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Useful Tips:
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Spinach Pie
Wash very carefully 1 kg fresh spinach, drain and chop them finely, then put them with a pinch of salt and 30 gr butter or margarine in a covered pot, and cook on a low flame. You can also add spices as per your taste; a good combination is nutmeg, red cayenne pepper or black pepper, and a very small pinch of cloves. It is important not to add water because spinach already contain a lot of water. In about 10 minutes they will cook down. In the meantime chop or slice one carrot and half leek (optional). Slightly sauté these vegetables with a little oil or butter (the quantity depends on your taste and diet requirements), then add the cooked spinach and let it cook, stirring often, until all the vegetables have become rather dry.
Let the vegetables cool, then add 200 gr of cheese, mix well. You can choose the type of cheese you like best - from mozzarella to edamer to tofu in any of its versions. Prepare one cup of white sauce and add it to the mix. The white sauce is meant to help the filling stick together well when you slice the pie after baking it. You may also add bits of cooked veg burgers or TVP. Prepare a crust with a pizza dough, and line a baking pan, keeping a thickness of the dough of about 1 to 2 cm. Fill with the spinach mixture and bake at 180 C until the crust is golden. Let the pie cool down well before slicing and serving. The best result is obtained when the pie is left to cool completely, then baked again for 5 minutes, and then cooled again.
Olive Bread
Prepare a basic bread dough.Slice pitted olives (black and green), then toss them into flour before kneading them into the dough. Keep in mind that olives are salted, so you may want to put less salt in the dough in the first place. Make a loaf or flatten the dough in a well-oiled baking pan, when it has risen twice its volume bake it at 180 C for about 20 minutes, until the surface is golden. Slice the olive bread carefully with a sharp knife, and only after it has cooled down properly. Serve at room temperature as a snack, or accompanying a salad or a cheese spread.
Fruit Bread
Prepare a special bread dough with 500 gr whole wheat flour, 15 gr fresh baker's yeast, a teaspoon grated lemon ring, 2 spoons honey, a pinch of salt, 50 gr butter or vegetable margarine, and just enough warm water. Chop 100 gr dried figs and 100 gr shelled walnuts. Mash 100 gr fresh cottage cheese or tofu. Mix everything in the dough and knead well. Grease a baking mould and leave the loaf in a warm place until the dough has become double in volume. Then bake in hot oven for about 40 minutes at 180 C, until the crust is golden. Remove from the oven and let cool well before slicing.
Quick Pizza
A quick and easy recipe, it is also a great way to use leftover bread, either dried/stale or frozen. Do not throw away leftover bread: it can be used in many other great ways.
For a real quick pizza, cut the loaves or buns in half lenghwise, cover with tomato sauce or with ripe but firm tomato diced very small. Add diced capsicum (bell pepper), then top with thin slices of mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of oregano. Quicky bake the bread pizzas and serve hot. You can also try with your favorite garnish: fried or grilled eggplant or zucchini, herbs, baby corn, pickles vegetables, mushrooms, different types of cheese, etc. A very good "green" version substitutes tomato sauce with pesto (Italian basil sauce).
Bread Medals
Prepare a basic pizza dough (bread dough with some oil),and make many small balls. Press your thumb into each ball by making it hollow in the center. Fill the cavity with thick tomato sauce or pesto sauce and garnish with a choice of olive slices, capers, small cubes of fried vegetables (for example eggplant, zucchini, carrot, cauliflower etc). Let the "medals" rest on the baking tray for at least 10 minutes before baking them. After baking, let them cool a little, then skew them in rows alternating the different types. You can also alternate the "bread medals" with fresh bites - for example baby corn, bell pepper squares, cucumber cubes, radish etc.
Asparagus Pizza
Prepare the pizza dough as usual, make it rise and quickly bake for about 10 minutes: this will prevent the vegetables from "sinking holes" into the crust. Prepare a tomato sauce. Wash and trim 500 gr fresh asparagus, cut the stems in pieces, then sauté them in a spoon of oil. When the stems are tender, add the tips, sprinkle with salt, and finish cooking. Dice a couple of ripe firm tomatoes. Garnish the pizza base with the tomato sauce, then the fresh tomato bits, the cooked asparagus, and finally cover with thin mozzarella slices. Bake as usual.
