Book update

I haven't had the chance to cook much, by cooking here I mean something other than eating salads and bread/soup. I was however able to add two more recipes to my Traditional Portuguese Food Veganized e-book.

Açorda de alho e coentros / Cilantro and garlic bread stew (I couldn't really find a translation for Açorda and it is a sort of bread stew thing)

Tempero para Azeitonas / Olives seasoning

Pumpkin Pie

My first attempt ever at a pumpkin pie. The thought of making one had crossed my mind many a times in the past but we don't have any canned pumpkin puree and buying a whole pumpkin was a bit out of my budget. But last week I had access to a kostenlos pumpkin! And so I set my plan in motion.

I would first make this pumpkin puree and then attempt the pie. I first cut the pumpkin in half and removed the seeds setting them aside for a later venture of roasted pumpkin seeds omomomom. To roast them I placed them in a tall baking tray with some water in the bottom and covered them in foil.

They were in the oven for an hour at what is suppose to be 200ºC or about 400ºF. This is sort of speculating as I'm previously working an an older than me gas oven. It was burning at the top gas mark possible. As the pumpkin halves were freed from the oven they were filled with water I took care to dispose of.

I just took out the flesh with a spoon and made sure to try and extract as much water as possible with the aid of a hand masher. Having no cheesecloth available it did not go as well as I would have wanted it too. But it was also not bad.

My plan of blending the pulp straight away after straining also failed. My blender would not do this one thing for me. So I bid my time and lived to bake another day. After removing as much water as possible I set the pumpkin puree aside in the fridge in plastic containers.

I now regret not having weighed the pumpkin which would have allowed me to determine its food cost. The pumpkin you see in the photo yielded 6 cups of pumpkin puree for a total of about 1,7 ~ 1,8 Kg.

In the next day I tried to strain a bit more water but not much was leaving the building. I used a store bought crust which is accidentaly vegan and for the filling I used:

3 cups of pumpkin puree ~ 850 grams
1 cup of soy condensed milk ~ 330 grams - currently in Portugal I only have the Continente brand available. I find it too sweet and almost too corn sirupy but meh.
2 lemons, the zest
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

With the aid of the soy condensed milk the blender worked and blended everything into a nice pulp. At first I feared using the pulp as is without adding some extra flour as it seemed too liquid for me but I needed to try it anyway to have a measure for comparison.

It baked for about 45 minutes at what is suppose to be 200ºC or 400ºF. The result was as I expected a pie a tad on the liquid side. But I was still able after cooling it to cut a clean slice.

A nice idea was to dust it and caramelize it with some powdered sugar.

For the future I plan on buying silken tofu and making my second attempt at a pumpkin pie with the remaining 3 cups of pumpkin puree.

Roast bananas

This is a too simple dessert. Yet too good.

With the oven at 180ºC (350F) roast the bananas for about 10/15 minutes.
Peel the top section and dust with powdered sugar.
Eat.

Mashed sweet potatoes with coconut milk

This side dish of mashed sweet potatoes is sure to keep you warm in the coming cold weather. Depending on which part of the world you are that is. I guess if you eat it cold it is sure to keep you fresh in the coming warm weather.

I wrapped an 800g (1,7 pounds) sweet potato in foil after cutting into it a bit. It was in the oven at 180ºC (350F) for about an hour and a half.

Then I mashed the pulp while still warm with the aid of a tablespoon of vegan butter. I added 6 tablespoons of coconut milk while mashing. It was pretty nice. I chose not to add any salt or pepper because I enjoyed the extra sweetness of it all.

I used a hand potato masher by the way.

Roast veggies dip

I had some mixed veggies in the fridge which would most likely spoil if I didn't take the extra free time I had before going to work so I decided to make a roast veggies dip. I used the equivalent of:

1/2 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 average sized eggplant, I used the 3 mini ones as you can see in the pic, they weighed 285g total
2 tomatoes
1 head of garlic cloves

I wrapped the bell peppers and garlic cloves in foil.
The eggplants and tomatoes I sliced in half and layed face up in the oven.

