Red Pepper Pizza

Unfortunately, the past week went by way too fast with not enough cooking experimentation time, but I did end up making a pretty simple pizza! It is pretty basic, since I did buy the dough at Trader Joe's (...I know, I know, could have made it myself but it was a spur of the need for pizza)

Here is what I used:
1 batch of pizza dough
1 block of "Follow Your Heart" Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella
1 Pint of Cherry Tomatoes
1 28oz. can of diced tomatoes
1-2 red peppers
1 head of garlic
olive oil
vegan sugar
basil

Since I didn't do anything special for the dough, this is mainly for making a simple and verrry delicious tomato sauce for your pizza....the sauce is so so important in making or breaking a really yummy pizza for me, and this really hit the spot.

Begin by chopping up your garlic and toss it into a pan with some olive oil. Let this cook for 2-3 minutes, enough to let the garlic soften up but not burn. Cut your tomatoes into small slices and then add it to your garlic. Add about 1 tsp. of vegan sugar, this help cut the acidity of the raw tomatoes. Let this simmer for about 10-15 minutes, and then add your can of diced tomatoes.

Chiffonade your basil, and add this to the sauce. Also, add any salt/pepper and other spices to your taste. I added some of my really great italian seasoning I got from Italy, which includes red pepper flakes! yum!

Let this cook down for a while, so you don't get left with too much watery liquid, this might take another 15 minutes or so.



Roll out your dough, add sauce, grate the vegan gourmet cheese, add topping....you know the rest! For baking pizzas with the FYH Vegan Gourmet cheese, I found that it works best baking it at about 400 degrees for 12-13 minutes. Your cheese will look like it is starting to melt, but still in pieces and not really melting together. The trick here is take a flat spatula, and slightly smoosh your pizza down, and then set your over to broil for about 4 minutes. Keep an eye on your pizza once you do this, you don't want it to burn. But this is the best way to get vegan cheese to actually melt like regular cheese.

Let cool for a few, if you can and enjoy!

Peach & Plum Tea Cake

Ever since this month's Gourmet Magazine has been out, the Plum Kuchen has been popping up everywhere...I could not get away from seeing it. And when I finally caved and bought the magazine for myself, it was the opposite page that had a little section on a Stone Fruit Tea Cake! I knew that was the baking project for me...I mean, I am sure the Plum Kuchen is wonderful...but this Tea Cake really caught my eye.

It features a shortbread-like dough that is not overly sweet, which balances beautifully against the fresh fruit that is layered into it. I chose a mixture of peaches and plums. I really wanted a kind of sweet and tart to play off of each other, and the combination of the sweet peaches against the slight bitterness of the plums really adds a yumminess to this cake, in my opinion. However, you can use any combination of stone fruits, or go all out with your one and very favorite!


Peach & Plum Tea Cake (adapted from Gourmet Magazine, Aug. 2009)

you will need:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (i used the chunkier, kosher salt here)
1 cup vegan sugar
3/4 cup vegan earth balance
3 egg equivalents for Ener-G (use warm water)
3 cups fruit (I used 1 large peach, 2 large plums)
brown sugar (this will be sprinkled on top, so you will not need much)

Begin by adding the earth balance and the 1 cup vegan sugar into your mixer, and beat for almost 5 minutes to cream it. It should be a nice, light, fluffy mixture. While this is mixing up, I mixed together in a seperate bowl my flour, baking powder and salt. I also got my 3 egg equivalents of Ener-G together.

When you are done mixing your sugar/earth balance mixture, slowly add about 1/3 of your ener-g mixture at a time, making sure each 1/3 is incorporated before adding your next 1/3.

After all of your Ener-G is mixed together with your sugar and earth balance, add your bowl of dry ingredients slowly. Continue to mix until it comes together into a very smooth dough. The texture almost reminded me of sugar cookie dough while I was making this. Wrap this up in plastic wrap and leave in your freezer for about 30 minutes.

