Vegan MoFo Day 7: Barley Caraway Soup

I decided to try another of the many caraway recipes in the Lukas Klinik's Cookery Book (1978). This was completely delicious. I could have eaten the whole pot.

Place into a dry pan:

40 g barley flour (I ground some pearl barley in my Vita-Mix)

2 T caraway seed (ground fine in a clean coffee grinder)

Stir over medium heat, toasting, until it is brown and fragrant. At this point, you will know from the smell that it will be very good.

Add:

1 liter vegetable broth

20 g vegan margarine

Bring to a boil, cover, and cook 20 minutes.

Take off the heat and add:

1 dl nondairy milk (I used almond)

1 dl nondairy yogurt (I used FarmSoy plain)

Stir and serve.

Vegan MoFo Day 6: Salmagundi with the Countess

Salmagundi was an unknown dish to me until I encountered it in Countess Constance Wachtmeister's Practical Vegetarian Cookery. While hers is a bit plain, it is pleasant, easy to prepare, and almost certainly sure to be eaten by children. It would also be easy to make something more exotic using the same formula.

Peel (if necessary), chop in strips, and boil in salted water until softened:

3 small potatoes

1 carrot

1 large beet

1/2 of a small cauliflower

I boiled the beets separately to keep from coloring the other vegetables. Run under cool water, and chill. Arrange the vegetables over lettuce leaves, and top with a chopped cucumber pickle and a chopped tomato. Pour a mayonnaise dressing over everything. (I used some Vegenaise thinned with lemon juice.) The Countess suggests serving with crackers and cheese. I did't have any vegan cheese on hand, but we ate it with crackers, and the crunchy contrast was nice.

Vegan MoFo Day 5: Millet - Pumpkin Seed Patties with Cashew Gravy

As many readers of this blog surely know, the Seventh-day Adventist Church encourages (but does not require) a vegan (or vegan + honey) diet. I have quite a few Adventist cookbooks, and you can check out currently available ones via the Adventist Book Center. One of my oldest Adventist books is Ten Talents by Rosalie and Frank Hurd, from 1968. It has been hard to find in the past, but is now back in print.

I wanted to try a recipe I've never made before, and picked the millet - pumpkin seed patties. These just happen to be soy-free, gluten-free, and completely delicious. We will definitely make them again.

4 c cooked millet

1 c cooked brown rice

1 c raw pumpkin seeds, ground fine

1/4 c cashew nuts, ground - or cashew butter

3 T oil

1 t salt

1 t onion powder

1 t sage

Mix everything together, form patties, and fry. These patties want to stick, so you need a well-seasoned or non-stick skillet, thoroughly heated, with enough oil. The Hurds say you can bake them, but I haven't tried that. They are nice and crispy on the outside, and creamy on the inside. You can sprinkle them with paprika if you want more color. The Hurds suggest serving the patties with their Cashew Milk Gravy, which is both easy and tasty:

2 c water

1/2 c cashew nuts

2 T arrowroot

2 t onion powder

2 T oil

1/2 t salt

Blend thoroughly until completely smooth. Cook in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking, until thick.

Vegan MoFo Day 4: Caraway Bread

I have a small green "Cookery Book" from the Lukas Klinik in Switzerland, dated 1978. The Lukas Klinik is an anthroposophical facility for persons with cancer. I have made a number of recipes from this book, as well as from the Lukas Klinik's 2008 cookbook. However, I don't recall ever trying any of their breads. Caraway is a common ingredient in their recipes, especially in the 1978 book, so I decided to try the caraway bread. Here is the recipe, with the only changes being agave and soy yogurt instead of honey and quark:

100 g cracked wheat (I cracked some wheat in my Vita-Mix)

400 g whole wheat flour

1 t salt

1/2 t caraway seeds

3 dl water

1 T linseed (flax) oil

20 g yeast

1 T agave

1 T well drained soy yogurt

Combine wet ingredients and then add the dry ones. Let rise overnight. Shape, place in a greased loaf pan, allow to rise, and then bake in a low oven for 2 hours.

