603612 Fri Mar 13 20:05:15 -0700 2009 37 31 Home Cooking 0 4503361 I usually make my tomato sauce similar to the Hazan butter-onion sauce, but I need to modify the recipe for vegans. Has anyone had luck with a particular margarine? I hate to sacrifice the richness. Thanks! Fri Mar 13 20:05:15 -0700 2009 127218 Olive123 1 4503388 I used unsalted Fleischmans all the time, and I have no problems. I also bake with it. I keep a kosher house and can't use butter with meat, and nobody I cook for has ever complained, they all love whatever I make. Fri Mar 13 20:15:05 -0700 2009 4503361 62097 paprkutr 1 4503408 I was looking for vegan margarine recently and was surprised how many of them have some milk ingredients in them, so look at the ingredient labels carefully. Fri Mar 13 20:24:12 -0700 2009 4503361 10159 Ruth Lafler 1 4503542 I never use margarine so I can't remember the name, but I am sure there is one that is made from olive oil. Would fit in nicely with the Italian theme. Is it Oliveta or something like that? Fri Mar 13 21:51:09 -0700 2009 4503361 251167 billieboy 2 4504971 Olivia is good, but not vegan - it has milk solids. Sat Mar 14 14:40:10 -0700 2009 4503542 13819 Karl S 1 4503590 Earth Balance makes a very nice one (I'm allergic to milk so have no choice about not using butter). But word of caution - they just changed their packaging and the vegetarian spread looks almost exactly like their one with part butter! Shame on them. Some Trader Joe's carry it you can also find it at Whole Foods, and Ralphs/Kroger. Fri Mar 13 22:32:55 -0700 2009 4503361 270902 hbpthomas 2 4507269 I strongly second the recommendation for Earth Balance. I don't like margarine at all, but this stuff is not too bad and very handy if you have vegan friends. Though honestly I find it's much easier to just make something that is vegan rather than try to alter something to be vegan. Either way, good luck! Sun Mar 15 14:14:24 -0700 2009 4503590 12671 maillard 1 4503638 hmmm... What about trying a batch using olive oil to see if it works out okay? Personally, I've never tasted a margarine I liked. Fri Mar 13 23:22:26 -0700 2009 4503361 112096 Caroline1 2 4504977 Nope. It will not be the same - it needs to be a fat that is solid at room temperature to have a chance of doing the same emulsifying magic and it also has to have the predominantly sweet flavor profile of butter. If you go with oil, do a different sauce, not this one. It's all about the sweetness of the tomato fruit, the sweetness of the onion and the sweetness of the butter. Oil fundamentally alters the nature of the sauce. Sat Mar 14 14:41:11 -0700 2009 4503638 13819 Karl S 3 4505833 And exactly where did I say it will be the same? Look, there are "solid at room temperature fats" and there are "solid at room temperature fats." Of them all, margarines are, as a group, the least healthy simply because in order to get them to be solid at room temperature, the manufacturers end up doing nasty things to oil (hydrogenating them) in order to gain that consistency. And in my personal tasting experience, there are NO margarines that taste LIKE butter. Some are more reminiscent of butter than others, but for me, the "butter substitute" that tastes most like butter when used properly is a product called Molly McButter, which, even though a "dry" powder form, contains "partially hydrogenated soy bean oil AND milk solids (natural butter flavor) so it's not that good a choice for the OP's purposes either. Olive oil comes in a wide variety of natural flavors and is immensely more healthy than any margarine. If you will please read my post again, all I suggested was that she try olive oil to see if she finds the resultant flavor satisfactory. I made NO claim that she would duplicate the flavor that real butter provides. For my own purposes, when I use butter, I use grass fed organic butter, which is far more healthy that the standard butter on the average super market shelf. In cooking, as in life, there are rarely trade-offs that are 100% satisfactory. But occasionally, one does find a trade-off that results