BitterSweet

Spread it on Thick

Dear readers, I have a confession; I’ve been holding out on you. Almost a year ago now, I made the most incredible discovery while playing around in the kitchen, adored the results… And failed to post about it. I meant to, truly I did! But then there were holidays, events, and other time-sensitive materials to talk about – You know how it is – And that recipe sat on the far corner of my computer’s hard drive, gathering dust.

Well, you remember that demo I was preparing for recently? Somehow while gabbing a bit about recipes, that very experiment came to mind, and all of a sudden I realized the injustice committed by leaving it off the blog. Promising to post it asap to all those in attendance, now seems as good a time as ever to share: It’s possible to make truly delicious vegan cheese, and not just some nut- or seed- based concoction, but something made in a more traditional way.

Cheese making is certainly a whole separate craft from other food prep, and few people take the time to learn it these days. Doing just a little bit of research online, however, provides an abundance of information and insight, and much of it is surprisingly easy to veganize! This simple spread that was a first step into this broad and fascinating world, but there’s just so much potential for vegan cheeses, it’s a shame not to continue pressing further.

There is one trick to this procedure; While I usually don’t like writing recipes that require one particular brand of soy or non-dairy milk when there are so many options out there, for this one, I must insist that you use Organic Edensoy Original. Why? It’s all in the protein and fat content, and it most closely resembles that of whole milk of any vegan option I’ve found yet. The nutritional composition is extremely important in cheese making, so while it’s possible that there are other brands that would work, I’m not sure that it would work quite as well.

And if you aren’t so keen on this spread, what would you think about vegan cottage cheese? Even easier yet, just stop after draining out the whey and serve! Now that’s one dairy-alternative that I have yet to see hit store shelves.

Vegan Cottage Cheese

1 Quart Organic Edensoy Original
1/2 Cup Plain Soy Creamer
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

Before you begin, line a strainer or colander with cheesecloth and set it over a large bowl.

Combine the soymilk, soy creamer, and salt in a medium pot. Set it over moderate heat, and bring it to a steady simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent it from scalding. Pour in the lemon juice and vinegar and stir briefly to incorporate. Allow the contents of the pot to cook for 1 minute undisturbed, and then stir gently for one more minute. Stop stirring for one or two more minutes; It should begin to look curdled, and the liquid will start separating into curds and whey.

Pour everything into your prepared strainer. Transfer the whey (liquid) into another bowl or pitcher, and DON’T TOSS THIS OUT! It may not seem all that appealing, but it has tons of protein and there are many other uses for it. In fact, stay tuned for more on this later…

Let the curds continue to drain for 1 hour at room temperature before scraping them out of the cheesecloth and refrigerating in an air-tight container.

Makes about 1 Cup

Vegan Cheese Spread

1 Recipe Cottage Cheese (above)
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Tumeric
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast

Simply mash everything together with a fork and enjoy!

Dessert for Dinner

If there was one crowd-pleasing dinner option out there, that title might just go to the classic lasagna. What with the pasta, protein, “cheese”, and countless veggie options, not to mention all of the flavor variations available, there’s always something for everyone at the table to enjoy. And yet, I will be the first to admit that to this day, I have never made a traditional lasagna. Sure, it has something to do with the long wait time from oven to table, and all of the labor involved if you start from scratch, but really, it’s more than that. I may get booted off the island for saying this, but I find the whole thing far too heavy! Much preferring light meals and decadent desserts, this is one main dish that doesn’t suit my eating habits very well. That’s why when the most recent Daring Baker challenge was announced, my heart dropped all the way to the floor.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

Seriously, this is wrong! It’s barely even applicable for the group, if you ask me!  Has there been some mix-up with the new Daring Cooks starting up soon? I thought in frustration, loath to begin upon this task. Having accepted the fact that the challenge will be something I dislike or am unenthusiastic about 90% of the time now, this was still over the line. For the first time in 1 1/2 years, I truly thought about sitting this one out. Besides, there were plenty of other things to be done, and it wouldn’t kill me to take it easy for this once.

…And if you know me, you would know that I got over it pretty quickly, and began to make some radical changes to make this challenge work for me.

It may look totally different, and be sweet instead of savory, but I promise I adhered to the rules and stuck with all of the required components!