I allowed the veggies to roast for about an hour at 180ºC (350F).

Then discard the skins for the bell peppers, tomatoes and eggplants and save the pulp. As for the garlic cloves, just squeeze them out. Then with the aid of a hand blender grind to a pulp. Correct seasonings with some salt, pepper, olive oil and enjoy!

Slaw with caper vinaigrette

To make the slaw I just used:

250 g Purple cabbage (aprox. half a pound)
250 g Cabbage (aprox. half a pound)
1 tbsp Lemon juice
5 tbsp Soy Mayo

I shredded the cabbages and mixed the mayo and lemon juice in.

For the caper vinaigrette I blended:

2 tbsp Capers
1 tbsp Mustard
6 tbsp Olive oil
2 tbsp Cider vinegar

Then I just folded the vinaigrette in.

Seitan strips Sandwich with Fiddes Payne American Steakhouse seasoning

I remember buying this in Berlin at LIDL at a discount for only 2,99€. I had previously bought the Jamaican version in Portugal for aprox. 4,99€. The smell is wonderful so I decided to cut off some thin strips off of a seitan block and sautéeing it in:

Butter, I usually go with Alprosoya
American steakhouse seasoning
Garlic powder, just a little extra because it's so delicious
Lemon juice
White wine

There are no measures because it was freestyle. Also as with most of my recipes I don't marinate the seitan before using it because I already give it flavour as I'm making it.

I ate it in a Prokorn baguette left over from work. The team that closes the store gets to take home some of the leftover bread. My favourite is the prokorn croissant but it's like catching a rare pokemon :(

The smell of this american steakhouse seasoning is so intense and vegan I decided I should make an american variation of the base seitan using this spice!!

Book update

I've been working a lot mostly night shifts so I haven't had much time to cook. Also, I mostly eat breakfast, then soup at work, then something extra when I get home if I'm still hungry. In the last few days I've only managed to get some work done on the book.

Like I mentioned in a previous post I'm workin on two books. One focusing on how to make seitan & use it. The other one is on portuguese traditional food veganized. Also, like I mentioned I'm working on different base recipes for the seitan than the ones I had developed for the seitan products company because of legal issues I don't want to possibly have in the future.

As for the How to make Seitan & How to use it. I have:
1/3 base recipes, still missing all the pics and support videos
0/20 variation + application recipes with pics

As for the Traditional Portuguese Food Veganized I have:
3/50 recipes with pics.

I decided on 50 recipes for this book. I hope I can accomplish this goal. beeeeeeeenkyyyoooooo.

These are their pictures (please read with a Law and Order intro voice)

Bife de Seitan à Marrare / Marrare Seitan steak

Gaspacho alentejano / Gazpacho the Alentejo way

Seitan assado à Padeiro / Seitan Padeiro style roast

Mushroom red wine risotto

I prefer red wine risotto to white wine risotto, and I always use the same ratios.

1 cup of Arborio rice
1/2 cup of Wine
6 cups of Stock

To make this mushroom risotto, first prepare the mushrooms in advance. Just sautée them in some olive oil with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Set them aside.

1st step: Sautée 1 small Onion diced, or preferably about 3 shallots also diced if you can get some in 2 Tbsp of Olive oil.

2nd step: Add the rice and keep stirring, allow the rice to open up a bit.

3rd step: Add a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and follow with the red wine. Allow the rice to absorb the wine, and just then add the mushrooms.

4th step: Start adding the stock one cup at a time while cooking the risotto in medium to low heat. I prefer to use mushroom stock for this recipe when I have it on hand. You can also just use water, but in this case don't forget to add extra salt to taste.

If you take your time and cook your risotto one cup at a time, you can have a great creamy risotto without adding any extra butter or cheese. Just be sure to eat it right away or the creamyness will fade away.

