Vegan Mini Roasted Apple & Pear Pies

I haven't taken a math class since my senior year of high school; beyond reason, I was able to count Astronomy 111 as a math in college. However, I've been an avid fan of Pi Day for as long as long as I can remember. Never having been mathematical groupie, my love of Pi Day has been called into question, Maury-style, more than a few times. Maybe I'm a fan of puns (I also celebrate May the 4th), pie or have an appreciation of people who actually do and enjoy math. While it's probably all of the above, I think my love of food trumps my aversion to math. Give me a set of analogies or tedious word problems, but I'd rather walk around a Möbius strip for all eternity than figure out the tip on a bill.

Yet wouldn't you know, I think yesterday was the first time I actually made a pie on Pi Day. Sure, I've made a pie somewhere within the confines of March and called it good, but I've never baked and subsequently eaten one on 3.14. Good thing yesterday was a day of firsts and I finally made some cute little mini pies. A day of firsts you ask? Why yes, it was. I cooked fish, in fact a filet of salmon, for the first time in my entire life, started editing photos for my first ever professional(ish) photography assignment and went for a long walk in the rain… on purpose.

At the end of the day, I felt pretty proud of myself. I was noshing on a delicious salmon dinner with 'A' and eagerly awaiting my first homemade Pi Day pie. As most readers know, I'm allergic to cows milk but am deathly afraid of Crisco and as such, am usually at a perilous crossroad when it comes to making pastries. While I guess Earth Balance 'butter' is sort of like Crisco, its yellowy, stick-like, buttery appearance convinces me otherwise. So after some successful Googling, I found a vegan pie crust that was in compliance with my standards and seemed as though it would be flaky enough.

While the dough was a little wet, the crust baked up wonderfully crispy. If you aren't vegan or don't feel like using this pie crust recipe, I found that halving a recipe for a double crust resulted in enough dough for two mini pies and a little bit to spare.

Vegan Pie Crust

Adapted from Someday Spoon

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of vegan butter, cubed and chilled
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/8 cup pastry flour
• 1/4 cup water, chilled
• 1/2 tbsp. white sugar
• Flour for the rolling surface

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and grease two 4 in. ceramic ramekins.
2. Pulse the flour and salt in a food processor.
3. Add the vegan butter and pulse the mixture together into beads of dry clumps. If you do not have a food processor, alternatively you can use a large fork to mix the ingredients together.
4. Pour the pre-chilled water into the food processor a little at a time while pulsing the mixture.
5. When about half the water has been transferred, also add a pinch of white sugar.
6. Transfer the dough onto a well-floured cutting surface. Roll into a ball.
7. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and freeze for at least an hour. Dough can be frozen for up to 12 hours before continuing making the pie.
8. Remove the dough from the freezer and roll out with a rolling pin on a floured surface to 1/4″ thick.
9. Cut dough into 4 circles; two larger ones for the bottom and two smaller ones for the top. Freeze until ready to fill pies.

Roasted Apple & Pear Pie Filling 

Ingredients:

• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced
• 1 pear, peeled and diced
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice

Directions:

1. Spread apples onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with brown sugar and spices.  
2. Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes.   
3. Remove the apples from the oven. Carefully place the pie crusts in the bottom of the ramekins.  Fill generously with the apple/pear pie mixture.  
4. Top with smaller circles of dough and cut slits for venting. Place ramekin on a clean cookie sheet, return to oven and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, or until the pie crusts are golden brown.  Allow to cool before serving.

Curried Carrot Pepper Lentil Coconut Soup

Sometimes I can be pretty bad at keeping track of the last time I posted a recipe. I'll think "oh, it was just a few days ago" or "it must have been last weekend, I can wait a little longer." Usually 'last weekend' seems to be two weeks ago and I guess I still have yet to grasp what a Gregorian day is. Ignore me, I'm probably just making excuses for pure laziness. For example, I'm watching Felicity for the first time on Netflix and the messiness of my hair is starting to rival hers. Actually, dismiss that earlier announcement of laziness and let me plead insanity for losing track of the days. I have the madwoman hair to prove it.