While the dough cools in your freezer (it will be easier to handle when cooled) roughly chop your fruit. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

After you have cooled the dough, take about 1/2 of the dough and spread it evenly in the bottom your pan. Add the fruit over this layer, and then crumble the remaining dough over the fruit. This does not have to be small crumbled pieces, I made mine about table spoon sized. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

The original recipe calls for a 10" pan, but I would recommend a 9" spring form pan. It almost seemed like my first half was not enough to spread out across the 10" pan.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.



I know this is the hard part, but you want to wait a little bit before cutting into this awesome tea cake. All of your fruit has released its moisture, forming a sticky liquid. As it cools, the liquid will thicken up and make it easier and neater for you to take out your cake.

Ok....now, enjoy!

Pasta Pomodoro e Carciofo

I have been visiting my family in Germany recently (where I got to spend 3 days in Paris...amazing!), and then when I got back to the Northwest, at work, we were getting ready for the awesome Sock Summit here in Portland! Dublin Bay Knitting Co. had a booth there, and the turn out was fabulous...so so so much fun!

The only down side to all of this knitting awesome time is the fact ever since I got back from my trip, I have had zero time to spend in the kitchen and really cook something! So today was my first real day off, and I went right to New Seasons so simply browse (...yes, I go grocery shopping to browse and look at all of the pretty food!) and get some much needed food inspiration.

That is when I came across this great display of these adorable, cute and colorful cherry tomatoes and I knew I had to use them. Tonight.

The pint of tomatoes I bought were a mixture of local, organic red and yellow cherry tomatoes. Take a peek!


Cute, right?? I really wanted something to show off the great taste of these tiny and flavorful, so I came up with a really simple and fresh recipe for what I am calling Pasta Pomodoro e Carciofo. On a side note, if artichokes are not your thing, I still think this sauce turns out amazingly as a simple pomodoro sauce sans the artichokes!

Here is what you will need:
1 pint of assorted cherry tomatoes, cut in half
5 large cloves of garlic
1 small jar of marinated artichokes
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. bragg's liquid aminos
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. italian seasoning
1/2 pound capellini pasta

Begin with the garlic, and roughly chop them but not very fine. I wanted this to have somewhat a "rustic" feel so large, uneven chunks of garlic are a-ok with me! Drizzle olive oil to coat a large pan with raised edges (as this is the pan that will hold the sauce and pasta). Add garlic and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until the garlic starts to turn a golden brown color.

As this was cooking, I began to cut my cherry tomatoes into halves, and give my artichokes a rough chop. When your garlic is done, set the pan aside off of the burner to let the oil cook for a minute, then add your halved tomatoes and artichokes.

If you add the tomatoes right away, the juices will mix with the oil and splatter like mad! Believe me....this comes from experience.

As the tomatoes begin to cook down, add the sugar. I find that this small amount of sugar takes away some of the acidity of the tomatoes. Add the Braggs, italian seasoning, and the additional 2 tbsp. of olive oil.

A note about italian seasoning: I got this fabulous seasoning straight from Italy on my trip, But you can make your own! It looks like it contains a mixture of basil. oregano, rosemary, thyme, maybe some marjoram, dried slices of garlic and lots of yummy crushed red pepper flakes.

Even if you have a generic italian seasoning mix at home, it will do, but you will probably have to add the crushed red pepper yourself, as this generally is not a component of the dried italian seasoning mix you buy. If you make the seasoning this way, simply add and adjust the crushed red pepper to your taste.

Let the sauce simmer while you bring your water to a boil for your pasta. I used capellini for this dish, and felt it worked well. Capellini pasta tends to grow and grow when it is cooking, so I suggest 1/2 a pound for the amount of the sauce you are making. If you are planning this for 3 or 4 people, I would double this recipe and make 1 pound of pasta.



Let the pasta cook until it is al dente. Drain and add to your sauce. Mix the sauce around until the pasta is coated, serve and enjoy!