Whole Wheat Puris
Mix 300 gr whole wheat flour with a little salt, a teaspoon of oil or clarified butter, and 200 ml warm water. Knead well, then let the dough rest for about 15 minutes. Heat oil or clarified butter for deep frying, then make small dough balls and quickly flatten them to round thin discs (about 2 mm). Slide them one by one into the hot oil, turning them quickly as soon as they puff up.Keep a small number of puris frying together so that you can adjust the temperature easily. Turn the fire off before you take out the last puris.
Serve with vegetables, raita, stewed chickpeas, or even with fruit desserts, puddings, or milk sweets.
Simple Chapati
You need the right flour to make good chapatis. It must be made from whole grains, not from white flour with bran added after the grinding. Mix 250 gr flour with a pinch of salt and about 200 ml warm water. Knead well, then let it rest for about 30 minutes. Heat a heavy iron skillet. Sprinkle some flour on the working surface, then roll small balls of dough into nicely shaped discs, 2 mm thick. Cook each disc in the dry skillet on a medium flame; when small bubbles start appearing inside the dough turn the disc over and cook for the same time. Briefly hold each chapati over an open flame (use tongs!) so that they puff nicely. Keep the chapatis stacked and covered and serve as soon as possible.
Panzerotto
Use about 500 gr of bread dough. Prepare a filling with fried eggplant cubes, tomato sauce, mozzarella cubes, olives, capers, and a spoon of grated parmesan cheese. Make about 6 dough balls, flatten them (about 5 mm thick) and fill each disc with the eggplant and cheese mix. Seal very well then deep fry in hot oil.
Stuffed Buns
You can use different types of fillings. One example is stewed vegetables (potato, carrot, beans, tomato, bell pepper): dice them very small, roast them in a little oil and add a little water, spices and salt to let them cook in a covered pot for about 10 minutes. You can also add small cubes of cottage cheese or tofu. Prepare about 500 gr of bread dough, make small balls and flatten them (about 3 mm thick). Put some filling in the middle of each disc, then close each bun and put them on a baking tray, with the sealed part on the bottom. Bake the buns until the crust is golden.
Samosa
Wash and clean 200 gr cauliflower, 200 gr potato, 200 gr green peas. Dice cauliflower and potatoes small. Heat one spoon of oil in a pan, add (in this order) a teaspoon of grated fresh ginger, one small chopped chili pepper, a pinch of hing, a pinch of cumin seeds, a pinch of ground coriander seeds, half teaspoon turmeric, the green peas, and salt. Stir fry for 3 minutes, then add one glass of water and the potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the cauliflowers. When the vegetables are tender, let them cool. Prepare a pastry dough and let it rest until the filling is cool. Make balls and flatten them into 2 mm thick discs, then cut each disc in two. Overlap the two straight edges and seal them by pressing together. Fill the cone obtained and then seal carefully the opening, by twisting the edge over and pressing it down firmly. Deep fry in hot oil. Other classic fillings for samosas are potato and peanuts, or spinach and panir.
You can also make sweet samosas with these fillings: - thick custard: dissolve 2 spoons of cornstarch with 4 spoons of sugar in one cup of warm milk. Heat half liter of milk in a small pot, and when it boils add the diluted cornstarch, stirring until the custard thickens. You can add flavors, for example vanilla extract, saffron, cardamom, etc. - milk custard: if you can find very thick condensed milk or khoya, this filling is excellent. Mix khoya with sufficient sugar, and a cup of mixed chopped nuts. - fruit custard: cut 4 small apples in pieces after coring them. If you like you can also peel them. Put the apple pieces or thick slices in a saucepan with one cup sugar and half teaspoon cinnamom, cover the pan and let cook on a very slow fire. When the apple become translucid, turn off the fire and let cool well before filling the samosas.
Spring Rolls
Wash and clean 500 gr of various vegetables - for example cabbage, potato, carrot, green peas, radish, etc. Dice them and stir fry together in one spoon oil with some grated fresh ginger. When they are tender, add one spoon of soya sauce and a handful of green soya sprouts, stir and let sit for 20 minutes. In the meantime prepare the wrappings. Mix 200 gr white flour with a little salt and a teaspoon of oil, add a little water to form a stiff dough. Let it rest for 15 minutes. Flour the work surface and roll the dough into a 2 mm thin sheet. Sprinkle with flour again, fold the sheet several times, and roll it out again. Cut squares, sprinkle them with a little water, and put a thin cylinder of vegetables over the square of dough on one side. Roll the square up, tucking in the ends to keep the filling in. Seal the rolls nicely and deep fry them.
