Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Another weekend, another bread. I decided I wanted to experiment with some whole-wheat flour today and experiment with my recipe from a couple of weekends ago. Today, Tony was in the mood for a Cinnamon Raisin Bread.

Time Required: 20 min prep time, ~2.0 hours rise time, 45 min oven time.

Ingredients:

1. 3 and 1/3 cups All-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
2. 2/3 cup Whole-Wheat flour
3. 1 tsp Vital Wheat Gluten
4. 1.5 cups + a couple extra tbsp Water
5. 1.5 tsp Ground Cinnamon
6. 1/3 cup Raisins
7. 2 tsp Coarse Salt (Sea or Kosher)
8. 1 tsp Active Dry Yeast

Directions:

Measure out both kinds of flour, gluten, yeast and salt into the bowl. I'm trying the gluten trick for the first time today. I read recently that VWG helps with the rise in WW bread by providing more gluten fibers. Get the yeast started by dissolving in a cup of tepid tap water (the water should be barely warm to touch) and set aside. In the next 5-10 minutes the water will be become cloudy and foamy (if it doesn't, discard and start with fresh yeast, and check the expiration date on your packet). 

Mix water/yeast mix with the flour in the bowl of a Cuisinart Stand Mixer to form the dough. The dough should come together as a large ball. If not, add water in 1 tablespoon portions until everything is well incorporated, but doesn't look too dry. Be patient with this step as it is easy to add too much and you will most likely not need to much. Today I needed 4 tablespoons of water to get to a nice wet, but not slippery consistency. Once you have everything incorporated, make note of the clock time and knead the dough for about 10-15 minutes. Once you successfully achieve a windowpane with the dough, you can stop kneading (when stretched out dough looks somewhat translucent - light goes through it like a windowpane). 

One ready, remove the dough onto a well floured surface. I used a silicone baking mat. Lightly dust your fingers and shape the dough into a ball. Keeping the seam side down, transfer to a bowl. I also tried another trick today, which used wax paper instead of putting the dough directly in a bowl to rise. The recommendation was that you can then transfer everything directly into the cooking vessel. This did not work for me at all.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for approximately 2-3 hours. If your house is cold, try the oven method I talked about in the last recipe). I only allowed around a 2 hour rise time today because the dough was ready to spill out of the bowl after 1 hour. After 2 hours, the surface of the dough was dotted with a lot of tiny bubbles and crevices. 

Preheat the oven and dutch oven (a 5.5 qt Round Le Creuset) to 450° F.  Remove dough from bowl and gently form into a round ball using the silicone mat and some flour for dusting. I did not score the loaf I made today.  For some odd reason, when I formed the ball this time, my down lost its rise and dropped to the same size it was prior to my 2 hour rise. I knew something was up :(! 

Remove preheated pot from the oven. Set lid aside. Do not grease the pot. Gently drop the dough into the pot, seam side down. Shake the pan a couple of times to help distribute the loaf, if necessary. Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes at 450° F. 

After 30 min, remove the lid and set aside, and bake for another 15 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown. Remove pot from oven, give it a good shake and the loaf should shake loose immediately. Gently remove the loaf from the pot and allow to cool on a cooling rack. Allow bread to cool completely before cutting into it.

The loaf today was a little lopsided :) !! The flavor was great. The raisins were moist and the cinnamon aromatic. I did get rise and a lot of alveoli (bread speak for air pockets) but it was still a pretty dense loaf! My whole-wheat loaf still needs work. 

Suggestions: If you were to make this loaf with 4 cups of All purpose or bread flour, it would be the perfect cinnamon raisin bread!! One your guests would rave about.

Nutrition Facts (One Loaf): Calories 1940 (Fat Calories 47)

Total Fat 5.2 g; Carbohydrates 414.6 g; Fiber 17.6 g; Sugars 30.0 g; Protein 53.5 g


If you liked this recipe, be sure to check out my Recipe Index for more Whole-Food, Plant-Based, No-Added-Oil recipes. You can also like Rugrat Chow! on Facebook. Thanks!

Best Autumnal Casserole

I came across this recipe yesterday when it was posted by One Green Planet. I follow them on Facebook and they often share the most awesome looking recipes.  This one seemed so easy to make (read painless) that I knew I had to try it. I would have made it yesterday except we didn't go grocery shopping until this morning and I had nothing at home except the spices I needed. The reason I say this recipe was painless is because even though it takes an hour or more to get to the table, your total effort is probably less than 15 minutes. Also, my adapted version is made with completely whole, minimally -processed, ingredients (I sub'd Tofurkey sausage with canned pinto beans) and used no butter or oil. 