Before I get to the food, I need to talk about this mug. Yes, the children on it are slightly creepy in their frozen exuberant states. No, I didn't buy these. Yes, this pair of soup mugs is one of my more cherished hand-me-downs from my childhood. I can't remember exactly when they slipped from the shelves of my parents house into my kitchen, but I'm going to assume it was sometime during college. 

I remember growing up and eating tomato soup from these mugs on snow days as a kid. When I wanted a particularly large cup of cocoa, I would reach for these and hope my mom wouldn't notice. The love scratched spoon lines prove that they've been used for decades and probably will be for many more. Moral of the story, these mugs just make things taste better.

As these kids are showing you, dear readers, this soup is M'm! M'm! Good! Really good. As in sometimes I would sneak a chilled spoonful or two out of the tupperware just to make sure it still tasted awesome. The best part is I made the soup with surplus ingredients from the Super Bowl and some of my pantry staples. 

Roasting the carrots and peppers really brings out their sweetness while adding a nice depth of flavor. You'd also be a fool not to throw in some coconut milk too, trust me. When I first served myself a bowl, I realized I had run out of coconut milk. The soup was good, thick and hearty, but it lacked the creaminess factor I was lusting after. I later stirred in a can of light coconut milk and let me tell you, the difference was remarkable. It also doesn't hurt that it added almost another full serving of soup!

Curried Carrot Pepper Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil
• 5 large carrots
• 2 medium sized bell peppers (preferably yellow or red)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• ¾ cup red lentils
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced (you may substitute with powdered ginger)
• ¼ teaspoons chili powder
• 5 cups veggie broth
• 1 can coconut milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F and line a roasting tray with baking paper. Peel and chop carrots into 1 inch chunks, cut bell peppers into 1 inch squares and place them in the tray. Drizzle over about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper and toss to coat. Bake for about 45 minutes until carrots & peppers are golden and tender. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. In a pot over medium high, heat up another 2 tablespoons of olive oil and tip in the chopped onions and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes until onions are transparent and starting to brown.
3. Next, add lentils, curry powder, ginger, and chili powder. Stir and let cook until spices become fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Stir in veggie broth and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cooking until lentils are soft, 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and using either an immersion blender or a regular blender, puree until soup is smooth. Return soup back to stove, stir in coconut milk, and heat soup for another two minutes, tasting and adding spices as you like.

Chickpea, Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Stew

This soup is neither red, heart shaped nor will it make your beau swoon. Ok, well, it might do the last part because I think I saw 'A' teetering on swooning when I made this for dinner last week. He may have also been falling asleep sitting up but I'm going to be positive here and settle on swooning. Regardless of the holiday at hand (Valentine's Day for all you people reading this any other day but 2/14), I think this soup is fitting for the one who makes your heart beat a little faster because it will keep your heart healthy for all valentines to come.

To help save money, I've become that lady at the supermarket checkout with bags upon bags of bulk items. Nuts, grains, peanut butter filled pretzels… you name it, I have it in a twisty tie bag or old glass jar somewhere. As my pantry was starting to seem a little overwhelmed, I lightened the load and put some lentils and chickpeas to good use. Along the way I may have picked up a butternut squash the size of my head but hey, who are we kidding here, they're delicious.

With all our key players at hand, I crafted the most magnificently large pot of stew ever. Even after sending 'A' off with leftovers for work, I had enough to feed me for about a week. Towards the end the stew was probably a bit questionable, but as it goes with stews, the longer it is left to age the better it tastes. True story. As the soup is 100% vegan, my logic was that the lack of dairy meant it would last longer. Right? Even if I'm wrong, let me float along in blissful ignorance.

So if you want to keep you and your valentine's heart strong for years to come, save money AND have a delicious dinner, why would you want to make anything else?

