The Closest Thing to Not Matza

For those of you unfamiliar with Passover, it is the holiday dedicated to remembering the Jewish exile from Egypt. As the story goes, there was no time to let the bread rise and thus all the dough was baked immediately. The result was beyond flat-bread - it was dry, crunchy... Matza! During the holiday Jews are thus prohibited from eating leavened bread (and thus limiting themselves to matza), as well as not consuming the '5 grains' (rye, barley, wheat, oat, triticale/spelt).

As cooking has gone through much modernization
since the times of the Pharaohs in Egypt, we've also modernized the means to which Passover is followed...

This also means that Passover isn't limited to matza-ball soup, matza with cheese, matza with matza, or matza-free matza! Maztza pizza is a prominent staple on most Jewish Passover repertoires, as well as 'Matza-Lasagna'. Seeing as pasta isn't a far cry from matza (wheat flour, water, anything else?), you can see where I'm going.

Enough to feed any number of exiled Jews exhausted from 40 years in the desert awaiting their entry to the holy land...

Matza Lasagna:

- 1 pkg plain matza
- 1 large red pepper
- 1 8oz package cremini mushrooms (or other type), thickly sliced
- 1 large red onion, halved & thickly sliced
- 1 540ml container ricotta cheese
- 4 large leaves Swiss char, ribs removed, chopped & reserved
- 1/2 bulb garlic (approximately 8 cloves)
- 2 cups shredded mozarella cheese
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1 cup green olives, chopped or sliced
- 1 540ml can whole or diced tomatoes
- 1 540ml can pureed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp oregano
- salt & pepper to taste

Begin with the sauce, as it will take a bit of time to reduce as well as develop flavor. Cook the onion in olive oil in a large sauce pan on low heat, until beginning to brown (approximately 7-8 minutes). Salt the onion liberally, and add the swiss char's ribs (chopped), cooking 4-5 minutes longer. Add both cans of tomatoes, cutting up the whole tomatoes into bite-size pieces before adding to the pan. Lower heat and cover, making sure not to boil-over.

As the sauce cooks, turn on your oven's broiler. I am lucky and have a gas stove with a powerful gas broiler (open flame), but either way. Halve the red pepper and remove the core, and place skin-up under the broiler. I typically place peppers on the first rack below the broiler, but again, open flame gas, so use your judgment depending on your oven. As well, you may need to rotate them once or twice to get an even char so keep your eyes on it. As the pepper roasts take the garlic and, keeping the cloves attached by their membrane, cut off the root-base. Place this in the oven, under the pan, on the 3rd or 4th shelf to roast as well, about 15 minutes (to check, remove from the over and verify that the segments are tender all the way through, and not burnt). Mince the garlic when ready. Once the pepper is roasted, place in a bowl and cover with a dish towel until cool - the humidity will help in peeling the skin off. Next, the mushrooms can be tossed in olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Place the slices of seasoned mushrooms under the broiler to cook, no more than 5 minutes per side (until the mushrooms are browning at the edges). Remove from the oven and let cool. Pre-heat oven to 350*F. At this point, the sauce can be removed from the heat as well. Now in a glass bowl beat the egg with the milk, add the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella, 1/4 cup parmesan, the swiss char leaves, diced thinly and blend. At this point the red pepper should be cool - remove skin and slice thinly.

Now take a lasagna casserole (I used 13" x 9" Pyrex), and cover the bottom with sauce. Rinse enough matza to cover the bottom in warm-hot water (one swipe under the tap, each side). cover the base as well as possible. Next top the matza with the cheese mixture. Top with more softened matza, and tomato sauce. Top this with the sliced red pepper, mushrooms, parsley, and garlic. Place a layer of softened matza atop this and top with sauce. At this point you can add extra sauce and place another layer of softened matza, depending on the depth of your casserole. Otherwise, top with olives, a drizzle of olive oil, and the remaining cheeses.

Bake in oven at 350*F for 30 minutes, covered, and 10-15 minutes uncovered (until browned).


Enjoy!

How do you say "Ow" in Irish?

My throat hurts. Yes, that's all it is, but it hurts. Why does it hurt? Probably because of this tendency for mother nature to have its fun with us every year at around this time. Is it good weather? Is it still cold? What's that - the sun?! No, no, no, it's not. It's still winter everybody. And now I'm sick, having been tricked like a gullible dog into believing that the sun had taken over this gloomy gray world we call 'a Montreal winter'. So I woke up this morning barely able to speak. I'm still barely able to speak, and at this point my wife and I have played a year's worth of charades.

Needless to say I haven't been very hungry for much, and most of everything else hurts too much. And as much as I love lemons, and honey, and even tea, lemon-honey tea was wearing out it's welcome. I'd been thinking soda bread for a few days and realized it wasn't a bad idea (and definitely more fulfilling than cream of wheat - sorry grandma).



