D'Anthony's Banana Granola

This Granola is better than anything you'll find in the supermarket.  When he told me that he made it up himself I became intrigued.  Normally I can be a bit of a snob when it comes to granolas but I know that D.A. knows his way around the kitchen (no offence D.A.) but I wasn't expecting anything THAT good. Here's the recipe he gave me...

D'Anthony's Banana Granola

The color is off.
It should be more brown.

Dry ingredients...
14 cups of quick oats.
3 cups of wheat germ.
3 cups of coconut.
1 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds.
1 1/2 cup of sesame seeds.

Wet ingredients...
4 cups of brown sugar.
1 Tbsp. of salt.
1 Tbsp. of vanilla.
1 1/2 cup of water.
1 1/2 cup of oil.
4 ripe bananas.

1. Preheat oven 250 degrees in a convection oven / 300 in a gas oven.
2. Blend together the sugar,salt,vanilla,water & oil.
3. Mix dry and wet ingredients together by hand.
4. Mash & mix in the bananas.
5. Bake 40-60 minutes.  (Don't forget to turn the granola every fifteen minutes or so for even browning.)

D'Anthony -  chef extraordinaire.

Millie's Granola

Millie's Granola

 Mix together:

• 1/2 cup of raw honey
• 1 Tbsp. of vanilla (optional if you replace honey with agave or if honey isn't solidified)
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. of warm (liquid) extra virgin coconut oil

Then mix in:

• 6 cups of Whole rolled oats
• 4 pinches of salt
• 1 tsp. of cinnamon 

(If you rather have raw fruits & nuts  with your granola, the following can be added after baking the oats. If not add them now.)

• 2 cups of chopped dates
• 2 cups of raisins
• 1 cup of chopped almonds
• 1 cup of chopped walnuts
• 1 cup of pumpkin seeds
• 1 cup of sunflower seeds

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Now I'm no expert when it comes to food spoilage however, at room temperature it "should" keep in a sealed glass jar for a good three weeks... but refrigerating is always safer.

The Difference Between Fruit Butters, Jams, Conserves, Jellies, Marmalades, & Preserves

In our modern age I've come to find out that there are people who've never heard of fruit preserves & conserves.  I've even been asked from time to time what the difference is between jam & jelly.  So here are the definitions... 

Fruit Butters

Fruit Butter is made by cooking fruit pulp and sugar to a thick consistency that will spread easily.  Butters are cooked slowly until thick enough to round up on a spoon.

Jelly

Juice strained from fruit is used to make jelly. It is usually crystal clear and shimmering. Jelly is gelatinized enough to hold its shape when removed from the jar, yet soft enough to spread easily.  Flowers that can be made into juice (Sorrel) or tea (Rose-Hip pods & Hibiscus) can be made into jelly by themselves or combined with fruit juice.

Jams

Jams are jellies with crushed or chopped fruit.

Conserves

Conserves are jam-like products made with a combination of two or more fruits, nuts and raisins.  If nuts are used, they can be added during the last five minutes of cooking.

Marmalade

Marmalade is made from the peel & juice of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water.  It contains pieces of fruit and peel in the transparent jelly.  It can be made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamots and other citrus fruits, or any combination thereof.  Marmalades are similar in structure to jam. 

(On a personal note I recommend that you google a marmalade recipe & make your own marmalade before buying it because I've heard that the marmalade in stores are flavorless & just bad.  People who've only had store bought marmalade claimed to hate it but loved mine.)

Preserves

Fruit is preserved with sugar so it retains its shape, is transparent, shiny, tender and plump. The syrup varies from the thickness of honey to that of soft jelly. A true preserve does not hold its shape when spooned from the jar.

Dandelion Greens

Yeah, you heard right. Dandelion greens.  Now when  you work on your lawn you can kill two birds with one stone because those ubiquitous weeds that plague your lawns are actually very healthy for you.

The whole plant, root, leaves & bloom provide so much nutrition for severe illnesses that are so common in the United States.  On top of that  there's actually a coffee substitute that can be made by roasting the roots. Different people have easier methods of  roasting the roots, I'd recommend looking at several pages.  The pretty yellow blooms have actually been used for fritters.  But for now let's just stick to the leaves.

Here they are in my default greens recipe with onions, garlic & some soy sauce.

Cooked male dandelion greens.

Now I'm not one for bitter flavors but even though dandelions greens are bitter, they're not offensive.  I found them enjoyable enough that I will eat them again.

I've read that they're not bitter if you pick them in the spring before the flower appears & the leaves mature.  I had just learned about them in the late summer so the ones pictured above were picked after the flowers bloomed.

I recommend them.  If bitter flavors don't suit your pallet, I'd try mixing them with other greens first as there really is nothing like eating well for free.

