A woodlander's vegetable pasty

Edit (10/2/11): This post, and all of the ones before it, were written prior to my diagnoses of having food intolerance/allergies. This and many of the other recipes do contain gluten and dairy. Be careful when browsing the other entries

This is the second post in a series. See this entry for an explanation behind these recipes.

A pasty is made up of a filling of meat and/or vegetables, enclosed in a case of pastry. They are a good way to make food more portable, but are also quite delicious as a feature of a sit-down meal. Pasties also are mentioned often in the Redwall books.

From The Outcast of Redwall:

“I'd like a beaker of strawberry cordial and a big pastie, a mushroom, potato, and onion one; after that I think I'd go for some hot apple-and-blackberry crumble, with sweet white arrowroot sauce poured all over it.”

Vegetable pasties also make frequent appearances at feasts, or in heroes' haversacks when going on quests.

This is what I think a Woodlander's vegetable pasty might be like.

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Woodland Vegetable Pasties

¼ c lentils

1 chopped yellow onion

2 minced garlic cloves

2 Tbs olive oil

1 chopped carrot

1 chopped stalk of celery

1 chopped portabella mushroom

½ tsp salt

2 Tbs water

2 tsp flour or cornstarch

sprig of parsley, minced

sprig of rosemary, minced

Pie dough (can purchase, but I used ½ of this recipe, and Deb's recipe and methods are foolproof)

Cook lentils in about ¾ cup of water for 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, fry the chopped onion and minced garlic in 2 Tbs of olive oil, until the onions are translucent.

Chop the carrot and celery in the meantime. Add these to the frying pan and sautee for 5-10 minutes. Add the chopped mushroom and salt to the pan. Sautee for another five minutes, then turn off the heat.

Combine the lentils and vegetable mix into a bowl. Once the mixture has cooled somewhat, add 2 Tbs water, 2 tsp flour, parsley and rosemary and mix together thoroughly.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll the pie dough into four or six circles, depending on how large you want your pasty. Place the filling on one side of the circle (2-4 Tbs of filling), then fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges together. Flatten the edges of the pasty with the tines of a fork to seal. Prick the dough several times with fork tines in order to allow steam to escape.

Cook the pasties for 20-25 minutes, the crust should be golden brown.

I had enough dough for four pasties, but enough leftover filling that I probably could have made six. One of these with salad was enough for my dinner.

Chop a carrot and some celery into small pieces

Sautee onions and garlic in oil until translucent.

Add carrot and celery and cook for an other 5-10 minutes.

Add the chopped portabella mushroom to the pan and sautee another 5 minutes.

These are cooked lentils

Mix your cooked lentils with the vegetable mix, along with a little water, the herbs, and some flour to thicken the mixture.

Put some filling on the circle of dough. My circles were not perfect.

Fold the circle over and crimp the edges together to seal in the filling.

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 400 F. Some egg wash would have made these prettier, but I didn't think of it until later.

Dinner!

Redwall-inspired Blackberry-Apple Crumble

Tasty literary-inspired crumble

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This is a post I have been meaning to write since February.

Brian Jacques, author of the beloved Redwall series of children's books, passed away on February 5^th of this year. I found out shortly thereafter, and was saddened by the news. Not only did I love those books (and still do) but Mr. Jacques seemed like a genuinely lovely and kind man. To quote Wikipedia, “His book Redwall was written for his 'special friends', the children of the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind, whom he first met them when he delivered to the school as a milkman. He began to spend time with the children, and eventually began to write stories for them. This accounts for the very descriptive style of the novel and the ones to follow.” That is beautiful.

My copies of these books are "well-loved."

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I remember that I posted a status commemorating him on Facebook, and many people commented on it expressing their sadness, but they also expressed a joy in reminiscing about reading the Redwall books in their childhood.

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At school the next day, several people who had read my status talked to me about Redwall and Mr. Jacques' passing. It was interesting that everyone seemed to mention how reading any given Redwall book made them very hungry. Every book in the series contains many detailed descriptions about the food the animals of Redwall Abbey consume; from grand feasts to picnics to teatime.

The introduction of The Redwall Cookbook offers explanation for the detail Mr. Jacques went into about food.

“...It really annoyed me [in books] when I'd come to a passage where somebody ate a marvelous feast. There never seemed to be any description of it. Afterward, the hero would ride off on his white stallion, thanking the King for the wonderful dinner. Wait! What did it taste like? What did it look like? How was it made? Did he really enjoy it? Questions that to even my young mind required much answering. That is why the fare at Redwall Abbey is featured so prominently— I'm trying to put things right!”

