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.

Sorrel Juice

What can I say except that I've been converted to sorrel.  Its good and good for you.  It reduces high blood pressure and acts like an air conditioner whether you're suffering from a fever or even if it's just an unbearably hot day, it will cool you down.  Usually sorrel packages come with instructions in the back but if it doesn't here's a very simple & basic recipe.

Sorrel steeping with a stick of
cinnamon.  (No, I'm not canning
it.  I just like steeping in glass as
opposed to plastic.)

Sorrel Juice
ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of dried sorrel blooms
• 4 cups of water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• sugar or honey to taste 

1, Boil the water and steep the sorrel blooms & cinnamon stick for at least 4 hours.  (Some like to steep overnight.)

2, Strain out the blooms & cinnamon stick, sweeten  and enjoy. Now seriously, how easy is that?

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I've been coming across the medical benefits of this delicious juice.  If you're interested, click on one of the links below...

http://doctorschar.com/features/jamacian-sorrel/

http://health.wikinut.com/Health-Benefits-of-Sorrel-Roselle/12f7l1qa/

http://www.ageless.co.za/rosella.htm 

http://caribrock.blogspot.com/2008/12/health-benefits-of-jamaican-sorrel.html

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.

My deviantART gallery

I also have a deviantART page where I showcase my artwork.  Feel free to peruse my gallery.  Here's the link.

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.