And just a word of caution, if you're going to pick dandelions from somewhere other than your own property, first make sure that they're not sprayed with chemicals (check with the owner).

Now I don't know how true the following is BUT I was told to only eat the male leaves (the ones that look like lion's teeth).  I wasn't told why, so I did some homework on it & this is what I found...

1. None of the pages I investigated made any reference to leaf genders.
2. All the pages I investigated only showed male leaves for consuming.
3. The only pages that showed female leaves were for illustration about dandelions only.  There were no references regarding consuming dandelions.

There's LOTS of information online on the nutritional value & all the medical benefits contained in these weeds.  For something that's so readily available I'd wager that it would be worth your time to google it.

Purslane

As I was sharing my discoveries about Red Root to a friend (this time from Barbados), she pointed out another common root that is also edible.  I swear, more than anything, multiculturalism has benefited my diet this year.  If I wanted to learn about edible weeds growing all around me & how to cook them I'd probably have to pay for a book or a class.

Well boys and girls, today's lesson is about a common weed that is eaten in not just Barbados, but in India, Mexico & the Mediterranean as well and from what I've read is extremely rich in omega 3 fatty acids which is something that every vegetarian & vegan should take note of.

PURSLANE, also known as

• Pursley
• Pusley
• Portulaca &
• Little hogweed prefers warm dry weather but grows just about everywhere.

They say that just about everyone has it on their property and that it tolerates just about every kind of soil.  If you can't see it then it's probably just dormant.  Purslane seeds require sunlight to germinate.  Cultivate the soil as underground seeds have been known to live for up to forty years underground and it's probable that it will germinate & grow.

I slightly steamed & somewhat sautéed it.  I don't like to fully cook my greens as they say that it keeps the vitamins better this way.
Unfortunately I got the very last of it as it is the end of the season for Purslane.  It comes out a lot in the spring.  I did get a bit of flavor and a whole lot of crunch.  It had a lovely nutty feel.

I've also been told that it's good raw in salads.


I've googled info on Purslane if you're interested...
http://herbgardens.about.com/od/culinary/p/Purslane-What-Is-Purslane.htm
http://www.gardenguides.com/863-purslane-weed.html
http://www.canadiangardening.com/plants/native-plants-and-wildflowers/purslane-an-edible-groundcover/a/31791/

Herb Dressing

A friend shared this recipe she got from "Soul Veg", a restaurant in Georgia.  It's not just good on salad but on plain rice as well.
HERB DRESSING

• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1/2 cup of soy milk
• 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 Tbsp. of Italian seasoning.

Blend Together with...

• 2 cups of oil

Mix all the ingredients in a blender and add the oil last or it will not mix properly.

*It tends to separate rather quickly so shake before every use.

Cast Iron Vegan Cornbread

Granted this recipe doesn't have the buttermilk & all the a lot of the other traditional ingredients normally found in cornbread but it's very easy & very good.

Cast Iron Vegan Cornbread

EVERYONE who had some fell in love with it.

• 3 cups of cornmeal
• 3 1/2 cups soft flour
• 1/8 cup baking powder
• 1/4 Tbsp salt

• 2 cups margarine
• 2 ½ cups sugar
• 3 ½ cups of water

1, Mix first 4 ingredients well.

2, In a separate bowl, cream margarine & sugar, then add the water.

3, Combine wet & dry ingredients.

Pour into 2 greased cast iron skillets or equivalent cake pan.

Bake convection oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes, then turn up to 325 degrees until golden.

Gas oven at 425 degrees for 45 minutes

Cast Iron cooking is the absolute best.

Yea I went a little crazy with the camera but what can I say, I've wanted to try a cast iron cornbread for a very long time now.

I'll save you the last piece.

Juice Jelly

Sorrel Jelly made with this Juice Jelly recipe

Granted I did play around with the original recipe a little, I used golden brown sugar instead of white and I made my own juice from dried sorrel flowers instead of just using fruit juice.  But still I recommend that you give this a try because you can make it in any flavor you like.  It's for that reason that I'm giving just the basic recipe for juice jelly.  I found this recipe at cooks.com, here's the link.  It was originally a raspberry juice jelly. 


Juice Jelly

• 2 cups of fruit juice

• 4 cups of golden brown sugar

• 2 (3 oz.) pkg.s liquid fruit pectin

In an *oversized pot, combine juice and sugar. Stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to a rolling boil.

Stir in pectin. Stirring constantly, bring to a rolling boil again and boil 1 minute longer.

Remove from heat, skim off foam. Store in sealed jars. If you're not familiar with canning, here's a link to a good site that shows you how.

Yield: 2 pints.

I used Certo pectin.

