Bryanna Clark Grogan’s Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 23rd Century Table

I made a HUGE focaccia one this time-- in  a 17" x 12" rimmed baking sheet.  I usually make fruit focaccia with my Crusty Artisan Bread dough from my book "World Vegan Feast", but I decided to try making a no-knead dough out of the Apulian Potato Focaccia recipe from that same book. This amounted to simply adding 1 1/3 cups more water to the dough, letting it rise for a few hours on the kitchen counter, then refrigerating it for a few more hours before using.





Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S SIMPLE, CREAMY ORANGE & PEAR SORBET
Servings: 10
Yield: 5 cups
This so easy and it's the perfect way to use up excess ripe pears without lots of calories and fat!
NOTE: You could use 3/4 cup sugar instead of 1/2 cup if you prefer sweeter, and you can achieve a more pronounced orange flavor if you use the optional orange zest and/or orange liqueur.

3 cups peeled, cored, diced ripe pears
1 cup orange juice
1 cup water
1/2 cup light organic granulated sugar
3 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp guar or xanthan gum
Optional:
1 Tbs grated orange zest
1 Tbs orange or pear liqueur

Puree all of the ingredients in a blender until very smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it according to directions for your machine.

Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per 1/2 cup serving):
 80 calories, less than 1 calorie from fat,less than1g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 1.3mg sodium, 115.7mg potassium, 20.8g carbohydrates, 1.7g fiber, 17g sugar, less than 1g protein.

Enjoy!

So sorry to have been AWOL from blogging for a while!  On top of trying to get back to normal after the Holidays, I've had a deadline to meet and LOTS of computer trouble (which I hope is over now).  I hope to be reinvigorated in the kitchen very soon!  In the meantime, here is a recipe for one of our favorite bread recipes-- so good with a bean or vegetable soup!
Nutrition (per 1/12^th ): 236.9 calories; 26% calories from fat; 7.3g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 474.8mg sodium; 176.4mg potassium; 36.4g carbohydrates; 3.6g fiber; 0.9g sugar; 7.3g protein; 4.6 points.

Enjoy!

Homemade vegan pizza-- mmmmmm!

It's been a busy week! Too much writing and not enough cooking, but that's the way it goes sometimes! I just wanted to tell you about a some new products I've tried

You know that I don't write alot about new products, and only if I really like them! Companies send me products to review sometimes, but I don't give bad reviews-- I just don't review them if I don't like them! Recently, I received a big box of products from Lucini Italia.



I was intrigued by the Lucini Italia "Cinque e' Cinque" product, made from chickpea flour, and totally vegan. They sent me 3 different varieties: -- Traditional, Savory Rosemary, and Tuscan Fiery Chili.



"Cinque e' Cinque" is basically a farinata, or chickpea pancake. I had never heard it called by this name before, but evidently that is what they call it in Livorno, in Tuscany. In Liguria, where my paternal grandmother's family originated, they call it fai'na, which is a sort of slurring of farinata. I've always made it quite thin, but the package suggested that you could make a sort of vegan fritatta (which is a baked omelet) by making the farinata quite thick.

I decided to try the Traditional first. The "mix" is chickpea flour (from Canada, I might add-- they grow alot of chickpeas in the Prairie Provinces), to which you add water and salt. (You could add your own seasonings, too.)  I made the thicker version, just to see what it was like. The baking technique is quite unique, but it worked!

Here it is right out of the oven, and then cut into wedges:





I served the wedges of hot, creamy Cinque e' Cinque as a main dish, topped with an Italian-style "Salsa Cruda", or raw tomato relish with black olives and basil (with our own homegrown tomatoes and basil!):

 Italian Salsa Cruda

 Cinque e' Cinque with Italian Salsa Cruda and potatoes sautéed with mushrooms.

It was delicious, and very satisfying! I am going to experiment with adding roasted or grilled vegetables to the thick version-- it would seem more like a real fritatta, I think.

They also sent some lovely balsamic vinegar,  extra virgin olive oil and a Fig & Walnut Balsamic Vinaigrette:



I rarely ever buy salad dressing, but this was very tasty!


