Apple, Cinnamon & Brown Sugar Steel Cut Oats

I love oatmeal. As a child, I vividly remember waiting patiently for the kettle to boil, as I sat peering above a bowl of freeze-dried apple and cinnamon flavored instant oatmeal.  Most of the time, we would have Cream of Wheat, but every now and again, mom would buy packets of apple and cinnamon instant oatmeal, and I thought that was something really special!

~Pure 70s graphic goodness~

What I loved most was that each packet had a different scene of adorable little cartoon people, enjoying their oatmeal in a variety of ways!  This photo above brings back a lot of memories, because, as a child, I ate a lot of oatmeal.

Fast forward 30 or so years, to an age where pre-packaged, overly processed, convenience food is not my usual breakfast of choice.  The days of buying these sugary packets have long gone by the wayside.  But, the crisp, cool mornings of Fall are calling for something warm and comforting for breakfast.

Enter steel cut oats.

I've always known they existed.  Steel cut oats, also know as Scotch oats, are one of the (many unique) fillings inside of haggis.  They are also one of the least processed forms of oats.  Once the oats are harvested, and their outer hull removed, you have a grout which looks something like a grain of brown rice, but has its outer coat of bran still intact.  Oats in this form take a very long time to cook, and even after a considerable amount of boiling time, they are still pretty much as chewy, like rice shaped rubber bands. Not fun.  But once these grouts are passed through the blades of steel cutters, and chopped down to a smaller, more cookable size, they can be prepared in about 40 minutes.

I've seen them on countless breakfast buffets, steaming away...  Sadly, they are usually cooked with milk, and even served with heavy cream on the side (gag).  I was determined to try these at home, and I decided to consult The Master of all simple, basic, from-scratch cooking: Alton Brown.  I've had the most incredible luck with his recipes, first reading his cooking techniques and food history, and then making the appropriate vegan substitutions.  So here we go:

Steel Cut Oatmeal - Vegan Style
Original Recipe from Alton Brown

Ingredients

1 tablespoon Earth Balance Coconut Spread*

1 cup steel cut oats

3 cups boiling water

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 cup almond milk plus 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar** 

2 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

I large apple, cored and diced

splash of soy creamer, optional

*I had a coupon for this.  I find it does have a hint of coconut flavor, which I might not want to use in certain savory dishes, but I thought for toasting the oats it would be delicious!

**Vegan sub for buttermilk. Once the milk and vinegar are allowed to sit for a few minutes, it can be combined right with the almond milk.

Directions

• Start your water boiling in a kettle - I have a large heatproof glass measuring cup ready to measure out the 3 cups of water.
• In a large sauce pot, melt the Earth Balance and add the oats. 
• Stir for 2 minutes to toast. 
• Add the boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer. 
• Keep at a low simmer for 25 minutes, without stirring.
• Combine the milk and half of the buttermilk with the oatmeal. 
• It is here that I add the salt, cinnamon, brown sugar and 3/4 of the chopped apple.
• Stir gently to combine and cook covered for an additional 10 minutes. 
• Add a splash of soy creamer for a richer taste.
• Scoop into bowls, and top with additional chopped apple and cinnamon

These oats, made from scratch, cook up into the most delectably creamy, slightly chewy and toasty morning goodness!  And, they're a buck fifty-nine for organic at the bulk bins in Whole Foods.  Can't beat that.  Now, who's gonna try these from scratch at home? Your cholesterol numbers will thank you ^_^

Gearing Up for Vegan MOFO

One simple post before the crazy-fun of Vegan MOFO begins!

Now what is Vegan MOFO, you may ask?

It's the Vegan Month of Food!  During the month of October, food bloggers from all over the WORLD will be taking the pledge to write about Vegan Food each and every day, for the entire month (or for at least 20 posts)!  Some folks have themes, and some fools, like me, are just gonna "wing it".

But, I will promise you this:

• Fun posts
• LOTS of food porn
• Vegan make-overs of some of my family's favorites
• New juicing combos 
• Quick and simple weeknight meals
• Vegan cookbook reviews and 
• a once a week, a "Veganization" of a Food Network Magazine recipe...  

Whew!  That should keep me quite busy...

Tonight we are celebrating with my nephew for his 15th birthday at Friendly's, so for breakfast / lunch, we decided on a simple snack of apples and peanut butter:



I admit, this entire past week has flown by, and I have done a real lousy job of preparing and packing lunches.  Since the apples around these parts are really coming into season, I've been stocking up on some deliciously crisp, New England apples for both juicing and snacking.  So now, when I am running out the door, instead of skipping breakfast or forgetting lunch, I'll grab an apple, and scoop a tablespoon or two of natural peanut butter into a tiny to-go plastic container, and have a quick and simple meal on the go.