Oven veggie pasta

As it gets colder I start to crave more oven food. I really enjoy eating a steaming hot dish straight from the oven with a lovely salad on the side. Mmmm what if I oven baked fries right after I fried them....

The ratios for this oven dish were:

300g cooked Pasta (3 cups)
250g cooked Brocolli florets (1+1/4 cup)
350g cooked Brussels sprouts, in halves (1+3/4 cup)
750 ml Tomato sauce (3 cups)
120 ml Soy cream (1/2 cup)

Mix everything up to the tomato sauce and spread on a baking dish.
Drizzle with the soy cream on top.
Bake at 180ºC or 350ºF for about 20 minutes.

The ratios were actually based on what veggies I had around to use. You can use peas, green beans, even mushrooms, and you can totally use more broccoli than brussels sprouts.
You can also use less tomato sauce if you prefer a drier dish and are not completely obcessed about tomato sauce.
Also it is super sweet if you have access to some vegan cheese (that melts good) to mix it in as well.

Peach Cobbler

Peach Cobbler and any kind of fruit you would probably prefer to eat other than peach Cobbler all follow the same guidelines. Some saucy fruit preparation on a baking dish with a runny is this going to turn into a cake sort of concoction on top. Bake and eat.

Being as I use canned peaches, and I actually enjoy eating them out of a can straight, if you will try to make this with fresh peaches just add in some extra sugar to taste.

1 large can of Peaches (in Portugal it's 840g  or 30 oz)
60 g of Sugar (or 1/4 cup)
1 Tbsp of Maizena (or any other corn starch)

Chop the peaches in pieces or slices, and cook them for a few minutes on low to medium heat with the sugar and the Maizena. Just keep stirring so it doesn't stick to the pan. When it's nice and sticky icky move it on to a baking dish as is.

Then you'll need:

120 g Flour (1 cup)
120 ml Soy milk (it's almost 1/2 cup)
60 g Butter (it's about 2 Tbsp) if vegan butter in your country isn't already mushy even after being in the fridge, be sure to let it out for a bit before you do this.

Just mix everything together, trying to crumble it. If you have a sort of kitchen aid thingie you can do this there, just use the paddle attachment.

Pour this batter on top of the peaches and bake at 180ºC (or 350 F) for about 15 to 20 min.

Mushroom sauce on fries

I love fries, too much for my own sake. I think fries are great with anything, curry, tomato sauce, chili, mustard and cream. And on this particular occasion, mustard with soy cream and mushrooms. When using frozen mushrooms, brace yourself water is coming, to your sauce that is.

Sautée:
1/2 small Onion, diced
1 Tbsp Olive oil
Add:
250g frozen Mushrooms (half a pound)
1/2 tsp Salt
Leave it at medium heat for at least 5 minutes, the mushrooms will take a while to cook. Then dispose of the excess liquid. Return to the heat and add:
1 Tbsp Mustard
4 Tbsp Soy cream
Stir, and enjoy on top of fries. I know I did :>

Strawberry milkshake and getting started on some book writing

I have started working on two e-books. One will pertain to how to make seitan at home (a multi-purpose kind of seitan, seitan chorizo and a seitan specially made for thin slicing for sandwiches, pizzas and salads). I am working on developing new improved recipes for the book, as the previous ones are from a project I embarked with on a friend to create a company of seitan products here in Portugal.

The first seitan experiment didn't go so well as I was using a petroleum grade soy sauce I bought by the gallon at the chinese supermarket. Maybe the restaurants are suppose to dilute it with some water? This is what my otherwise pinkish seitan looked like.

I think the colour actually turned out ok, the problem was I couldn't taste anything but the soy sauce. Which isn't necessarily bad if that's what you're going after, and don't spend a lot of money on spices and herbs you will never taste >D

Still, they made for some nice Lisbon style steaks. Though I'm pretty sure they make them the same way all over the country. Also called pregos, they were super delicious on bread with mustard. Also a nice idea, is to soak up the bread in the sauce on the pan before assembling your super delicious sandwich. This second experience pertains to the second book, I'm also starting to work on with the theme of Portuguese Traditional Food (veganized).

