Not bread, but a terrific dish

Saw a review of Robin Robertson's Vegan Fire & Spice (Woodstock, VA: Vegan Heritage Press, 2008) that made it sound interesting, so got it from the library. Tried the Baked Mahogany Tempeh-- terrific!

1 lb tempeh, cut into 2 inch bars
1/4 c soy sauce
2 TBS mirin
2 TBS agave nectar or brown rice syrup
2 garlic cloves
1 tsps chopped fresh ginger
1/4 tsp grd coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne
grated zest of 1 orange

Poach the tempeh in simmering water for 30 minutes. Place the tempeh in a shallow baking dish and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour the marinade over the tempeh and marinate at room temperature, basting often, for 30 mintues to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake the tempeh, basting often with the marinade, until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Serves 4.

I used only 1 TBS of sweetener, and am not really convinced that's necessary. We baked for about 20 minutes, as the oven was reaching the temperature, so wasn't near the heat or time called for in the recipe. Still delicious.

Will buy the book. Other recipes look equally inventive and interesting.

Last of 08

Had a query about starter, so decided to grow one of the starters to share. And the coop had Chirstmas Ale on sale. Hence, bread using the Wychwood Bah Humbug! Christmas Ale, and the San Francisco sourdough starter, officially the Last Bread of 2008!

The starter working


loaves formed, ready for rising


here's the ingredient list:

Last of ‘08

Organic whole wheat bread flour
Organic whole wheat flour
Ground flax seed
Hemp seeds
Soy powder
Amish organic cornmeal
Soured soy milk
Wychwood Bah Humbug! Christmas Ale
San Francisco Sourdough Starter
Kosher Salt
Organic canola oil
Agave syrup


the loaves baked



and the crumb

Irish Wholemeal Bread

Made up loaves from a bag of King Arthur "Irish Wholemeal Flour" -- haven't tasted yet, and didn't let them rise enough since my time was limited. Here are the finished loaves:



and the dough, resting



and the San Francisco Sourdough, busily growing -- although after some nine years, it's Central Ohio Sourdough at this point!



Here's the recipe:

Irish Wholemeal Bread

KA Irish Wholemeal Flour
Amish organic cornmeal
Organic whole wheat
Organic soy powder
Al Blyth honey
Hemp seed
San Francisco sourdough starter
Soy milk
Organic canola oil
Kosher salt

Mixed 11/16/08
Baked 11/18/08

Obama Victory Bread

Baked this on Election Day! Since we had to be at precincts at 5:30 a.m. to be election officials, put the loaves in the oven on a timer, and baked for a shorter time than usual since I knew they'd be sitting in the warm oven all day. The formed loaves rose overnight -- made with a combination of hard and soft winter wheat that I ground coarsely in the VitaMix. Should have let the loaves rise longer, but couldn't because of the election day requirements -- so they're not quite as high as they could have been. But the coarse flour gives a great texture.

Whole Grain Whole Wheat

Coarse ground winter wheat
King Arthur First Clear flour
Organic cornmeal
Organic high gluten flour
Ground flaxseed
Hemp seed
Al Blyth's honey
Columbus Pale Ale
Sour soy milk
Kosher salt
Organic canola oil
New England starter

Mixed 11/2/08
Baked 11/4/08

Wholly Rye

Some soy milk soured, so bread was the result; and since I'd just gotten some First Clear Flour from King Arthur, that suggested a rye. Here's the resulting three loaves:



And one loaf, isolated; it's brighter because it was taken with a flash.



and the recipe:

Wholly Rye

Org. Rye Flour
K.A. First Clear Flour
Soy Powder
Org. Cornmeal
Org. High Gluten Wheat Flour
Agave syrup
Kosher Salt
Hemp Seed
Ground Flax Seed
Black Sesame Seed
Whole Cumin Seed
Whole Coriander Seed
Whole Flax Seed
Sour Soy Milk
Columbus Pale Ale
Giza Sourdough Culture

Mixed 9/16/08
Baked 9/17/08

The high gluten flour was mainly used to feed the starter. Haven't tasted it yet; the aftermath of Hurricane Ike's winds on Sunday meant no power since then to Ann's studio, so we had to empty the refrigerator and freezer there, which has taken up a good part of the day!

Rye Again

UPDATE: the twenty-one year-old tofu was fine; see next entry for more details. Sorry the Cleveland Tofu Company's no longer in existence!

baked rye again, with more organic flour than usual; didn't have time to grind flour as I'd planned, so picked up some Amish organic rye flour at the Coop. Timing was off--had an errand after loaves were formed, and hoped they'd rise sufficiently for baking when I got back; they hadn't, but I had to bake anyway. So the loaves are pretty small. Haven't tasted them--they went straight to the freezer.


the barm, working away. Used the King Arthur "New England" starter that's been working for me for the past eleven years.


here's the dough.


