Vegan Tea Biscuits

Vegan Tea Biscuits- so delicious and quick to make! You can add whatever you like to this recipe ......such as vegan cheese, ham, raisins,etc. Make them your own!!

You will need:

2 cups all purpose flour

4 tsps baking powder

1 tsp salt - less if you are adding cheese or ham as they both contain salt

1/2 cup Crisco, all vegetable shortening - room temperature 

3/4 cup almond milk....or any milk substitute beverage 

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a large baking sheet.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk together.

Add your room temperature shortening to flour mixture and use a pastry cutter or knife to cut the shortening into the flour so that it resembles a coarse texture.

At this point, you can stir in your shredded cheese or chopped ham...or whatever you like. 

Stir in the milk. Stir until it forms a ball then put it on a floured surface and knead it until it comes together and is smooth. If too mucky, add more flour.

Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. Then using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut circles and place on cookie sheet. Roll out the excess dough to make more biscuits. 

Let rest for about 10 minutes then place in a 400 F preheated oven.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

This recipe should make 10 biscuits.

So good you won’t miss the eggs or butter.

Ravioli with Butternut Squash- Dairy and Egg Free, Vegan options

Looking for something special to make for your loved ones? ❤️❤️❤️

Try stuffing your ravioli with butternut squash and greens, slathered with a sage and garlic butter. Absolutely delicious. 

Butternut Squash Ravioli
https://youtu.be/86msWdntO3Q

For the Sage butter sauce,  heat up some olive oil, butter or vegan butter and gradually, on low, add one whole garlic cut in half and let it infuse its flavour into the oil. Throw in 6 to 7 leaves of fresh sage, or one tsp of dried sage and just let it simmer. Be careful. Don’t burn it.It only needs 3 to 4 minutes. If you have parsley, throw that in there too.

You can also smother them with a Marinara tomato sauce. See YouTube link below for the recipe.

How to Make Marinara Sauce Recipe
https://youtu.be/KBCZGHFdDK8

You will need:

-One batch of pasta dough- if you are making your own, stop at the second to last notch on the pasta machine.

-One medium sized butternut squash

-One bag of spinach or any green of your choice

You can access my YouTube tutorial on how to make your own pasta dough by following this link: How to Make Pasta Dough and Fettuccini by Hand

https://youtu.be/Jcmbp1fXK6U

We will begin by roasting a medium sized butternut squash in the oven. Cut it into cubes. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Make sure every piece is well coated. Roast on a sheet tray at 400 F for half an hour, or until tender. You can access my YouTube tutorial if you need more details on how to roast butternut squash: How to Roast Butternut Squash

https://youtu.be/nOMya9E_Su8

Next you will need to boil one bag of spinach. I used a mix of baby greens - spinach, Swiss chard and bok choi. Boil for a couple of minutes until wilted then drain and stop the cooking by rinsing in cold water. Let drain well. Squeeze all the water out with your hands and chop.

Using a potato masher, mash the squash until you are happy with the texture. I like mine on the creamy. Stir in the spinach. Now at this point you can add whatever cheese you like. You can use vegan Romano cheese or any vegan cheese that you like. Just grate it and stir it in. If you don’t have a dairy allergy, you can stir in some ricotta cheese with an egg, Parmesan cheese or Romano.

Place a generous teaspoon on a your dough and cover with another piece of dough. Take your finger and press down the dough by going around the filling. This will take some of the air out and seal it.

You can either use a ravioli cutter or you can fold the dough over and cut out with a rotary dough cutter. You can check out my YouTube link for ideas.

For the heart shaped ravioli, I used my rotary cutter to cut the dough into the heart shape.

Bring your salted water to a boil and add your ravioli. When they begin to float, let them boil for a couple of more minutes until cooked.

If you are not cooking the right away, you can refrigerate them by covering them with plastic wrap. Make sure you flour your dish or tray first.

If you want to freeze them, place them on a sheet tray that’s liberally floured and place into your freezer for a couple of hours. Make sure they are not touching each other or they will stick together. Once frozen, you can put them in a freezer bag.

Enjoy!!