Making my pasta, I threw in a good pinch of ground ginger to perk it up a bit, along with a handful of powdered sugar to sweeten the deal somewhat. After rolling it out paper-thin, it air-dried on the counter for 2 days to get as much moisture out as possible. Of course, I could have easily dehydrated it for an hour or two instead, but I took the lazy approach this time around. The drying step is very important though, because then the little rectangles went straight into… A vat of bubbling oil! That’s right, I fried my pasta!

Once beautifully browned and crisp, my ginger pasta was layered with pomegranate “fluff” made with versawhip, and a simple dark chocolate mousse. The colors were meant to somewhat represent the “tomato sauce” and “meat,” if you will. Placed on a dollop of almond bechamel and finished off with a curlicue of marzipan, it was certainly one of the most unusual lasagnas I had ever seen!

The combination of flavors and textures ensured that each and every bite was just as exciting as the last. This is why I love layered desserts, and I’m just happy I was able to turn an otherwise plain jane lasagna into something that I actually wanted to make!

Spring Cleaning

Spring, at long last.  I can’t help but sigh a bit when I say those words out loud; The sun suddenly seems just a shade brighter, the day, a few minutes longer, just because the calendar officially declares it the vernal equinox.  It’s as if winter had become an a weight that is now being lifted from my shoulders.  The wind may still have a bite to it, and the trees still look as barren as dead twigs, but I know that it really is spring, that there truly is an end in sight to this harsh, difficult period of time.

Marking the occasion, making certain that this is the point of no return, the change of a bad pattern, I couldn’t help but indulge in a quick bout of spring cleaning before heading out to work.  So deep and cluttered is my closet that a true cleaning could easily require a full week, minimum, and so neurotic is my need to organize that that time could easily stretch out into a month; it was a safer bet to start in the kitchen.  Rifling through the refrigerator, there were plenty of old odds and ends that were in sore need of attention… Although for too many, that attention came a bit too late.  Out went the tubs of moldy sweet potato puree, and a cup or two of grayed fruit juice went down the drain.  Such a shame that these things went to waste, but better to remove them before they become toxic.

Poking through the freezer after the worst of the fridge had been taken care of, it was like opening up a long-buried treasure chest, brimming with delights waiting to be discovered.  It was there, beneath bags of rock-solid cherries and peas, that I found one ghost from the past, still shining with potential.  Yes, I had forgotten about it completely, but it all came back to me in a flash; It was the other half of the danish dough I made for a Daring Baker challenge, many moons ago.  Defrosted and rolled out thin, I was overjoyed that it bounced back just as a fresh, tender dough ought to.

Lacking the time to bake off a large braid, individual danishes seemed to fit the bill just fine.  For filling, it was only natural to reach back into the fridge and use up what had been sitting there for far too long, waiting for the right use- Pomegranate juice!  As much as I love the stuff, I could never drink it plain, and it typically gets diluted when baked into things, making it difficult to taste in the finished product.   Indeed, it would be a perfectly prominent flavor to poach pears in instead, making for a sweet and tart topping to my little pastries.

Easy as can be, the pomegranate-poached pears were sliced thin and laid over unbaked pastry, and fired off in the oven for a few minutes.  Still warm, the flaky crust cradles that juicy fruit filling, just sweet enough to satisfy, but definitely something that one could easily get away with calling breakfast.  Best of all, you don’t need any frozen danish dough to enjoy it, either as those poached pears alone are delicious all by themselves… But a bit of caramel or chocolate sauce over the top wouldn’t hurt, either.

Simple Pomegranate Poached Pears

3 Cups 100% Pomegranate Juice
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
Zest of 1 Orange
5 Firm but Ripe Pears
1 Wedge of Lemon

Combine the pomegranate juice, sugar, and orange zest in a medium-sized pot and set it over moderate heat.  Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved.  Meanwhile, peel the pears and rub the exposed sides with the wedge of lemon, to prevent browning. Place the naked pears into the pot, partially cover the pan, and simmer over low heat for approximately 25 – 30 minutes. If the pears aren’t completely covered by the liquid, you should turn them ever 10 minutes so that they cook evenly. When they’re done, they should be tender enough that they just barely resist the prick of a fork. Serve warm, or let them cool completely, refrigerate for a few hours, and serve chilled on a warm spring day.