If anyone from Portugal is reading what are your favourite portuguese traditional recipes?

Also more ratios, because most recipes are just that. Proportions of ingredients.

For a strawberry milkshake I like to use 100g of frozen strawberries to 350ml of Soy milk. That's about 3,5 ounces of frozen strawberries to 1,5 cups of soy milk. I don't use any sugar as the soy milk is quite sweet already.

Chocolate chip cookies

Mmmmm cookies. Can I haz a tower of cookies?

Sure, just follow the instructions. This recipe will yield something depending on the size of your hand.

Unless you use some kind of measure, then it should be pretty accurate from that moment on provided you stick with it.

Whisk all of this together:
125 g Brown sugar
100 ml Oil
1 tsp Vanilla extract
4 Tbsp Water

Then mix the following ingredients in a large bowl:
250 g Flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Salt

And pour the previously whisked contents in. Mix well.
And for the not so secret ingredients add chocolate chips to taste.  That can be anything from a lot to really a lot.

Bake at 180ºC (356ºF) untill the cookies are looking fine. (Shouldn't be more than 10/15 minutes depending on overall size and thickness)

Since store bough chocolate chips are so expensive where I live. I usually either cut them up from a chocolate bar manually with a knife. Or I break the chocolate into pieces and grind it in one of those pulse grinders. The pulse grinder option will result in more chocolate dust than the hand cutting version but I like it all the same. Plus that extra chocolate dust gives the cookies even more flavour.

When I use the pulse grinder I also do more chocolate than I really need. I just save what's left on the fridge as mise en place for the next time I need it.

Also, I use the recipe as a ratio for ingredients. I sometimes do 2x, 3x or even more the recipe depending on my needs.

Kiwi chutney

This kiwi chutney is really tastylicious, you can eat it on normal crackers but it's really good on top of some freshly cooked naan.

5 Kiwis
1 Tbsp White wine vinegar
1 Tbsp Oil
1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
3 Tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Curry
1/2 cup Water

1. Peel the kiwi and cut it into small cubes.
2. Open the mustard seeds in the oil. Just put them in the pan, cover with the lid and it should take about a minute. It's kind of like making popcorn.
3. Add the kiwi, let it cook for a couple of minutes. Bring the heat to a maximum, use a Tbsp of white wine vinegar to make a soft deglazing.
4. Add the water, sugar and curry. Bring this to a boil, it should take about 20 minutes to cook.

Ribollita Soup

I'm not a big fan of hot soup, although I have some favourites:

Leek soup
White asparaguas soup - thank you Ana!!
Tomato soup
Garbanzo soup
Bean soup
Pasta and tomatoes soup

This Ribollita soup is typical of Tuscany in Italy.

1 Onion, diced
1 Zuchini, diced
1 Carrot, diced
4 Garlic cloves, diced
3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Salt

1. Using a large pan, sautée the vegetables in the olive oil, and season with salt. Cook it at minimum heat for 15 minutes.

400g Tomatoes, concasse

2. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes.

280g Red beans (Canned is fine)
280g Kidney beans (Canned is fine)
300g Cabbage, roughly diced (In Tuscany they use Cavolo Nero but I just use normal cabbage)

3. After adding the beans and cabbage, allow to cook for 10 more minutes.
4. Then add 2L of water or Vegetable stock, and allow to simmer for 30 more minutes.
5. If using water, don't forget to season with more salt.

Ciambotta

Ciambotta is an italian Stew. I really enjoy it as a main dish. Just follow the instructions and you should be omomom soon!

