Attack of the Cruciferae: Roasted Cauliflower

Mmmmm, aborted floral meristems.
I like cauliflower. A great, easy way to make a tasty cauliflower dish is to roast it. Little preparation is needed.

Indian Spiced Roasted Cauliflower:
1 head cauliflower, chopped into your favorite sized portions
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 tsp Madras curry powder
1/2 tsp sambar powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and roast at 400F, 30-40 minutes, until starting to brown.

Seitan Roast via the Pressure Cooker: Recipe Soon

Meaty Seitan Roast

Bubble and Squeak Meets Ethiopia

I don't eat enough cabbage.  I am usually afraid that I won't be able to eat a whole head before it turns, or I turn on it.  However, one of my favorite recipes for cabbage is bubble and squeak.  It reminds me of Tikil Gomen.  I deciced to use my homemade cold-pressed canola oil based niter kibbeh and berbere for the seasoning.  I also don't have leftovers from (seitan) roast dinners often, so I make it fresh. Also for little more sumtin sumtin I added some chopped homemade, baked tofu.  I cook mine in a 10 in cast-iron skillet.

Recipe:
1 head green cabbage, chopped
1 large onion, sliced
1 lb chopped carrots
4 large russet potatoes, chopped
8 oz chopped baked tofu
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C niter kibbeh, halved
1 - 2 T berbere

Boil potatoes and carrots separately until just soft. Drain and set aside. Fry onion in half of the niter kibbeh until soft.  Add berbere. Add cabbage and cook for 10 minutes. Add garlic and tofu. Add carrots and potatoes.  Add remaining niter kibeh. Crudely mash.  Try not to turn until browned bits form.  Mix it up occasionally. Cook until the browned sections are too your liking. Adjust salt and pepper as necessary.

Spiced Carrot Dip

I recently have been enjoying a spiced carrot dip.  This is my attempt at recreating something I ate at a farmers market in Monterrey.

Recipe (yields about 2 cups):
1 lb carrots
1 clove garlic
1/2 - 2 tsp sweetener (e.g. sugar, honey, agave) [depends on the sweetness of the carrots]
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp each cumin, ginger, chile
1/4 tsp each cinnamon, cayenne (or less depending on heat/spice tolerance)
2 - 4 T orange juice (may substitute 1 - 2 T lime or lemon juice)
salt and pepper to taste

Boil carrots with garlic clove until tender.  Remove and add carrots and garlic to food processor, reserve cooking water. Process with other ingredients until smooth. Adjust thickness to desired consistency via cooking water and/or juice additions.

Serve warm or cold with dipping agents (e.g. pita chips, pretzels, pea pods).

Biscuits and Gravy

V*gan Biscuits and Gravy

Biscuits and Gravy:
Seitan Sausage (adapted from Vegan Dad):

- 1/2 C refried beans
- 1/2 C vegetable broth

- 1/2 C apple juice
- 2 T tahini
- 3 T soy sauce

- 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek
- 1 tsp garlic powder

- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/4 C vital gluten
- 1/3 C nutritional yeast

- 1 T light miso
- 1 tsp each thyme and sage ground in mortar and pestle
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp smoked paprika

 

Combine all ingredients except gluten.  Then mix in gluten with spoon. Once well combined form the mixture into 10 portions. Roll them into sausages. Wrap in foil.  Then steam for 25 minutes.  When cool enough to handle chop one cup of sausage.

Biscuits ~ 15:
- 2 C all-purpose flour
- 1 T baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/3 C vegetable shortening
- 1 C milk curdled with 1 T lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles crumbs.  Mix in curdled milk until the flour is moistened.  Turn dough onto floured surface.  Knead for one minute. Push the down into a circle approximately 3/4 inch thick. Cut dough with a 2 inch biscuit cutter. Place biscuits, slightly separated, onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 - 17 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Gravy:

2 1/4 C milk (of your choice) warmed
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
dash of cayenne
2 T flour
2 T butter, margarine, oil

Heat fat until liquid over medium heat.  Add in flour and whisk constantly until the mixture smells nutty.  Whisk in milk until no lumps remain. Add remaining ingredients. Whisk often until gravy reaches a boil. Then add 1 cup chopped sausage. Remove from heat. Serve over biscuits.

