Baked Seitan

Surprisingly, though I've been a vegetarian for about 6 years, I've never eaten or made seitan (or tempeh for that matter). Tempeh and seitan are not often found in grocery stores around here, and while I have now found tempeh (and will try it soon) I still haven't seen seitan. I think I found it at an Asian grocery store but it was reeeeally spongey and honestly I was a bit scared. But now that I have this recipe for baked seitan, I don't care about finding it in grocery stores. I am totally in love with it - it's truly awesome, and easy to make. It's just like really good homemade veggie sausages, and the texture is wonderfully chewy. It does have a strong flavour though so if you add it to another dish it will effect the flavour (versus plain regular seitan).

How can I resist this fluffiness??

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Chickpea Cutlets with Mustard Sauce
Lemon Miso Tofu and Eggplant
Matthew's Delicious Tofu
Asian Beet and Tofu Salad
Spaghetti and Beanballs with Onion & Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce

Baked Seitan
Adapted from here

My only modifications were to use less cayenne and less oil, and to use steak sauce instead of vegan Worcestershire sauce.

1 1/2 cups vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cumin
1-2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp allspice
2 tsp garlic powder

3/4 cups water
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp steak sauce

Preheat oven to 325F.

In a large mixing bowl mix dry ingredients. Mix the rest of the ingredients (liquid ingredients) in a smaller mixing bowl. Whisk well until mixed.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well, then knead for a minute or two.. it doesn't need long.

Form into a log (6-8" long), wrap tightly in foil, twisting ends. Bake for 90 minutes. When done baking, unwrap and leave out to cool all the way. Then wrap it foil or plastic and refrigerate. Slice to use as desired.

Oatmeal Bread

I recently bought Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I thought it would be a great way for me to ease into bread making without having to do any of that horrid kneading that I hate. Well since I made this bread I've actually made some other breads and I'm warming up to the idea of kneading - though my wrists get sore so maybe I'm doing something wrong. I now understand what a gluten cloak is (after watching this video with Danielle Forestier and Julia Child). And I'm even thinking of tackling some of the recipes in Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I was telling my family that I think I may have been bitten by the bread bug and they were looking at me like I was crazy (they've never heard of being "bitten by a bread bug").

Anyway, of course I'll be posting about those other breads I made but today I'm talking about this oatmeal bread! Quite good for a no knead bread. It's very soft and has a fluffy inside - not cake fluffy but bread fluffy. The bread tastes like it already has butter on it and the crust is chewy. I wish it had a greater portion of whole grain but it does have oat bran, wheat bran and oats. I halved the recipe and it made 2 small loaves in 8x4 pans. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong because it seems like either the dough isn't rising like it's supposed to, or there isn't as much dough as there's supposed to be. But it is super easy to make and tastes yummy.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Golden Cinnamon Loaf
Soft Pretzels
bill's Coconut Bread
Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

Oatmeal Bread
Adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Makes three 1 1/2 pound loaves.

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast
1 tbsp salt
1/4 cup canola oil, plus more for greasing the pan
1/2 cup oat bran
1/3 cup wheat bran
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
4 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1. Mixing and storing the dough: Mix the yeast and salt with the water, milk maple syrup, and oil in a 5 quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon. You may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

3. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or with a tea towel, and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses/flattens, about 2 hours.

4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise. Refrigerate in a container (loosely covered) and use over the next 8 days.

5. On baking day, oil a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1 1/2 pound (cantaloupe size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

6. Elongate the ball into an oval and place it into the prepared pan. Allow to rest and rise for 1 hour and 20 minutes (or just 40 minutes if you're using fresh, unrefrigerated dough).

7. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350F, with an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.

8. Place the loaf on a rack near the center of the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm.

9. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

New Cookbook Release: Sweet Freedom

As I'm sure many of you know, the wonderful Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs has just released her first cookbook Sweet Freedom! Sweet Freedom is a baking book that doesn't use wheat, eggs or refined sugar - but believe me that you won't feel like anything is missing. Ricki's recipes have really opened my eyes to this world of delicious healthier baking that makes me not even miss baking with eggs, dairy and wheat (and I think you guys know how much I love baking!) I'm already seriously addicted to the orange raisin tea cakes and the cocoa nibbles.

