Got a ciabatta

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Bread, EASY

A lovely loaf via Epicurean Vegan:

It looked a little like a baked in face, maybe a bit reminiscent of John Woodward’s “Return.”

Olive oil bread

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Bread

Addendum:  Let me just say, this is a fabulous bread:  Very simple and difficult to destro;  definitely delicious, especially with some delightfully tuscan herv infused olive oil.  From the PPK:

Marvelous flavor; we nearly ate the entire loaf.

Decadent and done

Tags

Bread, Breakfast

The house I grew up in had walls and floors that diffused no sound: Generally very irritating but occasionally I would be awakened very early by the sound of walnuts or pecans being crushed with a rolling pin, the signal my father was making cinnamon rolls. That was a wonderful awareness and one of my favorite memories, lying warm, in bed, knowing I would re-awaken soon to the smell of those delicious rolls. He claims the recipe comes from the Joy of Cooking, the same claim he makes about his Sunday morning pancakes – renowned Sunday morning pancakes, nothing like JoC’s comparatively bland, thin disks. Rather, filled with fruits and nuts, various grains, yogurt, an occasional little pocket of whipped egg whites..

Last night, Ari and I were looking through various pending recipes; one linked to Vegan Yum Yum and we found along her cinnamon roll recipe, what of course evoked those memories, envisioning back under covers, books falling on my head off the overstuffed headboard, light filtering in the floor to ceiling window through the green sheet that served as a curtain, a bright triangle of sunlight lighting the right corner of the north wall and the wonderful smell of cinnamon rolls while my dad clanked around cleaning the mess he’d made, and me looking forward to delicious, sticky, beguiling cinnamon rolls.

I remember one time, too, I sauntered downstairs like I didn’t care, acting as if I didn’t know he’d been baking and said something profound such as, “Cinnamon rolls?” To which he replied, “No.” He had made some sort of baked pancake that was very good as well but I was shattered we weren’t having cinnamon rolls! Every time I heard the rolling pin after that, I couched my anticipation.

VYY’s are pretty good. I like her dough much better than JoC’s and I liked also the addition of ground flax seed and salt was halved. Our yeast was hyperactive and exploded out of the bowl when mixed with the water and again pushed the dough into a massive dome on the first rise. This recipe was Spiced Life large and made twenty, big cinnamon rolls, so maybe cut this in half, future self.

Effusively, D

Cinnamon fantail muffin

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Bread, Breakfast

A good thing about waking up at 4am is there is time to let dough rise!  Thus, by 7, there was this:

These cooked just a touch too long but were still delicious and the kids ate them all before I could have a fourth..

-D

Mom’s birthday was sponsored by mushrooms

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Bread, Mushroom

 Sadly the main course was overshadowed by the accompaniests — not simply the result of high expectations, either.  Though they were.

The ciabatta, over at allrecipes, was great!  And very simple.

We had a plan to plate everything, then serve, that was ditched because we are lazy, but that had incorporated, so we included, kale chips done as they are but specifically as Kath eats real food instructed and a mango (with a bit of tofutti) shmear that was to divide the lemon roasted asparagus from the shallot and tarragon mashed potatoes what then topped with a little tarragon/sherry/mushroom sauce.

All of those were really good and fully ashamed the main course which failed to exploit the wonderful expression of the morels and also, the texture for a ravioli seemed a bit off.

=d

Eggplant parmesan

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Bread, eggplant, veggie

Always a favorite…  Served over fresh linguini and served with Granny’s go-to rolls:

Breading for the eggplant, just rolled in breadcrumbs, dipped in soy milk, then back in breadcrumbs and sauteed in a little olive oil.

The roll recipe has been made variously and numerously..  Usually wheat flour used in the yeast mix then white for the add in and double the sugar or agave mixed in.  Also tried (a bit less than 3/4 cup) brown rice flour which seemed to hold the moisture a bit better — these cook for a flat 10, more and they’re too dry.  Thyme and rosemary are good add ins as well.

-D

Butternut squash ravioli

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Bread, Italian, Ravioli, spinach

A different filling would make this much better. 

The sauce was very simple and good:  Scallions sauteed in salted oil until they started to brown, then minced tomatoes, finely minced and washed calamata olives a dash of sugar and more olive oil, immediately removed from flame on addition.

The noodle was kept a little drier than the norm to help maintain form, rolled to a 7. 