Taco Snack
Prepare a cornmeal dough with 300 gr cornmeal. Roll it into a 2 mm thin sheet, then cut small triangles out of it. Deep fry in hot oil, drain and let cool. Prepare the garnish: add Beans in tomato sauce, Cheese sauce and Avocado sauce. Serve immediately.
Avocado Pouches
Prepare 500 gr of cornmeal dough and make a number of large tortillas cooked on a heavy iron skillet. Put them on "saddle" moulds and bake them for a few minutes so they become crunchy. Peel and dice one ripe avocado, add a handful of green soya sprouts, diced fresh tomato and cucumber, and shredded lettuce. You may also add 150 gr cubed cheese or tofu. Stuff the tortilla pouches and serve.
Pakora
Cut thin cauliflower flowerettes, potato slices, eggplant slices, pumpkin slices etc. Prepare a batter with chickpea flour, yogurt, salt, and a spoon of mixed masala (curry powder). The batter should be thin enough to show the shape of the vegetable dipped in it. Deep fry the pieces and drain well; serve immediately.
Cream canapés
Mix 200 gr mascarpone cheese with one spoon of grated parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and black pepper. Cut shapes into bread slices, spread the cheese cream and decorate with pomegranate and roasted cashew bits.
Welsh Rarebits
Shred or grate 300 gr Cheddar cheese (or similar), melt it slowly in a saucepan with a glass of beer and a pinch of black cumin seeds or fennel seeds. Pour the melted cheese over toasted bread slices or crackers.
Vegetable Boats
Prepare the cooked empty shells with pastry dough and let them cool after baking. Make a thick white sauce and pour a thin layer in each "boat". Garnish with cooked vegetables of your choice. You may heat the "boats" for a few minutes in the oven before serving.
Veg Patés
Lentil paté: soak 200 gr of brown lentils for one night, then boil them in the pressure cooker with very little vegetable stock, bay leaf, rosemary, sage, thyme and 1 or 2 juniper berries. After 10 minutes let the steam cool, open the pot and continue cooking until all the liquid has dried. Wash and slice half leek, sauté it with one spoon of oil or vegetable margarine. Mix in the lentils, add 2 spoons of shoyu or tamari, 1 teaspoon of yeast extract, one cup of breadcrumbs. Let it cool and then transfer into a blender. Add some fresh butter or margarine (as per your taste and/or diet requirement) and blend into a smooth paste.
Eggplant paté: cut 2 large eggplants in half lengthwise, bake them until tender. Heat 200 gr sesame seeds in a skillet until they give off a nice smell, then add to the eggplant pulp, add 200 gr ricotta cheese or tofu, salt, black pepper, and blend well.
Chickpea paté: Soak and boil 200 gr chickpeas. Mash or blend them with 100 gr tomato sauce, a few capers, a spoon of thinly sliced celery, a pinch of oregano.
Serve the patés as a bread spread or a dip with fresh raw vegetables.
Cheesy Marigolds
Prepare the pastry dough and line the baking moulds carefully. In a bowl, mix one cup white sauce, one cup cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, and one cup of emmenthaler (Swiss cheese). Add a pinch of nutmeg or black pepper, mix and fill the "marigolds". Bake them until the surface is golden, then let them cool before serving.
Green Tartlets
Wash and clean 300 gr greens (broccoli or spinach), then stir fry them in a little oil, a pinch of salt and spices (of your choice) until they are dry. Cut thin long slices from a long zucchini and roll the greens inside. Prepare a cup of white sauce. Prepare a pizza dough and line the baking moulds carefully. Pour a small amount of white sauce in each crust, then fit the green rolls in, and bake.
Puff Pastry Cases
Prepare the puff pastry cases first by cutting a "lid" from the shapes cut into the dough sheet. Do not remove it. Bake the puff pastry in hot oven (200 C) until golden, then let it cool and remove the "lid".