in an improvement. You just never know until you try, do you? Sat Mar 14 21:20:14 -0700 2009 4504977 112096 Caroline1 4 4506105 The OP wants similarity. Hence my comment. Sun Mar 15 02:28:38 -0700 2009 4505833 13819 Karl S 4 4515937 Though, speaking or "solid at room temperature fats," I wonder if using palm oil or a mix of olive oil and palm oil might work... Wed Mar 18 07:45:41 -0700 2009 4505833 69452 jzerocsk 5 4516254 Well, it couldn't be an olive oil with pronounced flavor...which sorta exemplifies the problem with using olive oil.... Wed Mar 18 09:09:50 -0700 2009 4515937 13819 Karl S 6 4517420 EXCEPT...... Some people really groove on the flavor of olive oil. Which is why I suggested she try it in a small batch. If she likes it, great. Make a bunch! Olive oil is standardly used in Italian style tomato based sauces. Tomato modifies the flavor of olive oil. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. As for using palm oil, jz, the jury is (maybe) still out on just how healthy palm oil is when it comes to saturated fats and cholesterol levels. I say "sort of" still out because there is lots of evidence showing it's not a heart-healthy food, but the governments of some of the countries (one of the countries?) that produces palm oil is trying hard to refute the evidence. Personally, I try very hard to steer clear of saturated fats. Wed Mar 18 14:24:45 -0700 2009 4516254 112096 Caroline1 7 4517434 That may be, but the flavor and consistency of olive oil would fundamentally make this *not* Hazan's recipe. Which might still be a nice sauce, but it's just something different. It's not a substitution in the proper sense. It's not like subbing a mixture of AP flour and cake flour for pastry flour. It's like subbing stilton for mozzarella on pizza. Wed Mar 18 14:34:05 -0700 2009 4517420 13819 Karl S 7 4517482 Well sure, but the recipe is being modified to make it vegan, not more healthy....it's not like the butter in the original recipe was super heart-healthy to begin with :-) Wed Mar 18 14:54:55 -0700 2009 4517420 69452 jzerocsk 1 4504457 It just won't taste the same. I really strongly suggest using olive oil instead. Sat Mar 14 10:35:55 -0700 2009 4503361 10099 JudiAU 2 4504579 I agree - and I have made this sauce with olive oil and it is still delicious. The OP could perhaps then trying swirling a little margerine in to a small amount in the end to see if it adds anything good. Sat Mar 14 11:44:02 -0700 2009 4504457 10985 MMRuth 1 4504570 Definitely just use oil. The only time I'd make the substitution would be when you needed the solid texture. In a sauce, oil will taste worlds better. I don't know that recipe, but I'd use olive probably. Sat Mar 14 11:40:27 -0700 2009 4503361 130151 dmd_kc 1 4504576 I would use olive oil, as well. Sat Mar 14 11:42:36 -0700 2009 4503361 11995 pikawicca 1 4504811 Another vote for olive oil. Sat Mar 14 13:36:42 -0700 2009 4503361 56762 LulusMom 1 4505459 Oh Olive don't do it! I used some funky pot-butter (crap that someone else bought) in a feeble attempt at au gratin potatoes - it could have been the brand but it separated and was almost ... fishy. Sat Mar 14 18:02:08 -0700 2009 4503361 110426 Boccone Dolce 2 4507156 If it was "almost fishy" I bet there was some Canola oil in it. Sun Mar 15 13:28:11 -0700 2009 4505459 10159 Ruth Lafler 3 4514434 no If it was fishy that sounds like the fat in the oil oxidized likely because the processors didn't do a very good job of making it or the funky pot-butter was indeed funky. Canola oil is really clean tasting when fresh and protected from oxygen, water, and sunlight. Tue Mar 17 16:27:32 -0700 2009 4507156 164007 Bryn 4 4514576 Perhaps, but there are other oils at comparable price-points that don't suffers as much as canola does in this regard. I don't bother with it. Tue Mar 17 17:11:25 -0700 2009 4514434 13819 Karl S 5 4514897 I'm from alberta where we grow it, so I know it's local. It's fats are really well balanced nutritionally. High in the omega 3s. I like it better than most of the others and it's cheaper here than sunflower or safflower. Tue