Chickpea, Butternut Squash and Red Lentil Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• ½ teaspoon chili flakes
• 2-3 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 quart vegetable broth
• 1  28-oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into ¾ inch cubes
• 1 can chickpeas
• juice of one lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• small bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped (save some for garnish)

Directions:

1. Heat a large dutch oven (or saucepan) and dry-fry the cumin, chili flakes and garam masala for 30 seconds or until they start "jumping" around the pot and release their aroma.
2. Add the olive oil, onion, carrot, garlic and jalapeño and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion and carrot are softened.
3. Stir in the lentils, stock, tomatoes and butternut squash, then bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils have softened.
4. Stir in the chickpeas, lemon juice and salt/pepper to taste, heat gently. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro. Serve and finish with a garnish of cilantro.

Thai Papaya Salad (Som Tam)

I'm a pretty big fan of making lists. Shopping lists, number one priority chores list, wanderlusting lists and just things that need to get done. Lately I've been doing a lot more of the latter but I keep on running into one big brick wall, without fail I will lose all the lists I write. Shopping lists somehow always manage to fall out of my pocket or purse somewhere between my apartment and the store. We all know what goes down when that happens, someone ends up with 5 blocks of cheese, no vegetables and a bag of chips. No one wins in that game, even the grocery store because they failed to move out the perishables. 

As I was saying, I've been making a lot of to do lists. It usually goes like this: finally go to the department of licensing (yes, I'm getting a Washington drivers license) and just buck up and write that blog post. The number one spot usually fluctuates depending on the type of hair day I'm having. Don't tell me that sounds silly because let's be real, I'm going to be stuck with that drivers license photo for at least a few years. Little Orphan Annie hair isn't always in vogue.

As you are now reading this blog post, I've obviously checked at least one thing off my list. I made "A" a complete Thai/Lao dinner a few weeks back. I would say when we go out to eat, we seem to lean towards the spicy & noodley variety. One of my favorite things he has introduced me to is green (raw) papaya salad; it's crunchy, spicy and the fish sauce makes it a bit salty too. After I've watched him make it a few times, I felt it was due time I made some too. If not only for the purpose that I could make it all just to gorge myself.

The actual preparation is straightforward and simple, but I do recommend having a few specific kitchen tools. You'll want a mortar & pestle to grind together a good portion of the ingredients and a julienne mandolin doesn't hurt to have to cut up the papaya. However, if you want to make this don't go out and buy a surplus of gadgets. With some basic knife skills, you can easily chop up the papaya and (sshhhh) I've totally ground together the spices and peanuts in a small food processor. No biggie.

If you want a healthy side dish with a flair of the exotic and a kick of spice, look no further.

Thai Papaya Salad (Som Tam)

Adapted from My Cooking Hut

Ingredients:

• 400g green papaya, shredded
• Cherry tomatoes, halved
• Red bell pepper, thinly slices
• 40g cup toasted peanuts
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 thai red chili (use more or omit depending of desired spiciness)
• 3-4 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3-4 tablespoons palm sugar
• 4 tablespoon lime juice
• a few sprigs cilantro

Directions:

1. Peel the green papaya and shred with a julienne mandolin. Alternatively, slice the peeled papaya into very thin strips. Mix together with cherry tomatoes & red pepper in a large bowl.
2. Place the roasted peanuts, garlic and thai chili in a mortar and pound to a rough paste. Add this crushed peanut mixture to the shredded papaya, tomatoes & bell pepper.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, sugar and lime juice. Add this to the shredded papaya, tomato, bell pepper and peanuts. Toss well. Garnish with cilantro. Serve chilled.

Guest Post: Kalamazoo Sourdough

As you may know, I occasionally host a guest blogger or two on The Ginger Cook. Usually this just happens to be a member of my family, but I'm opening to having anyone! Friends? Want to post? As long as I deem your picture as worthy, you may have a shot.


A little bit of background information before I leave this post in the hands of my Dad. A few months ago my dad bought my Mom a standmixer for "her birthday." I say this in quotations because she neither waited to get it on her birthday nor is she the one who primarily uses it. In tandem with the mixer, I bought her a 1973 vintage copy of one of my favorite bread books, The Tassajara Bread Book. 


