Vegetarian – Alice the Cook

October 7, 2013October 7, 2013

German Pretzels with Handmade Mustard

German Pretzels

Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
2 pkgs active dry yeast
3 tbsp butter
Coarse salt for sprinkling

Soda Bath
1/2 cup baking soda
2 quarts water

Dissolve yeast in the lukewarm water. Mix flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Form a well in the flour mixture then add the sugar to the center of the well. Pour the yeast/water mixture into the well. Let it rest for 15 minutes before mixing.

Add the softened butter to the mixing bowl and knead everything to form a smooth dough. Add a teaspoon of water occasionally to get to the correct consistency. Remove the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into twelve equal parts, then roll each piece on the table and taper the ends; make sure you don’t roll it too small as it will break.

Place the pretzels without covering them in the fridge for about an hour. This helps build a skin that will absorb the dipping solution better and make a beautiful shiny crust.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Note: an authentic German recipe calls for a lye solution, but baking soda is a perfectly acceptable and widely used substitute.

Fill large pot 3/4 full and bring the water to a boil. Carefully and slowly add the baking soda to the boiling water. There will be a reaction when the baking soda hits the water and it will bubble furiously for a moment and then relax. Stand back a bit just to be safe.

Using a slotted spoon, gently drop each pretzel into the bath for 10 seconds, then turn over for another 10. Astrid called for a total of 10 seconds only. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Score the dough once to avoid cracking, sprinkle with coarse salt, and bake the pretzels for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Handmade Mustard Ingredients
1/2 cup yellow mustard seeds
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (can be more or less depending on level of spiciness)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp horseradish (optional)

Simmer the mustard seeds, water and vinegar together for 20-30 minutes over medium heat. The seeds should absorb most of the liquid and swell in size. Remove from the heat and add the cayenne pepper and turmeric (and horseradish) and place in a food processor until creamy (like peanut butter) and serve.

October 2, 2013October 3, 2013

Love and Romance – Tarts

September 14 and 15, 2013 was love and romance weekend at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. We played things up a wee bit and make two types of tarts and made a few other dishes too! Keep in mind that these are for two separate tarts (not combined) and you will want to divide up the crust in half to make two separate items. *Dairy free and Vegan substitutions are offered below

Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp granulated white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces (for a dairy free option, I use clarified bacon fat and for a vegan option I use coco butter)
1/8 to 1/4 cup ice water

Pear Filling:
3 medium pears
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp raw sugar

Raspberry Filling:
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 tbsp granulated white sugar
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp of fresh orange zest

Pear Tart Directions

Directions for the Pears: Core the pears and cut into 1/4 to 1/8-inch slices. In a large bowl toss the pear slices with the lemon juice.

Arrange the pears in a in a sunburst on the crust dough, leaving a 2-inch boarder. Fold the border over the filling. It will only cover the pears partially and does not need to be even. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and raw sugar.

Bake the tart for 15 minutes, and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, keeping the tart in the oven all the while, and bake for another 40 minutes, until the pears are tender and the crust is golden brown.

Raspberry Tart Directions:
Place raspberries stem side down until filled in and sprinkle liberally with the raw sugar and orange zest. Bake at 450 until the raspberries crust is done. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

September 19, 2013

Hummus & Pita

This is one of my favorite recipes. If you do not have a wood-fired oven, you can make this on a cast iron fry pan that is well heated. Our hummus was chunkier than the store bought versions as we mashed them by hand.

Pitas:
2 cups warm water (115°F)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
5 and 1/2 cups to 6 and ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt

Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Add ¼ cup of the all-purpose
flour. Stir. With a whisk and let sit for 10 minutes to give the yeast a chance to react. Add the sale and enough flour to the dough so it can be hand kneaded. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface until smooth and bouncy. Let it rest for 5 minutes to relax the gluten. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each one out so that it is 6” in diameter and 1/8” thick. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle some cornmeal on it and place it in a very hot oven it should sear on one side and turn it over. Pull out when done.

Hummus:
1 cup dried chickpeas
5 cups of water
6 bay leaves
3/4 cup chopped onion (shallots make a great substitute)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsps lemon juice
3/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp sea salt

Sort and rinse the chickpeas and soak overnight. Drain them; add 5 cups of water, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for approx. 1 and half hours, or until the peas are soft. When cooked, drain the beans and blend the chickpeas with the rest of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Serve.

September 13, 2013

Tabouli & Coucous

Although Tabouli and Couscous are delicious, the couscous is very tricky to make because if it is too humid, you end up with large clumbs than desired.

Tabouli:
1 cup water
1 cup fine cracked wheat
1 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup minced fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
3 tomatoes, diced
2 cucumbers, seeded and diced
3 tbsps olive oil
3 tbsps lemon juice, or to taste
1 tsps sea salt

In a large mixing bowl, pour the water over the cracked wheat and cover,
let stand about 20 minutes until wheat is tender and water is absorbed. Add the chopped herbs and vegetables and toss with the mix. Combine the oil, lemon juice, and salt in a separate bowl. Add to wheat mixture and mix well. Chill. Serve and enjoy.

Coucous:
1 quart semolina (chickpea flour may be used instead)
1 pint water
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
Salt to season
Olive Oil

In a large bowl, add a cup of semolina, a pinch of salt and a few drops of water. Mix with fingertips in circular motion until small balls form. Drizzle more water as necessary.

Move the mixture to tamis (or drum sifter or similar fine mesh sifting device) to remove the fine semolina.

Reserve the larger couscous to another bowl.

Add the fine semolina dust back to the mixing bowl and repeat step 1 until there’s no semolina left.

Pick out the large pieces. In a couscousier (or steamer basket) fitted with cheesecloth, add 1 cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves and 2 tbsp salt to the water. Bring to boil.

Steam couscous for 5 to 10 mins.

Season with olive oil and steam for 5 to 10 more minutes. Serve immediately.

September 10, 2013

Scones

Scones are delicious and fun to make. We had forgotten to add the fruit, so we just added cinnamon and sugar. If you do use fruit, use dried and berries and cherries work very well.

Ingredients
3 cups of flour
1/2 cup of white sugar
5 tbsp baking powder
3/4 cup of butter
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter. Mix the egg and milk in a small bowl, and stir into flour mixture until moistened.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll dough out into a 1/2 inch thick round. Cut into 8 wedges, and place on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown