Daring Indeed, Part II

In the last post, I wrote about making vegan savory lasagna for my first Daring Baker challenge. I ate one piece, then fed the rest to the neighborhood critters. Unsatisfied with my mediocre results, I took notes on how to improve the dish, and then devised a plan for a sweet take on the recipe.

I began with a basic set of ingredients. Lemons, blueberries, and pine nuts. Simple, tart and sweet. I created a pine nut pasta dough for the lasagna along with a tofu-based lemon cream, and lemon sauce. I used unadorned blueberries in each layer, adding more to finish off the top.

My Mister and I tried a piece the night I made it. While it was good, it was really good the second day after sitting in the refrigerator overnight. By the third day, it was heavenly. Then it was gone.

Needless to say, this recipe needs its rest for the flavors to congeal. One thought I had after making it was that I should have doubled the lemon sauce recipe not only because I could not stop licking the bowl after making it, but also because the sauce's sweet tartiness adds even more depth to the lasagna. If you try it, let me know what you think...


Lemon Blueberry Lasagna

Step 1.

Pine Nut Pasta Dough

1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 3/4 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (ground)
3 Tbs cane sugar
zest from one lemon
pinch sea salt
About 1 1/3 cup cold water
2 Tbs lemon juice

Whisk flours, ground pine nuts, sugar, lemon zest, and salt together. Add lemon juice and cold water slowly to make a spongy dough. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for about 20 minutes or until satiny smooth and very elastic when pulled. Wrap the dough in a damp towel to rest for 30 minutes.




Using a regular-length rolling pin, divide the dough into quarters and roll out one-quarter of the dough at a time while the rest of the dough is wrapped in the towel. Lightly dust a work surface with flour; shape the dough into a ball; begin rolling it out to form a circle. Turn the disc a quarter turn frequently. As it thins out, roll the disc back on the pin a quarter of the way toward the center and stretch it gently sideways by tracing the palms of your hands over the rolled- up dough. Work from the center of the pin outward. Unroll, turn the disc a quarter turn, and repeat. Do two more times.

Continue to stretch and even out the center of the disc by rolling the dough a quarter of the way back on the pin. Then gently push the rolling pin away from you with one hand while holding the dough in place on the work surface with the other hand. Repeat three more times, turning the dough a quarter turn each time.




Repeat the two processes as the disc becomes larger and thinner. The dough should have an even thickness. For lasagna, the sheet should be thin enough to see your hand through it. Cut into rectangles. Dry the pasta on a drying rack, cloth-covered chair backs, or broom handles. Store dried pasta in sealed container or bags.




Step 2.

Lemon Cream
Adapted from Sweet and Natural, by Meredith McCarty

1 1/2 pounds soft or medium tofu
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1 vanilla bean (seeds scraped)
1/2 cup lemon juice
pinch of sea salt

Puree all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate until ready to assemble lasagna.

Step 3.

Lemon Sauce
Adapted from Sweet and Natural, by Meredith McCarty

1 1/2 cups rice, soy, or almond milk
3 Tbs brown rice syrup
3 Tbs maple syrup
2 1/2 Tbs arrowroot powder
scant 1/16 tsp turmeric
3 Tbs lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, whisk dairy-free milk, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, arrowroot powder, and turmeric and bring to a boil. Let simmer for several minutes, then turn off heat and whisk in lemon juice. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to thicken sauce.

Step 4.

Blueberries

Rinse and drain about 6-8 handfuls of blueberries (fresh or frozen). Set aside.

Step 5.

Cook the pasta.

For this recipe, I used about 2/3 of the Pine Nut Pasta Dough to fill a 9-inch square baking pan.

Bring two pots full of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with cold water and set aside. Drop about four pieces of pasta in the water at a time. Cook fresh pasta for about two minutes and dried pasta about four minutes, taste and continue cooking if necessary. The pasta will continue to cook during baking, so it should be barely tender. Lift the lasagna from the water with a slit spoon or spatula, drain, and then slip the bowl of cold water to stop cooking. When cool, lift out and dry on paper towels. Repeat until all the pasta is cooked.

Step 6.

Assemble the lasagna.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9-inch square baking pan. Begin with an overlapping layer of pine nut noodles, well drained. Add generous spoonfuls of lemon cream. Add a few spoonfuls of lemon sauce and two handfuls of blueberries. Repeat for four layers. Add extra lemon sauce and blueberries on the top layer. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate overnight for optimum flavor.



Step 7.

Serve.

