There are only two kinds of people in this world, those that LOVE Tuna Casserole and those that HATE Tuna Casserole. Interesting side note here, would it be the same people who love or hate Christmas fruit cake…..I LOVE both 🙂
This recipe uses mashed chick peas as the Tuna substitute. I mashed them with a fork so that they did not get too smooth.
The “fishy” taste comes from dulse flakes, a mild seaweed with a fresh salty side to it, perfect for this recipe.
Enjoy,
Classic Tuna(less) Casserole
Serves 4
1 can chickpeas drained and mashed with a fork
2 cups cooked pasta (I used mini lasagne noodles)
1/2 onion finely diced
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup frozen green peas
1 or 2 Tblspns dulse flakes (depending on how much of a “fishy” taste you like)
1 tspn lemon pepper
crushed potato chips (enough to cover top)
2 Tblspns nutritional yeast
Combine all ingredients except potato chips and nutritional yeast,
Put in casserole dish. Cover with crushed potato chips, sprinkle with nutritional yeast,
Bake uncovered in 325 F oven for 20 mins till bubbly.
Wow, here we are at day six already, time is flying by as usual. There should be a term “mofo time” kind of like tropical island time, but the opposite. In mofo land, time speeds up and flies by before you know it.
Beefless Wellington
Anyway back to mofo day six and our prompt “Re-create a restaurant meal”. I have two restaurant meal recipes for you. The first is Beefless Wellington. You see this at high end restaurants and I wanted to try and replicate the concept of roast beef smothered in a mushroom garlic pesto then wrapped in puff pastry and baked to perfection.
KFC (Kentucky Fried Cauliflower)
The second is a take on KFC, but this time it is Kentucky Fried Cauliflower. Now, there could be a debate on whether KFC is a restaurant, but I am not going there. Last summer I did a post on this and explained how I live one block “down wind” of a local KFC and the aroma that greets me almost on a daily basis has me drooling in my driveway. So for this post, I will link back to that post for the commentary regarding KFC and here for a recipe to satisfy your “finger licking good” cravings.
Enjoy,
Beefless Wellington
Beefless Wellington
Serves 4
1 beefless roast
2 Tblspns Dijon mustard
2 Tblspns olive oil
1/2 lb mushrooms cleaned and sliced
4 Tblspns dry red wine
3 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 tspn thyme
6 – 8 slices vegan chicken or turkey
1 packet vegan puff pastry
2 Tblspns non dairy milk
Beefless Roast
1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
4 Tblspns chickpea flour
4 Tblspns nutritional yeast
2 tspns onion power
2 tspns garlic powder
1 Tblspn vegan worsteshire sauce
1/4 tspn ground pepper
1 cup water
1 Tblspn olive oil
1 Tblspn tamari
1 tspn browning liquid (optional)
8 cups vegetable broth for simmering
Combine all liquid ingredients. In separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add liquid ingredients to dry and mix well. If necessary add a little more chickpea flour to make a dough like ball. Knead for 5 mins to develop gluten. Form into a loaf. Wrap in cheesecloth loosely and tie the ends.
Bring vegetable broth to a boil, lower dough in and bring back to a slow simmer. Cover and simmer (do not boil) for on hour turning occasionally. Allow to cool in broth. When cool, remove from broth and put in a Ziploc bag with 1/4 cup of broth and refrigerate overnight,
Brush roast with mustard on all sides. Preheat oven to 400 F,
Place mushrooms, garlic and thyme in food processor and process into a pesto. Add to frying pan with olive oil. Sauté for 10 mins until mushrooms have released their moisture and most of it has cooked down. Cool.
Lay out piece of plastic wrap on counter. Place turkey/chicken slices on top overlapping to make a square that is slightly wider than your roast and long enough to wrap completely around.
Spread mushroom pesto on top of turkey slices. Place roast in the middle and wrap with turkey slices using the plastic wrap to help you roll it up. Tuck in ends as you go. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 mins.
Lay pastry down on lightly floured surface and roll out to a rectangle slightly larger than the previous turkey square.
Place roast in middle of pastry and roll up inside pastry, securing the ends and making sure the roast is completed encased.