So here it goes - whole wheat Irish Soda Bread:

Preheat oven to 400*C

- 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (can substitute with Spelt)
- 1/3 cup rolled oats (or other rolled grains)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 4 tbsp butter, cold, cut into 1/4" cubes
- 2 tbsp caraway seeds (optional)
- 1 tbsp flax seeds
- 1 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 tbsp honey

Combine the flour, salt and baking soda together. Rub in the butter with your hands, or use a blender with the blade attachment until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in the rolled oats, and the caraway and flax seeds if using. Add the buttermilk and honey and blend well.

Dust your work surface with flour and turn out the dough, kneading to blend only. Shape into an 8" circular loaf and score with a sharp knife in the shape of an X. Place on the middle rack in your preheated oven, baking until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath, around 40 minutes.

Enjoy with butter in thick slices. Yes, thick. And don't be ashamed, this bread won't last. I'm half done and the night is still young.

Keeps best in paper or a loose plastic bag, around 2-3 days at room temperature.

Food Porn

So I haven't written anything new here in ... a while. First the excuse was planning a wedding. Then the excuse was having the wedding! Then it was relaxing. Then more relaxing. Then living. Breathing came into account once or twice. Then planning. Planning life. Planning our wonderful apartment. Planning our winter honeymoon to Paris. Planning much eating in Paris. Wow that planning was worth it, because I'm now married, better than ever imagined, with a beautiful wife, great apartment, and a stomach full of everything French. And besides coming back from France with ... a few pounds, I come back with a new liking. I think its weird. Most people think its weird. But nonetheless - http://foodporndaily.com/.

And yes I promise, more recipes, and more ranting... soon :).

Back to Basics

This is what I hear at work all day - "Back to Basics". We're a telecom after all, and selling our products and services is as important as selling our image. Not to say that the cute bunnies, friendly hippo, and catchy tunes don't do the trick but, well, customers need to feel that way throughout their time with us.

What I'm getting at here is the fact that I too tend to be too focused on the intricate, the different, and the innovative sometimes. Sometimes we need to focus on having a hearty, consistant meal. Lucky for me I think my ventures turn out well most of the time, but I might be a little biased ;). Sometimes the basics are what we need. Think supper after a long day of work... or just a lazy weekend. Whichever it is, I do have to warn you of one little thing - there is a little prep-work involved (what, you really expected less?).

Here's my favorite vegan-sausage recipe, which just so happened to be served alongside spaghettini and a fresh tomato sauce the night it was made. Like I said, back to basics. Think of this as your home's equivalent to spaghetti and meatballs.

Vegan Sausages:

makes 6

• 1/2 cup pinto beans (can also use kidney beans)
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 1/4 cup wheat gluten
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed (mortar & pestle works well)
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp paprika (smoked if possible)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground peppercorns (mortar & pestle works well with this too)
• salt to taste

Bring a steamer (or steaming apparatus) to a boil.

Puree pinto beans in food processor untill a smooth consistancy is reached. Mix all but wheat gluten in large bowl, adding pureed beans. Mix to blend. Add wheat gluten and mix well untill completely blended.

Cut 6 12"x6" pieces of aluminum foil. Divide the sausage mixture into 6 equal parts, shaping into 5"-long cylinders. Place each sausage on a peice of aluminum foil, wrapping losely. Place in steamer for 40 minutes to cook.

Can be broiled, barbecued, fried, broken up for 'sausage meat', etc.

Sausages can be kept in fridge 4 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. Recipe can easily be doubled. Can also be varied to include cheddar and brocolli (non-vegan), maple syrup and apples, or into a merguez variant where the fennel seeds are substituted for cumin seeds, thyme for the oregano, roasted red pepper coulis instead of the soy sauce, tumeric instead of pepper, and adding 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper.

Enjoy!

Passover ... the Joys of Not Cooking

So passover started on Wednesday night (April 8th), and being vegetarian, and Ashkenazi (of eastern-european Jewish decent) on the same holiday makes things... a little complicated. Fulfilling food becomes something of a commodity, but I figured I'd take advantage and write-up my recipes for my 'beef' and 'chicken' seitan faux-meats. Not doing much cooking makes you stop and think about everything you've already made, instead of the usual strive for something new and excitting... and completely and utterly un-kosher for passover. Four more days and counting...

Chicken Seitan: (makes 4 'breasts')

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup wheat gluten

Cooking Broth:

• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 heaping tsp sauge
• 1/2 tsp thyme

Prepare cooking broth first, mixing all ingredients in a large pot. Place on stove on high heat and begin preparing seitan; broth should be at a boil once seitan is ready to be cooked.

To prepare seitan, combine water and wheat gluten in a bowl forming a rubbery dough. Knead approximately 2-3 minutes. Cut into 4 equal parts and flatten each with the palm of your hand. Once cooking broth is boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and gently place dough into broth with a slotted spoon. Cover, making sure not to allow seitan to boil as it will become rubbery. Cook for 50-60 minutes or untill the broth has been completely absorbed. This may take as little as 20-30 mintues, while sometimes it may be necessary to partially uncover the pot for the last 10 minutes to allow the liquid to boil down.

