Whole Wheat Tortillas

Ingredients

• 1 cup unbleached white (or all-purpose) flour
• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups boiling water
• flour for rolling, if needed.
  

Directions

1. *In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup white flour, the whole wheat flour, and salt. Rub in the coconut oil by hand until the mixture is the texture of oatmeal. Make a well in the center, and pour in the boiling water. Mix with a fork until all of the water is evenly incorporated. Sprinkle with a bit of additional flour, and knead until the dough does not stick to your fingers. The dough should be smooth.
2. Make balls the size of golf balls, about 2 ounces each. Place them on a tray, and cover with a cloth. Let stand for at least 1 hour, or up to 8 hours. (Since we used Coconut Oil instead of lard, it helps to wet your hands a little when rolling the balls, they stick together better that way)
   
3. Heat a griddle or large frying pan over high heat. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a tortilla to your preferred thinness. Fry one at a time. (medium high heat) ** Place on the griddle for 10 seconds, as soon as you see a bubble on the top, flip the tortilla over. Let it cook for about 30 seconds, then flip and cook the other side for another 30 seconds. Roll out the next tortilla while you wait for that one to cook. Repeat until all of the balls have been cooked. Tortillas can be refrigerated or frozen.

*We followed this pretty closely, but 1/2ed it and didn't need any extra flour. In fact, our dough balls came out dry and we needed to wet our hands to roll them. That worked out great.
** If you don't have a cast iron pan, lightly oiling the pan with olive oil on a paper towel will help the texture. They'll be more pliable.

These also make great chips if you cut them up and stick them under the broiler for a bit.
Also, to make into naan bread, just don't roll them out as much...

Sweet and Spicy Vegan Curry

I don't have a picture of this yet, but if you take one, feel free to add it. Yum!

*4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp. curry powder
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 to 1 inch fresh ginger root, peeled and minced
1 tsp salt
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 package frozen petite peas
1 can coconut milk (or cream of coconut)
Rice of your choice

Boil potatoes until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and allow to air dry.
Heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add rest of seasonings, incorporate, and cook for about 2 minutes.
Add remainder of ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Serve over hot rice.
Enjoy!

*I adapted this recipe from "Spicy Vegan Potato Curry" on allrecipes.com. Because I suggest putting this over rice, the potatoes may be redundant. Judge for yourself.

Note: if you don't do the potatoes, feel free to add additional beans or peas--or whatever you imagine up might be good! If you like it more spicy, by all means add more spice. Just be warned that it gets a little more spicy the more you eat.

Our Group

Rich Chocolate Brownie Cake

from Williams-Sonoma
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour
4 oz. good quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, at least 60% cacao
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch round cake pan with tin foil, allowing the edges to overlap the pan. Using a pastry brush, lightly butter the foil.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add sugar and beat until well blended. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again until well blended. Add the salt and 1/4 cup of flour and beat well. Add the remaining flour in two batches, beating well after each addition.

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double broiler set over (but not touching) gently simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, 2-3 minutes. Add it to the cake batter and beat until well blended and creamy. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with a spatula.

Bake until the cake is puffed and a toothpick inserted into its center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Using the edges of the foil, lift the cooled cake out of the pan. Invert the cake onto a cake plate adn peel off the foil. Turn the cake right side up. Place a stencil of your choice on top, and then sift the confectioners' sugar over the stencil to create a pattern. Carefully lift off the stencil.

Strawberry Blossoms

12 large fresh strawberries, rinsed
1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. sour cream

Remove stems from strawberries to form a flat base. Place each strawberries on cutting surface, pointed end up. With sharp knife, carefully slice each strawberry in half vertically to within 1/4 in. of base. Cut each half into 3 wedges to form 6 petals (do not slice through base). Pull petals apart slightly.

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, powered sugar and sour cream; beat until light and fluffy. With pastry bag and star tip, fill strawberries with cream cheese mixture. Makes 12 strawberries.

Barley Pilaf

1 cup pearl barley
6-8 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
2-3 green onions
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 1/2 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse barley with cold water, drain well. Melt butter and saute onion, mushrooms and barley until barley is toasted. Remove from heat, add remaining ingredients, except for broth. Spoon into a 2-qt casserole. (Can be refrigerated at this point.) Heat broth to boiling and add to barley mixture in casserole. Blend well. Bake covered at 375 degrees for 70-90 minutes. Before serving, garnish with chopped parsley or carrot curls. Serves 6-8 people.

Poulet Avec Mornay

4 (6-8 oz.) skinless chicken breast
4 slices thinly-sliced ham
20 asparagus tips, blanched
8 whole asparagus spears, blanched
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded white cheese (swiss, jack or mozzarella)

Place chicken breast on a cutting board and lightly tenderize on one side. In center of each chicken breast, place ham slice, asparagus tips, and a small amount of each cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and granulated garlic. Fold sides of chicken over filing. Hold with toothpicks. Freeze fr approximately 15 minutes (until firm).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bread each breast in flour, then in a mixture of 3 beaten eggs and 1/2 cup of milk, followed by cracker meal. Place in a baking dish. Dot top of each with a teaspoon of butter. Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. If they start to brown too fast, cover with foil. Serve with Mornay Sauce over each and garnish with two asparagus spears. Serves 4.

Mornay Sauce

2 Tbsp. melted butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cup hot milk
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese (swiss, jack or mozzarella)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp white pepper

Add flour to melted butter in a saucepan. Cook a few minutes (do not brown). Add milk, stirring constantly until smooth and creamy. Add cheese and continue stirring. Mix in salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Serve.

Baklava

Ingredients
• 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
• 1 pound chopped nuts
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
2. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
3. Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
4. Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.