And now the recipe--Flourless, Eggless, Dairy-free, Sugar-Free Fruit Pie of Deliciousness

This pie is very special to the Huberman family.  The genesis of the recipe comes from my Grandma Ruth, a vegan for over half a century who with my late Grandma Max, opened Youngstown, Ohio's first health food store in the 1950s.

My grandparents subscribed to the tenets of Natural Hygiene, which (and I'm totally paraphrasing here) maintained that fruits and vegetables had enough natural flavor without the addition of salt, butter, and oil.  In the place of these flavorings, Grandma came up with creative solutions like cooking rice in fresh celery or carrot juice and thickening her eggplant patties with ground up almonds.

About six years ago, Grandma began making fruit pies.   It's hard to remember a time before the pies began--throughout high school I only remember an unending stream of them that would appear and disappear from our refrigerator.  We ate them for breakfast, lunch, dessert, and midnight snacks.  While each pie contained the same basic elements (mainly, apples) , they were never the same twice.  One week would contain cherries, one week mangoes, one week coconut, one week pistachios.  When pressed for a recipe, Grandma would always shrug and say she didn't have one.

One year on break, I managed to assist on the process and found that the crust contained a combination of nuts, medjool dates and  manna (or essene) bread, which is a moist, sprouted bread and bound together with apple juice.  The filling, however was the real secret:  she would steam the fruit in apple juice before pouring it into the crust.  And while I had long assumed this was a raw pie, I discovered Grandma did in fact bake both the crust as soon as it's made and then the entire pie once assembled.  But though I now had access to this holy grail of culinary knowledge, I was not yet confident in myself as a cook to take the leap and make one myself, still dependent on exact measurements to guide me through.

This year, I went down to Florida to visit my Mom for her birthday, which falls on New Year's.  My Mom has always joked that she's always been ahead of the curve when it comes to food sensitivities.    In the 1970s, she was a vegan when health food stores were few and far between and Tiger's Milk was the only alternative to Hershey's.  By the time the options started to expand and Silk soy milk began running national ads in the late 1990s, Mom discovered she was allergic to gluten, further limiting.  Now this year, as even restaurants like Outback Steakhouse are happy to provide gluten-free menus, Mom has eliminated oil, salt, and anything resembling sugar as well.

This latest development posed a challenge to me as I prepared to make her a treat for her birthday, as the lack of oil and sugar basically eliminated the gluten-free baking mixes I had relied on in the past.  Taking a deep breath, I decided it was time to attempt a fruit pie of my own.

The one big modification I had to make for Mom was in the crust.  As manna bread contains gluten, I had to eliminate it and use extra dates and nuts, also adding dried apricots that my Grandma Maddy happened to have on hand.  As a guide, I looked up a recipe for a no-bake date-nut pie crust that I  doubled in order to make sure I had enough.  For the filling, I used a combo of apples, pineapple, frozen berries, and raisins.  While the original plan had been to steam it all in fresh apple juice as per Grandma Ruth's custom, a shortage of apples forced me to blend the apple juice with some fresh-squeezed pineapple, which gave the whole pie a refreshing lightness.  My only stumbling block was greasing the pan, as I was terrified that the crust would stick once baked.  I was able to convince Mom to consent to a tiny bit of coconut oil, but I would be happy to hear any other suggestions.

The result was an unqualified success, kicking off 2010 with licked lips and happy tummies.

And now for the recipe.

Flourless, Eggless, Dairy-Free, Sugar-free Fruit Pie of Deliciousness

Crust:

3 cups of unsalted nuts (I used almonds and pecans, but cashews, walnuts, pistachios, or just about anything else will do just fine)

6-12 pitted dates.  You can mix it up by adding other dried fruit like pineapple or apricots

1/4-1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1-3 tbsp of water or fruit juice, for binding crust together.

Filling:

4-5 granny smith apples, peeled cored and sliced.  Granny smith apples are recommended, but really any apples you have on hand will do just fine.

2-3 cups of some other fruit, something like mango, peach, pineapple, berries, cherries, etc.. Really, the possibilities are endless.

1/2 cup raisins

1-2 tsp cinnamon

Water or juice for steaming

Optional:  Berries or other fruit for decoration.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Begin by grinding nuts in a food-processor or blender until fine.  Next add dates and blend until mixture is sticky.  Add cinnamon and just enough liquid to hold mixture together.  Press crust into greased (if desired) pie plate, leaving about 1/3 cup aside for the crumb topping. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the crust just begins to harden (but not too much--it still has to go into the oven again later).

