Breakfast: Hot Cereal With Bulgur & Figs

Eating a wholesome breakfast can be tough, and around this time of year I tend to find myself suddenly tired of oatmeal. (Not that I don't love you, oatmeal!) I'm not posting a photo with this recipe because I think we all know what a bowl of hot cereal looks like.

This morning I wanted some kind on non-oatmeal hot cereal, and I currently have quite a bit of bulgur wheat in the pantry, so I thought I'd try using that, and it was definitely a winner. It's got a nice chewy texture, similar to oat bran cereal, but less gummy, and it has a really good flavor. I think it would work to make a big batch of this during the weekend, portion out, and re-heat on weekday mornings.

To make 2 servings:

1 1/4 cups water

pinch of salt

1/2 cup bulgur wheat

generous pinch of cinnamon

tiny pinch of nutmeg

1/2 cup non-dairy milk of your choice

1/2 cup raisins

2 dried figs, chopped

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

brown sugar or maple syrup to taste

Add the water and salt to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in the bulgur, cinnamon, nutmeg, figs, and raisins. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat until all the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. When the water is absorbed, add the non-dairy milk and continue to stir until most of the non-dairy milk is absorbed. Add the walnuts and sweeten to taste. This will warm you up and keep you satisfied and energized all morning!

M-Y-Ogurt

You may recall that a few years ago I tried to make coconut yogurt, pretty much failed at it, inexplicably shared it on this website anyway, and then gave up. I was kind of discouraged, but during the notorious WholeSoy Crisis of 2013 (you know what I'm talking about!) I began seriously thinking again about making my own yogurt, but didn't really have the confidence to give it another try. The thought of making a batch of yogurt that I might end up just throwing out made me a little anxious. Fortunately, my curiosity ended up getting the best of me, and I ended up with a batch of real live plain yogurt! Of soy! That I made all by myself!

A word on texture: One really great thing about making my own yogurt is that it doesn't have all the thickeners and stabilizers that contribute to the sometimes-very-weird texture of commercial vegan yogurt. Homemade yogurt is often a little runny, and there are a number of things you can do to make it thicker. I tried straining the first batch I made (like how you'd make Greek yogurt) which was cool but I found the very extreme thickness disconcerting, so I actually mixed a little bit of the strained whey right back in because  I guess Greek yogurt just isn't my thing. (Isn't it crazy that I've been vegan so long that I completely missed the Greek yogurt craze, by the way? That makes me feel old.)
The other option is to add soymilk powder to the milk, and/or to evaporate off some of the water by extending the heating step by a few minutes before cooling your milk & adding the starter yogurt. I've included instructions for these thickening steps in the recipe below.
I also like having more control over the sweetness of the yogurt-- it's easy, just don't add a whole bunch of sugar. Achieving a really satisfying level of tartness has been a little trickier. While I haven't been able to make a batch of soy yogurt with the same tartness as dairy yogurt, I think my homemade yogurt does usually have a little bit more tang than the commercial yogurt. However, this is something that I'm continuing to work on.

Now for a quick lecture on fermentation. The difference between (soy) milk and (soy) yogurt is bacteria! Our cast of friendly bacterial characters, if we're using the Trader Joe's yogurt as our starter, are Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. bifidum, L. bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophiluis. Your yogurt will have the same bacteria as the starter you use-- although since the conditions in your kitchen aren't exactly the same as the conditions at the TJ's yogurt factory, they might be present in different proportions. It's even possible that after a generation or two, you might have fewer species that your starter. I don't know if this has any particular health implications, but there's lots of reading material about probiotics if you'd like to learn more. (Just be warned, there's lots of speculation about what bacteria are "good" and what bacteria are "not good," and a lot of it seems to be written by people who don't actually know a whole lot about science, and throw around the C word a whole lot in a way that to me seems a little reckless. And by C word, I mean cancer, but they might also talk about other words that start with a c such as colitis and Celiac's. Read at your own risk.)
To me, the main thing to take into account is that in order for your yogurt to turn out right, you really have to pay attention to the thermal needs of those bacteria that are working so hard to ferment the sugars in your soymilk and produce lactic acid, which is what you want. If you don't make sure these guys are nice and warm, they won't eat that sugar rapidly enough, and you won't get yogurt. If you add them while the milk is too hot, they'll get burned up and die and then you really won't get yogurt. Be nice to your little bacterial friends, or no yogurt.