Some of our homegrown tomatoes with the Fig & Walnut Balsamic Vinaigrette

The next thing I decided to try was the Lucini artisanal Pizza Sauce.



Now, I NEVER buy pizza sauce! It always tastes, well...canned...to me, no matter how expensive, organic, or whatever. But I gave it a try and made some no-knead pizza dough (the Light Whole Wheat Bread dough from "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois ) in the morning before we went shopping all day, came home and threw together some of the best pizza I've ever made! I used their Pizza Sauce, my basil, sautéed mushrooms and red peppers, and Daiya mozzarella-style vegan cheese.  I drizzled some of their Basil Infused Extra Virgin Olive oil on top before baking.  Out of this world!  The sauce was so clean and fresh-tasting, I couldn't believe it!

Here are some more shots of the pizza:


Ready for the oven!


Ready to eat!

I can't resist showing you what I made with the rest of the dough during the week--


Italian Prune Plum Focaccia!


Red Grape Focaccia!

So, I still have quite a few of the Lucini Italia products to try and I'm looking forward to it! If the pasta sauces are as good as the pizza sauce, we'll have some yummy quick meals while I'm finishing this book!



You can buy the Lucini Italia products directly from their website, and amazon carries many of them, as you can see from my links. They have a store locator on their website, though it didn't seem to work in Canada. Choices markets in Vancouver carries them, and I'll wager that any good Italian grocery store will have some of their products (some are organic). You can read about them on their website-- they get consistently good reviews!

I'll report back about my experiments and the remaining products I have to try!

Ciao!

 Grape Focaccia warm out of the oven!

We had a bit of an Italian day yesterday (and this morning)-- culinarily speaking, I mean (is that even a word?). I don't have alot of time to cook lately, working on The Book, and also anticipating cooking for 11 people over the weekend, as 2 of my daughters and their families are coming for a long weekend visit. But yesterday we had some mushrooms to use up and some lovely greenhouse green peppers grown by one of our neighbors up the road, so I pulled out my own vegan Italian cookbook "Nonna's Italian Kitchen" to look for ideas. I was quickly reminded of how delicious the stuffed vegetable recipe was-- hadn't made it for eons! It was faster to make than I'd remembered, too, and in 45 minutes we were sitting down to lovely hot stuffed peppers and mushrooms (recipe below), roasted new potatoes, and a green salad.

Just before bed, I mixed up a small batch of no-knead olive oil dough (1/4 of the recipe in "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day"-- I added a bit more water than they called for).  We had visited my mother in Courtenay the day before and snitched a few purple grapes from the arbor in the entrance of  her assisted living home, Abbeyfield House.  I thought of grape focaccia the minute I saw them and couldn't help myself!

The dough was supposed to rise for 2 hours before I put it into the refrigerator, but I was going to bed, so I put it out on the front porch in a covered bowl-- I figured it was cool enough so that it wouldn't rise too fast, but not so cool that it wouldn't really get going.  Evidently the dough is very versatile, because it worked just fine when I baked it this morning!  For the topping, I sliced the grapes in half, crushed them a little over the patted-out dough, sprinkled it with organic sugar, rose it for 20 minutes, and baked it at 475 degrees F for about 20 minutes (50 degrees higher than the recipe indicated).  This is the most divine treat--so simple and fresh-- you have to try it! Use any focaccia dough you prefer, such as this dough or this.

Well, I'd better get back to work. Here's the stuffed vegetable recipe!



Italian Stuffed Green Peppers and Mushrooms

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA’S VEGAN VERDURE IMBOTTITI (STUFFED VEGETABLES)
Serves 4 (From my book “Nonna’s Italian Kitchen”)

Stuffed vegetables are a favorite all around the Mediterranean, and there are many types of fillings-- breadcrumb, meat, fish, rice, vegetables. The following stuffing is our favorite and combines all of these elements (vegan, of course!), including the use of miso in place of the ubiquitous anchovy.