Chocolate shortbread.

The recipes are divided up into Breakfast Baking, Cookies Bars and Squares, Cakes Cupcakes Toppings and Frostings, Cheesecakes Pies and Baked Puddings, and Raw and No Bake Treats. The recipes are coded to indicate which are corn free, gluten free (or gluten free option), nut free (or nut free option), and soy free (or soy free option). Ricki also included a section on the ingredients she uses, including some awesome tips on how to convert conventional recipes to wheat free, dairy free and refined sugar free. And one thing I also love about the book is the amazing index - honestly so many cookbooks don't take the time to prepare a careful index or sometimes list things incorrectly or just not at all. But Ricki's is superb - you can look up both ingredients (like coconut oil) and categories (like cookies and bars).

Pecan coconut chews (raw).

You can check out some of the yummy recipes from this book that I had the opportunity to try while helping Ricki test the recipes here - including the previously mentioned addictive orange raisin tea biscuits, old fashioned spice cake, peanut butter cookies, sunshine breakfast loaf (oh how I love that one), and crispy fruit chews. I wanted to try out a couple more recipes for this post so I made the chocolate shortbread and the pecan coconut chews (tried both the raw and baked versions). The chocolate shortbread cookies were sandy, as promised, and quite addictive. The pecan coconut chews were good both raw and baked, but on the first day that they're baked OH WOW. Delicious crispy edges and nice soft insides. I can't wait to work my way through all of the recipes.

Pecan coconut chews (baked).

I thought it would be fun to ask Ricki a few questions and share them with you guys. Check out Shellyfish, Vegyogini and VeganBaking.net for more interview questions and stuff about the book. Check out Ricki's page to see how you can order the book (Amazon.com, through the publishing company, or as an e-book). Alright, on with the interview!

What inspired you to start creating baked goods made without wheat, dairy and refined sugars?

I've been a baker all my life (well, since age 6), and when I had to change my diet because of health issues about ten years ago, I just couldn't imagine giving up baking. I had done some catering in my 30s and after studying nutrition, I began to create new recipes for baked goods I could still eat. When I shared these with cooking class participants, people began to ask me if my desserts were for sale anywhere in the city. That led me to start my bakery, Bake It Healthy, which I ran for 3 years. By the time I wrote the book, I already had quite a number of the recipes completed because I'd been selling them through Bake It Healthy. All I had to do with those was convert them for the home baker. But it wasn’t until the company closed and customers still kept asking me if I’d bake a birthday cake for them, or supply treats for a baby shower or anniversary party, even though I wasn’t technically doing catering any more, that I realized there was a real need for this type of recipe. I wanted all those people to be able to reproduce the desserts in their own homes.

What are your five must make items from your cookbook and why?

Ooh! Like any proud mother, I love all my "babies," but I'd say these are the ones of which I'm most fond:

Chocolate Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies--my "go-to" cookie because it's foolproof, easy, fudgy and chocolately (and how can you beat "chocolate"??). And it's a hit with vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike!

Easiest Almond Cookies--another quick and easy cookie, that has the advantage of being gluten-free (and grain-free), too!

Orange Raisin Tea Cakes: a quick and simple scone-like cake that was a big hit with the cookbook testers. They're perfect for breakfast or afternoon snack.

Sweet Harvest Muffins: this was one of the first recipes I created, and it was the best selling muffin at Bake It Healthy. Moist, chocolatey and containing three types of hidden vegetables--it's a great way to start your day.

Raw Fig and Cherry Bars--these are a great raw bar that offer a high calcium and protein content. They are the perfect take-along energy bar or snack.

What's your favourite ingredient to work with?

I am inclined to say agave nectar, because it's sweeter than sugar, natural, and has a very mild flavor that goes with anything. I love baking with it. But coconut milk has become a close second these days... it adds richness and creaminess, yet is cholesterol free and considered a "healthy" form of fat.

