Baked Teriyaki Tofu on Fresh Ciabatta Rolls

I have been meaning to put up this recipe for over a week now, and I am finally making myself sit down and write it out because 1.) it's been a while and 2.) this is so gosh darn good, I can't wait to make it again!

I really am more of a summer person than a winter person, and I think my cravings for summery foods have officially started right on time in the middle of winter with many more months to go. I really wanted a fresh, tasty sandwich that left me satisfied but not in a "i ate so much, this is so good but now i am stuffed" kind of way. I knew I had wanted to try out some ciabatta rolls that would be perfect for a sandwich, and even better with some homemade baked tofu! All I can say is...super yum! I can't wait to be eating this outside in the summertime! Keep in mind, the ciabatta is pretty time consuming to make, seeing as it needs a sponge made the night before and then several additional rises...but it is so worth it!
What you will need for the ciabatta rolls:

sponge
1 tsp. yeast
1 c. warm water
1.5 c. flour

dough
1.5 tsp yeast
5 tbsp. soy milk
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 c. warm water
3 c. flour (plus up to an additional cup, if dough is too sticky/moist)
2 tsp. salt

The night before you want to make your ciabatta rolls, you need to make the sponge. And it only takes a few minutes to get together, and you just leave it alone until the next day (at least 12 hours). Warm you water, add the yeast and let sit for about 4 minutes. Add your flour, mix together to incorporate all of flour, then cover your bowl and let sit for at least 12 hours.

The next day, warm your soy milk, add the yeast and again, let sit for about 4 minutes. Add this to your sponge mixture, along with your water and oil. Mix together, I did mine using my kitchen aid stand mixer along with the dough hook. Add 2 c. of your flour and the salt, and mix for 2-3 minutes on a lower setting. Then add the 3rd c. of flour and mix on a medium setting for about 4-5 minutes. The dough should be soft, but not enough that it sticks to the sides of the bowl or your hands. During the last 2 minutes of mixing, I slowly added a 1/4 c. of flour at a time until my dough was a good consistancy and did not stick to my hands. All together, I added a little less than 1 c. flour to get the dough to where it needed to be.

Take a large bowl, grease it with a bit of oil, place the dough in the bowl and leave it covered in a warm place for 1 hour. The dough should be HUGE at this point, doubled if not tripled in size. *I usually preheat my oven to 200 degrees for a few minutes and then turn it off to have a warm place to proof the dough*

Have a very well floured surface ready, very gently take the dough, and seperate into two equal halves. Be careful not to handle the dough in a way that eliminates all the nice, bubbles you worked so hard for! Form the dough into two long rectangular pieces, about 10 - 11 inches long and 4 - 5 inches wide. Then cut each piece in half, then in half again, leaving you with 8 rolls. Cover your rolls again, and let rise for about 1.5 hours. Your dough will not be as huge as the last rise, and will get only a little bigger.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and get a non-stick baking pan, or line it with parchment paper or a Silpat mat. Pick up each roll carefully, and place the bottom side up onto your sheet, so that the floured bottom is now facing upwards. I did 2 batches of 4 rolls each this way.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, and after the first 5 minutes gently brush or spray the tops of the rolls lightly with water. Repeat this 2 more times, then let bake for the remaining 10 - 15 minutes.

Awesome, right? And so delicious too!!! Still motivated to keep baking and cooking after the great day long ciabatta event? Then make this super delish baked tofu to go along with the rolls!


What you'll need for the baked tofu:
1 block of extra firm tofu, pressed
1 c. teriyaki sauce/marinade

Phew...ok, onto the good stuff. Out of sheer laziness at this point, I threw out my experiments with making marinades and used some teriyaki sauce I had at around. I know, I know...but I will get back to this very soon because it is so tasty and I want to try out some original flavors.