Here's what you'll need
The milk: 4-5 cups plain soy milk (I haven't tried this with other non-dairy milks, besides coconut, which was a fail. I know lots of people want to avoid both dairy and soy, but I really have no experience (yet) with making a good non-soy vegan yogurt, so I'm probably not the person to ask.
The starter: 1/4 cup starter yogurt-- I've used plain Whole Soy and Trader Joe's Vanilla, which both work well but if you use a flavored starter, some of that flavor will be present in the final product. After the first batch, you can use your homemade yogurt for the starter.
A container: A glass or plastic container to make the yogurt in. I use a pyrex 1.5 quart bowl with a tight-fitting lid, which is perfect. I've also used a quart-sized plastic tupperware. You could also use a wide-mouth jar.
A warm place: I use my oven with the light turned on, and I put the bowl pretty close to the bulb. I also tried the oven with just the pilot light, but it was too cold. If you have an oven that you can set to the very low temperature of 118 degrees F, or a dehydrator or proofing box that can be set to this temperature, you're very lucky and you should do just that. Alternately, you can use a slow cooker or an insulated cooler with a heating pad, but you'll have to google the directions for doing it that way, sorry!
And a thermometer is kind of a must for this, too-- either an instant-read or candy thermometer will work great.
Optional: 2 Tbsp. soy milk powder-- this gives you a thicker yogurt, but it's just fine without it.

Directions

1. Put your soymilk in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally with a spoon (not a whisk-- that makes the milk too foamy on top.) Heat it like this until it reaches 180 degrees F. I like to keep it over low heat at 180 for about 10 minutes before cooling it down, because this helps give you a thicker end product. Then, remove it from the heat, and check the temperature every few minutes. Once it reaches 120 degrees, you can pour it into your yogurt-making bowl or jar and stir in your yogurt starter. If it's a little cooler that 120 that's ok, but hotter than that and you might kill your starter bacteria, and then your end product will be a bowl of lukewarm milk and you'll be upset. The ideal temperature for yogurtization is between 115 and 120 degrees.

2. Now for the boring part: place your bowl in whatever warm location you've chosen and wait. You'll want to checck the temperature periodically to make sure it's still warm. I just touch the side of the bowl to do this-- what you want is for the bowl to feel just a little warmer than body temperature. After four hours, start giving the bowl a little jiggle to check the texture. You can also taste-test it with a clean spoon. (Seriously, make sure the spoon is clean, and no double dipping!) If it's still runny, continue to keep it warm. This can take a long time, and that's ok! I find that it typically takes 12-16 hours to get to the consistency I'm looking for. Just be patient! Once it's thickened, put it in the fridge to chill.


3. Optional: Straining, to make Greek-style yogurt
If you want to strain your yogurt to make it thicker, you'll need a mesh strainer and some cheesecloth or large basket-style paper coffee filters. Line the strainer with the coffee filter or cheesecloth, place it over a bowl, and pour in the yogurt. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to drain for 2-4 hours. Keep checking it until it's the thickness you like. The translucent, pale yellow whey that drains into the bowl can be used for cooking or smoothies, if you want.

4. Now you get to eat yogurt! Put some granola and fruit on there and enjoy! It also makes an awesome yogurt sauce for savory dishes (think raita, tzatziki, that kind of thing) but that's a post for another day.

A note about yogurt failures: Sometimes a batch just doesn't turn out. If your yogurt never thickens, if you want you can reheat, cool it down again, and re-inoculate with some more of the starter yogurt, and try again. This sometimes works, but not always. And don't be too bummed if it doesn't turn out! Cultured foods can be tricky, but you'll get the hang of it as you make more batches.

Back to Basics

I haven't posted in a while a year and a half.
What can I say? I was really really busy? I was thinking about other things? Those are both true, but still, it's been way (way, way) too long. I'm hoping to get back into the habit of posting recipes, and please forgive my long absence. And what better way to start than by going back to what this blog is all about: muffins!
These bran muffins are so good. Also, you can eat them for breakfast and not feel weird about it, because they're pretty wholesome, which is to say, not just cake in disguise.

