Barbecue Chickpea Pizza

Last week, Sebastian came home with a BBQ Chicken pizza. It smelled fantastic. Right away, my mind started on a recipe for a completely homemade, made from scratch, vegetarian version.

I’m so glad he gave me the inspiration, because this BBQ Chickpea Pizza with sourdough crust turned out exactly as I’d hoped.

 

I made the sourdough pizza crust earlier in the week. The recipe made enough dough for two very large pizzas. I immediately used one half for the veggie pizza I posted here and simply placed the remaining dough in the refrigerator.

The dough continued to slowly grow in the fridge, holding up exceptionally well for this recipe which was made three days later.

I also made a homemade barbecue sauce for the pizza. I find the bottled sauces in Germany to be way too sweet. After tossing a bunch of ingredients in a pot and letting them cook together, I was left with a delicious, tangy, smoky and sweet barbecue sauce.

I used a bit less than 1/4 cup of the sauce directly on the pizza dough then used another 1/2 cup to cook the chickpeas in. I was left with enough sauce to fill a medium sized jar which is now hanging out in the fridge, waiting to be used.

I topped the sourdough crust and BBQ sauce with freshly shredded gouda cheese.

As mentioned earlier, I cooked about 1 cup of drained and rinsed canned garbanzo beans in 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce. I let the sauce cook until it had reduced and thickened around the chickpeas.

On top of the cooked BBQ chickpeas, I placed a few plain chickpeas, a sprinkle of smoked paprika, thinly sliced red onions and fresh mozzarella cheese.

 

The pizza was cooked at a moderately high temperature until the crust and cheese were golden brown. Sprinkled with finely sliced basil leaves, this pizza was good to go!

Delicious!

Homemade BBQ Sauce

(I sort of tossed in ingredients as I went along so this is more of an estimate than an exact recipe. Adjust the spices to fit your tastes.)

Makes about 2 cups BBQ sauce

Ingredients

1/3 cup molasses

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. finely chopped red onion

1 cup ketchup

1 tsp. tamarind paste

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/ tsp. ground mustard

1 tsp. smoked paprika

red pepper flakes to taste

Method

1. Whisk all ingredients together in a small sauce pan. Heat to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the sauce reaches a desirable consistency.

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Sourdough Pizza Dough

Yesterday I shared a recipe for sourdough bagels from a book published 8 years before I was born: Sourdough Cookery by Rita Davenport.

Today I’m here to share another recipe from the oh-so-talented sourdough baker, Rite Davenport.

In her book, Rita shared not only her recipe for the dough, but also her pizza sauce recipe and suggested toppings.

You’re going to have to buy her book to get the whole kit and caboodle, but I’m happy to share the sourdough pizza dough recipe.

Sourdough Pizza Dough

Makes 2 very large pizzas

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sourdough starter

1 cup warm milk

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons cooking oil

2 1/2- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

olive oil for brushing

Method

1. Add the milk, salt, sugar and vegetable oil to the sourdough starter. Stir together. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time. Stir well after each addition. Add enough flour until the dough is too stiff to stir with a spoon. Dough should be heavy but elastic.
2. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 5-10 minutes.
3. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and set in a warm place, free from drafts and let rise about 2 hours or until doubled in size.
4. Divide dough into two equal parts. Stretch or roll out each part to create a round pizza dough. Create a slight ridge to form a crust.
5. Brush the dough with olive oil and continue to create your pizza as you wish.

Our first pizza dough was used as a base for a vegetable pizza which included tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach and broccoli.

Oh so good!

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Back from France

Sorry to keep you waiting, but as you can see, I made it safely through the streets of Paris and then back to Germany without any trouble.

I’ll create a post on Paris at some point, but to be honest, I’m still so overwhelmed by the whole experience that I just need a break.

Katie and I returned after an overnight bus trip on Wednesday morning. Wednesday and Thursday were spent showing Katie around Bonn, cleaning and packing bags in preparation for her return to the US.

Katie let me use her kindle to read The Hunger Games. Although I wasn’t too interested in the story when she described it, she encouraged me to read the first two chapters before making a decision. I’m glad she was so persistent because the whole of Wednesday was spent finishing the first book and I am now hooked. Can’t wait to read the second book!

It’s hard to believe that after so much time looking forward to my friends’ visits, they are both back in the US and here I am again with a tiny German kitchen and a list of recipes I want to try.

