Sliced seitan and blackcurrant bbq-sauce on toasted buns

Äntligen var det dags att skörda årets första chilifrukter. Höga och fina blev plantorna med många granna frukter. Espelette heter sorten och ligger på omkring 5000 på chili-skalan, alltså typ i klass med de vanliga namnlösa chilisorterna i affären. Det första som lagades var en söt, het och sur bbq-sås som blev helt fantastisk. Vi svettades lite lagom men det hör ju till tycker jag.

Kopanda, det här receptet är till dig. Vårt svar på din fina bbq-sås. Tack för inspirationen. Vi väntar med spänning på din version #2.

UC's Sweet Blackcurrant Bbq-sauce
2 chilifrukter
1 liten lök
3 vitlöksklyftor
1 dl svarta vinbär
1 dl mangojuice
1,5 dl passerade tomater
1 msk tomatpuré
1/2 limefrukt
1 msk äppelcidervinäger
1 dl råsocker
1 msk sirap
salt
svartpeppar

Finhacka lök och vitlök och fräs i olja en liten stund. Tillsätt allt annat (men var lite försiktig med sockret tag bara en del och smaka av lite i taget), koka upp och låt sjuda i 15 minuter. Sen är det dags att börja smaka av och finjustera såsen. Reducera till önskad grad av krämighet. Klart!

Strimla några hekto seitan i millimetertunna strimlor. Värm i stekpanna tillsammans med en del av såsen och låt det koka ihop ett par minuter till en saftig köttig röra. Servera mellan rostade burgarbröd.

Vegan homemade tortellini with two fillings

Summer, oh sweet summer! A lot of swimming, traveling and porch hanging has been made. And of course a lot of cooking. We'll try to catch up on some of the most successful experiments. Starting with this amazing freshly made pasta.

If you want the pasta to be really easy to work with you need to prepare it in advance. We made two portions of pasta dough to observe the difference. The first dough was made 48 hours prior to the cooking, the second dough was made 5 hours prior to the cooking. The first dough was a lot easier to stretch and shape. The second dough was also fine but demands more patience not to over stretch it. Our recommendations are to prepare it 24-48 hours in advance.

Pasta
Durum wheat
Water
Salt
Olive oil

For two persons it may be enough with 2 dl durum wheat, but i don't know exactly how much we made. Put wheat on a table or in a bowl. Add some salt and some olive oil and mix. Add a little water at a time and work into the dough. You want just enough water to make the dough complete and smooth to work with, without it getting sticky. Knead the dough hard for 10 to 15 minutes, then put it in a plastic bag and let it rest in the fridge until it's time to cook.

Vegan ricotta and spinach filling
tofu
shredded cheddar style sheese (or any other vegan cheese of your choice)
minced cashew nuts
spinach (we used frozen, chopped spinach, but i'm sure any spinach will do)
salt and pepper

Mix it all together in a bowl until you have a nice dough.

Portobello and basil filling
tofu
portobello mushroom
basil
minced cashew nuts
salt and pepper

Chop and fry the portobello in olive oil and salt. Mix all ingredients in a blender.


Flatten the pasta dough very thinly using a baking roller. To make sure the dough doesn't stick to the table, flour lightly and flip the dough over a couple of times. It should be around one millimeter thick or so when done. Cut out squares in the size of 5 x 10 cm, put the filling on one side. Add a rather small amount of the filling and don't put it closer than 0,5 - 1 cm to the edge. Lightly wet the sides around the pasta square and then close it. Pinch around the edges with a fork to seal the little bastard.

The pasta dough should be kept in the plastic bag right up until the making to reduce the risk of dry pasta. Also, when filled, they should be boiled as soon as possible, and served and eaten as soon as possible after boiling. If you are making a big batch of 'em, you can keep them under a lightly moist kitchen towel during the making (before the boiling).

Bring a big pot of salted water to boil and drop them in. Go easy on them so they don't break open. Boil for 3-5 minutes. Done! Serve with your favorite tomato sauce and olive oil.

Daiya vegan cheese for sale!!

