June 13, 2010

Strawberry Jam

I’m so excited that I’m able to talk about strawberries because it means that summer is just around the bend. I saw them pop up at the farmers’ markets a few weeks ago but avoided buying them because I knew it still wasn’t peak season. But after watching a video about making strawberry jam last night, there was no way I could resist any longer.

Tony and I love jam and we always find ourselves standing in the jam section, trying to decide what is the highest quality product for the lowest cost. I’ve seen small jars go for 7 bucks! I totally understand that it’s local and organic but sometimes I just can’t stomach throwing down that much money. I’m really excited that I picked up two pints of organic strawberries at the market today for only 6 bucks and it yielded 16 oz of jam. So, it really is cheaper to make your own jam if you’re used to buying the good stuff. And let me tell you… this homemade jam is DELICIOUS. It is so packed with intense strawberry flavor and is a beautiful deep red.

Although we plan on eating this within the next couple of weeks, I followed the standard canning process just to see what it was like, since I’ve never canned anything before. I picked up 12 adorable 4 oz  jars at Fred Meyer today for 6 bucks. Properly canned jam will last up to a year in your pantry. To learn all you ever wanted to know about canning, go to the USDA food preservation website. Also check out the awesome canning blog, Food In Jars.

What is canning?

Canning simply refers to the process of jarring food and ensuring that it is properly sealed so that it can be stored on the shelf for long periods of times. You know those mason jars with the weirdo two part lids? Those are canning jars. The awesome thing about canning is that you can buy foods at the peak of the season, can them, and have fresh, local food all winter long. You should probably start with new lids each time to ensure a proper seal. You should always sterilize the jars, lids and bands in hot water before use (don’t ever boil the lids – just get everything really hot). This is to ensure that all bacteria is killed. Jars are boiled after they are filled to create a tight seal and to also kill any remaining bacteria – this is called processing. Any large stock pot with a lid should do although there are pots marketed as “water canners”  like this one that come with handy racks so that the jars don’t touch the bottom of the pot. You can also buy racks separately. There are different processing times depending on the food, the size of the jars, and your altitude. Be sure to look up information that is specific to whatever it is you’re canning.

Strawberry Jam
makes 16oz of jam

*My recipe calls for much less sugar than most recipes. In my opinion, it has the perfect amount of sweetness that lets the freshness shine. It’s slightly more tart than store-bought, but I love it. It’s divine.

2 pints fresh strawberries, chopped
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

You will need:

A large pot with lid for heating and boiling jars
A large stainless steel skillet
Canning jars with lids and bands
Tongs for removing the jars
Rubber spatula

* A note on pectin *

Many jam recipes call for pectin. You definitely don’t need it if you’re making small-batch jam in a wide pan. But, if you’d like to use it, try Pomona - it’s sugar free and allows you to sweeten to your desired level.

Tutorial:

*If you’re going to can the jam for shelf storage – please read up on proper canning procedures*

Rinse and chop your strawberries:

Meanwhile, heat washed jars, lids and bands in a large pot but do not boil.

Combine all ingredients in your stainless steel skillet and boil over medium-high heat for 10-14 minutes, or until thickened. Be sure to stir constantly and rapidly to ensure the jam doesn’t burn or stick. At first the mixture may be extremely liquidy.

While cooking and stirring, be sure to skim off the foam. Some recipes tell you to do it at the end, I just did it as I went along. I have also read that you can add a small bit of butter or margarine to reduce foaming. Discarded strawberry foam:

At around 8-10 minutes once the mixture begins to firm up, drop a small spoonful on a cold plate, and place in the fridge for 1 – 2 minutes. If when tipped, the jam stays in place on the plate, you’re probably good to go.

Remove hot jars and lids from pot, dry them, fill with hot jam leaving a 1/4 inch of room at the top (this is called headspace), wipe the rims clean, place on the lids, and screw on the bands. Return the jars to the large pot of water and process them for 5 minutes. I didn’t use a rack since the processing time is so short and just placed them directly into the pot. Remove the jars and place on a tea towel or other non-cold surface to prevent cracking. Leave undisturbed for 12 – 24 hours to complete the sealing process. A properly processed jar will have a lid that does not bubble out, or give under the pressure of your touch. If you’d like to test a jar, unscrew the band and try to pull up on the lid – if it stays put, you’ve done it right. When the lid is pulled off, you’ll hear the distinctive pop sound of breaking an air tight seal.

There she is. Homemade jam. For whatever reason it has never occurred to me to make this at home, and now that I’ve done it, it’s going to be pretty difficult to buy store-bought again. It’s funny how something like making jam or canning sounds intimidating and laborious but is in reality, totally simple. I have high hopes for canning tomatoes, salsa and pickles this summer. I’ve been whining for so long about not having berries and tomatoes available to me year round (I refuse to eat out of season tomatoes and I only buy locally) – I should have started canning years ago.