While the crust is baking, make the filling.  In a large bowl, combine apples, additional fruit, raisins, and cinnamon.  Fill a large steamer pot with about an inch of juice or water until barely touching the bottom of the steam basket.  Pour fruit into pot and steam for 20-30 minutes or until apples are tender.

Take the crust out of the oven and pour in the pie filling.  Don't worry if you've made too much for filling--any excess can be perfectly delightful atop ice cream, oatmeal, cupcakes or any other combination you can think of.  (Another fun variation that Grandma Ruth often does is mashing a soft persimmon over the filling, but as we didn't have persimmons this wasn't an option.)

Once filled, take the extra crust mixture and sprinkle atop the pie, covering it completely.  If you find you don't have any extra crust (as I did when I found someone who shall remain nameless gobbled it up), simply grind up some more nuts and dates. To decorate, arrange sliced fruit (berries and cherries work best) in an aesthetically pleasing pattern of your choosing.

Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the tops of the crumb topping begins to brown.

 Cut into slices and, if desired, top with your favorite vegan ice cream (in this case, Luna and Larry's Coconut Bliss).  Y'all know the next step:  eat and enjoy!

To Whet Your Appetites--Flourless, Eggless, Dairy-Free, Sugar-free Fruit Pie

Recipe to follow!

The Veggie Returns! Plus, a Christmas Quiche

So I am aware I have not posted since October.  I blame my chronic perfectionism.  See, I have had oodles of ideas for posts that I have even composed and recited in my head as I have made homemade frozen burritos (courtesy of my dear bestie Ben Herman),  baked to perfection vegan German Chocolate and Mint Chocolate cupcakes for the delight of my weekly meditation and vegetarian cooking group: 

and endured ridicule as cooed over the most adorable baby bok choy you can ever conceive

But then every time I sat down to compose an entry I found would have posts that seemed too long, some posts without adequate pictures, pictures of dishes I didn't feel were original enough for me to take credit for them or not healthy enough for my vegetarian blog.  I worried that I didn't have a strong enough concept for my blog--like perhaps it's not enough to just share recipes but I needed some sort of gimmick, like picking a different vegetable each week and writing about it.  Or only creating dishes whose titles contained the letters of my name.  I decided that because of my laziness, aversion to proofreading, and general lack of originality, I didn't deserve to have a voice in the blogosphere.  
All of this, as you can imagine, did wonders for my self-esteem.  


Still, I continued cooking. I mastered the art of the boiled egg.  I warmed my soul on rainy Jersey evenings with hearty lentil soup.

  


I turned chemist for a night as I manipulated agar agar flakes, corn starch, and tofu to create the vegan creme filling for Brooklyn vs. Boston Creme Pie Cupcakes. 

But then as thesis draft deadlines and internship applications began to up, I decided some silly thing like this wasn't a big priority anyway.  


But then my dad rented Julie and Julia for Christmas Eve.  I had seen the film several months earlier--it was, predictably, one of the motivating factors that led me to start my blog in the first place, Julie Powell coming up with one of the best gimmicks imaginable.    Watching it again, I was most struck with the point toward the end 


SPOILERS IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE FILM 


Julie learns that her idol Julia Child does not consider her a serious cook at all.  Julie falls into meltdown, feeling like a failure.  But then her husband reminds her that it shouldn't matter what Julia Child thinks, who probably had never read the blog and doesn't know anything about her really.  The only person that matters is the Julia Child in her head, the one who has brought joy and purpose to her life.  

SPOILERS OVER

What it taught me was, so what if some people might find some of my postings long-winded.  So if I might not have much of a gimmick or if every post does not yield Julia Child-level brilliance.  Or even Paula Dean.  Maybe no publisher will ever decide my voice is worthy enough for a book deal.  But damned if the little Jewish mother in me still didn't get a thrill as roommates, classmates, and family members "mmm"-ed as they took the first bite of the food I created.  I like to food--eating and cooking it and I like to share my love of food with those I love.  And anything beyond that is simply icing on the cupcakes.  