We use this is in roasted peppers (any color), parboiled onions, eggplant, or zucchini (or other summer squash), and also in tomatoes and mushrooms. For a buffet dinner, you might like to multiply this stuffing recipe several times and present a tray of various stuffed vegetables. They are delicious hot, or at room temperature. This recipe also makes an excellent antipasto dish.

Vegetables: choose one or mix them up!
4 large bell peppers (any color), cut in half vertically and seeded
OR 2 medium zucchini (or other summer squash), cut in half lengthwise, with the middle hollowed out somewhat (save the hollowed-out bits)
OR 2 medium-small eggplants, or 4 smaller ones, left whole
OR about 8 medium onions, peeled and left whole
OR about 16 large (not giant) mushrooms, stemmed (save stems)
OR 4 large portobello mushrooms, stemmed (discard stems)
OR about 8 medium firm ripe unpeeled tomatoes (not plum type)
Stuffing:
1 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1/4 c. chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
Any edible trimmings, insides, or stems of the vegetables to be stuffed, chopped
1/2 c. cooked rice, any kind
1/2 c. fresh breadcrumbs, preferably wholegrain
1/2 c. vegetarian "burger" or "sausage", crumbled OR ground seitan of any kind OR chopped sauteed mushrooms (I used Field Roast Classic Meatloaf this time, ground in the food processor--and it was good!)
2 T. tomato paste
about 2 T. vegetarian broth
2 T. vegan Parmesan substitute
1 T. light soy or chickpea miso
salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

In a large heavy nonstick skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Add the onion, garlic, parsley, and any trimmings, etc. that you are using. Saute until the onions are soft and any liquid has evaporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350-400 degrees F (depending on the vegetable; see below).

If using peppers, you can grill them, if you have a grill, or simply place them on an oiled cookie sheet, brush or spray them with olive oil and place them under the broiler, about 3-4" from the heat source. Broil the outsides until they are blistered and slightly charred, and the insides until they are a bit juicy. Place them inside of a plastic or paper bag for a few minutes, then peel the skins off under cold running water.


If using zucchini (or other summer squash), boil or steam them for about 5-10 minutes, or until tender inside, but still firm on the outside. Drain well. Treat eggplants the same way, but leave them whole, just cutting off the top stem. After boiling, cut them in half lengthwise and scoop out hollows in the pulp, leaving a lining of "flesh" inside the skin. Save the pulp for the filling.

If using onions, boil them for about 10 minutes, cool under cold running water, and cut a slice from the top end. Remove most of the insides, leaving about a 3/4" shell.

If using tomatoes, cut a slice from the top and scoop out asll but the firm outer shell.

If using mushrooms (either kind), choose firm unbroken ones and they need only be stemmed and cleaned.

When your vegetables are prepared, fill them with the stuffing and place them, stuffing-side-up in an oiled pan, fairly close together. You can bake them "as-is", or sprinkle the tops with vegan Parmesan substitute, breadcrumbs, or olive oil, or spread a little tomato sauce over the tops. A little bit of water, vegetable cooking water, vegetarian broth, or wine should be poured around the vegetables, to keep them from scorching. (I used some chopped juicy tomato, which wasn't particularly tasty, for the moisture.)  With the mushrooms and eggplant, this should only be a few tablespoons.


Bake the peppers and eggplant at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes; the zucchini at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes; the onions at 375 degrees F for about 30 minutes; the mushrooms at 375 degrees F for about 20 minutes; and the tomatoes at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Serve hot, plain, or drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, or with a hot tomato sauce; or at room temperature, plain or drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.


Enjoy!

Some of our vegan "Thanksmas" feast

I'm getting ready to head off to Vancouver for the weekend, and then down on the train to Seattle for a few days. So, I won't be blogging for a week, and I'll leave you with a mish-mosh of events, pictures, and food!

