Boozy Chocolate Pie

By Anni | May 15, 2008 – 22:58

This pie was very easy to make, and quite delicious as well. I found the original filling recipe through Eric at VeganGrub, and my only additions were a little bit of Grand Marnier, some salt to make the chocolate flavor shine, and a little bit more agave syrup than Eric used. Heikki thought that the filling was similar to a children’s chocolate pudding called Jacky makupala, something that we both ate when we were kids, but I have to say that the relatively large amount of liqueurs in the recipe distracted me from any such associations!

The crust I made was really nice too, and its crunchy texture was a great compliment to the smooth filling. We’d left the sides of our springform pan over at a friend’s house, so had to use a pie tray instead, but that didn’t really cause any problems.

The Crust:

  • 1 and 1/2 dl wheat flour
  • 1/2 dl potato starch
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
  • 1 tablespoon muscovado sugar
  • a pinch of salt
  • 50 g margarine, cold
  • 2 tablespoons soy milk, cold

I first mixed the dry ingredients together, then added the cold margarine, and mixed with a fork until crumbly. Then I added the soy milk and stirred until the mixture was sticky, and then pressed in the bottom our prepared pie tray with fingertips dipped in cold water. I baked the crust for about 17-20 minutes in 175 degrees Celsius, on the middle rack of the oven, until the sides were just lightly brown. Then I let the crust cool down before preparing the filling.

The crust puffed up quite a bit during the baking process, but settled once removed from the oven.

The Filling:

  • 350 g silken tofu (we had Mori-Nu firm)
  • 200 g vegan chocolate
  • 1 and 1/2 tablespoons agave syrup
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 dl coffee liqueur
  • 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier liqueur

First, I melted the chocolate in a water bath, and set it aside to cool down a little. Then I measured everything else in a mixing bowl, and blended with our immersion blender until smooth. Now, I added the melted chocolate in the mix, and stirred until combined.

When the crust had cooled, I brushed the sides of our pie tray with a little bit of canola oil. Then I poured the filling over the crust, spread it with a butter knife, and made wavy shapes on the surface with a fork. Now, we refrigerated the pie overnight to let the filling settle, but the original recipe said it would be good to eat after two hours.

By Anni | Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Potato Salad

By Anni | May 12, 2008 – 20:41

This potato salad derives from a family recipe I’ve learnt from my step-mom. The original version is just as vegan as this, but I added some chick peas this time to make it a little heartier, and the dressing of course is my own making. The basic concept is the perfect union between capers, Russian salted cucumbers, apple, and leek, all of which add their own flavor dimension to the lovely boiled potatoes.

It’s important to choose waxy potatoes for salads, since they won’t get all mushy once cooked and cubed like their starchy relatives do. I even forgot my potatoes on the stove this time, and consequently overcooked them until their skins started to crack, but they still kept together just fine!

The Dressing:

  • 1/2 dl olive oil
  • 1/2 dl apple cider vinegar
  • 3 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, rubbed
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • black pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon red paprika powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

The Salad:

  • 1 and 1/2 kg waxy potatoes, boiled, peeled, and cubed
  • 4 Russian-style salted cucumbers, cubed (see our Stroganoff recipe for more information on Russian cucumbers)
  • 35 g capers (1 small jar, or about 5 tablespoons)
  • 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely cubed
  • 1 can chick peas, rinsed, or about 3 dl cooked chick peas
  • 1 small leek, rinsed and sliced
  • chives (for garnish)

I just combined all the ingredients, whisked the dressing together, and mixed it in the salad. At this point, I always adjust the saltiness, and check if the salad still needs a dash of vinegar, or a little more black pepper.

Then we let the salad develop in the fridge overnight before taking it with us to the May Day picnic. This makes a big amount, and we even had leftovers with lunch for a few days after the picnic day - which is good, because this salad just gets better and better.

By Anni | Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (4)

Picnic Soy Meatballs

By Heikki | May 8, 2008 – 20:31

After reading Kittee’s vegan meatball recipe, I was hungering for something similar. We hadn’t made anything resembling meatballs since the Lion’s heads way back in October. Also, because we were going to go on a picnic on May Day, we thought it would be nice to have them there. May Day, among other things, is a picnic day in Finland, if the weather is even remotely agreeable. But I digress. So, on with the recipe. I decided to combine textured soy protein granules with gluten flour for a firm texture, and we were quite happy with the results. Tastewise, were we to make a second batch now, we’d add a bit more chili, and maybe herbs as well, but I guess that depends on how spicy you like your vegan meatballs.

This batch makes 22 small meatballs, and the recipe was inspired by the one on Cake Maker to the Stars.

