Day 84 -- Taking The Dairy Out Of Dairy Products

A few days ago, I ventured into the realm on non-dairy dairy products.  Those dubious substitutes for cheese and sour cream and cream cheese usually made out of soy.  I haven't found an application for the Daiya cheese I bought . . . yet.  But now I'm in need of soy sour cream for a dish I just made.  After all, what is a goulash or a paprikash without a blob of sour cream on top.

Hungarian goulash has always been a favorite dish of mine.  Made with big chunks of beef, sauteed first in olive oil, then simmered in a sauce of tomatoes, onions and paprika.  Served over buttered egg noodles and topped with cold sour cream, the dish is to die for.  Take away the meat, the sour cream and the egg noodles and there's not much left there.  But when I found this recipe, for Mushroom Paprikash, I decided to see if there was any way to capture that taste again -- without the meat and dairy and eggs.

The recipe suggests that you cook the sauce and then refrigerate overnight to let the flavors develop.  So, in the meantime, I'm trying to find a decent substitute for egg noodles and sour cream.  I have some whole wheat fettucine that would probably do, but I'm thinking maybe mashed potatoes might be even better.  The recipe calls for noodles, gnocchi or fried polenta, and since I've never made gnocchi or polenta, I'm left with no bottom for my paprikash.  So, potatoes it will be.

As for the sour cream, I'm afraid that I'm not going to have a huge selection to choose from, unlike the twenty different varieties available in the "real" dairy case.  So, I'll let you know tomorrow how today's dish turned out.  Meanwhile, I'm eating Brussels Sprouts and Shitake Mushsroom soup, homemade Red Pepper and Sun-dried Tomato Hummus, and Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches.

ETA:  I bought some Tofutti Sour Supreme and topped off my Mushroom Paprikash with it and it was really good.  This non-dairy sour cream tasted very much like the dairy version.  A great substitute!