I got the tofu ready during one of the many rises of the ciabatta rolls. After pressing your tofu, cut it in half, then cut each half into 4 pieces. I wanted these specifically for the sandwich, so I opted for thicker, heartier slices of tofu, each being about a 1/4 inch thick. All together, I got 8 pieces. Layer these flat in a pan and pour the teriyaki sauce over the tofu and leave in the fridge for an hour or two.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then, arrange them onto a non-stick baking pan and brush the top side with the sauce once more. For this, I used my amazingly awesome Silpat mats, which I am head over heels for. If you don't have one, get one...it will change your life, it is that good! Unless it's just me and I am a giant food nerd!

Bake for 30 minutes, flip the tofu slices, brush the sauce on the top sides again and bake for another 30 minutes! And you're done!!

For my sandwich construction, I simply added a bottom layer of greens, two slices of tomatoes, two or three slices of the baked tofu, and topped it all off with some veganaise!

Nuss-Ecken (Hazelnut Triangle Bars)

After a few very failed experiments, I received a perfectly timed letter from my Oma in Germany, along with this recipe for Nuss-Ecken! I was so happy because I needed something to make that wouldn't turn out disasterously. The original recipe from my Oma uses butter and eggs, but hey, those things are easy enough to change!


This is a traditional Germany cookie/bar/pastry and my Oma would make them throughout the year, but around the holidays, these Nuss-Ecken were a staple (along with about 20 other cookies). Not only were these one of my favs because they tasted so darned good, but when I was little, I just loved helping my Oma out in the kitchen and being able to coat them with chocolate...it just seemed so awesome and fancy through the eyes of a 7 year old me! And to my surprise, I still like making them on my own now.

What you'll need for the dough:
3 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2/3 c. vegan sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 egg equivalents of Ener-G (can sub w/ ground flax seed)
5/8 c. Earth Balance or your fav. butter substitute

In the middle:
apricot preserve (about 400ml)

On top:
1 c. Earth Balance
1 c. vegan sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. water
3 c. ground Hazelnuts
1 c. chopped Hazelnuts
7-8 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate

Start by baking the bottom layer of the bar, add your butter and sugar to your mixing bowl and mix until it is creamed together. Add and mix to incorporate your egg substitute, vanilla and baking powder. Then cup by cup, slowly add your flour and mix until the flour is well combined into the dough, which should be very smooth and does not stick to the side of your bowl. To make rolling out the dough a bit easier, wrap the dough in saran wrap or parchment paper and let chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Take the dough out, and either grease a 11x13 in. baking sheet or line it with parchment paper or a fancy shmancy Silpat mat. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to fit the sixe of the pan. It should be a fairly thin layer, maybe about a 1/4 in thick or so. Then grab your apricot preserves and spread a nice, even layer across your dough. It doesn't have to be a thick layer, just enough to cover the dough evenly.

Now to make the topping! To make the ground hazelnuts, I put about 1 c. hazelnuts at a time into my food processor and pulsed many times to get them ground up with some fairly small pieces chopped up. Do this a total of 3 times, or until you have just about 3 c. of ground hazelnuts. Next, chop 1 c. of hazelnuts into a rough chop, but making sure not to leave really huge pieces or whole hazelnuts. I found my mezzaluna worked really well for this part. Add those to your bowl of ground hazelnuts.

Next, melt your butter, sugar, vanilla and water in a pan and let cook until all of your sugar is melted and well combined. Take your pan off the burner, and add your hazelnut mixture to this and combine until everything is well incorporated and coated evenly. Spread this mixture over your dough and apricot layer.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees or until the sugary hazelnut mixture is a nice, caramelized golden brown color. Take out and let cool for a few minutes to let everything set. Take a knife and go around the edges of the pan to make sure non of the sides and stuck to the pan if you greased the pan. Cut into 2 1/2 - 3 in squares and then carefully cut each square in half to make the triangles.


Let the Nuss-Ecken cool completely before melting your chocolate, otherwise they might want to fall apart if this is done right away. Once cooled, temper your baking chocolate and use a spoon to coat half of the triangles, or any other way your heart desires.