Perfect to eat right at your desk at work.  You know what they say:  An apple a day, smothered in peanut butter... (well, close enough) ^_^

Apple Carrot & Ginger Juice

My new juicer has arrived, and I could not be more thrilled!  This deliciously gorgeous golden orange concoction was the perfect maiden voyage for the Omega 8006 Multipurpose Juicer.

Here we have:

5 small carrots, organic, leaves removed
2 red delicious apples, cored
1/2" piece of ginger

Feed all items through the chute of the juicer, no need to peel.  Feel free to add more or less ginger, to taste.  It gives the juice a nice warm kick!  Drink and enjoy.

I am so excited about this new raw food juicing adventure.  And, I am especially pleased at how delicious the fresh carrot and apple juice tasted together.  I have a secret: I am not a huge fan of carrots, either raw or cooked.  If I add them to salads, I have to grate them quite fine, just to enjoy them.  They say carrots are good for the eyes, and my eye sight is terrible.  I can barely choke down a raw carrot, which I am sure did NOT help my eyesight in the least.  I remember, when I was little, watching Bugs Bunny crunch on carrots. I would eagerly try and imitate Bugs, gnawing through a chunky hunk of carrot, and hated every minute of it.

Now, I hear that carrots are some of the most healing foods that provide top notch, quality nutrients, especially in their juice.  Carrots are excellent sources of pro-vitamin A, vitamins C, D, E, K, B1 and B6. They are also rich in biotin, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus.

And, then there is beta-carotene, probably the first think one thinks of when considering carrots and their vibrant orange complexion.  Beta-carotene is a powerful antioxidant that has healing virtues for many diseases.  A glass of this stuff a day will cure all that ails you!

So in juice form, I can not only tolerate the taste of 5 carrots at one time, I actually enjoy it.  I might almost go as far to say as I crave it!  The road to wellness is a long and winding path, but I think this juicing might be a step in the right direction.  ^_^

Recipe Testing: Tenacious Tart Tatin (French Caramelized Apple Tart)

What a beauty!!  I tested this recipe a while ago, but thought the picture was to pretty not to share!

Again, this photo is part of the series of recipes I am testing for Terry Hope Romero's new vegan cookbook, scheduled to be published this Fall!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to be a part of this, AND to see the final product!!

This tart was, for lack of a better word,  Fabulous... and unique, in that it used a shortbread crust made with partially frozen olive oil for the fat. Isa and Terry discuss this technique a bit in Vegan Pie in the Sky, but I haven't tried that particular recipe as of yet. I was a tiny bit skeptical at first, but let me tell you, this crust was amazing: flaky and rich, AND it was "mother and grandmother approved"!

I think this would be a great pie/tart for a beginning pie makers, as the crust is pressed into the tart shell instead of rolled out. 

I made my tart with Honey Crisp apples, which worked quite nicely ^_^

Apple Tart: (or Forgotten Pie Crust; Best one Yet)

iPhone Pic

Sorry it's another apple dessert, but I'm getting my practice in for Thanksgiving!!

So, I had a few, lonley Honeycrisp Apples left from my Farmer's Market haul.  Not quite enough for a full blown pie, so I though an apple tart would show them off nicely.  I had bought an inexpensive tart pan a year or so back, which I have NEVER used. It even has fluted edges and a removable bottom; how very exciting!

I went back to my original pie crust recipe for this one, cutting in in HALF, because I just needed a tart 'bottom', with enough extra bits to fold over the edges.

Basic Flaky Pie Crust (Vegan)

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 cup margarine, non-hydrogenated (I use Earth Balance)
1/4 cup ice water, plus 1 tbsp ice water as needed

Now, I don't usually commit to making pies on weeknights, but the urge was there, so I went with it.  I cubed up all my shortening and Earth Balance on a little plate, measured out my flour in a stainless steel bowl, and proceeded to place them both in the freezer to chill, as I always do.  And then, fell asleep...

I woke up, slightly dazed, and decided that the crust ingredients would be fine in the freezer until tomorrow, and went to bed.  And they were.  Next day after work, I figured I'd better make this bad boy, so I pulled out the butter and shortening cubes to let them thaw, so as not destroy my food processor when I pulsed.  The dough came together nicely. So, I scooped it out into a disk, wrapped it in saran wrap and placed it in the fridge to chill for 40 mins. And then, my urge to bake a tart had suddenly left...

"Well, the crust is done, and ready to go," I thought.  "I'll just bang this thing out tomorrow when I'm fresh."