Sourdough Pizza - Dairy and Egg Free

 Make pizza using your sourdough starter! Makes 3 to 4 medium sized pizzas.

If you’re already making bread using your sourdough starter yeast, then you can totally make pizza.

Sourdough Pizza
https://youtu.be/CbnclTgAsLQ

How to Make your own Pizza Sauce, quick and easy, in under one minute
https://youtu.be/O4tfxeoQ0MQ

You will need:

100 grams of sourdough starter yeast

700 grams of Unbleached all purpose flour

2 tsps fine sea salt

500 ml of warm Filtered water

You can use your stand mixer with the dough hook or you can knead by hand.

Put all ingredients into a large bowl and mix all ingredients well. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for approximately 5 minutes until smooth. If too sticky, add a bit more flour until texture is still soft but not overly sticky on hands.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot. I use my oven with the oven light on.

After 2 to 3 hours, depending on how long it takes your yeast to rise, remove your dough and fold over 4 or 5 times by pulling, stretching and folding over.

Put dough back in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place into cold cellar or refrigerator over night - 12 to 14 hours.

Remove from bowl and shape the dough into 4 even balls. Place on cookie sheet and let warm up and rise in a warm spot.

Once dough has doubled in size, you are ready to roll it out and top with sauce and whatever ingredients you like.

I like to use a pizza stone to cook it. Place your stone in the oven to heat up in a 475 F oven. Place your pizza on stone once oven is ready. Tip: sprinkle corn meal under your pizza before and while you are rolling it out to size. This allows it to easily slide off your tray or pizza peel to get it onto your stone. 

Pizza  should take about 12 minutes to cook.

Delicious and no doubt, very healthy!! 

Beans and Greens - Dairy And Egg Free, Gluten Free, Vegan

Cook your own beans from scratch. So simple!! Put it on the stove and simmer and in one and half hours you’ll have delicious, creamy, healthy beans. Definitely worth the effort. 

In this recipe I use dried white kidney beans along with rapini. You can substitute the rapini for a green of your choice such as Swiss Chard, Kale or Escarole.You can also substitute for the bean of your choice. Cooking time may vary.

You will need:

6 cups water

2 cups dried white kidney beans - rinsed

2 Bay Leaves

3 medium whole garlic cloves, peeled

Extra Virgin olive oil for drizzling

One bundle of rapini, washed and chopped.....and pre- boiled for a couple of minutes

Bring water to boil in a large pot.  Add the beans, garlic, bay leaves, drizzle of oil oil ( approximately 3 Tbsps) and let simmer for 1.5 hours. Leave lid slightly open for steam to escape. Check beans for doneness after 1.5 hours. They may need 15 to 20 minutes more. The liquid will thicken when they are done. You don’t want to over cook them as they will fall apart.

Once beans are cooked add your greens. I am using a bunch of rapini but you can also use Swiss chard, escarole or kale. Because I am using rapini which can be tough and very bitter, I am going to cook them in boiling water. You may also want to precook your kale as well.

Add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with your best olive oil. As beans are not salted in the boiling stage, you will need to salt them at this point. Continue to cook beans and greens for a few more minutes altogether until the greens are fully cooked. 

Plate and top with a final drizzle of olive oil.

Chili Con Carne - Dairy and Egg Free

 Chili Con Carne - for game night or any night of the week!

A little spicy and very lean..... and can easily be adjusted to make it your own. This recipe makes a small pot for 3-4 portions.

This is a dairy and egg free recipe. Vegan options include leaving out the meat and frying up carrots, celery, mushrooms and peppers. Use a variety of canned beans such as Pinto,Romano along with kidney beans.

Chili Con Carne
https://youtu.be/C99yxnLXuMo

Gotta have chili on super bowl night!! The great thing about making your own chili is that you can control the salt content, the fat content....I use lean ground beef....but you can also use chicken or turkey meat and you can control the “ heat”.

You will need:

1 small onion, chopped

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

Half a medium sweet green pepper, chopped- you can use red if you prefer or leave it out altogether. If you want extra heat, add Serrano or Poblano peppers.You can also add mushrooms for more texture.