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Seeing Red

Remember when I ranted briefly about my distaste for red velvet cake? And the terrible outcry that came from fanatics, along with a good number of sympathetic voices that can commiserate with my tastes? It would certainly be hard for me to forget, that’s for sure, especially with the way that these things tend to come back to bite me much further down the road.

Not being thrilled with the results of my experiments and with no ideas of how to make them more pleasing to my own palate, I became desperate and broke my cardinal rule; I gave out these baked goods that I was not proud of, and would in no way stand behind. Even worse, the timing worked so “perfectly” that they could simply be included in a bake sale, no questions asked, and make up the cost of ingredients as a bonus. Well, wouldn’t you know, not only did they sell just fine, but ended up being the most popular offering I had that day, selling out long before the mint chocolate cupcakes- The usual favorite.

But it wasn’t enough to challenge my perception of this flavor, no, that’s not the end of the story. Planning to do a little demo for a vegan and vegetarian organization back at my ex-school, it seems that my contact got one of those red velvet cupcakes, and would love that recipe to be part of the show. Many emails have rattled back and forth, many attempts at changing the subject have failed, and now 1 1/2 weeks from now a group of very kind people are expecting to learn about red velvet cupcakes. Well… crap. Didn’t that work out well?

So into the kitchen I went, determined to make natural but brilliantly colored cupcakes that didn’t offend my palate.

[From left to right, first, second, and third attempt. Pay no attention to the size, I was just inconsistent when dosing out the batter.]

Going back to the age-old suggestion of beets, the first attempt went… Adequately. The flavor was just fine, happily, but the cupcakes were red like my dog is “red“; Not really.

Now, color and baked goods have a lot to do with PH, which I know only very basic info about so I’ll keep this brief. Thinking back to traditional recipes, the natural cocoa powder and baking soda is key, as the natural cocoa is much more acidic, and apparently the reaction between these two ingredients may have been powerful enough to create such a deep crimson color once upon a time. Taking this approach, my next batch utilized only baking soda, but nothing else in the recipe was changed. To my dismay, this second batch came out even darker and less red than the first.

Hitting the books, it was then that I realized the problem. Baking soda is in fact alkaline, and an alkaline environment promotes browning. Sliding the PH back the other way down the scale, my third attempt omitted the baking soda completely and added a good dose of lemon juice into the mix, while nothing else was changed.

And when those final cupcakes came out of the oven, it was the most gratifying sight to behold. Undeniably red, and definitely tasty, it felt as though all that hard work had finally paid off. Proof that red velvet doesn’t need artificial coloring, and needn’t taste bitter and twisted!

With all that said and done, admittedly, I’d still prefer the frosting to the cupcake if offered. It may not be my favorite thing, and I might not ever fully understand the appeal, but I’m just happy to find a solution, and hopefully save this upcoming demo.

Natural Red Velvet Cupcakes

1 1/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
3 Tablespoons Natural Cocoa Powder*
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 8.25-Ounce Can Water-Packed Sliced Beets
1/3 Cup Canola Oil
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

*VERY important, do not use dutch processed for this recipe

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line 12 cupcake tins with papers.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt so that all of the ingredients are evenly dispersed throughout the mixture.   Set aside.

Get out your food processor or blender, and toss the entire contents of the can of beets, water included, into the machine.  Process the beets for a solid 2 – 4 minutes, depending on how powerful your machine is, until completely smooth.  Add in the oil, lemon juice, and vanilla, and pulse briefly to incorporate.

Pour the beet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients, and mix just enough to combine.  Equally distribute the batter between your prepared tins, and bake for 18 – 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool completely before applying the mandatory “cream cheese” frosting.

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Green is Good

Green is a color that I happen to love for food; All of those vibrant shades ranging from lime to emerald are more than welcome on my plate, and the more intense that hue, the better it tends to taste. Certain veggie-phobic people that I may or may not know (*cough* my sister *cough*) would disagree, but I think that anything can be lovely through green-tinted glasses. It’s when that color is added as an after thought, however, that things could get a bit dicey.

Every year of my compulsory education for the week surrounding St. Patrick’s day, a myriad of edibles would be dyed unnatural shades of the most unappealing puke-green, causing more concern than delight as intended. Seriously, green, moldy-looking bagels? Drab olive-tinted milk, hinting at spoilage? No thanks, I’ll wait until I get home to eat!