*I specified an oversized pot because in order to activate pectin, you HAVE to let it boil in a good hard rolling boil for a minute or it won't set right.  In an oversized pot the boiling liquid won't overflow into a mess.

Carrot Pineapple Muffins

Again this came from an industrial kitchen so if you don't want to make 120 muffins, cut back on the ingredients.  Also, these muffins are a little on the greasy side so you might want to cut back on the oil a little more.

Carrot Pineapple Muffins
dry ingredients:

• 15 cups of soft flour
• 9 cups of sugar (unpacked)
• 1/2 cup of baking powder
• 3 Tbsp +1 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp +1 tsp of salt

wet ingredients:

• 5 cups of water
• 3 Tbsp + 1 tsp of vanilla
• 6 2/3 cups of oil
• 10 cups of grated carrots
• 5 cups of crushed pineapple with juice

1, Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl.
2, Beat together the water, oil & vanilla.
3, Blend the crushed pineapple in a blender or food processor.
4, Mix well all the ingredients together.
5, Use 1/3 cup ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups.
6, Bake in convection oven at 325 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Polenta

Again, this is a recipe that I got from an industrial kitchen so it's a recipe for 60 servings.  You'll have to divide the ingredients by 5.  & by the way, this is a little on the greasy side, I like cutting the margarine by 1/4 to 1/2 a cup

Polenta

Polenta topped with vegan Parmesan.

ingredients:

• 20 cups of water
• 5 tsp. of salt
• 5 cups of cornmeal
• 1 cup of margarine
• 1 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (vegan Parmesan recipe below)

Vegan Parmesan Cheese:

• 4 cups of sesame seeds (blended fine)
• 4 cups of brewers yeast
• 3 Tbsp. of onion powder
• 3 Tbsp. of garlic powder
• 6 Tbsp. of chicken seasoning
• 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice

1, Parmesan Cheese: blend sesame seeds & brewers yeast flakes until fine.  Take out of the blender & combine the onion powder, garlic powder, chicken seasoning & lemon juice.

2, Cornmeal: bring water salt & margarine to a full boil.  Slowly wisk in the cornmeal & parmesan cheese.  Bring to a full boil over moderate heat.  Turn off the heat & let it sit for a good 15 - 20 minutes.

3, Put it into a greased pie plate, cover loosely & chill for at least 1 hour to harden.*

4, Turn Polenta over onto a cookie sheet.  Brush with margarine & bake until lightly brown. (convection oven - 350 degrees for 45 minutes / gas oven - 400 degrees for 1 hour.)

* option - Instead of pouring it into a pie plate, a lot of people prefer it spread flatter over a cooking sheet before it hardens.

Crunchy Granola

Mind you I'm not partial to granolas so this one HAS to be real good to make it into my blog.  Also, I got this recipe from an industrial kitchen so it's written to make 66 cups, so if you just want to make  it for yourself you'll have to cut the ingredients down.

Crunchy Granola

I've always hated granolas until I tried this one.

Dry ingredients:

• 28 cups of quick oats
• 6 cups of wheat germ
• 6 cups of coconut
• 3 cups of sunflower seeds
• 3 cups of sesame seeds
• 4 cups of chopped walnuts
• 4 cups of chopped almonds
• 4 cups of carob chips (optional)

Blend:

• 6 cups of brown sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. of salt
• 2 Tbsp. of vanilla
• 2 cups of water
• 2 cups of oil

1, Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2, Blend brown sugar, salt, vanilla, water & oil in a blender.
3, Combine wet & dry ingredients together.
4, Bake for one hour or until golden brown. (convection oven - 250 degrees/gas oven - 275 degrees)  Turn over every 15 - 20 minutes to expose areas not yet browned.
5, Take out of the oven & mix in the carob chips while the granola is still hot.  
Note: Freeze when not in use.

Veggie Turkey Seasoning

I tried this once on tofu patties.  It was good so I got the recipe.  The only reason I never make it is because I couldn't find the dang sweet pepper flakes.  
It was originally called "Chicken Seasoning" but I'm calling it "Veggie Turkey Seasoning" because it when it's fried of tofu patties if reminds me a lot of Worthington's turkey.

Veggie Turkey Seasoning

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup of brewers yeast flakes
• 1 Tbsp. of onion powder
• ½ tsp. of celery seed ground
• 2 tsp. of garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp. of paprika
• ½ tsp. of turmeric
• 2 Tbsp, of brown sugar
• 2 ½ tsp. of sweet pepper flakes
• 4 tsp. of salt
• 1 tsp of dried parsley

Blend it all together until fine.

For this seasoning I recommend freezing a cube of tofu until solid.  This will change the texture enabling thin slices.  Thaw the tofu and bread it in the seasoning & fry.  It's awesome as a sandwich meat.