Organic Rye
Amish org. rye flour
King Arthur First Clear Flour
King Arthur pumpernickel
King Arthur white rye
King Arthur rye blend
Org. corn meal
Org. whole wheat
Ground flax seed
Hemp seed
Caraway seed
Black sesame seed
Ground dill seed
New England starter
Kosher salt
Org. canola oil
Org. barley malt


the dough separated for four loaves


the baked loaves

Not bread, but ancient tofu

No bread this week (still working on the whole wheat from last time), but came across a container of Cleveland Tofu hidden in the freezer. According to the container, it was on sale in 1987 -- for $.29! Here's the container, recovered after 21 years--


and the tofu itself, thawing. We'll try it tonight and see how it's survived all that time; the Cleveland Tofu Company no longer exists (its founder, Bob Carr, remains very active in the natural healing world and is now back in Cleveland, at the East-West Center), and it now costs a whole lot more than 29 cents for a pound!
UPDATE: Had chunks of the ancient tofu, pan fried and then added to stir fry. Still good, after all this time!



So how did the tofu remain hidden in the freezer for two decades? Tucked in a back corner. And since we get fresh tofu a couple of times a week, and it's now readily available not only at the Coop, but at Asian stores, and even at the commercial Giant Eagle and Kroger Supermarkets nearby. No longer a speciality item difficult to obtain; and it's a long, long time since we had to make our own (although we still have the pressing box).

More bread next week--and I have grain to grind for the flour this time--

Just Whole Wheat

Another request from Ann: she wanted loaves of plain whole wheat, to take to a week-long workshop with Sheila Waters, a master calligrapher who lives in southern Pennsylvania. Wanted them plain since she wasn't real sure about how adventurous some of the other folks there might be. So here's the result: just plain whole wheat.



from above



and a closer view of the crumb, a bit blurry. Good taste, if a bit bland!

Whole Wheat

King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
Organic Amish Whole Wheat Flour
Organic unbleached white flour
Organic cornmeal
Ground steel-cut oats
Potato starch
Ground flax seeds
Ground hemp seeds
Organic barley malt
Organic canola oil
San Francisco Sourdough starter
Columbus Brewing Ohio Honey Wheat Pale Ale
Kosher salt

Barm mixed 7/6/08
Loaves shaped 7/8/08
Baked 7/10/08

Baked five loaves. Then Ann's plans for the workshop changed (in part due to my getting sick), so she'll be going in October. Loaves are in the freezer; we'll see if they last until October!

And an odd side note: the blogger folks notified me Friday that this blog had been identified as a potential spammer, and it was being suspended while they checked it out. The freeze of the blog ended today (perhaps obviously). No idea how that happened, or what about posting recipes for bread and photos of bread managing to trigger the 'whoops! Spammer!' response. One of the dangers, I guess, of automatic content programs.

Sprouted hard wheat loaves

After Ann read about the process of a local bakery's sprouted wheat bread at our co-op, and brought home the flyer, I decided to give it a try. So here's what I came up with.



the finished loaves



the starter, bubbling away, several hours earlier

Sprouted Whole Wheat

1 cup org. hard wheat berries, sprouted
1 cup hard wheat berries
1 cup org. cornmeal
7 cups King Arthur trad. ww flour
1 cup hemp seeds
1 cup ground flax seeds
Blythe honey
Kosher salt
King Arthur “New England” starter
soy milk

Grind the wheat berries, both whole and sprouted, mix with remaining ingredients. After rising, bake in oven preheated to 400 degrees F, lowering to 375 degrees
after putting bread in over. After 20 minutes, rotate loaves. Continue baking until done, approximately 20-25 minutes more.

here are the berries, sprouted, before being ground in the VitaMix:



the stack of sprouting trays



and the sprouted wheat

The resulting dough was a bit slack; decided to leave it that way rather than add yet more flour to stiffen it. It rose in our cool kitchen for several hours before being baked. For some reason there's a vaguely lemony aftertaste to the bread. As usual, toasts well. Next time, will go for a slightly stiffer dough. Two of the loaves were backed in the Chicago Metallic loaf pans, one in a ceramic pan we picked up several years ago at Penland (it's the higher, domed loaf in the center in the photo above). Both give decent results.

