I took the fantastic idea of freezing muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance. Since I cook mostly for one, it’s senseless to have 12 fresh muffins just hanging around the house going stale. I just froze the batter inside the cupcake papers and when I need a couple, I pop them in the oven. Wickedly convenient. Here’s a before and after shot.
The only thing I would suggest is greasing the papers a little before freezing. My batch likes to adhere themselves to the paper.
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
2 portobello mushrooms, sliced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp boursin
1 cup red wine
3 tbsp Earth Balance
salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Saute the mushrooms, onions and garlic in the Earth Balance on medium heat until soft (approx. 10 minutes). Reserve liquid and some of the onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cool. Cut the puff pastry sheet into 6 equal pieces. Mix the boursin with the mushroom mixture and place equal mounds on top of 3 of the pastry pieces. Cover each with the other 3 pieces, making 3 pouches. Carefully transfer to a lightly greased 9×13 baking pan and bake until puffed and golden brown. About 10-15 minutes. For the sauce, reduce the wine in the same pan the mushrooms were in with the reserved liquid and veggie bits. Serve the sauce on the plate with the pouch on top. Serves 3.
The bug turns 1 on Wednesday, but we had her soiree this Saturday. Lots of fun and cuteness ensued. Cleverly, Jacki planned the party with a bug theme, more specifically ladybugs. There was ladybug cake and even ladybug wine!
Mmmmm….cake!
The spread. I took some bread with trio of dips and spreads. Artichoke, vegan herb butter and olive oil w. dipping spice.
Since the bread turned out so wonderful, I’ll finally supply the recipe for anyone who is brave enough to take it on.
6 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn oil (vegetable works, too)
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup starter
Mix into a dough and then turn into an oiled bowl. Pat down and then turn over so both sides are greased. This is what it looks like:
Let rise until the bowl is full! Separate into 3 equal loaves and let rise again until the pans are full. This usually takes about 3-5 hours depending on how warm it is in your casa. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or golden brown! Cool on racks.
Last time I used just regular bread flour but I’m attempting the same recipe with wheat flour this time. We shall see!!
Don’t forget that if you decide not to make bread on the day that you feed your starter; before you put it back in the fridge you have to remove a cup. It keeps the yeast happy.
The bread from the icky-looking starter turned out sooo good! And maybe I’m a bit partial, but I think it’s also quite beautiful.
I mixed this up Monday evening in hopes of being able to bake bread next week. My grandmother gave me this old recipe for the starter and bread. It’s a process…be warned!
For the starter:
3pkgs yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
2/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp instant potato flakes
Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add 1 cup warm water, sugar and potato flakes. Stir, cover & let stand on counter 24 hours. Store in fridge and feed every 3-5 days. (Should be fed once before baking bread)
This is what the starter looks like as of Thursday night. Scary and separated and very, very bubbly!
I’ll update the recipe once I’ve successfully baked bread. Fingers crossed.
