Monday, March 24, 2008

EASTER DINNER PICS, AND MORE PICS OF THE NO-KNEAD BREAD!

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Our casual Easter buffet: In the very front is the Potato Kibbeh; and just above that, in the red pot, is Spicy Middle Eastern Pasta and Chickpea Casserole; to the left of those is a loaf of my No-Knead Bread; and to the right, my Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip (it's the first recipe in the collection posted here).


Moving along the table: A loaf of fresh bread in front; with a bowl of Sundried Tomato-Rosemary Spread (this was an experiment-- just Tofu Mayonnaise blended with marinated sundried tomato pieces, garlic, and rosemary-- very good!); a bowl of Hummous with baby carrots; and a pot of Hashwee (Lebanese Rice) in the back.


And lastly, my Herbed Veggie Pâté (from my book "The Fiber for Life Cookbook") (there is a slightly more complicated and sophisticated Pâté recipe in my latest book "World Vegan Feast"); and to the right of that, Orange Bulgur Luncheon Salad; and a green salad of baby organic greens, kiwis and strawberries.

My daughter Bethany brought the family's traditional Italian Easter bread wreath, and decadent Jamaican Coffee Brownies with Pecans (not vegan, but you could veganize it!), and Fiona brought a delicious syrup-laced lemon cake for our dessert.

We had our family Easter gathering on Saturday. There were 17 of us-- I was the oldest (!!) and my granddaughter Cleo, age 6, was the youngest present. Three of my granddaughters were with their respective other parents, so not able to attend, and my youngest daughter and her partner and son were unable to come from Vancouver. But the rest were all there, including my foster son, Daiv and his partner Fiona, who drove up from Victoria for the day.

In my family, only my granddaughter Savannah is a vegetarian (my sister is a vegan, and her daughter is a vegetarian, but they were not at this event), so we tend to keep family get-together meals casual. Everything is vegetarian or vegan, but I don't do a lot of meat subs and that sort of thing. I save that for vegan gatherings. Everyone stuffed themselves, in any event, and, surprisingly, the younger kids loved the pâté and ate it in chunks, just by itself!

We had a great time-- noisy, as usual! I hope you did, too!

MORE ON THE BREAD:
BTW, I made 3 loaves of the new No-Knead Bread from this post, plus a focaccia (which disappeared in 2 minutes flat!) and it came out spectacularly! I used 3 different types of pans for the loaves, as the picture below will show. We only had about 1/3 of a loaf left over after the meal. I used a 4-day old dough and the bread had so much flavor! The bread stays moist for several days inside, I'm happy to say!

Rising the dough straight out of the refrigerator, in vessels that fit the shapes of the various pots I used:







The pots I baked them in:



The baked breads:








8 comments:

Amy O'Neill Houck said...

Your bread looks amazing--I tried your recipe last night using a loaf pan--because what we need in our family is sandwich bread. I found that the outside cooked too quickly--which might be good for a rustic loaf--a crustier crust, but I'm going to try my next loaf at a lower temp than 475. It tastes delicious, but was a bit dense--maybe my second rise wasn't long enough.

I'm considering trying white bread to please my kids. Would you make any changes to the liquid/oil or yeast if you were doing an all white loaf?

Cheers,

Amy

Bryanna Clark Grogan said...

hi, Amy-- yes, you're right, in a loaf pan you should cook it at a lower temperature. You should make maybe 375 degrees F for a pan bread.

You would not have to make any adjustments for a white bread.

You may not have risen it enough-- it should not be "dense". I only rfaised mine 40 minutes in a warm kitchen, but maybe you could try an hour?

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

What a lovely Easter spread & the bread looks amazing!

easyV said...

That chickpea casserole looks obscenely good!!

Wheeler's Frozen Dessert said...

The food looks great! What a lucky family you have.

Billy said...

Wow, that all looks so good. What a wonderful cruelty-free meal! I'm jealous.

robiewankenobie said...

so, what do vegans eat, anyway? ha ha ha....

look at all that delicious goodness!

Tofu Mom (AKA Tofu-n-Sprouts) said...

Oh what a beautiful spread. I had to comment because I just love the way your no-knead bread turns out, I was just thinking I need to blog about it!

We'll be at VegFest in Seattle for sure on Sunday - not sure if we'll be able to attend the demonstrations because I have restless little ones with me ..."Look Mom, free Ice-cream!"... but maybe I'll drag all my cookbooks along for autographs.. (OK, or maybe just one..)