And now for the recipe


Vegetarian Quiche Fluffed With Mayo


While I love quiche, I had never in fact made one before.  But with my success with boiling eggs and most recently a frittata behind me, I was on an egg roll.  After surveying a number of them online, I rested one from allrecipes.com that promised the optimum amount of fluffy goodness with the minimum amount of additional ingredients to purchase at Sparkle.  I modified the recipe slightly, taking the user comments suggestion to add an extra egg.  I decided to use fresh rather than frozen spinach as well as toss in a bit of nutmeg and salt and pepper to give it some flavor.   The only thing I wish I would have though to do was saute the onions before


So, without further ado:


1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk
5 eggs, lightly beaten
8 ounces of shredded cheesed (I used a cheddar blend)
1/2 bag of fresh spinach
1/2 cup chopped onion
dash of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 9-inch pie shell (homemade or frozen, depending on ambition)
Sliced red pepper slices, mushrooms, or other veggies for decoration.


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare crust in pie shell.


In a large bowl, whisk together mayo and milk.  Add eggs and beat until smooth.  Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper.


Layer spinach, onion, and cheese in shell--at least two layers of each.  Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese.


Arrange peppers, mushrooms or other sliced veggies over top of quiche in desired pattern.  Cover with foil.


Bake for 45 minutes.  Remove cover and cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until top is browned and filling is set and it looks something like:

Comfort Food in 5 Minutes: Nuked Fruit Crisp

Fruit crisp made with frozen peaches and granola

Everyone loves hot pie, but rarely do our schedules allow us the hour plus time it takes to cut and peel four or five apples, roll out dough, and bake it in the oven.  With a microwave, however, you can get the same sweet warm feeling in a single serving in under five 5 minutes.  This has been one of my go-to dishes for about a year now.  Usually I make it as a late-night snack when I take breaks from studying (or, you know, stalking people on facebook and trolling the "Mad Men" message board on IMDB).  Over the past month, however, I've found my nuked cobbler a fruity alternative to the standard, everyday oatmeal when I have to grab breakfast on the run.

There are a lot of different ways to go about this kind of dish, and mine varies depending on what I have on hand.  Normally I use old-fashioned oats squished together with brown sugar and Earth Balance veggie butter for the base of the topping, but I've also found this to be a great way to use up leftover granola.   Or for a more traditional cobbler topping, you can cream together butter, sugar, flour, and milk.

For the filling, the options are infinite.  I usually use apples because that's what I always have on hand, but I've also had excellent results throwing in peaches and sliced bananas.  And if you don't want to use white sugar, you can always sub agave, maple syrup, or honey.

The point is, this kind of a dish is far from an exact science.  If you don't have everything listed, don't panic:  wonderful discoveries can be made in the case of last-minute substitutions.  Necessity is the mother of of invention, and in this case, warm heavenly fruitniness.

Nuked Five-Minute Fruit Crisp

Fruit Filling:

1 cup sliced apples, peaches, pears, or any other pie fruit
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Optional:
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp basil (it came from Martha Stewart!)
Splash of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp chopped nuts
1 tsp raisins

Topping:
1 T granola
or
1 T old-fashioned oats
1 T butter or margarine
1 T brown sugar
1 tsp flour

Combine filling ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl, plastic container, or coffee cup.  Cream together topping ingredients and spread on top of fruit.  Microwave for 3-4 minutes.  Enjoy!

Pudding--Lisa; Lisa--Pudding

Like macaroni and cheese, bread pudding is one of those foods that immediately conjures up thoughts of warmth and comfort.

As with last edition's fried green tomatoes, my foray into bread pudding came as a continuation of my attempt to make use of the food items I acquired after Rosh Hashanah.  In addition to the green tomatoes and herbs, I inherited a bike-helmet-sized loaf of challah bread.  While I was able to make pretty good progress of the loaf in the first week, it soon became clear that consuming this entire loaf single-handedly was beyond my 5 foot 2 capacity.  I had considered freezing it as well, but at its current size it would still take up a significant portion of the freezer and I was loathe to further encroach on my roommates' territory.

While I did not intend to make this a vegan dish, I discovered most bread pudding recipes required 3-5 eggs and I was hesitant to use so many on an experimental dish while I still had another two weeks before my next planned grocery store trip.  I finally found a recipe for Easy Vegan Bread Pudding that contained all ingredients that seemed familiar to me.   But because I still had suspicions about the dish's ability to hold its form and thickness without eggs as a binder, I also found a recipe that used tofu as well.  In the end, I ended up using more of the first recipe, while simply blending the soymilk with a bit of tofu.  Unfortunately, I didn't pay close attention to the tofu-to-soymilk ratio, resulting in a mixture that was perhaps slightly more mushy than expected and I'm not sure how much of a difference the tofu made in the end.

