More Pumpkin Bread

I love pumpkin bread! And we already have a recipe here. But this time I went ahead and made this recipe from the Beaming Baker. It was not only exceedingly easy to make, but also delicious.

Tips:

1. You don’t need that much maple syrup and sugar. I put about half that amount and it was enough for light sweetness.
2. If you’re out of oat flour and almond meal, simply grind almonds and quick oats.
3. You don’t have to use canned pumpkin. I had a butternut squash lying around, so I halved it and baked it in a 350-degree oven. As a bonus, you’ll have baked squash in the fridge, which you can use for taco fillings or for pie.

Enjoy!

Spelt Banana Bread

This evening I tried a new recipe for banana bread, and this one was a huge success. It’s sweetened only with the bananas, doesn’t have cinnamon or nutmeg, and has chia seeds in lieu of flax. The process was so simple and mess-free, partly because of our new and wonderful hand mixer. Here goes:

Wet Ingredients

4 bananas, mashed
1/3 cup nut milk (I used unsweetened soy)
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
2 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

2 cups whole spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
handful of walnut halves

Heat oven to 350 Farhenheit. Mash bananas well. Add nut milk, coconut oil, chia seeds, and vanilla extract, and whisk or mix well. The chia will absorb some of the liquids and make the whole thing a bit more gel-like. Then, add the dry ingredients and whisk/mix until just combined. Pour into loaf pan and decorate the top with walnut halves. Bake for about 45-50 mins or until pick/fork comes out dry. Let cool for about 30 mins, then take out of pan and place on cooling rack.

Edited to add: You can replace the banana with 1 1/3 cup apple sauce, add a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, and decorate the top with small apple chunks or slices in lieu of walnuts. Comes out fantastic!

Spanakopita

A big upside of vegan cheesemongering is that it’s possible to recreate fabulous cheesy dishes. They taste so much like the original, it’s like sorcery! This was my first venture into phyllo dough territory–hence the less-than-perfect presentation. But the dish itself was tasty and filling, and also healthy–full of spinach. It’s a hefty project, so set aside some time to play with this.

Phase 1: The Preparing of the Dough

1 package whole wheat phyllo
parchment paper
damp paper towels
3 tbsp vegan butter or olive oil
3 bay leaves

Defrost the phyllo. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on your work area. Slowly and carefully unroll the phyllo. Place some damp paper towels on the rolled dough leaves.

In a little pan, heat up oil or butter with bay leaves, until aromatic (and, in the butter case, melted.)

Phase 2: The Preparing of the Filling

1 tsp olive oil
1 pound spinach, chopped
1 tbsp herbs de provence
1 tbsp sage
1 tbsp oregano
1 large handful chopped green onion – white and green parts
1/2 cup almond feta
4 tbsp flax seeds
10 tbsp water
juice from 1 lemon + some lemon zest

Grind flax seeds and mix with water. Set aside.
In a large pan, heat up olive oil and add herbs de provence, sage, oregano, and green onion. When the herbs are fragrant, add chopped spinach and move it around the pan until it wilts and softens. Turn off the heat.
When the spinach is no longer piping hot, mash feta into flax mixture and add to spinach. Mix well. Add lemon and lemon zest for a last quick mix.

Phase 3: Assembly

With a little rubber brush, oil a 9×13 lasagna pan.
Place the top phyllo leaf in the pan, with its sides draping over the pan. Dip brush in oil/butter and lightly oil the leaf. Place a second leaf on top, also draping over pan. Lightly brush that one as well with oil. Repeat until you have about 6 layers.

Spoon spinach mixture over the leaves and flatten with a spatula. Then, fold the draping corners of the dough over the mixture.

Place a phyllo leaf on top of the mixture, carefully tucking its corners around the mix. Lightly brush its top with oil. Place a second leaf on top, also brushing with oil. Repeat until you have 6-8 layers. End with a light brush of oil.

Phase 4: Bakeage 

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 mins, or until top layers are golden and crumbly.