Super Easy Broccoli Soup with Seitan Meatballs

A while ago I saw a television cooking program hosted by Gordon Ramsay.  His recipe for broccoli soup was incredibly simple.  It was broccoli, water and salt. I decided to make something very similar.  I had made some seitan sausages that were lacking flavor, so I decided to reinvent them as meatballs.  The results were great.

Broccoli Soup ~ 3 servings
1 lb broccoli, coarsely chopped
1 T salt
1 T olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 T yogurt

Bring 8 cups of water to boil with salt.  Add broccoli and cook until tender.  Remove broccoli from water and put in blender.  Add about 2 cups of water from the boil.  Blend. Add pepper, oil and yogurt. Season to taste and add cooking water to achieve desired thickness.

Seitan balls (6):
1 C shredded seitan ( I used the grating disk on my food processor)
1/4 C cracker crumbs
1/4 C gluten
2 T flax seeds blended in 1/4 C water
1 T soy sauce
2 T ketchup
1 tsp Italian seasonsings 

Form into balls and bake on slightly greased sheet at 350F for about 30 minutes or until slightly browned, flipping once.

Apple Juice'd Tofu and Eggplant !! An Chinese Take-Out Inspired Dish

I like to make things that remind me of Chinese take-out.  This usually involves sweet and salty.  Homemade Americanized-Chinese food lends itself to orange-something, but I find that if I use orange juice from-the-carton and cook it I don't necessarily like it.  I am also not keen on using / preparing fresh squeezed. However, I usually have apple juice on hand and I like the way it tastes when cooked.

Recipe:
10 oz marinated and baked tofu
1 large eggplant, diced, salted for 30 minutes, rinsed
1 red pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 inch of ginger peeled and minced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2/3 C Apple Juice
1 - 2 T soy sauce
3-4 T chopped cilantro


Saute onions for 5 minutes in vegetable oil. Add eggplant and cook for 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes and cook for one minute. Add the remaining ingredients and cook about 5 more minutes until the apple juice has reduced by about half.  Take off heat and add cilantro. Serve over your favorite whole grain.

Salt Risen / Rising Bread - Round 3: Success

                                                                                 

  

  

Clostridium perfringens: a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium of the genus Clostridium. In the United Kingdom and United States, C. perfringens bacteria are the third-most-common cause of food-borne illness. It also is responsible for the flavor and rising of Salt Risen Bread.

Does this sound tasty to you? It did to me. If so, continue on:

Background:
Once upon a time I was reading about sourdough starters and I came across salt risen / rising bread. There were some details, etc but what really caught my attention was where the fermentation was described as smelling like rotten cheese and that the bread was supposed to sorta, kinda taste like cheese. I was sold. I tried and failed.  Now, about a year later I am at it again with all sorts of ideas that are not rooted in experience or know-how.

Recipe:

Starter:
1 T organic polenta
1/4 C organic whole wheat flour
1/4 C organic cornmeal
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1 1/3 C water (I boiled it and then waited for the temperature to fall to 140F)
- Combine all ingredients, cover and keep near 100F for 8 - 16 hours.  When its bubbling and some of the ingredients have formed a 'cloud' over the rest, its time to make the sponge.

Sponge:
Starter
1 C milk or water at ~ 115F
2 C AP flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 T sugar

- Mix to combine and cover. Keep at ~ 100F until it approximately doubles in volume. Took about 4 hours for me.


Bread:
Sponge
4 C AP Flour
1/2 C shortening
3/4 tsp kosher salt

Mix everything knead for about 5 minutes by hand. Shape and let rise in bread pans covered until double in volume.  (I may have not waited long enough for double ~ I was at about 3 hours of rising time). Bake at 375F for 30 - 40 minutes until golden brown.