Eat. Share with friends. Be happy and repeat!

Part Two: Caramelized Onion Swirl Bread

Ok...now onto the really good stuff...bread! And not just your ordinary bread, this is special because inside the crispy crust is a swirl of caramelized onions and rosemary...mmm. Perfect food for the season.

Here is what you'll need:

3 cups flour
2 tbsp vegan sugar
1.25 cups water
2 tsp salt
1 package of yeast
2 c. of finely sliced sweet onions (mine worked out to be exactly 2 medium onions)
3-4 tbsp. of olive oil
sprig of fresh rosemary


I started with a simple and very basic bread dough. Heat your water to around 100 degrees and add your packet of yeast. Stir and then let it rest for about 5-10 minutes, or until it gets pretty foamy. Add your salt, and about half of your flour and mix together for about two minutes. Then add the rest of the flour and mix/knead until all of the flour is nicely incorporated in the dough.

At this point, I usually set my oven on the lowest possible temp for a few minutes and then turn it off so I will have a nice and warm place to let the dough rise. Cover the bowl with the dough, and set it in your nicely warmed oven for about 45-60 minutes. At this point, your dough should look a lot bigger.

While your dough is rising, take your sweet onions and cut them into halves. Finely slice each half of the onion. Add the olive oil to a non-stick pan and heat your onions up to medium high for about five minutes. You just want your onions to soften up and start to turn translucent at this point. Turn your heat down to medium and let them slowly cook. Give them a stir every few minutes, you will start to see them turn a very rich golden brown color as they develop a yummy sweetness to them.


After the onions were done, I lined a 12x18 inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Make sure to liberally flour the surface of the parchment paper, as you will be rolling out your dough onto it. Take out your dough and lay it in the center of the sheet, sprinkle more flour onto the top of the dough and onto your rolling pin, and basically roll the dough out to fit the shape of the baking sheet. So in the end, you will have a nice, rectangular piece of dough. Add your onions in an even layer onto the dough, leaving one end where there is about a two inch section without the onions. This will serve as the part that closes the swirled bread, so there won't be onions gooping out of your bread. Sprinkle some fresh rosemary over your onions, or whatever other herbs make you really happy.


To roll the dough and onion up, I just grabbed the end of the parchment paper opposite of the onion-less two inch section. It took a bit of finessing the dough to begin the rolling process, but once it was started, you simply want to keep pulling up the parchment paper resulting in your dough rolling itself up jelly-roll style. Take that onion-less two inch section make press it against the outside of your dough. Then to that to each end as well, almost pinching each end shut.


I then transferred this rolled up dough to a new, clean sheet of parchment paper and formed the dough to my liking, heated the oven to 375 degrees and let it bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the crust is a golden brown color.


Let the bread cool, slice open and enjoy the amazement of what you have just made. Caramelized Onion Swirl bread just feels that good to make! It is especially yummy with the previous posting of Mushroom Soup! Eat lots and be merry!

Part One: Mushroom Soup

More comfort food is all what seems to be on my mind lately, and the other day while experimenting with some new ideas in the kitchen, I got not just one...but two successful results! Which works out great, because I feel like it has been a while since the last post. So, this time around, I have two things to share with you! Mushroom Soup and Caramelized Onion Swirl Bread! A perfect pair...the rosemary in each really ties the flavors together. And who doesn't like a slice or two of delicious, hearty bread as a side to their soup? For the sake of not having one never ending post, I am splitting this up into two parts. Part One will focus on the Mushroom Soup and Part Two, a separate post, will be all about the bread.

Ok, onto the soup. It is a really yummy, savory mushroom soup but a whole heck of a lot lighter than those gross, condensed, cream of whatever soups. The focus is more on the mushrooms in a savory broth with a hint of soy milk to give it some weight. But not fatty, condensed cream of soups kind of weight.