Happy eating, folks. And don’t forget to grab those last bundles of asparagus! The end of the season is moments away!

Leave a Comment

Filed under *Jams and Jellies*, Strawberry Jam

Tags: , , , ,

May 31, 2010

Cinnamon Sugar Graham Crackers

Growing up, graham crackers weren’t a typical snack. I mean, sure. We always had the box of Honey Maid lying around. But, my dad and I didn’t mess around with dunking single rectangles in cups of tea… NO WAY JOSE! Rather, we would roll out of bed (or off the couch to make a snack), rip open an entire sleeve and WITHOUT A SHRED OF DIGNITY, crush the whole graham cracker brick between our strong hands into a cereal bowl, top with milk and eat. I’d usually wait for it to get soggy first – that was the key. We called it Graham Cracker Mush and as inappropriate as it was, it tasted really, really awesome. Anyhow, now that I’m a civilized adult, I do in fact dunk single crackers into cups of tea. The following recipe makes grahams so good, you will gladly eat them on their own – I recommend eating them at about ten minutes out of the oven, when they’re still warm and tender. They will also make your house smell AMAZING!

Cinnamon Sugar Graham Crackers

Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

1 1/2 cups graham flour (or whole wheat flour)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup non dairy milk (I used hazelnut)

I apologize for the following over-simplified instructions but… I’m tired. You ain’t no dummy… you’ll figure it out!

Mix the dry in a large bowl, make a well, and pour in the wet ingredients except the milk. Give the wet ingredients a quick stir in the well, and then incorporate until a crumbly mixture is formed. Slowly add the milk substitute and blend well. Knead the dough for a few turns and form into a soft ball. It needs to hold together well enough to remain in a smooth ball – if it doesn’t, add a tiny touch more milk.

Place the ball on a sheet of parchment on your work surface. Using your hands, shape into a rectangle and flatten with your hands. Sprinkle the dough with flour. Trying to maintain the rectangle shape, roll out the dough until you achieve approximately 10 x 14 inches – the book recommends an 1/8th of an inch. Keep in mind that the thinner you roll them, the crisper they will be. Mine ended up being probably 9 X 12 and I didn’t trim, and cut them into 8. This produced a cracker that doesn’t get extremely crisp when cooled – I like it that way. I used a pastry scraper to straighten up the outer edges, or you can just trim them off if they bother you (and you can reshape these or roll into new crackers). Then, cut the rectangle into 8 – 12 crackers (I used a pizza cutter). You can use the pastry cutter to define the individual crackers to ensure they’ll separate easily after baking – they don’t spread much at all. Sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, and poke holes in two columns using a fork. I also used the fork tines to pretty up the cracker edges.

Lift the parchment onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 12 minutes for softer crackers and 14-15 minutes for crisp crackers.

Ok dudes, eat up and stuff. I love you.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Graham Crackers

Tags: ,

February 12, 2010

Vegan Double Chocolate Brownies

So, this blog is going to be slowing down for awhile. Tony and I are both ridiculously busy with school, I have launched a new blog, The Weekly Graze. I absolutely want to KK to keep alive, but it might be a little quiet around here for the next few months. However, I did just post a brownie recipe on The Weekly Graze, and I’m going to totally post it here, too!

Let me start by saying, I am about to share a recipe for the best vegan brownies on the planet. That’s right.

I’ve been craving brownies for the last few weeks. Up until last night, I didn’t have a vegan brownie recipe that I trusted. So, I was wading through recipes both in cookbooks and on the interwebs and all of them were chock full of weirdo ingredients like coffee, tofu, and ridiculous amount of oil. Okay, maybe I can get behind coffee in brownies but, that’s just not what I was looking for. I was looking for a dense and moist, yet slightly cakey brownie, with the requisite shiny, crackly top layer. And I wanted a very chocolatey, very traditional brownie flavor. Y’all know what I’m talking about.

My preferred method with vegan cooking and baking is to take a traditional, non-vegan recipe and make straight forward substitutions for the non-vegan ingredients. This doesn’t produce a stellar result 100% of the time but I’ve found that the best vegan recipes are simple. So, I decided to take a Martha Stewart brownie recipe and make 2 simple substitutions: ground flax and water for eggs (this is a widely accepted practice) and Earth Balance for the butter.

The result is dense and fudgey, yet not too gooey and they definitely aren’t squares of cake. What they are is incredible. The flavor is totally insane – maybe the most delicious brownie I’ve ever eaten. I think the key here is to get high quality chocolate and cocoa powder because you’re going to taste the difference due to the sheer amount of chocolate in the recipe. And yep, they have the perfect crackly top layer.