Over the weekend, I tried two different recipes using my sourdough starters. Both recipes are from a gag-gift that’s actually been more gift than gag (lucky since it’s a cook book!)

A colleague of mine knew I was baking with a home-grown sourdough starter. While at a book sale, she found this 1977 Sourdough Cookery book and bought it for me as a joke.

Well, good recipes are made great with time as the recipes from this cookbook prove.

Today, I’m going to share the recipe I was most excited about, sourdough bagels.

I’ve never made bagels before, and was surprised by how easy they were. Sure, there are a few extra steps compared to regular bread baking, but the additional actions only add about 15 minutes on the total time.

 

Well worth it when the product is as delicious as these bagels.

So, collect your ingredients and let’s get starter!

Place the sourdough starter, eggs and oil in a large bowl.

Mix together the dry ingredients before incorporating them into the wet.

A sticky, elastic dough will form. Add more flour as needed to create a dough that begins to remove from the sides of the bowl.

Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Let rest and rise until doubled in size.

Split the dough into 8-12 smaller balls. I made 8 large bagels. Gently press a floured finger through the middle of each small dough ball.

I ‘gently’ stretch my dough by swinging it around on my finger while screaming “woo-hoo!”

As you can see, the woo-hoo method worked just fine.

I wasn’t sure how much the dough would rise while resting so made lots of different sized holes in the bagels. The smallish holes made the best final products.

Boil the bagels for 7 minutes before draining and placing on a greased baking sheet.

I sprinkled freshly ground spices and herbs on some of the bagels while they were still wet.

These two were sprinkled with a lavender herb salt.

Here’s the same, beautiful bagel after baking for 25 minutes.

This lovely bagel is dressed in a freshly ground sea salt, chili and orange peel seasoning mix.

Immediately, I gobbled it up with butter.

Over the last few days, I’ve been enjoying the bagels for breakfast.

Toasted plain bagel with butter, cinnamon and sugar.

Perfect for an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.

If you are interested in sourdough baking, I recommend the following websites for step by step instructions on creating a sourdough starter at home.

I was so sure that my home-grown yeast sourdough starter would fail that I also made a lazy man’s sourdough starter at the same time.

Lucky for me, both sourdoughs took off with fantastic fermentation. I’m now alternating between each healthy sourdough variety for my baking.

Don’t be afraid of sourdough baking, as you can see from this recipe, it can be a lot of fun!

 

Sourdough Bagels

From Sourdough Cookery by Rita Davenport

Ingredients

1 cup sourdough starter

2 eggs

3 Tablespoons cooking oil

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 gallon water plus 2 Tablespoons sugar for boiling (I used 1 tsp. baking soda and 1 tsp. salt rather than sugar)

Method

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine sourdough starter with eggs and oil. Mix together flour, salt and sugar. Add to starter mixture. Add enough additional flour for the dough to leave the sides of the bowl.
2. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary.
3. Cover with a damp cloth. Set in a warm place free from drafts until doubled in size.
4. Turn out onto floured surface and divide into 8-12 pieces (depending on the size you’re after.) Shape each piece into balls. Punch a hole in the center with a floured finger. Form a doughnut shape by gently enlarging the hole, working each bagel into a uniform shape.Cover and let rise for 15-20 minutes.
5. Add sugar (or baking soda and salt) to water and bring to a boil. Drop each bagel into the boiling water one at a time. Cook for 7 minutes, turning once. Drain; place on greased cookie sheets.
6. Bake at 375 F (191 C) for 25-35 minutes. Bagels should be golden brown and crusty.

Variations:

Herb Bagels- Prepare bagels as above, except combine 2 teaspoons dried marjoram with dry ingredients.

Onion Bagels- Prepare bagels as above, except add 1 teaspoon dried minced onions to dry ingredients.

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Vegan Banana Bread

Happy Independence Day my fellow Americans!

On this 4th of July, I’m looking forward to the 5th and 8th. On these two dates, friends and past roommates will arrive in Germany.

My friend Christina arrives tomorrow and will stay until the 7th, then my friend Katie will arrive on the 8th.

Katie and I will be traveling and hiking through France for 5-7 days. Our plans are not fixed, but I’ve been busy attempting to arrange cheap travel with carpooling and couchsurfing. Once Katie is here, the real fun and planning will begin.

One recipe that screams America is banana bread.

Everyone needs a good banana bread recipe.

If you’re trying to avoid dairy or animal products for any reason, give this delicious vegan banana bread recipe a try.