What you will need:

1 lb. crimini mushrooms
1 lb white mushrooms
1 oz dried mixed mushrooms (mine were porcini, shiitake, and oyster)
7 c. veggie broth
1 c. soy milk
4-5 garlic cloves
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. fresh, chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp. fresh, grated nutmeg
salt/pepper to taste

Begin by cleaning all of your fresh mushrooms, removing all of the stems. Slice or dice these guys up and set aside. Peel and chop your garlic. Add the olive oil to a large stock pot, 3 tbsp. or enough to coat the bottom of your pot. Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until they just start to turn golden brown. Add your fresh mushrooms and let cook, while stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes just to soften them up. Add the flour and mix it into the oil, forming a sort of haphazard roux. Add your seven cups of veggie broth to the pot and let it come up to medium heat.

Take your dried mushrooms, and rinse them in a bowl of lukewarm water. The package said to them put them into very hot water for 10 minutes, and that the water would have a lot of flavor you could use in a soup or whatnot. So after rinsing, I decided to simply add them to my soup and do both things in one step.


Add your chopped rosemary, nutmeg, soy milk, and season with salt and pepper to your taste and simmer for 30-40 minutes. At this point, all of the flavors have had enough time to make really good friends, resulting in a super yummy and savory soup.

Serve with fresh Caramelized Onion Swirl Bread (recipe in following post), and share with friends since this makes enough for at least four servings. Yay comfort foods!

Portable Pumpkin Pies

My need for pumpkin is still going strong right now, and I recently got these really amazingly cute Pumpkin Pie Pocket molds as a gift, which just fed my need for making more pumpkin baked goods around here. And I have to say, I kind of really love this pocket mold...it took a couple of tries to perfect the technique, but the end result is worth it! You have a portable, self contained pumpkin pie!

Here is what you'll need-

the dough:
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
16 tbsp Earth Balance or your fav. vegan butter substitute
6 tbsp very cold water

the filling:
1 can pumpkin puree
1/2 c. soy milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
3 - 4 tbsp. corn starch

Using a food processor, begin the dough by pulsing together the flour, salt, and sugar a few times just to mix everything together. Then add the butter and pulse until it is a bit coarse and crumbly. Add your cold water to the dough, and begin to pulse until the dough comes together. If it is still crumbly, add one to two more tbsp of cold water, and pulse again. The dough should not be too moist where it feels sticky, but it should hold it's shape when squeezed together. Take a piece of saran wrap or parchment paper, and flatten out the dough into a large disc, and refrigerate for 2 hours. Using the cold water, and then refrigerating the dough will make the dough bake into a layered, flakey pie crust. This process keeps the "butter" from melting into the dough, instead, it stays in little even layered chunks forming a flakey dough when baked. Even when rolling out the dough, you might notice it is almost layered and not rolling out in one smooth piece.

While your dough is in the refrigerator, you can whisk together all of your ingredients for your pie filling, and place in the refrigerator until the dough is ready. And if you don't feel like having a pumpkin pie for your pockets, experiment and add anything your heart desires for your filling. I think it would be super with little diced up apples and cinnamon as well....might need to try that out...very, very soon.


Ok, back to the pies....fast forward 2 hours, take out the dough and let rest for about 5 minutes. I found taking about a handful of dough and rolling it out was easier than rolling out the whole thing at once. Roll out your dough until it is about 1/8" thick, and for these molds, you use the bottom part of each side to cut out the top and bottom layer. Then you place the bottom layer onto the matching bottom part of your mold, and press down to fit it to the edges. Add about 1 1/2 tbsp of your filling, set your top layer over your filling, and then press down on the mold. In my case for the mold I was using, it crimps down the edges nicely so everything is sealed and ready to go, just repeat this process until you run out of dough (this should make enough for 8 portable pies).

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees while you finish up your little pies, and then bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until the pies are a golden brown color. Let cool, and then enjoy!

Side Note: If you don't have any molds to use, you could easily use anything circular to cut out simple shapes, fill one layer, and then place another later on top, and simply use a fork to crimp the edges of your pies.