1.5 lbs of lean ground beef

1 can Italian plum tomatoes 

2 cups Passata ( if you don’t have the jarred Passata you can add one more can of plum tomatoes)

1.5 tsps salt...or to taste

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper...or to taste

1 tsp dried oregano 

1tsp dried basil

1 tsp Paprika

1/2 to 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper....or to taste

1 tsp red chili peppers...or to taste

3- 4 tbsps chili powder - ( very important!do not leave out) may seem like a lot, but it’s not. Chili powder is not spicy hot.

1 can Red Kidney Beans, drained

Pickled jalapeño peppers for garnish - you can also chop and throw about 2 tbsps into the chili itself if you like. Do whatever makes your tastebuds happy.

Begin by drizzling 3 to 4 Tbsps of olive oil into a large pot.

Over medium heat, fry your onions and garlic for a few minutes then add the green pepper. Fry for a few minutes and throw in your beef.

Stir and break up meat. Continue cooking until water evaporates, and it begins to fry and brown. Add salt, pepper and spices. Stir.

Once meat is nicely browned, add your canned and jarred tomatoes.

This will need to simmer for about an hour. Break down your tomatoes with a wooden spoon. After10 minutes of simmering on medium- low, it’s important to do a taste test.This is where you want to adjust the salt and spices.

As it it simmers, the liquid will evaporate and chili will thicken.

Add your can of drained red kidney beans the last 15 minutes of simmering. Throw in your pickled jalapeños if you like or lay on top of your chili.

Different ways to enjoy chili:

In a bowl with crusty, toasted bread topped with pickled jalapeño peppers, chopped green onions

On nachos topped with jalapeño peppers, grated cheddar cheese, guacamole, salsa, sour cream

On a baked potato with grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, green onions

Endless possibilities..............

Focaccia with Rosemary & Anchovies - Dairy and Egg Free

Focaccia with Rosemary and Anchovies 

It’s the middle of winter and I am still picking fresh Rosemary and Sage from my vegetable garden. I never pulled them out this past fall and they are still standing!!

This Focaccia highlights the fresh Rosemary along with anchovies and Italian dried black olives.

You can buy pizza dough for this recipe or follow link below to my YouTube tutorial on how to make your own pizza dough- dairy and egg free.

How to Make the Best Pizza Dough
https://youtu.be/mC3SmzgyfO0

This focaccia is really quite simple and requires a few ingredients. Begin by spreading or rolling out your dough. Let it rise in pan for about half an hour. If store bought, bring to room temperature before rolling it out.

Using your fingers, make indentations into dough and then sprinkle extra virgin olive oil and spread over top of dough using a pastry brush or your fingers.

Top with pieces of dried black olives, chopped fresh Rosemary (or dried) and chopped anchovies, about 3 or 4 whole anchovies.

Lightly salt the top. Go easy on the salt as both anchovies and dried black olives are salty.

Bake in a 400 oven for about 20 minutes until dough is golden on the bottom.

That’s it! Simple and very tasty....Enjoy!

Cinnamon Buns - Dairy and Egg Free, Vegan

Cinnamon Buns - Dairy and Egg Free, Vegan 

Cinnamon Rolls Dairy and Egg Free, Vegan
https://youtu.be/0wKA-XDctio

My kitchen smells heavenly and these cinnamon rolls are amazingly delicious!!

You will need:

Step 1-

1/2 cup milk beverage ( I used almond milk)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsps salt

1/4 cup shortening ( I used Crisco - all vegetable shortening) 

Scald the milk and then stir in the sugar, salt and shortening.  Set aside and let cool to lukewarm.

Step 2-

In a bowl measure:

1/2 cup lukewarm water

Stir in 2 tsps sugar

Sprinkle with 2 envelopes active dry yeast and stir

Let stand 10 minutes or until foamy then stir well.

Step 3:

In your stand mixer with dough hook, (you don’t need a stand mixer....you can do this by hand)

Add your lukewarm milk mixture to the yeast mixture

Add 2 cups sifted flour. Stir until smooth, then add 1 1/4 cups more sifted flour and stir until well incorporated and dough has formed a ball.

