Oatmeal Knots

As regular readers know, I love baking. But it's not exactly healthy to constantly have cookies, cakes, scones, etc hanging around the house. So I've started to delve more into bread making. And so far am loving it. I could happily eat a yummy piece of bread or a roll instead of a muffin for a snack. And these oatmeal knots were really yummy. They were so soft, slightly sweet, and while made with 2/3 whole wheat flour, they don't taste like it. I also love how they look! Such a cute little knot.

Working with the dough on the other hand was really aggravating. It was the stickiest dough, and sticky doughs are one reason I've avoided bread making. There was no way I could've hand kneaded this. I guess I could've added a bunch of extra flour? But I opted to just throw it in my Kitchenaid for a while, and then when it came to cutting up the dough and rolling it out, I dusted it in flour first. I thought I had done a pretty heavy flour dusting but it didn't seem to impact the final product in a negative way at all. I will definitely make these again. They freeze really well too!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls
Garlic Rolls
Soft Pretzels
Oatmeal Bread

Oatmeal Knots
Adapted from Cooking Light January 2008

I sprinkled oats and sesame seeds on the rolls but the recipe suggests you also sprinkle poppy seeds. And I opted to not use an egg wash, and instead just used water to get the oats/seeds to stick. Next time I'd like to try using more whole wheat flour.

1 cup regular oats
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter (Ashley note: Next time I'll try oil.)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups boiling water
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/3 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
3 cups whole wheat flour (about 14 1/4 ounces)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces), divided
Cooking spray or oil
1 tbsp water
1 1/2 tablespoon regular oats
1 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and add 2 cups boiling water, stirring until well blended. Cool to room temperature. (Ashley note: This took about an hour for me.)

Dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to oats mixture; stir well. Stir in flaxseed meal.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Gradually add 3 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour to oats mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky). (Ashley note: I kneaded the dough in my Kitchenaid but I can't remember for how long. I think a bit less than 8 minutes.)

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into the dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down, and let rest for 5 minutes.

Divide dough in half; cut each half into 12 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent from drying), shape each portion into an 8-inch rope. (Ashley note: If your dough was really sticky like mine, coat the ropes in flour before rolling them into ropes and shaping.) Tie each rope into a single knot; tuck top end of rope under bottom edge of roll. Place each roll on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap coated with cooking spray; let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Brush water over rolls. Combine 1 tablespoon oats, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds; sprinkle evenly over rolls. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.

Curried Mushrooms and Peas

I mentioned a while ago that in an an effort to cook more Indian food, I picked up a few Indian cookbooks: 5 Spices, 50 Dishes, 660 Curries, and Indian in 6. Well I am finally getting to posting about some of the dishes I've made! Not everything has been great and some of it has definitely been my fault such as when I burned some spices because the pan was too hot. Oops. But I'm stumbling along on my journey to delicious home cooked Indian food. (Remember the chana masala/spicy Indian chickpeas I made from Lisa? Those are a favourite.) So right now what I have to share with you is curried mushrooms and peas. I love mushrooms, love peas, love curry - perfect for me. This dish was good but I'd up the spice level next time - probably double it.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Mushroom Pecan Burger
Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Walnut and Mushroom Nut Roast
Sweet Potato Badi

Curried Mushrooms and Peas
Adapted from 5 Spices, 50 Dishes

As I mentioned in my post, I'd double the spices next time (though maybe not the turmeric). I've written the recipe with the original amount of spice though because I'm not sure exactly how it will be with double.

1 pound white or brown button mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp oil
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 tsp finely grated ginger (about 2 inch piece)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 cup chopped tomato (about 1 small)
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 1/4 cups shelled peas (I used frozen)
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt

Heat the oil in a large pan, and saute the onion until dark brown. Add the ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, turmeric and cayenne, and stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture turns golden brown. This will happen quickly, so be careful it doesn't burn. Add the tomato and cilantro and saute another minute.

Add the peas and mushrooms to the spice mixture, mix well, add the water and salt, and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, cover the pan, and cook until the mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes. (Ashley note: Next time I'll uncover it and let it simmer for a bit to reduce the amount of liquid.) Serve hot.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Snickerdoodles are one of my favourite kinds of cookies so whenever I see a snickerdoodle version of something else, like these blondies or snickerdoodle muffins or snickerdoodle bundt cake, I have to try them out. I haven't tried out the bundt cake yet but it's definitely on my list. These blondies are super delicious, really soft, and deliciously cinnamon sugary. They taste kind of butterscotchy even. They're easy to make and use ingredients you likely already have so they're perfect for anytime.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Chewy Chunky Blondies
Peanut Butter Squares with Milk Chocolate and Oats
Chocolate Scotcheroos
Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodle Blondies
Adapted from Dozen Flours

I'm posting the original recipe but when I made it I halved it, used an 8x8 pan, baked it for 25 minutes, and used 183g flour.

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookiebatter-ish.) Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool in pan 15 minutes on a baking rack. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a rack. Once cool, cut them into bars.

Udon Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Seitan

I've made baked seitan before, which was really delicious. But have never tried "regular" seitan. I've never seen it for sale in grocery stores here (except for maybe this really spongey slightly scary looking thing at an Asian grocery store). So I finally made it myself! And it was most exciting. And easy to make. I think I still prefer the baked seitan but this simple boiled seitan is more versatile because it's not really flavoured. While I enjoyed it, I don't think it's something I'd make all the time because I'm just as happy with tofu. I used the seitan in a dish from Vegan with a Vengeance - cold udon noodles with peanut sauce and seitan. Can't go wrong with noodles, peanut sauce and vegetables!

