Wheat and Rye Free Rolls/Baguettes

As I have discovered that I am allergic to wheat and rye - I have now started a diet without these two potential troublemakers in my body. This is my first attempt at making bread. I took all the non-wheat non-rye flours out of the cupboard and did this:

Makes 20 rolls or 10 small baguettes

Ingredients

9 dl Lukewarm Water
50 g Live Yeast ot 1 bag of Dried Yeast
1 tsp Maple Syrup
1½ tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Salt
50 g Yellow Corn Flour
50 g Corn Meal
100 g Rice flour
75 g Besan (Chickpea Flour)
75 g Buckwheat Flour
50 g Corn Starch
30 g Psyllium Husks
1 handful sunflower seeds
1 handful sesame seeds
1 handful yellow flax seeds
1 handful popped barley
1 handful rolled oats

Directions

Mix water, yeast and maple syrup and leave it to activate for a couple of minutes.

Mix the dry ingredients - and mix them well.

Add the vinegar to the wet mix, then add the dry ingredients and mix really well.

Leave the dough to rise for approx. 45-60 minutes.

Wet your hands and shape the dough into rolls or baguettes. Leave on the baking trays to rise another 30-45 minutes.

Bake the rolls at 200-225°C for approx. 30 minutes.

Sea-buckthorn jam and juice



Sea-buckthorn berries are really dificult to harvest, but the taste is so yummy.

Preparation of 800 g of sea-buckthorn berries

Bring all the berries to a boil with 2 dl of water.
Strain while mashing up the berries in a sieve.
You now have sea-buckthorn purée
Separate im two pots and your ready to make jam and juice.

Jam ingredients

Half of the sea-buckthorn
300-400 g sugar
3 apples or other fruit of the same amount

Jam instructions

Add the sugar to the purée and bring to a boil. When the apples have a mushy consistence, add the sugar. After the sugar have melted, leave to simmer for 5-10 minutes. Do not stir at this time.

When finished pour into sterilized jars and store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Juice ingredients

Half of the sea-buckthorn
150 g sugar
1-2 apples or other fruit of the same amount
1 liter of water

Add sugar and water to the purée and bring to a boil. When the apples have a mushy consistence, add the sugar. After the sugar have melted, leave to simmer for 5-10 minutes.

When finished pour into sterilized bottles and store in the refrigerator or freezer. Dilute with water to your preference.

Juice instructions

When finished pour into sterilized jars and store in the refrigerator or freezer.

If you have been careful with the hygiene the juice and jam can keep for months and months :)

Raw Date Sweets



Ingredients
- for 1 bar or 5 rolls

Base:
4 dried dates
1 tbsp crated coco
6 almonds
½ tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tsp cacao nibs
tiny pinch of salt

Directions

Blend all ingredients into a doughy consistency - hold back one date if they're very moist. A little raw coco oil can be added for moist and richness as well, but is not necessary. Chopped nuts and seeds can be be added for extra crunch.

Flavoring and variations

Chili: add a pinch of red chili powder and roll in grated coco.
Ginger: add a pinch of freshly grated ginger or a pinch of dried ginger powder.
Lime: add lime zest and a little lime juice and an extra tsp grated coco.
Chai: add tiny pinches of ground cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, cardamom, liqorice, fennel seeds and fresh or dried ginger.
Liqorice: add liqorice powder.
Chocolate: add chopped raw chocolate, roll in cacao nibs or powder.
Nuts: replace almonds with walnut, hazelnuts, peanuts, pecans, macadamia or other nuts, add chopped ones also and roll in chopped nuts.
Fruit and berry: add dried fruit or berries like banana, apple, pineapple, abricot, mango, cherries, blueberries etc.

Veganaise

This is a tricky process - and i'm still working on it.


Ingredients

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice - or a mix of the two
2 tbsp soy milk
½ tbsp dijon mustard
pinch of salt
pinch of black salt (kala namat)
pinch of sugar

approx. 1 dl sunflower oil (or any other mild tasting oil)

Directions

Blend vinegar, soy milk, mustard and salts together. While blending - sloooooooooooowly add oil by pouring carefully. Continue until the veganaise thinkens. Now you can add flavor like garlic, chili, chives, tarragon etc.