Notes:
I used a heating pad placed inside of closed coller to keep the starter warm.  FYI: Leaving a heating pad on all the time is, perhaps, a bad idea. My cooler wasn't big enough for the starter or the dough in loaf pans. To keep these stages warm I put them in my oven on top of the heating pad and I would heat up a cast iron skillet on my stove top for about 10 minutes and then place in the oven about every hour or so to keep it cozy.

It really did smell pretty rank during the process. Which I delighted in mostly because it was nature and science at work.  According to the tasters it had a cheese-y flavor.  If you are concerned about the whole bacteria thing check out this medical journal article (PDF LINK - Page 28), from what I gather they deem it safe, but please feel free to make your own decision.  There was a marked time investment to a successful load and it was delicious, but I am not sure I'll be making again it any time soon.  Overall I had fun making the bread and getting to tell people its risen by "food poisoning".

It swirls to the left: Cinnamon Raisin Bread

INGREDIENTS (makes 2 loaves)

- 2  1/2 tsp active dry yeast

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar

- 1/4 c cornstarch

- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
 - 1 1/3 cup warm water

- 1 cup soymilk

- 6 cup AP flour

- 2/3 cup brown sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- 2 cups raisins

Mix together ingredients through AP flour.  Add AP flour 2 cups at a time until incorporated. Knead until shiny. Add raisins. Let rise one hour or until doubled. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together. Divide dough in two. Roll into rectangles. Spread cinnamon sugar mixture over rectangles. Roll up. Seal seam. Place in loaf pans and let rise one hour. Bake at 375 for 30 - 40 minutes. Until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped on bottom. Cool on rack.

Pumpkin and/or Sweet Potato Pie (vegan)

I love pumpkin pie.  I slightly adpated the recipe below from Bryanna Clark Grogan.  I used the old timey Wesson Oil pie crust recipe.  My first time making a pie crust.  Everything was delicious.

1 can ~15 oz. pumpkin
1 c. milk (of your choice)
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
2 T. molasses
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. clove
Throw it all in the blender. Blend well.  Put it into the pie crust. Bake for 60 minutes @ 350F (watch the edges). Cool, refrigerate and eat next or subsequent day(s).

More soup!

Yes, my food photos needs some work. Next time?

Thanks to VP for the photo.

Autumn Harvest: Acorn Squash Soup in Whole Wheat Bread Bowl

I recently harvested a bunch of acorn squashes. I made some empanadas with one of them, but have no pictures to share. I then made a batch of acorn squash soup.

Fragrant, Creamy Acorn Squash Soup:
- 3 Acorn squash (halved, seeded baked at 400F for about 35 minutes. Cool slightly and scoop out flesh)
- 3 cored, peeled, chopped ginger gold apples
- 4 peeled, chopped carrots
- 2 onions, chopped
- 4 c vegetable broth
- 1 c apple juice
- 1 1/2 T Garam Masala
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 T fresh ginger, grated
- 1/4 tsp ground clove
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 4 seeded, chopped serrano chiles

Place the onions, carrots, chiles and apples in a pot with some oil and cook until soft. Then add the fresh ginger and cook about 1 minute. Add dry spices, cooking and stirring for about 30 seconds. Then add liquid and sqaush. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Then use an immersion blender and puree. Ta-da.

I made a simple whole wheat dough and draped it over steel bowls and baked to make these shells.

General Tso's Hobo Tofu

Time to make some Americanized Chinese Food I thought.
Course of Action:
1. Search internet for recipes.
2. Process recipes through brain.
3. Create new masterful recipe.
4. Produce: General Tso's Hobo Tofu.

First I flavor inject the tofu with vegetable broth and stuff. Then I cut it up, coated it with cornstarch and fried it. Then I made the hobo sauce: sugar, ketchup, vinegar, bbq sauce, soy sauce, mushroom sauce, ginger, garlic, onions, peppers, sesame oil and cornstarch slurry to thicken. Add some vegetables. Ta-da. I call it hobo because of all the low-brow ingredients.

