Early Spring Vegan Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

The wife was extra sweet this year and bought me a canoe full of candy so we could welcome St. Valentine's Day. It was terribly saddening as I came down with a nasty cold and had to avoid lots of the candy she had bought. As I tried to combat my yearning for chocolate covered everything (raisins, sunflower seeds, pomegranate seeds, and more) I turned to a less guilty treat. Hollin baked these up. They are superb and vegan. They are extra moist and great right out of the oven when the outside still has a little crunch. Pair with your favorite tea and you are ready to welcome in some early spring weather.

Ingredients
 1 1/2 Mashed Bananas
1/2 Cup of Applesauce
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
1 Cup of Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 Dash of Salt
1 Dash Nutmeg / 1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Cup Dried Cranberries or Raisons
3/4 Cup of Oatmeal

1. Mix Bananas, Applesauce, Vanilla, and Brown Sugar
2. Mix in Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, Nutmeg/Cinnamon, Raisons and Oatmeal (the remaining ingredients).
3. Spoon out balls of cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet or bake mat. Slightly flatten (cookies will not spread out as much as conventional cookies, so slightly flattening will make them less round)
4. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20 - 30 minutes.

Multi-Grain Bread

Bread-making may conjure up plenty of unpleasant thoughts for some people. The vulnerability of yeast, the stickiness of dough, the strenuous task of kneading are some of the things that may come to mind.  And unlike most baked goods and cuisine, the French word for bread, 'pain', does not help the reputation of bread-making.  I'm sometimes deterred from what I feel will be a laborious process. In the past several months I have made bread on occasion in a bread machine after struggling with sprouted grain bread. With a bread machine there is absolutely no excuse to not make homemade bread.

I'm not sure if it has been the recipes that I've tried but I haven't been all that impressed with my bread-machine bread. Crust seems to be  too thick and the notch from the mixing blades at the bottom of the loaf has been annoying.

After making artisan type bread in the past, I was eager to try a basic bread-pan style loaf. Something I could actually use for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So after reading a simple recipe in Martha Stewart's magazine I got to work crafting a multi-grain loaf. The results are quite good. And really, a not-so-painful experience it was.

Ingredients, what you'll need. 

The Flours:
3 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of rye
3 cups of all purpose flour (white unbleached, all that good stuff)

The Grains:
1/3 cup bulgar
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup of raw sunflower seeds (shelled)
1/4 cup of flax seeds (whole or processed)

Water:
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees) FOR YEAST
1/2 cup warm water for Bulgur
1 1/2 cup warm water for mix


Other things that you'll need:
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (two 1/4-ounce envelopes)
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons honey FOR YEAST
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons coarse salt (sea salt please)


Optional:
Spray olive oil


Tools:
Bowls
Mixer
Thermometer (digital is the way to go here)
4 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch loaf pan. 
Plastic wrap



Bulgar!
1. Prepare the bulgar by letting it soak and absorb water for 20 mins.

Get the yeast going:

1. Sprinkle yeast over 1/2 cup of warm water (watch the temperature with the thermometer you want to have water at 110 degrees F or whatever your yeast package recommends)

2. Add honey (2 teaspoons)

3. Whisk until all the yeast has dissolved. Then let sit for about 5 minutes. It should froth like crazy.

The mixing bowl:

1. Add yeast mixture
2. Add melted butter
3. Add 1 1/2 cup of remaining water.
4. Add 3 tablespoons of honey.

In another bowl:

1. Combine all flours.
2. Combine Salt
3. Dry mix thoroughly

Back to the mixing bowl:

1. Add two cups of flour/salt mix to the Yeast/honey/butter mix.

2. Attach dough hook and mix with stand mixer until smooth.

3. Add the remainder of the flour mix and the grains one cup at a time. Slowly over several minutes combine all ingredients while mixer is running.

4. Mix on low until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ragged and slightly sticky ball.

5. Knead dough on a floured surface (or baking mat) for 5 or so minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic but still slightly tacky.

6. Spray or apply a thin layer of butter to the mixing bowl or another large bowl.

7. Work the dough into a ball and transfer to the large bowl.

8. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1 hour in a warm place. The dough should double in volume.  (And should not spring back when poked)

9.  Transfer dough back to work surface and punch down dough and divide in two (using a sharp knife to do this works best)

10. Grab half of the dough and work into a rectangle (nearly sqaure) about 8 1/2 inches in length.

11. Fold ends toward the center, slightly overlapping eachother.

12. Pinch together the seam.

13. Place dough seam down in the oiled/buttered loaf pan.

14. Sprinkle with flour and cover pan with plastic wrap. Set in warm place to rise, about 45 minutes or until dough is about 1 inch above the top of the pan.

15. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. And wait for dough to rise.

16. Reduce heat to 400 degrees. Remove plastic then bake bread. for about 45 mins or until tops are golden brown. Rotating pan after 20 mins.

17. Transfer to wire racks, Let cool slightly then turn out loafs and let them completely cool before slicing.

African Peanut Stew

      I eat peanut butter nearly every day on toast, however, I have very rarely extended the use of peanut butter in main dishes especially stew. And after trying to find a good curry recipe, I'm very pleased to find this recipe for African Peanut Stew. This recipe is very alluring thanks to its nutritionally packed ingredients.

If you're like me and have been wanting to get more greens into your diet- this is a simple way.

Please note that this recipe yields a rather large quantity. You may cut recipe in half- or grab a large pot! It is reccommended to use a dutch oven, but our 2.5 Qt. Staub couldn't handle all of it. So go for something that is around 5 quarts.

Serves 6
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
2 tablespoon garlic, minced (or a tablespoon or two of crushed garlic works fine)
2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and minced (optional if your market doesn't have it (like mine didn't))
1 tablespoon curry powder (I add an extra teaspoon of cumin as well)
1 (14-ounce) can low sodium diced tomatoes with juice
4 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1/4 cup crunchy natural peanut butter, organic preferred
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 bunch of kale, chopped (about 5 cups)
*hot red pepper flakes or freshly ground pepper to taste


1. Heat up olive oil in dutch oven over medium heat. When oil is hot, toss in the onions and carrots and sauté until they are soft. This will most likely be at least 5 minutes. You may choose to cook the onions longer to achieve a caramelized state.

2. Add garlic and curry powder and cumin (if using). Sauté some more, about 1 minute.

3. Add full can of tomatoes (including juice) Let eveything cook a bit so the liquid is reduced. (2-3 min)

4. Add broth and sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to simmer for about 8 mins.

5. Add garbanzo beans and peanut butter. Stir.

6. Add cilantro and Kale, cook until the kale is wilted. (about 2 mins).

Serve.


thank you, Katie's Healthy Bites at blog.healthyeats.com for this recipe. 

pizza basique: a friendly pie

I've been trying to find a good pizza dough recipe for a while. I recently developed a honey-wheat dough recipe that was completely pleasing but just last night I opened up the family recipe box and it was bare. My fault for writing the recipe on a scraggly piece of paper. I'm sure it got tossed, unfortunate that. But there is always good that comes from those types of things. I was forced then to try a new recipe. Previously I had come across a Napoletana dough recipe by Peter Reinhart. The specific instructions looked daunting but after taking another look and testing the recipe last night, I can still say that pizza is one of the easiest bread-making one can do.

Sticking with my general philosophy that a good recipe should be basic and healthy- this recipe is definitely basic and depending on how you top your pizza, can be fairly healthy. One day I'll post a recipe for the honey-wheat dough; a more nutritious alternative to this all-purpose flour pizza.

**Remember to plan this meal ahead, dough must rest overnight in refrigerator*** 

So here it is, Peter Reinhart's Napoletana Pizza Dough:

4 1/2 cups (20.25 ounces) unbleached high-gluten, bread, or all-purpose flour, chilled
1 3/4 (.44 ounce) teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon (.11 ounce) instant yeast
1/4 cup (2 ounces) olive oil (optional)
1 3/4 cups (14 ounces) water, ice cold (40°F)
Semolina flour OR cornmeal for dusting

I really recommend that you use a scale to measure out the ingredients if you have one.  It's always a great deal more accurate and will save you time when you're mixing your dough and trying to figure out if you should add more water or flour. This is not to say that you won't ever have to adjust-but it will get you to a closer point.

The chilled water and flour thing was what discouraged me from using this recipe...but go with it..It's not difficult and is really worth it.

1. Combine flour, yeast, cold water, oil, salt in large mixing bowl. Use a cold metal spoon to stir ingredients together or jump to your standing mixer and attach the paddle. If using a spoon, repeatedly dip it into cold water (to prevent stickage) and use it like a dough hook, vigorously mixing the dough. (about 5-7 mins when everything is mixed together well and smooth). If using the standing mixer (I reccommend this) attach the dough hook when dough begins to become more formed and hook for about 5 mins. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl but remain somewhat stuck to the bottom of the bowl. If dough sticks to the side add a pinch or two of flour at a time until the dough dries up a bit. If the dough is completely adhered to the bottom of the bowl, add a few drops of water. Be sure to do these adjustments in very small increments.
Dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky but not tacky and should be around 50-55 degrees F.