Pudding Without Topping

For the topping, I took inspiration from the Tofu Sabayon Sauce recipe in John B. Nowakowski's Vegetarian Magic, eliminating the saffron/tumeric and using agave instead of brown rice or maple syrup.  And while I have had a rocky relationship with tofu in the past, tonight I found it a quick and easy way to create a thick, creamy sauce without the boiling or whipping involved when dealing with heavy cream or egg whites (though I still find it has a bit of an aftertaste that leaves something to be desired in terms of flavor).  While the sauce tasted perfectly luscious drizzled over the entire just-baked pudding, in retrospect I would probably leave it on the side for the sake of keeping the pudding from being too mushy.

Pudding with Topping

And so, without further ado, your recipe for instant fall comfort.

Vegan Bread Pudding

4 cups of day-old bread
2 1/2 cups soy milk
1/2 cup of silken tofu
3/4 cup sugar
1 banana, slicec
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinammon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put bread into greased (not sure if greasing is necessary, but I'm paranoid about these things) 9x9-inch baking pan.

In some sort of blending appliance, blend tofu and soymilk. Combine the soymilk-tofu rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and pour over the bread.  Stir to mix.

Bake pudding for 30-45 minutes, or until the mixture begins to hold its form.

While the pudding bakes, make the tofu vanilla cream sauce.

Tofu Vanilla Cream Sauce

One 12.3-ounce box of silken tofu
3/4 cup soymilk, almond milk, or rice milk
1/2 cup of brown rice syrup, maple syrup, or agave
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

After draining the tofu, place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.  Serve on top of individual slices of pudding.

Last Brunch of Summer: Fried (Greenish) Tomatoes

Ever since I saw the mid-nineties tearjerker at age 8, I've been itching to try fried green tomatoes for myself. But like my fear of pastry crusts, frying was also a cooking technique that seemed to elude me. Plus the fact that I never really found an excuse to buy bread crumbs or under-ripe tomatoes. Granted, such tomatoes were available in abundance in my dad's garden, but asking to make any dish with the word "fried" in the title seemed downright insulting in such a health-conscious household.

But yesterday I went to Rosh Hoshana lunch with cousins in Teaneck. Like every Jewish family love, is expressed through how much food is sent home with you after you leave, and I was sent packing with a bundle of fresh herbs, a loaf of challah bread, two avocados, and finally, some under-ripe tomatoes.

This morning found me sleeping in until about 1:00, and with a craving for fried green tomatoes, I decided to take the plunge. Not in a mood to buy bread crumbs or corn meal, I managed to find a recipe on Cooks.com for a version that used simply flour.

Fried Green Tomatoes

2 or 3 green tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/2 c. flour

salt and pepper to taste

oil for frying

To begin, I coated the tomato slices in the flour.

Next, I heated a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet and plopped the tomato slices in. After a few false starts and the inevitable overzealous smoke detector sounding (hey, at least it cares) I cooked each tomato slice until they were slightly browned and crispy on both sides. While not all of the tomatoes were strictly green, they came out fine, though the firmness of the green ones made them hold up a bit better with the heat. What was nice about the mix of colors was the vibrancy they brought to the finished plate.

To serve, I sprinkled with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. To add some extra variety and color to the meal, you can take a handful of baby spinach and saute for a few minutes in the leftover oil from the tomatoes.

While the tomatoes were very satisfying on their own, I imagine they could also pair very well with some steamed rice, potatoes, or eggs if you want to make a full meal out of it.

Pastries Without Fear: Magical Muffin Pies Oh My

The genesis of this project actually began during one of my baking kicks last winter. I came across an entry in Megan Reardon's Not Martha website about making pies baked in tiny jars. The inherent adorable-ness of this idea tickled my taste buds and imagination, and yet my lack of experience with pastry crusts scared me off. While I had previously had success with graham cracker crusts, cookies, and cupcakes, the creation of pastry's delicate flakiness seemed to require a meticulousness and patience for chemistry which I would never be capable.

Fast forward almost a year later. I am sitting at my computer, having just done an ichat test in preparation for a talk-back with Bradley Theater's senior seminar class. With two hours to kill before the scheduled talk-back, I attempt to turn my attentions to my current writing projects. Complete and utter failure. Restless, I needed to do something active but with the clock ticking, I knew a bike ride was out of the question. My thoughts drifted to baking, and I rattled off in my mind the ingredients I had: flour, water, salt, butter. All they key ingredients for a pastry crusts. Once again the jar pies popped back into my mind. Though the chemistry of it was still daunting, the thought of something warm inside of a flaking crust was too much to resist on a cold, rainy day.