Popcorn Cookies

I adapted this recipe to suit my v*gan and chocolate sensibilities.

Dry:
- 3/4 C unbleached AP Flour
- 1/2 C wheat germ
- 1/2 C old-fashioned oatmeal
- 1/4 C powdered coconut
- ~3.5 C popped popcorn (coarsely crushed)
- 1 1/2 T cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt

Wet:
- 1/2 C oil
- 2 T applesauce
- 1 1/2 T soymilk
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 1 1/8 C brown sugar

Add-ins:
- 1/2 C chocolate chips
- 1/2 C chopped raisins
- 1/4 C chopped pecans

Here's How:
Preheat oven to 350º F.

Mix dry ingredients. Mix oil, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in dry mixture. (I used a spoon and it was a little messy. Add the add-ins. I ended up using my hands for this part. I used to half sheet pans with parchment, without parchment you might want to lightly grease. At first I used a 2 teaspoon disher to make the cookies, but this didn't work too well. So then I used my hands to make similar sized cookies, I smooshed just a bit. They were a bit crumbly. Leave about 2 inches between cookies for expansion. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on pan 5 minutes before transferring to racks.

Yield: ~3 dozen cookies

Tofu with Georgian Ketchup

The country not the state. Here is a beautiful, quick dish made from fresh vegetables (zucchini, carrots, summer squash & kohlrabi), home-marinated tofu and tkemali a sauce made from plums. It is refreshingly tart and easy when you can just pour out the bottle. Georgian cuisine is really tasty and most dishes are easy to prepare as well as adaptable to the veg*n diet. This is a pretty good book if you are interested: "The Georgian Feast: The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia"

Camp Meal

On a recent camping trip this was dinner. 'Fancy' ramen (rice) noodle pre-packaged soup and homemade vegan sausage. Just boil some water and eat. MMMM.... kerosene.

Banana Oatmeal Pistachio Raisin Cranberry Scone

Yup, some people like to make their scones into wedges and make the really pretty and stuff. Not me. I like to portion amount into approximately equal sized globs. I found these to be quite tasty full of whole grains (oats and whole wheat) and vegan.

Gluten Delivered for Cheap - Make Your Own Seitan

If you, like me, enjoy seitan but don't enjoy it price or availability at your local market you'll inevitably want to make it yourself. Then after spending time sifting through all of the seitan recipes you've collected, you'll know that you are going to need some vital wheat gluten. Roadblock: This wheat protein can be expensive and hard to find too. Solution: semi-bulk purchase from the internet. I've purchased the gluten for about $3.50 lb (5.5 lbs at a time w/ a subscription) with free shipping here. It's the best deal on gluten I could find and my local stores don't carry it.

Vegan Sauerkraut Split Pea Soup and Vegan Hummus Sausage

I thought sauerkraut and split pea soup sounded great. I made it. Apparently, other people do too. Mine had split peas, sauerkraut, carrots, potatoes and tomatoes. I also made some seitan sausages that I made with hummus and some other stuff. I used the cooking method suggested by Vegan Dad. I have a poor quality pic. But this soup was and sausage was really tasty. I also made some rosemary wheat/rye bread.

Salt Risen Bread: Failure

I stumbled upon a recipe for Salt Risen Bread. When I read that smelled like cheese, how could I resist. A bread that is risen by a bacteria, Clostridium perfringens, which is a ubiquitous bacteria that can cause food poisoning. However, I found an academic article that its not going to sick-ify anyone.

1. Starter
2. Sponge
3. Bread

Supposedly, the starter is hardest to get going. It worked for me. I put the starter and and jar of boiling water in a cooler and let is set overnight. Then I made the Sponge which also was working. I got bubbles, clear liquid and a pungent odor. But then after the smell and stick, the bread did not rise and I was sad and have not tried again yet.


I got ideas from these two sites: 1 and 2.

I used a cornmeal & rye flour starter, but ran out of AP flour for the bread and used whole wheat, so maybe this was the problem.