Sprouted Quinoa Bread

This delightful roll is basically a by-product of making rejuvelac, which is an essential ingredient in cultured cheeses (will post about those soon). Rejuvelac is the leftover liquid from sprouted grains. This roll is a great way to make use of the grains. It’s so tasty that it might actually be worthwhile to sprout the grains even if you don’t have lofty cheese plans!

Ingredients for one roll (easy to double, triple, or quadruple the recipe):

1/2 cup quinoa
big jug/jar of water
optional: grated coconut, sunflower seeds, nuts, raisins, olives, rosemary, or anything you’d want inside bread

Measure and place quinoa in big jar and fill with water. Using a strainer to help you, change the water three times every 12 hours. When the quinoa grains develop visible tails, fill with clean water, place lid or other cover on jar and leave on counter for about two days.

Carefully strain the liquid (use it for making nut cheese). Place the sprouted quinoa in food processor and process until smooth. If desire, mix with the suggested additions (I did coconut and sunflower seeds and it came out amazing.) Spoon out the quinoa onto a lightly floured baking sheet and form a round little roll, or a loaf, or whatever. Place in oven, bake at 350 degrees (no need to preheat) for 30 mins, then at 325 for about 20 mins more (this phase might be longer if you’re making a bigger loaf.)

Banana-Peach Cake

Another one of our contributions to the upcoming baroque workshop!

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 mashed banana
3 finely diced ripe peaches
2 tbsp agave syrup
1 tbsp flax seeds
3 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup almond-cashew yogurt (or other vegan yogurt.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grind flax seeds and mix with water in a little cup to create a vegan “egg”. Then mix first five ingredients in a bowl. Combine all other ingredients in another bowl, and then add wet ingredients to dry ingredient, mixing until fully combined. Pour mix into bundt pan or loaf-sized pan. Bake for about an hour, or until a fork inserted into the middle comes out dry.

Cantaloupe-Ginger Mini-Cakes

Next week we’ll participate in a baroque music workshop, and participants have been invited to contribute homemade baked goods to our “sherry hours” in the afternoon.

Enter cantaloupe-ginger mini-cakes!

I got this recipe from Sangeetha’s blog Spicy Treats, with a few small changes.

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cup pureed cantaloupe
2 tbsp agave syrup
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp coconut flakes

Heat up oven to 375 degrees and oil a muffin pan. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, and wet ingredients in the other. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix till combined. Add sunflower seeds and coconut flakes and mix until just combined, fill muffin holes, and bake for about 20 mins or until fork inserted into middle of cakes comes out clean. Wait until the cakes cool to invert and place on drying rack.

My Inaugural Pizza: Whole Wheat/Millet Crust

I made my inaugural pizza! It was delicious! I had homemade tomato sauce that I made for the previous day’s ravioli, and a fresh batch of Miyoko’s Kitchen vegan mozzarella. The crust was improvised (with some changes from Bobby Flay’s basic recipe) and rolled very thin, and the toppings are whatever I had left in the fridge before getting the delivery from Albert & Eve today.

The result was great, but I think in future pizzas I’ll lay off the salt, either partly or completely, and add a teaspoon of sugar. The salt, I’m told, prevents the yeast from doing their thing to the dough, and it definitely didn’t double in size as I had hoped. Part of it might have been the whole grain substitution, but just in case, I’d make a less salty dough.

Crust

2 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 cups millet flour
1 envelope instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups water, 110 degrees F
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons

Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and kosher salt in a bowl and mix with a whisk. Gradually add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and continue mixing–and then kneading–until the dough forms into a nice firm ball.

Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm area to let it rise, about 1 hour. Divide into two pieces; freeze one for the pizza of the future and let the other one sit for 10 mins.

Sauce

3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 small container Pomi or similar tomato product
small handful dry oregano
salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Heat up olive oil in wok and add cloves and onion. Sautee until golden and translucent. Add tomato product and spices, and cook until it reaches desired consistency and taste.

Assembly

Roll dough very thinly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Coat with sauce, then add slices of vegan mozzarella and toppings. This version included Tofurky peppered slices, a fresh asparagus (it’ll bake in the oven) and fresh basil. Since we’ve received our weekly delivery, and it includes curly kale, leeks, and Russet potatoes, as well as Hodo Soy Tofu, the next batch will be even better! Bake in a 400-degree oven for about 15 mins, or until the crust is golden in the edges.

Orange-Blueberry Cake

In the last few weeks, our beloved farmers at Albert and Eve have sent us lots of phenomenal citrus fruit. I wanted to bake a whole-wheat treat for us, and after looking at a few recipes online decided to invent my own. It came out wonderful: moist, tangy, not too sweet–a perfect cake. I ate a slice by itself, but if you’d like it richer, you can drizzle the cashew-orange glaze I invented in December.

2 navel oranges
1/3 cup Earth Balance
2 tbsp apricot jam
1 tbsp agave syrup
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Heat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Peel oranges and place in food processor. Process until you have a smooth pulp. Add the Earth Balance, jam, agave, vinegar, and vanilla. Process until smooth. Then, mix in ground flax seeds and let sit for a few minutes.

Then, transfer to bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Finally, add blueberries and briefly combine.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the cake comes out clean and dry. Let cool for about ten minutes before inverting, and even longer before slicing. Serve with fresh blueberries and/or cashew orange glaze.

Addendum: It occurs to me that zesting some of the orange peel into the mix would have made this even more delicious. Give it a try!

Farinata de Ceci

This easy, savory chickpea flour pie is a great thing to eat and serve hot right out of the pan, and it’s festive enough to entertain guests. If you have a rosemary bush at home, this is the time to use it! The recipe comes from Chloe Coscarelli‘s Italian cook book.

2 cups warm water
1.5 cups chickpea flour
3 tbsp olive oil, plus more for pan
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp fresh rosemary
fresh ground black pepper

Mix water and flour in a bowl and let rest for 2 hours.
When ready, preheat oven to 500F. Place a round iron skillet in the oven to warm for 10 mins.

Meanwhile, skim foam off chickpea mix, add oil, salt and rosemary. Remove hot iron skillet from oven, add a bit of oil and swirl around to grease. Carefully pour batter into pan and pop back into oven for about 25 mins, or until lightly browned and crisp. Run a knife around the edges and unmold. Slice up and serve warm.

The leftovers, toasted in the oven the next day, are particularly wonderful with a bit of tomato sauce and vegan mozzarella!

Homemade Pita

Who doesn’t like a fresh pita, straight from the oven? If you don’t, it’s because you’ve been eating thin, inadequate North-American ones, not the fluffy Middle-Eastern ones. Chad got this recipe from Aba Gil, who now has a gluten-free, vegan deli in Tel Aviv. Before his gluten-free phase, Aba Gil had a wonderful organic humusserie, which we used to frequent when we lived in Israel. And he taught (and still teaches) great workshops. Chad attended one of those and kept the recipe for posterity; today we made some of these and ate them with fragrant ful, jalapeno“cheese”, and vegetables.

Anyway, here goes:

Mix and knead a bit:

500g flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 packet active yeast
350cc water (about 12oz)

These will create a firm dough – for those of you used to baking non-pita bread in a pan, the dough will be firmer than your remember. You should exercise some judgment with the water; you might not need all of it. Place dough in a bowl, cover with a towel, and leave somewhere warm for an hour (we used our old oven, with the pilot light on.)

After an hour, break the dough, which should be pretty gargantuan by now, into six balls of aproximately 4-5 inch diameters, and give them a bit of a mushroom cap shape. The original recipe calls for letting those sit for an additional 40 mins, but our meticulous experiments prove you can wait only 10 mins or so and that’s enough.

When ready to make, roll the balls into 8-9 diameter flat discs, approximately 1cm (2/5 inch) thick.

Heat a dry frying pan to a very, very, very hot temperature! Place the pita on the pan and wait for it to balloon up (that’s the pocket, you see). Flip so that both sides are heated evenly. When ready, take out of pan and enjoy warm and fresh.