It's finally here! Vegan cheese that actually stretches when melted! Quarrygirl writes about it here. You can order it at the online store Pangea. And the shipping info says they ship outside US and Canada, so maybe, maybe there's a chance to ship it to sweden.

Listen to this review by Quarrygirl:
"the cheddar cheese flavor was so FUCKING FANTASTIC…i shit you not, it actually tastes like cheese. did you hear that?!?!?! we have a vegan product that MELTS and STRETCHES and TASTES like actual CHEESE. is this a dream? everyone present agreed that this stuff was insane; we would send it back if we ever got this at a restaurant, it tasted too damn real. that’s all i gotta say. it tasted like cheese. what more description do you want?"

DAIYA

French baguette

This recipe is in swedish. Someday when I don't have a fever i'll translate it to english. The bread is fucking fantastic. It takes about 24 hours from start to finish but it's as good as any good bakery baguette. I'm gonna finish all of these 5 long beautiful bastards before I eat anything else again.

The recipe is stolen from the book Bröd av Jan Hedh. It might be the best book I've ever read. Click to enlarge the recipe.

Finskt rågbröd/Finnish Rye Bred - Our first sourdough

With a skilled mentor from Oslo, a good cookbook, and a smile from lady luck, we managed to pull this off. It turned out fantastic! It was a long process. We started out on Wednesday morning and took the bred out of the oven the following Monday afternoon - 6 days! But it was worth waiting for, full of flavor and aroma.

For all you swedes we can recommend the sourdough blog Pain de Martin. And the fantastic cookbook Bröd av Jan Hedh. Does anyone know of an English sourdough site?

Moments before entering the oven

Finally done!

Apelsin/Orange Mandel/Almond Tofu, Kale, and Quinoa

Quinoa is a very healthy alternative to rice; it's a complete protein!


served with steamed kale and celery.

1. Saute tofu and a handful of almonds in a wok with pepper, ort salt, and garlic.
2. To the tofu, add water as needed, 2T Bragg's Liquid Aminos or soy sauce, 1T rice or sushi vinegar, the juice of 1 orange, 1T fresh ginger, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, and roasted sesame seeds. Continue sauteeing until tofu reaches desired texture and flavors are absorbed.

A simple, nutritious, and delicious dinner!

Pizza and Calzone/Stromboli hybrid, Come stai American-Italian?

We proudly present Whole Wheat Pizza Crust made from scratch by UKF Local-68's best all around baker! Fresh vegetables, roasted garlic, and soy-sage make for all around Italian-American delights; pizza, stromboli, calzone, etc... Italian-Americans have fought hard in the streets and northern factories of the United States. Two of the most famous Italian-American anarchists, Sacco and Vanzetti who were unjustly murdered by the Massachusetts state for being anarchists and immigrants, would be proud of these pies.




Whole Wheat Pizza crust:

1 1/4 C lukewarm water
1/2 tablespoon regular baking yeast
1/2 teaspoon organic cane sugar
3 1/4 C whole wheat pastry flour, or flour of your choice
1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon salt

Combine water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit until frothy. Add 2 cups of flour, oil, and salt and stir well. Add remaining flour and knead for five minutes or so. Place dough in oiled bowl, cover, and let rest for one hour in a warm place. Punch down the dough and divide into two balls for 12" pizzas, or four for smaller pies.

Roll out your dough on a well-floured (we used cornmeal) surface, creating a rim to surround your toppings while baking.





Transfer to a greased baking sheet, add your toppings, and bake for approximately eight to ten minutes at 450F.



Mmm, pizza!


Local-68's creations:


tomato sauce, spinach, mushrooms, roasted garlic*, tomato, soysage, red pepper flakes, oregano.


tomato sauce, vegan mozzarella, onions, tomato, soysage, oregano.


tomato sauce, onion, mushrooms, tomato, spinach, soysage, vegan parmesan, red pepper flakes.


an accidental calzone. tomato sauce, vegan mozzarella, soysage, green peppers, roasted garlic*, tomato.


*To roast garlic, remove as much of the papery skin as possible from without peeling an entire head or two (depending on how much you want) of fresh garlic. Place in the oven at 350F for 30 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, remove the roasted bulbs from the garlic peel. Voila! Delicious roasted garlic.