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon ground flax seed

1/2 cup crushed walnuts

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt 

3 ripe bananas

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2-4 Tablespoons soy milk, as needed to form a good consistency

Method

1. Mash the bananas with a fork. Add powdered sugar and oil to the mashed bananas and mix well.
2. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, ground flax and crushed walnuts in a separate mixing bowl.
3. Add the mashed banana mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well to make a batter. Add soy milk as needed to adjust the consistency.
4. Grease a loaf pan with little oil and add the batter to it.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 – 60 minutes, or a toothpick comes out clean when stuck in the middle of the loaf.
6. Remove to a cooling rack, cool completely before slicing (if you can wait that long.)

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Sourdough Oatmeal Bread

I’ve recently ventured into the realm of sourdough bread baking.

In the last two weeks, I have learned so much about bread baking and have really enjoyed discovering new recipes and techniques.

This weekend I made a light and fluffy sourdough oatmeal bread that is perfect for sandwiches.

 

Adapted from Sourdough Cookery

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sourdough starter

1 cup lukewarm water (or milk for a richer taste)

1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup molasses (I used goldensyrup)

2 teaspoons salt

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cups rolled oats

4-5 cups all-purpose flour

melted butter or butter replacement

 Method

1. Measure sourdough starter into a large bowl. Add lukewarm water, brown sugar, molasses, salt and oil. Stir to combine.
2. Add rolled oats, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the flour, starting with 3 cups, adding more flour as necessary to create a tacky dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding more flour if necessary.
4. Place in an oiled bowl, turning once to oil all sides of the dough. Cover with a damp cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
5. Punch down dough. Turn out onto a surface and separate into 2 pieces. Shape into loaves and place in well oiled loaf pans. Brush tops with melted butter and cover with a damp cloth. Set pans in a warm place to rise for another 1.5 hours. Bread should rise until it reaches the top of the pans.
6. Bake at 400 F (205 C) for 35-40 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

 

Simply enjoyed toasted and smeared with strawberry jam.

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Ravioli with Sundried Tomatoes and Fava Beans

The final vegetables to be used from last week’s vegetable box delivery was another new to me veggie- fava beans.

These double pod beans have the most protective surroundings I’m aware of.

After removing the beans from the large sponge-like-lined bean pods, I tossed the beans into boiling water to blanch.

Post blanched fava beans.

The job to prepare these well-packed beans is not over yet.

Simple tear a bit off the end of the protective skin and give a little squeeze to the beans.

The fava beans should easily slip out. Now, the beans are ready to be used.

Spinach stuffed ravioli made the perfect base for a simple sundried tomato and fava bean topping.

Once the fava beans were shelled, this dish was ready in 15 minutes.

Recipe slightly adapted from The Italian Dish

serves 2

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups fresh fava beans, pods removed

2 servings prepared ravioli

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 Tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

6 sundried tomatoes, sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

2-4 Tablespoons grated pecorino cheese, plus more for garnishing

12 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

Method

1. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Put another large pot of salted water on to boil to blanch the fava beans.
   Place a large bowl of ice water next to your stovetop.
2. When the blanching water boils, throw the shelled fava beans into the pot and blanch them for about one minute.  Remove them  to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.  Remove the translucent skin from the beans by peeling off a bit of the skin and gently squeezing the beans.
3. Add the ravioli to the pasta water to cook and start preparing your sauce.
4. In a large skillet, add 1 tablespoon of butter, the onion and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and cook until the onion starts to soften, about 2 minutes.
5. Add the garlic and pine nuts and cook until both have begun to toast, about 2 minutes, stirring often to keep the garlic from burning.
6. Add the red pepper flakes, oregano and 3/4 cup of the pasta water and mix to combine.  Add the fava beans.
7. When the ravioli begins to float, remove with a strainer and add right to the skillet with the onion and fava bean mixture.  Gently toss until the pasta is coated with the sauce, about 1 minute.
8. Remove the skillet from the heat.  Add the salt and pepper, the rest of the butter and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, the grated pecorino cheese and the basil and mix everything together well.  Serve sprinkled liberally with more pecorino and black pepper.

Enjoy!

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Ancient Roman Bread

A week ago today, my class dressed in togas and threw a Roman feast.

Unfortunately, it was raining outside, so our Roman Feast/ picnic was moved into the classroom.

The parents generously donated a ton of food.

After being topped with crushed tomatoes and fresh herbs from my garden, the baked lentil and rice stuffed grape leaves turned out really well.

