BitterSweet

A Berry Refreshing Reinterpretation

Bubbling away furiously in the blisteringly hot oven, it was quickly becoming clear that my supposedly simple little tart was not going to behave according to plan. Baking up to a beautiful golden-brown around the increasingly crisp crust, but still almost entirely liquid in the center, something definitely went wrong in the recipe writing process. Disappointing, frustrating, and absolutely humbling, it’s an inevitable occurrence when baking from scratch, but every failure still stings all the same. Of all things, a most ordinary pastry got the best of me- What a blow to the ego!

Removing my mess carefully so as not to slosh that rich magenta berry juice onto the kitchen floor, I was stewing in my own juices, too. Time has been limited every since I took on a full course load of photography classes, and now a day’s worth of edible experimentation would be for naught. Such a sad waste of sweetness.

Like a child sulking at the tail-end of a tantrum, I left the unruly, half-baked dessert to cool and think about what it had done. It’s unlikely that it got the message from my cold shoulder approach, but it gave me time to think, because I wasn’t about to trash everything that easily. It wasn’t until nightfall when inspiration struck, but suddenly, I realized I may just yet have the makings for a stunning summer dessert on my hands.

An overnight rest in the freezer did the trick, completely transforming the once unservable slop into something worth remembering. Now perfectly firm and easy to slice cleanly, it also gained the added element of a refreshingly chilly temperature, making it ideal for these last few hot days of the season. Turns out my initial blunder may have been a blessing in disguise.

Since it was initially conceived as a quick way to clean out the fridge a bit, feel free to improvise with what you have on hand. Any mixture of berries and any flavor of jam will get along just fine in this lightly sweetened, malted crust. I personally can’t get enough of that indescribable malt flavor, but if you can’t get a hold of the flour, an equal measure of cocoa powder could create a delectable chocolate pastry shell instead.

Frozen Berry Tart

Malted Pastry Crust:

1 2/3 Cups All Purpose Flour
6 Tablespoons Cup Barley Malt Flour/Powder
2 Tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar, Firmly Packed
Pinch Salt
6 Tablespoons Non-Dairy Margarine, Chilled and Cut into Pieces
6 Tablespoons Vegetable Shortening
2 Teaspoons Plain Soy or Coconut Yogurt
1 – 2 Tablespoons Water, Ice-Cold

Mixed Berry Filling:

4 Cups Fresh or Frozen Mixed Berries
1/2 – 1 Cup Granulated Sugar*
3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cup Apricot Jam or Preserves of Choice

*Depending on what berries you choose and how ripe they are, their sweetness can vary greatly. To make sure that your tart isn’t too sweet or too sour, add the lesser amount of sugar at first, give the filling a taste, and adjust as desired.

Beginning with the pastry, combine both flours, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add in the both fats, and use a pastry cutter or fork to cut them into the dry goods, until the mixture becomes a fairly coarse meal-like consistency with a few lumps, no larger than peas. Introduce the non-dairy yogurt and 1 tablespoon of water, stirring well (I find this works best with your hands, to make sure everything is being thoroughly incorporated). If the dough is still too dry to fully come together, slowly drizzle in the remaining water until you achieve a cohesive ball. Press it together firmly, and shape into a flat round. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before proceeding, or for as long as 12 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease and flour a 9-inch round fluted tart pan with removable bottom.

Toss together the berries, sugar (to taste), cornstarch, pepper, and salt in a large bowl, until the fruits are evenly coated and distributed. Set aside.

Retrieve your chilled crust from the fridge, and quickly roll it out on a well-floured surface to prevent it from warming up too much. It is a very fragile dough, so don’t panic if it tears or threatens to completely fall apart. Just move it as best you can into the prepared pan, and use your fingers to press it evenly into the bottom and up the sides, patching holes as necessary. Spread your jam evenly across the empty pastry shell, and finally, top that with your berry mixture. Smooth down the filling so it’s not mounded up in the center, and bake for 40 – 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. The filling may still be very liquid, so handle it with care. Let cool completely before covering and carefully moving into the freezer. Let freeze overnight, or at least 6 hours, until firm.

Serves 10 – 12

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Have Snacks, Will Travel

Armed to the teeth with various sweets and savories, the majority of our carry on luggage is typically composed of snacks.  Considering this impressive stockpile, you’d think it was in preparation for a trip to a desert island or third world country.  Rest assured, most won’t even be touched when all is said and done, but to ensure a happy trip, it’s critical for me to over-prepare and over-pack when it comes to the food.  As soon as that plane lands 7 or 8 hours later, the biggest hurdle will be  out of the way and an abundance of vegan options will again be available, but until then, there’s no telling what kind of inedible slop might be served.  Sure, it may not be a big deal for some people to omit meals and go without, but trust me, you do not want to see me hungry; I do not take it well, to put it lightly.  And for the sake of the people sitting next to me, I’ve learned to take matters into my own hands.

Through trial and error, I’ve found that simple snacks tend to work best in these situations; something easy to eat, not too messy, and not temperature specific. That means granola bars, rice cakes, trail mix, and crackers. Crackers are a dime a dozen really, and there are some seriously tasty options in even the most underwhelming markets these days, so why go through the trouble of making your own? Because they’re fast and simple to whip up, and endlessly customizable. Tell me, where else are you going to find smoky vegan “cheese” crackers, with just a hint of spice?