Once finished, remove from heat, drain any remaining liquid and allow to cool completely before storing. Keeps in fridge 5 days max, or can be frozen 2-3 months.

The Last Piece of the Pie ...

I finished the last piece of pie I had from Thursday's 'tourtiere du Lac St Jean' (aka french-Canadian meat pie), and I have to say I'm sad. It satisfied a craving I'd had, and did it with a delightfully flaky, moist crust, and playfully chewy, flavorful morsels of 'meat. And by meat, I mean vegan-friendly meat alternatives. And by vegan-friendly meat alternatives, I mean a combination of Yves brand Original flavor Ground Round, and both 'chicken' and 'beef' flavored seitans (made from scratch, recipes to come). Combine these with Yukon gold potatoes, Calabaza squash, and thick brown gravy. Oh, and don't let me forget - truffles(!!!).

Crust:
for deep-dish 9" pie mold

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (can replace with white spelt flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces*
• 1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 tablespoons (about) ice water

*Omit butter and replace with shortening or margarine if a vegan crust is wanted.

Combine flour and salt in large bowl to blend. Add butter and shortening and rub in with fingertips until very coarse meal forms. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons water; toss until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if mixture is dry. Gather dough, divide in half, and flatten into disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour. The dough can be made the day before, keeping refrigerated. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

Filling:

• 1 pkg (350g) Yves brand Original flavor Veggie Ground Round
• 1 1/2 cups 'chicken' seitan, cubed
• 1 cup 'beef' seitan, cubed
• 1 cup french shallots, coarsely chopped
• 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes (approx 2 cups), cubed
• 1 cup Calabaza squash, cubed
• 1 (approx. 50g) small-medium sized desert truffle (between the size of a golf and tennis ball), thinly sliced
• 1 cup (approx.) brown gravy

Gravy:

• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water + 1/2 tsp vegan 'beef' bouilion powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp fennel seeds (lightly crushed)
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cornstarch

Combine ingredients omitting cornstarch in saucepan over med-high heat, bringing to a boil. Remove a few spoonfuls of liquid and mix with cornstarch in a separate bowl, blending well (making sure no clumps remain). Add to gravy mixture. Continue boiling until thickened, about 5 minutes. Should make approximately 1 cup of gravy. Set aside.

***

Preheat oven to 400*F

Preparing the 'Meats':

Heat non-stick skillet and cook seitan until well-done and lightly crisped, cooking 'beef' and 'chicken' separately (only required if textures differ, thus cooking time/temperature). Cook veggie ground round next, approximately 7-10 minutes, stirring constantly (effectively removing moisture and slightly 'crisping' meat).

Assembly:

Roll-out the dough on a lightly floured surface, fitting first half into pie dish, leaving approximately 1/2 inch overhang. Roll-out second half of dough and set aside. Combine meats with shallots, and pour 1/3 of quantity to form first layer of pie. Cover with slices of truffle. Combine potatoes with squash, and add half the quantity forming the next layer. Continue alternating meat, truffle, and potato-squash layers until complete. Pour gravy over contents, pouring evenly across filling. Top with layer of crust, crimping edges inward with fingers, and finishing by pressing edges with fork, sealing. Perforate top crust with knife, cutting approximately 12 1 inch slices trough dough.

Bake pie uncovered at 400*F for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 375*F and continue cooking for 25 minutes. Lower temperature to 300*F and cover pie with aluminum foil, baking an additional 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool.




Voila! Enjoy devouring :).

Sunday Morning

Seeing as its Sunday, I was in the mood for something just mildly sweet, mildly savory, and definitely on the grain side of things. Last night's meal had an accompaniment of corn-based 'Johnny Cakes', and it gave me an idea - porridge griddle-cakes.

*Makes about 8

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup mixed whole grains / rolled grains, lightly cooked
1/2 cup stone ground corn flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 cup fresh espresso (about 1 shot) + enough milk (or soymilk) to total 3/4 cup
optional small handful raisins, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp shredded coconut, 1 tsp sesame seeds

First make your mixed whole grains (or rolled grains) - I used equal parts rolled barley, spelt, rye and kamut, topped with about 1 tbsp each of quinoa, wheat bulgur, and spelt bran. Add about 1/3 cup boiling water and mix well. Let the mixture sit, covered for about 5 minutes to cook.

Next, mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl, add the cooked grains, maple syrup, and the coffee/milk mixture.

Heat a non-stick pan to medium heat and drop mixture by large spoonful, cooking until bubbles start appearing on the surface of the griddlecakes. Flip and cook another 2-3 minutes, until golden brown.

Top with maple syrup, agave syrup, or just sprinkle with a mixture of sugar/lemon zest.

Yumm!