The Best Fall Casserole

Adapted from: One Green Planet - The Best Fall Casserole

Prep Time: 15 min + ~1 hour in the oven

Ingredients (Serves 4):

1. 1.5 lb Red Potatoes (cleaned, diced into large chunks)
2. 1 lb bag of Crinkle-Cut carrots
3. 1 Large Green Bell pepper
4. 1/2 Large Yellow onion
5. 1/2 Large Red Onion
6. 1 tsp powdered garlic
7. 1 tsp Red pepper flakes
8. 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
9. 1/4 tsp Sea salt
10. 1/2 tsp Ground Pepper
11. 1/4 tsp dried Parsley
12. 1 3/4 cups Home-made Vegetable broth
13. 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
14. 1 cup Canned Beans (I used Pinto)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425° F. Meanwhile cut red onion into large chunks and line the bottom of a heavy baking pot with the onion. Next, add a layer of crinkle cut carrots and top off with large chunks of white onions.

Wash thoroughly with a vegetable brush, remove any dirt-filled eyes, and cut potatoes into large bite-sized chunks. I did not peel the potatoes as I prefer to leave the extra nutrients and fiber in my veggies. Add potatoes as your fourth layer and top off with chunks of green bell pepper. 

Finally, on top, add a layer of beans. I used pinto beans today but I think any kind of bean would work well in this casserole. Feel free to use red kidney beans or even any variety of white beans. The purpose is basically to add a source of complex carbohydrates and protein. In a small bowl, mix all the spices with the vegetable broth and balsamic vinegar, and pour over the veggies in your baking dish. Cover, and place the entire pot in the oven for about an hour. Check to make sure that the potatoes are tender and it's done. Turn off oven and let sit until ready to serve. 

I made this casserole this afternoon in my Le Creuset and simply turned off the oven before we left the house to go for a hike. I knew the Le Creuset would hold the heat and cook any hint of crispness out of the potatoes and also keep our dinner warm for when we got home. We hiked for almost 2 hours and drove about 30 minutes each way. This is how this casserole looked when we all got home. The house was filled with the aroma of the oregano and parsley and we were all starving. I made some Texas toast for the kiddos, reheated my pot on the stove and we enjoyed this hearty meal. It was an awesome meal to come home to after a good day in the woods! 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 256 (Fat Calories 7)

Total Fat 0.8 g; Carbohydrates 54.6 g; Fiber 11.0 g; Sugars 10.6 g; Protein 8.3 g


If you liked this recipe, be sure to check out my Recipe Index for more Whole-Food, Plant-Based, No-Added-Oil recipes. You can also like Rugrat Chow! on Facebook. Thanks!

Curried Potatoes & Peas

Every once in a while my husband will be flipping channels on the TV and will suddenly stop at some random TV show, often in Black & White that ran while he was a kid. Of course, to me it as foreign as space aliens ....!! But I do understand the sentiment as there are things which still remind me of my childhood and seemingly random things bring the memories rushing back in. One of the oddest things, to me, is this particular commercial on TV. It probably ran for 5 years or more on the single channel we had back then. I don't even remember the product it was for .. or the face of the little girl who was in it. I just remember her voice saying "Aloo Mutter ... aur bahut saare mutter" which translates to "Curried Potatoes and Peas ... with lots of peas". 

Prep Time: 20-25 min

Ingredients (Serves 4):

1. 1 lb Red Potatoes, cleaned, quartered. 
2. 1 x 12 oz Frozen Peas (thawed)
3. 1 Medium Red Onion, diced
4. 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
5. 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
6. 1 tbsp Cumin
7. 1/2 tbsp Coriander Powder
8. 1 tsp Deggi Chilli Powder
9. 1/8 tsp Turmeric
10. 2 cups water
11. Salt and Pepper, to taste
12. Fresh Cilantro leaves, for garnishing
13. Hot Sauce (optional)

Directions:

Line a pot with water and add diced onion and saute on medium-high heat until translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste, tomato paste and all spices, mix well and saute for another couple of minutes. Add one cup water and potatoes, toss well. Cover and simmer on medium-low until potatoes are almost done (fork tender but not done enough to eat yet!). Add peas at this time, mix well, add remaining water. Bring everything to a boil again, cover and simmer for 10 minutes until fragrant, potatoes should smoosh under a fork and any liquid in the dish should be thick and starchy (from the potatoes releasing some of their starch!). Serve hot over a bed of brown rice. 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 177 (Fat Calories 9)
Total Fat 1.0 g; Carbohydrates 36.2 g; Fiber 8.1 g; Sugars 7.2 g; Protein 7.7 g


If you liked this recipe, be sure to check out my Recipe Index for more Whole-Food, Plant-Based, No-Added-Oil recipes. You can also like Rugrat Chow! on Facebook. Thanks!