Place seam side down on a baking tray. lightly score the top with slits to allow steam to escape. Brush with milk, bake in oven 25 – 25 mins until golden.
Beefless Wellington
Let sit 10 mins before slicing and serving with your favourite gravy.
Day three of MoFo and all is well……. Well, sort of.
Zucchetti with Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce
I was browsing around the internet, soaking in all the wonderful vegan posts, and wham, go attacked by a computer virus. Basically the virus attached a secret encryption to all my files and the only way to get my files back was to go to a website and pay to get the secret code…………..I think not……. fortunately I do regular back ups, so a quick loading of the original dvd’s that came with the computer, everything is wiped off and reloaded. Thank goodness for external hard drives and backups. A little inconvenient but nothing too serious.
Zucchetti with Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce
Continuing on with the theme of quick and easy (didn’t take too much time or effort to restore my computer) and delicious, todays recipe is for Zucchetti with Sundried Tomato Marinara Sauce. You could sub out they zucchetti (spiralized zucchini) with a pasta of your choice if you prefer.
This meal can be totally raw or if you like (as I did) you can add in fried mushrooms.
Enjoy,
Zucchetti with Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce
Serves 2
2 or 3 zucchini spiralized (or 2 cups of cooked pasta of choice)
1 Cup sun dried tomato’s soaked in 1/2 cups hot water for 10 mins (reserve water)
1 Tblspn olive oil
2 plum tomato’s
1 handful fresh basil
1 garlic clove
Sauteed mushrooms and nutritional yeast if desired to garnish
Place spiralized zucchini on paper towels to absorb excess moisture.
Combine drained sun dried tomato’s, olive oil, plum tomato’s, basil and garlic in a blender or food processor. Process until fairly smooth. Add reserved tomato soaking water a tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency.
Place zucchini on two plates. Spoon marinara sauce over top and sprinkle with sautéed mushrooms and nutritional yeast if using.
You may also gently heat the marinara sauce in a small pot before serving if you prefer a cooked sauce.
I like the sauce “raw” and it avoids one more pot to clean, adding to the “quick and easy” part of the recipe…….and it truly is delicious.
So, I am cheating a little with this one. Technically, I did not have Mac and Cheese when I was a child. Growing up in Australia it was not something I was aware of, however, once I moved to Canada, I soon found this warm, gooey, cheesy, pasta and fell in love at first bite. I soon made up for lost time and probably consumed an entire childhoods worth in the first couple of years living here. So, I guess this is my “second childhood” meal memory.
Roasted Red Pepper Mac and Cheese
As a vegan, I searched around for a great version of this dish and finally found this recipe by Isa Chandra at the Post Punk Kitchen. If you have not yet visited her site, you should head on over there pronto. The recipe Roasted Red Pepper Mac and Cheese is so good, when I made it, I ate the entire pot full.
Enjoy,
Roasted Red Pepper Mac & Cheese
By Post Punk Kitchen
Yield: 2 large servings
1/2 pound macaroni or other small pasta
3/4 cups raw cashews, soaked in water for 2 hours
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced medium
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 tablespoons organic cornstarch
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast (optional)
1 roasted red pepper (jarred or homemade)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 teaspoons pizza seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1. Preheat a 2 quart sauce pot over medium heat. Sauté onions in oil with a pinch of salt for 5 to 7 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or so, then transfer to a blender or food processor.
2. Boil a large pot of salted water for cooking the pasta. Once boiling, cook pasta according to package directions.
3. Drain the cashews and add them to the blender along with the vegetable broth, corn starch, nutritional yeast, red peppers, tomato paste, pizza seasoning, salt, mustard and turmeric. Blend until very smooth. Scrape down the sides every 30 seconds or so and test for smoothness.
4. Transfer the sauce in the blender back to the sauce pot where you cooked the onions. Turn the heat up to medium and let cook, stirring very often, until thickened. This should take between 10 and 15 minutes. Taste for salt. It should taste slightly salty because you’re going to be pouring it on the pasta.
5. The pasta should be done while the sauce is thickening, so drain and place pasta back in the pot you cooked it in. Set aside.