Tempeh DIY

I'm on a fermented foods frenzy here. Now it's time for tempeh.

Tempeh is an indonesian fermented soy product loaded with protein.

It's got a nutty flavor and has got a tender but firm texture.

Again i collected information from many sources and did this:

1) Ordered tempeh starter (the mold spores) online.

2) Soaked 500 grams of soy beans for 10+ hours
3) De-hulled the beans by kneading and squeezing them for ever. (This part truly is a bore)
4) Cooked the soybeans for 30 min with 4 tbsp of apple cider vinegar added to the cooking water.
5) Drained the beans and dried them by returning the pot to low heat, constantly stirring.
6) Leaving the beans to cool.

7) Added the tempeh starter.
8) Packed in plastic bags, perforated every 1 cm or so.

Here it is 'sweating' away, mold growing.
9) Left to incubate at 29-30 degrees celcius for 27 hrs. I made a weird construction from chopsticks, cardboard and kitchen towels. I placed it on the top of my fridge, using the heat from the back of the fridge to keep the temperature high.
I think it's ready...


Kombucha - my first brew :D

Kombucha is fermented tea said to have a million and two health benifits. It's got a tangy flavour and is slightly sparkling. I love it because it tastes great and makes me feel good.

In NYC i kinda got addicted to kombucha. I used to buy these in health food stores:
 
Now i'm brewing my own and just bottled the first batch.
Green Tea Kombucha with Strawberry
As I am incapable of following instructions or recipes, I ended up following different tips from a million places.

This is what I did:

1) Got my hands on a kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) and starter. You can buy it online or get it free from somebody who's brewing.
2) Brewed 2 liters black and 2 liters green tea - as i wanted to try both out.
3) Added 150 grams of sugar to each tea batch.
3) Let the tea cool.
4) Poured the tea into two big glass jars, making sure to leave room for some starter.
5) Added the kombucha scoby and the starter - covered with clean cloth, sealing with a rubber band.
6) Went away for a week and came back to the most delicous sparkling kombucha. The parents had made two beautiful kombucha babies.
7) Added strawberrys to some, ginger and rhubarb to some and left some without flavouring.

Any handling of the scoby and the clean utensils must be done only with clean hands. Hygiene is important to avoid other bacteria to invade the kombucha.

There's a lot of videos on youtube and webpages with detailed instructions and tips and tricks.


Chickpea Salad

Ingredients
Boiled or sprouted chickpeas
Carrot
Tomato
Scallions

Olive oil
Garlic
Apple cider vinegar
Lemon juice

Directions
Cut the carrots and tomatoes into chunks the size of chickpeas. Mix all.

Pizza Bianca Enoki

This is the uncooked pizza - when cooked it got eaten too quickly to photo :D

So, vegan pizza, that's a challenge. The key is to make sure the pizza is moist and crunchy at the same time. If you're ever in NYC, don't miss Viva Herbal Pizzeria

Dough
3 dl water
15 g yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
10 g salt
4-500 g flour


Topping
2-3 tbsp pesto
1 large paper thinly sliced potato
rosemary
chives
enoki mushrooms
soy yoghurt
nutritional yeast (optional)

Directions
Mix the ingredients for the dough - knead well and leave to rest for an hour or so.
When ready, prepare the topping. Make sure the potato slices are paper thin.
Roll out the dough thinly and add a thin layer of pesto. If the pesto is thick - add oil to make it more liquid - you want to be able to spread it really thinly.
Place the potato slices making sure they don't overlap too much.
Add another thin layer of pesto and then dress with herbs and mushrooms.
Add nutritional yeast to the yoghurt and sprinkle on top.

Bake at 230 degrees celsius for 20-30ish minutes.

