vegan Archives | Page 178 of 181

We finally have winter weather back in Texas, at least where I am. I think the high for today is in the upper 40s as opposed to the upper 70s. Yippee! I made sure to stock up on firewood so I can enjoy this wonderful weather before the warm weather starts creeping back and stays for good.

Even though I love wintry weather, sometimes I find myself longing for spring and summer. It’s not the temperatures that I miss, but the bounty of new fruits and vegetables that will be in season. I think I have said on this blog before how much I love dewberries, but really, I love any berry. I don’t discriminate when it comes to berries, especially when they are in season, ripe, and oh so juicy!

To satisfy my berry craving last weekend, I decided to use up some dewberry and green apple jam I made in the summer and bake it into little hand pies. Sweet, tart, and thick dewberry jam is enveloped in a lemon-scented whole grain crust and then baked until just golden. They are the perfect size to fit in your hand, making them portable and oh so cute, too! These little beauties are vegan so you can enjoy them without worrying about the sticks of butter you might be eating. Oh, and don’t be frightened by the length of the recipe, it’s mostly just a lot of detailed information about how I formed the pies.

Dewberry Jam Hand Pies
notes: This recipe makes 10 hand pies using a 3 7/8 inch circle cookie cutter. Using a different size will yield a different number. I used dewberry jam because it is what I had, but any berry jam will work nicely.

1 – 8 oz. jar of dewberry jam
1 1/2 cups whole rolled oats (not instant oats)
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup barley flour
heaping 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
zest of 1 small lemon
scant 3/4 cup coconut oil, very cold (I put mine in the freezer for about 10 minutes)
3 tbsp agave or maple syrup
2 to 3 tbsp ice water

In a food processor, process the oats until they are finely ground. They should look fine like flour. Next, add the spelt flour, barley flour, salt, and lemon zest and pulse until combined. Add the cold coconut oil and pulse until the dough looks crumbly. Add the agave and then add 1 tbsp of ice water at a time, pulsing the dough until it just comes together and forms a ball. I only needed about 3 tbsp for this, but you may need slightly more. Make sure not to overmix the dough. After the dough has come together, dump it out onto a piece of plastic wrap and knead it a few times before forming it into a disc. Wrap it with the plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Once the dough has rested and chilled, remove it from the fridge. Roll it out on a sheet of parchment paper dusted generously with spelt or barley flour to about 1/16 of an inch thick. Using a 3 7/8 inch (or similar size) circle cookie cutter, cut out as many circles as you can. Transfer the first cicle of dough carefully to a lined cookie sheet. Spoon about 1 1/2 tbsp of your jam onto the circle slightly off center. You want the jam to be a bit closer to one side of the circle of dough so you can fold the other side over easily. Once you have the jam in place, dip your finger in a bit of cold water and run it around the edge of the dough. This will help it to seal. Next, gently fold over the piece of dough opposite from the side with the jam. It should now look like a half moon shape or an empanada. Using the tines of a fork, gently crimp the dough together, forming a seal. Using a small sharp knife, cut 2 small slits into the top of the dough (I made an X shape). Continue these steps for the rest of your hand pies. It’s okay if a little jam spills out of them when folding the dough over, they will just look more rustic and homemade! Once all of your hand pies are formed, place them in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes.

While your pies are chilling, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the pies in the upper 1/3 of your oven for 18-20 minutes until they are golden brown around the edges. Cool on the pan at least 15 minutes before enjoying or before moving to a rack to cool further. Enjoy!

The inspiration for this post came from the same Central Market trip discussed in my last post. Since it’s winter and citrus is in season, they had a huge section devoted to it. Meyer lemons, cara cara oranges, blood oranges, pummelos, buddha’s hand, and sweet limes were just a few of the myriad of beautiful orange, yellow, and green orbs. Since I had never tried sweet limes before, I decided to get a pound and then see what direction they led me in the kitchen.

In shape, sweet limes look like limes, but they have a yellowish color. The inside flesh is a light yellowish green and the taste is somewhere in between an orange and a lime. You could peel one and eat it like an orange as the flesh isn’t all that tart. After tasting one, I originally wanted to make a sweet lime and yogurt tart or a small batch of sweet lime marmalade. But, I got busy and several days went by before I realized I needed to do something with them before they went bad. Since we had some unseasonably warm weather this past week, my mind went towards something cool and refreshing (and easy). I had some leftover mint in my fridge so I figured I could combine it with the sweet limes into a slightly tart and sweet granita.

The resulting granita was quite lovely. It was refreshing and light and the leftovers made a tasty cocktail when mixed with a bit of whiskey and lemon soda. If you can’t find sweet limes, feel free to sub in a 1/2 cup of any citrus and adjust the amount of simple syrup to your liking.

Sweet Lime & Mint Granita
serves 2

3 sweet limes, juiced
1 regular limes, juiced
large handful of fresh mint
1/4 cup organic raw cane sugar
1/4 cup water plus about 2 tbsp

Make the simple syrup: In a small sauce pan, combine 1/4 cup of the water, the sugar, and most of the mint leaves (reserve a few leaves for the granita mixture). Using a wooden spoon, bruise the mint so it will release its oils into the syrup. Warm the mixture over medium low heat, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and set aside so the mint can infuse the syrup as it cools. When the syrup has cooled, strain out the mint and discard it.

Make the granita: Combine the sweet lime juice and lime juice in a bowl. For me, this was about a 1/2 cup of juice, but this will vary depending on how juicy your fruit is. Add 2 tbsp of water and 2 tbsp of the mint simple syrup to the juice. Taste the mixture and then add more simple syrup if you would like it sweeter. With your remaining mint leaves, julienne them into very fine strips and then add them to the granita mixture. Pour the mixture into a flat ceramic or glass dish and place it in the freezer. Leave it there at least 3 hours or overnight, then remove it and scrape the surface with a fork to fluff the granita. Place it back in the freezer for at least one more hour. Right before you serve it, fluff it with a fork once more, then serve and eat it immediately. Enjoy!