Okay, THURSDAY night after work (I started this on Tuesday...) THURSDAY, I came home from work, determined to have apple tart made, come hell or high water! I pulled my 'crust disk' out of the fridge to get the chill off before I rolled it out. I peeled three (3) apples, sliced them with my apple slicer and THEN cut each slice into 4, to make beautiful, thin pieces.  The crust rolled out like a dream.  I think I let it get a bit more room temperature than normal, which is odd because I am usually paranoid about the crust getting too warm.  Perhaps, that is part of my problem... rolling the dough out too cold(?!)  Anyhow, the crust fit nicely into the tart pan, with just enough hanging over to fold. But I felt the fat melting a bit, so I put the crust into the freezer while I finished preparing the apples.

I read a couple of different tart recipes online where the sugar and spice were sprinkled over the apples after they were arranged in the tart pan.  So, I went to work arranging my little apple slices in co centric circles, overlapping each other, working from the outside, in.  I then sprinkled them with 2 TBSP of sugar, about 1 tsp of cinnamon, and then a few shakes of Cinnamon PLUS from Pampered Chef (cinnamon, nutmeg,  allspice and a bit of orange peel).  I folded the edges of the crust over onto the outer edge of the apples, and brushed the entire top with 2-3 tbsp of melted Earth Balance.  For an extra, special good measure, I also sprinkled the crust with extra sugar and cinnamon.

Bake your lovely tart at 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes.  Many of the tart recipes online also had the last and final step of glazing the top, right out of the oven, with a type of jam or jelly.  I had in the fridge, a jar of Holiday Jam, from Stonewall Kitchen, which is a mixture of pear, cranberry and raspberry with a hint of orange. I thought this fit the bill nicely, and the jar was almost done.  So I nuked what was left in the microwave, about 2 tbsp, and brushed the top of the entire tart before it cooled.

I don't know if it was freezing the butter/shortning cubes overnight, letting the dough rest in saran overnight, putting the rolled dough in the freezer before I baked it, or dousing the whole top in Earth Balance, but the crust on this tart was one of the BEST I have ever made OR tasted.  So flaky and delicious, and omni-approved; it absolutely melted in your mouth.  My boss at work, (the Martha Stewart of cakes and baking I call her) even asked for the recipe.  And, my mother requested this tart (not apple pie) for Thanksgiving.  Well, hey, I'll take it... Impressing people with vegan treats always puts a smile on my face ^_^

First Apple Pie of Autumn

In honor of my super-awesome new Cranberry Stone Pie Plate from Pampered Chef, and the luscious bag of Honey Crisp Apples I scored at the Farmer's Market, I give you my first pie of the season:

Another iPhone pic, sorry

I don't know about you, but I can not WAIT for Isa and Terry's new cookbook: Vegan Pie in the Sky to come out in October.  The PPK website has shown us a few mouth watering previews of what's to come, and THIS pecan pie recipe ALONE has sold me on the book.  But, alas, none of the previews have included the actual pastry pie CRUST recipe.  I realize they can't give too many recipes away in advance, but I, for one, am VERY interested to see what their secret is!

In the past, I've used this Flaky Pie Crust recipe, with excellent results.  But, I've had Vegan Pie in the Sky on the mind, so I went back to Veganomincon to see IF there was a pie crust there...  and there was!


Veganomicon's crust has a couple extra ingredients that my original pie crust recipe does not:  a bit of baking powder, and a touch of apple cider vinegar.  Both of these ingredients ensure a bit of tenderness to the flour for the ultimate "tender, yet flaky" pie crust perfection. (Alton Brown is my hero...)


I am not sure I tasted a huge difference between this crust, and my old stand-by, BUT I am definitely willing to try this recipe again... (I did also purchase a pie shield for my next attempt).  Reviews of the pie were  favorable, overall, but the edges of my crust did get a little bit dry for my liking.

Now for the apples:

My usual "go-to" mix of apples for pie are half Granny Smith and half Golden Delicious.


When I made this pie, I had on hand, a beautiful bag of Honey Crisp from a local orchard here in Rhode Island.

I googled a bit about the use of Honey Crisp in apple pie, and found some mixed results: Some say NEVER, some say they have inconsistent results, and some say AMAZING.  

I, however, decided to go for it:  ALL Honey Crisp, five (5) apples in total.  I did add 3 TBSP of flour instead of my usual 2, because Honey Crisp are super juicy, and I didn't want a runny pie.  I also used 1/4 cup organic white sugar and 1/4 dark brown. MY RESULTS:  I loved it, Two thumbs way up! The apples baked up nice and tender, with the perfect hint of cinnamon-y sweetness.  No runny pie at all! ^_^


What are your favorite apples to use in pies?