Recipes

Artisan Bread

si1ver2 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:35:51 +0000

Delicious artisan bread with very minimal effort. (Just takes time!)
Eat it for breakfast, use it for sandwiches, fashion it into an appetizer, or serve it alongside a soup for dinner.

3 cups all purpose or bread flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 - 1 1/2 cups cold water

Must have a dutch oven!

1. Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. The dough should be a bit sticky. No need to knead the dough; just enough to form a ball. The amount of water depends on the humidity and the type of flour you use.
2. Put a kitchen towel over the bowl to keep the dirt out and let it sit for 12-18 hours.*
3. Use the same towel or a bread towel if you have one and sprinkle flour on it. Take out the bread laying the top dry part face down. Push to sides together into a ball if it stretched a bit. Sprinkle the top of the dough with some more flour. Fold the towel over it and let it sit for 1 to 2 hours.
4. Preheat your oven to 475°F with the dutch oven inside. When it is at full temperature take out the dutch oven and lay the bread inside. Put the top on and throw it in the oven for 30 minutes.**
5. Take of the top of the dutch oven and bake it for another 15 minutes at the same temperature.***
6. Let it cool for about 30 minutes before eating.

*Letting the dough rise for such a long time allows the yeast to do its work resulting in long strands of gluten in the dough and a sweeter bread. It also means the dough requires less yeast than conventional methods and no sugar.
**Using the dutch oven allows us to bake it at a high temperature without burning the bread or letting too much water escape!
***The last 15 minutes of baking without the top is to allow the delicious crust to form.

Recommended With

Vegan/Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

Lemon Curd

Pia's Garbanzo Bean Soup

Red Lentil Soup

Mixed Salad

Vegan/Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

Sarah — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:56:15 +0000

Potatoes, black beans, and corn add substance to this vegan/vegetarian tortilla soup to make it healthy, filling and absolutely delicious. I promise that no one will miss the chicken that is customarily put into tortilla soup. And, if you have any leftovers, the soup is just as good then next day, as long as you make sure to bake up some fresh tortilla strips.

Serves:

Soup:
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 poblano or pasilla chili pepper, finely chopped
1/2 red chili pepper, finely chopped
1 large potato, cubed
1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes (or 1 1/2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes)
5 cups vegetable broth
1 can corn kernels
1 cup black beans, pre-cooked
1 tablespoon cumin (or a bit more, to taste)
salt and pepper, to taste

Tortilla Strips:
8 corn tortillas
olive oil and salt

Toppings:
Avocado, diced
Squirt of lemon juice
Chopped cilantro
Cheese (for non-vegans)

Soup:
1. Sauté onions and garlic.
2. Add bell peppers and chili peppers. Sauté until soft.
3. Add the cumin, tomatoes, potato, and broth. Simmer until potato is almost done.
4. Add beans and corn.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for about 15 minutes longer.

Tortilla Strips:
1. Cut tortillas into half and then into thin strips.
2. Coat with a bit of olive oil and salt.
3. Bake at 400F until crispy.

Serve:
Ladle some of the soup into a bowl. Top with cheese, if desired. Squirt a bit of lemon juice over the soup, sprinkle on some chopped cilantro, and then finish off with some diced avocado and tortilla strips.

Burnt Eggplant with Tahini

Pia — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:39:55 +0000

Delicious! This is a recipe from a wonderful cookbook- Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes from London's Ottolenghi.

1 large eggplant
1/3 cup tahini paste
1/4 cup water
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
1tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove
3 tbsp chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
3 mini cucumbers (6 to 7 oz in total)
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes
Seeds from 1/2 large pomegranate

1. Pierce the eggplants with a sharp knife in a few places and put into a 375F oven until soft and mushy.
2. Scoop out the flesh of the eggplant. Mix well in a bowl with tahini, water, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, and some salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more pomegranate molasses, garlic, or lemon juice as needed.
3. Quarter the cucumber lengthwise and then slice thinly. Halve the tomatoes. Add into the eggplant mix along with the pomegranate seeds.

Recommended With

Basic Bread

Nussknusperli

Pia — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:55:31 +0000

These are an easy and delicious type of Swiss Christmas cookies.

Dough:
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup ground hazelnuts
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup flour

Glaze:
125 grams chocolate
2 tablespoons water
Ground hazelnuts, approximately 1/4 cup

1. Mix all of the cookie dough ingredients together. Add the egg white if necessary to make the dough stick together.
2. Spread dough onto a lined cookie baking sheet. It should be about half a centimeter thick.
3. Bake in a 375F oven for 10-15 minutes.
4. While it is baking, prepare the glaze by melting the chocolate with the water.
5. When the cookies are done, immediately spread the melted chocolate on top. Sprinkle the ground hazelnuts on top and press slightly into the chocolate so that it sticks.
6. Immediately afterwards cut into 1 inch squares and let cool.

Spitzbuben

Pia — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:55:02 +0000

The name of these cookies means "mischievous boy." The jam peeking out is like a mischievous boy sneaking a peek.

1/3 cup and 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg white
1 pinch salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup white flour, add more as needed

Preheat oven to 390F.
Roll out dough to 2mm thickness. Cut out cookies into circles.
Arrange cookies onto a baking dish. Cut out the center of half of the cookies. These will be the tops.
Bake for 8-10 minutes in the middle of the oven.
Spread jam onto the bottom cookies, then place tops onto them.

Gewürzschnittli, Spice squares, one kind of Christmas cookies

Pia — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 06:05:32 +0000

Traditionally in Switzerland we bake at least 4 different kinds of Christmas cookies during the Holidays. Our family does about 6 kinds. This cookie recipe is quick and easy and very delicious.

4 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
2 cups ground almonds or hazel nuts
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup candied fruits
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 3/4 cups flour
1 pinch salt

Glase:
1/2 cup powder sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 350F
Mix all ingredients except for the glase in a bowl. Pour mixture into a greased baking sheet about 1/4 " thick and bake for 20-25 minutes in 350F oven.
Mix ingredients for the glase and brush over still hot cookie rectangle. Cut into bite size diamonds or squares.

Store cooled down cookies in an airtight container or even better pack them into a freezer bag and freeze them. Take them out a half hour before serving. They stay really fresh that way.

Vegan, Low-Fat Pumpkin Pie

Pia — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 19:10:30 +0000

You would never guess that this pumpkin pie is vegan!

Pastry crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons oil
1/3 cup water

Filling:
1 1/2 packages of Mori-Nu Silken Tofu
2 cups of cooked pumpkin
2/3 cup honey or sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 nutmeg
1/4 cloves

1. Mix all pastry crust ingredients in a bowl with a spoon or hands and press dough into a 9 inch pie pan.
2. Mix the filling with a whisk and pour into pie crust.
3. Bake in preheated 350F oven for about 1 hour. Filling will be soft, but will firm as it chills.