Random Abby photo! I love how her back legs are just splayed open.

I think this recipe is infinitely adaptable. Use tofu or tempeh or some other meat alternative instead of seitan. Use spaghetti, fettucine, or rice noodles instead of udon noodles. I used some kamut udon noodles which were good and I loved that they were made with kamut but they're expensive so I won't get them often. And use whatever your favourite vegetables are or whatever you have in the fridge.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Soba Noodles with Zucchini Ribbons
Honey-Mustard Marinated Tofu
Sunflower Rice Bowl
Lemon Miso Tofu & Eggplant

Udon Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Seitan
Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance

Next time I think I'd put less maple syrup in the peanut sauce. Isa thinks the temperature of the ingredients is really important (warm seitan, cold noodles & vegetables, room temperature sauce) but personally I'd just eat the whole thing either hot or cold. Either way it'll be good. I chopped the vegetables and put together the plate as suggested but next time I'll chop all the vegetables up rather than into strips, and just mix everything together in a pot (so this is how I've written the recipe). I much prefer a plate of food that's easy to eat! And mixed together so I can get a bite of everything rather than one long piece of red pepper or something.

For the peanut sauce:
2 tsp peanut oil
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp minced ginger
1 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp ground coriander
2/3 cup smooth all natural peanut butter
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp Asian chile sauce or hot sauce

For the seitan:
1 pound seitan (2 cups) sliced into thin (1/4 inch) strips (Recipe below)
2 tsp peanut oil
1 clove garlic
2 tsp soy sauce

To serve:
10 ounces udon noodles
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 long english cucumber, diced
2 cups mung bean sprouts
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup green onions, chopped

Make the peanut sauce:
In a small saucepan, saute the garlic and ginger in peanut oil over low-medium heat. Add the water, soy sauce, and coriander and bring to a boil. Add the peanut butter and turn the heat to low. Whisk well until the peanut butter and oil are combined. Mix in the maple syrup, vinegar and chile sauce. Remove from heat. If you want to eat the noodles cold then let the sauce cool, otherwise you can warm the sauce back up later.

For the noodles:
Meanwhile, prepare your udon noodles according to the package directions. Drain them and if you want to eat this dish cold, rinse them with cold water. Let them rest in the colander and prepare the seitan.

Saute the seitan slices in the peanut oil for 5 minutes on each side or until the seitan is browned and yummy. Then saute with the garlic for a minute, sprinkle with the soy sauce, and saute again for 30 seconds or so.

To serve:
Mix the vegetables, noodles, sauce, sesame seeds and seitan together.

Simple Seitan
Adapted from Veganomicon

Makes 1 pound

1 cup vital wheat gluten flour
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 cup cold vegetable broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated on a microplane grater

Broth
8 cups cold water plus 3 vegetable bouillon cubes, or 4 cups broth plus 4 cups water

Mix together the gluten flour and yeast in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together the veggie broth, soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic. Pour the wet into the dry and stir with a wooden spoon until most of the moisture has been absorbed and the wet ingredients are partially clumped up with the dry ingredients. Use your hands to knead the mixture for about 3 minutes, until the dough is elastic. Divide with a knife into 3 equal pieces and then knead those pieces in your hand just to stretch them out a bit.

Prepare the broth
Fill a stockpot with the water and broth (or bouillon cubes), and add the wheat gluten pieces. Cover and bring to a boil but watch carefully; you don't want it to boil for very long or the outside of the seitan will be spongy. Try to catch it as soon as it boils and then lower the heat as low as it will go so that it's at a low simmer.

Partially cover the pot so that the steam can escape and let simmer for an hour, turning the seitan occasionally. Turn off the heat and take the lid off; let sit for 15 minutes.

Remove from the broth and place in a strainer until it is cool enough to handle. It is now ready to be sliced up and used. If you have extra seitan, store in the cooking liquid in a tightly covered container.

Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls

These cheddar & dill beer bread rolls have been on my list of things to make for a while and I'm sad that it took me so long to make them! Because they are really really good. When they first come out of the oven, they have a really strong beer taste, but once they cool it mellows out. These are great for a snack or with a meal and are really easy to make. If I had beer in my fridge all the time then I know I'd make these more often.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Old Fashioned Buttermilk Biscuits
Maple Cornmeal Drop Biscuits
Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread
Garlic Rolls

Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls
Adapted from Tinned Tomatoes

I used two 6 cup muffin tins this time but next time I might try these as drop style biscuits/rolls.

Makes 12

3 cups whole wheat flour (390 g)
1 tbsp soft brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp dried dill
1 cup mature cheddar, finely grated
325 ml beer/lager

Heat oven to 375F. Sift the flour into a large bowl and then add the sugar, salt, baking powder, dill, and cheddar. Gradually pour in the beer and mix until just combined, do not over mix. The mixture will be quite thick and stretchy. (Ashley note: At this point it was pretty hard to mix but I was able to get it together.)

Divide the mixture into a 12 hole muffin tray and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden. The outside should be crispy and a toothpick should come out clean.

Leave to cool in the pan for a few minutes before moving them onto a wire rack.

You can also divide the mixture into a large, 6 muffin tin or a loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes.