Beans and Walnut Spread--Totally Vegan

Since my previous post was about bread, today I would like to suggest something to put on it, which is always easy if you are not a vegan, but can be a challenge if you are.

I have many vegetarian friends, but only one who is a vegan. She does this for health reasons and believes that following such a strict diet keeps her healthy and makes her feel young. She does not eat any meat or dairy products and replaced milk with soy milk. When she was visiting us, I had no problem whatsoever to cook vegan dinners. I just prepared some of my many vegetarian recipes, omitting dairy products, and served with that a large bowl of salad that usually makes any vegetarian happy.

But for lunch she liked to have a piece bread. I love breads too, but I like to eat them with cheese or meats and salads and I was not prepared to make a vegan sandwich. She did not want to be a burden and simply ate her bread with sliced tomatoes. She did not even want to use any vegetable oil spreads instead of butter, fearing that it was something too chemical. But, as a good host, I did not feel comfortable not being able to offer her anything for lunch beyond bread and tomatoes.

This past summer, while going through my old recipes that I clipped from some magazines years ago, I found this recipe for a bread spread, coming from the Georgian cuisine. That discovery led to many more Georgian recipes that I found very interesting and will share in the future.

This spread, based on beans and walnuts, is a simple and rich in protein alternative to meats and cheese. The two ingredients combined can deliver absolutely all nutrients that can be found in meat and dairy.

The other day, after baking bread, I made this spread with my vegan friend in mind. It tasted pretty good especially on a fresh, still warm piece of bread. For those who are not vegan but are just open to trying something new, it could be an interesting addition to your menu, if you just tired of the usual thing you eat with your sandwich.I added also a couple tbsp of extra virgin oil,to replace a need for butter on the bread and after tasting I was quite happy with the result. I hope my vegan friend will be too next time she visits.

Beans and Walnut Spread

Ingredients:
1 can 12 oz, red bean,
1/2 cup chopped walnuts,
4 garlic cloves,
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil,
1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves chopped,
1 tbsp lemon juice,
freshly ground pepper and sea salt for taste,
1/3 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional--only if you like it).

Preparation:
1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and run it using the purée option button.

I think it is an excellent spicy and aromatic alternative to peanut butter, not only for vegans.

Bread Baked in a Pot--Listen to It Crack

Every year my neighbors organize a soup party. They serve an interesting menu of soups (guests are invited to bring they own specialties) and a self-made bread. It is very fresh, often still warm and it is so good that it disappears fast. It tastes great as a starter with a glass of wine and I usually eat so much of it that by the time soups are served I am already so full that I am hardly able to taste anything else.

I had to ask for the recipe and try to make this fabulous bread. Unfortunately, it did not come out too good first time I made it. This bread comes from a French tradition and is baked in a pot. Perhaps it did not come out exactly as my neighbors' masterpiece because I did not have the right vessel.

Last Christmas Eve, my neighbor came over and offered to teach me how to make it. He made it. I watched. It took his three visits, before the bread was ready to be baked. When I took it out of the oven and finally tasted, it was perfect. Again, my whole family, including my sister who was visiting us from Poland at that time, did not even let it cool down. It was gone to the last crumb, still hot. Now that I finally learned its secret, I make it from time to time over the weekend and we have it warm and aromatic with our Sunday brunch.

Talking about secrets, there are two that you need to learn about its preparation. First, the dough has to rise for a long time, so the best way is to make it a day before in the evening and let it stand overnight. Second, it must be baked in a pot with a cover that can tolerate very high temperature--450F. I was able to find such pot at Home Goods for just eight dollars and it works perfectly. Beside that, you do not even need any mixer or bread machine to make it. And when the house smells like a bakery, and the bread is already cooling down, just listen to it crack.

Bread Baked in a Pot

Ingredients:
3 and 1/2 cup bread flour, preferably King Arthur flour,
1/4 tsp dry yeasts,
1 and 3/4 cup water,
1 tsp salt.