Whole Wheat Rye

Baked another whole wheat/rye combination over the weekend, in preparation for the visit of our USNavy daughter, her USNavy (ret) husband, and their nine-month old daughter -- our granddaughter (aka the most adorable baby in the world; see www.summerprentice.blogspot.com for irrefutable proof of that unbiased statement). Here are the various steps:


6:30 p.m.,5/10/08: "New England" starter working and growing. I put New England into quote marks; I obtained the starter from King Arthur Flours in February, 1997, so I figure after it's been being used regularly in Central Ohio for eleven years, it's probably more a Central Ohio starter than a New England one.


7:23 p.m., 5/10/08: the barm formed; total of about five cups of flour in the barm


3:12 P.M., 5:11/08: the dough mixed--added a lot more whole wheat flour than I'd planned, in part because--without thinking--I added the entire bowl of starter, so there was a lot more liquid than there should have been.


7:56 a.m., 5/12/08: the dough, risen after overnight in the refrigerator. I'll insert the recipe here:

Whole Wheat Rye

Stutzman Farms Whole Wheat
King Arthur Whole Wheat
King Arthur First Clear Flour
King Arthur White Rye Flour
King Arthur Organic Pumpernickel
Stutzman Farms Corn Meal
Soy milk
Ground Flax Seed
Barley Malt
Kosher Salt
Organic Canola Oil
New England Starter



8:21 a/m/ 5/12: the loaves formed, ready for the second rise; I used the basic overnight rise method that Peter Reinhart used in his wonderful whole grains bread book; the ingredients minus starter mixed, then refrigerated overnight, while the starter is fed and expanded. Then on the next day (or the day after, for that matter), after the refrigerated barm is brought to room temperature (usually about three hours), the dough is mixed with the starter, then allowed to rise, loaves formed, risen, and then baked.


1:47 p.m., 5/12/08: risen and ready (if not over ready) for the oven). I had to run some errands and midday was the only time that could happen; when I got home, Ann was cleaning the oven. So the second rise was longer than it really should have been; indeed, you can see that the second loaf from the left (the one in the ceramic pan that we got at Penland several years ago) has begun to fall a bit. The two loaves on the right are rising in Chicago Metallic Pans, while the one on the right is in a long banneton, so it'll go on the ceramic baking sheet directly on a little corn meal base.


3;00 p.m., 5/12/08: the loaves baked--oven preheated to 450 degrees F, then lowered to 350 degrees F when loaves placed in oven. Baked for a total of 50 minutes, until internal temperature reached 200 degree F. Routinely use a ceramic baking pad.

Observations: the dough was slacker than I usually make, and the freestanding loaf flattened out a bit. Ann actually sees that as a plus; better for slicing at the table, she says. Not sure I agree, but there we are. Haven't tasted it yet, so will have to update once we've actually cut into one of the loaves! It'll be the freestanding one; the three baked in pans are already in the freezer.

Whole Wheat Olive Pesto

no time to bake, what with some involvement at the Clintonville Community Market whose Board I've been elected to, and staffing a polling place for elections to the Clintonville Area Commission. So here's a recipe from the past:

Whole Wheat Olive Pesto

3 cups King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat flour
1 cup Barley Flour
1 cup Millet Flour
1 cup Teff Flour
1 cup Org. corn meal
1 cup Chopped burgundy olives
1 cup Grasmere pesto
1/2 cup Ground flax seed
1/2 cup Whole hemp seed
2 TBS Org. canola oil
1 TBS Succanat
3 tsp Kosher salt
1 cup "New England" sourdough starter
1-2 cups milk

mix dry ingredients. Add oil, starter, milk. Knead until smooth. Let rise until doubled in bulk, which will be several hours or overnight in the refrigerator. Punch down, shape into loaves, let rise again. Preheat over to 450 degrees. When loaves are ready, place in oven, and reduce temperature to 350. Bake twenty minutes, then rotate loaves, and continue baking until done (about 20-30 minutes) and internal temperature is at 200 degrees. Remove from oven, cover with cloth towels, and let cool.

Whole Wheat -- and a terrific Indian restaurant, Banana Leaf

Baked some rather plain whole wheat loaves over the weekend; no photos, and they're meant as basic sandwich loaves:

Whole Wheat

King Arthur Organic Whole Wheat
Daily Grind Corn Meal
Soy Powder
Ground flax seed
Organic unbleached white flour
Blyth honey
Kosher salt
Giza sourdough

Mixed 4/3/08
Baked 4/4/08

Far more exciting was the discovery of a southern India vegetarian restaurant on Bethel Road, Banana Leaf. More about them at http://www.bananaleafofcolumbus.com/

Because of a Calligraphy workshop, we had visitors from out of town--Ann's first teacher and calligraphy mentor, Lisa Rogers, now of Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, and Sandy Wagner of Indianapolis. So I searched for vegetarian restaurants on the web, and had a couple of options. They went for Indian, so we went to Banana Leaf. And thought we'd died and gone to culinary heaven. Buffet, with a fixed menu. And wonderful, wonderful food. Served dish by dish by the proprietor, who explained in detail what the food was, what the ingredients were, and how it was prepared. We've found a new standard place! So between the world-class Dragon Fly NeoV, the comfort food Whole World, and the downhome Benevolence, we can now add spicy and terrific southern Indian food at Banana Leaf. Yahoo!