VEGAN "THANKSMAS" DINNER:
First of all, our vegan "Dinner Club", I guess you could call it (which consists of 5 vegan couples of a certain age, who get together randomly a few times a year to share good vegan food and conversation, and music, etc.) got together at the end of November for what our hostess, Ellen, called our vegan "Thanksmas" feast. Here are some images from that lovely dinner! Ellen is Scandinavian, so their home was warmly decorated and very Christmasy, and she went all out with vegan versions of family Christmas treats!


Christmas candles


Fireweed's delicious seitan rolls (in the 40's and 50's, these would have been called Seitan "Birds"!)


Rudy's mashed potatoes and a bowl of lovely Denman Island squash


Pelka and Robs's delicious Brussels Sprout Salad with walnuts, beside the squash bowl


Another delicious winter salad from Pelka and Rob, this one made with red cabbage and pecans


My contributions-- Tofu Pot Pie ( from my book Soyfoods Cooking for a Positive Menopause) and Sage and Onion Bread Stuffing (I also brought homemade Cranberry sauce-- both recipes from my book The Almost No-Fat Holiday Cookbook).


An overloaded dinner plate!


Ellen's berry dessert topped with soy "ice cream" and a vegan truffle!


Vegan Scandinavian treats and truffles made by our lovely hostess!

Boy, were we full! (Or "full-top" as DH claims they say in Quebec!)

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A DINNER WITH FRIENDS, FEATURING DAIYA VEGAN CHEESE

We had some friends over last week and I served my Italian-American-style lasagna, but, instead of using my usual vegan bechamel sauce, I used my newly-purchased shredded white vegan Daiya cheese, which I bought from the Karmavore Vegan Shop in New Westminister, BC (by mail).

Everyone raved over it and I liked it, too, but I think I used too much! It was so rich that I think I will use half bechamel and half Daiya next time. Our omni guests couldn't get over it!



With the meal, we had wine, a lovely salad brought by 2 of our guests (avid gardeners), some braised butternut squash with basil, garlic and olive oil, baguettes, and then an Italian-style Apple Tart from my book Nonna's Italian Kitchen:


An Sweet Topping Innovation:
I made some almond milk to accompany our tea and coffee-- actually it was more like almond cream. I also needed a topping for the tart, so I left the almond pulp in half of the creme and strained the other half. I squeezed the pulp I had left from straining to get all the almond creme out, and then I added the pulp back to the other half of the recipe. (I had sweetened the creme slightly with maple syrup before straining.) The result was a thick, cloud-like, very almondy-tasting topping that everyone loved, and some nice smooth, pourable creme for our hot beverages.



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THE DENMAN ISLAND CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIRE

This took place last weekend. We didn't stay too long-- too crowded! That means it was well-attended, of course, and why not? It's always full of friends, food and wonderful arts and crafts. Our friend Leticia won the prize for the "Best Display" and we happened to be there when she was presented with it. She and her friend Tosha make wonderful handmade olive oil soaps-- chocolate, lemongrass and lavender, chai tea...they smell so good!

Leticia and her handmade olive oil soaps



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TRYING THE NEW GARDEIN "CHIK'N FILETS"

Vegan chef Tal Ronnen uses these "Chik'n Filets" in his new book, so I thought I'd give them a try. I made a sort of scaloppine with white wine and mushrooms-- very quick and easy.



They were good, meaty texture, etc., but I think I like my own seitan cutlets better!

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BREAD WORKSHOP AT THE DENMAN ISLAND COMMUNITY SCHOOL

Well, I did bring my camera, but forgot to ask my friend Holly, who was being my kitchen slave for the evening, to use it! But I had lots of dough to bake off at home the next day, so below are pictures of what I made in the class. (Everything I made in the class got eaten or taken home by the students, along with the recipes, of course!


Crusty No-Knead Artisinal Bread (recipe in my book World Vegan Feast)


Another loaf of Crusty No-Knead Bread with the Apulian Focaccia (both recipes in my book World Vegan Feast)



A loaf of vegan Julekage (Scandinavian Christmas bread with cardamom and fruit) made with my Vegan Low-fat Sweet Dough (recipe in my book World Vegan Feast)


Last, but not least, my 100% Wholewheat Bread


Enjoy! See you next week!