Apple Bran Muffins
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, via food.com because I actually don't have an ATK membership.

2 1/4 cups All Bran twigs cereal (I might start buying it in bulk)
1 cup rasins + 1 Tbsp water
1 small-medium apple, peeled + chopped
1 3/4 cups AP flour (I ran out of whole wheat, but the recipe actually calls for 1 1/4 c AP + 1/2 c WW)
2 tsp baking soda (not powder!!)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
2/3 cup apple sauce (unsweetened)
3 Tbsp molasses
1 swipe orange zest (does that make sense? Anyway, just a little.)
1/4 cup canola oil
2 Tbsp coconut oil (or another 2 Tbsp canola oil)
1 Tbsp flax seed meal
2 Tbsp what germ
1 3/4 cups soy milk mixed with 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
2/3 cup turbinado sugar (or brown sugar, or dehydrated can juice, or whatever dry sweetener you're into. I'm sure you could use agave, but don't ask me how much.)

1) Preheat your oven to 400 F, and grease one standard muffin pan with a little bit of spray oil.
2)In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the raisins and water, and microwave on high for about 40 seconds. You want the raisins to absorb some of the water and plump up. Don't skip this step! If you don't have a microwave, just pour a little bit of boiling water over the raisins, cover them, and let them sit for about 5 minutes.
3) Grind half of the bran cereal in the food processor until it reaches a sandy texture. You can then add it back in with the rest of the cereal.
4)In a large bowl, combine the sugar, molasses, and oils, and whisk until combined. Add in the apple sauce, extracts, zest, wheat germ, and flax meal, and beat for a minute or two. Add in the soy milk- vinegar mixture. Now stir in all of the cereal until moistened, and allow to sit for 15 minutes. You want to allow the bran cereal to absorb as much moisture as it can from the other ingredients.
5) Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the flour(s), baking soda, and salt. Whisk everything to combine really well, so that you won't end up with any really salty bites.
6) Once the 15 minutes are up, you can add your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and stir until everything is moistened. Now fold in your raisins and apples.
7) Drop about 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup. You can really pile the muffins high and overfill the cups, as they don't spread very much in the oven.
8) Bake for about 16 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs (but no wet batter.)
9) Allow the muffins to cool before removing from the pan, because they're a little delicate when warm. I think you should allow them to cool before you eat them, but my husband says that's BS. Just don't blame me if you burn your mouth!

Cran-apple crumb muffins

I know I haven't posted an recipes in a while, so I thought I'd write up this muffin recipe even though I don't have any photos for you. Sorry! My camera is broken. The white whole wheat flour I use in this recipe is available at lots of places, but the cheapest place to get it seems to be Trader Joe's.

Note: I edited the original post to include an agave-sweetened variation at the end.

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup minus 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardammom
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar*
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1 smallish apple, peeled and chopped into itsy bitsy pieces
1/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

crumb topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1 sprinkle cinnamon
3 Tbsp margarine, melted

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Oil a 12-cup muffin pan, or line with paper liners.

2.Combine the flours, oats, spices, salt, and baking powder & soda in a medium bowl. Break up any lumps of soda/ baking powder with your fingers and whisk until it's evenly mixed.

3. In a large bowl, combine apple sauce, sugar, oil, and milk. Stir well. Add chopped apple.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir until just combined--a few lumps are ok! Add walnuts and cranberries. Let the batter rest for about 15 minutes.

5. While the batter is resting, make the crumb topping by mixing the flour, cinnamon  and brown sugar with your fingers, breaking up any stubborn brown sugar clumps. (You can use the bowl from the dry ingredients to save yourself some washing.) Drizzle in the melted margarine and work the mixture into coarse crumbs.

6. Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter into each muffin cup (they'll be pretty full; these are fairly tall muffins.) Sprinkle the muffins liberally with crumb mixture, because it's everyone's favorite part. Bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. You don't have to let them cool down all the way before you eat them, but please don't burn yourself because the apples and berries get hot!

*Agave Variation
Replace the sugar in the batter with 1/2 cup agave nectar, and reduce the soy milk to 1/4 cup. The agave makes this brown more quickly, so check these after 18 minutes. You can replace the crumb topping with a little sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, or just leave it out.