My boss at school also heard the sad news that week, and because we are both big fans of the books, she obtained The Redwall Cookbook from the library, and cooked several dishes from it, which she brought to school, then inviting me and other workers to partake in a feast of sorts. It was fun, and a little peculiar, and it struck me that this was the perfect way to remember Mr. Jacques: by telling stories while eating good food.

So in the spirit of remembrance, I am going to be posting a series of Redwall-inspired foods, taken from the books themselves wherever possible. Today's is taken from Mossflower, where the woodlanders eat a meal at Brockhall, including a blackberry-apple crumble. This is what I imagine it might be like.

Blackberry-Apple Crumble

Crumb topping:

½ c wheat flour

½ c rolled oats

¼ c brown sugar

1 stick of butter

fruit:

3 chopped apples

12 oz blackberries

2 tsp cornstarch

2 tsp granulated sugar

Toss together the chopped apples, cornstarch, and granulated sugar. Let the mixture sit for 15 minutes. Put apples into a baking dish, and mix in blackberries. (Alternatively, if you don't care if your berries get somewhat squished, mix apples and berries together at the beginning of this step.)

Meanwhile, blend together oats, flour, sugar, and cold butter with a pastry blender until the mixture forms pea-sized crumbs. Chill in the fridge for ~10 minutes.

Spread the topping evenly over the fruit. Bake at 375 for ~45 minutes.

This is most of what you'll need.

Chopped apples tossed in sugar and cornstarch. I didn't put the berries in yet because I wanted them to remain intact. I realize that this is irrational.

Crumb topping.

Crumbles are homely looking, but tasty.

No-knead wheat bread and strawberry-mint spread

I have been having a lot of fun being out of school, but after my first full day at home alone, I have to admit that I hope my unemployment doesn't last long. There hasn't been a single summer since I was in high school that I wasn't at a full-time job shortly after school ended. Given the economic climate since I started college, this means I have been extremely fortunate, which is not something I take lightly.

It has been nice to do relatively little these last two weeks, going on vacation and doing some housework for your parents is a far cry from the custodial work I used to do in the summers, or my awesome research job last year. But after submitting a number of applications for work and hearing back nothing for weeks is starting to get to me a little. Still, I know that I am very fortunate, and it is normal to not get a job right out of college. I am just going to have to get creative with how to spend this newfound time.

So much of the paraphernalia of school is still lying around, this stack of chemistry exams on my desk has been relegated to coaster for my tea. I should probably recycle or file those...

I have been trying to write more, and sew, between looking for jobs, and I am looking at taking summer classes, but the easiest thing to do for now is to start back up with cooking and blogging!

I found this recipe for no-knead bread this morning, and figured, "hey, I have time to make bread!"

I did tweak the recipe a little bit; first by cutting the recipe in half, then I used half white flour and half wheat flour. Finally, I didn't have cornmeal to dust the loaf with, so I chopped some rolled oats. It added some interesting texture.

The bread after rising for 3 hours.

After baking for 30 minutes.

Anyways, go over to the blog Honey & Jam to get the recipe, the bread turned out beautifully, and there was little effort involved.

But I also had some strawberries that were getting slightly wilted, and some mint leaves. So I made a strawberry-mint jam/fruit spread that was friggin' tasty, and it made a perfect accompaniment for the bread. Please note that it is not shelf-stable, and it must be kept in the refrigerator.

Strawberry-mint spread:

small bunch of mint leaves

1/2 cup water

1 cup chopped strawberries

1/4 cup white sugar

1 Tbs lemon juice

Boil the leaves in 1/2 cup of water for 4-5 minutes. Strain out the leaves, and add the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. After it comes to a boil, reduce heat slightly.

Mash the strawberries (I used a fork) and let the mixture boil for about 20 minutes. Let it cool, ladle into a clean jar, and then store in the fridge.

The mint flavor was not pronounced at all, but otherwise I was happy with my first-ever jam. Maybe I will teach myself canning this summer :)

Spiced Yam Bread

For Christmas, I made a batch of yam bread to bring to a potluck. Its a lot like pumpkin bread, but with an ingredient that is easier to find year-round. Also, I just like yams.