Apple Cider Donuts

Somehow, I feel like I am never quite ready for things lately. Especially holidays. Before I new it, Halloween was here and gone, and I felt completely unprepared and like I had not done my usual routine of visiting pumpkin patches, going to the corn maize, pumpkin carving....I don't know what is going on, but I just feel like I am a few steps behind the rest of the world.

And then it hit me, one very important piece of my fall ritual had not been completed....apple cider donuts! I knew I had to do a bit of research and make them right away. And by right away, I meant the weekend.

So here is what you will need for the dough:
3 1/2 c. flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
4 tbsp Earth Balance or vegan butter substitute
1 cup vegan sugar
2 egg equivalents of Ener-G
1/2 c. soy milk
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 c. apple cider

for frying:
36 oz. of vegan shortening
candy thermometer

Since 1 c. apple cider is too much liquid for a standard recipe, what we are going to do is reduce this cup down to about 1/4 cup apple cider. This way, the flavor is extra concentrated into the smaller, correct amount of liquid. Use a small pot, and on medium heat, let this simmer down to a 1/4 c, this might take somehere around 20 - 30 minutes, so make sure to start this step first. Then, when you have about 10 minutes left, take your 1/2 cup soy milk and add your 1 tbsp vinegar and let sit for the remaining 10 minutes that the apple cider is reducing. The vinegar and soy milk combo creates a liquid similar to buttermilk. I discovered this trick during my research where something said you can use regular milk and vinegar to create "buttermilk" in a pinch. So I thought...hey, why not try it out with soy milk? You will notice that almost right away the soy milk will thicken up quite a lot. While all of this is going on, you can also grab an additional bowl and mix your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

When you have the apple cider reduced, and you soy "buttermilk" ready, begin to make the batter by mixing your sugar and butter until it is smooth, light and almost a tiny bit fluffy. Add about half of the Ener-G mixture and mix well until incorporated, then add remaining Ener-G mix. At some point you might have to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add your 1/4 c. apple cider, then slowly add your soy "buttermilk," then turn down the setting on your mixerslowly and carefully add your bowl of dry ingredients to the batter and mix until everything is a nice and smooth dough.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle flour onto it, toss your dough onto the flour coated parchment paper and knead a few times. Add a bit of flour if your dough is still really sticky. Using you hands, press out the dough until it is about a 1/2 inch thick and set in the freezer for about 20 - 30 minutes.

Now for the fun part! Take your flattened out dough out of the freezer and using a circular cookie cutter about 3 inches wide, cut out donuts and place onto another baking sheet lined with parchment paper and lightly sprinkled with flour. After you have cut out as many donuts as you can get out of your dough, knead it together and flatten back out to a 1/2 inch thick sheet and repeat. Once you have gone through all of your dough and cut out all of your donuts, use a circular cookie cutter that is 1 inch wide, and use it to cut out the center of each of your donuts.


Throw these guys back into the freezer for about 20 minutes. While they are in the freezer, prepare your workspace for frying your donuts. I used about 1 1/2 tubs of vegan shortening, each tub containing 24 oz. I also used a medium sized sauce pan and fried 2 donuts at once. I did it this way, because to get a large pot or pan with enough oil for frying, you would need a huge amount of oil or shortening, and I did not want to go that way, and I found my mini-frying station set up I had worked just fine. Onto the kind of gross part, put your 36 oz of shortening into the pan, and heat until it is liquid and reaches 350 degrees, try to keep your frying liquid at this temp.

Take your donuts out of the freezer and using a slotted metal spoon or sorts, or something that will not melt in hot oil, VERY gently place 2 donuts into the frying liquid. They will sink to the bottom and then slowly float up to the top. After about a minute and a half, flip each donut and let it fry for the same amount of time on the other side.


When done, take your slotted spoon, and place on some paper towels to drain. Repeat with each donut and all of those cute donut holes! I found I could fry about 5-6 donut holes at once without the temp dropping and keeping everything consistant.