6. When sauce is thickened, add it to the pasta in the pot, and use a large slotted spoon to mix well, taking care not to break the pasta.
Cold and rainy today, lots of leaves falling from the trees, looks like Fall has really arrived. Perfect soup day. What could be better than to curl up on the sofa with a nice cozy blanket, a good book and a big bowl of rich, bubbley, cheezy French Onion Soup. Mmmmmm 🙂
Growing up in Australia, the only onion soup I ever came across was a dry packet mix. While it was tasty it certainly was not drool worthy. When we moved to Canada, it was quite a few years before I tried the rich, cheesy, gooey concoction known here as French Onion Soup. It was love at first bite. I was also lucky enough to travel to Paris a few years ago and had to have a bowl there. It was even more delicious. Unfortunately one of the main ingredients to this lovely soup is cheese, so it was off limits……well, not any more. Thanks to the Cheez recipe I have used already in a few of the previous posts, the iconic French Onion Soup is here in all of its glory.
Cheezy French Onion Soup with French Baguette
The trick to this soup, is in the slow caramelizing of the onions. This is worth the trouble and the wait. By taking a slow approach to cooking the onions, the flavour really intensifies.
Now, you will notice in the photo’s, there is no “French Baguette” pictured. I made the baguette out of the same bread recipe as I used for the Rosemary Bread that paired up with the Chikn Noodle Soup, just omitting the rosemary. The baguette is cut into thick slices, lightly toasted, then placed in the bottom of the bowls before ladling the soup on top.
Enjoy,
Cheezy French Onion Soup with French Baguette
Cheezy French Onion Soup
Makes 6 serves
Ingredients
1/2 cup vegan butter
4 onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 fresh thyme sprigs
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine, or vegetable stock
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups vegetable broth
1 french baguette, sliced (recipe below)
1 recipe Cheez (see below)
Melt vegan butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes. Do not skimp on the amount of time you cook the onions. To truly develop the rich onion flavour, cook for at least the full 25 mins. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the wine has evaporated and the onions are dry, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn’t burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Now add the vegetable broth, bring the soup back to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Cut the baguette into thick slices and gently toast. Place in the bottom of soup bows.
Ladle the soup in bowls and gently spread half cup cheez on top of each bowl.
Place bowls on oven tray and gently broil tops.
Cheezy French Onion Soup with French Baguette
French Baguette
Makes 2 Baguettes
Ingredients
1 1/4 -ounce packet active dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon fine salt
Directions:
Stir the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup warm water in a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer). Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, the flour, the fine salt and 3/4 cup warm water; stir with a wooden spoon (or with the dough hook if using a mixer) until a dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting lightly with flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. (Or knead with the dough hook on medium-high speed, adding a little flour if the dough sticks to the bowl, about 8 minutes.)
Brush a large bowl with olive oil. Add the dough, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until more than doubled, about 2 hours.
Brush 2 baking sheets with olive oil. Generously flour a work surface; turn the dough out onto the flour and divide into 2 pieces. Working with one piece at a time, sprinkle some flour on the dough, gently shape into a baguette. Let stand, uncovered, until more than doubled, about 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake the loaves 20 minutes or until golden brown, Transfer to a rack to cool.
Cheezy French Onion Soup with French Baguette
Cheez
Ingredients:
1 cup plain unsweetened soymilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
4 Tblspns tapioca flour
3 Tblspns nutritional yeast
3 Tblspns mellow white miso paste
3 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
3/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dry ground mustard
1/2 tsp xanthan gum or guar gum
Add the ingredients to a mini or standard blender and process the contents until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan and cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring slowly and continually.
Increase stirring speed as the mixture thickens and begins to form lumps. Stir vigorously until the mixture becomes very thick, smooth and glossy. Remove from heat.
Italian Wedding Soup with Gluten Free Basil Crackers
One of my favourite pre vegan soups was Italian Wedding Soup. I just love the meatballs. Come to think of it, I love meatballs in spaghetti too. So, I have been trying to find a great meatball substitute. For a long time I have used button mushroom whole in spaghetti sauce to mimic the meatballs. While this is good, it never really satisfied my “meatball” craving.