What's your favourite type of thing to bake (ex. muffins, cookies, cakes, etc)?

As I'm always saying on my blog, I'm basically a lazy cook--so bars, brownies or cakes are a big favorite. Just mix once, pour, bake and cut--easy and quick!

What's your husband's favourite thing for you to bake?

My husband loves coconut, so he's a fan of coconut cream pie. I hadn't perfected the pie in time for the cookbook, but the whipped cream topping did make it into the book! He also loves the Coconut Macaroons.

How do you go about creating recipes? Do you have base recipes that you modify or just start throwing things together?

If there's a recipe from my files or old cookbooks that I used to love and wish I could eat now, then I'll go about adapting it with natural sweeteners and alternative flours. The rest of the time, though, I just play with ideas or may create a recipe based on something I ate in a restaurant or heard about on a radio show, for instance. Recently, for example, a friend of mine who lives in Ecuador emailed and I remembered that she enjoyed coffee with cinnamon in it. So I created a muffin with those two flavors.

Is there going to be another baking book coming? ;)

I'd love to do an entirely gluten-free baking book, or perhaps one that uses only stevia, which would be great for anyone with diabetes or candida. I've got lots of ideas for different types of recipes--just not enough time!

Thanks Ricki!
Check out how you can order the book here. (And I definitely do recommend you check it out!)

Asparagus and Feta Pasta

I think this is the first recipe I'm posting from New Vegetarian Cuisine. I bought this book some time ago but never got around to trying out any recipes. I've started cooking out of it more though and while not all the recipes are keepers, some of them are. And the thing I like about the cookbook is that most of the recipes are healthy, relatively easy to make, and use easy to find ingredients.

This is one of my new favourite dishes, so please don't be put off by the less than stellar photo of it! The "sauce" has so much flavour (and I say "sauce" because it's not really saucey but it does coat the pasta). It's made of a delicious combination of sun dried tomatoes, feta, parsley, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, capers, oregano and pepper. You can easily sub in broccoli or any other vegetable for the asparagus (though asparagus is a favourite of mine so I won't be subbing anything in until asparagus goes out of season!), and you can use whatever pasta you want, though I'd recommend something that can catch this type of sauce well like spaghetti, fettucine or the suggested cavatelli. I'm submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights, being hosted this week by I'm a Food Blog.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Pasta with Creamy Spinach Walnut Sauce
Santa Fe Pasta Salad
Artichoke Rotini Pasta
Soba Noodles with Zucchini Ribbons

My Abby. <3

Asparagus and Feta Pasta
Adapted from New Vegetarian Cuisine

The original recipe calls for more pasta and less asparagus but I like my dishes more heavy on the veggies so I adjusted it as such.

Serves 3-4

10 sun dried tomatoes
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
4 ounces feta cheese
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
2 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp black pepper
9 oz whole wheat spaghetti
20 thin asparagus spears, cut into 2" pieces

1. In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes and water. Let stand for 2 minutes. Drain, reserving 2 tablespoons of the soaking liquid.

2. Transfer the tomatoes to a food processor. Add the parsley and process until coarsely chopped.

3. Crumble the feta into a large serving bowl; drizzle with the vinegar and oil. Sprinkle with the capers, oregano and pepper. Stir in the tomato mixture.

4. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Add the asparagus in the last minute to parboil it. Drain.

5. Transfer the pasta and asparagus to the serving bowl. Toss with the tomato mixture and the rserved tomato soaking liquid; mix well.

Chocolate Mousse Layer Cake

I finished my last final today! Yaey. Well I don't have much more to say about that, so here is some yummy cake.