Folks, I present to you the only brownie recipe you’ll ever need:

Vegan Double Chocolate Brownies
adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe

6 tablespoons of Earth Balance
6 ounces of semisweet vegan chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup of unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon (and maybe a tiny pinch more) salt
1 cup sugar
2 flax eggs - in a separate bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons of ground flax with 6 tablespoons of water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a buttered 8×8 square baking pan with parchment, leaving an overhang because you’ll be lifting them out later.

2. Put Earth Balance, chocolate, and cocoa powder in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stir until butter and chocolate have melted, let cool slightly

3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In a separate, larger bowl, put in flax eggs, sugar, and vanilla and mix on low-medium speed for about 2-3 minutes. Add chocolate mixture and mix on low until well combined. Add flour mixture and incorporate by hand with spatula, scraping down sides as you go, until well combined.

4. Pour batter into pan and spread evenly with spatula. Bake for about 40-45 minutes. Check them after 35 minutes – if you listen to them and they’re bubbling furiously as though not set and a knife comes out gooey, leave them in longer. I wouldn’t exceed 45 minutes unless after cooling they’re just not set, then you can pop them in for a bit longer. I cooked them for 35 minutes, found they were too gooey to cut, and put them back in for about 5-10 more minutes.

5. Lift out onto a cooling rack and let cool slightly for 15 minutes. Lift out using parchment overhang and place on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.

ENJOY!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Vegan Double Chocolate Brownies

January 5, 2010

ANZAC Biscuits

For the last month, it’s been cookie central over here at Karate Kitchen. Carolyn and I each baked cookies to mail home to our families for the holidays. And, we baked some cookies for a few holiday parties. And, we had to bake some test cookies to make sure that all of those cookies would turn out right. And, we baked some extras for ourselves. We figured it out and we baked something like 400 cookies in the month of December. We had planned to blog about some of the recipes, but, we found ourselves overwhelmed and we decided to strike that from our list of things to do. Plus, by the end of it all, we were kind of sick of cookies.

However, by that point we were also addicted to cookies. On the first day when our apartment was cookie-free, we were quite relieved. But, that night after dinner when we had no cookies for dessert, we were angry! Which is sad. So, we’ve been trying to wean ourselves from the treats. (Fortunately, we have some awesome italian nougat candy that my mom sent us. That has really helped take the edge off.) But, sometimes, you just need to give in and have a cookie! That was the situation I found myself in yesterday. I needed a cookie. It was raining out and I didn’t want to trudge off to the store, so, I had to make it with whatever I had in the house. I always have rolled oats around and I wanted to use those so I could pretend I was eating something healthy. I knew we had coconut because we sent macaroons to Carolyn’s mum. And, I didn’t want it to be super sweet, so, I thought I could make some kind of a biscuit. A quick look through some recipes and I decided upon ANZAC biscuits.

ANZACs are a traditional Australian biscuit invented during World War I to be sent by families to loved ones stationed abroad. Since they had to survive a long journey to the front, they are made without eggs or milk to reduce the risk of spoilage (this was also necessitated by war-time rationing). With this origin story, it may sound like the resulting biscuits would be boring or bland, but, that is not true at all. They are simple, certainly, but they are also delicious. Firm, chewy, and not too sweet with wonderful texture from the oats and coconut, these are a wonderful treat. And, since they already lack eggs and milk, they are super easy to veganize just by trading vegan margarine for the butter. I also think that you could replace some or all of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour and it would be quite good.

I’ve adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookies. It makes about 2 1/2 dozen biscuits.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups rolled oats*
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup vegan margarine
2 tablespoons golden syrup**
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position oven racks with one rack in the upper third and one in the lower third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, oats, sugar, coconut, and salt.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt margarine with syrup. In a small heat-proof bowl or measuring cup, dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Add water to butter mixture and stir to combine. This is going to bubble up quite a bit. So, be careful with it, but, don’t get scared when it happens.

Add butter mixture to dry ingredients and stir to combine. The dough will be pretty stiff. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop*** or a tablespoon, drop balls of dough onto baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Flatten balls with a rubber spatula down to about 1/4 inch.

Bake biscuits for about 6 minutes. Rotate baking sheets and bake for an additional 6 minutes. Biscuits should spread out and just be turning golden brown. Remove from oven and place baking sheets on cooling racks until biscuits are cool enough to be handled. Then, remove biscuits from the sheets and allow to cool completely on racks. The biscuits will be firm but still chewy. They are also pretty sticky, so, you may want to store them between sheets of parchment.

This recipe is dedicated to the Australian side of Carolyn’s family. It is also dedicated to Portland Trail Blazers point guard Patty Mills. OK, y’all. See you next time. Have fun!