Most kids were adventurous enough to try the little stuffed rolls.

In addition to the food provided by the parents, we baked our own Ancient Roman bread.

Honestly, this is probably the best bread I’ve ever made.

Among the heaps of delicious food, the two large homemade loaves were the first to be eaten up.

I attribute the success of the bread to the long kneading times… when 18 kids each need a chance to knead the bread, the job gets done sufficiently well.

We followed a recipe from a teachers’ resource website called Sparklebox.

The children had to follow the steps independently to make the bread from beginning to end.

The bread was made with a mixture of whole wheat, rye and all-purpose flour.

The Romans ate sweet breads too, but this recipe was for a savory bread.

After the flours, water with dissolved yeast and salt water were combined, the real fun started!

Time to knead!

This dough goes through two kneading cycles prior to the final rise before baking the bread.

Before the first rise.

After the first rise. We had some very happy yeast!

Second knead.

The dough was shaped into two rounds then placed on baking trays coated with cornmeal. They were then sliced and set aside to rise one last time.

Fresh from the oven!

This bread was crunchy on the outside but soft and tender on the inside.

Many of the kids had never baked bread before so I was overjoyed that it turned out so well.

I hope they try to teach their parents this simple recipe!

Makes two large loaves

Ingredients

2 packages fast-rising dry yeast

2 1/2 cups tepid water

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup rye flour

Unbleached white flour to make up 950 grams in total flour weight

1 teaspoon salt mixed with 1 Tablespoon water

Cornmeal for baking sheets

Method

1. Dissolve the dried yeast in the tepid water in a large bowl.
2. Weight the whole wheat and rye flour together in a large bowl.Add all purpose flour to make up a total weight of 950 grams. Mix the flours together.
3. Add 4 cups flour mixture to the water and yeast. Whip for around 10 minutes.
4. Add the salty water and continue to mix.
5. Add the remaining flour to the bowl and mix to form a dough. You may need to use your hands.
6. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes.
7. Put the dough in a clean bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
8. Take the risen dough from the bowl knead once more for 10 minutes. Place back into the bowl and set aside to rise for another hour.
9. Punch the dough down once more and split the dough to form 2 large loaves. Shape the loaves then place them on baking sheets which have been dusted with cornmeal. Gently slice the tops of the dough with 2-3 ventilation cracks. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow to rise until doubled in size.
10. Bake in a preheated oven set to 230 C (450 F) for 25 minutes, or until the crusts are browned. The loaves should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
11. If you can wait, allow the bread to cook before slicing and eating.

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Sesame Street Cupcakes

This Sunday, my friend Matt’s son, Oskar, celebrated his 3rd birthday.

After two weeks of rain, the skies finally cleared and the sun shone down on the park picnic.

It was a beautiful day, full of happy children, good food and time spent with friends.

Earlier this week I saw an adorable cookie monster cupcake idea on a new-to-me blog called applejacks. A few days later, Annie of Annie’s Eats wrote about the Sesame Street themed birthday party she threw for her son.

Inspired by both bloggers, I combined their ideas and created my own version of Sesame Street Cupcakes.

They were a hit, even with the Elmo-loving birthday boy!

Although these adorable cupcakes ended happily, they began with a very sad state of affairs.

My very first cupcake flop.

Although the recipe for funfetti cupcakes came from a website that I’ve used lots of times, for some reason, these cupcakes just didn’t work for me.

So, I stuck with what I know and made the perfect vegan vanilla cupcakes.

Light, fluffy, vanilla deliciousness!

I find it a bit ironic that the ‘traditional’ recipe was a disaster but the untraditional recipe worked like a charm.

Earlier in the week, I prepared the eyes and colored coconut flakes.

The eyes were made by melting white chocolate, placing spoonfuls onto parchment paper, then sticking a chocolate chip in the middle of each dollop.

The eyes took several hours to completely set so making them ahead is a good idea.

I’ve always been a bit partial towards died coconut flakes.

When I was young, my mom always made a 3D Easter basket scene by shaping rice crispy treats and coating them in beautiful Easter colored coconut.

I found a powdered food dye that created really vibrant colors.

For the frosting, I stuck with my vegan vanilla buttercream frosting, minus the vegan part… I only had real butter left.

So I guess this was straight up vanilla buttercream then.

I generously frosted the cupcakes…

then placed them upside down in the coconut flakes.

After a few rolls in the coconut flakes, the fuzzy ‘fur’ was stuck and ready to go.

