Donut Day

SO on fat tuesday, the day before lent begins, u are supposed to eat lots of junk
so that u can be healthy/holy/restricted in the days to come
i worked at a bakery in high school that always made fasnachts (sp?)
for fat tuesday
i think they were mostly twists, but there might have been jelly filled as well
all the catholic schools would order them and various caterers etc
they are at least pennsylvania dutch and maybe old school german
they differ from regular donuts in that they have mashed potatoes in the dough
they are yeasted and deep fried



the recipe i tried was from a vegan book
and im not sure that the recipe is proper
ive never made fried donuts before, but this yeast batter was almost like pancake batter
way more than tender, ultra wet
i added alot of extra flour
and it was super cold in my house
but they still rose very well
(i preheated and then turned off the oven, hoping to get it around 120-130 to start rising)


first rise went about an hr in the oven, turned off
then rolled out with a thermos...
and used an open jar to cut them
recipe was supposed to make 3 dozen
it made at least 50, prolly even more
so we might have been rolling it out too small, def had a cutter that was too small

we cheated and fried some without a second rise
predictably dense
we made some with holes in the center
cuz we were concerned about raw cores...
waited 45 mins for a second rise
and they got very puffy and tender


fried them 4 at a time
about a minute on each side
let them drip on brown paper


and then shook in a bowl of powdered sugar w a lil cinnamon in it

Muffins

Ive been slacking on posting anything about muffins
weve been selling them to bennas & b2 since the summer
and occasionally at greensgrow
and randomly at other locations
weve been experimenting with lots of add ins
without documenting frequently

>>Chococonut, my favorite
(chocochips, dried coconut)










and the seasonl beauty
Double Cranberry Swirl >>>>>>
(Craisins, spiced cranberry sauce)













muffins are available at Bennas (8th & wharton) B2 (Passyunk & Dickinson) and this weekend at the inliquid art fair at greensgrow (Cumberland St in port fishington)

Uttapam

Uttapams are a slight variation on dosas
i used the same batter
when making dosas u must quickly spread the batter out very thinly with the back of a spoon
whereas uttapams are cooked more like an american pancake
except that it is covered while cooking to ensure the inside gets cooked
the way i have seen them prepared most often is to pour batter in the pan
then add finely chopped onion, tomato, cilantro and oil on top
i subbed roasted red peppers for tomatoes
i tried this way first
but i think they cook better when the additional ingredients are stirred into the batter so they dont just burn when u flip it

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooops

i forgot i had a blog
these crazy holidays
and certain indian-food-centric people
have distracted me from wild creations
as well as necessary test outs
the bakery is going to be so soon!
(stupid health dept bein all slow... mutter mutter.)



but enuf excuses, heres what i HAVE been doing
making dosas!
all the time
averaging at least every day
several times a day many days
masala dosas to start, everything i can think of as time goes on:



banana, pb, raspberry jelly
sweet potato, sorrel
red cabbage, onion, seitan
scrambled tofu, mache

masala dosas are an indian breakfast food
they are similar to crepes with the major exception that
d are traditionally vegan and gluten free!!!!!
they are made from a fermented batter of rice and urad dal (a split and hulled, tiny indian pulse)

ive been experimenting and dont have a definitive favorite yet
ratios or recipes
i like the idea of the "real" old school way
which is soak rice, soak urad dal w/ fenugreek seeds for about 6hrs
then grind each seperately
then combine and let sit, covered at room temperature for 12hrs, add salt and cook

however the cheater way is easier (but still time consuming) and still delicious
and didnt hurt my guts as i was scared it might without the mega soaking time...
rice flour and urad flour combined and let sit 8-12hrs, add salt

Cranberry Saucinnamon Buns

last week at the kitchen, we received a large sack of fresh cranberries from our friend Andrew
his father bartered for them
he cooked up tons and gave the rest to us
we finally got around to using them this week
thanks andrew! they turned out great






i stewed them up in apple cider and spices
while making the dough
and letting it rise for 2 hours
and rolling up the plain buns
cooking them for about 4 hours total
on very low heat
stirring whenever someone thought of it

it ended up super tart even with the addition of some turbinado sugar
i spread the dough with a lil cinnamon schmear before slopping it up with cranberry
it was super wet and hard to roll up
i was scurd it would ooze out everywhere
but it worked really well
the filling is still super tart but the cream cheese icing balances it really well

Rosemary Scones

i sprinkled some with nutritional yeast and sea salt but they turned out pretty pale, the next batch i brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with more rosemary leaves. the salt is nice.

used a forearm length branch of rosemary, leaves picked off the branch and finely chopped; added to flour before butta is cut in
: twice as much might still be ok, currently its subtle and delicious

prolly too sweet

but really great...

hot thanksgiving jawns.

im gonna try sage and chive versions also