Vegan Homemade Soft Pretzels & Pretzel Bread

I received an excellent book for Christmas, Beard On Bread, a collection of James Beard’s bread recipes. He is only the father of American cuisine, no big deal. So I’ve been striving to make bread at least once a week, all by hand, to understand the feel of dough and how yeast works and trying to gain a competent understanding of pastry. It’s a very rewarding part of cooking, but it is very different than working on a line and cooking a la minute. Pastry is much more of an exact science because once a dough is made, not much else can be done. Measurements have to be much more precise and little changes can make big differences. This recipe does not come from the book, the inspiration for this recipe is based on Alton Brown’s soft pretzels, which are pretty excellent if you are not cooking for some lactose intolerant, so I changed a couple little things and ended up with these vegan pretzels. I love the way my apartment smells when baking, if you don’t know what I mean, it’s time you get to putting in some elbow grease to make some dough and subsequently salivate when the aroma of baking bread envelopes your kitchen.

• 1.5 cups water, between 105 and 115 F
• 1.5 tbsp sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1.5 tbsp salt
• 3.5-4 cups ap flour
• 4 cups very hot water
• 1/2 cup baking soda
• water for brushing

Bring water up to temperature, measured with a thermometer. Combine water, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 package yeast. The yeast will activate and small bubbles will start coming to the surface. Let the yeast mixture sit for at least 5 minutes, up to 10. Meanwhile, combine flour, 1/2 tbsp sugar, and salt, whisk together til combined. Slowly add the flour, 1/2-1 cup at a time to the yeast mixture and mix in with hand. When a dough has formed, remove to a well floured surface and knead, adding flour as necessary, until the dough isn’t sticky, but is smooth and springs back when pushed in with a finger. Oil a bowl and put dough in, turning once to cover dough, then let sit, covered, for at least 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 450 F. Bring 6 cups water to boil. Divide dough in 2, then divide 1 part into two and the second part into 4-6 equal parts. The 2 larger portions are for pretzel bread rolls, so roll out and set aside. Roll out smaller portions into a long rope and form into a pretzel shape. Mix in baking soda with 4 cups very hot water, then submerge each pretzel for 30-45 seconds and remove to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush surface lightly with water, then sprinkle very liberally with salt and slash shallow cuts into the pretzel loaves. Bake pretzels for 8-12 minutes, until dark color is achieved, bake loaves for 10-14 minutes, until cooked in the center. Serve with beer cheese sauce or mustard.

Vegan Moroccan Cous Cous w/Grilled Eggplant

I’ve made variations on this a couple times with equally successful results. For instance, once I made risotto and then finished in the same manner as the cous cous. This is one of those vegan/vegetarian dishes that will make the meat eaters like myself temporarily forget about the lack of meat. I don’t really know how Moroccan this truly is, but the inspiration was from a recent visit to a Moroccan restaurant that I absolutely loved, I had lamb shanks that was so tender the meat fell off the bone with the slightest touch and absolutely melted in my mouth. However, my girlfriend’s vegetarian cous cous seemed to be about 95% cous cous. So I took some inspiration, cous cous, squash, eggplant, spices, and spruced it up with some Asian fusion and making it a heartier dish with more “meaty” vegetables. This dish had savory, sweet, spicy, protein, and endless amounts of flavor from a number of different sources. I really enjoyed the layers of flavor in this dish.

More to come from this dinner, we’ve seen the avocado and crab crostini, Moroccan cous cous, ginger and carrot soup and dairy-free bread pudding coming soon!

Moroccan Cous Cous w/Grilled Eggplant

• 1 large butternut squash, peeled and evenly diced
• 1/2 tbsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1 Japanese eggplant, thinly and evenly sliced
• nutmeg
• 2 shallots, finely diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 thai chile, finely diced
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• 1 package cous cous
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 12 scallions, cut on bias
• 1 cup chopped or sliced almonds, toasted
• 1/4 cups golden raisins, chopped
• cherry tomatoes, halved
• balsamic vinegar
• drizzle honey or agave nectar depending on fully vegan
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste and season throughout