Here I think I have found my ultimate meatball so, with my MofFo theme of Soups and Breads, I decided to tackle the old favourite, Italian Wedding Soup. The result was even better than I had hoped. I guess I may have cheated a little with the Basil Cracker, it isn’t really a bread, but, it just seemed the perfect fit. You will see in the Nutritional Info at the bottom that this dish is very high in sodium. If you want to lower the sodium content make sure to use low sodium broth and omit the additional salt. Also, the cracker recipe is Gluten Free, however, obviously the meatballs are not. If you are Gluten Free, you could use Gluten Free pre prepared meatballs, or even, in a pinch, use whole button mushrooms.
Enjoy,
Italian Wedding Soup with Gluten Free Basil Crackers
Italian Wedding Soup
Serves 6
4 Tbspns olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced plus 1 whole clove, peeled, divided
¾ cup diced carrot
¾ cup diced celery
1 Tbs Oregano
1 Tbspn Basil
1 Tbspn Parsley
8 cups vegetable broth
¾ cup ditalini pasta
18 – 24 vegan meatballs (recipe follows – the recipe is based on Vital Wheat Gluten)
1 5-oz. pkg. fresh spinach
1 Tbspn fresh lemon juice
Heat 2 Tbspns olive oil in large pot over med heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 5 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Stir in carrot and celery, and cook 5 minutes more, or until onion is soft. Add oregano, basil, and parsley, and cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium, add ditalini, and cook at low boil 5 minutes, or half of cooking time stated in ditalini package directions. Add meatballs, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 minutes. Add in a little extra water if necessary to thin to desired consistency,
Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 Tbspns oil in pan over med heat. Add remaining garlic clove, grated.. Add spinach; cook 3 to 5 minutes, turning constantly so spinach becomes evenly coated and wilted, but still bright green. After meatballs have simmered, add spinach and lemon juice to soup, and season with salt and pepper.
Italian Wedding Soup with Gluten Free Basil Crackers
Gluten Free Basil Crackers
Makes 24 crackers
Ingredients
1 cup gluten free flour blend
1 Tblspn melted vegan butter
1 tspn olive oil
1 tspn basil
½ tspn agave
½ tspn salt
Sea salt for the top
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour blend and salt. Add oil, melted butter, agave, and ¼ cup water and mix until the dough comes together into a ball.
Add more water if the dough seems too dry.
Pat the dough into a disk. Place the disk between two pieces of parchment and using a rolling pin, roll until very thin, about ⅛ inch.
Remove the top piece of parchment from dough and cut dough into 1-inch squares, but do not separate. Lightly brush the dough with water and sprinkle with sea salt.
Keep the dough on parchment paper and move onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until crisp and slightly puffed, about 15-20 minutes. Rotate the cookie sheet after about ten minutes.
Cool then separate.
Italian Wedding Soup with Gluten Free Basil Crackers
Mix the following liquid ingredients
3/4 cup Cold water
1 Tblspn tamari
1 Tblspn vegetable oil
For the simmering broth you will need:
6 cups vegetable broth
Directions:
In a large pot, bring broth to a rapid boil.
Add the liquid ingredients (not the simmering broth) to the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are combined. Dont overwork the dough or the meatballs will be tough. Cut off small pieces of dough and roll into small, round meatball shapes with the palms of your hands, about 1/2-inch in diameter.
Work quickly as the gluten in the dough becomes more elastic the longer the dough sits, and this will make rolling more difficult. Do not make the meatballs too large because they will increase in size when simmered.
Now add the meatballs to the boiling broth and immediately reduce the heat to a slow simmer. Cook uncovered for 25 minutes. Check frequently to maintain the broth at a very gentle simmer. Do not boil. Stir occasionally once the meatballs float to the top of the pot. When done cooking, remove the pot from the heat and let the meatballs cool in the broth until they reach room temperature. Refrigerate the meatballs with about 1/2 cup of the simmering broth in a zip-lock bag or airtight container for a minimum of 8 hours, or for up to 10 days, before browning in the skillet. This will firm and optimize their texture. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months
Finishing the Meatballs:
Sauté the meatballs in a skillet with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat until nicely browned
Italian Wedding Soup with Gluten Free Basil Crackers
Italian Wedding Soup with Gluten Free Basil Crackers
MoFo recipe # 6 is Smokey Potato Bacyn Bisque with Dark Rye Bread. This is now my new favourite soup. Creamy and rich, full of potato’s and Bacyn, a perfect Fall soup.