You may fill the cases with various mixes, for example: - spicy spinach puree - stewed vegetables with white sauce - fresh salad with eggless mayonnaise
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Useful Tips
Leavened bread is made with yeast; it can be prepared with plain wheat flour, water and a little salt, or it can be enriched with oil, butter, sugar, or various other ingredients. Milk (cow or soya) or milk whey can also be used instead of water for added protein and taste. However, the basic requirement is that 25 gr of fresh baker's yeast is dissolved in about 1 liter of warm water, then a little salt is added, and flour (about 1kg) mixed in and kneaded well, trying to get as much air as possible into the dough. This will help the dough rise and cook properly. After kneading well, transfer to the baking tray and let rest for about 1 hour, until the volume of the dough is doubled. After the dough has raised, do not touch it any more, otherwise it will "sit". Cook in hot oven for about 20 to 50 minutes (depending on the shape of the loaves) and let cool down before serving. Bread made with baking powder or self-raising flour does not rise well and requires more fat (butter, oil, margarine, etc). You can use a bread dough made with baking powder (or self-raising flour) only for very thin crusts, for example stuffed buns, thin pizza, or vegetable rolls.
Here is an interesting filling for vegetable rolls:
Boil and mash 500 gr potatoes, stir fry a teaspoon of fresh grated ginger, add some fresh chopped green chili peppers, 100 gr roasted peanuts, then add the potatoes and let the flavor blend. Make a thick square sheet of bread dough (about 1 cm thick) and spread the filling evenly. Roll up the dough sheet, seal the edges well, then cut it in slices about 3 cm high. Lie each slice down on a baking tray and let the volume double before baking the rolls. When they are golden take them out of the oven, brush with a little butter or margarine, then let cool before serving.
The basic bread dough can be used for pizza crust: just add one to two spoons of oil to make the crust more crunchy.
This is an all-purpose pastry dough, simple to make and relatively low-calory. It can be used for pies, tartlets, samosa, and several other recipes. Cut in small pieces or slices 100 grams of butter or vegetable margarine still quite cold from the fridge. The fat must be cold and hard but not frozen. Quickly add to 300 grams of flour, together with a teaspoon of salt. Mash the fat pieces in the flour with a fork (do not use your hands as they are warm and will melt the fat bits) until the flour seems wet. Then pour in slowly some ice-cold water, mixing well with the fork, and finally press it into a dough ball with your fingertips. Put the dough in the fridge for at least 15 minutes, while you prepare the filling. Roll the dough quickly but carefully into a thin sheet (about 2 mm) after sprinkling with flour. Never knead this dough. If small bits remain after cutting the dough sheet into the baking pan, do not knead them together: just heap them up, sprinkle with flour, put in fridge for a few minutes and roll again into a sheet. Cook the pastry crust (empty or filled) in hot oven at 180 C. If the crust is cooked empty, prick some holes with a fork so that the crust will remain even without air bubbles.
In south America, corn is first "matured" with water and lime to soften it and make it more digestible. Then the wet grains are ground into a dough. To make tortillas from ordinary cornmeal, it is better to grind it very fine and roast it very lightly before kneading it into a dough. Let the dought rest for at least 30 minutes, then flatten small balls of dough into thin rounds (2 to 3 mm) and cook in a dry iron skillet. You can make softer tortillas by adding some wheat flour to the cornmeal.
You can make wonderful eggless batters for frying vegetables by using chickpea flour. To a base of chickpea flour (called besan in India) add a small quantity of wheat flour, salt, and spices of your choice. Mis with warm water , yogurt or cottage cheese whey and let rest for about 30 minutes. For a thick batter, add a small piece of yeast or half teaspoon of baking soda.
Making good puff pastry at home requires a controlled environment temperature. The ideal temperature is below 10 C, but it is impossible to find such a cold kitchen, so the trick is to work quickly and let the dough rest often in the fridge after each manipulation. The idea is simple, yet the execution is not easy. Prepare a solid dough with 500 gr white flour, a little salt, and cold water. The dough must be as hard as the butter (or margarine) directly taken from the fridge. Slice 500 gr of very fresh (and cold) butter (or margarine) in pieces 3 mm thick. Put back in the fridge. Sprinkle the work surface with flour, then roll the dough into a square shape, about 2 cm thick. Get the butter slices out of the fridge for just the time required to use them. Cover half the sheet with some butter slices, then fold the dough sheet over, seal the edges and roll the sheet again (by slightly pressing down the dough, no sliding movements) into 2 cm thickness. Put the dough back in the fridge for 30 minutes. Now spread the dough sheet again, cover with butter slices and repeat: seal, flatten, put in fridge. After 8 to 10 of these "turns"the layers of butter and dough are thin enough to puff up while they bake.