Preheat oven to 375. Toss squash in roasting pan with cumin, tumeric, salt, pepper, and olive oil. In a separate roasting dish sprinkle balsamic vinegar, honey or agave nectar, olive oil, salt and pepper on tomatoes and toss gently. Roast squash until fork tender, about 30 minutes, tossing every 5-7 minutes. Roast tomatoes for 10 minutes on 250 then turn up to 375 and roast an additional 30 minutes with squash. Meanwhile, heat grill pan. Lightly brush eggplants w/olive oil and grill on pan in batches to get nice diamond grill marks, season w/light sprinkling of nutmeg, salt, and pepper immediately after eggplant goes on the grill pan. Cover grilled eggplant w/foil and set aside, keep in oven, about 170, if desired. Heat olive oil in medium saucepan on medium heat. Add shallots, garlic, chile, and ginger, saute for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Stir in cous cous, take off heat, and cover with a lid for 5 minutes. Transfer cous cous to large mixing bowl and add squash, almonds, season to taste w/salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Garnish w/oven roasted tomatoes, scallions, and wrap cous cous into a pile w/grilled eggplant slices.

Amuse-Bouche of Crab Salad on Crostini

I recently assisted in a beer tasting at Headquarters Beercade, a new arcade bar w/free games. Our chef created a menu of 5 small plates/hor d’oeuvres to pair with 5 beers from Green Flash Brewing Company from San Diego. There was beet & horseradish cured salmon crostini, prosciutto & asiago croquettes, housemade curry jerky, lamb cevapcici w/housemade ajvar, and zucchini bread w/chocolate porter sauce. Pretty delicious meal and some good beer for those in attendance. Most importantly, I got paid, fed, played free arcade games like NBA Jam & Area 51, and drank free beer. Much success. So the small plates inspired me to start my meals with something similar. I like the idea of starting a meal with something small and fresh, w/interesting and slightly challenging flavors.

I decided to begin a recent meal with an amuse-bouche. An amuse-bouche is a one hit wonder, originally it was a free gift from the chef designed to awaken the palate and give a glimpse of the meal to follow. It’s like the flavors of a beautiful and diverse meal coming together in a single bite serving. A really good amuse-bouche considers not only flavors such as sweet, sour, spicy, and savory, but contains different textures and beautiful colors, as well. I wanted to have creamy and crunchy textures, bright and light colors, and sour, sweet, and spicy flavors all integrated. I was sort of thinking of a picnic salad that usually has some fruit, mayo, sometimes seafood, etc. To achieve creaminess without mayo, I decided to combine avocado, goat cheese, and lemon. Success. Apple would contribute a crunch and sugar. I ate a ceviche recently with very thinly sliced Thai chile, so I added once slice per bite. The tomato was inspired by oven dried tomatoes we make at Etno and gave really good acidity and sweetness. I was overall really happy with this amuse-bouche, especially because I had leftovers the next day and made myself a luxurious crab, avocado, and goat cheese sandwich. The flavor combination is pretty much spot on and will make your taste buds fiend for more and that’s my idea of a successful amuse-bouche.

Crab Salad on Crostini Amuse-Bouche: 16 single portions

• 1 ripe avocado, skin and seed removed
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 1/2 lemon, juice and zest
• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• splash olive oil
• few drops honey
• shredded crab
• 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1 golden crisp apple, cut into squares
• 1 Thai chile, very thinly sliced and deseeded
• sourdough bread, cut into small circles

Preheat oven to 325. Gently mix tomatoes w/balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper. Bake on oven at 325 for about an hour or until tomatoes are dehydrated slightly. Drizzle sourdough circles w/olive oil, salt, and pepper and bake until dried out for crostini-style bread. Mix avocado, goat cheese, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper until a smooth consistency is reached. Mix crab, fish sauce, olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice to taste. Assemble the bite and serve!

Spanish Paprika Roasted Pork Loin & Roasted Vegetables

For whatever reason, when Taco visited I went pork crazy. In a day and a half span, we ate pork every single meal and in almost every single dish, including panini-style BLTs, cheddar and bacon soup, vegetables sauteed in bacon grease, and the subject of this post, roasted pork loin. To be completely honest, we had a couple of moments of bacon overload. Still, one of my best friends was here in Chicago for a couple of days, a friend who has lived in the likes of Montana, Utah, Alaska, Utah in the present day, and probably Alaska again for the next few years. I guess I’m trying to say is it was really, really good to see my friend whom I don’t get to see enough of these days. We always used to go out and play hard in our hey days together at IU, on road trips, and pretty much anywhere, so it was only natural to go over the top with pork to do it the only way we know how together, big.