I came up with the original recipe some months ago, and thought it was very holiday appropriate. That particular recipe turned out a bit better then this batch did, as I wasn't very precise about scaling up the ingredients here to make two loaves instead of one big loaf.

But I am going to post the recipe anyway, because it tasted really good, even though the bread was a bit too moist, and the loaves were flat. I think it needed more flour and more baking powder.

Anyway, here is the recipe I used this time, despite it being slightly flawed. If I was going to try this particular iteration again, I would use 4 tsp baking powder, and 1.25 or 1.5 cups of each type of flour.

Wet ingredients:
3 eggs
2/3 cup brown sugar (I know that sugar isn't a "wet" ingredient, but it incorporates better at this stage)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 cups mashed yams
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 stick of butter, melted
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Dry ingredients:
1 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
3 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup craisins

Start by baking halved yams in a glass pan at 375 until the yams are cooked, about 45 minutes.


Cover pan with foil and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes. This helps loosen the skin.


Remove the yam skins like so:


And mash the yams. I preferred this bread with roasted yams, as demonstrated here with sweet potatoes, but simply baking works well too.


Mix together all of the wet ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, and set aside.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, and make a well in the center. Add the wet ingredients and mix together until just blended.

Pour into two loaf pans, and bake at 350 F until and inserted fork or toothpick comes out clean, this was about 50 minutes.

So the loaves were a bit flat as you can see.

The bread was really tasty, so despite its flaws, people enjoyed it.

Chocolate Banana Bread

The wonderful thing about chocolate banana bread is that it seems so much more decadent than regular banana bread, but because it uses cocoa powder, not chocolate bars, it is actually better for you! Or at least I suspect it is, given the amazing properties people attach to chocolate's flavenoids and antioxidants (which help neutralize free radicals!).

I digress.

After a camping weekend where the Man and I made breakfast and many people didn't eat the fruit we served, I came back home with too many bananas, and they were turning brown. My answer to too many bananas is always: Banana bread!

No making-of photos today, but here's the recipe, adapted from here.

1 3/4 cup wheat flour (you can use white, but what makes me feel virtuous)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 pinch salt

2 beaten eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons melted butter
3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F

In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, oil, butter, bananas, and vanilla. Scrape the mixture into the dry ingredients, and gently stir together. (you could add chocolate chips at this point, but why spoil the illusion that this is healthy food? Actually, it is decently healthy.)

Pour batter into a greased breadpan. Bake for 50-65 minutes, it will be done when you stick a fork or toothpick in the bread, and it comes out clean.

Apologies for the blurry picture.

So how was it? Definitely better the next day, but I really enjoyed this. Having more banana then the typical banana bread recipe (normally they say 2) keeps this really moist. I didn't mind the taste of the wheat flour, though the Man said he could tell there was some in the bread, but in my opinion, that is not a bad thing. The chocolate is noticeable, but not in-your-face.

A great way to use up bananas!

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes!

I had the idea for a cake recipe that combined Guinness (or some other stout) with chocolate about six months ago, but only recently got around to tinkering with a recipe. I have heard of beer bread, and even beer ice cream, so why not a cake? It turns out I am not the first person to come up with the idea, but I gave it my own rendition.

I have to say I am very happy with the results. Aside from the fact that I usually have bad luck with baked goods because dangit, I only measure precisely when I'm in the lab, (where I have the assistance of micropipettes), but also because the stout adds a complexity to the chocolate that I'm pretty sure even non-drinkers would like. It also makes a good leavening agent!

No making of pictures today, but here is the recipe!

**Adapted from this recipe

1 cup of stout
2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup of cocoa powder

2 cups flour
1 3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs
Rounded 1/2 cup of cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the cocoa powder, and add stout. Let the mixture cool.

Blend flour, sugar, baking soda, salt together and blend.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and cream cheese together. (an electric mixer would have made this step much easier!) When blended, add the stout/ chocolate mixture to the eggs about a quarter cup at a time, and blend, continuing this step until the eggs are tempered.
Add the flour mixture and stir until well-mixed.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake about 13-18 minutes. ( I suspect my old oven runs hotter than most, as most cupcake recipes recommend 350 for 22-25 minutes. Experiment with timing).

Yields approx. 18 cupcakes.

I mixed up a quick buttercream icing, which was good, but not amazing, use your favorite icing recipe.

I want to remake this recipe as a layer cake with ganache filling and a better-tasting buttercream frosting. It would be fantastic!