Cut lasagna and spoon drizzles of lemon cream sauce.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

Daring Indeed, Part I

This month, I joined The Daring Kitchen, an online baking and cooking group. I signed up as both a daring baker and a daring cook. Each month, a new recipe challenge is given at the beginning of the month for bakers, and in the middle of the month for cooks. Group members keep the recipe challenges top secret until their respective reveal dates, the 27th of the month for bakers, when all is divulged.




Driven by my incessant need to swap one ingredient for another; to create a some times harmonious alchemy of flavors; and to be a member of a baking and cooking group that works in tandem on secret recipes – I just had to be part of it.

Especially since I have been trying to experiment with cooking and baking with natural sweeteners and whole-grain flours. I use less sweetener than most recipes call for by pairing maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave nectar, or raw honey with sweet fruits and vegetables, such as bananas, dates, applesauce, sweet potatoes, prunes, as well as fruit juices. I also try to use less dairy and eggs, although there are times when no other ingredient can replace them in flavor or texture. I often substitute soy, rice, or almond milk for cow’s milk, flavored nut creams for heavy cream, and flax seeds, bananas, tofu, or Ener-g Egg Replacer for eggs, and mild-tasting vegetable oil (grape seed oil, sesame oil, etc.), prune puree or applesauce for butter, and occasionally nut cheeses for dairy cheese.

Lately, I have had a few mixed results. Some recipes turn out flavorful alternatives to their original; others are eaten for one meal then stealthily offered to the squirrels, bears, fox, and crows beneath the overgrown pine looming in the back yard. This includes my first daring baker challenge: home made lasagna. I could have easily made creamy vegetarian lasagna with meatless red sauce, béchamel sauce, Parmesan cheese, and spinach noodles. Yet, I didn’t. This is perhaps where I went wrong.

I stripped the pasta dish of its richness and built it back up with too little oomph. I ate one helping before calling it quits and served the remaining lasagna to the backyard critters. Maybe I expected something closer in flavor to cheese melted into tomatoes, chard noodles, and cream – instead the tofu, nuts, and tomatoes tasted somewhat acidic and unbalanced – not bad, but certainly not great.

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

The challenge included making spinach egg lasagna noodles from scratch, a white béchamel sauce, and a country-style ragu sauce. Since I wanted a lighter dish I substituted a simple red sauce without meat, a tofu-based béchamel sauce without butter or milk, and a nut-based ricotta for the Parmesan cheese.




Making lasagna noodles by hand for the first time presented the most difficult step since the dough had to be quartered for lack of counter top space and then rolled, turned, and nudged until the air pockets have popped. I followed the pasta dough recipe in Cooking the Whole Foods Way, by Christina Pirello. I replaced the spinach with chard, the all purpose flour with whole-wheat pastry flour and semolina flour, and took the eggs out adding sea salt and cold water instead. The key, I found, is to mince the greens until they are small dots before combining them with the flour and salt. Hint: use a food processor or very sharp knife. Then slowly add water.

Next, the dough gets kneaded, stretched, and thinned until translucent and then slung on the back of a chair or across the rungs of a baking rack to dry. While the pasta dried, I made both sauces.




I used the béchamel sauce recipe from Robin Robertson’s Vegan Planet, which called for grated onions sautéed in olive oil, raw cashews, white wine, soy milk, silken tofu, sea salt and black pepper, and a small sprinkling of nutmeg.




In place of the country style ragu sauce that called for veal, pork, and beef, I made a simple tomato sauce (also from Vegan Planet) with canned tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine, olive oil, onions, garlic, sea salt, black pepper, and fresh parsley.




As a substitute for the Parmesan, I use the nut ricotta recipe with raw cashews, pine nuts, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, nutritional yeast, and sea salt found in Living Cuisine by Renée Loux Underkoffler.

With the sauces were made, I boiled two pots of salted water and dropped a few dried noodles in for four minutes each and then placed the cooked noodles in a cold water bath to stop them from cooking. After each noodle was cooked, cooled, and drained, the layering began.

A fine layer of béchamel sauce was spread on the bottom of the oiled baking dish before a layer overlapping lasagna noodles. Another layer of béchamel went atop the pasta followed by tomato sauce, béchamel, and some spoonfuls of nut ricotta.




In the end, the home made chard lasagna noodles along with the tomato sauce were delicious, while the béchamel sauce and nut ricotta needed a bit more tweaking until the flavors could dance on my tongue.

