Christmas Feasts!

Ahhh Christmas, a time of many dinners and gatherings; all full of food that will either kill me or fails to be vegan. So in other words, it is a time of cooking a plethora of meals for all the aforementioned gatherings. So I designed myself a menu of lentil soup, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts and cranberries, and potato & sauerkraut pierogies; Not all at one of course. That would be a ridiculously large amount of food, not that I object to that at all. I may have spent the entire day in the kitchen but I cannot really object to that at all either. Now after my little intro, I think some recipes are in order...

Lentil Soup

2 cups lentils, green or indigo*
4 cups water
1 bunch carrots
2-3 teaspoons thyme, preferably fresh
3 bay leaves
~2 cups kale leaves, roughly chopped
Red Wine Vinegar

Mix the bay leaves, the lentils, and the water together in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30-45 minutes, then add the thyme and and carrots, chopped. Simmer for another 1-1.5 hours, until the soup is nice and thick. Add kale leaves and mix in well, cooking for another ten minutes. Add red wine vinegar as taste individually in your bowls.

Brussel Sprouts and Cranberries

4 pounds brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

1/2 cup fresh cranberries
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. On 2 large rimmed baking sheets, toss the brussels sprouts with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 40 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the sprouts are tender and browned in spots.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the cranberries, maple syrup, ginger and lemon zest. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until the cranberries break down and thicken, about 10 minutes. Pour on top of hot Brussels sprouts, mix and serve.

Now, for the tour de force(in my mind, anyway)
Potato & Sauerkraut Pierogies
Dough(I recommend doubling this, or tripling if it's a larger group):
2 Tablespoons margarine or shortening (I finally found Willow Run margarine, which makes me unimaginably happy. Yes, I'm easy to please).
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water

For filling, just make some mashed potatoes and buy some sauerkraut(if you make you're own you're twice as cool though)

Cut the dough into the flour with a fork, and mix in the water a bit at a time with your hands until it reaches the proper consistency. It may be a bit more or a bit less than it called for, whatever feels right to you and holds up well. Press between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick, more towards the former. Cut the pastry into ≈2 inch diameter circles, put a generous spoonful of the filling in the center, and fold them together. Press the edges together so there are no holes in the pierogies(I found this quite difficult, try making them a bit wet when you do this and it seems to help some). If you're confident that you actually made them stick together well enough, you can boil them for ten minutes to cook them. If not, just pan fry them until each side is golden brown. Serve hot. These also freeze well for later.

*Indigo lentils are a bit more expensive, but lentils all in all are dirt cheap anyway so there's not much complaint there. They hold up much better during cooking than any other ones(green ones hold up well though, I would avoid red or white for such a soup). Lentils are the third highest of any plant source in protein(after soy and hemp), high in iron & vitamin B1, and low in fat. Combining this with the fact that they're cheap and you're set; one of my favorite foods.

Light Rye Bread

My favorite bread to eat regularly, especially as toast(though I lack a toaster or any proper condiments for said toast anymore. I didn't make jams this last season and am greatly regretting it at this point[Don't trust "fruit pectin"]), is a nice rye bread. They are an excellent in-between the lightness and blandness of a white bread and the heavy richness of something like a pumpernickel. To boot, they have a much more appealing and mellow taste than other breads such as wheat or spelt do(though I don't have much experience in the latter, to be honest). Basically, a well made rye bread is the perfect eating bread in my world and since I'm the person writting this bloody thing, that's what matters. The original recipe called for honey instead of maple syrup but I subbed in due to the vegan in me disliking using honey and because I only use raw honey, which is more expensive in my mind than maple syrup. It may not be on paper but it's a bit late for correcting it now. Anyway, here's the recipe:

Light Rye Bread (Vegan)

2 (1/4 oz) ounce packages of dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water(105-115F, this is important to not kill your yeast but still activate it)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup(warm up the syrup before you mix it or make your water hotter; if not, the syrup will make it too cold for the yeast to truly activate)
1/4 cup molasses (I use blackstrap, works fine)
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp caraway seeds(opt.)
1 cup boiling water

2 cups rye flour
3 1/2 - 4 cups white flour

Directions

Mix the warm water, maple syrup, and yeast and mix them well in a bowl. Let stand for the yeast to rise and make a froth on the top(if using honey, mix water and honey to dissolve it, then add yeast). Mix the boiling water, molasses, caraway seeds, salt, and oil. Mix well and let cool to room temperature. Mix the yeast mixture with the molasses mixture(if you're too impatient, you will kill your yeast and your bread will not rise.)

