Isa

I don't think I've actually recommended this book here before (for shame!), but it really opened my eyes to a larger repertoire of vegan cooking. It's called Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and it's fabulous really. I love her recipes, and her writing, she's funny, and pragmatic and spunky all at once. Recommended! In fact, her book was the first place I fell over seitan as a meat substitute, a package of which I've got languishing in the fridge passed its "due" date. But it's vacuum packed, so it should be okay still, right?!

You can follow her on Twitter too, @IsaChandra. She makes me laugh there too!

Pointed Cabbage Entré

This recipe is from Nikolaj Kirk's Hverdagsmad, which is a pretty good basic cookbook, nothing special in my opinion ("hverdagsmad" means everyday food, which explains it!), but I came upon this recipe and was really surprised to see pointed cabbage used any other way that as a finely shredded coleslaw ingredient or in a thick sauce as an accompaniment to potatoes. I quite like it, you can prepare the cabbage so that it's softer or crunchier, as you like, and the dressing is a nice protein rich and tangy affair. This can as easily be your dinner entré as it can be the side dish to chicken or anything else for that matter.

It was perfect as the main dish yesterday, with sides of corn and pan-fried halloumi cheese with tomatoes and avocado. A real summer meal.

You'll need:

2 eggs, boiled and chopped
2 tbsp capers, finely chopped
1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped (I used cilantro from my herb patch)
juice and zest of half a lemon (make it organic!), zest needs to be finely grated
1 dl olive oil (I used a mix of olive and flaxseed)
2 pointed cabbages
50 g. butter (I omitted this to save calories)
200 g. firm chèvre (I used a mix of feta and Danish rygeost - it's what I had!)
salt and pepper

Remove the darkest leaves from the cabbage and slice them lengthwise. Cover the bottom of a pot with about 2 inches of water and add salt, butter and cabbage. Cover and steam until the cabbage are still a bit crunchy.

Mix the eggs, capers, parsley and lemon zest with the lemon juice, oil and pepper.

Arrange the cabbage on a serving dish, and crumble the cheese on top of it with your fingers. Drizzle the vinaigrette over it until thoroughly coated, and you're all set!

Best No Knead Bread Yet!

Timewise, this bread takes a while. Effortwise, it's a cinch.

I've made no knead bread many times before, usually a dough that's quicky thrown together in the evening with just a few stirs, and in the morning, dropped in small portions on to a bakesheet. After 25 minutes or so in a cold started oven, it's wonderful breakfast breadrolls. Nothing wrong with that, this recipe just takes it to the next level. It's Jim Laheys' of course. It's everywhere these days, and after, once again, having it presented to me in the paper, I thought, now is the time.

Danish readers can check out the recipe here.

For the Yanks, I shall translate below. Look what you've got to look forward to!







You'll need:

Yeast, the size of a pea (or 1 gram dry yeast)
8 grams of salt
300 grams of water (10.5 oz.)
400 grams of flour (14 oz.)
1 pot with lid that are oven-safe

Here's what you do:

Step 1. Dissolve the yeast in the water (I used room temperature water), and add the remaining ingredients. Stir around in the bowl only until all the flour is moist. Cover the bowl with household film and let it sit out for 12-18 hours. 18 hours is better than 12 hours.

Step 2. Dump the dough onto a floured work surface. Fold it gently a few times. It's a bit runny, so make sure your hands are floured up. Oil the bowl and dump the dough back in for 2 hours of rising.

Step 3. Turn the oven on to 250 Celsius (475 Fahrenheit?) and put your oven-safe pot in to heat through. 30 minutes of its a Creuset, less if it's metal (which I used). When the pot is hot enough, take it out, dump the dough in it, cover with the lid, and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, turn the oven down to 230 Celsius (450 Fahrenheit) and remove the lid. Give it another 15 minutes.

When it's all done, take it out and let it cool off for 2 hours before tucking in.

It's so much better than my old no knead bread, though I haven't tried it as rolls yet, will get back on that. It's chewy, reminiscent of sourdough, in a milder version. It's a very satisfying baking experience!