Banana Ice Cream

Now here's a very delicious & very healthy alternative to fattening ice cream.

Banana Ice Cream

It only get better with your
favorite toppings on it.

• 5-6 spotty  bananas

• 1/8 cup of milk or juice (more if the bananas are huge, less if they're small)

• toppings (of your choice)

 1. Peel & string the bananas.  Cut them in little pieces, wrap them in plastic wrap to make sure they don't get freezer burn and put them in a freezer until they are thoroughly frozen.

Note: Don't take the bananas out of the freezer until you are ready to work with them as they will thaw.  When you do take the bananas out, work quickly.

2. Take the bananas out of the freezer and put them in a blender or food processor with just the tiniest bit of milk and blend.  Add only so much milk at a time because if you put to much, you'll get a smoothie instead.  Blend until the bananas turn into a firm & smooth cream.

3. If you want to mix things like chips into the ice cream stop the blender, add the chips & blend for about 5 to 10 seconds.  Serve with toppings or in between two cookies as an ice cream sandwich.

Note:  It can be refrozen but remember that there are no additives or preservatives so don't leave it in the freezer for to long.

Brooklyn Bialy

You'll never go back to bagels after tasting these.  This gourmet recipe originated in Bailystok Poland and brought to New York  City by Eastern European Immigrants over a hundred years ago.  It’s not really known outside of New York because of its short self life so it's not shipped all over the country.  It can also be made in sizes from 3-4 inches to the size of a small pizza.  

If you want to know a little more about their history, here's the link where I found the recipe.  I laid it out in steps so it's easier to follow.

Now for those of you who don't follow recipes to a T, I have to warn you that my little bro made this recipe but didn't follow it exactly.  They turned out okay but they weren't gourmet, it really wasn't the same thing.

BROOKLYN BIALY

SERVES 8 (This depends on how big you make them  I made them about bagel size & got over 24 of them.)

Ingredients:
       onion topping:

• 1 teaspoon olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 1/3 cup onion, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, coarse 

Directions for topping:
1 Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle lightly with cornmeal. Prepare Onion Topping.

2 In a small bowl, combine vegetable or olive oil, poppy seeds, onions, and salt; set aside.

        bialys:

• 2 cups water, warm divided (110 to 115 degrees)
• 7 g active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt  (I used gray rock salt)
• 1 3/4 cups bread flour
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  

Directions for Bialys:
 1 In a large bowl, combine 1/2 cup water, yeast, and sugar; let stand 10 minutes or until foamy.
 
2 Add remaining 1 1/2 cups water, salt, bread flour, and all-purpose flour.
 
3 Knead by hand or with dough hook of mixer for 8 minutes until smooth (the dough will be soft). Add flour if you think the dough is too moist , a tablespoon at a time. If the dough is looking dry, add warm water, a tablespoons at a time. Form dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to oil all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 1/2 hours or until tripled in bulk.
 
4 Punch dough down in bowl, turn it over, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise another 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
 
5 On a floured board or counter, punch dough down and roll into a log. With a sharp knife, cut log into 8 rounds. Lay dough rounds flat on a lightly floured board, cover with a towel, and let them rest 10 minutes.
 
6 Gently pat each dough round into circles (a little higher in the middle than at the edge), each about 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Place bialys on prepared baking sheets, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise an additional 30 minutes or until increased by about half in bulk (don’t let them over-rise).
 
7 Make an indention in the center of each bialy with two fingers of each hand, pressing from the center outward, leaving a 1-inch rim.
 
8 Place approximately 1 teaspoon of Onion Topping in the hole of each bialy.
 
9 Dust lightly with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 15 minutes.
 
10 Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Bake on upper and lower shelves of the oven for 6 to 7 minutes, then switch pans and reverse positions of pans (front to back), and bake another 5 to 6 minutes until bialys are lightly browned.
NOTE: These are soft rolls, and it is important not to bake them too long or they will be very dry.
 
11 Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.
After cooling, immediately place in a plastic bag (this will allow the exterior to soften slightly). 


NOTE: For longer storage, keep in the freezer.

Teriyaki

I came across this is a REALLY GOOD teriyaki sauce that's so easy to make.  I, personally, like it on rice vermicelli noodles with stir fried veggies.  It was given to me by a friend.

TERIYAKI SAUCE

• 1 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1 cup of soy sauce
• 1 tsp. of ginger
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 Tbsp. of sesame seed oil

Put all the ingredients in a jar and shake baby.  The longer you let it sit, the better the flavors mix.  Sometimes I use it right away.  After the noodles have softened you can finish cooking it all together in a skillet or just serve the teriyaki on the side.