The ingredient that takes this soup over the top is the Bacyn. The recipe for this is from The Gentle Chef. Chef Skye Michael Conroy has a wonderful website full of amazing vegan dishes. He is a master at reproducing dishes that are normally full of meat and dairy. While some vegans think it is abhorrent to replicate animal products, I like to be able to taste dishes that I loved before I became vegan.
I became a vegan for three main reasons. Firstly for my own health as it is now well documented that eating animal products is harmful to our helth. Secondly and equally important, to prevent the cruelty and death of animals. Lastly to prevent more environmental damage to our world. I still love the taste of dairy and meat, I just choose not to enjoy that taste at the expense of my health, innocent animals or the environment, so when I can replicate those tastes in a vegan recipe, I am very happy.
I have included the recipe for the Bacyn or “Bacun” as Chef Skye named it, at the very end of the post. In the ingredients list, I have added a link to an article in “Free From Harm” that has the recipe in it as well.
Enjoy,
Smokey Potato Bacyn Bisque with Dark Rye Bread
Smokey Potato Bacyn Bisque with Dark Rye Bread
Makes 10 servings Ingredients
5 large baking potatoes, cooked and cut in 1-inch cubes
2 Tblspns vegan butter
8 slices bacyn, chopped and cooked until crisp (reserve some for topping)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups vegan chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups cashew creme
1 celery stalk finely diced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Instructions
Melt vegan butter in large pot and gently fry chopped bacyn until crispy, remove bacyn from pan, leaving the remaining butter.
Add onion and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add garlic and flour, stirring well and cook another 2 minutes.
Slowly add chicken broth to onion and garlic and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir in potatoes,creme and next 6 ingredients. Bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, 10 minutes (do not boil). Stir in bacyn.
Dark Rye Bread
Makes 1 loaf
1 ¾ cups + 3 Tblspns warm water
2 ¼ teaspoons, or one ¼ ounce package active dry yeast
1 Tblspn sugar
2 ½ cups bread flour
1 ½ cups dark rye flour
1 ¾ tspns salt
1 Tblspn molasses
2 tspns caraway seeds
Activate the yeast
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the warm water, sugar and yeast. Allow the mixture to sit for about 10 minutes until foamy
Whisk together the dry ingredients
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the bread flour, dark rye flour and salt until well incorporated.
Whisk together the wet ingredients
In another medium mixing bowl, whisk together the molasses and caraway seeds and stir until just combined. Whisk in the foamy yeast.
Mix the dough
Add the wet ingredients to the bowl containing the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon in one circular direction for 1 minute. Now stir in the opposite direction for 1 minute.
Coat the ball of dough in vegetable oil
Add about 1 Tblspn olive oil to another medium mixing bowl and spread it around the inside with your fingers. Use a spatula to scrape the dough into the oily bowl. With dampened fingers, form the dough into a ball and rotate it around in the inside of the bowl so it’s coated in oil.
Let the dough rise
Cover the bowl with a plastic bag and let it rise in a warm place until it’s doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours.
Let the dough rise once more
Degas the dough by pressing on it with dampened hands several times until no more gas comes out of the dough. Form the dough into a ball again and let it rise until it’s doubled in size, about 1 ½ hours.\
Proof the dough
The dough can now be proofed by gently forming it into a lightly oiled loaf pan and allowed to sit covered with a plastic bag until it reaches about 80% to 90% of it’s intended size, which should be about 40 minutes. The proofing stage is where the dough takes most of its shape. It’s important to leave room under the plastic bag so the dough can rise sufficiently.
Preheat oven to 375F (191C). Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Allow to cool completely in tin before removing and slicing.
Smokey Potato Bacyn Bisque with Dark Rye Bread
Smokey Potato Bacyn Bisque with Dark Rye Bread
For this recipe, two batches of dough will be mixed to create the bacun. Dough 1 is for the darker marble layer and Dough 2 is for the lighter marble layer.
