Strawberry Bread - Edible Jersey Spring 2010 - p. 20

Picked up a copy of Edible Jersey while at DePiero's the other day.  The lady at the register suggested the above referenced recipe, so I went ahead and veganized it, which worked beautifully.

Ingredients:

2.25 c. sliced fresh strawberries
2 large eggs (I substituted ground flax seeds...please see: Post Punk Kitchen's Guide to Egg Replacement for the proportions)
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. veggie oil (I substituted safflower oil, again, flawless substitution)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1.5 c. unbleached flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powpow
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped nuts (The recipe suggests almonds - in lieu of almonds, I used walnuts)

Procedure:

1) Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a loaf pan and set it aside.  Place berries in a blender and puree.  Blend in egg replacer, sugar, oil, and vanilla.

2) In a separate bowl, sift all dry ingredients, save the nuts, and then fold into the wet mixture.  Next, fold in nuts then transfer to loaf pan.  Bake bread for 50-60 minutes.  Cool for about 10 minutes in pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.  Serve! (As per my M.O., I went the muffin route and baked these bad boys for about 15-20 minutes at 400F.)

Conclusion:

These are phenomenal muffins.  Again, NMcL commented on how delicious the aroma in the apartment was.  The muffins were pretty incredible, not gunna lie, and tasted phenomenal with a little schmear of Better Than Cream Cheese.

Grammy Cooks Banana Bread - Online

ANOTHER muffin recipe?!  Here's a hilarious Muffins Video for your viewing pleasure.

Here is the Recipe for Grammy's Banana Bread.

Ingredients:

1.5 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 TBL. flax seed meal (ground in the blender)
2 TBL. corn meal
1/4 c. oil [I used canola]
1/2 c. cane juice crystal or sucanat or combination [I used 100 % sucanat]
1 c. mashed bananas [My two small, overripe bananas yielded a scant 1 c.]
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans, optional [I used walnuts]
[I also felt the urge to sprinkle in 2 tsp. cinnamon]
Procedure:

1) Mix first 6 ingredients well.
2) Mix next 4 ingredients well.
3) Mix both together and stir in nuts if you want.

Pour into sprayed loaf pan and bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes. [Since I was short on time (hey, a girl has to find time for the gym!), I poured my batter into a lined muffin tin, and baked at 400F for 10-20 minutes instead.]
Conclusion:

Wow, the aroma of these muffins baking in the oven made the entire apartment smell bakery-fresh! These muffins were not too sweet and not overwhelmingly banana-flavored. They appeared and tasted “very healthy”.

From the glowing reviews that followed the recipe on vegweb, I expected a "5-star recipe" yield from this recipe.  I thought the muffins were ever-so-slightly dry and would have preferred a moister finished product.

Since the muffins were not too sweet, the addition of chocolate chips (in lieu of the walnuts) might be nice in the event I replicate the experimentation again.

Collard Greens With Panfried Walnuts - Online

Here is a link to the RECIPE.  In short, I used this recipe from Epicurious.com as a guideline, and toyed with the proportions of the ingredients to taste.

Be mindful of your nuts (no, perv. not those).  My walnuts got a little on the well-done side (suppose thats my euphemism for saying "burnt")  since I left them unattended as I chifonnaded my collard greens.  I de-stemmed the collard greens, stacked up a few, then cut them into little ribbons.

I described to NMcL the texture of collard greens as being thick, tough spinach.  They were chewier greens than what I was used to.  Because of their thickness, I'd recommend boiling them first to make them tender (love me tender), as the recipe suggests.  I want to experiment with all types of greens (kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, etc.) because they really pack a nutritional punch!

Caramelized Onion, Walnut, and Sage Pizza - Students Go Vegan Cookbook – p.187 & 191

Pizza Dough Recipe
½ c. warm water (110 F)
½ tsp. pure maple syrup
1 TBS. active dry baking yeast (1 package)
2 TBL. olive oil
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
½ c. whole wheat flour
½ c. to ¾ c. unbleached white flour
1 to 4 tsp. white flour for rolling out the dough

1) In a large bowl, combine the warm water and maple syrup. Stir in the yeast. Set it aside to proof (bubble and foam) for 10-12 minutes. Add the olive oil, salt, pepper, and whole-wheat flour. Mix well, gradually adding the ½ c. white flour. Use the other ¼ c. white flour if needed, until the product is a soft, workable dough that can be handled easily and does not stick to your hands.

2) Turn out the dough until a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth, springy, and pliant. Take care not to over dust your work surface with flour, as too much flour will make the crust tough.

3) Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl and turn once so the entire surface is coated. Cover with a towel and set aside in a warm place to rise for 30-40 minutes, until the ball doubles in bulk.

4) Preheat oven to 450F. When the dough is ready, roll out the dough into a 12-inch circle or rectangle, using a rolling pin or your hands, sprinkling the surface with flour to prevent sticking as you go. Lightly oil the crust, add your chosen topping, and bake.

Caramelized Onion, Walnut, and Sage Topping

1 TBL. olive oil, plus more for brushing on top of dough
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
½ tsp. salt
Ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1-2 TBL. water
1 recipe of pizza dough, ready to roll out
1/3 c. walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 tsp. dried sage leaves

1) Warm 1 TBL. olive oil in a medium skillet. Add onion slices, salt, and a few pinches of pepper. Saute over medium/ medium-low heat, gently stirring to prevent the onions from sticking as they caramelize. After about 35 minutes, the onions should be golden and very sweet. Add the garlic and sauté for an additional 5 minutes. Add 1-2 TBL. water to help scrape the flavors left on the bottom of the pan. Set the onions aside to cool.