Now, maybe it was me and the European measurements, but the flour/water ratio seemed off and I wound up adding a fair bit more flour. I was out of flax oil, but found some walnut oil in the fridge, which added a nice effect. If making it again, I would up the amounts of both caraway and salt. The kitchen seemed too warm to leave this out on the counter, so I let it rest overnight in the fridge. Also, I was unsure what a "low oven" might be, and did not have 2 hours. Thus, I baked it for 55 minutes at 350 F. I have noticed long baking times at low temperatures in other anthroposophical/biodynamic cookbooks, and I am interested in experimenting to see if it changes the results.

Vegan MoFo Day 3: Turnips & Peas

Today we have another (veganized) recipe from the Rosicrucian Fellowship's New Age Vegetarian Cookbook (1968).

6 small turnips (I used 3 large ones)

2 c cooked peas, cooked as given below

2 T chopped parsley

3/4 c nondairy milk

salt to taste

2 T vegan margarine

paprika

Slice off the tops of the turnips and simmer/steam in the milk for 20 minutes or until they begin to soften. Then, slice them, or hollow them out into cups if you are feeling fancy. Mix everything together (and stuff the cups if doing it that way) and bake at 350 at least 10 minutes. I let it go a little longer in the oven.

For peas: steam 1 lb of frozen peas according to package directions. Then mix with 4 T olive oil, 6 T lemon juice, 2 T agave, and marjoram and thyme to taste. We really liked the peas this way, and will make them again, even if not doing the turnip dish.

The Rosicrucians indicate that this should be served with a white sauce or hollandaise, but it's quite good as is. I think the sauce would be overkill, but follow your own inner direction in these matters!

Vegan MoFo Day 2: Yeasted Oatmeal Muffins

Some years ago, I visited friends in Oceanside, California. While there, they took me on a visit to the headquarters of the Rosicrucian Fellowship. This esoteric group runs (or, at least, ran at the time) a lovely vegetarian cafeteria, staffed mostly by elderly ladies who were as friendly as they were hard of hearing. I have two cookbooks from this community. The older one, the New Age Vegetarian Cookbook, dates from 1968. Here is a veganized version of their oatmeal muffin recipe.

2 c unbleached flour

1/2 c rolled oats

3 T brown sugar

2 t vegan shortening

1 t salt

2 1/4 t dry yeast

1 c nondairy milk

Scald the milk. Pour over oats, sugar, shortening, and salt. Stir together and cool to lukwarm. Add yeast and flour. If it is too dry, add more liquid. You want this to be a little more moist than typical bread dough. Spoon into greased muffin cups. They should be half full. Cover and let rise until the cups are full. My kitchen was cold on the day I made these, and it took about 45 minutes for them to rise. Bake approximately 20 minutes at 440 F.

Vegan MoFo Day 1: The Countess rides again...

This year for Vegan MoFo, I am going to explore recipes from old vegan or vegetarian cookbooks. I will write more about some of the books and authors as the month progresses. I am out of town for the first few days of November, so I am going to start by throwing up some recipes - which is what it is all about, anyway.

The oldest vegetarian cookbook I own is Countess Constance Wachtmeister's Practical Vegetarian Cookery, from 1897. The good countess was an early member and ardent supporter of the Theosophical Society, which promoted ethical vegetarianism.

Her asparagus pie recipe, in its original form, is little more than a description and required some light-handed veganization, but we thoroughly enjoyed the results.

Make enough pie crust for a top and bottom layer. I always use my mother's recipe: 2 c flour, 1 1/2 t salt, 1/2 c oil, 1/4 c nondairy milk. Stir together with a fork and roll out between sheets of wax paper.

Remove tough ends from 2 lbs of asparagus (perhaps minding this guidance), steam for about 5 minutes, and place inside the bottom crust. Make a simple white sauce by cooking together 2 T vegan margarine and 2 T flour, and then adding 2 c milk and continuing to cook, whisking regularly, until thick. Flavor the sauce with salt, black pepper, and nutmeg to taste. Pour over the asparagus, and seal with the top crust. Bake until done. I baked mine for about 30 minutes at 400 F.