from a previously treif skillet?"

Fortunately for me, the answer is YES, and I don't need to bury my beloved cast-iron in the backyard in some quasi-religious atheistic ritual. Click through to find out about libbun from a rabbi, or here to find out about the more practical approaches in addition to Parve compliance.

Doctor's Advice, Carnitine; and they don't say anything about supplements or vitamins

Requested information from my doctor regarding secondary carnitine deficiency side effects caused by valproic acid (Depakote ER, specifically) at lunch today:

I am writing to ask if you could provide some guidance with me integrating a vegan diet into my epilepsy treatment.
 
Currently my dose is 2 500 mg tabs Depakote ER am, 3 in pm.
 
When I tried to implement a vegan diet last time I became very tired and had chronic nausea and vomiting. My suspicions were that I was suffering from some degree of hyperammonia and/or valproate toxicity. In trying to prepare to re-implement a vegan diet I have been trying to prevent this from occurring again and to keep my diet from interfering with my medicine.

From what I have been able to find, valproates (e.g. Depakote ER) bind with and restrict the body's ability to produce and use L-Carnitine, resulting in an inability to transport chains through mitochondrial walls. This in turn causes fatigue and cellular buildup of ammonia. My presumption would be to increase my intake of L-Carnitine by supplement and diet (Tempeh is vegan and contains 23mg of L-Carnitine per 1/2 cup serving), as well as increase intake of foods containing Alpha Lipoic Acid (i.e. spinach) to improve bioavailability.

My initial concerns rest on whether the information I have been able to gather is accurate, whether this regimen would have some impact on someone who has a family history of Diabetes (juvenile onset) or hypothyroidism (I saw one study that cited some evidence that L-C reduces thyroid activity). Also, would there be any particular advantage to L-Carnitine over Acetyl L-Carnitine, or vice versa?
 
In your opinion would any of these measures impact the efficacy of the Depakote itself? What kind of proactive measures can I take to ensure a healthy integration of the diet and the meds? I understand this probably borders on nutritionist-y or "Statements not evaluated by the FDA" red lines, and you may not be able to have any opinion; but I would appreciate any kind of guidance you can offer.
 
Thanks in advance, your consideration is deeply appreciated,

mfg

I will continue to update with respect to getting more scraps of info together.

Quiche is easy

Not only that, but making good quiche isn't all that difficult either. Granted, I followed the formula, but still its like an hour in between five or ten minutes prep then fork to face. It's cold out so lets get one of these guys in your belly all quick like.

All you need is 4 eggs, 10 oz frozen spinach - thawed, 1 cup milk, 1 stick butter, 8 ounces cheese (more is better), fun spices, and a pie crust (I used a prepared frozen whole wheat one from the commie market). [Improvisational ingredients omitted]

here's the quick and dirty:

• preheat oven to 375'f
• melt a stick of butter with some minced garlic cloves, saute until fragrant
• add some chili paste and onion powder and stir until dissolved
• add ten ounce block of thawed, frozen spinach; saute some more making sure it gets all that spice soaked up, then add 4 ounces shredded cheese
• whisk up four eggs and one cup milk
• (if you're messy like me, you may want the crust to be on a cookie sheet to catch spills)
• sprinkle some cheese on bottom of whole wheat crust
• using a slotted spoon, add spinach to crust
• whisk egg mixture gradually onto spinach, waiting for it absorb
• sprinkle chopped cayenne, salt, and pepper on top, finish with a little more cheese
• bake fifteen minutes, dab off any excess grease on top
• bake another forty minutes
• pull, let rest ten minutes

Tonight I will be taking a stab at making some kind of vegan silken tofu-pudding chocolate-pumpkin pie in an oreo crust. Sounds rad, riiiiyyyeeeght? Here's the outline:

1. Crumble oreos and toss with earthbalance, coat bottom/sides of springform; chill 1 hour to set
2. Combine 1 cup pumpkin puree and 1/2 block silken and pour on crust
3. Combine 1 cup melted chocolate and 1/2 block silken and pour on top
4. Whip up some bitchin' vanilla silken tofu frosting, snowy peak it on top
5. It will look like this:

 my springform pan is not that thick, and the pie will likely much wider and not be that tall

Update on 11:37AM by mfg

Since I only have 7 or so Apr0n posts until 100 I may be doubling up, like with this one to maximize noise to signal. I think this is a win-win for everyone. If you're wondering, I am currently going crazy over silken tofu and am trying to find all of its lesser immediately documented culinary uses.

How to make do with vegan, naked fatties?

I have a post about this on Cooking.se and am going to put a bounty on it in a few hours.

Starting with what I wrote so far:

I would like to make naked fatties on the barbeque this weekend, but want to accomodate some vegan friends (and my on/off lacto-ovo wife). I can easily swap regular pork breakfast sausage for Gimme Lean, some other brand, or homemade. Ideally, I would like to have a hearty protein/nutritional medium at the end that is full of smoky flavor and could be used in other dishes too (i.e. chili, soup, casseroles).

come on, as if you didn't already know it was a great idea...So basically there are a few questions that remain. Most center around the fact that smoking sausage is not the same as smoking TVP or rice. If you've ever put veggie burgers, brats, etc on the grill at the same time as their meaty counterparts and ended up with hockey pucks you know what I'm referring to.

First, I want to ensure that the cooking process seals in all the tasty goodness of the vegan chub. Second, I want to ensure that the vegan chub gets nice and smokey. So, since the control in this experiment will be the meaty chub, how should I construct the experimental set? Basically prep will be the same.

It occurs to me that a pre-soak might be in order for the chub; but this idea worries me in that I am not sure TVP would like that very much. Perhaps wrapping it in swaddling clothes and aluminum foil gates would help keep the heat more indirect? I am not sure. If I do two chubs, I will do soak and non-soak. Another problem is my lack of a probe thermometer - I will need to track one down. Unfortunately, the BBQ sauce I just bought is not vegan (anchovies in the worcestshire sauce), so I will need to remember to shelve that one for the non-meat eaters.

Nonetheless - vegans, vegetarians, omnivores; lend me your comments and clues! (Save your secrets for your selves.) I hope to have cooked these by the weekend, or thereabouts. I will follow up with analysis of the results and a review. Hopefully, these will yield a recipe!

Update on 4:49PM by mfg

Here's a link from Vegan Dad (recommended by my friend Nate) that might help insofar as, instead of steaming on the stove, I just smoke it on the grill after applying rub

Update on 11:25AM by mfg

follow-up: cashew cheese hot pepper cream sauce... amirite!!