Bagels

Bagels 

Photos at the end of the post ;)

Thanks to the folks over at The fresh loaf  this is a wonderful fun bagel recipe to work with.

Makes 32 bagels


Sponge:
2 teaspoon instant yeast
8 cups bread flour
5 cups water

Dough:

1 teaspoon instant yeast
5.5 cups bread flour
2 cups whole grain flour ( a mix of whole spelt, ground flax, rye meal, cracked wheat)
4 3/4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons malt powder (see how to make it)
8 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
dried onions

Making the proof:

Add the yeast and flour, stir together. Add the water. Mix until its all incorporated and cover. Allow to rise for 2 hours.



After the two hours:

Mix together all of the dough ingredients then add in the sponge and mix well at least 10 mins. If you use flax don't forget that it absorbs 9 times its water weight so I added another 1/4 cup water,  The dough should be stiffer and drier than normal bread dough, but moist enough that all of the ingredients are well blended.

After kneading, split the dough into a 32  pieces. Cover them with a saran wrap and let them rest for 10- 20 minutes.

Shaping the bagel is easy  punch your thumb through the center of each roll and then rotate the dough, using both hands rotate the bagel (should post a video....hmmmm ) and lightly stretch it

Place the shaped bagels on an oiled sheet pans,  Lightly brush the bagels with oil and  cover the pan with saran wrap and allow the dough to rise for about 20 minutes. After 20 mins put the pans into the fridge or somewhere cool.

Next Morning
(as you remove the bagels off the tray to add them to the boiling water lightly sprinkle the pan with corn meal) and only take one pan out of the fridge at a time.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees

Boil a large pot of water add a few teaspoons of  molasses to the water and a tablespoon of baking soda. (Repeat after each batch with the same amount of molasses- but 1 teaspoon of baking soda) Once it is fully boiling add your bagels. (mine fits 4 at a time) as soon as the water hisses and boils *about a minute turn them and let them repeat the same boil stage) as you pick each one out of the water let them drain over the pot and then put them on the baking tray- repeat until the tray is refilled with boiled bagels. Sprinkle whatever toppings you want on them. Put the tray in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Turn the tray around and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove them and set them on baking racks to cool.

just mixed sponge

After 2 hours

stretched into rings

Next Morning ready to be boiled

Ready to be flipped

Fresh out of the oven

Vegan Cheese Biscuits

Yummy! So they might not be cheesy but they sure are tasty! Using a slice-able cheddar cheese*, Almond Ricotta  and Almond Mayo they really are tasty and easy to make. (makes about 10)

1 1/4 cup sifted bread flour
1/4 cup ( a mix of whole spelt, ground flax, rye meal, cracked wheat)
1 tablespoon Agave or Sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
a few spoon fulls of ricotta
a few spoons full of almond mayo
3/4 cup cut up slice-able cheddar cheese
2/3 cup soured almond milk (add two tablespoons of vinegar to the milk and let sit for a min)

preheat over to 400 degrees

Mix all dry ingredients together. Add the "cheeses", olive oil and mix. If you need to add any more liquids you can do so. It'll be a soggy dough. Using 1/4 measuring cup scoop out and put on your baking tray and bake. It should take about 16 minutes but cook until the very tips of the biscuits have a little brown on them. Serve hot or at room temperature. (by the next day the flavor had really developed in these biscuits)

*I will post the slice-able cheddar cheese that I made up. I just have to remember what I did first! LOL

Crackers

Crackers are everyones friend. With a little work you can make your own. It's so simple and very very tasty. Making your own crackers means you can flavor them anyway you want. ;) This cracker recipe is just like my taco shells but using one more cup of a flour mix and flavorings)

3 cups bread flour
1 cup ( a mix of whole spelt, ground flax, rye meal, cracked wheat)
1/3 + 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 3/4 cup water
(Added dried Onions, pepper, garlic, salt)

Preheat over to 250 degrees

Mix flours and seasonings together than add the oil and then the water miz until the dough has fully come together and it's not sticky. Saran wrap it for 30 minutes and than roll it out like you do taco shells. Cook on griddle until cooked through. (something to keep in mind cook it on a lower temp or they will smoke). Add them to your oven and let them dry out until they are crackers.

Once they are cool break them apart. If you want squares, circles or any other shape. Cut them out of the dough before cooking them on the griddle.

Liquid Laundry Detergent

laundry detergent 

I don't know about you but  I truly hate paying to much for anything. When it comes down to laundry detergent .... two words.. OH MY... so this recipe and 15 minutes of your time is roughly going to cost you 3 dollars to make and you will have 416 ounces of the best, cleanest, most ecological sound laundry detergent that actually gets your clothes clean and doesn't leave them feeling greasy or nasty or make you itch afterwards.

pail

No need to pay for a container... (if you know of someone that owns a cat(s) ask for there plastic pail (40 pounds) that was housing the kitty litter) Not only are you stopping one pail from making it into the land fill your saving money. Wash it out real well and there you go.

4 cups water
Bar of soap ( I use Dr. Bronners)
1 gallon container
5 gallon container/lid or a used kitty litter container( 40 pounds)
1 cup of washing soda
1/2 cup Borax

3 "ingredients"

grated soap flakes

Start heating the water and cheese grate the bar of soap into flakes. Right before the 4 cups of water boils add the soap flakes and turn down a bit. Stir until all of the soap has dissolved. Once the soap has dissolved add 3 gallons of hot water to the large pail, dump in the soap mixture and add the washing soda, stir until its dissolved and then add the borax and again stir until its dissolved. If you let it sit over night it will thicken into a gloppy mess, If you keep a spoon handy you can just stir it back up. But you can use it right away.

Vegan Pastrami

Vegan Pastrami

2 1/4 cups instant gluten flour (vital wheat gluten) 
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes 
1/4 cup chickpea flour  
1/4 cup fine bulger, fully soaked 
 mustard seeds, dill, Thyme, salt, pepper, pepper flakes, dried onion,  cayenne, lawry's salt, emeril's, coriander, fennel, clove   
 3/4 cup cold water 
4 tablespoons tomato sauce 
2 tablespoons soy sauce 
2 tablespoons olive oil 
6 cloves garlic, pressed 
1/2 cup cooked lentil's
1/2 cooked tapioca

all ingredients ready to be mixed

Preheat oven to 325 degrees


Add all dry ingredients to a bowl. Add the lentil's and cooked tapioca. Then add your liquids. Mix together till its all combined and lay out on tin foil. Roll it into a log tightly twisting the ends up. Bake until its done. 3-4 hours. Allow it to fully cool to be easy to slice thin. 

ready to be rolled up and baked

And now for a teaser :) Vegan Rubens

Crab Snacks

Looking for the perfect Tapas idea? Or just a snack.... or one of the best concepts of leftovers ever? Welcome to .....Crab Snacks :)

Take a ripe avocado mush it up well add seasonings to it put it on a cracker with a little bit of crab and I swear you will think you have died and gone to heaven.

Avocado mixture

• Lemon juice 
• Black pepper
• Salt
• Za'atar ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Za'atar) 
• Thyme
• Ginger
• Cayenne

Break time.....

Mahi Mahi (nut encrusted)

Mahi Mahi

Not really a recipe but still worth mentioning. It's a great dinner party idea. It's makes quite the plating. 

Mahi Mahi

Nut Crust 

Cashews- blended into fine pieces 

Parsley

Pepper

Cayenne

Garlic

(whatever else you want) 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line your broiler pan in tin foil. Brush the tin foil and the fish liberally with olive oil. Bake for 5 mins, remove from oven and dip in coconut milk and roll in nut mixture. Put back on the broiler pan and pat on the remaining nut mixture. Bake for a additional 5-10 mins until the top of the fish is browned and done.

Vegan Cuban Bread

Vegan Cuban Bread

Wow! Has it been a long time since I last posted.... Sigh ..... well here is a recipe for tasty Cuban Bread. It squashes flat but once you freeze it its not quite as "fresh" but I don't worry about that. It still makes great sandwiches,  Croutons, tasty bread slices for your favorite dip. No matter what this recipe is a award winner.

STARTER
3/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm water
1/3 cup bread or all-purpose flour

The day before baking; add the flour and yeast, mix then add water. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and put in fridge for 24 hours. 

DOUGH

4-1/2 tsp instant yeast 

1 Tbsp sugar

1-1/2 cups warm water

3 to 4 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 batch starter (see above recipe) * I always double this recipe (at least)

1 Tbsp Sea Salt

4 to 5 cups sifted bread flour

Add all dry ingredients to your bowl. Mix together than add the wet ingredients

Mix well with a spoon. You want to get a dough that is stiff enough to knead. 

Knead until smooth and elastic, about  8 -10 minutes, adding flour as necessary. The dough should be pliable and not sticky.

Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles its' bulk, about 60 minutes. Lightly deflate it. 

Ready to be divided 

Cut and ready to be rolled out

To form the loaves, divide the dough in 4 pieces. (This was a quadrupled recipe) Take your piece of dough and flatten fold the sides up and pinch them together really well.

Roll out each to form a 14-inch long tube, with rounded ends (sort of like a long meat loaf)

Ready to roll out 

Put 2 of the loaves on a baking sheet, about 6 inches apart. Cover with saran wrap and a dish towel and let rise in warm, spot until double their bulk, about 1 hour. If you want to let it rise at a slower pace, you can let it rise in refrigerator, let it sit for 4 hours instead. ( I always do personally)

 Preheat oven to 350 F. 

Lay a dampened piece of thick kitchen string or twine (about 1/8 " thick) all along the top length of the loaf. Bake until the breads are lightly browned on top and sound hollow when lightly tapped, about 30 Mins.

Cuban Sandwich