The spinach, briefly bathed in a broth of browned, finely minced garlic, pinot grigio and miso (about 1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon) while the sauce was re-heated. 

After maybe 20 seconds, spinach was placed on the plates, topped with the ravioli, then the sauce and garnished with sliced red and orange peppers and minced raw spinach.

Served with these delicious rolls

(1/2 wheat flour) and a side spinach salad with sunflower seeds and blue berries, drizzled with tahini and grenadine.

-D

Smoky miso tofu

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Bread, dinner, Lunch, Tofu

From:

Smoky, miso tofu

Served on Oatmeal, whole wheat quick bread.

Err on the side of thin when slicing the tofu, though, keep an eye on it while cooking as the marinade blackens (on the tray) towards the end.  This was very good — especially with the tofu still warm — but I thought it would have been better if I followed her instructions to thinly slice.  (Also, line the tray..)

The bread is really easy and has a good flavor and not too crumbly for a low effort loaf.  I yeasted the dough to lighten it a bit, mixing the yeast with the dry ingredients and warming the soy milk.  The dough turned out extremely sticky (on par with a bowl of oatmeal) and needed additional flour. 

Accoutrements:  Herbed tofutti, spinach, red onion, sweet peppers and tomato.

-D

Carrot ginger soup

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Bread, carrot, soup

From Happy, Healthy Life

(Photo via the same)

Really excellent, hearty soup. Omitted salt and added a dash of soy and fire oil per serving.

Served with a slice of seseme sunflower whole wheat.

Very good mixing half the toppings in at the second knead and combining all the toppings as per the comments.  Also, rises better adding the yeast to the (soy) milk and needs a bit more flour kneaded in but keep the dough sticky.

Blueberry Days

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blueberries, Bread

I have always enjoyed the combination of blueberries and lemons in baked goods.  So, I was a bit hesitant to venture out to oranges.  But I am glad I ventured out and tried it.

This is by far one of my favorites breakfast breads.  I probably shouldn’t share this as loaves of it may wind up in stockings for Christmas.  But it’s too good not to share.

I buy my blueberries, frozen, from Costco.  They are Maine blueberries and we have used them for pies, pancake toppings and this bread.  They are delish!

The recipe is courtesy of Madhuram’s Eggless Cooking.  She has a ton of fantastic recipes on her site.  Check it out sometime.

Note: I used cinnamon apple sauce, cut the sugar back to about 3/4 cups and did not add nuts.

Orange Blueberry Bread:

All Purpose Flour 1 and 1/2 cups

Baking Soda 1/4 teaspoon

Baking Powder 1 and 1/4 teaspoons

Salt 1/2 teaspoon

Butter, (measured and melted) 5 tablespoons

Granulated Sugar 1 cup

Unsweetened Applesauce 1/4 cup (dry measuring cup)

Plain Yogurt (I used fat free) 1/4 cup (dry measuring cup)

Orange Juice (freshly squeezed) 4 tablespoons

Orange Zest 1 tablespoon

Milk (I used 2%) 1/2 cup

Blueberries (fresh or frozen) 1 cup

Pecans, chopped (or nuts of your choice/optional) 1/2 cup

Yield: One loaf.

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Coat well a 9×5 inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray on the sides and bottom.

2. In a medium size bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; keep it aside.

3. In a small bowl whisk together the applesauce, yogurt, orange juice and zest.

4. In a large bowl cream together the melted butter and sugar for about 5 minutes using a hand held electric mixer. (Update: Measure the butter first and then melt it. The butter and sugar doesn’t cream very much. It looks more like coarse crumbs). To this add the above wet mixture and beat well for another 2-3 minutes. The mixture will look curdled but it’s okay.

5. Now to the above add the flour and milk alternatively and beat for a couple of seconds after each addition. Add the flour in three parts and milk twice. So you would start with flour and end with flour.

6. Fold in the blueberries and nuts. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw it.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake between 60-70 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Mine was done exactly at 60 minutes.

8. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let it cool for about an hour before you can remove the bread from the pan. I think I did not grease the bottom of the loaf pan well enough so I was able to remove the bread only after about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Cool it completely on the wire rack (preferably overnight) before cutting it into slices.

Read more: http://www.egglesscooking.com/2010/09/20/orange-blueberry-bread/#ixzz14dpTPy1K