So I trolled the web until I found a basic pie crust recipe that seemed simple enough even I couldn't screw up. With trepidation, I began following the steps outlined, careful not to let my insecurity and impatience cause me to lose faith in the instructions and screw it up completely. It's a similar fear to programming a destination into your GPS: though 95% of the time it gets you to where you need to be, there are those once-in-a-blue moon cases where it decides to have a conniption fit and leads you toward an abandoned warehouse during an Oklahoma tornado warning instead of the Motel 6. If I follow the recipe and do as I am told will I be rewarded with crisp, flaky, goodness or will the fruits of my labor be limp, mushy, and bland?

And while at first the outlook was bleak--this is absurd, I thought, cutting frozen butter bit by bit into the bowl of flour. Once I added began adding bits of water, however, I began to feel something vaguely dough-like taking shape. Still I was anxious, but by the time I was ready to put the dough in the freezer, it was about time for the ichat talk and I was forced to walk away.

45 minutes later, I take the dough out of the freezer and roll it out. Seems normal enough. Though the original intend had been to use an empty salsa jar for my jar-pie, I abandoned that idea when I realized the method was intended for more heat-resistant canning jars, and the last thing I needed was the jeers from my roommates once my jar exploded in the oven. So I instead resolved to take this opportunity to inaugurate my new muffin tin. For my first batch, I decided to make half veggie pies and half apple. The amount of dough I created ended up being enough for 8 pies.

Holding my breath, I popped them into the oven. About 40 minutes later, I took them out.

And planted my fork into the crust. It crackled and was just as flaky, warm and comforting as promised.

The next day, I was entertaining a guest and decided to try my hand at another batch, this time making half peanut butter and half apple. Here you will see the lovely Jen Ring modeling the result:

And now, finally, Miraculous Magical Muffin Pies

Crust:

2 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 sticks cold butter
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Ice water as needed

Fillings (these fillings are all measured for making six pies each. To make a full batch, simply double each recipe)

Vegetable Pot Pie

1 cup chopped veggies, can include peas, mushrooms, onions, corn, potatoes, etc.

l cup vegetable broth (a bouillon cube in water should do the trick)

Flour, corn starch or arrowroot to thicken

salt, pepper to taste

Apple Pie

1 apple, diced

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp of water

1 tsp corn starch or arrowroot

Peanut Butter Pie

1/2 cup karo (can also dissolve sugar in boiling water to substitute)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup peanut butter

Add flour to a medium bowl. Cut butter pieces about 1/2-tablespoon big and add to flour along with salt. Using a pastry cutter, two knives, or your fingers, blend together until the dough resembles pea-sized crumbs.

Add ice water a tablespoon at a time mixing with a fork just until the dough starts to come together. Using your hands, knead dough in the bowl two or three times until it comes together in a ball. Turn out onto a floured cutting board and knead another two to three times.

Flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the freezer for 15 minutes to use immediately according to pie recipe. Or refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and use any time within a week. Crust can also be frozen for up to a month and defrosted in the refrigerator overnight for later use.

Once ready to bake, remove the dough from the freezer and roll out onto counter until dough is about 1/8 inch thick. Press half of the dough into greased muffin tin and cover the rest. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 and prepare the fillings.

For the veggie pot pie, combine chopped veggies and cook in the method you prefer. Next, combine broth in a small sauce pan with arrowroot, corn starch and flour and heat until sauce begins to thicken. Pour sauce over the veggies and combine until coated. Pour into pie shells.

For the apple pot pie, dice apples and set aside in lemon juice. Next, heat sugar, water, corn starch and cinnamon in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved. Pour into pie shells.

For the peanut butter pie, combine all ingredients until smooth and pour into pie shells.

Next, take the rest of the dough and cover the tops of each pie. You can be simple and just do a solid cover, or get creative and weave strips together to create a traditional basket look. When finished, pop the little suckers into the oven and let bake for 30-45 minutes or until the crust starts to get golden brown.

Remove from the oven, grab a fork, and you know the rest!

In the rare case that there are leftovers, pop them into a bag and pop them into the microwave for a quick lunch on the run, midnight snack, or rainy day.