Vegan Fazool: CSA 2012

Showing posts with label CSA 2012. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Research and Development: Thanksgiving 2012

I've been doing my research for The Big Day, guys!

These are both wonderful books. I love Holly Garrison's The Thanksgiving Cookbook, which I took out from my library in August (early R&D!) then purchased (used, for a penny on Amazon!) because I love it so much. I love her storying, her tone, the early 1990's vibe, I could go on and on. I WON Meatless Celebrations, which I just got today in the mail! I can already tell it's amazing. Apple Rosemary Walnut Pie, anyone?

Because I live in New Jersey (though I work in Philly) I only photographed South Jersey restaurants due to logistics. I came in a very respectable third place in the Philadelphia Inquirer's Vegetarian Awareness Month Photo Contest

and I won two cookbooks...

Kim O'Donnel's Meatless Celebrations and Bryant Terry's The Inspired Vegan.

OH YEAH. They work for me, now!

And work they shall...

CSA Week #24 (11/7/12):

Rutabaga (does anyone especially dig this?), Carrots, Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, TONS of Sweets, Beets, Turnips, Spinach, Arugula and Spicy Mix

Pa came down this past weekend for a practice T-day visit :-)

OH YEAH. The Vegan Cowboys in their element.

And I made a practice round of Soft and Hard Gruyere from the hottest new vegan cookbook on the market, Artisan Vegan Cheese!

With a little help from my old friend, Sandor.

He has a new book out (an updated version of mine) you guys should check it out!

Quinoa Rejuvelac. SO FUN.

Soft Gruyere (above and below).

Soft Gruyere is damn delicious!

Let's not talk about the Hard Gruyere yet, OK? :-)

And, I picked up my very last CSA box of the season tonight :-(

CSA Week #25 (11/14/12):

Cabbage (beautiful!), Cauliflower, Fennel, Parsley, Beets (in sink), Arugula (in the bowl in the sink), Carrots (oh yeah!), Spinach, Sweets, Daikon (behind the carrots).

Farewell, Honey Brook Farm! See you next season!

Only Sweet Potato Man can absorb the sadness of the next six months with no CSA:

Sweet Potato Man.
He's restin' up for The Big Day, so don't wake him!

What am I making for The Big Day this year? I don't know yet, I need to do more R&D. (Please tell my husband that cookbooks all over the house, fermented grains in jars and three different kinds of sugar on the counter=R&D).

I do know what I did last year, and it went something like this:

Vegan Thanksgiving Planning and Resources

The Gobbler (she's amazing!)

Isa's Seitan Roast (she's amazing, too!)

Vegan Fazool's Thanksgiving Feast 2011

What are you guys making this year?

*Update: OMG, guys!! After getting like three hours of sleep last night after I wrote this, when I was woken up this morning by the highly inefficient and super loud town leaf vacuum truck (that was on my small street for at least an hour from 6-7 a.m.) I thought, THANKSGIVING PIZZA. Homemade Organic Yeast Dough, Sweet Potato Puree Sauce (I'll make it with garlic, olive oil, onions, rosemary), Slices of Seitan "Turkey," like, perchance, Gobbler Slices or Isa's Roast?! Dollops of Homemade Vegan Gruyere Cheese, Sage Cornbread Dressing. Mushroom Gravy drizzled over everything! Dollops of cranberry sauce? Some sauteed greens? Any and all feast elements can top this thing.

Tasteful amounts of everything, of course.
R&D BABY, R&D.

I'm thinking of doing the T-day Pizza with The Big Day leftovers instead of the traditional T-day sandwich. I am also thinking I may do it with the tester items I'm making now...

Sweet Potato Man must have visited me in my dreams last night! Thank you, Sweet Potato Man!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Sweet Potato Sage Bread (Low Gluten or GF!)

I've been in sweet potatoes lately, thanks to my awesome, certified organic (and local!) CSA.

CSA Week #23 (11/1/12):

A few tiny head lettuces, huge bunch of carrots, eight sweet potatoes (yes!), a head of Romanesco (cool!), a bag of arugula and a bag of "spicy" mix (spring mix).