Place well kneaded dough into a greased bowl. Brush top of dough with melted vegan margarine, shortening or vegetable oil

Cover and let rise in warm oven for 2 hours until dough has risen. 

Punch down and turn onto floured board.

Step 4:

Cut the dough in half and roll out each half into 9 x 12 rectangles

Brush generously with melted margarine and sprinkle each rectangle with half of brown sugar mixture:

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

2 tsps ground cinnamon 

I also added about 3/4 chopped walnuts and pecans. You can add plumped up raisins as well. Just soak them in warm water for half an hour first.

Roll up starting from short end. Seal edges and cut into 8 equal pieces, about 1 inch wide.

Place cut side up into lightly greased glass baking dish - 9 x 12 or any rectangular baking dish.

Brush  tops with melted margarine

Cover and let rise for about an hour

Bake in 350 F oven for about 30 to 35 minutes

Step 5: Almost done............

If desired, once cooled you can frost with:

1 cup sifted icing sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

Stir in enough milk beverage to make it a drizzling consistency.

Start by adding a tsp of milk at a time. Stir and add more until it’s just how you like it!!

Enjoy!!

Italian Almond Christmas Cookies

 

Italian Almond Christmas Cookies ( with dairy & egg free option)

Put out these cookies for Santa and he may never leave!!

This is the quickest and easiest Italian cookie recipe that I have ever made. Just throw all your ingredients into stand mixer, mix and voila!!

Roll them, add a thumb print and top with a candied cherry ..... or two.

Bake and eat!!!

You will need:

1/2 cup unsalted, softened butter (at room temperature) You can substitute for vegan margarine)

2 cups almond flour

1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tbsps baking powder

2 large eggs at room temperature ( you can use egg replacer)

3/4 cup almond slivers or slices, toasted and roughly chopped 

1 tbsp almond extract

Toppings are optional and you can be creative.

I used about half a cup of green and red candied cherries, split in half

1/2 a cup of large round pieces of dark chocolate

Directions:

Put all your ingredients, except your cherry and chocolate toppings, into a large bowl or stand mixer. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed and it becomes a soft dough. Should take about 2 minutes.

Using your hands, scoop out about a walnut size piece of dough and roll into a ball. Roll ball into chopped almonds and place onto tray lined with parchment paper.

Place a thumbprint in the middle of your dough ball and decorate with your candied cherries or chocolate pieces or both!

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes until slightly golden on the bottom.

Let cool on tray and then devour!!

* If you’ve baked the vegan version, they will be a bit more crumbly than usual but delicious nevertheless!

Fettucini Alfredo - with dairy

Fettucini Alfredo with Peas

Fettucini Alfredo
https://youtu.be/CJXTsnBZhaA

Alert!! This recipe contains dairy!! Sometimes I like to cook for myself 😋

Creamy and luscious and not complicated to make! Quick, easy with few ingredients. An Alfredo sauce can be used with many different types of pasta. I love it on fettucini. This is my homemade fettucini and you can find the recipe in my previous blog along with the link to my YouTube tutorial. You can add so many different things to this Alfredo sauce such as caramelized onions, peas, asparagus, mushrooms or even chicken if you want to give it extra protein.

Let’s begin by boiling a pot of water for the pasta to cook in... that’s how quick this Alfredo sauce is to make.

You will need: for 2 servings

3 tbsps olive oil

1 garlic clove minced

1/2 an onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup white wine (can be omitted) but it does add an extra layer of flavour

1/2 cup cream ( I used 10% but you can use 35% if you prefer)

A handful of Parmesan cheese and a bit more for topping

A handful of frozen peas ( optional - you can add whatever vegetable you like..... or not)

Fresh parsley for garnish

Pasta water - save about one cup of your pasta water. It serves as a thickening agent for your Alfredo sauce.

Fresh or dried fettucini - enough for 2 -3 servings. If you are using fresh pasta it takes a few minutes to cook. No such thing as “al dente” when cooking with fresh pasta. As soon as it’s tender, it’s ready.