Thus, the appeal of the “legendary” Shamrock Shake failed to register, and it’s hard to understand what all the hubbub is about. Still, the idea of a mint smoothie struck a chord, as mint has been one of my latest obsessions. So refreshing and invigorating, mint has been sneaking into my desserts left and right, so why not a drink to shake* things up a bit?

*I swear, I only noticed the pun after typing it!

Unlike the artificial-everything monstrosity available at certain fast food franchises, my shake takes on its color naturally, thanks to a helping of matcha. Mint and matcha were meant to be together in my opinion, with the bright, clean flavor of mint accentuating and working well with the bitterness of matcha. By no means is this drink bitter, though- Maple syrup sweetens things quite nicely, although you could substitute agave if cost is a concern.

I may not be even of .001% Irish descent or know the first thing about St. Patrick’s Day, but I’m still celebrating in my own small way, putting festive green foods back on the menu, naturally.

“Shamrock” Shake

2 Cups Plain Soymilk
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
2 Teaspoons Matcha
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 Teaspoon Mint Extract

Place everything into your blender and let it rip. Once the mixture is homogeneous, pour half of it into ice cube trays and set that on an even surface in your freezer. Allow it to freeze completely, about 3 – 4 hours. Once frozen, return the smoothie cubes and reserved liquid to the blender, and process once more. Serve immediately.

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Math We Can All Enjoy

Happy Pi Day! Yes, at long last, I finally remember to observe this fantastic date (3.14) by baking a pie- Because recipes are the only sort of mathematical calculations you’ll ever catch me doing in the first place.

Nothing new or innovative here, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring in the least. The first thing my mom said to me after eating a slice was “That… was outrageous,” thus I have decided to call it Outrageous Pie. A pie aspiring to be a tart, I suppose, it starts off with pâte sucrée instead of a tradition pie crust. On top of that, a chewy layer of caramel is punctuated by toasted walnuts, making for a toothsome and tasteful component all at once. A silky chocolate mousse follows, very rich on its own but in perfect proportion in this layered pastry. Finally, an airy meringue crowns the whole thing, lightly browned on top and barely even stable enough to stand cutting- Maybe it was something in the atmosphere that interfered, but it came out so ephemerally light this time, it seemed as though it could really float away like a cloud!

No recipe yet, although it would be easy enough to piece together most of these elements and create something similar. Just wanted to share in the name of pie day, and to remind you that it’s not too late to celebrate; There are plenty of pies out there to choose from, and they’re guaranteed to be many times more delicious than actual pi!

Happy Accidents

Experimenting in the kitchen and writing recipes means a lot of failures, something that I’m very used to at this point. With no formal training, one could only expect to struggle when developing new dishes, learning first hand why certain things do and don’t work- And why others blow up like a mushroom cloud in the oven. Luckily, trial and error seems to have gotten me pretty far, and fewer of those mistakes end up being so dramatic or explosive. Sometimes, the wrong approach leads me somewhere entirely different than I had intended, but it actually turns out to be a greater success than one could have imagined.

Just the other day, it was a random trial of using chia seeds as a binder for an angel food-like cake that backfired for me. Knowing that the create a “goop” when immersed in water, I was hoping that perhaps the gel could be separated from the seeds, leaving a clear, thick liquid… And in case you’re thinking the same thing, forget it. Impossibly absorbent, those tiny seeds held onto every last drop of water with all their might, and no strainer could convince the two substances to part. Not wanting to waste this otherwise perfectly good binder, and with a packet of fresh yeast on hand waiting to be used, it was only a matter of minutes before I switched gears and pulled out the loaf pans.

And thus, this fantastic, golden loaf was born not of careful calculations, but of a happy accident. Soft but hearty, with a delightfully crisp but yielding crust, it’s absolutely wonderful sliced thick and toasted for breakfast. Use a spread if you must, but that powerful wheat flavor paired with a very satisfying chew was enough for me. Sliced thin, I’m certain it would be excellent as sandwich bread too… Although I think it may not ever make it to that stage in this household. Sometimes the best things are, so I want to remind all of you bakers and cooks out there not to give up when things go awry- Especially when all of us are pinching pennies Anything that can be salvaged should be, and you never know- It could end up being even better than you planned.