Romanesco is a cruciferous veg (related to broccoli & cauliflower).

You prepare it the same way. It's supposedly more mild and creamy than either of its cousins.

This week's haul of sweets!

Monster carrots (they were SO good). I glazed them just like that first week of Hakurei Turnips.

And the week prior, sweets galore as well!

CSA Week #22 (10/24/12):

Kohlrabi, parsley, carrots, sweet potatoes, beets (yes!), arugula, kale (double yes!!), spinach (yeah!), and lettuce (OK, it was gorgeous).

Here were the sweets:

These were the sweets I had prior to Hurricane Sandy. Two HUGE ones, one medium, and three smalls.

They made my Hurricane Sweet Potato Pie!

Roast them taters real good! I do them for at least an hour at 400 degrees until they are oozing and the skin is crispy in some places and they are VERY soft.

This color blows me away every time.

I used this recipe by The Witchy Kitchen but I had to double the volume of the filling.

If you make it, double the filling recipe or it will not even fill half your pie crust! I don't think this recipe was ever tested. But, it was tasty once I made enough of it!

Thirst quenching hurricane provisions in the background:

TJ's instant coffee, diet iced tea, hot cocoa, ginger ale.

With this week's sweets, I made a Sweet Potato Sage Bread!

Sweet Potato Sage Bread*

*Can be gluten free* Is also soy-free and nut-free (unless you want to add nuts!)

Inspired by Sweet Potato Rosemary Bread in Flying Apron's Gluten-Free & Vegan Baking Book.

Yield: One loaf

2 cups Brown Rice Flour

1.5 cups White Whole Wheat Flour*

*or 1.5 cups more BRF for a Gluten-Free bread

1 Cup Garbanzo Bean Flour (Chickpea Flour)

1/4 cup Ground Flax Seeds

1 tsp Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

3/4 tsp Xanthan Gum

2 tsps Home Dried Sage, chopped finely

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp cinnamon*

*it adds depth and not so much a "cinnamony" flavor

1/2 cup raisins or chopped dried fruit (apricots would be good)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

(I would have loved to add walnuts but my son is a "no nuts" kinda guy)

1/4 cup EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil :-)

1/4 cup maple syrup (organic if poss)

1 cup lukewarm water

(just warm to your finger when dipped!)

1/2 tablespoon cake yeast

(in the refrigerated section of your store)

1 cup pureed sweet potato or yam

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. I use a double-burner cast iron griddle to bake bread and pizza on and I also preheat that inside the oven. Spray it or lightly coat with olive oil before preheating.

Combine dry ingredients (flours through nuts) in a bowl and mix well to incorporate.

Dry ingredients (not yet mixed well, haha).

Heat one cup of water in the microwave until just warm to the touch. 45 seconds on 80 percent power for my little microwave is perfect. If you have a powerful microwave, this would be way too long. Add the cake yeast and stir until it is dissolved. You can mash it about, too. Then, add your warm yeast water to the maple syrup and olive oil in a large mixing bowl:

Cake yeast. Ain't she purdy?

Wet ingredients with yeast added. Let sit about five minutes for yeast to "activate." Will look creamy/cloudy and bubbles will form.

Add dry ingredients a little at a time, alternating with some sweet potato until a lovely dough forms. Do not over mix. Strangely, I had a full half cup of dry ingredients left over when I did mine. Not sure why, but maybe my sweet potato was lowish in moisture. Anyway, use your judgement about when to stop adding the dry ingredients. You want the dough to be moist and pliable, but not too dry.

Take your preheated cast iron griddle (or baking pan or pizza stone) out of the oven and put it on your (heat proof) counter. Get ready to add your loaf!

On a floured work surface (I use a RoulPat mat dusted with a little flour) knead your loaf gently only a few times just to incorporate everything. Shape into a loaf and lift gently (I slid the whole loaf onto my forearm) and place on your griddle/sheet/stone. Slash a few times gently with a floured knife. I sprayed my loaf with olive oil to give it some extra moisture in the oven. If you don't have a Misto, just brush some oil on to lightly coat your loaf. Bake at 300 degrees for about one hour and five minutes. Done when a toothpick comes out clean and it has started to brown on the bottom. Do not overbake this bread.