Baked Fennel



Ingredients
Olive oil
1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs
5-6 garlic cloves
Vegetable stock
Vegan cream

Directions
Clean and cut the fennel into wedges.
Peel garlic cloves.
Place all in an oiled pan.
Cover (almost) with stock.
Bake for 40ish minutes.
When baked sprinkle with salt and add vegan cream.

Thai Style Yellow and White Carrot Salad

Ingredients

Salad:
Carrots - of any colour
Garlic
Ginger
Unripe black pepper
Roasted sesame seeds
Red chili
Coriander leaves
Spring onions
Roasted cashew nuts or peanuts

Dressing:
Rice vinegar
Mirin
Lime juice
Sesame oil
Salt

Directions

Thinly slice the carrots and finely chop the chili, garlic, ginger, onions and fresh coriander leaves.
Mix the dressing with pepper, chili, coriander leaves, onions, garlic and ginger.
Add carrots and give it all a good toss.
Sprinkle with cashews and sesame seeds.

Seasoned Black Quinoa

Ingredients

Black quinoa
Lemon juice
Tamari
Chopped parsley

Directions

Cook the quinoa - directions are on the bag/box.
When cooked, add lemon juice, tamari and chopped parsley.

Mash Up

This mash up is made with Denjang...


Ingredients

Water
Parsnip
Carrots

- or any other roots you like

Optional:
Onions
Leek
Garlic
Chili


Directions

Clean - and peel the roots if necessary.
Chop into smaller bits - the smaller, the quicker they cook.
Place in a pot and add water about half as high as the roots.
Cover and cook until very tender.
Blend - add water to get the consistency you like.

To flavor add:
Oil, salt and pepper
or
Miso or Denjang
or
Pesto
or oil, fresh herbes, lemon juice, salt

Kimbap with Kimchi
































Rice:

2 1/2 dl korean rice or sushi rice
4 dl water

1 tsp sesame oil
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Mix oil, vinegar, sugar and salt well while boiling the rice. Stir in gently after the rice have settled and cooled a little. 

Making perfect rice is an ART - find your own way...


Stuffing:

Cucumber
Avocado
Pickled ginger
Sesame seeds

Horse radish
Tofu
Spring onions
Blanched savoy cabbage

Umeboshi Purée
Carrot
Blanched spinach
Pickled radish

or whatever combination you prefer.

Roll like maki sushi. 

Check out how Maangchi rolls.
or the turbo roll.

Serve with kimchi.

Kimchi

This kimchi is 1 month old.

Ingredients

Salt
1 napa cabbage
1/4 dl sweet rice flour
1 1/2 dl water
1/4 dl sugar
1 dl save-the-fish sauce 
1/ - 1 dl red pepper flakes 고추가루  
4 chopped cloves of garlic
2 tbsp chopped ginger
2 tbsp chopped onion
4 chopped scallions


Directions 

Cut cabbage twice lenghtswise. Wash thoroughly. Rub carefully with salt, making sure that salt goes everywhere. 

Leave to rest for two hours. Then massage and turn and leave to rest for another three hours.

Mix sweet rice flour, water and sugar until it becomes translucent. Cool a little and mix in the rest of the ingredients.

Wash the cabbages thoroughly - and then once again. Wring in order to get as much excess water out.

Wear gloves and carefully spread the mixture everywhere on the cabbage. Finally massage gently.

Fill into a sterilized glass jar with a sealing lid. Leave for two days in room temperature in order to ferment. Store in the fridge.

The flavor develops a lot over time.

Check out Maangchi making non-vegan kimchi for procedure details.



Creamy Pestoish Penne

Great hangover chow.
Serves 1-2.

Ingredients
1 handful of parsley
1 handful of cashew nut
1 dl firm silken tofu
1/2 clove of garlic
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp of water  (e.g. from your boiling pasta)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

1-2 chopped sundried or fresh tomatoes

Directions
Start with oil, nuts and garlic. Blend until coarsely chopped - then add the rest of the ingredients - except tomatoes.

Toss in your favorite penne or other pasta and tomatoes and mix.




Variation
Add more tofu and soaked cashews - or no cashews - great creamy spread for your bagel or sandwich.