Wheat-Free Miso Shiitake Gravy and a Decadent Dessert Recipe

**Oops! I had forgotten a couple key ingredients in the gravy recipe, but in making it just now I added what was missing. Hope you like it!

I didn't take a picture of it, sadly, but this gravy is a recipe I just couldn't NOT share...so enjoy a pic of our beloved eldest feline, Table....his life is pretty much gravy, hehe...Last night, we grandkids decided to make dinner for my husband's grandmother and her sister. My sister-in-law armed herself with my millet loaf and mashed cauliflower and potatoes recipes and enlisted me in bringing the gravy and dessert. I was so excited that we were doing a fully vegan meal. There would also be some steamed broccoli but no meat, dairy, or eggs were to be included (not a typical family dinner, but grandma is uber accepting and loves trying out all things vegan. she totally rocks).

The real trick is that my sister (we usually skip the 'in-law' title) has horrible wheat allergies. It was only after making pot of the Nutritional Yeast Cookbook's Herbed Brown Gravy that I realized my tamari was not wheat free. Rats! What to do?

I was kind of at a loss as to how I would come up with something to not only suit her but wow her with flavor...no flour, and no soy or tamari sauce. Hmmmmmm. Then I just got to work and created a gravy, I'm proud to say, that not only was suitable for everyone, but better than any recipe driven gravy I'd concocted to date!

I didn't measure anything so measurements are approximate, but the great thing about making gravy is that it's forgiving and easy to tinker with.

3-4 T chickpea miso
1 - 1 1/2 c. plain soy milk
1 heaping T dried shiitake powder (i ground a bunch up in the coffee grinder)
Nutritional Yeast to taste
1 tsp Gravy Master (it's vegan!)
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of onion powder
dash vegan worscteshire
1 tsp cornstarch
1 T cold water

Dissolve cornstarch in water and set aside.
Whisk miso with soy milk until dissolved. Add remaining ingredients (cornstarch mixture last) and, stirring constantly, bring to boil. Boil about 2-3 min while whisking, remove from heat and enjoy! So simple and so tasty, but best of all, vegan AND wheat-free!

Now on to dessert, another non-recipe driven concoction with award-winning results. Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse in Chocolate Cups with Raspberry Sauce.

this one was inspired by the amazing chocolate peanut butter pie my friend Marlo brought to my belated birthday celebration(told you I'd celebrate my birthday as much as humanly possible and then some! ;) It was rich and wonderful and full of perfect creamy decadent flavor. She assured me that I wouldn't need a recipe to duplicate it (hers consisted of silken tofu, peanut butter, cocoa powder, sugar, and some cinnamon) so when it was time to come up with something for grandma's dinner, wing it I did with amazing results...My version is darker, firmer, and richer than the original, making it an ideal mousse but still a superb pie filling if that's your fancy. I was thinking 'wheat-free' for my sis so i first melted some vegan chocolate and dropped it into paper cupcake liners, pulling it up the sides and quickly refrigerating to harden.

Then the mousse was made (shock of all shocks, i didn't measure, just dumped into a bowl the following:)

1 box silken firm tofu (the kind in the asceptic box)
3 T organic creamy peanut butter
12 oz. melted semi-sweet vegan bakers chocolate
1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon

Blend until veeeery creamy and smooth. Upon tasting at this point my husband responded to my asking what it needed, "sugar?". first I thought he had totally lost it but i think he was answering in response to the mild bitterness that semi-sweet chocolate has. I love it but knew he'd know what grandma would prefer so I added a couple T of Florida Crytals and blended some more. He claims that did the trick but I still suspect that may have been all part of his sugar-lovin imagination.

Carefully peel liners from now hardened chocolate cups and fill pastry or ziploc bag with mousse filling. pipe into cups and refrigerate.

for the raspberry sauce:
12 oz of frozen raspberries
push thru sieve to extract only the juice into small saucepan
add 1/4 c. Florida Crystals
heat over med-hi heat to boiling and add mixture of 1 tsp cornstarch to 1 T cold water.
simmer for a couple min and then cool.
I keep mine in an old agave nectar squeeze bottle in the 'fridge.

This made a ton of sauce and the mousse filled six regular sized cupcakes and about one more serving that we just stuck in the 'fridge for the next day.
I do believe that the next time I make these I'll opt for mini muffin size as it's truly insanely rich and not at all healthy but wow! so good!