Raw loaf ready for the oven!

Baked loaf! Not sure why it cracked so much, probably still a little too dry, but it was delish!

The loaf had just the right flavor: herby (but not too strong, my husband said he wanted more herbs in it, actually), sweet from the potato and raisins and with a touch of warmth from the cinnamon. It has a moist crumb, and is quite satisfying, dense and chewy and has a lovely golden color from the sweet potatoes. Yum!

Would be great for a sandwich, toast, french toast (!), bread pudding or even cubed and toasted as a stuffing for your Thanksgiving Seitan Roast (I'd mix it with veg sausage and nuts, definitely) or as a dressing baked on the side of your Thanksgiving main dish (I'd still add veg sausage and nuts and dried cranberries!).

Hope everyone is well.

Enjoy!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Homestead Hoagie: Pumpkin Marinated Tofu & Homestead Bread

It may not be much, but I used half the arugula, an heirloom tomato, a little cilantro and some pantry items to make...The Homestead Hoagie! I desperately needed to make a protein and a grain to tag along with the veggies.

Let's get right down to work, I'm all tuckered out!

Green Monster Bread with Pumpkin Marinated Tofu (recipe below), Heirloom Tomatoes and Organic Cilantro (produce is all CSA).

This recipe is an approximate recreation of the recipe I made on Friday night.

Pumpkin Marinade (for tofu, tempeh or seitan)

1 clove garlic, chopped or pressed

½ a can (or 1 cup) canned pumpkin or cooked pumpkin or squash

2 T organic sunflower oil

1 ½ tsps hot chili oil

2 T maple syrup (Grade B preferred)

1 tsp organic tamari

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 ½ cups organic apple juice and/or pumpkin beer

*I used apple juice, haven’t tested yet with the beer, but I think it would be great.

I add the marinade directly to a 5 cup (1.2 L) tupperware container. Whisk well with the Mini Whisk O’ Doom, see below, (or use a fork). Add pressed tofu (I use a TofuXPress, and I love it) cut into large triangles, tempeh (slice it into quarters and steam it for 10 minutes before adding to marinade), or seitan (best added warm from the pan, but OK if not). I used one package (one pound) of pressed tofu but could have fit another half package in.

Top off with apple juice, apple cider or pumpkin (or other beer, stoudt would be great) beer until just covering tofu, tempeh or seitan. Cover tupperware tightly and shake gently to mix. Store in refrigerator for up to two weeks, shaking gently (I invert the whole container a few times, holding the top on tightly!) when you think of it to mix it. Use the tofu/tempeh/seitan right out of the marinade and add more protein to it if you want. I always do this with marinade for vegan foods, and it’s always fine. Let sit for at least 12 hours or overnight before using, shaking gently when you think of it.

Ain't she purdy?

To sautè tofu as pictured below, heat a well seasoned cast iron pan for 3 minutes on medium heat. Then, add about 1 tsp of olive oil to pan and swirl around to coat heat oil for about 10 seconds. Add tofu, leaving on whatever marinade is sticking to it. Cook 4-5 minutes on the first side until golden, flip, cook about 3 minutes on the second side, again, until golden brown. Serve for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Would be great on a sandwich as pictured, in a breakfast wrap or as the “egg” main with some tempeh bacon and potato hash, with a side of sauteed greens and cornbread for dinner, etc.

You can also cook down the marinade into a sauce to serve over your tofu et al.

Enjoy! We loved this marinade. So glad it percolated in my cowboy hat in time for MoFo!

Now, the bread, what’s the recipe for the bread? Well, I used the recipe for Green Monster Bread in Tami & Celine’s new book, Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day!

It's fantastic, put one in your cart the next time you stop by the ol' trading post.

I doubled the arugula (since I had so much) and I used white whole wheat flour (instead of AP) and it was no worse for wear! In fact, I think she liked the extra greens and that WWW flour mighty fine.