This cake was one of the two birthday cakes I made for my boyfriend. And it was definitely one of the more stressful cakes I've made because it involves layers of mousse in between cake (I was worried about the mousse deflating, which I think it did) and then the layered cake/mousse/cake/mousse is frozen, then you put a layer of hot chocolate ganache on top (and let it cool again). I was freaking out about the hot ganache melting the mousse, the mousse deflating, and to top that off I put the chocolate ganache on right before we were about to walk out the door (with the cake), not allowing the ganache to firm up with an immediate refrigeration. My boyfriend proved his love to me (or to the cake?) by keeping the windows open (it was cold out) to try and keep the cake cool, because he knew how worried I was about it on the 20 minute drive to drop it off in his brother's fridge.

Well, despite all of my freak outs, the cake was really awesome. Maybe the mousse was supposed to be lighter, but I loved the texture the way it was. In the photo of the unsliced cake, the ganache looks weird and clumpy because it's hot (and maybe I messed something up there), but it set up quite nice once refrigerated. Overall a really really good chocolate cake. Oh and did I mention that it has 17 ounces of chocolate?

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Chocolate Volcanoes
Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze
German Chocolate Cake
Rich Chocolate Cheesecake

Chocolate Mousse Layer Cake
Adapted from The Cake Book

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
1 3/4 cups (212 g) all purpose flour
1 2/3 cups (332 g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (28 g) natural (not Dutch processed) cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (121 g) sour cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup safflower or corn oil
3/4 cup ice cold water

Chocolate Mousse Filling
9 ounces (255 g) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
1 tsp instant coffee powder
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream

Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Classic Whipped Cream
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 tbsp (21 g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Make the cake:
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9x3 inch springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper, and grease the paper. Dust the paper and the sides of the pan with flour and tap out the excess.

2. Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine, and set aside.

3. In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs until blended. Whisk in the sour cream and vanilla extract until blended. Set aside.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix the melted butter and oil together at low speed. Add the cold water and mix to blend. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix at medium-low speed for 1 minute. Add the egg mixture and mix for another minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

5. Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Set the pan on a wire rack and cool the cake for 20 minutes.

6. Invert the cake onto the rack. Reinvert the cake and cool completely.

Make the chocolate mousse filling:
7. Place the chocolate in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely ground. (Leave the chocolate in the processor.)

8. In a small saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, coffee powder, and salt and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. With the food processor running, pour the hot milk through the feed tube, and process until the chocolate is completely melted. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla extract, and process until blended. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and let cool for 10 minutes.

9. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the ehavy cream at high speed until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold one-third of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining cream until completely blended. (The mousse should be used immediately.)

Assemble the cake:
10. Using a long serrated knife, trim off the domed top of the cake so taht the cake is perfectly level; reserve the tirmmings. Cut the cake horizontally into 2 layers.

11. Place one of the cake layers in the bottom of a 9x3 inch springform pan. Scrape half of the chocolate mousse over the cake layer and spread it into an even layer. Top with the other layer. Scrape over the remaining mousse and spread it into an even layer.

12. Cover the top of the pan with plastic wrap or foil and freeze the cake for at least 3 hours, until firm.

Make the whipped cream:
13. In the chilled bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, whip the cream at high speed just until it begins to thicken. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form. Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate.

Make the bittersweet chocolate glaze.
14. Place the chocolate in the bowl of a food processor and process just until finely ground. (Leave the chocolate in the processor.)

15. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate to the pan. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the glaze is smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer the glaze to a small bowl. Let the glaze cool for about 10 minutes before using.

Glaze and garnish the cake:
16. Remove the cake from the freezer. Run a sharp thin-bladed knife under hot water and wipe it dry. Run the knife between the cake and the side of the pan to release the cake; reheat the knife as necessary. Remove the side of the pan. Using a small offset metal spatula, smooth the mousse of the sides of the cake.

17. Place the cake on a wire rack and set the rack over a baking sheet. Pour the warm glaze over the top of the cake and use the offset metal spatula to smooth it evenly over the top and sides. (Ashley note: I found it hard to "ice" so I just spread it and dripped it down the sides.) Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour (to thaw) before serving.

18. About 30 minutes before serving, remove the cake from the refrigerator. Cut the cake into wedges and serve with the whipped cream.