Bacyn
Makes 1 lb
Dry ingredients for Dough 1:
1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 Tblspn nutritional yeast
2 tsp onion powder
1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
¼ tsp ground white pepper
Liquid ingredients for Dough 1:
½ cup water
2 Tbspns dark brown sugar or real maple syrup
2 Tbspn tamari
2 T liquid smoke
1 Tbspn red miso paste (If you cannot obtain red miso paste, substitute with 1 tablespoon tomato paste.
1 Tbspn vegan Worcestershire Sauce
1 T olive oil
Dry ingredients for Dough 2:
⅓ cup vital wheat gluten
1 Tblspn garbanzo bean flour (also known as chickpea flour)
1 tsp garlic powder
Liquid ingredients for Dough 2:
⅓ cup water
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 Tblspn olive oil
Dough 1 Technique:
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Whisk together the dry ingredients for Dough 1 in a large mixing bowl. Stir together the liquid ingredients for Dough 1 in a separate bowl or measuring cup until the brown sugar and miso dissolves. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well to incorporate. Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Set aside. Dough 2 Technique: Whisk together the dry ingredients for Dough 2 in a small mixing bowl. Stir together the liquid ingredients for Dough 2 in a separate bowl or measuring cup until the salt dissolves. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well to incorporate. Divide the dough in half. Now you will begin the layering process which will create the marbling effect for the bacun. First, tear off a large sheet of 18-inch wide heavy-duty aluminum foil and place it on your work surface. Take a piece of Dough 1 and flatten and spread the dough on the foil until it is about ¼-inch thick. You don’t need to worry about the shape. Next, using your fingers spread ½ of Dough 2 over the dark layer of dough. Flatten and spread another piece of Dough 1 over the light marble layer. Spread the remaining portion of Dough 2 over the dark marble layer. Finally, flatten and spread the last piece of Dough 1 over the top. If the layers don’t stack perfectly, that’s good, because if you are too precise the bacun will look like it was made by a machine. For this recipe imperfection is actually a benefit. Shape the dough into a rectangular “slab” about 1-inch thick. Once again, don’t worry about being too precise; the dough will expand during baking to conform to the shape of the foil package. Sprinkle the bacun with some coarse ground black pepper or smoked black pepper, if desired; or for sugared bacun, brush with real maple syrup or rub with dark brown sugar. Wrap the slab of bacun in the foil (don’t roll), creating a flat package. Fold in the sides of the foil (like wrapping a gift), pinching to seal the foil as you fold. Place the package seam side down directly on the middle oven rack and bake for 90 minutes. Cool the bacun in the foil until the package can be handled comfortably before opening. Slice the bacun thick for chewy bacun or thin for crispy bacun. The bacun can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 10 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Fry the bacun slices in a skillet with a generous coating of cooking oil until lightly browned and crisp around the edges. Avoid overcooking or the bacun will be dry and hard. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to blot any excess oil.
Creme of Tomato Soup with Chedah Stuffed Bread Stixs
MoFo recipe #4 a classic soup that brings back childhood memories of cool weather. Tomato soup is deceptively simple with clean fresh ingredients simmered together into a rich tapestry of taste. I remember dipping toast “fingers” into mine as a child. With the abundant supply of tomato’s at the moment in Canada, it is perfect timing.
The oven roasting of the tomato’s first, developes the richness of taste which, when paired with the fresh herbs creates this wonderful comfort soup.
The gluten-free breadstix uses the All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Mix. This flour mix can be used in any recipe in place of regular flour, the trick is to use this flour by weight. So, for any recipe substitute 5 oz of the GF flour mix for each 1 cup of regular flour. When making a dough, bread or pizza etc, you need to add in a binding agent to get the right texture. For the binder mix together equal parts of psyllium husk, chia and ground flax. For every 5 oz of GF flour mix add in a pinch of the binder (or for 15 oz flour mix add in 1/3 oz)
Enjoy,
Creme of Tomato Soup with Chedah Stuffed Bread Stix
Place the whole tomatoes (with stalks attached) onto a baking tray and drizzle with 3/4 of the oil and cook in oven for an hour.