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Do you ever put a banana in your bag for later, and then forget about it until much later? And it's all mushy and weird?
And you kind of don't want it anymore?Well, today I found yesterday's banana and decided to make some muffins.



A note about this recipe: you might think it's a really bad idea to put vinegar in your muffins, but you are wrong! It helps to leaven them (with the baking soda) and it makes them tender and lovely.





dry ingredients:1 c. all purpose flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg1/8 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. cardamom

wet ingredients:
1 large mushy ripe banana
1/3 c. canola oil
1/2 c. soy milk + 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. maple syrup
1 small container plain or vanilla soy yogurt (6 oz., or 1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp.)
1/4 c. water or additional soy milk
1/2 c. frozen or fresh blueberries
Glaze: 1/4 c. granulated sugar dissolved in 1/3 c. warm soy milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a muffin pan, and line with paper liners if you like. (They're optional here: these muffins are sturdy enough that you can bake them right in the pan if you want to.)
2. In a medium bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
3. In a large bowl, mash the banana with a fork.
4.In a small bowl, pour the cider vinegar into the soy milk and stir. Set aside for five minutes until the milk has curdled. This will look really really weird and gross, but it will be fine, trust me. After five minutes, add this all the remaining wet ingredients to the banana
and mix thoroughly.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Do not overmix, or the muffins will be tough. It's ok to have a few small lumps, I promise!
It still won't look delicious, but have some patience!

6. Stir in the blueberries. If they are frozen, don't thaw them first, or it will turn your batter purple. Better to just let them thaw in the oven!
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 18 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

8. Spoon glaze over the muffins while they're still warm in the muffin pan. Once they've cooled down a bit, you can leave them on a cooling rack or plate to cool the rest of the way.
Enjoy for breakfast, lunch and dinner. (Just kidding, really you should only enjoy them for breakfast and lunch.)

Coffee coffee coffee cake

(AKA Spring break coffee cake)

The dough is adapted from Kris Holechek's Braided Holiday Bread from the amazing book 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes. (Buy her book! It's freakin' awesome! And since I don't like to go around telling you recipes that are the intellectual property of somebody else, I shall not print that recipe here. That would be mean!)
If you don't have her lovely book, you could also use a regular enriched-white-bread type recipe, or your mom's favorite cookbook's yeasty coffee cake recipe, and here's how to veganize it: Substitute 1 tbsp flax meal + 2 tbsp warm water for each egg, and use margarine + soy/almond/rice milk instead of milk + butter. (I love substitutions! Hoorah.)

The filling is yum yum yum, and here's how you make it:
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp brewed coffee
3/4 cup pitted prunes (I know right? But I was out of raisins and we had these and I tasted one and it didn't kill me and it was actually pretty tasty, and trying new things is good!)
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp ground cloves
a little flour for dusting

Coat the prunes with a little flour to make them easier to chop. That was my mom's idea, and boy is she smart! Chop up the prunes. Combine all the ingredients and let them sit while the dough is rising so that all the flavors can really meld and the prunes (BTW, you could also use currants or raisins or even dates) get nice and juicy.

Once your dough is finished rising, roll it out on a floured surface into a rectangle about 14x20 inches or something like that.

Spread the filling on the dough, leaving plenty of room around the edges without filling. Then roll the whole thing up lengthwise (like a jelly roll or a magic carpet) and seal it together with water and lots of patient pinching. Gently pull the edges around into a ring shape--if this is difficult, let the whole thing rest for a minute and try again. Pinch the edges together, using water again to seal it. If it's really thin on one end and fat on the other, you can gently scootch it around until the shape is more even.
Flip it into a 10" round baking pan (a springform pan is probably easiest) with the sealed side down. Let it rise for about 20-25 minutes, covered, in the baking pan.
When it's ready to go in the oven, cut some nice little slits in the top of the ring, and bake it at 375 for 15 minutes, and then about an hour more, until the it sounds hollow when you tap it.

You can ice it with a mixture of powdered sugar and soy/almond/rice/etc. milk, if you want. (I want! I want!)

Let it cool and serve it with coffee, duh.