Mix in all the rye flour and two cups of the white flour and mix well. It will be very sticky. Add in the white flour 1/2 cup at a time until it is firm and sticks together(instead to your hands or mixer all over the place). Knead the bread for 10-12 minutes and oil the outside of the bread well. Let double in size, punch down, split in half, and let double in size again. Bake at 350˚ for 30-45 minutes. The bread it done when it sounds hollow when tapped with butter knife. Rub the outside with olive oil while still hot to make the bread moister and better tasting.

Pumpkin Bread

I feel like the name of this post is a bit of a misnomer, but I assure you that I am not trying to trick you. This is indeed a post for pumpkin bread, just not the pumpkin fruit bread that may come to mind. Pumpkin, being the amazingly versatile gourd that it is, can easily take the place of water in the majority of recipes for bread with fantastic results. The bread produced is slightly heavier but much moister and even better - it retains that moisture over a fair amount of time. White bread is especially notorious for drying out quickly, so it works best in those recipes. Surprisingly, the pumpkin has very little effect upon the flavor of the bread. If that's good or bad I'll leave up to you. I'll give an example recipe below, subbing pumpkin in a simple french bread recipe:

Pumpkin White Bread

4 C Flour
1 1/2 t Salt
3 T Oil
1 pkg yeast (I don't know if I mentioned this before but the only safe yeast I know of is Red Star in the individual packets)
2 T Pure Maple Syrup
1/3 C Warm Water, 110-115 degrees
≈1+ C Pumpkin Puree

Mix yeast, warm water, and maple syrup. If your maple syrup is kept in the fridge, you'll want to warm that up as well or your yeast will never activate. Mix is ready when it is bubbly (foamy).

Mix flour, salt, and oil together. Add yeast mixture. mix well. Add in the full cup of pumpkin puree. Work this into the bread by hand and see if the consistency is proper(you'll have to go with you gut on this one); add more pumpkin puree a bit at a time until the consistency is correct. Knead for 12-15 minutes. Grease bowl. Rub butter on dough, place in bowl, cover and allow to rise for 1 hour or until double in size. Punch down. allow to rest 5 minutes. Cut dough in half. Grease desired pan. Butter dough. allow to rise 1 hour or until double in size. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

If you wish to make your own pumpkin puree out of a seasonal pumpkin(I made it with cooked puree leftover from the real pumpkin pie we made, but if you get a pumpkin of the right size you could do both). Follow the steps to make you own puree:
1. Choose a small to medium size sugar pumpkin(they retain the sweetness the best) and wash the outside well, you're not peeling until after cooking.
2. Cut off the stem, scape out the guts(keeping the seeds*). Cut into pieces and put into a saucepan with a few inches of water.
3. Cook the pumpkin until it it is soft. Take out of the pot, let cool, and scape from the skin. The soft consistency will make this easy.
-You can also bake the whole or halved pumpkin in a 350˚F oven until it is fork-tender.
*Pumpkin seeds can be enjoyed raw or roasted and are an excellent form of plant based protein, zinc, and iron. They are so full of energy they were once rumored to be an aphrodisiac (and still are occasionally). I've also read they can be put straight into bread with good results as well(though I think you'd want to shell them first).

If you try this recipe out with a darker form of bread(wheat, rye, etc...), let me know how it turned out!

Fenugreek Tea

I said I would look into the tea and lo and behold; here we are. It's very easy to make with a very unique flavor. I had two of my friends try it as well and while we all found it appealing, it is somewhat difficult to put your finger on. I would say it tastes lightly of molasses or maple syrup. It has a mellow sweetness with a deep, cooked flavor. It is often compared to slightly burnt sugar but in more of a caramel way then a burned way. It's commonly sweetened with honey when drunk but I think if one put a dried date in the pot while it was being made or even while it's soaking afterwards it would give a delightful flavor. Here's how you make it though:

Put one teaspoon of whole fenugreek seeds in a pot per cup of water. Boil vigorously for five to ten minutes, remove from heat. Allow the seeds to seep in the water for another ten to fifteen minutes, strain them out, and drink while still hot(you can refrigerate it for later if you want but I don't know how good it tastes cold).