This dish was inspired by a maple cajun marinade my mom and I created after perusing recipes for fish marinades. The sweetness of the maple syrup with the savory garlic and onion powder and the heat of the paprika and cayenne pepper is an incredible balance for anything from tilapia to salmon to chicken and pork. I honestly have no idea what the exact measurements, but it’s pretty much just a homemade cajun spice mixture to taste. I prefer my pork to have a little pink in it and even medium if it’s really quality, but cook it to your own preference. Remember to rest your pork and take it out a little sooner than needed as carryover cooking will apply during the resting time. I enjoy the fat on the pork, adds a lot of flavor not only to the pork, but the onions in the pan as well. A good sear on the pork makes a world of difference as carmelized meat always tastes better. Roasted vegetables are always good, add whatever you have on hand and enjoy the roasting goodness with fresh herbs and a touch of some kind of acid at the end to refresh the flavors, lemon juice or vinegar are both great options.

Paprika Pork and Roasted Beets and Brussel Sprouts: 1/2 lb pork per person, mine was about 2.5 lbs

• pork loin, I kept the fat on but you can trim it off if desired, remember, fat is flavor…
• 1/2 tbsp sage, finely minced, plus 5 whole sage leaves
• 2 onions, evenly sliced
• paprika
• cayenne pepper
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• oregano
• maple syrup
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven on 375. Make Cajun spice mixture to taste w/maple syrup. Rub maple Cajun spice mixture into pork and let marinate for at least 1 hour. Heat olive oil on medium high heat in a large saute pan and sear pork on all sides, a couple minutes at least per side, the color is the pork carmelizing and creating tons of flavor. Put onion slices in a roasting dish, mix with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Lay pork on onions, fat side up, and push fresh sage leaves into the loin. Roast on 350 until pork reaches an internal temperature of 150-155, turning once halfway through, about 45 minutes, stirring onions several times. Remove pork from oven and loosely lay aluminum foil over to let rest for 12-15 minutes. Pork should be medium well for the right level of doneness and juiciness. Serve w/maple Cajun mixture drizzled lightly over sliced pork.

• brussel sprouts, ends cut off
• beets, peeled and trimmed, cut into small equal size chunks
• red onion, sliced
• fresh sage
• fresh oregano
• garlic cloves, whole
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• white wine vinegar

Toss all vegetables with fresh herbs, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Roast on 350, tossing every ten minutes, until ends are browned and beets are cooked completely through. Toss with vinegar, season to taste, and serve.

Cream of Celery Root (Vegan)

So a couple of weeks ago, I was worrying slightly about the fat content in coconut milk. But then my mom and my girlfriend both brought up the same point, when cooking almost-vegan food, you’re losing the butter and dairy, meat fat and eggs, etc, so a little fat in the meal or a diet, in general, is a welcome addition. I really like coconut milk because it works as a wonderful cream alternative that lends a lot of texture and can be used as a straight substitute in almost any recipe. The flavor is more mild than cream as well, so it allows for the main ingredients to really shine.

I let myself down a little bit on this soup. With the soup featuring celery root aka celeriac and apples, I was hoping for an off-white color, but instead I got this applesauce looking soup. I’ve been making my own vegetable stocks, mostly with scraps of onions, herbs, carrots, celery, etc, but as a result my stocks have a deeper base color because of the scraps that I use as well as the volume of scraps and whole carrots/onions/garlic bulbs in addition. It all makes for great tasting stock, but it throws off the color of dishes from time to time. Regardless, it tasted good. At first there was a tart bite to the soup that wasn’t entirely pleasant, so I added the honey, onion powder, and garlic powder and the elements blended exactly how I wanted. This was sort of inspired by a tuna salad w/celery and apples. I thought the two main elements played against each other well in the soup and a homemade stock makes a world of difference in flavor.

Cream of Celery Root: 6-8 servings

• 4 cups celery root, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 3 small celery stalks, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 1 large potato, chopped
• 1 leek, sliced
• 2-3 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 2 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, minced
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 tbsp agave nectar or honey depending on how strict the vegan is
• 1/4 tbsp onion powder
• 1/4 tbsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
• chives for garnish

Heat oil. Add onions, carrots, leek, and apples, stirring occasionally about 6 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic and thyme for 1 minute. Add celery root, potatoes, coconut milk and 5 cups vegetable broth, reserving 1 cup for consistency desired. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20-25 minutes. Puree until smooth, strain and puree further to get consistency desired. Add honey, garlic and onion powders, and salt and and pepper to taste. Garnish w/chives and sliced apples.