Here’s what we used:

  • 2 dl granulated TSP (in Finnish: tumma soijarouhe)
  • 2 dl vegetable stock
  • 1 dl diced leek
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste, depending on the stock
  • 1 teaspoon dried chili
  • ½ teaspoon dried marjoram
  • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ½ teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon fried onion
  • ½ dl gluten flour
  • ½ dl water

I started by setting the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

To start with the dough, I combined the stock and the soy granules in a bowl, and set aside. I chopped the leek into small bits, sautéed it in olive oil for a couple of minutes, added the chili, marjoram, and thyme, and stirred to mix. By now the soy granules had absorbed all the vegetable stock, so I added them into the frying pan, and sautéed the mixture for a few more minutes. Then I added the sesame seed oil and the soy sauce to the pan. I removed the frying pan from heat, and added the crushed garlic and the store-bought fried onion, stirred them in, and let the mixture cool down a bit.

When the soy granule mixture wasn’t too hot to touch anymore, I added the water and the gluten flour, and kneaded the dough for a couple of minutes. At this point, I tried rolling a meatball in my palm, testing the consistency of the dough. It was still quite soft, but firm enough to roll into balls - just what I was aiming at.

I rolled the dough into 22 small meatballs, which I put on a baking sheet covered with baking parchment. I sprayed them with olive oil on all sides, and put them in the oven for 10 minutes. Then I flipped them over one by one, and baked for another 10 minutes. By then they were nicely browned, and a little crunchy on the surface.

Usually on May Day the weather is still quite cold, so the picnic is more of a symbolic start of the summer, but this year the weather was really nice and warm, in Finnish terms at least. We enjoyed the soy meatballs together with potato salad and smokey tofu spread seasoned with sage, of which we’ll blog about later!

By Heikki | Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (7)

Caraway Tofu with Spicy Potato Wedges

By Heikki | May 7, 2008 – 22:09

The idea for this dish came from Antonio Tabucchi’s book Requiem. In one scene, the protagonist dines with a dead friend of his in a restaurant, and they are having sarrabulho, a traditional Portuguese meat dish. While eating, they are discussing how the meat is marinated in some white wine, caraway, garlic, and olive oil. Reading this made me think that it would make a great marinade for tofu, and we did like the end results too. This recipe made a fresh and harmonious baked tofu that had a distinct yet mellow caraway flavor.

As a side we had oven-baked potato wedges and soy yogurt sauce seasoned with garlic and chives.

Marinade for 250g firm tofu (serves 2):

  • 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, ground
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 dl white wine
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper, ground
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

We just pressed the tofu, cut it into slices, dried the slices with a kitchen towel and put them in a plastic container. Then we mixed all the marinade ingredients, poured them over of the tofu, closed the lid of the container, shook it until the marinade was spread evenly, and put the tofu in the fridge overnight.

Next day we heated the oven to 200 degrees Celcius, spread the tofu slices in a single layer in a baking pan, poured the rest of the marinade over them, and baked them together with the potato wedges (see below) until the marinade was absorbed. In our oven this took 30 minutes.

Spicy Crispy Potato Wedges (serves 4):

  • 1 kg potatoes, scrubbed and cut in 6 wedges each
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked Spanish paprika
  • 1 teaspoon paprika powder
  • 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
  • 3/4 dl dry bread crumbs

Anni first mixed the breadcrumbs with the spices in a big bowl, and then added the potato wedges and the canola oil. Now, she stirred the potatoes until fairly covered with the breadcrumbs, and placed them on a baking sheet covered with baking parchment, the skin side of each wedge facing down. Now, there was some breadcrumbs left in the bowl, which she pressed on the wedges.

Now, we baked the potato wedges in 200 degrees Celcius on the uppermost rack of our oven for 30 minutes, while the tofu stayed on the lower rack of the oven and was cooked in the exact same time.

By Heikki | Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (5)

Cherry and Ginger Spelt Muffins

By Anni | May 6, 2008 – 21:46

We usually don’t eat sweet things in the morning, but we did have these muffins for breakfast with a little vegan margarine and they were wonderful. They’re not too sweet, and there’s a nice gentle ginger flavor hiding in the background. Our cherries came from a jar, since fresh ones aren’t yet available around here, but I really liked their slightly sour juiciness in the midst of all the spelt.

Our spelt flour is quite coarse, about the coarseness of regular whole wheat flour we can buy from the store. I don’t think light spelt flour is even available in Finland, but I kind of like the crumb that comes from this flour - it makes a nice, slightly dense, and very satisfying morning muffin.

Dry mixture:

  • 4 dl whole spelt flour
  • 3/4 dl muscovado sugar (or other brown sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
  • 1 tablespoon potato starch
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet mixture:

  • 1 dl plain, unsweetened soy yogurt
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1/2 dl sweetened soy milk
  • 1 dl cherry juice (from the cherry jar)
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 dl coarsely chopped (halved) cherries

First, I greased my muffin tin with a little vegan margarine, floured it with some spelt flour, and preheated the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

I mixed the dry ingredients in a small bowl, then mixed the wet ingredients in another bowl, and combined the two, being careful not to over-mix the batter. Then I folded in the cherry halves, and poured the batter in the 12 cups of my muffin tin, filling them about 3/4 full.

Now, I baked my muffins for about 18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin came out clean, and the tops had browned somewhat.

This is the label of our cherry jar, bought from the Estonian grocery nearby.

By Anni | Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (3)