Hearty Chia Bread

3/4 Cup Warm Water
1/4 Cup Chia Seeds
2 Cups White Whole Wheat Flour
2 Cups Bread Flour
1 Cup Rolled Oats
1/2 Cup Toasted Wheat Germ
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 .6-Ounce Cake Fresh Yeast
1 Cup Apple Cider or Unfiltered Apple Juice
1/2 Cup Water
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Begin by combining the chia seeds and warm water, and allow them to sit for at least 15 minutes, giving the mixture a good sir after the first 5. The water should be entirely absorbed by the seeds before proceeding.

Meanwhile, combine both flours, oats, wheat germ, and salt in your mixing bowl and crumble in the fresh yeast. Stir to distribute all of the dry ingredients. Add the chia mixture in when ready and stir briefly.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the apple cider, water, and oil. Pour this into the mixing bowl as well, and using the dough hook attachment to your stand mixer, slowly incorporate the wet into the dry. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary, and make sure you’re not missing patches of unmixed flour on the bottom, too. After everything is incorporated, let the mixer work the dough for an additional 10 minutes.

Wait 15 minutes for the dough to relax again. Pour it out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed it by hand for 10 minutes. Add in more flour if necessary, but don’t go crazy; it shouldn’t need too much. Place it in a grease bowl when done, cover with a tea towel, and let proof in a warm place for 1 – 2 hours, until doubled in volume.

Lightly grease two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans. Slide the whole mass out of the bowl and cut it into two equal pieces. Flatten each piece out into a rectangle, and then roll it up from the widest side to form a log about the length of your loaf pan. Place them seam-down into the pans, and let them proof for another 1 – 2 hours, until nearly doubled.

Once risen, bake the loaves in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 30 – 35 minutes, until golden brown all over. Let the bread rest in the pans for 10 minutes, move them onto a wire rack, and then wait at least 30 minutes before slicing and enjoying.

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By Popular Demand

You guys are too sweet- And rather manipulative, if I do say so myself! Here I was ready to just trash the whole muffin project, sharing the only salvageable part (the photos, of course) before moving on, and all of a sudden cries for recipes come through plaintive comments. I’ll admit that they don’t look like disasters from the photos, but the final batch, the worst ones were what sealed the deal. They never made it to the “studio,” preferring instead to inflate like a balloon while in the oven and then sinking in horribly as if a bomb had leveled the whole pan. Gooey on the inside and completely unpalatable, that batch went straight into the garbage.

Not to belabor a point, but the reason that I’m stopping work on this muffin ebook is because they’re not amazing, period. Sure, most of them are fine, but I’m not here to share recipes that are merely passable, and certainly not bundle them into an ebook and expect payment for the whole lot. There are already plenty of awesome muffin recipes out there, so does the world need more that are just okay? I think not.

But I still love all of you out there in the blogosphere, soothing my damaged ego and convincing me that my muffins must not be so bad… So here’s the recipe for the Superfood Muffins, with one caveat; They are definitely not the best muffins you will ever make. They are, however, very healthy compared to most muffins and are packed with nutrients to give you energy throughout the morning- and they’re still plenty tasty. Besides, you guys all asked for it, so who am I to deny your requests for some muffin love? But after this, I’m not going anywhere near those insidious little breakfast cakes for a solid month or two, minimum (I don’t think my family will let me; I’ve had to promise them that there will be no more muffins to be let back into the kitchen!), so hopefully this one will satisfy your appetite!

Superfood Muffins

2 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Flaxseeds
1 Cup Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
2 Cups Cooked Quinoa
1/4 Cup Canola Oil
1/2 Cup Amber Agave Syrup
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, Packed (Optional)
1/4 Cup Plain Soymilk
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
Turbinado Sugar (Optional)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease 12 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder and soda, and salt. Grind the flaxseeds to a fine powder using a coffee or spice grinder, and mix them in as well. Add in the blueberries and walnuts, and toss them to coat.

Separately, combine the cooked quinoa, oil, agave, brown sugar [if you prefer a sweeter muffin], soymilk, and orange juice. Once the mixture is well-mixed, pour these wet ingredients into the bowl of dry, and use a wide spatula to combine. Stir only enough to bring the batter together, leaving any small lumps that form in favor of mixing it as little as possible. Distribute the mixture evenly between your prepared tins, and sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon turbinado sugar per muffin, if desired.

Bake for 18 – 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

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