Not all was lost. I learned how to make home made pasta and the critters beneath the pine tree enjoyed every last bite.

stay tuned for Daring Indeed, Part II: the sweet lasagna...

one for you and one for me

One of my favorite all-time high protein snacks can be eaten in one bite. Nutty Carob Truffles are not only melt-in-your-mouth addictive, they're also a cinch to make.




Nutty Carob Truffles
Adapted from Tassajara Cooking, by Edward Espe Brown

1 cup of nut butter (peanut, cashew, almond, macadamia nut, tahini, etc)
1/2 - 3/4 cup honey (depending on taste)
1/2 cup wheat bran or wheat germ
1/2 - 3/4 cup carob or cocoa powder (use same amount as honey)
1 teaspoon vanilla

sesame seeds (toasted)
unsweetened coconut flakes (toasted)
nuts (toasted and chopped)

variations:
add chopped dried fruit, nuts, sunflower or sesame seeds to the truffle mixture
replace vanilla extract with 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of peppermint extract




In a medium saucepan, gently heat honey and carob or cocoa powder. Bring to a light boil for about two minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and quickly add nut butter, wheat bran or germ, vanilla, and optional variations; mix well. Roll mixture into small balls and coat with toasted sesame seeds, coconut, or chopped nuts. Let rest on a sheet of parchment paper or plate. Share.

Goin' Back to Cali

We're planning a trip to California next month and so far, San Fransisco is beating Los Angeles. Maybe you can help us decide where to go (keep in mind we have a 10-month old babe!).

Things to do in the San Fransisco area:

Heart of the City Farmer's Market
Ferry Building Farmer's Market
Chinatown
North Beach
SFMOMA
Greens Restaurant
Zuni Cafe
Mara's Italian Pastry
Stella Pastry Cafe

Chez Panisse Cafe
Napa Valley
Sonoma Valley

Things to do in Los Angeles:

Getty Museum
Kogi Korean Barbeque Taco Truck
Cannoli Kings
Eagle Rock Italian Bakery and Deli
Farmer's Market, 3rd and Fairfax
Mann's Chinese Theater
Motion Picture Hall of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame


Any suggestions?

A rustic mash

Sweet with a hint of spice and earth, Tuscan kale belongs to the Brassica napus family (along with cabbage, broccoli, and brussel sprouts). Its long blue-green leaves are bright and crinkly.

On Tuesday afternoon, we picked up our farm share and brought home two bunches of Tuscan kale (also known as black kale, dinosaur kale, and Laciniato), and immediately went to work making kale chips and fava bean spread.

It helps that I planned ahead for this dish by soaking the beans in several inches of water the night before. After I woke up the next morning, I drained and rinsed the fava beans and removed their skins before cooking them for three hours in several inches of water with a bay leaf and one-half stick of kombu.

When pierced with a fork, the beans were very tender and almost mashed themselves. Reserving about 1/2 cup of soak water, I drained the beans then removed the bay leaf and kombu before refrigerating them.

Then the kale arrived and I knew exactly what to do with it. Rinse, drain, and cut the dark leaves on either side of its lateral stem. Then cut each leaf in half cross-wise.

The kale was dressed lightly in olive oil and sea salt, baked at 250°F for thirty minutes or until they turned toasty and crisp. Just to let you know, you will not stop with one or two chips.




Yet, this leafy green chip is no scooper. Instead it demands a spread instead of a dip. Kale chips are papery thin with the slightest crunch and mineral flavor. Paired with Tuscan-style fava beans, the flavors are a succulent match.

Spread the kale chips with a thin coat of fava beans mashed with: garlic, green scallions, crushed rosemary, olive oil, bean water, lemon juice and its zest, a sprinkling of sea salt and cracked black pepper, and finished with finely chopped fresh parsley leaves.




Serve this dish as a hearty appetizer or for dinner on a week night with a few swigs of wine.

I dare you

If you've ever eaten sweets stuffed with bean paste before, then you'll smile knowingly when I say that I am utterly smitten with these gems: Aduki and Black Bean 'Pudding' Brownies.

If not, I recommend that you forgo any dismissive thoughts about combining beans, chocolate, nuts, vanilla, and cinnamon, since you will surely regret the chance to try such a sweet and tangy dessert. Besides, these brownies are rich in protein and flavor, so they are good for you.

These flour-less brownies are more fudgey pudding than chewy cake in texture. No matter, they are better in this creamy dish. It is only fair that I warn you ahead of time, these brownies are rich yet light enough to take snack on throughout the day. So, don't be the least bit surprised if after two days, they have suddenly disappeared, one heaping spoonful at a time. In short, these brownies are dangerous and should not be reckoned with.