Heat the remaining oil in large pot and gently fry the diced onions for 10 minutes.
Add the chopped herbs and tomato purée and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove tomatoes from oven and when cool enough to handle, remove the stalks. Chop roughly and add to the pot along with the water. Simmer for 1 hour.
After an hour, transfer the contents of the pot into a blender and blend until smooth. Return the blended tomato mixture to the pot and bring to a boil, then add all but a couple of tablespoons of the cream and sugar and salt.
Allow to warm through then divide into 4 bowls. drizzle 1/2 tablespoon cream in centre and garnish with extra fresh herbs (parsley, rosemary, basil etc) if desired.
Creme of Tomato Soup with Chedah Stuffed Bread Stix
Chedah Stuffed Bread Stix
Makes 8
Ingredients
For the dough:
2 tspns sugar
1 1/4 -ounce packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 Tblspns vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (for gluten-free use Gluten Free Flour Mix)
3/4 tspn salt
For the filling and topping
exta vegetable oil for brushing tops
1 tspn garlic salt
1 tspn granulated garlic
1/2 tspn dried parsley
Make the dough: Whisk the sugar and 3/4 cup warm water (about 105 degrees F) in a bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in the vegetable oil.
Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, pour in the yeast mixture and stir with a wooden spoon to make dough. Turn out onto a generously floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, dusting with more flour as needed (if using gluten-free flour mix, kneading is not required, just mix thoroughly). Form into a ball. Brush a large bowl with vegetable oil and add the dough, turning to coat with the oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature until doubled in size, 1 – hours.
Cut the dough in half; transfer 1 piece to the parchment-lined baking sheet and stretch into an 8-inch square (keep the other piece of dough covered). Place half the chedah cheez on one side of the dough, then fold the dough in half to enclose the cheese, pressing to seal. Slice the dough crosswise into four sections, stopping just before the folded edge. Repeat with other piece of dough.
Brush with extra oil and sprinkle with salt and herbs.
Slide the bread on the parchment ontoa baking sheet. Bake until the dough is cooked through 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool slightly, then pull apart into breadstix.
Creme of Tomato Soup with Chedah Stuffed Bread Stix
Spring is in the air…..well, not really, but I have now offically had enough of Winter. It is the last month or so of Winter that I find the hardest and the easiest all at the same time. It is hard because with the lack of sunshine I become very slugish and unmotivated but it is the easiest because I start to dream about the Summer to come. I am already planning out my garden in my head. deciding what veggies to plant where and dreaming of lazy days on my back deck………:)
In the lead up to Spring and Summer I have decided to drop a few pounds as most of my clothes are a little tight at the moment. I have fallen into the Vegan trap of eating a lot of the unhealthy Vegan foods. Potato chips, pasta’s, etc. so I decided I would do the Eat To Live 6 week plan. This plan is primarily vegetables, fruit and legumes, perfect for me to get back in shape. Now I also decided I needed to include regular daily exercise. I spend the majority of my time at a desk and it was time to add in the exercise habit.
Co incidentaly, my car (Sophie, a yellow VW New Beetle) picked this exact time to break down (again, she has had a lot of issues over the last couple of months, but she is 13 years old, so no big surprise). My mechanic headed south to a tropical destination right at that moment, so I was left without a vehicle for a week or two. This was perfect, now I was forced to walk everywhere and in fact, now I am seriously considering not fixing/replacing Sophie right away. I am enjoying walking to work each day getting my sunshine, exercise and fresh air all together.
So for the next few weeks I will be posting recipes that I come up with that are Eat To Live friendly as well as vegan. To start off I made this delicious pizza. The crust is a mixture of cauliflower and chickpea flour. The sauce is roasted eggplant and nutritional yeast. You can top with whatever veggies you have on hand. On this particular night I had cherry tomato’s, a bag of baby spinach/kale mix and mushrooms.