Most people prefer to buy frozen readymade puff pastry dough, which often comes 100% vegetarian. However, even using frozen puff pastry can be tricky. This is a list of important dont's:
- Never thaw the frozen puff pastry in the microwave or near a heat source. Transfer the sealed package from the freezer to the fridge and keep it there for about 12 hours, then use it directly. - Never knead frozen puff pastry. It usually comes in a thick sheet, rolled up in plastic film. Gently unroll the dough sheet, and if you need a thinner sheet, sprinkle it with flour (above and below) and flatten it delicately, without applying too much pressure. - Never leave the puff pastry dough around in a warm kitchen before cooking it. Heat the oven at 200 C, shape your pastry dough quickly and pop it into the oven immediately. - Never use puff pastry dough as a crust for a heavy filling that must be cooked in the crust. The pastry will not be able to rise well, and will remain greasy and uncooked.
The secret to get a tasty and easily digestible fried dish is the temperature of the frying oil. If the oil is not hot enough, the fritters will soak grease, if it is too hot they will not cook properly inside. And if you use burned oil, your fritters will have a bitter taste. So here are some tricks: - It is always better to fry with fresh oil; the best results are obtained with sunflower oil. However, you will have to discard the frying oil quite often because it tends to burn more easily. Clarified butter or palm oil, on the other hand, burn more slowly so you can use them again and again for frying. - Never use bread crumbs or flour coating for deep frying: the small particles will sink to the bottom of the pan and gradually burn more and more while you fry the next pieces of food. - Put a very small bit of food (batter, veggie, dough etc) in the oil while it is heating. When it becomes golden, take it out. The first piece of frying food should make a lot of bubbles, sink very briefly and then float almost immediately. - Never leave the hot oil frying without any food piece inside; at all times at least one piece of fritter should be there. - Adjust the fire to the number of fritters in the oil; when you add cold pieces the temperature drops, so add them one at the time. - Always turn the fire off at least 10 seconds before removing the last cooked fritters; in this way the oil will not overheat.
Keep your leftover bread in a paper bag in your cupboard or in the freezer. Frozen fresh bread can be thawed and slightly reheated just once, at the time of serving. If it still remains after the meal, you can dry it and make small crumbs.
You can use leftover bread to make a number of very interesting and useful additions to your main dishes: crumbled bread is great in the veg burger mix, while fine crumbs can be used to coat foods that you want to shallow fry, as for example seitan slices.
Seitan Milanese Prepare your seitan (wheat gluten TVP) as per basic recipe. Prepare a batter with chickpea flour and soak the seitan slices in it for at least 15 minutes. Heat a frying pan with a dab of butter or margarine, pick one slice at the time and toss it into the bread crumbs on both sides before shallow frying it in the pan. Serve immediately .
Fried bread cubes Cut bread in small cubes, sprinkle them with a little oil, salt, a pinch of hing or paprika, and stir-fry them in a large pan. Alternatively, you can also toast them in the oven (and in this case you can omit the oil). Add your bread cubes to soups or cream soups, salads or stews.
Plain bread is a very good snack or quick meal, especially if accompanied by some spread or thick sauce. Check out the 3 recipes for vegetable patés in the middle column.
Here are some other ideas:
Beans in tomato sauce: soak and boil some kidney beans, then stir fry them in one spoon oil with one chopped chili pepper, half sliced leek, half grated carrot. Mix in 3 chopped tomatoes and let cook until the sauce is thick.
Cheese sauce: Grate 150 gr melting cheese of your choice, put it in a small saucepan with one spoon milk and let it melt. To add taste, you can mix different kinds of cheese together, add milk cream, or spices such as nutmeg, saffron, black pepper, cumin seeds, or fennel seeds.
Avocado sauce: Peel one ripe avocado, mash it with one spoon chopped celery, half chopped leek or onion greens, a little salt. Put the Taco triangles in a serving place, cover with the beans, pour the cheese sauce, and top with the avocado sauce.
Spinach and panir: cook the spinach dry (without water) with a dab of butter, a pinch of salt and half teaspoon of spices (garam masala, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, coriander etc). At the end mix in some fresh panir or cottage cheese.
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