Great food from Whole World

Still eating rye bread, so no baking this week. And we're busy with the primary approaching in any event. So we ate out, at a favorate local place--

Whole World Restaurant and Bakery is one of the vegan glories of Clintonville, now celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. Happy to say we've been regular customers since Dan and Kim Otanicar opened the joint. Stopped by yesterday for soup (Ann had the minestrone, I had the tomato-peanut--both terrific, as usual). Brought home a couple of other dishes for later. Here's the nachos, on blue corn chips with black beans, avocado, tomatoes, onions, and a bit of soy cheese


and here's the Moroccan Stew--flavorfilled and terrific


The vegegarian meetup group is planning to eat there on March 22nd--unhappily, we'll be out of town, and so will have to miss. Too bad!

Did a large batch of pumpernickel bread this past weekend; mixed the barm on Friday, mixed the dough on Saturday, combined the two on Sunday, then formed the loaves and baked on Monday. Rich taste; recipe follows the two photos of the loaves, already in plastic bags on their way to the freezer!





Pumpernickel Rye

King Arthur First Clear Flour
King Arthur Pumpernickel Flour
Daily Grind Corn Meal
King Arthur White Rye Flour
Oat Flour
Mashed Potatoes
Ground Flax Seed
Hemp Seed
Caraway Seed
Cumin Seed
Sesame Seed
Kosher Salt
Organic Barley Malt
Molasses
Soy Milk
Budweiser Beer

Rice mixture

been experimenting with various kinds of rices lately, after years (literally) of only brown rice, organic brown rice, or basmati brown rice. So here's a photo of the newest batch, a mixture of black, red, and brown (darker than before) rice. We're grateful for Japanese groceries locally, a byproduct of the Honda plant in the northwest quadrant of the Greater Columbus area, and the demand for Japanese food products from the management and worker teams brought in from Japan.



there's a bit of a bitter aftertaste; we're trying to isolate what it might be from. Tried a small amount of black rice cooked separately, and that wasn't it. So will try the red rice next-----

Double Rye

Having gotten a shipment from King Arthur, made up a variation of their version of Peasant Rye:

Double Rye Bread

King Arthur Organic Pumpernickel Flour
King Arthur First Clear Flour
Daily Grind Cornmeal
Oat flour
Organic gluten
Mashed potato
Caramel color
Ground flaxseed
Hemp seed
Caraway seed
Chopped dried onion
Chopped burgandy olives
Solar salt
Soy milk
Potato water
Barley malt
instant yeast
Organic canola oil


decided not to use any of the sourdoughs I have; will see how the loaves taste with regular yeast--it's been a long time since I baked any breads without a sourdough starter, so it feels a little odd--but today is the only day I had available, and the rest of the week will be packed, so there really won't be time to do the whole aging process. Expediency seems to be necessary this time around--

the dough after mixing



after the first rise



in the pans, ready for the second rise



and the loaves, after baking--

Butternut Squash!

A six pound butternut squash demanded attention; here was the result: a casserole with tofu, green beans, onions, garlic and almonds, adapted from a recipe found on the web



and a soup, adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetable Soups cookbook, which is supposed to be garnished with seared radicchio and pumpkin seed oil--tried the soup a couple of months ago--the pumpkin seed oil was a nice finishing touch, the seared racicchio seemed a bit precious--

Mostly Whole Wheat

The most recent loaf--last of 2007!

(Mostly) Whole Wheat Bread
Org. Whole Wheat Bread Flour
Stuzman Farms Org. Whole Wheat Flour
Daily Grind Cornmeal
Soy Milk
Columbus Pale Ale
Ground Flax Seeds
Hemp Seeds
Org. unbleached flour
Honey
Org. Canola Oil
Kosher Salt
Giza Starter
12/29/07 Baked 12/30/07

This batch really had oven spring, as you can tell from the Brobdingnagian growth on the loaf; wasn't rising much, so I put it in the oven and baked. This was the result! Used both soy milk and ale because I ran out of soy milk and didn't want to open a new quart--the Giza starter is from Sourdoughs International, while the honey is from Kentucky, the gift of a visiting Kentucky playwright (thanks, Nancy!)