Mar 17 19:11:18 -0700 2009 4514576 164007 Bryn 4 4514968 I also tried to sub Almond milk for cream. I never said I was a food wizard... ;o) Thank God my family has to love me. I think there are laws... Tue Mar 17 19:32:00 -0700 2009 4514434 110426 Boccone Dolce 1 4512641 Earth Balance buttery spread (Original) in the tub or Earth Balance buttery sticks (yes, EB comes in whipped and half spread half butter so you must do some careful checking ) but the Original in the tub and the sticks are vegan. Recently, I saw an Earth Balance tub that featured olive oil and less sodium, less fat, but I haven't seen it lately. I also love Soy Garden spread, also by the company that makes Earth Balance. I think that Soy Garden says Earth Balance on the tub. It gets confusing. I use Smart Balance with flax oil (dairy free, kosher, pareve) for spreading on toast. I really like the taste. I add ithese spreads to my tomato sauce recipes when I want some extra creaminess. They all work very well for me in cooking and baking. I have dairy issues, so I'm glad to have these products, all non-hydrogenated, to choose from. I'm at a point now where I prefer the taste of these spreads to butter (I know, sacrilege)!! Tue Mar 17 08:16:58 -0700 2009 4503361 158881 addicted2cake 2 4512668 Are you a vegan? Tue Mar 17 08:23:01 -0700 2009 4512641 56762 LulusMom 3 4512717 No, I'm not. Tue Mar 17 08:39:38 -0700 2009 4512668 158881 addicted2cake 4 4512917 Then the bit about liking it more than butter is HUGE. Tue Mar 17 09:34:09 -0700 2009 4512717 56762 LulusMom 5 4513684 I agree. It's been many years since I've cooked with or eaten butter due to my dairy sensitivity. Every once in a great while, I experiment with some treat that's been made with butter and I'm finished after one bite. I find butter too rich for my palate, almost unpleasant. Hard to believe my taste buds have undergone such a transformation. It took time, but I'm more than OK with it. I guess, given my situation, that's a good thing! Tue Mar 17 12:33:07 -0700 2009 4512917 158881 addicted2cake 2 4514344 Big ditto on the Smart Balance. I have a milk allergy and use this in all my baking. People have no idea until I tell them it's not butter. Someone even went on about my cookies being so buttery once. Tue Mar 17 15:50:26 -0700 2009 4512641 16602 lisaf 3 4517995 The people you are baking for are pretty clueless. In baking for my daughter's vegan friends, I've used SB and the texture and taste are in no way similar to the same item made with butter. Not saying it's inedible, but I wouldn't spend the calories on this stuff. I'd rather make an Italian cake using good olive oil and either blood orange or Meyer lemon juice. Wed Mar 18 18:21:32 -0700 2009 4514344 11995 pikawicca 1 4514859 I wouldn't make the recipe, margarine doesn't even qualify as food. It doesn't spoil and bugs will not eat it. When cooking for vegan friends, I choose a recipe that works with oil. Tue Mar 17 18:57:02 -0700 2009 4503361 259011 Demented 1 4517549 Why not just use olive oil? I believe in one of her books, Marcella says that you can use butter or olive oil. I would think that margarine would be a little odd. Wed Mar 18 15:10:57 -0700 2009 4503361 183643 sfumato 1 4517921 Nuttelex, i love it, my mum always had it around when i was little because she didn't use butter and i've never stopped using , i love the taste and it has no trans fat, its high in mono and polyunsaturated fats. it makes a great vegan substitute and its salt reduced but you can't tell (i should mention i live in autralia so it might not be around outside the country) Wed Mar 18 17:53:45 -0700 2009 4503361 235412 umbushi plum 1 4518529 OK, so bear with me here: this might not work, but I thought I'd throw it out there. When I make curry or pad thai or something of that nature, I use very finely ground nuts, maybe cashew or pine nuts, ground so finely that they disappear into the sauce. It enriches the sauce, but without adding a strong flavor because the rest of the ingredients are highly flavored. Thu Mar 19 01:28:05 -0700 2009 4503361 67706 WCchopper