The tiny extra effort is absolutely worth it, whether you’re preparing for a long flight or just a day at home. Plus, as an added bonus, making these gave me the opportunity to play around with the latest vegan cheese product, and clean out the fridge a bit at the same time.

And if you’re not packing up and taking off somewhere, these babies are the perfect base for homemade Ritz Bitz-like cracker sandwiches (but better!) Just use a tiny dollop of leftover “cheese” spread between two crackers, and eat immediately. Unlike the originals, these are nowhere near as shelf stable- Which I happen to think is a good thing, quite frankly.

Smoky, Spicy “Cheese” Crackers

4 Ounces (Half a Container) “We Can’t Say It’s Cheese” Hickory-Smoked Cheddar-Style Spread
1 Tablespoon Whole Flax Seeds, Ground
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Cup White Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt (or 3/4 Teaspoon Table Salt)
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Sweet Paprika
1/8 Teaspoon Turmeric
Pinch Cayenne
Pinch Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats. Set aside.

Place the “cheese” spread, ground flax seeds, and olive oil in your stand mixer or food processor, and mix briefly to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together all of the remaining dry ingredients, until the mixture is homogeneous and the spices are well distributed. Add this whole mixture into the mix of wet ingredients, and start your mixer on a low speed if using; pulse your food processor to combine. Allow the machine to run until the mixture comes together into a smooth, cohesive dough. It may take some time, so be patient, and do not add extra liquid to the dough.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out very thin, to about 1/8th of an inch. Use any cookie cutter you desire. I like smaller crackers to nibble on, so I used a 1 1/2-inch round fluted cookie cutter. Transfer cut crackers to your prepared baking sheets, and re-roll scraps, cutting more crackers, until the dough is used up. Bake each sheet individually for 10 – 15 minutes, until very so slightly puffy and dry to the touch. They won’t really brown, so don’t panic if they don’t become golden around the edges. Let cool completely on the sheets, and store in air-tight containers at room temperature.

Yield Varies Depending on Cookie Cutter, but Approximately 70 – 80 Crackers if Using a 1 1/2-Inch Round Fluted Cookie Cutter

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Super Summer Soup

Gardeners everywhere are now harvesting the first and second rounds of the summer’s bounty, their sweat and tears paying off in ripe, juicy fruits and vegetables. In come the tomatoes, beans, and of course, zucchini. Whether they’re living on the east coast, west coast, or in between, just about every person who has a square foot of fertile land seems compelled to dedicate it to zucchinis. Such an easy-going and prolific plant, those green vines are more than happy to sprawl out and replicate endlessly anywhere; no environment is too unfriendly, it would seem. And thus, as we enter into the heat of August, we too enter into the season of zucchini. Like an invasive species, there’s no stopping these green cucurbits from taking over gardens everywhere, and filling up refrigerators with bottomless bowls of squash, large and small, sweet and bitter, but all of them the same; Delicious.

Personally, zucchini overload has never been a problem for me. Quite possibly because even such a hearty plant refuses to ever develop into more than a tangle of limp vines under my care, I’m one of those people that envies those complaining about how to use up their overwhelming yields. Regardless, this time of year screams “zucchini!” loud and clear, so who am I to ignore such firm prompting? Into the kitchen with store-bought but still local squash I went.

When it comes to soups, it doesn’t get much easier than this. Yes, you must bear the heat of the oven for a solid half hour, but suit up with ice packs or even bags of frozen peas if you have to, because it’s so utterly worth the pain. With only chopping and no further hands-on labor required, it’s a small sacrifice to make.

Satisfying and filling thanks to the addition of gently crisped chickpeas, but still light and refreshing due to the simple sea of broth surrounding them, zucchini never felt more at home outside of the field than in this concoction. Highlighting their fresh flavor, slightly sweetened by drawing out the natural sugars while roasting, this is the kind of soup that I’m happy to eat both hot and cold. On such oppressive summer days, however, I do highly recommended going the chilled route.

Roasted Zucchini and Chickpea Soup

1 Medium Yellow Onion, Roughly Chopped
2 Medium Zucchini, Quartered and Chopped into Bite-Sized Pieces
1 15-Ounce Can (1 3/4 Cups Cooked) Chickpeas
2 – 3 Small Cloves Garlic, Unpeeled
2 Tablespoons Avocado Oil or Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
2 Cups Vegetable Stock
1 – 2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
Fresh Parsley, as Needed

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. This makes for really easy clean-up; all you have to do is toss the aluminum when you’re all done, no washing required!

Arrange your chopped veggies, drained and rinsed chickpeas, and garlic cloves on the prepared baking sheet in one even layer. Drizzle with your oil of choice, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Slide everything into the oven and roast for 35 – 40 minutes, until the onions are just lightly browned and crispy around the edges, and the zucchini is nice and tender. Let cool if you plan on serving the soup chilled.

Peel and finely mince the roasted garlic, and place them in a medium-sized pot, along with the stock and nutritional yeast. Please note, make sure you use a really tasty broth here, because the flavor is very prominent. It should go without saying, but I recommend homemade if at all possible! Gently scoop the roasted veggies and chickpeas off of the sheet, and stir them into the pot as well. Heat gently until warm if a hot version is desired, or chill for at least an hour for a chilled soup. Before serving, top with fresh, minced parsley.

Makes 2 – 4 Servings

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