Bechamel-ish sauce: dairy free, wheat-free, get the right flour and it's gluten-free

The key to a dairy free Western diet is finding substitutes. Every ingredient in traditional Bechamel is off our list. Here is a yummy alternative. Last time I cooked it in a bake, it was so convincing that DH asked if I was trying to poison him with dairy. I swear there's not a drop of milk protein in it.




Here is my best substitute for cheese. - it's quite awesome in a lasagna, a gratin, a creamy potato bake.It's based on a Bechamel recipe but carries not one iota of any of the actual ingredeints in Bechamel sauce.

1 cup soymilk - fridge or room temp to start with
3 tbsp canola oil
1/3 cup of the relevant flour (I use spelt flour cos we're not gluten-free, just wheat-free)
1 egg, whisked
Pinch of salt

Mix the milk and canola in a small pot. Whisk in the flour and start to heat it on the stove.
Mix the egg and salt in while the whole thing is still mostly cold.
Whisk vigorously and heat it until it has thickened. This takes a minute but when it happens it happens fast. Don't leave it on the stove
Use it in lasagna (smeared on top of super-thin slices of salted eggplant, you'd swear it was parmesan)
or use it on a sliced potato bake (sprinkling rye breadcrumbs on top gives it crunch and texture)
or use it on leeks/tomatoes/zucchini/your gratin of choice.











The places it does not work so well are where you look more closely at the sauce. For example, I need to come up with a better option for eggs benedict, fondue, pizza, and nachos.
But it is truly delicious in lasagna.

Chicken pot pie - dairy free, wheat free, but unsuccessful "power cooking"

I recently rediscovered an old idea, apparently now renamed Power Cooking. Spend one afternoon a week cooking large quantities, and filling up your freezer with pre-packed meals. This stash will then prevent any 5:30-7PM oh-my-fridge-is-empty-and-the-kids-are-climbing-the-walls-and-eating-the-furniture catastrophes, reduce the frequency (and financial and nutritional costs) of ordering takeaway, and leave more time during the evenings for knitting/technical documentation/trips to the park/retrieving the chooks from up the street.
We used to do this when we were students - we would cook a pot of beef massaman and then still have some variety in the week afterwords. Many juggling mums I know do this to provide meals when the nanny has the kids in the evening.

But I had never tried it for a family. I was worried about 2 limitations in particular:
1) The meals that fare the best are curries, casseroles, soups, meatballs etc. Not prawn stirfries, or cajun roast chicken, or perfectly cooked kangaroo steak with honey yoghurt sauce. I'm sorry. You can't freeze kangaroo steak.
2) For lots of hungry young kids, the quantities must be large. The freezer space must be large. You also risk them not eating the food on a whim.

But I thought I'd try it. At least a bit.
Pot pies seem to freeze OK.
Chicken was on special at Aldi.
Here is my recipe for dairy free wheat free pot pies (for those with dairy free wheat free eating)

Filling:

• Chop 2 large onions and brown them in 1tsp olive oil (takes about 10min). Add 2 crushed garlic cloves for another minute. Put this into a food processor.
• Chop 1.5kg chicken breasts into 3cm cubes. Sear them in a hot pan in olive oil, turning frequently so they get a little colour on all sides..
• Meanwhile, put about 100g stale bread (if you like 100% rye, spelt, or gluten free) in a mixing bowl and pour hot boiled water on it. Leave it to soak until you have soft mushy bread in a bowl of water. Pour out the water and add the mushy bread to the onions in the food processor. Blend it to a pap.
• By this stage, the chicken should be seared.
• Season the chicken with pepper, paprika, and either salt or Vegeta. Other possible spices include a little turmeric, cloves, Add about 1 cup of water and leave it to simmer for 20mins.
• Add the onion and bread pap to the brew. Add a handful of fresh chopped herbs: parsley, coriander, or thyme. This will thicken it up nicely. Cook 5 more mins if the herbs are woody. Set it aside till you need it.

Pastry:

• Sift 250g rye or spelt flour and a pinch of salt onto your workbench. (Make sure it's a clean bench.) 
• Put 100ml olive oil and 80ml water in a bowl and swish it around briskly with a fork. It might not look like it mixes but it does help. 
• Gradually add liquid to the flour and knead it into pastry. Knead for several minutes until it goes really smooth, almost glassy. Roll it to an even layer of about 1mm thin.

Assembly:

• Grease a Pie dish (for tonight) and/or some ramekins (to freeze).
• Put chicken mix in the bottom.
• Cut pieces of pastry to roughly the size of the top of each dish.
• Put the pastry on top of the chicken. 
• Pre-cook for 20mins at 180 degrees (150 degrees in a fan-forced oven)

Re-heat:

• When cooking from room temp or fridge temp, cook for another 20mins at 180 degrees (less time for smaller ramekins).
• When cooking from frozen, cook for 20mins at 150 degrees followed by 10mins at 180 degrees (less time for smaller ramekins)

The drawback:
It was extremely tasty. The ravening horde ate most of it at lunchtime. I only had 2 ramekins left in the fridge, and then my husband ate one for dinner. I am going to take the last one to work with me. There is no point freezing them, so the whole "power cooking" thing kindof fell apart.

I would love to take a photo but I fear it would be gone by the time I find the camera.