Houskovy Knedliky - Czech Bread Dumplings

By Monica on September 28th, 2007

As an absolute mainstay of Czech cuisine, I knew I had to modify and perfect dumplings in order to be a happy vegan. Dumplings, be they bread, potato, yeast, or egg, are usually served with meat and gravy dishes. Very different than an English or American dumpling, Czech dumplings are thick, heavy, and could easily be a meal themselves.

Fortunately, I have been successful in veganizing my Babi’s dumpling recipe; these taste exactly like the original. (Babi being short for babička, the Czech word for grandmother.) This is a raised yeast bread dumpling, perfect for sopping up the gravy of your choice. In my house, it was traditional to cover them with applesauce, saurkraut, and then smother them in whatever gravy accompanied the meal. Usually there was a slab of roast pork there too, but I’m still working on veganizing that!

Be forewarned that this recipe makes a lot of dumplings, like two gallon freezer bags full. They freeze wonderfully though, and you can use them in so many dishes that they never go to waste. Also, if you have a large mixer with a dough hook, I highly recommend using it to spare yourself from a lot of heavy mixing.

Houskovy Knedliky - Raised Yeast Bread Dumplings
2 cups rice milk, warmed
1 package dry yeast
1T sugar
Ener-G egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs
1/2t salt
5 cups flour
2 slices bread, cubed

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm milk. Add prepared Ener-G egg replacer, and salt. Gradually stir in flour and mix well. When dough is mixed, form into one large ball, cover, and set aside in a warm place until doubled (about one hour).

When doubled in size, remove from the bowl and work bread cubes into the raised dough. Divide evenly into 6 loaves.

Cook, covered, in a large kettle of boiling water, making sure dumplings have room to expand. Boil dumplings 7 minutes on each side. Do not uncover pot except to turn dumplings.

Remove from water and place on a board to drain. Poke each with a knife to allow steam to escape. Using thread, slice loaves into individual 1″ dumplings.

Make sure you try one warm with a little bit of earth Balance!

Tempeh Stroganoff

By Monica on September 26th, 2007

Who new fermented soy could be so damn tasty?  On paper, tempeh doesn’t sound so good, but the more I tinker with tempeh, the more I love it.  This was so forking good that I can’t wait to make it again.

Modified Whole Foods Recipe:
1 package tempeh, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
2T canola oil, divided
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1t toasted sesame oil
1T tamari
1T vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
1 package vegetarian brown gravy
4 oz. vegan sour cream

Brown tempeh slices in 1T canola oil over medium heat until very browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per side.  Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the skillet along with the onion and garlic and saute until onion begins to brown.  Stir in sesame oil, tamari, and Worcestershire sauce and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Combine gravy mix with amount of water instructed by package directions.  Stir into tempeh mixture and heat until thick.  Stir in sour cream, and remove from heat.  Serve over pasta of your choice.

(The original recipe does call for the mushrooms you traditionally find in stroganoffs, so see the original recipe for cooking instructions if you are a fungus lover.)

Cooking with no power

By Monica on September 25th, 2007

What to eat when the power is out and you’re half starved?  Fortunately my stove top is gas and still functions without any electricity, so this was an impromptu meal of what I could cook over flame, in the dark.  Fun!

So what we have here are some left over Bisquick biscuits, topped by a faux chicken pattie I sauteed, smothered in brown gravy.  Mashed taters with a couple turnips thrown in for giggles, and green beans from the garden.  A gas powered, quickie version of chicken fried steak, if you will.  It was actually fantastic, even by candlelight!

The first apple!

By Monica on September 22nd, 2007

Four years ago I planted three dwarf apple trees in our front yard. Every fall I have to fence them off to keep the deer away, but the trees still tend to look like bonsai creations from the deer nibbling off whatever branches they manage to reach. The least deer abused tree finally produced a single apple this year. Digging holes, carting buckets of water, fertilizing and fencing off for four years - behold the fruit of my labor!