Preparation:
1. Put water, flour, and yeast in a large and a relatively deep bowl (because the dough will grow overnight) and using a wooden spoon combine all the ingredients thoroughly. Leave it overnight covered with a dishtowel.
2. Dust a wooden surface with flour and dump the dough on it. Cover the dough with a dishtowel and let it stand for 15 minutes.
3. Spread a dishtowel over a round bread basket, dust it with a tablespoon of cornflour, put the dough on it, fold the ends of the dishtowel on top of it and leave it for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat oven (preferable a convection oven) to 500F and put an empty baking pot in it for about 15 minutes.
5. Lower the temperature to 425F, take out the pot and gently dump the dough in it. You can draw a cross on top of it or make a couple of diagonal cuts. Cover the pot with the lid and put it back in the oven.
6. After 30 minutes take the lid off and bake the bread in an open pot for another 15 minutes.
7. Take the pot out of the oven. Let the bread cool down and listen to it crack.

Cut a slice, spread butter on it, and enjoy.

Spicy Papaya Pie--A Carotene Bomb

These days papayas are everywhere in Washington DC. They come mostly from China. They are yellow outside and intensely orange inside because they are very rich in carotene (vitamin A). For this reason papayas were introduced in Africa and in South East Asia, to prevent blindness among children. Since it is such a healthy and nutritious fruit, I have already written about it on my blog and I keep trying to incorporate papaya in my family's diet. But, besides that one recipe and fruit salads where I often include papaya, I am still in search of a perfect papaya recipe.

As I mentioned in my other post, I ate a savory papaya dish at one of my friends' house. I enjoyed it very much, especially that I do not eat scallops which it was served with. I was not able to contact my friend, who lives right now somewhere in Africa, to get exactly the details of that recipe, but this dish was so unique and tasty that really tried to reproduce it and started to experiment myself.

Through a trial and error process, I created something that reminded me of that savory dish he served. This dish stays slightly on the sweet side like anything made of carrot, pumpkin, or sweet potatoes, but I think it came out quite interesting. I made one vegetarian version of it and one with prosciutto. On the picture you see bacon, although at the last moment I decided to go for something more delicate and I used prosciutto instead. I think it was a good decision as bacon could have overshadowed the taste of the papaya. I prefer papaya with prosciutto, if is served as a stand-alone dish with baguette or as a seafood accompaniment (like my friend did it), but a purely vegetarian version is also worth trying.

Spicy Papaya Pie

Ingredients:
1 small very ripe papaya,
1 egg,
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan,
1 small onion, chopped,
4 cloves garlic,
1 tbsp all purpose flour,
2 tbsp sour cream (heavy whipping would also make),
1/2 cup chopped parsley,
1/2 cup prosciutto ( optional) cut into strips,
3 tbsp oil,
1 tsp salt,
1/4 tsp pepper,
1 tsp red smoked pepper,
a pinch of Cayenne pepper (or more depending on how spicy you like it),
2 tbsp breadcrumbs.

Preparation:
1. Peel off papaya and and cut into small cubes, squeezing gently some of the extra juice. Put in a large bowl.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry onion for about 3 minutes. Add prosciutto and fry for additional 1-2 minutes.
3. Add onion with prosciutto to papaya and follow with garlic, egg, flower, cream, parsley, Parmesan, and all the spices.
4. Using a blender grind the whole mixture until it resembles cottage cheese. If you do not have a blender you can just grate papaya on a big hole grinder and add all the other ingredients.
5. Spread another tbsp of oil all over the baking dish and sprinkle it with half of breadcrumbs. Cut garlic into slices and arrange over the bottom of the dish (it will be absorbed into the papaya during baking).
6. Put the papaya mixture into the dish, and cover with remaining breadcrumbs on top.
7. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until breadcrumbs are gold and the papaya almost brown.

Serve warm.