* I always use thick cut or old-fashioned rolled oats, never quick or instant oats.

** I didn’t actually use golden syrup here. I’ve never actually seen it in a store that I’m aware of and I didn’t have it on hand. But, it is the official traditional ingredient, so, I thought I’d better tell you that. If you have it or you know where to get it, you should use that. I learned from the internet that you can substitute a mixture of two parts corn syrup with one part molasses in substitution for golden syrup. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I currently have a bottle of corn syrup in the pantry; I needed to buy it for some of the above-mentioned holiday cookies that I baked. And, really, I suppose that it is good that I found another use for it so that it doesn’t go to waste on the back of a shelf. In any event, if you do not have access to golden syrup, you can use 4 teaspoons of corn syrup plus two teaspoons of molasses in its place.

*** I used to have the opinion that using an ice cream scoop to portion out cookie dough would be a waste of time. Who wants to wash an extra thing just to have cookies that are all the same size? Well, I ended up buying one because I wanted the cookies I was baking for my family to be uniform to make it easier to pack them up. Well, let me tell you, I take it all back. Having an ice cream scoop is awesome! Yes, you have to wash an extra thing which is a drag. But, using an ice cream scoop to form drop cookies is so much easier than using a spoon or two spoons. And, frankly, having a whole mess of cookies that are the same size and shape is very nice. So, basically, I recommend getting a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop if you bake a lot of cookies.

Leave a Comment

Filed under ANZAC Biscuits

Tags: , , , , , ,

December 30, 2009

Tempeh “Chicken” Salad

I first became a vegetarian in the fall of 1994. I was a freshman in college and too much stress, too much coffee, too many cigarettes, too much booze, and a poor diet were giving me terrible stomach aches. Something had to change and it seemed like giving up meat would be the easiest solution. The problem was that I didn’t know how to properly feed myself. I didn’t really eat vegetables and I didn’t cook. I ended up eating a lot of breakfast cereal and grilled cheese sandwiches. I remember eating some salads of the iceberg lettuce variety. I was the picture of what meat-eaters imagine when they wonder what vegetarians eat. Suffice it to say, I got sick and I started eating meat again.

A few months later, I gave up meat a second time and I was more prepared. I bought the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home cookbook and learned a few things about nutrition. The Moosewood cookbook was good (it’s still good, I refer to it even now), but, it was a bit too sophisticated for my teenaged palate. Leafing through it now, it’s funny to think that it could have been so intimidating to me, but, at the time it really was. It was something about using fresh ingredients; I barely knew how to buy fresh herbs and vegetables, let alone prepare them. So, it was a revelation to me when I discovered Vegan Vittles by Joanne Stepaniak a while later. A lot of the recipes call for dried herbs and some of them even call for frozen vegetables. It had recipes for vegan mac and cheese and meatloaf and it introduced me to seitan and tempeh. It was accessible and it eased me into expanding my knowledge and ability in the kitchen. It is a great starter cookbook for new vegans and vegetarians.

As I learned more about cooking, what was a favorite cookbook at the early stages of my vegetarianism became a favorite reference when looking for recipes to adapt. Trading dried herbs for fresh and frozen vegetables for fresh, I started learning to adapt recipes which ultimately led to learning to create some recipes of my own. This tempeh “chicken” salad recipe is an example of that. It started as Vegan Vittles’ Fowl Play Tempeh Salad. Over the years, it has evolved into this and, I’ve been making it so long now, I don’t even think of it as vegetarian “chicken” salad anymore. I just think of it as the tempeh salad that I make.

So, three cheers for Vegan Vittles! I may have gotten here without you, but, I would not have done it nearly as quickly or keenly. Thank you, Vegan Vittles.

6 ounces tempeh*

1/2 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning**
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of vegan mayonaise
2 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons dill pickle relish

Steam tempeh for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. When it is cool enough to be handled, chop tempeh into 1/40inch cubes. Place in a mixing bowl.

Add all of the other ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir gently until well combined. This can definitely be eaten right away, but, I like to let it sit for at least 30 minutes to let the flavors all combine.

* I use Surata tempeh, which comes in 12 ounce packages. So, it’s pretty easy to use in 6 ounce amounts. But, this recipe is easy enough to adapt if you have more or less tempeh.
** poultry seasoning is a spice blend that usually includes sage, thyme, marjoram, and celery seed.

I generally don’t like my picnic salads to be very mayonaisey. In this case, I am using a fairly small amount and adding mustard and relish to make sure that the salad is not too dry. The result is pretty zesty and flavorful without being too greasy.

Enjoy!

2 Comments

Filed under Tempeh "Chicken" Salad

Tags: , ,

Older Entries