As you may have guessed, someone else started using it much more than she did. That's right, my Dad stole it from her! How dare he! You really shouldn't stay mad at him for long though, he has been killing it on the bread baking. When I was home for Christmas, he was whipping out some truly extraordinary loaves. Without further ado, here is his new prized loaf of bread: Kalamazoo Sourdough

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Kalamazoo Sourdough

Why should the City by the Bay get all the glory when it comes to sourdough? I’m here to claim some of the glory for the chilly state of Michigan. In this guest Ginger Cook post, “I” am Katherine’s dad, Ed. Lest you fear that I’m diluting the ginger-ness of this blog, rest assured that I’m a redhead as well.

Regular readers may wonder why I’m calling this bread recipe Kalamazoo Sourdough, since Katherine is from Brighton, about 2 hours from K-town. There are three reasons for this. First, “Kalamazoo” just has a ring to it, much more so than “Brighton”. Second, our other daughter Caroline is attending college in Kalamazoo at Western Michigan University. Finally, Kalamazoo is home to Bell’s Brewery, one of the best craft brewers in the country and the source of a vital ingredient for this recipe.

This recipe was written assuming that you are using a baking stone or pizza stone. A Dutch oven will also work very well, however it is harder to get the loaves into a hot Dutch oven, so I prefer the pizza stone. If you use a Dutch oven, you don’t need the Pyrex baking dish, since the moisture from the dough will create steam in the Dutch oven. The steam is the secret to a perfect crust.

Ingredients:

•  3 cups bread flour (all-purpose flour is fine also)
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup sourdough starter *
• ¾ cup water at room temperature
• 8 tablespoons Bell’s ale (anything ale that isn’t strongly flavored)

 *If you want a little extra rise, you can add one-eighth of a teaspoon of instant or rapid-rise yeast without affecting the sourdough taste too much

Directions:

1.  Mix sourdough starter with water in a large bowl and whisk vigorously until thoroughly mixed. If using yeast, add it to the liquid and whisk some more. Add salt and whisk into liquid.
2. Add flour to water and using a rubber spatula, fold in flour until water is absorbed, then add beer and fold some more. You should have a shaggy ball of dough. If needed, add water a couple of tablespoons at a time until dough reaches the proper consistency.
3. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 hours or more, until the ball has roughly doubled in size.
4. Place bowl in refrigerator and let sit for an additional 6 to 8 hours.
5. Cut parchment paper to fit onto a baking stone or into a Dutch oven. Remove dough from refrigerator and knead about 15 times. Shape into a large loaf, or if a smaller loaf is desired, divide and shape into two loaves.
6. Place the loaf or loaves onto parchment paper and spray surface of loaf with olive oil (use a mister). Cover loosely with plastic and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 2 or 3 hours.
7. 30 minutes before baking, adjust upper oven rack to lower middle position and place baking stone on rack. Place a Pyrex baking dish half full of water on the lower rack to create steam in the oven. Set oven temperature to 425 degrees F and let temperature stabilize for 30 minutes.
8. Slash top of loaf with a sharp knife, remove baking stone from the oven, and place parchment paper onto baking stone. Immediately place into oven.
9. Bake for 45 minutes or until internal temperature of the bread reaches 205 to 210 degrees F (a digital thermometer is helpful here).
10. Remove bread from oven and allow to cool on a mesh rack for 10 to 15 minutes before enjoying.

Homemade Biscoff Cookies

First and foremost I dedicate this blog post to my sister, Caroline. When texting with her earlier tonight I (essentially) asked "should I blog about cookies or salad?" and she (essentially) said "you loon, if you don't blog about cookies I will hunt you down until you do." That may or may not have been how it went down but go with me here. It's kinda snowy and I've come down will a spell of cabin fever.