Although Annie’s cupcakes were adorable with their skillfully piped frosting fur, I love the way the coconut looks so fuzzy and puppet-like.

In addition to the chocolate eyes, I used gummy treats (which are a cinch to cut,) chocolate chip cookies, oreo cookies and nutella to decorate the cupcake characters.

Introducing the Sesame Street Characters!

Cookie Monster (my favorite)

Big Bird

Oscar the Grouch

Elmo

Although Big Bird looks a bit out of proportioned and fearful for his life, I’m really happy with how the cupcakes turned out.

They made everyone at the party smile.

Well, everyone except Big Bird that is.

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Feta Stuffed Grape Leaves

Although the lentil and brown rice stuffed grape leaves were my most recent leaf stuffing adventure, they were not my first.

My first attempt at stuffing grape leaves was made using a simple recipe with feta cheese and flavored honey.

I brought these fancy tasting, minimal effort treats to a barbeque at my friends’ house a couple weeks ago.

The combination of ingredients might seem odd, but the salty, sweet, herby taste caught everyone off guard and filled their eyes with an “mmmmhhh” expression. Once their mouths were empty, everyone was commenting on the deliciousness of these stuffed grape leaves.

To make the flavored honey, simply mix fresh rosemary,  oregano, and pepper with honey. The original recipe called for pink pepper berries, but I substituted ground white pepper instead.

Spread a small amount of the honey onto a pickled grape leaf, layer on a piece of feta then top with more honey.

Not only does the honey taste amazing, it helps to ‘glue’ the grape leaf folds in place.

Fold the leaf around the feta then secure closed with a wooden skewer.

This recipe made 8 appetizer-sized bites which were later cooked on the grill until the cheese and honey had melted together.

My only regret is that I didn’t double the recipe.

Grilled Feta Stuffed Grape Leaves

From Schrot und Korn magazine

• 8 pickled grape leaves
• 50 grams liquid honey
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon pink pepper berries
• 400 grams goat cheese feta
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 small wooden skewers, soaked in water to prevent burning

1. Rinse and dry the pickled grape leaves, cut the feta cheese into 8 pieces.
2. In a small bowl, combine the honey, rosemary, oregano and pepper berries.
3. Place about half a teaspoon of the honey mixture onto the middle of each prepared grape leaf. Layer a piece of feta then another half teaspoon of honey. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.
4. Fold the grape leaves and secure closed with a wooden skewer.
5. Before grilling, brush each prepared leaf with olive oil. Grill on both sides about 5 minutes.

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Lentils with Shallots and Brown Rice

Tomorrow is an exciting day in my classroom.

After learning about the Ancient Roman empire for two semesters, we will celebrate the culminating activity with a Roman feast.

The kids are beyond excited.

They’ve created their togas and stollas, fashioned their jewelry and broaches, and even decided on special Romanesque hairstyles.

But who am I kidding, the party isn’t about the fashion or Roman games, it’s about the food!

Luckily I have an amazing group of parents who are providing most of the food for the feast.

The kids, however, will bake Roman bread.

I’m contributing a recipe of my own- Grape leaves stuffed with lentils and shallot cooked brown rice.

I’m not claiming that my contribution is an authentic Roman recipe, it’s more of a “What would Kendel make with the ingredients in a Roman kitchen.”

Whereas the Romans would have used cereal grains like spelt, I’ve used brown rice which has been cooked with shallots and vegetable stock. Although brown rice was unknown to the Romans, I thought it would help hold the leaves together.

I’ll top the prepared stuffed grape leaves with tomatoes tomorrow and bake them before serving.

 

Hopefully the kids will feel like they’re truly at a Roman feast.

I still had leftover lentils and brown rice once the leaves were all stuffed so ate the extra stuffing as dinner.

With a simple drizzle of olive oil, these two easy ingredients made a filling and fancy-tasting dinner.

Vegan ~ Vegetarian ~ Simple

Ingredients

For the lentils

1 can cooked lentils

2 bay leaves

For the rice

1/2 cup brown rice

1- 1 1/4 cups water

2 small shallots, chopped

1 tsp. vegetable stock granules

olive oil

fresh black pepper

Method

1. Cook the rice according to package instructions along with the addition of the shallots and stock granules.
2. Warm the lentils and bay leaves over medium-low heat until the bay leaves become aromatic.
3. Plate the rice and lentils together, drizzle with olive oil and season with pepper to taste.

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