Enjoy,
GF Pizza with Eggplant Cheeze, Mushrooms & Tomato
Gluten Free Pizza with Eggplant Cheeze, Mushrooms & Tomato
Makes one 12 inch pizza
2 cups cauliflower florettes
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1 Tblspn ground flax disolved in 2 tblspns water
2 tspns dried oregano
salt and black pepper to taste
1 small eggplant
1/2 head garlic
2 Tblspns nutritional yeast
sliced tomato
baby kale and/or baby spinach leaves
1/2 small onion
sliced mushrooms
Combine cauliflower, chickpea flour, flax (disolved), oregano, salt and pepper in food processor. Process until a dough like consistancy. You will need to add a little water.
Spread out on parchment paper lined baking tray into a circle approx 12 inches in diameter.
GF Pizza with Eggplant Cheeze, Mushrooms & Tomato
Bake for 20 mins in 325 F oven until firm and starting to brown.
At the same time, place whole eggplant (after piercing multiple times with a knife) on baking tray and bake with the crust. Wrap 1/2 head of garlic in foil and place next to eggplant to bake as well.
Remove crust from oven when done and set aside. Check eggplant by inserting knife. Eggplant is done when soft all the way through. Remove eggplant and garlic from oven and allow to cool slightly.
Cut eggplant in half and scoop out soft flesh, place in food processor. Squeeze soft centres from garlic cloves and add to eggplant. Add nutritional yeast and process until smooth and creamy.
GF Pizza with Eggplant Cheeze, Mushrooms & Tomato
Take approx 2/3 of the eggplant mixture and spread on pizza crust. Top with kale/spinach, sliced tomato, mushrooms and thinly sliced onion. Add a little water to thin the remaining eggplant mixture and then drizzle over the top of pizza toppings.
Return pizza to 325 F oven and bake for 10 – 15 mins to heat through.
Love is in the air. Next week is Valentine’s day and I was inspired to create a romantic dish for the occasion. What better way to show your love than to make a wonderful creamy Fettucine Alfredo and to have it “heart healthy” at the same time.
There is nothing in this delicious rich pasta sauce that is even remotely bad for you. The secret loving ingredient is the faithful cauliflower. This vegetable is a wonderous creation. Low calorie, crunchy when raw, perfect for dipping, smooth and creamy when cooked and pureed. I used brown rice pasta but if you wanted to take it even one step further in the health department you could use thinly sliced or spiralized zucchini or other hard vegetable.
Fettucccine Alfredo Amore
When I was dreaming up this dish, I had visions of lots of tiny red hearts sprinkled over the top. I would “cut” the hearts out of red peppers, simple…….not really. As you can see in the pictures the final result has three hearts. While they do look very nice, it is not exactly what I had in mind. These were more difficult than I imagined. Wether you make one, three or more, the thought is still the same, and, as they say, “it’s the thought that counts'”
Enjoy,
Fettucccine Alfredo Amore
Fettuccine Alfredo Amore
Serves 6
1 medium cauliflower
1/2 Tblspn olive oil
3 large garlic cloves minced or grated
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tblspn lemon juice
2 tspns onion powder
1/4 tspn ground black pepper
sea salt to taste
8oz dry fettuccine of choice, I used brown rice fettuccine
red pepper for garnish
parsley for garnish
Separate cauliflower into florettes. Place in large saucepan and cover with cold water. Heat on high until water begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 – 10 minutes until tender. Drain and allow to cool slightly before processing further.
Heat olive oil in pan on low and saute garlic very gently for 5 mins. Do not let garlic brown.
Add cauliflower, garlic, half the almond milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, onion powder, pepper and salt to food processor ( you may have to do this in two batches). Pulse, scrapping down sides until everything is incorporated. Slowly add the remaining almond milk and blend on high until completely smooth and creamy, approx 3 – 5 mins. Set aside.
Fettucccine Alfredo Amore
Fill large pot with cold water, place on stove and bring to a boil over high heat. When water is boiling add dry pasta and cook according to directions on the packet.
Once cooked, drain and rinse.
If making red hearts, cut small piece of red pepper that is fairly flat. Using a sharp pointed knife, cut out hearts,
Add Alfredo sauce to drained pasta and toss together. Place serving on plate and top with red pepper hearts and parsley.
stairway to vegan 