The snow tried to trap me in another day but too bad I had already planned to do some baking. One of my favorite things in the world is Biscoff cookies, also known as Delta airplane cookies. When Trader Joe's introduced their version of the traditional European coffee dunking cookie, I bought that up with such a fervor that you'd think it was the Seattle Witch Trials. Seriously. But sadly, as it goes anything I love at Trader Joe's, it seems to have been discontinued after the holidays ended. Nothing can keep me away from Biscoffs for long though. Ask any flight attendant, I am that obnoxious flyer who asks for two, sometimes three, cookies. Luckily for the flight attendants and grocery store workers of the world, I figured out how to make them on my own.

And you know what? They tasted eerily similar. I even ran out of cinnamon, first time this has ever happened, and the taste was still on par. If it hadn't been for the "storm of the decade," I would have been more apt to run over to the stores to pick up some more cinnamon. The best part of this recipe though is the texture. It has the same crisp as the original and dips in your morning coffee just the same. Even this morning when 'A' and I were drinking coffee, I forced myself to dip a few in and I felt like I was back in Paris. Or on a redeye back to Detroit. I'm not picky.

The snow is hopefully finally melting, the ice fading away and I will slowly lose the excuse to drink hot chocolate at all points of the day. I will also maybe be able to drive my car again, a girl can dream.

Biscoff Cookies 

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan from Around My French Table

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 7 tablespoons Earth Balance, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 (packed) cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature

Directions:

1. Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices together in a bowl.
2. Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, beat the Earth Balance at medium speed until creamy. Add the sugars and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and continue to beat until it, too, is blended into the butter and sugars. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing only until the flour disappears into the soft dough. If there is any flour left at the bottom of them bowl, work it in with your hands or a spatula.
3. Divide the dough in half. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper until you have a rough rectangle that’s about ¼ inch thick. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.
4. When you’re ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut into 1"x3" rectangles. Collect the scraps and set them aside to combine with the scraps from the second piece of dough.
6. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until they are lightly golden and brown around the edges.  Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
7. Repeat with the second round of dough, making certain the baking sheet is cool before you put the cutouts on it. To use the scraps, press them together, roll them into a circle, and chill them before cutting and baking. 

Maple Walnut Apple Crisp

A few months back I mentioned how either my camera or computer ate the photos for a recipe. Well, a combination of a miracle and my genius (ha) computer skills brought a few of the photos back to life. Don't ask me how I found them or what skill set I used to convert them from .NEF to .JPEG files but I did it. Dear blogging gods, I thank you. I'll dedicate my next meal to you.

Sad to say, but I made this recipe for Halloween. HALLOWEEN! It was a whole 25 degrees warmer and 2011 ago. It's basically ancient in recipe land but fret you not, it is worthy of a revival from the Mac Trash Can Heaven. It's your basic apple crisp but with a little less cane sugar and a little more maple sugar. This past fall I was really on a maple kick and would throw syrup or extract into just about anything. Don't believe me? Ask my friends, they probably were sick of it after the first week. I know apples aren't really the first thing on peoples' minds right now, especially now that Seattle is coated in a blanket of snow (more on that later), but I am always up for a warm apple crisp. I have even more right to demand this dessert year round; I'm from a premier apple growing state (Michigan) and now live in the apple capitol of the world (Washington).

In reference to what I mentioned earlier, you read right, Seattle is smothered in snow. Okay, I don't know if you could call it a "smothering" but this is Seattle and anything over a dusting sends the settlers into a tizzy. Wait, even a dusting does that. I've been stranded in my apartment all day and have been watching a whole two inches accumulate outside my window. That is more than I (sadly) ever saw and stick when I was back in Michigan! People are even making the trek out to sled in it….

Maple Walnut Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 4 Apples, cored and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup 

Topping:

• 1 1/4 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cups walnuts, chopped
• ~1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• ~1/8 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• A dash or two of nutmeg and apple pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) goat butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Place the cut apples in an ungreased 8- or 9-inch square baking pan. Mix together with the white sugar and maple syrup.
3. Mix together the topping ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Distribute the mixture over the top of the apples, and pat it firmly in place.
4. Bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is crisp and lightly browned and the fruit/juice is bubbling around the edges. I recommend serving this hot, but it tastes just as yummy at room temperature.