Shortbread success!

When I wrote about yesterday's shortbread fail, I wasn't lying when I said I was still craving some. Seriously, shortbread cookies are made of win. They are like, the perfect stereotypical English snack to have with tea. Granted, I'm American so that doesn't mean much, but they're still really tasty.

Repost of yesterday's recipe:

1 cup of flour
1 stick of butter, room temp
1/2 cup of sugar (I used brown)
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

I rarely have painted nails, but when I do, they're usually black :D

So, blend everything together, the mixture will look like this after 4 or so minutes of blending.

See how it looks compacted together? after 6 or 8 minutes of blending, the dough sticks together like this and it is done. Stick it in the fridge for a while if you plan on rolling the dough.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface, and knead it until it stick together....


like this!

Roll about a quarter inch thick. You will have to flour the rolling pin, and the dough really likes to fall apart. But you are stronger then the dough!

I used a plastic cup as a cookie cutter. It worked better then my real cookie cutter did!

You will probably have to use a spatula to get the cookies off of the counter.

Poke the cookies with a fork, it helps release the steam. Also, my cookie sheet is permanently burned from yesterday's mess. It was a wedding present too :(


I baked them at 425 for 4 minutes, and they were still a little crisp, so maybe they should be baked at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

And the shortbread cookies were a perfect snack with a peach and with some Earl Gray tea. Soo good.

shortbread fail

*sigh*

This was supposed to be delicious shortbread cookies. I am seriously craving shortbread still, and I ate the middle out of the least-burnt cookie and it was delicious, so I know that I made up a good recipe. So I might be making this again tomorrow, and actually remember to press start on the timer, dagnabit.

I used the last of my real vanilla extract on these, too :(

Recipe:

1 cup of flour
1 stick of butter, room temp
1/2 cup of sugar (I used brown)
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, and blend together with a pastry blender until the mixture sticks together (this took me like, 5-8 minutes). Chill the dough, roll out on a flour-covered surface, and cut out shapes. Bake in a 425 degree oven, probably for 9 minutes but I don't know, since I forgot to set the timer :/

Fresh Cherry Tart

Yaay! Cherry season!

I finally made a successful tart! (I've made a couple with my new-ish tart pan, but nothing I was proud of).

A fresh cherry tart. With cherries we bought at a stand while on a day trip to Hood River. Good times, that.

Right, so pretty much the exact reason why I ordered a tart pan and a cherry pitter with one of the gift cards we were given at our wedding was to make cherry tarts, and cherries are finally in season, so I did just that this evening, heavily inspired by this recipe.

And here is how to make your own.

Begin by pitting 2 lbs of fresh cherries. Since the fruit is really the highlight of the desert, make sure you are using tasty fruit that is in season.
I'm not going to lie, the fact that the cherry juice splatter looks a bit like blood kind of amused me. Man, biologists are weird.

Toss the cherries with 2 tablespoons of sugar and a half teaspoon vanilla extract, and let sit while you make the crust.

Simple syrup infused with vanilla would have been better, but I am lazy sometimes.

For the tart shell, blend together 1 1/2 cups of white flour, a stick of softened butter, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Blend until the mixture looks like crumbs.

Then add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a half teaspoon of almond extract (both extracts are optional, but they highlight the cherry flavor) a pinch of salt, a tablespoon of cream, and enough water to make everything just barely stick together. I think I used about 3 tablespoons.


You'll get a wad of pastry that should just barely hold together. Flatten the ball into the tart pan, until there is an even layer of pastry covering the entire pan.

Like so. Prick all over with a fork, and bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes. (you're technically supposed to use pastry weights to ensure even baking, but meh. I warned you of my laziness earlier.)

Let the tart shell cool for 5 or so minutes, then arrange the cherries so that there are no gaps in the tart. If you like your cherries really fresh, then you could be done now.

Buut I wanted a warm tart, so I baked it at 375 for 5 minutes.

It was good, and The Man really liked it.

And since you are essentially eating cherries and shortbread, you only have to feel sort-of guilty for eating an extra piece.

One note, because the whole ensemble is baked for so short a time, I didn't want to try and use any custard to hold the thing together, so the cherries will fall off of the crust, like in the picture below. While that didn't bother us at all, if you want to serve this for company, you may want a prettier recipe, like one of these:

http://www.joyofbaking.com/CherryTart.html

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Prune-Cherry-and-Apricot-Frangipane-Tart-350630