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks' Amazing Black Bean Brownie Recipe, this version has been stripped of dairy and eggs and offers several optional substitutions from the original. Coconut oil and a small amount of prune puree stand in for the butter. Aduki (sweet-and-sour) and black beans (sweet flavor) are combined to balance and enhance the sweet flavor of Mexican-style chocolate. Since the chocolate is already sweet, less sweetener is needed in the recipe. Together, the maple and brown rice syrups add a long caramel finish without being overpoweringly toothachey, with a soft tanginess throughout.




Aduki and Black Bean 'Pudding' Brownies
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks, by Heidi Swanson

Yields 1 9 x9-inch pan full (for more pudding texture–my favorite...) or
11 x 18-inch rimmed baking or jellyroll pan (for fudgier texture)

5 ounces quality Mexican* or dark chocolate (vegan)
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
1/3 cup prunes, puréed
2 cups very smashable aduki and black beans (drained well)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 vanilla bean split (seeds scraped)
1/4 cup (granulated) natural coffee substitute
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
6 teaspoons Egg Replacer mixed with 8 Tablespoons of warm water (stirred well)=4 eggs**
3/4 maple syrup and brown rice syrup (evenly divided: pour half brown rice syrup then fill rest with maple syrup)

Soak 1 cup each of aduki and black beans overnight. Cook with a 1/2 inch strip of kombu (to soften and enhance digestibility of beans) in several inches of water for several hours or until beans are very tender. Or use canned beans, 1 cup of each.

Preheat the oven to 325º. Lightly grease a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with melted coconut oil, dip a pastry brush into the melted oil.

Melt the chocolate and coconut oil in a glass measuring cup or bowl in the oven. Stir with a wooden spoon to melt the chocolate and coconut oil until smooth. Transfer the drained beans, 1/2 cup of walnuts, 1/3 cup prunes, the scraped vanilla bean, and 3 Tablespoons or so of the melted chocolate and coconut oil into a food processor. Blend until completely smooth and thick. Place to the side.

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts, remaining melted chocolate and coconut, coffee substitute, and sea salt. Mix well and place to the side.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg replacer and water with a whisk or electric mixer until incorporated. Add the brown rice and maple syrups. Place to the side.

Add the bean and chocolate mixture to the coffee chocolate mixture. Stir until well blended.

Add the egg replacer and syrup mixture. Stir until well blended.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. For a deeper dish square baking pan, bake 60-75 minutes, until center is set. For a flat rimmed baking pan, bake 30-40, until center is set. Let brownies cool before cutting, store in the refrigerator where they will firm up.

*Mexican chocolate contains powder milk, sugar, cacao beans, cinnamon, and vanilla
** substitute 2 smashed ripe brown bananas for eggs or 3/4 cup blended silken tofu

Really, now – you can't resist these.

on my nightstand

• notes for a new black and aduki bean brownie recipe (stay tuned)

• Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table, by Ruth Reichl

• The Writer, April 2009

• The New Yorker, March 9, 2009, March 2, Feb 23, & Feb 9 & 16

• Veg News, March - April 2009

• Organic Gardening, April 2009

• The Oxford: Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus, American Edition

• The Art of Eating, by M.F.K. Fisher

• Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, by Azar Nafisi

• No one belongs here more than you. Stories by Miranda July

• Roast Chicken and Other Stories, by Simon Hopkinson


Tell me – what's on your nightstand?

in the works

Several new photo projects are in the works at the art and lemons headquarters.

1. Inspired by The 50 States Project, I am starting my own photo project titled These 50 States. The first assignment is to photograph habitat.

This project follows "The 50 States Project" in which 50 photographers document the state they live in for a year. The images must reflect both the state and the photographer's style. Every two months a new assignment is given and the photographer's have two months following to complete one image.

dots over whately (Massachusetts)

2. The 365 Project: a photo a day.

living room ceiling (365/3.2.09)

Thanks for viewing.

flowers in snow

the fog returned and smeared the flowers – soft white.

before snowfall

A savory quiche boasting fresh herbs, Gruyère and Emmentaler cheeses, onions, and cremini mushrooms plated with an arugula salad is a satisfying meal any day of the week, but especially on a Sunday afternoon before snowfall.




The leftovers taste even better the next morning alongside an apple cranberry pecan muffin and a hot cup of black tea. Outside, snow gathers on the steps until the flakes no longer exist. Plow trucks drive by, and pack two side walls even higher. The mail box is nearly buried so the mail may not be delivered. But, who cares, there is food to eat.