2) Preheat the oven to 450F. Roll out the dough and brush lightly with olive oil. Spread the caramelized onions and walnuts on top of the dough. Bake the pizza for 8 to 10 minutes, until the crust is golden. Remove the pizza from the onion and crumble the sage leaves on top.

Crib Notes:  The pizza crust is delicious.  It made enough for a 12 inch pie, which was 2 servings for me, though in the future, if making dough for a larger crowd (or an individual with a larger appetite) it might be nice to double the recipe.  The dough recipe is definitely a keeper.  The topping was pretty good too, though I noticed that the flavors seemed to meld better a day later.  The dried sage I used was a little weird - the texture was bizarre, very earthy and natural...I might try using another brand...it was weird man, weird.  Anyhoo, it is fun making vegan pizzas, and this recipe is decent.

"Meatloaf" With Mashed Potatoes and Gravy - Skinny Bitch (118)

“Meatloaf” Recipe (All Recipes are Courtesy of Above Referenced Book)

1 TBL. refined coconut oil
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 onion, diced
3 oz. cremini, shiitake, or portobello mushrooms, diced (about 2 cups) [I used a combination of baby bellas and white mushrooms]
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. fine sea salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 slices vegan whole wheat bread [Be on the lookout for a “You’ve Got Options” post on Vegan-Friendly Breads]
1 c. toasted walnuts [Mine were raw, so I just toasted them in a pan over the stovetop for a bit]
2 14-oz. packages of Gimme Lean Ground Beef

½ c. rolled oats
½ c. ketchup
2 TBL. chopped fresh Italian parsley

1) Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 10 x 4 x 3 in. loaf pan and set aside.
2) In an 8 to 10 in. skillet, heat the oil on medium heat. Saute carrot and celery for about 2 minutes. Add onion, sauté for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, salt, and pepper, sauté for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool a little.
3) In a food processor, process bread and toasted walnuts to form a coarse meal. Transfer the coarse meal to a large bowl, add the “beef,” oats, ketchup, parsley, and veggie mixture. Use your hands to mix well. Transfer mixture to the loaf pan, spread it in an even layer, then bake for 45 minutes. The bitches (ahem, the skinny ones) recommend letting the loaf sit for about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Boil water and a bit o’ salt in a large pot over high heat. Add approximately 2.25 pounds of peeled and cubed russet potatoes [I guesstimated the weight using approximately a little less than half of a five pound bag of potatoes.] Cook the potatoes for about 15 or 20 minutes, or until they are very tender. Drain the water, add the soy milk, a scoop of vegan butter, and salt and pepper to your hearts desire, then mash ‘em up, using a whisk. Or, if you have fancy (uni-tasking) kitchen gadgets a la Williams Sonoma, you can press the potatoes through a potato ricer.

Brown Gravy Recipe

¼ c. refined coconut oil
½ c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 c. veggie broth
4 TBL. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or 8 tsp. tamari or soy sauce

1) Heat the coconut oil in a 2 to 3 (small) quart saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook and stir constantly, until the mixture is browned and smells nutty (about 5 minutes). Add in the veggie broth, a little at a time, continuing to stir. Remove from heat, and whisk in the Bragg’s/ soy/ tamari.

Thoughts

This was an excellent recipe, I'd say that my fellow B+ vegans (or C vegans), haha, agree.  Cooking with the coconut oil imparted a slightly sweet taste to both the meatloaf and the brown gravy, which was unique but pleasant.  MO brought a nice Merlot which went well with the "meatloaf" and MD prepared a delicious vegan broccoli rabe dish.   The meal was finished with a tasty sweet treat - Newman-O's, which, in my opinion are 110 % better than its non-vegan counterpart, i.e. Oreo brand cookies.

As far as the blogging format, there are some exciting changes on the horizon.  JL suggested that I make use of these so-called jump breaks for my blog posts.  I couldn't agree more - now its just a matter of sitting down and figuring out how to properly insert them.  Ultimately, I envision each post containing just photos, then the readers (all 3 of you, haha) will click the pictures, which will contain a live link that redirects you to a new page that shows the recipe.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to do this (ahem, SW!) please, comments are appreciated.

 

Baked Acorn Squash and Apples - Online

Today at the supermarket I picked up an acorn squash to try something new. SA got me hooked on spaghetti squash, but I wanted to spice things up a bit. I stumbled upon this recipe for Baked Acorn Squash and Apples at the PostPunkKitchen website. It looks like a promising site for all things vegan.

When cutting the squash in half, an article from about.com, Acorn Squash Cooking Tips , recommends microwaving the entire squash to ease the slicing. Also, the article recommends cutting the squash in half through the stem end to the point, rather than across the diameter. The internet is great for learning how to cook (vegan and otherwise)! Its full of handy information!

The recipe did not include walnuts, rather, the addition of the nuts was suggested by a person in the comments section of the article. Always concerned with the protein content of my diet, I forged ahead and added two fistfuls (haha my coworkers) of (wal)nuts to the apple mix! How nicely the walnuts browned in the oven! In the future, I might omit the canola oil from the recipe - it didn't seem to add much to the dish, with the exception of unnecessary fat...there didn't seem to be any functional benefit of the oil...

There is a recipe for Glazed Acorn Squash on the sticker...it simply entails adding orange marmalade and butter to the squash. Might try this for my next experimentation, and will veganize the recipe by using my Smart Balance Light. Again, the reviews of the different versions of Smart Balance butter sub is to come!