Heat your olive oil in a large frying pan, and over medium heat add garlic and onion and cook a few minutes until translucent. I’d you are using wine, this is when you want to add it. Simmer until it has totally reduced.

Once your pasta is cooked, over low heat, add the pasta to the frying pan with the garlic and onions along with 1/2 cup pasta water. Stir and drizzle the cream over the pasta. Continue to stir. It will thicken. Don’t over cook or it will dry up. Can easily be fixed by adding more cream. Stir in your peas and the handful of Parmesan cheese. 

Top with more Parmesan cheese and garnish with fresh parsley.

Best when eaten immediately. The longer it sits, the more it dries up. Also delicious the next day. Throw it back into the frying pan and heat over low to medium heat, adding more cream to it!!

Soooooooooo good😋

How to Roast Chestnuts in the Oven - Castagne

Roasting chestnuts on an open fire.........as the song goes.........

A long-standing Christmas time tradition has continued on in our household ever since I was a child....but instead of an “open fire” like the song goes, we cook them in the oven, Quite simple to do.

First we begin by slitting the chestnuts with a sharp knife so that they don’t “ explode”! There’s also a really convenient gadget, pictured below, in the stores that’s a little safer than using a knife.

Chestnuts are in abundance this time of year at your local grocery store. They will go moldy when old so try to find the freshest chestnuts you can find and cook them soon.

Use this fancy gadget to slit the chestnut or you can use a sharp knife.

Preheat oven to 350 F and bake on a tray for 35 to 40 minutes. You will know they are fully cooked when you can squeeze the nut between your fingers, using an oven mitt, and when they’ve split open a bit.

Let them cool slightly then peel immediately. It’s easier to get into them when you peel them as soon as you can.

These are so delicious and they almost have a creamy texture!!

Buon Natale!!

How to Make Pasta Dough and Fettuccine by Hand- Dairy and Egg Free

How to Make Pasta Dough and Fettuccini- Dairy and Egg Free

How to Make Pasta Dough and Fettuccine by Hand
https://youtu.be/Jcmbp1fXK6U

Making your own pasta is not that difficult. This dairy and egg free pasta recipe will serve you well as you can make a variety of different types of pasta shapes with this one recipe. 

Fettucini is the pasta that I will feature on this blog and YouTube video. 

You don’t need a pasta machine to make your own pasta but it sure helps. I will show you how to make pasta both ways....by hand and using the pasta machine.

Pasta machines need to be attached to a counter or table with a clamp. I attach it to my granite island close to where I make my pasta.

For this dairy free and egg free recipe you will need:

1 cup all purpose unbleached flour

1 cup Semolina flour ( I find that mixing the two types of flour gives my pasta a nice texture)

3/4 cup warm water ( I use filtered water)

1 tsp salt

Place all the dry ingredients on your work surface, then add your warm water gradually, a bit at a time, while mixing it into the flour. Begin to knead as the flour begins to form a ball. Usually the above measurements make the perfect dough. But sometimes, I guess it depends on the humidity in the air, I will need a little less water. This is why we gradually add the water and knead it as you go along. If it’s becoming too mucky, then stop adding water. This can easily be fixed by adding a bit more flour. Same applies if you add too much flour and it’s becoming too tough to knead. Just add a little more water! Pasta making is very forgiving.

Knead dough for a few minutes 3 - 4, until smooth. Let rest under a piece of plastic wrap for 10 minutes. 

If you are doing this by hand, you will need a rolling pin and a knife. Cut a pice of dough and roll it out as thin as you can get it. Flour liberally, roll the dough and cut into 1 centimetre wide ribbons. Unroll and flour the cut fettucini. Watch video for tutorial.

Prepare your pasta machine. You will want to use the smooth roller to roll out your dough. Divide your dough into evenly divided pieces and make sure your pasta machine roller is opened to its widest slot. Flatten your piece of dough with your fingers, liberally flour it and pass it through the pasta machine. Fold both ends over and bring them towards the centre, and pass through the same first widest slot on machine. Reduce the width to your next slot, flour your pasta dough again and pass through the machine. As it goes through each slot that is a smaller width, your dough will become thinner. You want to pass each piece of dough through all of the slots until you finish with the last, and thinnest one. Flour your dough and let each piece of dough rest on a floured counter until it dries a little, at least 25 to 30 minutes.