2 Tbsp Olive oil
2 medium Onions, diced
2 Celery sticks, diced
2 Carrots, rougly diced
4 Cloves of garlic, finely diced

1. Sautée the onions, garlic and celery in the olive oil.
2. Add the carrots, and cook it in medium heat for 10 minutes.

1 small Eggplant, diced in cubes
0,1L Water

3. Add and cook it for 10 more minutes.

800g tomatoes, concassee
2 red bell peppers, roughly diced

4. Add these ingredients, and cook it for 15 more minutes.

300g Green beans, a bit undercooked, roughly diced
1 Zuchini, a bit undercooked, roughly diced
2 medium Potatoes, a bit undercooked, chopped in chunks

5. Add these ingredients, season with salt and pepper, and leave it there for 15 more minutes.

This Ciambotta is definitely more delicious than it looks like. Give it a try!

Mango mousse dessert

This mango mousse dessert is some of the easiest you'll ever make. It consists of the time proven methodology of opening cans and blending the content together. I used this ratio:

330g Soy condensed milk (11,6 ounces)
860g Mango pulp (1,9 pounds)
500g Soy natural yogurt (1,1 pound)

Blend everything and voilá, instant dessert. omomomomom. If where you live, these products come in different sizes of packaging, just choose the ones closest to these measures. This is one of those cases where a few more grams of this and a few less grams of that are sure to *not* make much of a difference.

Garlic Naan

When I registered at blogger I registered from Germany,so I assumed it would take in the German time zone. But all of my posts had this really weird time stamp on them. Now I finally fixed it, after a month of being a total n00b. Anyway this post is long enough as it is. Let's get this naan on the road.

2 tsp dry Yeast (or just use a 5g standard bag)
1 tsp Brown sugar
4 Tbsp lukewarm Water (water over 60ºC will kill the yeast, but if it's too cold it won't activate)

Add all three on a cup and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.

Add on the mixing bowl:
250g Bread flour + some for dusting surfaces and working the dough
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Salt

Allow to mix on the minimum speed so the flour doesn't blow everywhere. (This is also possible to knead by hand, it just takes a while longer)

Mix well 1 Tbsp of Oil with 1 Soy yogurt (the brand I used produces 100g cups of yogurt but you can use a 125g one)

Add the yogurt+oil to the flour while mixing. Then add the yeast mixture. Then add extra 2 Tbsp of water.

Remove the dough and finish working it on a slightly flour dusted surface. Be sure to roll a nice ball of bread with a single seam on the bottom.

With the aid of some oil, rub a container and use it to hold the dough untill it rises. When Summer is in bloom it's all fine and dandy getting home made bread to rise but as the weather gets colder, you need to get creative. If cooking anything just leave the container near by the stove or the oven. If not, you can use a heater and place the bread nearby.
I work with a radiant oil heater, not because I prefer it, but because it's the one I have. I place the bread in a chair, and cover both the heater and bread with a towel. Please follow the instructions on your heater if you are going to try this as there is a certain part of the equipment that cannot be covered.

This recipe will yield about 430g more or less. It will depend on how much more flour gets incorporated in your ball of dough as you finish working on it. However much it weighs, divide the weight by 6 and weigh 6 small balls or just break it off into 6 they look almost the same size pieces.

When you are done with the chopping, roll them again into balls with a single seam at the bottom. Cover them and allow to rest for about 15minutes before you start working on them. Be sure to let them rest in a flour dusted surface.

As you work on them, as always on a flour dusted surface basically use the same motions you would for pizza dough. I just flatten it out, then I hold it by the end always rolling it in my hand in continuing motion so as not to exhert more pressure in one specific part of the dough.

Then finish it off with your rolling pin.

To cook them I use a special crepe pan. But any old pan would do. I turn the heat on, let it heat up, and then I just plop the rolled naan in.

The one on the picture didn't turn out all that round, but you get the idea. Be careful as you grab the bread to roll it over, if you accidently grab it by one of those bubbles and it bursts it will be mui caliente on your hand. Be sure to remove excess flour from the pan before bringing in the new naan.