Channa Masala

Ohhhhh how I love Channa Masala. It's involved with my somewhat unnatural love of chickpeas and basmati rice; two of my favorite things. The fact that they're both dirt cheap to buy is just a boost. I found a recipe with pictures online that I used the first time to make the masala. It's a very basic and easy recipe to use so I've been varying it ever since. Here's my last variation that I did:

Channa Masala:

3 medium potatoes, cut into reasonably bit sized pieces

2 cans chickpeas

1 large onion(don't use a sweet onion here, you'll want the full flavor), sliced into crescents

2 medium/large tomatoes(I would say use something like beefsteak tomatoes; it originally calls for canned tomatoes but I can never actually seem to find ones that don't have citric acid), chopped

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

5-6 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 tablespoons minced ginger, fresh

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons garam masala

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon whole fenugreek seeds*

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2-1 teaspoon cumin(if you have cumin seeds, use 1 tsp of those and add them with the onions)

1 whole dried red chili pepper(you could use around 1/4 tsp of ground cayenne instead if you have that; just do it to taste)

1/4 cup golden raisins(optional, and thompson raisins work just as well)

Basmati rice

1. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds in the pot(use a large one) for a minute or two; this will help reduce bitterness.

2. Add in the olive oil, onion, ginger, and garlic and fry until the onions are lightly browned. Add in the tomatoes and cook for around five minutes(try to break down the tomatoes a bit).

3. Put in the salt, garam masala, coriander, turmeric, the chili pepper(crush it in your hands but don't make the mistake and touch your face until you've washed your hands. Warm to say the least) and cumin(unless you added the seeds, of course). Mix well and add the potatoes; stir until the potatoes are all well coated with the spices and then add three cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Wash the chickpeas well in a colander and add to the mixture. Add the raisins at this point as well if you want; they help mellow out the harsher flavor of the spices and puts in a nice sweet surprise every once in a while.

5. Bring to a boil and simmer for another 10-15 minutes. Serve hot on basmati rice.

*I never really realized how useful these seeds are until I read about how to properly use them. They are used in cooking for their flavor, are components in artificial maple syrup and vanillas, can be made into a tea, and apparently are supposed to help women lactate. Don't be afraid of it's bitterness; the flavors that can be done with this are extraordinary(most spices are bitter initially anyway. If you don't believe me go to your spice cabinet and try tasting them. You'll see what I mean fairly soon). I think I'm going to try to find a way of making the tea to see how it is though.

Carrot Beet and Ginger Soup

Courtesy of a friend of mine, I have an excellent and simple recipe for a carrot-beet soup. The only downside? It involves using mustard, which is ungodly hard to find because pretty much all of them have the ambiguous "natural flavorings" or white distilled vinegar, neither of which can be trusted. So I substituted ground mustard and rice vinegar(I think cider would work fine as well). The recipe calls for an equal amount of beets as carrots but since I use the smaller bunch carrots(which you always should if you're making soup, as they are much sweeter and better flavor) I always use more carrots than beets. Probably because I like carrots more than beets as well, but whatever.

Carrot Beet and Ginger Soup

7 carrots, roughly chopped

7 beets, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

2 tablespoons dark amber maple syrup

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Peel the beets and chop them well. Don't bother peeling the carrots, just scrub the outside with the rough side of a sponge then chop.

2. Add olive oil, ginger, beets, and carrots to a large pot and saute until soft.

3. When soft, add maple syrup, vinegar, and ground mustard and stir well. Add water until the vegetables are covered and bring to boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

4. Put the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper as needed.

Compounding Medicine

Corn, the insidious beast it is, not only invades our food supply but also our medicine supply. I recently got a script for Amoxicillin(the common penicillin antibiotic) from the University doctors and went over to the CVS to get it filled only to have my suspicions fulfilled: they have corn in both the tablets and liquid solution; this was on top of the fact that purely corn-free antihistamine does not exist for some reason, so you'll actually need to get that compounded as well. However, since people working at CVS only have Bachelor's degrees and are what Nurses are to Doctors in a hospital, competent but not the one you want committing surgery upon you, you can't get your medicine there because they have no idea how. You have to go to a compounding pharmacist(which apparently used to be called a formulary, according to my parents), where the head Pharmacist has a doctorate degree. Not only that, you have to get your doctor to write the script specifically for it being compounded and being corn-free(do call the pharmacist to find out exactly what they want though, I'm sure it varies). The little tidbit of advice I have is to sort this all out as soon you can, preferably before you're coughing up half a lung like I was during this process because it's quite likely that your doctor has never written a script for a compounding pharmacist and that unless you happen to be lucky, the pharmacy is probably somewhat far from you. A nice introduction to this issue can be found at: Corn-Free Compounding
So by all means, good luck and take care of this early. Also, curse the corn-production industry on your way to the pharmacy.