Now it’s time to switch your pasta machine to the fettuccine cutting roller. I have to add the attachment onto my machine. 

It’s important to let your pasta sheets dry a little, but not too much as they will break. They still need to be pliable. On the other hand, if you try to pass through the machine immediately, it will stick to the machine. So you need a balance....not too wet and not too dry.Pass through the fettucini rollers, add more flour when cut. You can freeze them in bundles, you can refrigerate them for a couple of days until you’re ready to cook them. Recipe for Fettuccini Alfredo coming soon.

Sweet Bread with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Topping- Dairy and Egg Free

 

So easy to pull apart and share!! Make each portion as big or small as you like. Dairy and Egg Free!!! And delicious 😋

You will need:

One package of instant or rapid yeast

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Mix the two and set aside in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment....or you can knead by hand.

In another small bowl mix the next 3 ingredients:

1 1/4 cups of almond milk, or any non dairy beverage

Add 1 1/2 tsp of white vinegar to the almond milk to create a buttermilk type of consistency 

1/4 cup sugar

Mix and add gradually to the dry ingredients in your stand mixer. Mix until a ball begins to form.

To your dough you will add:

6 Tbsps of vegan butter or margarine, melted. Continue to beat until very well incorporated. Pull out of stand mixer and knead by hand until smooth. It will be a bit sticky.

Let rise in warm area until doubled....an hour or so.

Shape into balls.

Cinnamon and brown sugar topping:

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

Mix the three ingredients listed above into a bowl 

Melt 1/2 cup of vegan melted margarine or butter in another bowl

Dip each ball in vegan melted margarine then roll in the cinnamon, brown sugar and white sugar mixture,

Place dough balls into a round pan, placing one next to the other but not too close so they room to rise. Begin a second and third layer. Sprinkle any leftover brown sugar mixture over the top.

Let rise again for about an hour then bake at 350 F for 40 minutes!!

Be careful when removing from pan. They don’t stick together due to the margarine so they will fall apart. Let cool then “ share”. Best when eaten immediately!!

Fried Chicken Livers with Mushrooms and Green Peppers

 Chicken Liver Bruschetta- Egg Free, Dairy Free

Chicken Liver Bruschetta
https://youtu.be/7RQoQ2PYHxA

You may not be a fan of beef or pork liver, like myself, but chicken livers are a different story.

If you have never tried them, you need to try this recipe. It may change your mind on how you feel about liver.

You will need a package of chicken livers - thoroughly rinsed. Trim the fat off and cut into one inch pieces

5 slices of bacon

1 small To medium onion, sliced

1 medium green pepper

5 or 6 mushrooms sliced

2 large garlic cloves, sliced

Salt, pepper and garlic powder...all to taste

Peperoncini flakes

Fresh parsley 

You will need to heat up a good size frying pan drizzled with olive oil.

I begin by frying the mushrooms at a fairly high heat seasoning with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

I find that seasoning each layer as I go along allows me to ensure that there’s enough flavour.

Once the mushrooms are nicely cooked, remove them from the pan and set aside on a dish.

Next, fry the green peppers along with a few slices of onion. Season once again to taste.

When the peppers are almost fully cooked remove them from heat.

Drizzle the frying pan with a bit more olive oil and throw in the chicken livers along with the bacon. After a minute or so, add the rest of the onions.

Fry at a fairly high heat as we want to reduce the liquid that will form in the pan.

Add two large garlic cloves sliced and peperoncini to taste.

Once the chicken livers are thoroughly cooked, return the mushrooms and peppers to the pan with the livers. Continue frying.

You will know it’s ready when the all the liquid has evaporated and everything is nicely browned.

Place a generous amount on a slice of toasted Italian bread, which is your bruschetta.Top with fresh parsley.

This recipe is egg free and dairy free. If you don’t want gluten, skip the bread and fry up a nice portobello mushroom and fill with the fried liver mixture.  Mmmmmmmm😋