Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Yellow Pepper Soup with Wild Mushroom Croutons
This is my "veganised" version of the soup. This recipe is a delicious lesson in how roasting sweetens and deepens the flavor of bell peppers. The peppers can be roasted a day ahead and refrigerated until you are ready to prepare the soup.
Soup:
6 large yellow bell peppers
Cooking spray
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil object
1 cup chopped leek (about 1 medium size leek)
1 cup finely chopped peeled baking potato
1 cup chopped carrot
2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika
1 bay leaf
1 cup water
2 cup vegetable broth
1 1/2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Croutons:
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
4 cups chopped mixed mushrooms (such as cremini, shiitake, button, and oyster)
2 tblp dry white wine (I used red wine and it worked grrrreat)
1/2 tspn chopped fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tblp finely chopped parsley
1 tblp soy milk
2 tbsp vegan "butter" (Earth Balance)
1/8 tspn salt
1/8 tspn freshly ground black pepper
1 (8-ounce) French bread baguette, cut into 12 slices
Soup:
Preheat oven to 500°.
Place peppers on a jelly-roll pan. Lightly coat peppers with cooking spray. Bake at 500° for 30 minutes or until blackened on all sides, turning occasionally. Place peppers in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 20 minutes. Peel and discard skins. Cut in half lengthwise; discard membranes and seeds.
Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek, potato, and carrot; cook 5 minutes. Stir in paprika and bay leaf. Add water and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are very tender. Stir in roasted pepper halves; simmer 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Stir in vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.
Place half of bell pepper mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid. Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining bell pepper mixture. Keep warm.
Croutons:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; reduce heat to medium. Stir in wine; cook 15 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Stir in thyme and garlic; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, and stir in parsley, cream, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.
Place bread on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until toasted. Place 1 heaping tablespoon mushroom mixture on each crouton. Serve croutons with soup.
Rating: soup 4 1/2 yums, croutons 5 yums
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Earl Grey Tea Cookies
2
Heat oven to 375° F. Pulse together all the dry ingredients in a food processor until the tea leaves are pulverized.
Add the vanilla, 1 tsp water, and the butter. Pulse together until a dough is formed.
Divide the dough in half. Place each half on a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a 12-inch log, about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Slice each log into disks, 1/3 inch thick. Place on parchment- or foil-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.
Rating: 4 yums (but will definitely try again with coconut oil)
Peanut Butter Munchies
A very fun-to-make cookies. They came out very chocolaty with a sweet peanuty center.
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp of Ener-G egg replacer mixed in 2 tbsp of water (equivalent of 1 egg)
1 tbsp soy milk
1 tspn vanilla
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tblsp granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl beat together "butter", the 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, and the 1/4 cup peanut butter with an electric mixer until combined. Add "egg", soy milk, and vanilla; beat well. Beat in as much of the dry ingredients as you can with mixer. Stir in remaining dry ingredients by hand with a wooden spoon. Form chocolate dough into 32 balls about 1-1/4 inches in diameter. Set aside.
For peanut butter filling, in a medium mixing bowl combine powdered sugar and the remaining 1/2 cup peanut butter until smooth. Shape mixture into 32 (3/4-inch) balls.
On a work surface, slightly flatten a chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Shape the chocolate dough over the peanut butter filling, completely covering the filling. Roll dough into a ball. Repeat with the remaining chocolate dough and peanut butter filling balls.
Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in the 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.
Bake cookies in preheated oven for 8 minutes or until they're just set and surface is slightly cracked. Let cookies stand for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool. Makes 32 cookies.
To Store: Place in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Rating: 4 1/2 yums (I would prefer them a bit more sweet)
Lemon Polenta Thins
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp finely minced lemon zest
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 cup oat flour (I use the quick cooking oats passed in the food processor)
1/2 tsp salt
Topping
4 tsp coarse raw sugar
4 tsp chopped pine nuts (wholnuts could be good too)
1 1/2 tsp minced lemon zest
Preheat oven to 350C. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat
In a medium mixing bowl, combine oil, sugar, and zest (food processor works great for this). Beat in lemon juice, then cornmeal, flour, and salt.
Note: the recipe promises thick but droopy dough .... mine was more like coarse crumbs that would nicely stick together to form a ball. Maybe I was using a different type of coconut oil (mine was hard, rather then liquid)
If your dough is droopy chill it for at least 30 minutes
In a small bowl stir together topping ingredients. Set aside.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls, at least 3 inches apart, onto prepared sheet. Using a small pointy spoon push a slight dimple into each dough circle and tip about 1/8 tsp topping into each depression.
Note: since my dough was hard, I had to make little thin circles out of it. They did not melt much during the cooking time so I placed them farely close to each other on the baking sheet.
Bake about 12 minutes, until cookies are thin disks with golden edges.
Makes ~ 3 dozens
Rating: 5 yums!!!!! I would give 6 if I could ;)
Brandied Cranberry-Apricot Bars
Another recipe from "100 best cookies" magazine. Very easy to make and very very tasty!!!!
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dark raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup snipped dried apricots
1/2 cup brandy or water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegan butter (I used coconut oil)
3 tsp of Ener-G egg replacer, mixed with 4 tbsp of water (equivalent of 2 eggs)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup chopped pecans
Powdered sugar
For crust, in a medium mixing bowl stir together the 1 cup flour and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Cut in "butter" until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press into an ungreased 8x8x2-inch baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 20 minutes or until golden.
In a medium mixing bowl beat "eggs" with an electric mixer on low speed for 4 minutes; stir in the 1 cup brown sugar, the 1/2 cup flour, and vanilla just until combined. Add drained fruits and pecans; stir to mix. Pour fruit mixture over baked crust; spread evenly.
Bake about 40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, covering with foil the last 10 minutes to prevent overbrowning. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. To serve, cut into squares. Makes 16 servings.
Make-ahead tip: Store in airtight container in refrigerator up to 48 hours.
Rating: 5 yums!Citrus-Drizzled Cranberry-Oatmeal Cookies
My colleagues liked a lot these cookies, while I preferred the Polenta thins.
2
2
Glaze:
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare cookies, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, quick-cooking oats, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and ground nutmeg in a bowl.
Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, and coconut oil in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg replacer; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture and cranberries; beat at low speed until combined.
Shape dough into 55 (1-inch) balls. Place the balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until almost firm. Let stand on the baking sheets 2 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets; cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar and remaining ingredients in a bowl, stirring with a whisk. Spoon mixture into a small zip-top plastic bag. Snip a small hole in 1 corner of bag; drizzle glaze over cooled cookies.
Yield: 55 cookiesRating: 4 yums from me and 5 yums from my colleagues.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Vegan Shortbread
Scotch Shortbread Cookies
1 cup vegan margarine
½ cup sugar
3 tsp almond extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 275
Cream the margarine and gradually add the sugar. Stir in the extract.
Work in the flour ½ cup at a time.
On a floured board knead the dough for at least 10 minutes.
Pat and roll the dough so it is ½ inch thick.
After I just made random shapes out of the dough and put the on the ungreased cookie sheet, leaving at least 1 inch spaces between them.
Poke each piece 2 or 3 times with a fork and bake for 30 minutes or until the cookies become slightly golden brown around the edges.