2. Sprinkle flour on your work area and cut the dough into 6 equal parts.  Dip each ball into flour so it will not stick to your hands and form a ball. Mist a plastic bag or put on a tray on top of plastic wrap or parchment paper and mist with spray oil. Multiple methods can be used to store this dough in your fridge. Just make sure it has some room to expand, well oiled (to prevent sticking) and sealed off enough so that the oil will not dry out.

3. Place in refrigerator overnight or up to 3 days to rest. Thoughts of this becoming a type of Easter dish are currently coming to mind.

Day of Baking--

1. Pull out a dough ball and flatten it on a flour dusted and spray oiled surface and flatten into a 1/2 inch disk. (about 5 inch diameter) Let this rest on the counter top for 2 hours covered loosely with plastic wrap.

2.  Meanwhile...prepare your  toppings, and heat up your oven. Please use a pizza stone...you've done this much work preparing the dough, you owe it to yourself. Put the stone in the oven and allow everything to heat up for at about 45 mins before putting the pizza in. Oven should be 450F at minimum and 800F maximum. The hotter the better, but 450F works fine.

3. After dough has rested, continue to flatten dough. Now, I'm not really an expert on tossing dough...I've tried but it is really difficult. Give it a try, but if things don't work out try to get an even thickness by using a rolling pin. This pizza dough should be rolled out pretty then. (We are going for a thin crispy crust) I'd say like a 1/4th of an inch. Don't worry about forming a crust (unless you're into that).

Topping the pie:

1. If your pizza is rolled out thick you may want to consider putting some holes into the dough with a fork though out the entire pie. I tend to do this on any thickness but I'm not sure if it really matters.

2. Load pizza on pizza peel (the wood paddle thing) or just use the back of a pan. Regardless, use semolina flour (preferable) or cornmeal so that your pizza will roll easily off the delivery device onto the stone.

3. Spread some olive oil about on the pizza..This acts as a barrier for your sauce and other toppings so they won't sog out the dough.





Recommended Toppings:

1.  Thin layer of tomato sauce
2.  Small handful of black olives (well drained)
3.  12 or so pieces of artichoke hearts

4.  Fresh thinly sliced tomatoes.
5. Paper thin sliced zucchini
6. (cheese: mozerella / Parmesan regiano) non-vegan


4. Lay the toppings down in approximately this order mentioned above. Add seasoning: basil, garlic, oregano, chili flakes...anything goes.

5. Slip the pizza into your oven.

At 450F the pizza will probably be done in about 10-12 minutes. Just keep an eye on your toppings...Especially if you are using cheese. It might burn before the crust even gets dark. This dough is really white, so keep in mind it might not even really look done when it really is.

6. Remove pizza, allow to cool, enjoy.

Below is the cheese variant:

Stuffed Focaccia Bread

    
     The other night my wife and I adapted a recipe from the cook book Vegetarian Food for Friends . The time it took to prepare the dough and the veggies may have seemed endless because we were starving but this recipe yields a full cookie sheet of goodness that we've enjoyed for the past few days.
     This dish is as versatile as pizza and could be likened to a calzone, but what sets this apart from those is the salty and crunchy and at the same time soft focaccia bread. It's an easy bread to make that is basic and only requires sea salt in terms of any special flavoring. However, we chose to throw in a generous amount of rosemary.

This is adapted from the book Vegetarian Food For Friends.

Focaccia Bread:


3 1/3 Cups White Bread Flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 oz. package active dry yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil 
 1 tablespoon dried rosemary (optional) 
or fresh small sprigs of rosemary.



Filling:

1/2 red bell pepper; halved, seeded and sliced
1/2 orange bell pepper, halved, seeded and sliced
1 red onion sliced
olive oil for roasting
8 oz. mozzarella cheeze 
large handful of fresh basil, chopped
8 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, sliced
handful of pitted black olives
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


(This might seem like a lot of expensive ingredients, but it's not too bad considering the amount it yields. Some ways to cut cost is to:

• only buy 1 red bell pepper, or even a green one instead
• skip the sun-dried tomatoes for well drained- stewed can tomatoes
• skip the cheese. This can be a wonderful vegan dish! besides cheese is too expensive.