I keep on hand prepared, a mixture of olive oil and finely diced garlic to spread on the bread as it comes out hot plate hot plate from the pan.

I use a pizza cutter to cut them in quarters, and then I just stack them up. I wish I had one of those nice bread thingies like they have in the indian restaurants where they are all propped up against each other vertically and not horizontally like in my display.

Mushroom Curry

Mmmmmm I love curry, especially mushroom curry. Although I enjoy curry with coconut milk, this is my favourite recipe ever. For curry that is. This is enough quantity for 3 to 4 people, though it really depends on how hungry you are, or on how much rice you're planning on stuffing your face with.

First, sauté and set aside:
2 Tbsp Olive oil
300g Parisian mushrooms, I removed the skin and broke it in pieces by hand.
1 tsp Garam masala
pinch of Salt

Then, prepare this curry sauce:

Fry in 3 Tbsp Olive oil:
1 Bay leaf
1 large Onion, diced - about 4 to 5 min.
3 Garlic cloves - allow for more 2 min.
4 Tomatoes, peeled and diced - allow for more 5 min.
1+1/2 tsp Curry powder
- get rid of the bay leaf - kthxbai
1 cup of Tomato pulp - allow for more 5min.

Blend everything! Then add the mushroom mixture with respective olivey garam masala juices. The reason why this curry sauce isn't so spicy meatball is because the mushrooms themselves are quite spicey. Just add more spice to taste if you're not pleased.

My aunt gave me this dish, it's so pretty!

Berry juice and Indian dinner

I've been having a special request for some Naan bread for quite a while and finally I lived up to the promise. Making bread always require some extra time on hand. You have the kneading, then the rising of the dough, then maybe you get to put it in the oven or maybe you have to do some extra work on it, which if you do leads to more resting time.

I went all out and decided to have garlic naan, mushroom curry with basmati rice, a tasty mango mousse like dessert, and some fresh berry juice.

The ratios for the berry juice are as follow:

100g frozen Berries mix
3 tbsp Brown sugar
700 ml water (almost 3 cups)

I plan to type and upload the rest of the recipes in the following posts. Stay tuned!

Strawberry juice and Sojasun burger dinner

I went to the supermarket and bought a pack of sojasun tomato basil burgers. I haven't eaten any in a long time. Maybe because they are so expensive, like 3,5€ for 2 burgers, u mad? Still, I was able to squeeze in 2 meals out of one burger, hehehehe. I also made a nice strawberry juice to go along. I usually resort to frozen strawberries for milkshake mostly but decided to try out some ratios for natural juice.

Strawberry juice:
100g frozen Strawberries
2 tbsp Brown sugar
700 ml water (almost 3 cups)

Just put everything in a blender, and bzzz bzzzz.

For the burger, I sliced horizontally on the middle and grilled the skinnier burgers. Then I cut them in half and made a baguette sandwich with some lettuce, onion and a mix of ketchup and soy mayo. Along with a salad half a baguette each was enough.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, I recently started working and it's really hard work albeit simple, you dehidrate alot. So when I have the time to before my boat home is due and I'm working a morning or afternoon shift I like to go by the Pingo Doce on the Cais do Sodré station and grab a bottle of natural apple juice, it's totally delicious. Then I save the bottles!

Coffee Lemonade

There are tons of different recipes for this coffee lemonade, and it is also referred to as Mazagran. The following recipe is my personal taste, it does taste quite a bit like lemon, so if you like a softer lemonade, use only the juice of 2 lemons. You might also consider adding another tbsp of brown sugar as this is also not very sweet.

2 Expressos
3 Lemons, juice
3 tbsp Brown sugar
1,4 L water

Mix the lemon juice with the expressos and the brown sugar. Pour it into a 1,5L bottle of water (a standard measure in Portugal). Shake it, leave it in the refrigerator, this is most delicious when it is super fresh. It will also keep for at least 3 to 4 days.