I also make a little bit of cinnamon glaze for about half of my donuts by mixing together 1 c. powdered sugar with a few tbsps of soy milk to get it to the thickness of frosting you like, and adding 1 tsp of cinnamon. I poured this onto a plate, and then dipped each donut into the frosting and let them harden up.


I have to say, these are probably one of the most delicious things I have ever had the pleasure of creating in my kitchen. They are so so so good, and really hit the spot for that fall time, apple cider craving. I made about 20 donuts and 20 donut holes.

The only thing keeping me from making this every weekend is that 36 oz of shortening I needed to fry these up in! Also, speaking from experience, be VERY CAREFUL when frying these, taking care to gently place them into the oil. A little donut hole accidently slid off too quickly, and I immediately got a burn on my hand with a blister that formed right away from oil spattering from the falling donut hole. SO BE CAREFUL! But if you take this journey, you will be rewarded with delicious, fluffy, beautiful Apple Cider Donuts!

Tofu Scramble Pockets

I woke up this morning, feeling a bit bummed out for sleeping in....and by that I mean 9:00 am. I check my phone...and it is magically 8:00 am! Totally forgot about Daylight Savings Time, but having gained that extra hour and riding a wave of good feelings, I was inspired to make these Tofu Scramble Pockets a reality. I have had this idea in my mind for a while, and this morning, well, let's just say it was time.

Here is what you'll need for the dough:
1 packet active yeast
1.5 c. water
4 cups flour
1. 5 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
corn meal (to sprinkle on bake sheet)

The Scramble:
12 oz. package of firm tofu
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
4 oz. mushrooms
1 tsp. curry powder
olive oil
salt/pepper

Since you will have to let the dough rise for 45 minutes, start with that first. Warm your water up to about 100 degrees and add the yeast. Let the yeast do its thing for a couple of minutes, and then add half of your flour, all of your salt and olive oil. Mix until it is incorporated. Add the rest of the flour and knead together. The dough will still be quite sticky. Let rise for 45 minutes.

While the dough rises, start to get your scramble together. Cut your tofu into little cubes, and toss into a non-stick pan. I like to let the tofu cook without oil for a while, this way the moisture of the tofu steams away and it is a bit easier to fry everything up when it is a drier texture. This will take about 10 minutes. Use a spatula to crumble the tofu into smaller pieces. Add your oil, onions, garlic, mushrooms, curry powder and any spices that your particularly love. Let it cook on medium heat for another 10 - 15 minutes, taking care to stir every few minutes.

The addition of curry powder is something I discovered on a whim once, and I love adding just a tiny bit to tofu scrambles. Not only does 1 tsp. of curry powder give the tofu that golden, yellow color, but it also adds a certain savory flavor to the dish. Just enough to add a bit of depth to it, but not enough to make it a curry scramble.

When I made this, somehow everything aligned just right and my tofu scramble finished up within the last few minutes of my dough rising. Onto the dough....I took about a handful sized piece of dough and kneaded a bit of flour into it, to make it easier to handle (not as sticky). I used a smaller cutting board as reference as I rolled out about a 12x8 inch rectangle of dough. I added the scramble into the middle section, folded over each side, and then pressed down the ends on both sides. Poke holes into the top of your pockets with a fork so they don't explode or grow giant bubbles while in the oven...and Voila!


Place each pocket onto a baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal, kind of like when you make pizza, it seems to not make the dough stick to the pan as much. Also, preheat your oven at this point to 400 degrees. Finish making your additional pockets, placing them side by side onto your baking pan.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. I would keep an eye on the pockets after about 15 minutes, as oven temps can vary greatly.


I made 5 pockets total, and I probably had enough dough for at least 2 more, but I ran out of scramble. I just put the leftover dough in the freezer, which will be super for a quick, home made pizza later on this week.

Enjoy with friends and loved ones!