Dough:
put the flour salt and yeast in a large bowl, stir in olive oil and 1 1/2 cups of water. Be sure to heat the water to the temperature specified by the yeast packet. Mix dough with hands , then start to knead dough until it is smooth and springy (about 10 minutes) or take out the stand mixer like I did and slap that dough hook on. Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl and lightly oil the top of the dough to prevent it from drying out. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a damp dish towel and let sit in a warm place for about 30 mins. The dough should double in size.

Filling:
While you let the dough rise, let's prepare the veggies. Preheat oven to 350ˆF. Put the bell peppers and onion on a roasting pan and sprinkle with olive oil and salt. If using fresh or canned tomatoes let those roast as well with the bell peppers and onion for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Mix in the mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, oil, olives, salt and pepper.

Back to Dough:
Transfer to lightly floured surface or Baking Mat and cut in half.  Using a rolling pin or a glass jar or anything cylindrical, roll out dough so that it is about the size of the baking pan. If you use this piece as the bottom shell make a little larger so that it curls up the pan a bit. Lay it down and spread the veggie mixture on top so it is rather evenly distributed. Roll out the other half of dough and make a similar rectangle piece, this time placing on top of the veggies, kinda like tucking them into a bed. Press the edges of the dough together so you seal them in.

Ensuite, brush with the 2 teaspoons olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and dot with fresh sprigs of rosemary (or dried). Set aside tray and let rise for 30 mins. Just before you place the tray into the oven make plenty of indentations in the dough. (I forgot to do this, but be sure you do).  Then, bake in oven at 350`F for 40 minutes, or until lightly golden.


Oh my it smells so good and taste even better.

Baking Mat

      I do not plan on turning this blog into a product review, but after using the Baking Mat a few times, I am very excited to tell people about it. If you work with dough, you need this. I remember the days of using the kitchen counter as a work surface and then spending lots of time after baking trying to clean up a counter that was left with small residual spots of dough. It was no easy task. Then one day I found this silicone mat. It rightfully claims that dough does not stick to the surface, making it perfect for kneading and rolling dough out on it. Also, it has the ability of withstanding lots of heat, thus it is possible to line a baking sheet and actually bake right on it. I haven't tried this because I purchased the larger mat, and it wont' fit in my oven. But they do come in a variety of sizes, including a common pan size. I highly recommend this product if you like making any thing with dough, even just occasionally.

Here's a link to my particular mat: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=14294074

Other similar items: Silpat Baking Mat, Matfer Exopat

Mom's Lentil Slowcook Delight

     In honor of labor day, I thought I would share with you a nearly laborless dish. Here in Portland, it is starting to feel like Fall already, the leaves are starting to change and cooler temperatures are here. This  lentil dish will surely warm you up on a cold gloomy day.  As you can imagine, I eat this a lot during Portland's long gloomy winters.
     The best part of this dish is that you can prepare it in the morning by cutting up all the ingredients and throwing them into the slow-cooker. When you get home after work,  you'll have a hot pot of lentils that have slow-cooked to perfection.

The base of this dish is just regular brown lentils, but I encourage you to throw in whatever you like. I almost always use an equal mix of split green peas and lentils. In the picture on the left, I tried a second type of lentils (red lentils) to give the dish another dimension in taste.

Here's my take on my mother's classic recipe:

1 Cup Lentils

1 Cup Split Green Peas

5 Cups Water

1 Bay Leaf (optional)

6-8 quartered cut Potatoes

Handful or more of frozen mixed veggies (carrot, peas, corn, green beans)

1/2 Onion chopped

 Pinch of Salt and Pepper- Optional: Garlic Powder, Basil 

2 Tea Spoons of Olive Oil

Place in crockpot in this order, no need to mix ingredients. Set the temperature from low to high depending on when you want to meal to be finished cooking.

Low- All Day

Mid – 5 Hours

High- 4ish hours

5-10 minutes before serving

Add 2 cans of diced tomatoes (14 oz.) (I recommend trying the various seasoned quarter cut stewed tomatoes).

Realize that this recipe serves probably, about 6 people. It can be cut in half easily. When I was living alone, I would cut this recipe in half and eat it over a couple days. Don't be afraid to make the full recipe, because the dish becomes even tastier after it the flavors have marinated in the fridge for a day or so. The left-overs will not let you down!